Psicothema, 2007. Vol. Vol. 19 (nº 2). 206-211

Gloria Seoane, M Dolores Valiña, M Soledad Rodríguez, Montserrat Martín y M José Ferraces

Investigaciones recientes señalan que la ejecución diferencial de las personas cuando resuelven tareas de razonamiento se debe no sólo a diferencias a nivel computacional, sino también a nivel racional o intencional. Este trabajo se enmarca en este contexto y en él, concretamente, se analizan diferencias individuales en razonamiento hipotético-deductivo teniendo en cuenta, además de características asociadas a la propia tarea (contenido e instrucciones), características diferenciales de los propios sujetos. Participaron 276 estudiantes de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela a los que se les aplicaron diferentes pruebas psicométricas y que resolvieron distintas tareas de razonamiento. Los resultados que hemos obtenido confirman que, efectivamente, las diferencias entre razonadores competentes y no competentes se dan en los dos niveles señalados: habilidades y capacidades cognitivas (nivel algorítmico) y flexibilidad cognitiva (nivel intencional).

Individual differences in hypothetic-deductive reasoning: Importance of cognitive skills and flexibility. Recent investigations show that peoples differential performance when solving reasoning tasks is due to differences not only at computational level, but also at the rational or intentional level. This study is within the framework of this context and it specifically analyses individual differences in hypothetic-deductive reasoning, taking into account the characteristics associated with the task itself (content and instructions) as well as the individuals differential characteristics. Two hundred and seventy-six students from the University of Santiago de Compostela participated in this study. Several psychometric tests were administered and participants were requested to solve various reasoning tasks. The results obtained confirm that, in effect, the differences between competent and non-competent reasoners are observed at both the above-mentioned levels: cognitive skills and abilities (algorithmic level) and cognitive flexibility (intentional level).