This paper presents a study about the design of a test to measure solving problem capacities using the technique of factorial analysis. The instrument yielded a Cronbach's alpha (α) of 0.76, and 16 items distributed in 7 factors ordered according to the percentage which explained the variance in this capacity: prediction and transfer, synthesis, critical description of phrases, analysis, meta-cognitive understanding of information of phrases and processes, limitation problem. So, problem solving is a skill that is more related to structural and global factors, as the selection of appropriate solutions and hypotheses and representation of the problem, and a lesser extent with strategic issues of delimitation, precision and planning, both by the usual absence of these issues in the classroom.
Cognition; Solving problems; Factorial analysis
