Logical reasoning and the game of chess : in search of relations / Raciocinio logico e o jogo de xadrez : em busca de relações

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2010

RESUMO

This study aimed to research if there is a positive correlation between the performances at the game of chess and on the Logical Thought Evaluation Scale (Echelle de Developpement de la Pensée Logique - EDPL). The theoretical basis for this study has been Jean Piaget´s Genetic Epistemology, focusing on the concepts of real, possible and necessary. Participants at the research were thirty chess players, high school students at a public school from Curitiba, which were divided, according to their proficiency at chess, into three groups of ten students: elementary, intermediate and advanced. The group of advanced players has been selected by the chess teacher in the school, from students with the best performances at competitions, and the chess rating was also employed, to quantify performances of these advanced players. The chess teacher has also indicated the students for the groups of elementary and intermediate players. Three types of tools for data collection were used: a scale for assessing the level of cognitive development (the EDPL); games played by all participants against a computer program; and a chess tournament between the advanced players. Data analysis was divided into four main stages. First, the games played against the computer were analyzed, to characterize and compare groups as to their chess performance, and calculate their index of expertise at chess. Second, comparing chess level and performances on the EDPL, to identify at which tests of the EDPL the participants have performed best. Third, comparisons between the performances at the chess tournament, played by the advanced group, and the performances on the EDPL, to check if these performances were similar. Finally, comparisons were made between sex, age and grade on the EDPL, to check possible differences in these variables on the EDPL. Data analysis has showed that the overall performance of the students from the advanced group, on the EDPL, was 31.7% higher than that of the other students. Out of the four tests of the EDPL demanding formal cognitive level, students from the advanced group had superior performances at three of them: permutations, with a 50% higher performance; probability, with a 27.15% higher performance; and mechanical curves, with a 46.73% higher performance. Thus, the data researched and verified allow one to affirm that there is a positive correlation between chess performance and the performance on the EDPL.

ASSUNTO(S)

xadrez - jogos pensamento (psicologia) cognição game of chess thought (psychology) cognition

Documentos Relacionados