Contradictory evidence has been reported on the effects of discovery learning approach and the role of instructional explanations. By manipulating the presence of instruction (verbal explanation) and transparency of problem structures, we investigated how effects of instructional explanations differed depending on the transparency of problem…

Two stages of skill development are: declarative (facts are interpreted) and procedural (knowledge is embodied in skill procedures). Knowledge compilation moves skills from the declarative to procedural stage in subprocesses of composition, which collapses sequences of productions into single productions, and proceduralization, which embeds…

The ACT theory of the learning of procedures is described. ACT is a computer simulation program that uses a propositional network to represent knowledge of general facts and a set of productions (condition action rules) to represent knowledge of procedures. There are currently four different mechanisms by which ACT can make additions and…

Research supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health to Mr. Bower. (VM)

Reviews the following claims of situated learning: action is grounded in the concrete situation in which it occurs; knowledge does not transfer between tasks; training by abstraction is of little use; and instruction must be done in complex, social environments. The authors, focusing on mathematics education, critically evaluate each claim and…

Adaptive control of thought-rational (ACT-R; J. R. Anderson & C. Lebiere, 1998) has evolved into a theory that consists of multiple modules but also explains how these modules are integrated to produce coherent cognition. The perceptual-motor modules, the goal module, and the declarative memory module are presented as examples of specialized…

The author analyzes some recent developments in the debate over the status of mental imagery. He attempts to specify what a propositional theory is, and considers arguments for and against the imagery position, i.e., whether visual imagery is encoded in terms of properties that are quite spatial and modality specific. (Author/RK)

This study reports two experiments which indicate that the processes of providing subjects with insightful representations of example programs and guiding subjects through an "ideal" problem solving strategy facilitate learning. A production system model (GRAPES) has been developed that simulates problem-solving and learning in the…

Argues that the cognitive methodology has delivered real educational applications in a way that the situative methodology has not, and fundamentally can not, and suggests these two approaches should be judged by their abilities to improve education. It addresses each of J. G. Greeno's (1997) criticisms of the situative perspective and argues…

The process of forming operator schemata was studied in three experiments. In each experiment a greater amount of predictive information in a stimulus item increased the chance of selecting the operator accurately.

According to the ACT theory of skill acquisition, cognitive skills are encoded by a set of productions, which are organized according to a hierarchical goal structure. People solve problems in new domains by applying weak problem-solving procedures to declarative knowledge they have about this domain. From these initial problem solutions,…