Domain-specific knowledge and domain-general abilities in children's science problem-solving.

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0370636 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2044-8279 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00070998 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Educ Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2012-> : Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: Edinburgh : Scottish Academic Press

Problem Solving*/physiology ; Aptitude*/physiology ; Science*/education ; Child Development*/physiology ; Thinking*/physiology; Humans ; Child ; Female ; Male ; Vocabulary

Background: Problem-solving in early and middle childhood is of high relevance for cognitive developmental research and educational support. Previous research on science problem-solving has focussed on the process and strategies of children handling challenging tasks, but less on providing insights into the cognitive network that enables science problem-solving.
Aims: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether performance in science problem-solving is mainly determined by domain-specific rule knowledge, by domain-general cognitive abilities or both.
Methods: In our study, 215 6- to 8-year-old children completed a set of three domain-specific rule knowledge tasks and three corresponding problem-solving tasks that were content-coherent, as well as a vocabulary task, and a reasoning task.
Results: Correlational and regression analyses revealed a negligible impact of domain-specific rule knowledge on corresponding problem-solving tasks. In contrast, the associations between problem-solving performance in different domains and the associations between problem-solving performance and domain-general abilities (vocabulary and reasoning) were comparably strong.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that science problem-solving in primary school children primarily relies on domain-general cognitive abilities. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to cognitive theories and early science education.
(© 2023 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

