Knowledge transfer in learning from texts

Perry W. Thorndyke

Expert InsightsPublished 1977

The process of acquiring knowledge from texts is considered from two perspectives: the learning of the individual facts in the text, and the integration of the facts into a coherent representation reflecting relations among the facts. The former process is presumed to depend on the linguistic content of the text, while the latter process depends primarily on the text structure, or the manner in which the content is organized. The acquisition of information from a text can be influenced by alterations to either process. Repeating structure across successively presented texts facilitates memory for the later passages. This suggests that knowledge of text structure is used to guide encoding of specific facts. On the other hand, repeating some text content in passages with different structures produces interference in learning of the new content in later passages. The implications of these results for the selection of instructional strategies are discussed.

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1977
  • Pages: 19
  • Document Number: P-5773

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Thorndyke, Perry W., Knowledge transfer in learning from texts. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1977. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P5773.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.