Abstract
This article examines the role of cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational skills in problem solving. Cognitive skills include instructional objectives, components in a learning hierarchy, and components in information processing. Metacognitive skills include strategies for reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics. Motivational skills include motivation based on interest, self-efficacy, and attributions. All three kinds of skills are required for successful problem solving in academic settings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anand, P.G. & Ross, S.M. (1987). Using computer-assisted instruction to personalize arithmetic materials for elementary school children. Journal of Educational Psychology: 72‐78.
Bean, T.W. & Steenwyk, F.L. (1984). The effect of three forms of summarization instruction on sixth graders’ summary writing and comprehension. Journal of Reading Behavior: 297‐306.
Block, J.H. & Burns, R.B. (1976). Mastery learning. In L.S. Shulman, ed., Review of Research in Education, Volume 4. Itsaca, IL: Peacock.
Bloom, B.S. (1976). Human Characteristics and School Learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bloom, B.S., Englehart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H. & Krathwohl, D.R. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain.York: McKay.
Borkowski, J.G., Weyhing, R.S. & Carr, M. (1988). Effects of attributional retraining on strategy-based reading comprehension in learning disabled students. Journal of Educational Psychology: 46‐53.
Brown, A.L. & Day, J.D. (1983). Macrorules for summarizing texts: The development of expertise. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior: 1‐14.
Chi, M.T.H., Glaser, R. & Farr, M.J., eds. (1988). The Nature of Expertise. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Chipman, S.F., Segal, J.W. & Glaser, R., eds. (1985). Thinking and Learning Skills, Volume 2: Research and Open Questions. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cook, L.K. & Mayer, R.E. (1988). Teaching readers about the structure of scientific text. Journal of Educational Psychology 80: 448‐456.
Dewey, J. (1913). Interest and Effort in Education.Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press.
Ericsson, K.A. & Smith, J., eds. (1991). Toward a General Theory of Expertise. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Fitzgerald, J. & Teasley, A.B. (1986). Effects of instruction in narrative structure on children’s writing. Journal of Educational Psychology: 424‐432.
Gagne, R.M. (1968). Learning hierarchies. Educational Psychologist: 1‐9.
Gagne, R.M., Mayor, J.R., Garstens, H.L. & Paradise, N.E. (1962). Factors in acquiring knowledge in a mathematics task. Psychological Monographs(7) (Whole No. 526).
Garner, R., Gillingham, M.G. & White, C.S. (1989). Effects of “seductive details” on macroprocessing and microprocessing in adults and children. Cognition and Instruction, 6: 41‐57.
Graham, S. (1984). Communicating sympathy and anger to black and white children: The cognitive (attributional) consequences of affective cues. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 40‐54.
Graham, S. & Barker, G.P. (1990). The down side of help: An attributional-developmental analysis of helping behavior as a low-ability cue. Journal of Educational Psychology: 7‐14.
Graham, S. & Harris, K.R. (1988). Instructional recommendations for teaching writing to exceptional students. Exceptional Children: 506‐512.
Halpern, D.F., ed. (1992). Enhancing Thinking Skills in the Sciences and Mathematics. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hayes, J.R. & Flower, L.S. (1986). Writing research and the writer. American Psychologist 41: 1106‐1113.
Lewis, A.B. (1989). Training students to represent arithmetic word problems. Journal of Educational Psychology: 363‐371.
Luchins, A.S. & Luchins, E.H. (1970). Wertheimer’s Seminars Revisited: Problem Solving and Thinking (Vol. 1). Albany, NY: State University of New York.
Mayer, R.E. (1985). Mathematical ability. In R.J. Sternberg, ed., Human Abilities: An Information Processing Approach (pp. 127‐150). New York: Freeman.
Mayer, R.E. (1987). Educational Psychology: A Cognitive Approach. New York: Harper Collins.
Mayer, R.E. (1992). Thinking, Problem Solving, Cognition: Second Edition.New York: Freeman.
Mayer, R.E. & Wittrock, M.C. (in press). Problem solving and transfer. In D. Berliner & R. Calfee, eds., Handbook of Educational Psychology. New York: Macmillan.
Nickerson, R.S., Perkins, D.N. & Smith, E.E., eds. (1985). The Teaching of Thinking. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Pintrich, P.R. & De Groot, E.V. (1990). Motivation and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology: 33‐40.
Pressley, M. (1990). Cognitive Strategy Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Renninger, K.A., Hidi, S. & Krapp, A., eds. (1992). The Role of Interest in Learning and Development.Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rinehart, S.D., Stahl, S.A. & Erickson, L.G. (1986). Some effects of summarization training on reading and studying. Reading Research Quarterly: 422‐438.
Robins, S. & Mayer, R.E. (1993). Schema training in analogical reasoning. Journal of Educational Psychology: 529‐538.
Ross, S.M., McCormick, D., Krisak, N. & Anand, P. (1985). Personalizing context in teaching mathematical concepts: Teacher-managed and computer-managed models. Educational Communication Technology Journal: 169‐178.
Schiefele, U. (1992). Topic interest and level of text comprehension. In K.A. Renninger, S. Hidi & A. Krapp, eds., The Role of Interest in Learning and Development (pp. 151‐182). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Schiefele, U., Krapp, A. & Winteler, A. (1992). In K.A. Renninger, S. Hidi & A. Krapp, eds., The Role of Interest in Learning and Development (pp. 183‐212). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Schoenfeld, A.H. (1979). Explicit heuristic training as a variable in problem-solving performance. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 10: 173‐187.
Schoenfeld, A.H. (1985). Mathematical Problem Solving. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Schunk, D. (1991). Self-efficacy and academic motivation. Educational Psychologist: 207‐231.
Schunk, D.H. & Hanson, A.R. (1985). Peer models: Influences on children’s self-efficacy and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology: 313‐322.
Smith, M.U., ed. (1991). Toward a Unified Theory of Problem Solving: Views from the Content Domains. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Segal, J.W., Chipman, S.F. & Glaser, R., eds. (1985). Thinking and Learning Skills, Volume 1: Relating Instruction to Research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sternberg, R.J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Sternberg, R.J. & Frensch, P.A., eds. (1991). Complex Problem Solving: Principles and Mechanisms. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sternberg, R.J. & Gardner, M.K. (1983). Unities in inductive reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General: 80‐116.
Taylor, B.M. & Beach, R.W. (1984). The effects of text structure instruction on middle-grade students’ comprehension and production of expository text. Reading Research Quarterly 19: 134‐146.
Wade, S.E. (1992). How interest affects learning from text. In K.A. Renninger, S. Hidi & A. Krapp, eds., The Role of Interest in Learning and Development (pp. 255‐278). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Weiner, B. (1986). An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Wertheimer, M. (1959). Productive Thinking. New York: Harper & Row.
White, R.T. (1974). The validation of a learning hierarchy. American Educational Research Journal: 121‐236.
Zimmerman, B.J. & Martinez-Pons, M. (1990). Student differences in self-regulated learning: Relating grade, sex, and giftedness to self-efficacy and strategy use. Journal of Educational Psychology: 51‐59.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mayer, R.E. Cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational aspects of problem solving. Instructional Science 26, 49–63 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003088013286
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003088013286