Effects of Mental Imagery and Levels of Processing on Analogy Problem Solving among Undergraduate Students

Abstract

This study examined the effects of mental imagery and levels of processing on analogy problem-solving ability of undergraduate students. Participants (N = 138) were second and third level undergraduate students of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. There were 69 males and 69 females. Their ages ranged between 18 and 30 years (M_age = 22.57, SD = 5.72) were selected through simple random sampling. Participants were tested on analogy problem solving. Two hypotheses were stated and tested. The results revealed that a significant mean score difference exist between participants who possessed the high mental imagery and others who utilized the low mental imagery on analogy problem solving, F (1, 134) = 6.93, P<.05.  Also, participants who used the high mental imagery showed superior analogy problem-solving ability than participants who used the low mental imagery on analogy problem solving. Further, results indicated that a significant mean score difference exist between deep and shallow participants on analogy problem solving, F (1, 134) = 10.85, P<.05. A significant interaction effect of mental imagery and levels of processing was also found, indicating that neither mental imagery nor levels of processing had a simple independent effect on analogy problem-solving ability, F (1, 134) = 6.28, P<.05.  This study recommend that undergraduate students, pupils and other higher learners should be encouraged and supported to learn the processes of mental imagery formation and levels of processing as this led to societal problem solving and students’ academic achievement.