Date of Award
2004
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology
Department
Communicative Disorders
First Advisor
Colleen Karow
Abstract
This study examined the problem-solving abilities of adolescents, using a newly designed test, RAPS (the Rapid Assessment of Problem-Solving), by Marshall & Karow (2001). The tool is a modified version of the Twenty Questions Test that measures performance based on the number of questions asked to solve each problem, the percent of constraint-seeking questions used, and the efficiency or the amount of information gained from the first four questions asked. Participants included a total of 20 children with no history of neurological or psychiatric disorders who were categorized by age groups (10-11, 12-13, 14-15, and 16-17) with five subjects in each group. ANOV A results revealed there were no statistical differences among the four age groups for any of the three RAPS measures. Although children did not solve RAPS problems optimally, where they eliminate half of the picture board with each question asked, they did primarily ask questions which targeted groups of pictures based on semantic category labels. Compared to previous RAPS studies (Marshall, Karow, Morelli, Iden, & Dixon, 2003) children performed similarly to adult normal subjects both in the efficiency with which they solved the problems and in the types of questions they asked. The youngest group of children did appear to perform differently than the other groups; however, these differences were not identified statistically, possibly due to the low number of subjects per group. Finally, normal children did not improve their performance on successive administrations, which further supports the developing methodologies and scoring system of RAPS.
Recommended Citation
Crownover, Kelley Ann, "Assessment of Problem-Solving Abilities in Normal Adolescents" (2004). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 1607.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/1607
Terms of Use
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