Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Loading next page...
/lp/american-psychological-association/effects-of-goal-specificity-on-means-ends-analysis-and-learning-DqTTXHkmSH
- Publisher
- American Psychological Association
- Copyright
- Copyright © 1982 American Psychological Association
- ISSN
- 0278-7393
- eISSN
- 1939-1285
- DOI
- 10.1037/0278-7393.8.5.463
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
Means–ends analysis is a mechanism that is assumed to operate when people solve transformation problems. Its use is affected by the extent to which the goal is clearly specified to the problem solver as a problem state and by the extent to which learning occurs during a problem-solving episode. Five maze-tracing experiments were conducted with 116 undergraduates in which the finish point of the maze could be presented either as a specific location or in more general terms. The latter prevented the use of conventional means–ends analysis. Results indicate that on the particular maze configuration used, the nonspecific goal resulted in fewer errors and more rapid learning of the structure of the problem. Under conditions that facilitated the use of means–ends analyses, knowledge of the goal location rendered the problem insoluble. General results were replicated with the use of numerical problems. Implications for the generality of means–ends analysis as a problem-solving mechanism are discussed. (11 ref)
Journal
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition – American Psychological Association
Published: Sep 1, 1982