Refutation texts enhance spontaneous transfer of knowledge

Katinka Beker; Jasmine Kim; Martin Van Boekel; Paul van den Broek; Panayiota A Kendeou

doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.11.004

Refutation texts enhance spontaneous transfer of knowledge

Katinka Beker, Jasmine Kim, Martin Van Boekel, Paul van den Broek, Panayiota A Kendeou

Educational Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study, we investigated whether refutation texts (i.e., texts that explicitly state and refute a misconception) facilitate spontaneous transfer of revised knowledge to new situations. In Experiments 1 and 2, students read refutation, transfer, and non-refutation texts. Transfer texts were either preceded by refutation (Experiment 1) or non-refutation texts (Experiment 2). In both experiments, comprehension of the transfer texts required activation and use of the correct belief. Each text contained a target sentence that was consistent with the correct belief. In both experiments, reading times of the target sentences were collected and compared to provide an implicit measure of transfer. Additionally, a transfer problem test was also administered after reading the texts to assess transfer in a more explicit way. The results revealed that refutation texts are more effective in facilitating revision and spontaneous transfer of revised knowledge than non-refutation texts. These results add to the growing body of evidence for the applicability of using refutation texts in revising misconceptions.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	67-78
Number of pages	12
Journal	Contemporary Educational Psychology
Volume	56
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.11.004
State	Published - Jan 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research is part of the research program Brain and Cognition: Societal Innovation in Health, Education and Safety (HCMI), which is financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), under grant number 056-33-018. The research reported in this paper has been made possible through support from the Leiden Brain & Education Lab, the Reading + Language Lab at the University of Minnesota, the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, and the Leiden University Fund/van Walsem. The authors wish to thank the students who participated in the experiments and research assistant Bader Mohsen who collected the data for Experiment 2.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018

Keywords

Knowledge revision
Refutation text
Transfer
Transfer text

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title = "Refutation texts enhance spontaneous transfer of knowledge",

abstract = "In this study, we investigated whether refutation texts (i.e., texts that explicitly state and refute a misconception) facilitate spontaneous transfer of revised knowledge to new situations. In Experiments 1 and 2, students read refutation, transfer, and non-refutation texts. Transfer texts were either preceded by refutation (Experiment 1) or non-refutation texts (Experiment 2). In both experiments, comprehension of the transfer texts required activation and use of the correct belief. Each text contained a target sentence that was consistent with the correct belief. In both experiments, reading times of the target sentences were collected and compared to provide an implicit measure of transfer. Additionally, a transfer problem test was also administered after reading the texts to assess transfer in a more explicit way. The results revealed that refutation texts are more effective in facilitating revision and spontaneous transfer of revised knowledge than non-refutation texts. These results add to the growing body of evidence for the applicability of using refutation texts in revising misconceptions.",

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Refutation texts enhance spontaneous transfer of knowledge

Abstract

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Keywords

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