Structural Knowledge, Control Performance and Reasoning Ability in Complex Problem Solving Tasks

This study investigates whether there is a causal relationship between structural knowledge and system control in complex problem solving tasks, which is moderated by fluid intelligence. 60 students received either complete, partial or no instructions regarding the structure of the system, and controlled the system to reach specific goals. ANCOVA revealed that control increased with structural knowledge, although performance was better than random across conditions. Fluid intelligence was a significant predictor of control only under complete and partial knowledge conditions. It appears that problem solving is limited by participants’ fluid intelligence only when structural knowledge is acquired