Facilitating Effective Mental Processes: The Imagination and Self-Explanation Effects

Abstract

According to the expertise reversal effect (Chapter 12) during the initial phases of skill acquisition, worked examples (Chapter 8) represent an efficient form of instruction, while problem-solving practice is superior during later phases of skill acquisition. This reversal suggests that as levels of expertise increase, levels of instructional guidance should decrease. Completion tasks (Chapter 8) and faded worked examples (Chapter 13) were suggested as instructional procedures that can be used to gradually decrease the levels of guidance. Empirical evidence has indicated that these methods are a more effective and efficient means for a smooth transition from initial instruction based on worked examples to later problem-solving practice. This chapter reviews evidence supporting an alternative to studying worked examples or problem-solving practice for more knowledgeable learners. The method is based on imagining activities, procedures, or concepts, for example, imagining a problem solution provided in a recently ­studied worked example. Imagining is defined as the mental reproduction of a procedure or a concept.