The moderating effect of prior knowledge on the relationship between intelligence and complex problem solving – Testing the Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis

Abstract

Although the relation between intelligence and complex problem solving (CPS) has been investigated repeatedly, the moderating effect of prior knowledge on this relation still remains an open question. The Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis (see Leutner, 2002) predicts a higher correlation between intelligence and CPS at a medium level of problem specific prior knowledge and lower correlations at higher as well as lower levels of prior knowledge, thus a curvilinear moderation. We investigated this hypothesis in a sample of N = 495 high school students by using general intelligence (g) and a minimal complex systems approach (MCS) of CPS. Strategic prior knowledge in the sense of the relative frequency of the vary-one-thing-at-a-time strategy (VOTAT; Tschirgi, 1980) increased across MCS tasks in the knowledge acquisition phase of CPS. With increasing prior knowledge, correlations followed the predicted inverted U-shaped pattern in the knowledge acquisition phase and the knowledge application phase of CPS, thus supporting the Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis. The moderating effect of strategic prior knowledge for the intelligence–CPS relation and its relevance are discussed.