An Experimental Comparison of the Integrated Knowledge Acquisition and the Example Dominance Hypotheses
Franz Schmalhofer · 2019
This chapter performs a competitive evaluation of comprehension-based theories against this key assumption of case-based learning. More specifically, experimentally test the integrated knowledge-acquisition hypothesis of comprehension-based learning against the example-dominance hypothesis of case-based theories of learning. In terms of current theories of text processing, it may be postulated that learners do not perform strategic inferencing when reading a text in combination with examples: Only automatic inferencing is performed and a textbase is formed. From the examples, a template base and a (partial) situation model are constructed. Given that in real life learning materials, examples are frequently presented together with text and seem to play an important role in acquiring new knowledge, something appears to be fundamentally wrong with LeFevre and Dixon’s recommendations. An experiment was performed in which the predictions of the example-dominance hypothesis could be compared to the integrated knowledge-acquisition hypothesis in a more natural learning situation.