Is There a (Dis-)Fluency Effect in Learning With Handwritten Instructional Texts? Evidence From Three Studies

The disfluency effect postulates that intentionally inserted desirable difficulties can have a beneficial effect on learning. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing discussion about the emergence of this effect since studies could not replicate this effect or even found opposite effects. To clarify boundary effects of the disfluency effect and to investigate potential social effects of disfluency operationalized through handwritten material, three studies (N1 = 97; N2 = 102; N3 = 103) were carried out. In all three experiments, instructional texts were manipulated in terms of disfluency (computerized font vs. handwritten font). Learning outcomes and cognitive load were measured in all experiments. Furthermore, metacognitive variables (Experiment 2 and 3) and social presence (Experiment 3) were measured. Results were ambiguous, indicating that element interactivity (complexity or connectedness of information within the learning material) of the learning material is a boundary condition that determines the effects of disfluency. When element interactivity is low, disfluency had a positive effect on learning outcomes and germane processes. When element interactivity increases, disfluency had negative impacts on learning efficiency (Experiment 2 and 3) and extraneous load (Experiment 3). In contrast to common explanations of the disfluency effect, a disfluent font had no metacognitive benefits. Social processes did not influence learning with disfluent material as well.

Thematic organization of instructional texts as a linguistic basis for the acquisition of knowledge by an intelligent agent

The article examines the thematic organization of instructional texts in the aspect of problems relevant to work on the creation of a cognitive assistant. The purpose of the assistant is to provide a user with the necessary information to follow the rules of a particular scenario to successfully achieve a goal according to the search query. The query containing certain keywords, further specified as the task being solved, is focused on a detailed set of topics which mark the subject areas reflected in the scenario. The authors of the article provide a review of some linguistic works devoted to the issues of theme-rhematic structuring of a produced text and its compression within the limits of keywords. The importance of the description of the text’s thematic chains, to obtain the detailed objective information on its thematic structure, is emphasized. When comparing the list of keywords identified by the automatic system TextApplianсe in a collection of Internet-extracted instructional texts retrieved from the Internet with the results of hand-held analysis of these texts, to determine the place of various nominative units in the text’s thematic organization, the authors consider the most significant characteristics of a keyword shown in different nominative units to varying degrees. This is a high indicator of a text identifier, content capacity, and communicative significance of a word or a substantive phrase as a marker of important information for a recipient. Defining keywords in whole instructional texts and in relatively independent text fragments (subtexts) that describe individual stages of the user’s goal achievement (for example, the stages of selecting a car, its inspection, making a transaction, car registration) makes it possible to improve the quality of scenario identification in the Network. Extracting keywords along with their context allows for the creation of a recommendations’ database for users automatically. The significance of the theme-rhematic text structure analysis, as a sign for its modeling in the sign picture of the world, is revealed.

Humility and instruction in Zephaniah 3.1-7

The rapid and unmarked transition from the oracle against Assyria/Nineveh in Zephaniah 2.13-15 to the condemnation of Jerusalem in 3.1-7 rhetorically underscores the deep and troubling continuity between Jerusalem and Assyria/Nineveh. This article examines this continuity in light of two important elements of the book of Zephaniah: the depiction of Assyria (and those nations aligned with it) as prideful and the scribal character of 3.1-7. The finding is that Zeph. 3.1-7 presents Jerusalem and its leaders as paralleling the arrogant Assyrians and like-minded nations in a way that spurs Zephaniah’s exilic scribal audience to adopt a fundamental attitude of humility. Such humility accepts the authority of Yahwistic teachers and instructional texts in order to avoid future judgment against Jerusalem. In a scribal context, repudiating Assyrian-style pride may also entail rejecting education (putatively) aligned with Assyria/Babylon.

The graphics of carving

The Graphics of Carving is a study of infographics - images used to teach a skill. Carving was once considered a vital accomplishment because it involved issues of social status, etiquette and hygiene. Beginning in the fifteenth century books of manners, cookbooks, and instructional texts included imagery and symbols to complement the written word. Rather than a decorative enhancement, carving illustrations served as instructional devices. Carving in public was once an essential part of European elite dining culture but as this culture changed, the persona of the carver and the audience for book illustrations that recorded his art were transformed. This article examines the evolving strategies designers employed to represent a complex manual task on a two-dimensional surface.