From Daniel Kahneman to cognitive education

Abstract

The first part of the paper briefly discusses the selected scientific achievements of Daniel Kahneman. Cognitive errors discovered by the laureate of 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences are analysed, as well as their importance that goes far beyond the domain of economy. Special attention is attached to possible applications of Kahneman’s ideas in modern cognitive didactics. The second part presents the specific research methods and results obtained by the group of researchers at the Pedagogical University of Cracow. In particular, the authors focus on the research, with the use of eye-tracker SMI 1250 HZ, on students’ eyes activity during solving problems. The article describes the results of studies on the high school students declaring interest in studying subjects and their intention to become scientists. It shows significant differences between the reaction of the eyes of examined students, measured by the time of looking at the distribution of possible distractors in the eye tracking record, and their final answers. The differences in strategies of problem solving undertaken by the groups of beginners (first year students) and experts (PhD students) are also discussed.