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Solving Problems By Analogy: The Benefits And Detriments Of Hints And Depressed Moods, Paula T. Hertel, Alicia J. Knoedler

Psychology Faculty Research

In Experiment 1, mildly depressed (dysphoric) and nondysphoric subjects tried to solve logic, problems that were analogous to subsequent target problems; then they attempted target solutions with or wit hour hints in the form of the analogues' themes. Target solutions were impaired by the hints in the nondysphoric group alone. Experiment 2A was a no-training control to verify that transfer did indeed occur. In Experiment 2B, all subjects received hints in the transfer phase; the training phase was either problem oriented (as in Experiment 1) or memory oriented. Again, nondysphoric subjects solved fewerproblems following problem-oriented training than did both dysphoric …