The Psychology of Problem Solving by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-08-18T16:37:00+00:00

In a similar vein, Feigenbaum (1989) articulated the basic argument of the knowledge-is-power hypothesis in a principle:

The Knowledge Principle states that a system exhibits intelligent understanding and action at a high level of competence primarily because of the specific knowledge that it can bring to bear.... A corollary of the KP is that reasoning processes of intelligent systems are generally weak and not the primary source of power. (p. 179)

Most people would agree that domain knowledge is "power." Clearly, within the domain of expertise, people with high levels of domain knowledge tend to outperform people with lower levels of knowledge. However, it is less clear what the knowledge-is-power hypothesis implies about the interplay between cognitive ability characteristics such as working memory capacity and domain knowledge. Three hypotheses are illustrated in Panels A to C of Figure 6.4.

Compensation Hypothesis

The first hypothesis is illustrated in Figure 6.4 (Panel A) and is based on the idea that domain knowledge is not only power, but also reduces, and may even eliminate, the effect of working memory capacity. Stated somewhat differently, high levels of domain knowledge can "compensate" for low levels of working memory capacity. Consistent with this idea, Ackerman and Kyllonen (1991) stated, "There is a relationship between knowledge and working memory capacity such that having specific knowledge can replace having to exercise working memory" (p. 2-16). In a similar vein, Frensch and Sternberg (1989b) observed that

beginners in any game seem to be relying on domain-general abilities, whereas experienced players utilize an extensive body of domainrelevant knowledge. One might expect, therefore, that measures of general intelligence would be related to novices' but not to experts' game playing ability. (p. 375)

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