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Learning about persons: the effects of text structure and executive capacity on conceptual change

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the supportive effects of conceptual change texts documented in science education (1) can also be demonstrated in the domain of social cognition and (2) are moderated by the structure of the text and the learner’s central executive capacity. In two experiments, participants were presented with a series of short texts, each describing a target person in a stereotypical manner. The description was consistent with the stereotype in one half of the text, and the initially activated stereotype was refuted by stereotype-incongruent target information in the other half. In some of the inconsistent texts, the inconsistency was explained by additional information, or the readers were not given support for resolving the inconsistency. The results indicated an interaction of type of text and central executive capacity. Higher central executive capacity fostered conceptual change but only when the texts explained the inconsistency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany

    Christiane Baadte

  2. University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

    Stephan Dutke

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  1. Christiane Baadte
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  2. Stephan Dutke
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Dr. Christiane Baadte. University of Koblenz-Landau, General and Educational Psychology, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau. Tel.: +49-6341/280-34227, E-mail: baadte@uni-landau.de; Website: http://www.paeps.uni-landau.de/index.php?id=38&L=1

Current themes of research:

Text and picture comprehension. Executive functioning. Working memory.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Mengelkamp, C., & Baadte, C. (in press). Lehren und Lernen mit Medien im Schulunterricht. In I. Vogel (Hrsg.), Kommunikation und Interaktion in der Schule.

Schnotz, W., Baadte, C., Johnson, A., & Mengelkamp, C. (2012). Knowledge acquisition from verbal and pictorial information. In M. J. Lawson & J. R. Kirby (Eds.), The Quality of Learning. Cambridge University Press.

Schnotz, W., Baadte, C., Müller, A., & Rasch, R. (2011). Kreatives Denken und Problemlösen mit bildlichen und beschreibenden Repräsentationen. In R. Sachs-Hombach, & R. Totzke (Hrsg.), Bilder - Sehen - Denken (S. 204–252). Köln: Halem.

Dutke, S., Baadte, C., Hähnel, A., von Hecker, U., & Rinck, M. (2010). Using diagnostic text information to constrain situation models. Discourse Processes, 47, 510–544.

Schnotz, W., Baadte, C., Müller, A., & Rasch, R. (2010). Creative thinking and problem solving with depictive and descriptive representations. In L. Verschaffel, E. De Corte, J. Elen & T. de Jong (Eds.) Use of external representations in reasoning and problem solving (pp. 11–35). Oxon: Routledge Chapman & Hall.

Schnotz, W., & Baadte, C. (2008). Domain learning versus language learning with multimedia. In Farias, M. & Obilinovic, K. (Eds.), Aprendizaje multimodal—multimodal learning (S. 21–49). Santiago de Chile: USACH.

Prof Dr. Stephan Dutke. University of Muenster, Department of Psychology of Education, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Muenster. Tel.: +49-251-8334301, Fax: +49-251-8334303, E-mail: stephan.dutke@psy.uni-muenster.de; Website: http://wwwpsy.uni-muenster.de/Psychologie.inst5/aedutke/personen/dutke.html

Current themes of research:

Physical activity and executive functioning. Text comprehension. Metacognition.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Barenberg, J., Berse, T., & Dutke, S. (2011). Executive functions in learning processes. Do they benefit from physical activity? Educational Research Review, 6, 208–222.

Barenberg, J., & Dutke, S. (2011). Konfidenzgewichtete True–False Items in Wissenstests für Psychologie-Lehrveranstaltungen. In M. Krämer, S. Preiser & K. Brusdeylins (Hrsg.), Psychologiedidaktik und Evaluation VIII (S. 373–381). Aachen: Shaker.

Dutke, S., & von Hecker, U. (2011). Comprehending ambiguous texts: a high reading span helps to constrain the situation model. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 23, 227–242. doi:10.1080/20445911.2011.485127

Dutke, S., Barenberg, J., & Leopold, C. (2010). Learning from text: knowing the test format enhanced metacognitive monitoring. Metacognition and Learning, 5, 195–206.

Dutke, S., Baadte, C., Hähnel, A., von Hecker, U., & Rinck, M. (2010). Using diagnostic text information to constrain situation models. Discourse Processes, 47, 510–544.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 6 The four experimental versions of a sample text
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Table 7 Adjectives used to assess the reader’s model of the target person
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Baadte, C., Dutke, S. Learning about persons: the effects of text structure and executive capacity on conceptual change. Eur J Psychol Educ 28, 1045–1064 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0153-2

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