This volume presents a state-of-the-science review of the most promising current European research -- and its historic roots of research -- on complex problem solving (CPS) in Europe. It is an attempt to close the knowledge gap among American scholars regarding the European approach to understanding CPS. Although most of the American researchers are well aware of the fact that CPS has been a very active research area in Europe for quite some time, they do not know any specifics about even the most important research. Part of the reason for this lack of knowledge is undoubtedly the fact that European researchers -- for the most part -- have been rather reluctant to publish their work in English-language journals.
The book concentrates on European research because the basic approach European scholars have taken to studying CPS is very different from one taken by North American researchers. Traditionally, American scholars have been studying CPS in "natural" domains -- physics, reading, writing, and chess playing -- concentrating primarily on exploring novice-expert differences and the acquisition of a complex skill. European scholars, in contrast, have been primarily concerned with problem solving behavior in artificially generated, mostly computerized, complex systems. While the American approach has the advantage of high external validity, the European approach has the advantage of system variables that can be systematically manipulated to reveal the effects of system parameters on CPS behavior. The two approaches are thus best viewed as complementing each other.
This volume contains contributions from four European countries -- Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Germany. As such, it accurately represents the bulk of empirical research on CPS which has been conducted in Europe. An international cooperation started two years ago with the goal of bringing the European research on complex problem solving to the awareness of American scholars. A direct result of that effort, the contributions to this book are both informative and comprehensive.

This volume presents a state-of-the-science review of the most promising current European research -- and its historic roots of research -- on complex problem solving (CPS) in Europe. It is an attempt to close the knowledge gap among American scholars regarding the European approach to understanding CPS. Although most of the American researchers are well aware of the fact that CPS has been a very active research area in Europe for quite some time, they do not know any specifics about even the most important research. Part of the reason for this lack of knowledge is undoubtedly the fact that European researchers -- for the most part -- have been rather reluctant to publish their work in English-language journals.
The book concentrates on European research because the basic approach European scholars have taken to studying CPS is very different from one taken by North American researchers. Traditionally, American scholars have been studying CPS in "natural" domains -- physics, reading, writing, and chess playing -- concentrating primarily on exploring novice-expert differences and the acquisition of a complex skill. European scholars, in contrast, have been primarily concerned with problem solving behavior in artificially generated, mostly computerized, complex systems. While the American approach has the advantage of high external validity, the European approach has the advantage of system variables that can be systematically manipulated to reveal the effects of system parameters on CPS behavior. The two approaches are thus best viewed as complementing each other.
This volume contains contributions from four European countries -- Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, and Germany. As such, it accurately represents the bulk of empirical research on CPS which has been conducted in Europe. An international cooperation started two years ago with the goal of bringing the European research on complex problem solving to the awareness of American scholars. A direct result of that effort, the contributions to this book are both informative and comprehensive.

Intelligence allows people to understand events and to shape their surrounding environment. This book delves deeper into the theories and applications of intelligence, showing it is a multifaceted concept -defined and explained differently by prestigious experts of various disciplines in their own research. The book provides interdisciplinary connections of intelligence as it relates to a variety of clearly outlined subject areas, and should lead to a deep understanding of the phenomenon as it pertains to practical applications in different domains. Contributors in this volume present results from evolutionary biology, mathematics, artificial intelligence, medicine, psychology, cultural studies, economy, political sciences and philosophy. Individual scientific models are integrated in an interdisciplinary concept of wisdom. This volume will help enhance the common understanding of intelligence for fellow researchers and scientists alike.

Milieus of Creativity is the second volume in the book series Knowledge and Space. This book deals with spatial disparities of knowledge and the impact of environments, space and contexts on the production and application of knowledge. The contributions in this volume focus on the role of places, environments, and spatial contexts for the emergence and perpetuation of creativity. Is environment a social or a spatial phenomenon? Are only social factors relevant for the development of creativity or should one also include material artefacts and resources in its definition? How can we explain spatial disparities of creativity without falling victim to geodeterminism?

This book offers insights from various disciplines such as environmental psychology, philosophy, and social geography. It presents the results of a research conference at Heidelberg University in September 2006, which was supported by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.

Milieus of Creativity is the second volume in the book series Knowledge and Space. This book deals with spatial disparities of knowledge and the impact of environments, space and contexts on the production and application of knowledge. The contributions in this volume focus on the role of places, environments, and spatial contexts for the emergence and perpetuation of creativity. Is environment a social or a spatial phenomenon? Are only social factors relevant for the development of creativity or should one also include material artefacts and resources in its definition? How can we explain spatial disparities of creativity without falling victim to geodeterminism?

This book offers insights from various disciplines such as environmental psychology, philosophy, and social geography. It presents the results of a research conference at Heidelberg University in September 2006, which was supported by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.

Intelligence allows people to understand events and to shape their surrounding environment. This book delves deeper into the theories and applications of intelligence, showing it is a multifaceted concept —defined and explained differently by prestigious experts of various disciplines in their own research. The book provides interdisciplinary connections of intelligence as it relates to a variety of clearly outlined subject areas, and should lead to a deep understanding of the phenomenon as it pertains to practical applications in different domains. Contributors in this volume present results from evolutionary biology, mathematics, artificial intelligence, medicine, psychology, cultural studies, economy, political sciences and philosophy. Individual scientific models are integrated in an interdisciplinary concept of wisdom. This volume will help enhance the common understanding of intelligence for fellow researchers and scientists alike.

