EFFECTS OF CONTEXT ON THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE IN CONTROLLING A DYNAMIC SYSTEM

Stark et al. (1995) showed that multiple teaming contexts can facilita te learning to control a dynamic system whereas the acquisition of str uctural knowledge was impaired. In an experiment the generalizability of this dissociation was tested. The context was manipulated by presen ting relevant as well as irrelevant system variables to the experiment al group (n = 29) but only the relevant variables to the control group (n = 31). By means of the irrelevant variables input-effects which ar e important for problem-solving can be analysed by multiple examples. Consistent with expectations this learning context had positive effect s on control performance but negative effects on the the acquisition o f structural knowledge. It was suggested that learning contexts requir ing additional cognitive ressources for problem-solving can have diffe rential effects on the acquisition of structural knowledge and the acq uisition of control knowledge.