Are self-explanations always beneficial?
We present evidence suggesting that the effect of self-explanations on learning is not always beneficial and, in fact, in some contexts has a detrimental effect. Over eight sessions, fourth-graders engaged in investigation of a database with the goal of identifying causal effects. In a separate task, children in one condition also generated self-explanations regarding the mechanisms underlying the causal effects they believed to be present. In a comparison condition, they did not. On a transfer task, children in the no-explanations condition showed superior causal inference performance. The findings are discussed as reflecting the development of "data-reading" skill with which an emphasis on explanations may interfere.
Kuhn
Deanna
D
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. dk100@columbia.edu
Katz
Jared
J
D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014163:Transfer, Psychology