Learning and interactivity in solving a transformation problem.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Distributed Cognition

Background:

• Human thinking often relies on external tools and artifacts to augment problem-solving capabilities.
• The level of interactivity with these tools can influence learning and transfer of skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of interactivity in problem-solving using a river-crossing task.
• To examine how the sequence of experiencing low versus high interactivity conditions affects learning and skill transfer.

Main Methods:

• Participants completed a river-crossing problem under varying levels of interactivity (low and high).
• Experiments involved counterbalanced order of conditions (Experiment 1A) and between-subjects manipulation (Experiment 2).
• Learning was measured by latency to completion and latency per move.

Main Results:

• Learning was more pronounced when participants experienced the high interactivity condition second.
• Skill transfer was limited when moving from high to low interactivity, but effective from low to high.
• Faster latency per move was observed in the high interactivity group across both presentations.

Conclusions:

• The sequence of interactivity exposure significantly impacts learning and the transfer of problem-solving skills.
• High interactivity facilitates faster problem-solving, and skills acquired in low interactivity transfer better to high interactivity.
• Distributed cognition offers a valuable framework for understanding learning and transfer in ecologically situated problem-solving.