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The effect of the assumed boundary in the solving of the nine-dot problem on a sample of Chinese and American students, 6-18 years old
Abstract
The nature of the difficulty of nine-dot problem solving has been controversial. A commonly accepted explanation is that problem solvers often fixate on the square shape of the dot pattern and confine their lines to the square area. This study was designed to test how the phenomenon of the assumed boundary is affected by culture, age and sex. The study used the nine-dot problem as the task and age, culture and sex as independent variables. One hundred and sixty mainstreamed Chinese and mainstreamed American participants from four age groups: 6-7, 10-11, 15-16, 17-18, half of whom were males and half of whom were females, participated. The data examined to analyze participants' problem solving processes were: (1) the number of solution attempts, (2) the time spent before and after extending the boundary formed by the dots, and (3) the total time spent in solving the problem, or, in working on the problem, if participants gave up before finding the solution. The results of the study revealed a significant cultural and age effect in the number of successful solvers and the time spent on the problem. Although the overall sex difference was not significant an interaction between culture and sex was found. American girls spent less time on solving the problem than boys while Chinese girls spent more time than boys to solve the problem. Additional findings of this study were: (1) a new version of solution to the nine-dot problem and, (2) evidence that Chinese children who had taken thinking courses could solve the nine-dot problem more effectively than children who had not. The implications and limitations of the study were discussed, and recommendations for further research were made.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Cultural anthropology|Ethnic studies
Recommended Citation
Li, Chieh, "The effect of the assumed boundary in the solving of the nine-dot problem on a sample of Chinese and American students, 6-18 years old" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9120908.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9120908