Adams, R. S., & Atman, C. J. (1999). Cognitive processes in iterative design behavior. FIE'99 Frontiers in Education. 29th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference. Designing the Future of Science and Engineering Education. Conference Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.99CH37011, San Juan, PR, USA, 1999, vol. 1, pp. 11A6/13‐11A6/18). https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.1999.839114.
Alexander, P. A., & Judy, J. E. (1988). The interaction of domain‐specific and strategic knowledge in academic performance. Review of Educational Research, 58(4), 375–404. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543058004375.
Arló‐Costa, H., & Levi, I. (1996). Two notions of epistemic validity. Synthese, 109, 217–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413768.
Beauducel, A., Brocke, B., & Liepmann, D. (2001). Perspectives on fluid and crystallized intelligence: Facets for verbal, numerical, and figural intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(6), 977–994. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191‐8869(00)00087‐8.
Beauducel, A., & Wittmann, W. W. (2005). Simulation study on fit indices in confirmatory factor analysis based on data with slightly distorted simple structure. Structural Equation Modeling, 12, 41–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1201_3.
Bibi, A., & Ahmad, M. (2022). Goal orientations, self‐regulated learning strategies and problem‐solving: A mediational analysis. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 30(3), 949–976. https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.3.02.
Bibi, A., Syed‐Zamri, S. N. A. B., & Abedalaziz, N. A. M. (2018). Role of students' context familiarity in differential equations problem solving at pre‐university level. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 6(4), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.22342/jme.v13i2.pp323‐336.
Bühner, M., Kröner, S., & Ziegler, M. (2008). Working memory, visual‐spatial intelligence and their relationship to problem solving. Intelligence, 36(6), 672–680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2008.03.008.
Charlesworth, R., & Leali, S. A. (2012). Using problem solving to assess young children's mathematics knowledge. Early Childhood Education Journal, 39, 373–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643‐011‐0480‐y.
Chen, X., Hertzog, C., & Park, D. C. (2017). Cognitive predictors of everyday problem solving across the lifespan. Gerontology, 63(4), 372–384. https://doi.org/10.1159/000459622.
Chi, M. T. (2006). Laboratory methods for assessing experts' and novices' knowledge. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. J. Feltovich, & R. R. Hofmann (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (pp. 167–184). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816796.010.
Chi, M. T. H., Feltovich, P. J., & Glaser, R. (1981). Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts and novices. Cognitive Science, 5, 121–152. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog0502_2.
Chi, M. T. H., Glaser, R., & Rees, E. (1982). Expertise in problem solving. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence (Vol. 1). Erlbaum.
Chiappe, D., & MacDonald, K. (2005). The evolution of domain‐general mechanisms in intelligence and learning. The Journal of General Psychology, 132(1), 5–40. https://doi.org/10.3200/GENP.132.1.5‐40.
Diamond, L. L. (2018). Problem solving in the early years. Intervention in School and Clinic, 53(4), 220–223. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451217712957.
diSessa, A. A. (1988). Knowledge in pieces. In G. Forman & P. Pufall (Eds.), Constructivism in the computer age. Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.
Dixon, A. R., & Johnson, S. D. (2012). The use of executive control processes in engineering design by engineering students and professional engineers. Journal of Technology Education, 24(1), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.21061/jte.v24i1.a.5.
English, L. (1992). Children's use of domain‐specific knowledge and domain‐general strategies in novel problem solving. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 62(2), 203–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044‐8279.1992.tb01014.x.
Fischer, A., Greiff, S., & Funke, J. (2011). The process of solving complex problems. The Journal of Problem Solving, 4(1), 19–42.
Fitzgerald, A., & Smith, K. (2016). Science that matters: Exploring science learning and teaching in primary schools. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(4), 64–78. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n4.4.
Funke, J. (2014). Analysis of minimal complex systems and complex problem solving require different forms of causal cognition. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 739. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00739.
Funke, J., Fischer, A., & Holt, D. V. (2018). Competencies for complexity: Problem solving in the twenty‐first century. In E. Care, P. Griffin, & M. Wilson (Eds.), Educational assessment in an information age. Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (pp. 41–53). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978‐3‐319‐65368‐6_3.
Geary, D. C., Nicholas, A., Li, Y., & Sun, J. (2017). Developmental change in the influence of domain‐general abilities and domain‐specific knowledge on mathematics achievement: An eight‐year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(5), 680–693. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000159.
Gilmore, C., Clayton, S., Cragg, L., McKeaveney, C., Simms, V., & Johnson, S. (2018). Understanding arithmetic concepts: The role of domain‐specific and domain‐general skills. PLoS One, 13(9), e0201724. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201724.
Gold, Z. S., & Elicker, J. (2020). Engineering peer play: A new perspective on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) early childhood education. In A. Ridgway, G. Quiñones, & L. Li (Eds.), Peer play and relationships in early childhood. International perspectives on early childhood education and development (p. 30). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978‐3‐030‐42331‐5_5.
Greene, J. A., Cartiff, B. M., & Duke, R. F. (2018). A meta‐analytic review of the relationship between epistemic cognition and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(8), 1084–1111. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000263.
