Sung-il Kim

A More Equitable Account of the Note-Taking Functions in Learning from Lecture and from Text.

Previous research investigating the encoding, encoding-plus-storage, and extermal-storage functions of note taking has failed to equate processing opportunities among the groups. The present studies did so by having the encoding group take notes on two occasions without review, the encoding-plus-storage group take notes one time and review notes the next, and the external-storage group twice review a set of borrowed notes. Three forms of note taking were used: conventional, and note taking on skeletal and matrix frameworks. In both Experiment 1, involving lecture learning, and Experiment 2, involving text learning, an advantage was found for the encoding-plus-storage function on tests involving factual-recall and recognition performance but not on tests measuring higher-order performance. With respect to note-taking forms, no advantage existed for any form when information was acquired from lecture. When text material was used there was some advantage for conventional notes and a clear advantage for not taking notes at all, but instead twice reading the material. These findings were explained relative to observed note-taking behaviors, the opportunity for review, and the processing demands proposed by the combination of reading and note taking, particularly when notes must be classified into an existing framework.

The effect of animation on comprehension and interest

Although animations are believed to be effective in learning and teaching, several studies have failed to confirm this. Nevertheless, animations might be more attractive and motivating. Fourth and sixth grade students learned the operation of a bicycle pump from graphics that were: (i) presented simultaneously; (ii) presented successively; (iii) self-paced, or (iv) animated. The presentation mode affected evaluation of perceived comprehensibility, interestingness,enjoymentandmotivation,butnotcomprehensiontestscore.Fourthgraderswhowere lowinneedforcognitionratedtheanimationsasmoreenjoyableandmotivating,whereassixth graders rated self-paced graphics as more interesting and motivating. The evaluations of sixth graders correspond to results of many studies on learning. Animations are not more effective than equivalent static graphics in learning, and they are not seen as more motivating by sixth graders.

Causal bridging inference: A cause of story interestingness

Three experiments were conducted to examine whether the interestingness of a story would be influenced by the degree of causal bridging inferences a reader generates during reading. Implicit and explicit versions of the same story were used as experimental materials because it was assumed that the implicit versions lead the reader to generate causal bridging inferences. In Expt 1, it was found that the implicit versions were rated as more interesting than the explicit versions. When Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) rate of less than 400 milliseconds was used to prevent inference generation in Expt 2, there was no difference in interestingness ratings between the implicit and explicit versions. However, when the RSVP rate was increased to more than 400 milliseconds in Expt 3, implicit versions produced greater interest than explicit versions. The results of three experiments suggest that the implicit versions are no more interesting than the explicit versions unless the readers generate causal bridging inferences. It is concluded that the interestingness of a story is affected by inference generation. A hypothetical model of the occurrence of the cognitive interest is also discussed.

Neuroscientific Model of Motivational Process

Considering the neuroscientific findings on reward, learning, value, decision-making, and cognitive control, motivation can be parsed into three sub processes, a process of generating motivation, a process of maintaining motivation, and a process of regulating motivation. I propose a tentative neuroscientific model of motivational processes which consists of three distinct but continuous sub processes, namely reward-driven approach, value-based decision-making, and goal-directed control. Reward-driven approach is the process in which motivation is generated by reward anticipation and selective approach behaviors toward reward. This process recruits the ventral striatum (reward area) in which basic stimulus-action association is formed, and is classified as an automatic motivation to which relatively less attention is assigned. By contrast, value-based decision-making is the process of evaluating various outcomes of actions, learning through positive prediction error, and calculating the value continuously. The striatum and the orbitofrontal cortex (valuation area) play crucial roles in sustaining motivation. Lastly, the goal-directed control is the process of regulating motivation through cognitive control to achieve goals. This consciously controlled motivation is associated with higher-level cognitive functions such as planning, retaining the goal, monitoring the performance, and regulating action. The anterior cingulate cortex (attention area) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (cognitive control area) are the main neural circuits related to regulation of motivation. These three sub processes interact with each other by sending reward prediction error signals through dopaminergic pathway from the striatum and to the prefrontal cortex. The neuroscientific model of motivational process suggests several educational implications with regard to the generation, maintenance, and regulation of motivation to learn in the learning environment.

The role of prior knowledge and elaboration in text comprehension and memory: a comparison of self-generated elaboration and text-provided elaboration.

Four experiments investigated the interactive effect of text-provided elaborations and prior knowledge on text comprehension and memory. Subjects read 28 episodes, half of which were associated with well-known people and the other half with unknown people. In Experiment 1, text-provided elaborations enhanced recall only when the reader did not have a high level of prior knowledge. The findings from Experiment 1 were hypothesized to be the result of readers generating relevant elaborations during text comprehension. Experiment 2 supported this hypothesis by providing evidence of self-generated elaborations. The results from Experiments 3 and 4 extended these findings by showing that readers with high prior knowledge automatically generate causally relevant elaborations when the sentences have a low relation.

