The aim of this study was to develop a novel cognitive procedure for operationalizing how the re-encoding and constraint relaxation, suggested by representational change theory (RCT) (Ohlsson, 1992, 2011), can effect representational change in verbal insight problem solving, thus circumventing the constraints imposed by past experience. Some participants were trained in using an evaluative cognitive procedure that aimed to facilitate the identification of any inconsistency between the participant's interpretation of the problem and the problem statement, and thus cue the re-encoding proposed by RCT. In Experiment 1, participants were randomly allocated to training, practice, or a no-training control condition, and were subsequently tested on 7 verbal insight problems. Concurrent verbal protocols were collected and analyzed to identify problem solvers' proposed hypotheses and also to assess whether problem solving behavior changed in line with the training. Inconsistency identification training, rather than practice or no training, improved solution rate across novel problems and resulted in more paraphrasing and questioning of the problem statement, and a modest increase in participants' reflection on their problem solving. Results from Experiment 2 indicated that this improvement in representation change through training was not due to increased awareness of the nature of verbal insight problems but rather training in identifying inconsistencies between the problem statement and a person's interpretation of it. Experiment 3 revealed that the performance improvement with training was sustained after a delay of 48 hr. Theoretical and methodological issues are discussed.

The present study introduces a new important variable into a model of training motivation, namely that of being in one's chosen job. Evidence exists that having some control and choice over aspects of training have positive effects on training motivation. We propose that being in one's chosen job will also have such an effect, as it provides trainees with greater autonomy regarding their career progression (e.g., Gagné & Deci, 2005) and aligns their training activity closely with their personal goals (e.g., Locke & Latham, 2002). Pre‐ and post‐training surveys were completed by 232 instructors who were themselves on a military training course. Results confirmed the positive effects of being in one's chosen job on the pre‐training attitudes of self‐efficacy and training motivation with further direct effects on motivation to transfer, and indirect effects on knowledge acquisition and post‐training self‐efficacy. Findings have both theoretical and practical ramifications. Being in one's chosen job should be incorporated into models of training motivation and, whenever possible, employees being re‐deployed should be granted their job preference because this is associated with important positive effects on pre‐training attitudes and motivation to transfer new skills to the work environment.

Purpose -This paper develops a set of generic prompting principles and a framework of prompts that have the potential to foster learning and skill acquisition among adult novices when performing complex, ill-structured problems.Design/methodology/approach -Relevant research in the literatures surrounding problem structure, sensemaking, expertise, metacognition, scaffolding and cognitive load were reviewed and synthesised in order to derive generic prompting principles and guidelines for their implementation.Findings -A framework of generic principles and prompts is proposed. Differentiation between prompts supporting cognition either within, or after an ill-structured problemsolving task was supported.Practical implications -Prompts such as those proposed in the framework developed presently can be designed into technology-enhanced learning environments in order to structure and guide the cognitive processes of novices. In addition, prompts can be combined with other learning support technologies (e.g., research diaries, collaborative discourse) in order to support learning. Empirical testing will be required to quantify the potential benefits (and limitations of) the proposed prompting framework.Originality/value -The prompts developed constitute a framework for structuring and guiding learning efforts in domains where explicit, actionable feedback is often unavailable.The proposed framework offers a method of tailoring the scaffolding of prompts in order to support differing levels of problem structure and may serve as the basis for establishing an

This paper investigates whether, and if so how much, prior training and experience overwrite the influence of the constraints of the task environment on strategy deployment. This evidence is relevant to the theory of soft constraints that focuses on the role of constraints in the task environment (Gray, Simms, Fu, & Schoelles, Psychological Review, 113: 461-482, 2006). The theory explains how an increase in the cost of accessing information induces a more memory-based strategy involving more encoding and planning. Experiments 1 and 3 adopt a traditional training and transfer design using the Blocks World Task in which participants were exposed to training trials involving a 2.5-s delay in accessing goal-state information before encountering transfer trials in which there was no access delay. The effect of prior training was assessed by the degree of memory-based strategy adopted in the transfer trials. Training with an access delay had a substantial carryover effect and increased the subsequent degree of memorybased strategy adopted in the transfer environment. However, such effects do not necessarily occur if goal-state access cost in training is less costly than in transfer trials (Experiment 2). Experiment 4 used a fine-grained intra-trial design to examine the effect of experiencing access cost on one, two, or three occasions within the same trial and found that such experience on two consecutive occasions was sufficient to induce a more memory-based strategy. This paper establishes some effects of training that are relevant to the soft constraints theory and also discusses practical implications.