The ascription of desires or beliefs to other people is a milestone of human sociality. It allows us to understand, explain, and predict human behaviour. During the last years, research on children's knowledge about the mental world, better known as theory of mind research, has become a central topic in developmental psychology and the role of cultural impact is subject of various theoretical yet hitherto few empirical accounts. This book is the result of intensive collaboration between anthropologists and psychologists in the field of cross-cultural research on social cognitive development. Five interdisciplinary research teams, coming from the University of Heidelberg, were investigating five Pacific Island societies. All together, they were interested in the question of how and when children in these different cultures come to assign mental states to others. This unique research project combines sound ethnography of different Pacific cultures with thoroughly conducted experimental work, done by developmental psychologists; it presents a shared, thoughtful analysis of the results and provides deeper insight into current debates on the ontogeny of theory of mind competencies.

Das Buch beginnt mit einem kurzen ]berblick }ber das Gebiet des Umgangs von Menschen mit computersimulierten Szenarien ("Komplexes Probleml-sen") und zeigt daran die Notwendigkeit auf, sich mit dem Wissen der handelnden Personen auseinanderzusetzen. Nach Kl{rung wichtiger Begriffe wie "Wissen," "dynamisches System," "Repr{sentation" erfolgt eine Darstellung aktueller Forschungsarbeiten. Ein spezifischer Untersuchungsansatz - Beschreibung dynamischer Systeme durch lineare Strukturgleichungen - wird ausf}hrlicher vorgestellt und an ihm forschungsstrategische wie diagnostische Probleme demonstriert. Die Methode der Kausaldiagramm-Analyse und die Bestimmung von Kennwerten der Qualit{t erworbenen Kausalwissens werden geschildert. Ein weiterer Teil besch{ftigt sich damit, wie Menschen ein ihnen unbekanntes System explorieren und dessen Eigenschaften kennenlernen. Die Auswirkungen experimentiell manipulierter Systemeigenschaften wie Nebenwirkungen und Eigendynamik oder Art der Darbietung eines Systems auf die Leistungen bei Wissenserwerb und Wissensanwendung werden dabei betrachtet. Es zeigt sich, da diese zum Teil geringf}gigen Ver{nderungen eines Systems verhaltensrelevante Auswirkungen zeigen. Abschlie end versucht der Autor, einen begrifflichen Rahmen f}r Untersuchungen in diesem Feld abzustecken und dabei Forschungsl}ckenzu identifizieren.

Die vorliegende Arbeit besteht aus drei Teilen. Nach einer kurzen EinfUhrung (Kapitel 1) erfolgt in einem ersten Teil eine Bestandsauf- nahme gegenwartiger BemUhungen im Bereich des komplexen Problemlosens (Kapitel 2 und 3). Unter komplexem Problemlosen werden dabei diejeni- gen Prozesse verstanden, die bei der Steuerung unbekannter, dynami- scher, computersimulierter Systeme ablaufen. Neben einem kurzen histo- rischen RUckblick wird versucht, die Vielfalt der Untersuchungspara- digmen aufzuzeigen und dabei Trennendes wie auch Gemeinsames deutlich werden zu lassen. Thesenartig werden Probleme dieser Arbeiten aufge- zeigt und erste Ansatze zu deren Bewaltigung genannt. Der zweite Teil (Kapitel 4) vertieft verschiedene dieser Probleme an einem konkreten Beispiel, dem "TAILORSHOP". Neben der detaillierten Schilderung des computersimulierten Systems werden Fragen wie die nach der Optimierbarkeit des Gleichungssystems ebenso behandelt wie gene- relle Themen, etwa die Prazisierung des Transparenz-Konzepts oder das Problem moglicher Versuchsleitereffekte. 1m dritten Teil (Kapitel 5 und 6) geht es um das Aufzeigen eines konstruktiven Wegs aus dem diagnostizierten, unbefriedigenden Zustand gegenwartiger ForschungsbemUhungen. Eine formale Darstellung kogni- tionspsychologischer Konzepte mit Hilfe von Kausal odellen solI zei- gen, daB auch fUr die Erforschung des Problemlosens in komplexen Situationen ein Begriffsinventar zur VerfUgung steht, das zum einen eine exaktere Beschreibung des Untersuchungsgegenstandes erlaubt, zum anderen eben dadurch die Moglichkeit gibt, prazisere Theorien Uber den Umgang des Menschen mit einfachen wie komplexen Systemen zu formulie- reno Ein erster Ansatz zu einer derartigen Theorie wird vorgelegt.

Die neue Reihe zur allgemeinen Psychologie erscheint in 4 kompakten Banden. Je nach Studien- und Prufungsschwerpunkt koennen die benoetigten Module zusammengestellt werden. Dieser Band enthalt alle prufungsrelevanten Themen des Faches "Denken" Im Teil "Entscheiden" werden die zentralen Phasen des Entscheidungsprozesses vorgestellt, im zweiten Teil die menschlichen Strategien und Regeln der Urteilsbildung, Teil drei behandelt die Theorien und Phanomene des Problemloesens. Begleitende Website mit Lerntools fur Studierende und Materialien fur Dozenten sowie kostenlosen Hoerbeitragen aller Kapitel.

Text in German. Trust in scientific progress is high these days. But what does progress mean? Are we progressing to a better time or just from a former time? The difference is a matter of alignment. The book is therefore dedicated to the question of how scientific endeavors in psychology can be given order. Two perspectives are taken: First, philosophy looks at the possibility of a theoretical psychology with regard to anthropological and epistemological prerequisites, then experimental psychology looks at the possibility of good theory formation. The third part of the book is an attempt at a synthesis in which the philosophical-psychological perspective pluralism is proposed as a program to critically accompany the directions in which the discipline is progressing.