Sources of Individual Differences in Children’s Matrix Problem-Solving Abilities: Evidence from Eye Movements

This study employs a novel combination of eye-tracking technology and matrix completion problems to investigate some of the sources of individual differences in problem-solving skills among 67 children aged 7-8 years. Our study provides physiological evidence that children who are better problem solvers examine the matrix areas of matrix completion problems longer than response-choice areas; a finding that suggests they are most likely adopting a constructive matching approach for solving problems. In contrast, poor problem solvers examine the response-choice areas longer than better problem solvers. They also examine the matrices for a considerable amount of time after viewing the response choices. These findings suggest that poor problem solvers are more likely to adopt a response-elimination approach for solving problems than better problem solvers. Finally, our study shows that children who are better problem solvers systematically study the rows and columns in the matrices more frequently than poor problem solvers. This latter finding suggests that better problem solvers intentionally try to extract the underlying structural features of the matrix completion problems.