Effects of Advance Organizers and Repeated Presentations on Students' Learning

Abstract An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of advance organizers and repeating a lecture on test performance. Participants viewed a videotaped lecture about the process of radar once, twice, or three times. Before each viewing, they studied one of three different advance organizers—a conventional organizer that summarized the main steps of the radar process as a list, a linear organizer that summarized the steps and subordinate information in outline form, and a matrix organizer that summarized the steps and subordinate information in matrix form. Repeated presentations of the lecture increased note taking, recognition of isolated facts, and overall recall to some degree. Advance organizers had a test-appropriate effect The advance organizers that integrated subtopic information (linear and matrix) increased recall of subtopic information, whereas the more general organizer (conventional) aided overall recall, especially general topic information. No performance differences were observed ...

Interaction between task values and self-efficacy on maladaptive achievement strategy use

We tested the interaction between task value and self-efficacy on defensive pessimism, academic cheating, procrastination and self-handicapping among 574 Korean 11th graders in the context of English as a foreign language. We hypothesised that perceiving high value in tasks or domains for which self-efficacy was low would pose a threat to perceived self-worth, leading students to resort to various maladaptive achievement strategies. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that, consistent with our hypothesis, the relationships of task value with academic cheating and procrastination depended on the level of self-efficacy. Perceiving high intrinsic value positively predicted academic cheating for students with low self-efficacy but not for students with high self-efficacy. Likewise, perceiving intrinsic or utility value positively predicted procrastination for students with low self-efficacy but not for students with high self-efficacy. Our findings support the major tenets of self-worth theory.

Effects of Achievement Goals on Challenge Seeking and Feedback Processing: Behavioral and fMRI Evidence

We conducted behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research to investigate the effects of two types of achievement goals—mastery goals and performance-approach goals— on challenge seeking and feedback processing. The results of the behavioral experiment indicated that mastery goals were associated with a tendency to seek challenge, both before and after experiencing difficulty during task performance, whereas performance-approach goals were related to a tendency to avoid challenge after encountering difficulty during task performance. The fMRI experiment uncovered a significant decrease in ventral striatal activity when participants received negative feedback for any task type and both forms of achievement goals. During the processing of negative feedback for the rule-finding task, performance-approach-oriented participants showed a substantial reduction in activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the frontopolar cortex, whereas mastery-oriented participants showed little change. These results suggest that performance-approach-oriented participants are less likely to either recruit control processes in response to negative feedback or focus on task-relevant information provided alongside the negative feedback. In contrast, mastery-oriented participants are more likely to modulate aversive valuations to negative feedback and focus on the constructive elements of feedback in order to attain their task goals. We conclude that performance-approach goals lead to a reluctant stance towards difficulty, while mastery goals encourage a proactive stance.

Neural Correlates of Bridging Inferences and Coherence Processing

We explored the neural correlates of bridging inferences and coherence processing during story comprehension using Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Ten healthy right-handed volunteers were visually presented three types of stories (Strong Coherence, Weak Coherence, and Control) consisted of three sentences. The causal connectedness among sentences in the Strong Coherence story was strong that readers would not have to generate bridging inferences, whereas the causal antecedent of the last sentence in the Weak Coherence story was not explicitly stated so that readers should draw bridging inferences to fill the gap between sentences. It was found that the left middle temporal gyrus was activated while participants read the Weak Coherence stories. In contrast, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex were activated only in the Strong Coherence condition. This suggests that the dmPFC was involved in coherence processing whereas bridging inference was mediated by the left middle temporal gyrus. It was also found that anterior temporal pole and the temporo-parietal junction mediated general semantic processing.

Effects of informative and confirmatory feedback on brain activation during negative feedback processing

The current study compared the effects of informative and confirmatory feedback on brain activation during negative feedback processing. For confirmatory feedback trials, participants were informed that they had failed the task, whereas informative feedback trials presented task relevant information along with the notification of their failure. Fourteen male undergraduates performed a series of spatial-perceptual tasks and received feedback while their brain activity was recorded. During confirmatory feedback trials, greater activations in the amygdala, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the thalamus (including the habenular) were observed in response to incorrect responses. These results suggest that confirmatory feedback induces negative emotional reactions to failure. In contrast, informative feedback trials elicited greater activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when participants experienced failure. Further psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis revealed a negative coupling between the DLPFC and the amygdala during informative feedback relative to confirmatory feedback trials. These findings suggest that providing task-relevant information could facilitate implicit down-regulation of negative emotions following failure.