Mediation effect of scientific competency on relationship between inductive reasoning and domain-general and domain-specific problem solving

• Inductive reasoning and scientific competence have an effect on domain-general and domain-specific problem solving. • Scientific competence has a mediation effect. • The mediation effect of scientific competency is greater in supporting the connection between inductive reasoning and domain-specific problem-solving. • The effect is lower for the inductive reasoning and domain-general problem-solving model. This study investigated the role of scientific competency in mediating the relationship between inductive reasoning and problem-solving. Two types of problem solving, complex problem solving and science problem solving, were used to understand problem-solving mechanisms comprehensively. The participants were 1232 Indonesian high school students (M age = 16.79 years; SD = 0.98; 36.6 % boys and 63.4 % girls). The MicroDYN test was used to measure complex problem-solving (CPS) along with science problem-solving (SPS). The other instruments were the inductive reasoning (IR) and scientific competency (SC) tests. The results indicated that SC mediated the relationship between IR with CPS and SPS simultaneously (β = 0.35, SE = 0.07, p < .001, CI (95 %) = [.24, 0.47]; β = 0.36, SE = 0.07, p < .01, CI (95 %) = [.26, 0.47], respectively). Our conclusion is that IR is relevant in supporting the dynamics of problem-solving, and it is mediated by SC. Implications and recommendations for further research are discussed.