The Psychological Processes of Constructing a Mental Model when Learning by being Told, from Examples, and by Exploration

Abstract

The current paper presents a detailed description of an integrative simulation model, which specifies the psychological knowledge acquisition process in learning by being told (learning from text), in learning from examples (learning from a demonstration) and in learning by exploration. A learner's prior domain knowledge, which may consist of domain specific knowledge and general heuristics, has a critical influence in what is being learned. For various degrees of prior knowledge, the simulation specifies the different ways by which a mental model may be formed. Consequently, it can be applied for evaluating the effectiveness of the different learning methods and instruction materials as well as the influence of a learner's prior knowledge.