A Comparison of Self-Explanation and Elaborative Interrogation

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of two learning strategies, self-explanation and elaborative interrogation, for the retention of scientific facts. University students (N = 55) were asked to learn facts about the cardiovascular system using one of three approaches. Self-explanation participants were required to explain what the facts meant to them and how they related to their prior knowledge. Elaborative interrogation participants answered "why" the facts made sense. Finally, the control group simply repeated the facts aloud. Self-explanation participants significantly outperformed elaborative interrogation and repetition control participants on measures of cued recall and recognition. Elaborative interrogation was no more effective than repetition. Results were discussed in terms of the practicality and flexibility of each approach. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.