Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

The symposium on "Visual Reasoning in Discovery, Instruction and Problem Solving" will consist of three talks focusing on the role of visual reasoning in higher level cognitive processes. As this is a newly emerging research area spanning cognitive science and artificiaJ intelligence, the symposium is designed both to inform and to stimulate interest, discussion, and further enquiry. The speakers will consider visual reasoning in three areas: scientific reasoning and discovery, learning and instruction, and problem solving. The talks will show how several different types of data can contribute to a clearer understanding of processes, mechanisms, and strategies underlying visual reasoning. First, N2uicy Nersessian will cover the discovery aspect by providing a historical view on visual representation in creative scientific reasoiung. Next, Rogers Hall will cover the educational aspect by laying out a set of genered educational questions concerning the role of representational forms, and discussing studies of how people coordinate representational resources while working on problems in different instructional and work settings. Finally, Mary Hegarty and Hari Narayanan will together cover the problem solving cispect from both experimental and computational perspectives.