Reasoning and Problem Solving

Abstract

Conceptions of human reasoning have shifted from norms based on standard logic to emergence of reasoning from more fundamental processes. Reasoning entails operating on internal, cognitive representations of segments of the world, to yield decisions and actions that are adaptive in the person's environment. New methods for analyzing children's reasoning, including information integration theory and microgenetic analysis, have led to new understanding of processes, including verbal strategies, mental models, and analogy. New methods have been developed for assessing complexity of children's reasoning, including the cognitive complexity and control theory and relational complexity theory. Empirical studies indicate that the number of variables that children can relate in a single representation increases from 1 at age 1 year, 2 at 2 years, 3 at 5 years and 4 at 11 years. Complexity accounts for a large amount of variance in reasoning and complexity estimates are consistent across domains. New principles have been defined for simplifying complex tasks and overcoming capacity limitations. New theories of categorization include prototypes based on family resemblance and theory-based categories. Infants progress from perceptual to conceptual categorization. Understanding of relations between categories develops through early childhood, the relation between a category and its complement are understood by 3-year olds, and hierarchical classification and class inclusion are typically understood by a median age of five years. Children's understanding of conservation depends on integrating relevant dimensions and its appearance by age 5 years appears to reflect the underlying complexity. However, infants can quantify small sets and recognize changes such as adding or subtracting, while understanding of counting develops throughout middle childhood. Transitivity is fundamental to reasoning about relations and the difficulties experienced by young children reflect the complexity inherent in integrating premises in working memory. However, simpler processes that can be employed with the transitivity of choice paradigm lead to successes by young children and animals. Children's conditional reasoning and syllogistic reasoning can be based on mental models, the construction of which in working memory is influenced by inherent complexity. Development of scientific thinking includes understanding of dimensions time, speed, and distance, and the integration of variables weight and distance in the balance scale. The concept of the earth entails representing complex relations and depends on reconciling culturally transmitted knowledge with everyday experience by taking account of the large diameter of the earth and developing more sophisticated conceptions of gravity. Several promising new lines or research in children's reasoning are identified. Keywords: categories; complexity; logic; reasoning; relations; scientific thinking; working memory