How People Learn:
Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School
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BOX 3.3
Throwing Darts
In one of the most famous early studies comparing the effects of
"learning a procedure" with "learning with understanding," two groups of
children practiced throwing darts at a target underwater (Scholckow and
Judd, described in Judd, 1908; see a conceptual replication by
Hendrickson and Schroeder, 1941). One group received an explanation of
refraction of light, which causes the apparent location of the target to
be deceptive. The other group only practiced dart throwing, without the
explanation. Both groups did equally well on the practice task, which
involved a target 12 inches under water. But the group that had been
instructed about the abstract principle did much better when they had to
transfer to a situation in which the target was under only 4 inches of
water. Because they understood what they were doing, the group that had
received instruction about the refraction of light could adjust their
behavior to the new task.
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