Additional domains

Inductive reasoning means generalization based on individual experiences. It is a fundamental means of acquiring new knowledge and applying the acquired knowledge in novel situations. Inductive reasoning is one of the most widely researched cognitive skills. It is compared to a number of cognitive phenomena: general intelligence, problem-solving skills or learning ability.

The tests used in grades 3-11 were constructed by Benő Csapó. The instruments applied in grades 3 and 4 consist of 4 subtests: letter sequences, number analogies, word analogies and number sequences. 

The test used to measure inductive reasoning in grades 1 and 2 consists of 37 figural items and was developed by Gyöngyvér Molnár. Considering the age of the target population special efforts were made to construct a nonverbal test, i. e. to include the most pictures and figures possible and to minimize text quantity. The structure of the test is based on Klauer's definition of inductive reasoning, thus individual thinking operations (generalization, discrimination, cross-classification, recognizing relations, discriminating relations, system formation) are measured on individual subtests.

 

 

The assessment of the development of combinative reasoning in Hungary started in the Department of Education, József Attila University, Szeged at the end of the 1970's. The structure of the tasks was constructed based on the eight combinative operations identified in the preliminary work of theoretical analysis. The test consisted of altogether 12 – 6 formal and 6 pictorial – tasks, each with six different structures: repetitive and non-repetitive variations, non-repetitive combinations, all repetitive variations, all subsets and Descartes multiplications. In the formal tasks students had to construct a structure of numbers and letters, according to the predefined conditions. As opposed to pictorial tasks, in formal tasks no direct image can foster the work of solving the task. The test was constructed by Benő Csapó.

 

Complex problem solving has been part of OECD PISA program since 2003. The first assessments in the field in Hungary were conducted by Gyöngyvér Molnár at the turn of the millennium – prior to the PISA program. The Hungarian Educational Longitudinal Program utilizes her instruments. The tests intend to measure how students can transfer and apply their knowledge in new, realistic situations. The complex problem solving tasks span across school subjects and require students to solve problems they have never encountered in the same format before. The most problems in the tests focus on basic knowledge that is essential for all the students, and has already been acquired in the several years of mathematics and science education.

 

The program investigates text comprehension in English and German. Language skills are measured with tasks based on linguistic meaning that require students to understand the text. The tasks do not measure drilled structures, vocabulary or knowledge about the language, rather realistic language skills applicable in everyday situations. The task content and level of difficulty fits to the language levels, topics, task- and text-types described in the National Core Curriculum (1995, 2003) and the frame curricula (2000). In addition, they correspond to the six level requirement system of the Common European Framework (2002). In terms of this six level system, the level of task difficulty reaches level B1 in case of grade 8 students and B2 in case of grade 12 students. The development of the measures was led by Marianne Nikolov.