Greiff, S., Krkovic, K., & Hautamäki, J. (2015). The prediction of problem solving assessed via microworlds. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 32(4), 298–306. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015‐5759/a000263.
Greiff, S., Wüstenberg, S., Csapó, B., Demetriou, A., Hautamäki, J., Graesser, A. C., & Martin, R. (2014). Domain‐general problem solving skills and education in the 21st century. Educational Research Review, 13, 74–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2014.10.002.
Gunzenhauser, C., Karbach, J., & Saalbach, H. (2019). Function of verbal strategies in monolingual vs. bilingual students' planning performance: An experimental approach. Cognitive Development, 50, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2019.01.003.
Hamilton, E., Lesh, R., Lester, F., & Yoon, C. (2007). The use of reflection tools to build personal models of problem‐solving. In A. R. Lesh, E. Hamilton, & J. J. Kaput (Eds.), Foundations for the future in mathematics education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003064527‐21.
Harskamp, E., Ding, N., & Suhre, C. (2008). Group composition and its effect on female and male problem‐solving in science education. Educational Research, 50(4), 307–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131880802499688.
Hayduk, A. L., & Littvay, L. (2012). Should researchers use single indicators, best indicators, or multiple indicators in structural equation models? BMC Medical Research Methodology, 12(1), 159–175. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471‐2288‐12‐159.
Injoque‐Ricle, I., Barreyro, J. P., Calero, A., & Burin, D. I. (2014). Tower of London: Planning development in children from 6 to 13 years of age. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 17, E77. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2014.83.
Jensen, A. R. (2001). Vocabulary and general intelligence. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(6), 1109–1110. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X01280133.
Jonassen, D. H. (2000). Toward a design theory of problem solving. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48, 63–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02300500.
Keen, R. (2011). The development of problem solving in young children: A critical cognitive skill. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.031809.130730.
Krist, H. (2010). Development of intuitions about support beyond infancy. Developmental Psychology, 46(1), 266–278. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018040.
Krist, H., Horz, H., & Schönfeld, T. (2005). Children's block balancing revisited: No evidence for representational redescription. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 64(3), 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1024/1421‐0185.64.3.183.
Lee, N. Y. L., & Johnson‐Laird, P. N. (2013). Strategic changes in problem solving. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25(2), 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2012.719021.
Lehrer, R., & Schauble, L. (1998). Reasoning about structure and function: Children's conceptions of gears. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35(1), 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1098‐2736(199801)35:1<3::aid‐tea2>3.0.co;2‐x.
Lucas, B., & Hanson, J. (2016). Thinking like an engineer: Using engineering habits of mind and signature pedagogies to redesign engineering education. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (IJEP), 6(2), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v6i2.5366.
Luo, J., & Niki, K. (2003). Function of hippocampus in "insight" of problem solving. Hippocampus, 13(3), 316–323. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.10069.
Mayer, R. E. (1997). Chapter 25 ‐ from novice to expert. In M. G. Helander, T. K. Landauer, & P. V. Prabhu (Eds.), Handbook of human‐computer interaction (Second ed., pp. 781–795). North‐Holland. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978‐0‐444‐70536‐5.50030‐0.
Mehadi Rahman, M. (2019). 21st century skill “problem solving”: Defining the concept. Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2(1), 64–74. https://doi.org/10.34256/ajir1917.
Milbourne, J., & Wiebe, E. (2018). The role of content knowledge in ill‐structured problem solving for high school physics students. Research in Science Education, 48, 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165‐016‐9564‐4.
Mustakim, M., Mansyur, J., Hatibe, A., Rizal, M., & Kaharu, S. N. (2020). Analysis of Students' causal reasoning in physics problem solving. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1521, 22058. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742‐6596/1521/2/022058.
O'Brien, S., Mitchell, D. J., Duncan, J., & Holmes, J. (2023). Cognitive segmentation and fluid reasoning in childhood. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76(6), 1431–1444. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218221116054.
Oostermeijer, M., Boonen, A. J. H., & Jolles, J. (2014). The relation between children's constructive play activities, spatial ability, and mathematical word problem solving performance: A mediation analysis in sixth‐grade students. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 782. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00782.
Perkins, D. N., & Salomon, G. (1989). Are cognitive skills context‐bound? Educational Researcher, 18(1), 16–25. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X018001016.
Petermann, F., & Daseking, M. (2018). Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence (Fourth ed.). Hogrefe.
Quinn, D. M., & Spencer, S. J. (2001). The interference of stereotype threat with women's generation of mathematical problem solving strategies. Journal of Social Issues, 57(1), 55–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022‐4537.00201.
R Core Team. (2023). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Austria. https://www.R‐project.org/.
Reber, P. J., & Kotovsky, K. (1997). Implicit learning in problem solving: The role of working memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 126(2), 178–203. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096‐3445.126.2.178.
Reif, F., & Heller, J. I. (1982). Knowledge structure and problem solving in physics. Educational Psychologist, 17(2), 102–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461528209529248.
