INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN RULE DISCOVERY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE INDUCTIVE REASONING GAME ELEUSIS

This study explored inductive discovery of condition-action rules. It's goals were: to identify behaviors associated with skilled rule discovery, to examine the relations between rule discovery and academic achievement and other reasoning abilities, and to determine the affect of selected task variables (rule presentation order and rule type) on rule discovery.;Analyses of subjects' verbal protocols indicated that Eleusis rule discovery is a generate and test process that is modified by task-specific heuristics. The most skilled subjects used very effective data-dependent heuristics based on specific knowledge relating card patterns (data) and rules. Less skilled subjects also attempted to use card pattern data to guide their rule generation; they were relatively unsuccessful in this, though, because they did not associate specific pieces of data with rule characteristics. A follow-up study supported this analysis of skilled performance. Less skilled subjects instructed in components of skilled rule discovery were significantly more successful is discovering a subsequent rule than less skilled subjects who were not so instructed.;The relation between Eleusis rule discovery and other cognitive skills and aptitudes, including academic achievement, inductive reasoning, and cognitive restructuring, were also assessed. The most striking result was that the most skilled subjects had significantly higher mathematics achievement than all other subjects. A discriminant analysis indicated that academic achievement variables were the best predictors of general rule discovery skill, and that mathematics and science achievement in particular distinguished the most skilled subjects from the successful but less skilled ones. Academic achievement is not a sufficient predictor, however; factors such as inductive reasoning ability and attitudes toward logic puzzles also appear to be involved.;The rule discovery task was a variant of the card game Eleusis. Subjects were to discover the rule that created a card pattern (e.g., If the last card legally played was a face card, play a card of a different color. If the last card legally played was not a face card, play a card of the same color). Fifty high school seniors attempted to discover three Eleusis rules; rule presentation order was counterbalanced across subjects.