Lynne M. Reder

Situated Learning and Education

This paper provides a review of the claims of situated learning that are having an increasing influence on education generally and mathematics education particularly. We review the four central claims of situated learning with respect to education: (1) action is grounded in the concrete situation in which it occurs; (2) knowledge does not transfer between tasks; (3) training by abstraction is of little use; and (4) instruction must be done in complex, social environments. In each case, we cite empirical literature to show that the claims are overstated and that some of the educational implications that have been taken from these claims are misguided.

What determines initial feeling of knowing? Familiarity with question terms, not with the answer

How do people know whether they have an answer to a question before they actually find it in their memory? We conducted 2 experiments exploring this question, in which Ss were trained on relatively novel 2-digit x 2-digit arithmetic problems (e.g., 23 x 27). Before answering each problem, Ss made a quick feeling of knowing judgment as to whether they could directly retrieve the answer from memory or had to compute it. Knowing the answer initially appeared to be linearly related to having a feeling of knowing the answer; however, when the frequency of exposure to complete problems and the frequency of exposure to parts of the problems were separately varied, feeling of knowing was better predicted by the frequency of presentation of the problem parts, not by knowledge of the answer. This suggests that the processes involved in knowing the answer are different from those involved in having a feeling of knowing. Specifically, an early feeling of knowing is not just based on an early read of the answer.

Strategy Selection in Question Answering.

Abstract There are multiple strategies for answering questions. For example, a statement is sometimes verified using a plausibility process and sometimes using a direct retrieval process. It is claimed that there is a distinct strategy selection phase and a framework is proposed to account for strategy selection. Six experiments support the assumptions of the proposed framework: The first three experiments show that strategy selection is under the strategic control of the subjects. These experiments also indicate what contextual variables affect this selection. Experiments 4 and 5 suggest that strategy selection also involves evaluating the question itself, while Experiment 6 suggests variables that influence the evaluation of the question. This model is shown to be consistent with processing strategies in domains other than question answering, viz., dual-task monitoring in divided attention situations.

Perspectives on Learning, Thinking, and Activity

We continue the discussion of cognitive and situative perspectives by identifying several important points on which we judge the perspectives to be in agreement: (a) Individual and social perspectives on activity are both fundamentally important in education; (b) Learning can be general, and abstractions can be efficacious, but they sometimes aren’t; (c) Situative and cognitive approaches can cast light on different aspects of the educational process, and both should be pursued vigorously; (d) Educational innovations should be informed by the available scientific knowledge base and should be evaluated and analyzed with rigorous research methods.

A mechanistic account of the mirror effect for word frequency: a computational model of remember-know judgments in a continuous recognition paradigm.

A theoretical account of the mirror effect for word frequency and of dissociations in the pattern of responding Remember vs. Know (R vs. K) for low- and high-frequency words was tested both empirically and computationally by comparing predicted with observed data theory in 3 experiments. The SAC (Source of Activation Confusion) theory of memory makes the novel prediction of more K responses for high- than for low-frequency words, for both old and new items. Two experiments used a continuous presentation and judgment paradigm that presented words up to 10 times. The computer simulation closely modeled the pattern of results, fitting new Know and Remember patterns of responding at each level of experimental presentation and for both levels of word frequency for each participant. Experiment 3 required list discrimination after each R response (Group 1) or after an R or K response (Group 2). List accuracy was better following R responses. All experiments were modeled using the same parameter values.

Models of recognition: a review of arguments in favor of a dual-process account.

The majority of computationally specified models of recognition memory have been based on a single-process interpretation, claiming that familiarity is the only influence on recognition. There is increasing evidence that recognition is, in fact, based on two processes: recollection and familiarity. This article reviews the current state of the evidence for dual-process models, including the usefulness of the remember/know paradigm, and interprets the relevant results in terms of the source of activation confusion (SAC) model of memory. We argue that the evidence from each of the areas we discuss, when combined, presents a strong case that inclusion of a recollection process is necessary. Given this conclusion, we also argue that the dual-process claim that the recollection process is always available is, in fact, more parsimonious than the single-process claim that the recollection process is used only in certain paradigms. The value of a well-specified process model such as the SAC model is discussed with regard to other types of dual-process models.

The fan effect : New results and new theories

The fan effect (Anderson, 1974) has been attributed to interference among competing associations to a concept. Recently, it has been suggested that such effects might be due to multiple mental models (Radvansky, Spieler, & Zacks, 1993) or suppression of concepts (Anderson & Spellman, 1995; Conway & Engle, 1994). We show that the ACT-R (Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational) theory, which embodies associative interference, is consistent with the Radvansky et al results and we fail to find any evidence for concept suppression in a new fan experiment. The ACT-R model provides good quantitative fits to the results from a variety of experiments. The three key concepts in these fits are (a) the associative strength between two concepts reflect the degree to which one concept predicts the other; (b) foils are rejected by retrieving mismatching facts; and (c) subjects can adjust the relative weights they give to various cues in retrieval.

A theoretical review of the misinformation effect: Predictions from an activation-based memory model

This article reviews the major empirical results and theoretical issues from over 20 years of research on people’s acceptance of false information about recently experienced events (see, e.g., Loftus, 1975). Several theoretical perspectives are assessed in terms of their ability to account for the various and sometimes conflicting results in the literature. Theoretical perspectives reviewed include the trace alteration hypothesis, the blocking hypothesis, the task demands/strategic effects hypothesis, source monitoring, and an activation-based semantic memory account. On the basis of its ability to account for the reviewed data and other cognitive phenomena, an activation-based semantic network model of memory is suggested for understanding the data and planning future research in the area.

The Role of Elaboration in the Comprehension and Retention of Prose: A Critical Review:

A review is given of recent research done in the area of prose comprehension, broadly defined. Research in the areas of educational psychology, psychology, and artificial intelligence is represented, although no pretense is made that this review is complete. This review discusses work concerned with factors that affect amount of recall, with representations of text structures, and with use of world knowledge to aid comprehension. The need for more information processing models of comprehension is stressed and an argument is made for the importance of elaboration to comprehension and retention.

What affects strategy selection in arithmetic? The example of parity and five effects on product verification

The parity effect in arithmetic problem verification tasks refers to faster and more accurate judgments for false equations when the odd/even status of the proposed answer mismatches that of the correct answer. In two experiments, we examined whether the proportion of incorrect answers that violated parity or the number of even operands in the problem affected the magnitude of these effects. Experiment 1 showed larger parity effects for problems with two even operands and larger parity effects during the second half of the experiment. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 and varied the proportion of problems violating parity. Larger parity effects were obtained when more of the false problems violated parity. Moreover, all three effects combined to show the greatest parity effects in conditions with a high proportion of parity violations in problems containing two even operands that were solved during the second half of the experiment. Experiment 3 generalized the findings to the case of five rule (i.e., checking whether a false product ends in 5 or 0), another procedure for solving and verifying multiplication problems quickly. These results (1) delineate further constraints for inclusion in models of arithmetic processing when thinking about how people select among verification strategies, (2) show combined effects of variables that traditionally have been shown to have separate effects on people’s strategy selection, and (3) are consistent with a view of strategy selection that suggests a bias either in the allocation of cognitive resources in the execution of strategies or in the order of execution of these strategies; they argue against a simple, unbiased competition among strategies.