Reuter, T., & Leuchter, M. (2019). Preschooler's concepts and problem solving in the domain of gears in the context of guided play. Presentation at the 18th biennial EARLI Conference. Aachen, August 2019.
Reuter, T., & Leuchter, M. (2021). Children's concepts of gears and their promotion through play. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 58(1), 69–94. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21647.
Reuter, T., & Leuchter, M. (2022a). Examining kindergarten children's testing and optimising in the context of a gear engineering task. European Journal of STEM Education, 7(1), 04. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejsteme/11827.
Reuter, T., & Leuchter, M. (2022b). Fostering 5‐ to 6‐year‐old children's conceptual knowledge of gear functioning through guided play in German kindergartens. In S. D. Tunnicliffe & T. J. Kennedy (Eds.), Play and STEM education in the early years: International policies and practices (pp. 331–343). Cham.
Sabella, M. S., & Redish, E. F. (2007). Knowledge organization and activation in physics problem solving. American Journal of Physics, 75, 1017–1029. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.2746359.
Schäfer, J., Reuter, T., Leuchter, M., & Karbach, J. (2023a). Validation of new tablet‐based problem‐solving tasks in primary school students. In press.
Schäfer, J., Reuter, T., Leuchter, M., & Karbach, J. (2023b). Executive functions and problem‐solving – The contribution of inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility to science problem‐solving performance in elementary school students. In press.
Schoenfeld, A. H. (1987). What's all the fuss about metacognition? In A. H. Schoenfeld (Ed.), Cognitive science and mathematics education (pp. 189–215). Erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203062685.
Shechter, T., Eden, S., & Spektor‐Levy, O. (2021). Preschoolers' nascent engineering thinking during a construction task. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 20(2), 83–111. https://doi.org/10.1891/JCEP‐D‐20‐00010.
Siegler, R. S. (2007). Microgenetic analyses of learning. In D. Kuhn, R. S. Siegler, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol 2, cognition, perception, and language (6th ed., pp. 464–510). John Wiley & Sons Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0211.
Silver, N. C., Hittner, J. B., & May, K. (2004). Testing dependent correlations with nonoverlapping variables: A Monte Carlo simulation. The Journal of Experimental Education, 73(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.3200/JEXE.71.1.53‐70.
Simmons, R. G. (1992). The roles of associational and causal reasoning in problem solving. Artificial Intelligence, 53(2), 159–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004‐3702(92)90070‐E.
Spektor‐Levy, O., & Shechter, T. (2022). Learning environments that improve STEM capabilities in Israel: Constructional play and Preschoolers' engineering habits of mind. In S. D. Tunnicliffe & T. J. Kennedy (Eds.), Play and STEM education in the early years (pp. 311–329). Springer Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978‐3‐030‐99830‐1_15.
Stephan, F., Gunzenhauser, C., & Saalbach, H. (2022). Function of language skills in Preschooler's problem solving performance: The role of self‐directed speech. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 81, 101431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101431.
Stern, M., & Hertel, S. (2022). Relationship between maternal scaffolding and Preschooler's metacognitive strategies in a problem‐solving situation. Learning and Instruction, 80, 101631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2022.101631.
Strimel, G. J., Bartholomew, S. R., Kim, E., & Zhang, L. (2018). An investigation of engineering design cognition and achievement in primary school. Journal for STEM Education Research, 1, 173–201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979‐018‐0008‐0.
Thornton, S. (2009). Children solving problems. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674044340.
Tönnsen, K.‐C. (2021). The relevance of trial‐and‐error: Can trial‐and‐error be a sufficient learning method in technical problem‐solving‐contexts? Techne Serien – Forskning i slöjdpedagogik Och slöjdvetenskap, 28(2), 303–312.
Tuminaro, J., & Redish, E. F. (2007). Elements of a cognitive model of physics problem solving: Epistemic games. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 3(2), 020201‐1–020201‐22. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.3.020101.
Walker, S., Irving, K., & Berthelsen, D. (2002). Gender influences on preschool children's social problem solving strategies. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 163(2), 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221320209598677.
Weber, A. M., & Leuchter, M. (2020). Measuring preschool children's knowledge of the principle of static equilibrium in the context of building blocks: Validation of a test instrument. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 50–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12304.
Weber, A. M., Reuter, T., & Leuchter, M. (2020). The impact of a construction play on 5‐ to 6‐year‐old children's reasoning about stability. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1737. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01737.
Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh‐Pasek, K., & Michnick, G. R. (2013). Guided play. Where curricular goals meet a playful pedagogy. Mind, Brain, and Education, 7(2), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12015.
Wiebe, S. A., & Karbach, J. (Eds.). (2017). Executive function: Development across the life span (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315160719.
Zhu, Z. (2007). Gender differences in mathematical problem solving patterns: A review of literature. International Education Journal, 8(2), 187–203.
Zook, N. A., Davalos, D. B., Delosh, E. L., & Davis, H. P. (2004). Working memory, inhibition, and fluid intelligence as predictors of performance on tower of Hanoi and London tasks. Brain and Cognition, 56(3), 286–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2004.07.003.

Ministeriums für Wissenschaft, Weiterbildung und Kultur, Rheinland-Pfalz

Keywords: domain‐general cognition; domain‐specific knowledge; primary school education; problem‐solving; rule knowledge

Date Created: 20231207 Date Completed: 20250508 Latest Revision: 20250508

20260130

10.1111/bjep.12649

38061789