A widely adopted theory of procedural learning claims that people construct new problem solving rules through induction over past problem solving steps. The underlying assumption that people store information about problem solving steps in memory was tested by measuring subjects' memory of their own problem solving steps in four different ways. The results support the assumption that people store enough information in memory to enable induction of new problem solving rules.

Restructuring consists of a change in the representation of the current search state, a process which breaks an impasse during problem solving by opening up new search paths. A corpus of 52 think-aloud protocols from the domain of geometry was scanned for evidence of restructuring. The data suggest that restructuring is accomplished by re-parsing the geometric diagram.

We hypothesize that two important functions of declarative knowledge in learning is to enable the learner to detect and to correct errors. W e describe psychologically plausible mechanisms for both functions. The mechanisms are implemented in a computational model which learns cognitive skills in three different domains, illustrating the cognitive function of abstract principles, concrete facts, and tutoring messages in skill acquisition.

The majority of conceptual change studies have investigated either manipulations of the learning environment or examinedthe effect of individual differences on conceptual change (Cordova, et al. 2014; Taasoobshirazi & Sinatra, 2011). In eithercase, the importance of interactions is left out. The present study investigates whether individual differences in hot andcold cognitive ability and task scaffolding interact with each other in their effect on conceptual change. Participants(n = 299) were tasked with determining how best to categorize whether a fictitious bacteria is oxygen resistant acrossthree learning conditions. The results suggest that a refutational text produces better learning gains than an expositorytext, which outperforms feedback alone. Moreover, hot and cold cognitive factors were found to interact with learnerscaffolding differentially. The results of this research project can be used to improve instructional practices, which, inturn, should aid learners understanding of scientific conceptions.

Researchers argue that dissatisfaction with a misconception is a prerequisite for adopting an alternative conception and that having clear feedback aids learning. The present study investigated the importance of ambiguity (having response options that support both the misconception and target learning category), falsification, and category induction opportunities when overriding a prior conception in favor of a new conception. The results suggest that ambiguity and direct falsification opportunities may aid in learning more than having both direct falsification and induction opportunities, which may be better than ambiguity and providing induction opportunities without direct falsification. Ambiguity may improve learning when coupled with falsification opportunities. Implications are discussed.