Blocking as a friend of induction in verbal category learning

Sorensen, Linda J.

doi:10.3758/s13421-016-0615-x

Cited by 13 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Although category similarity and category type have both been shown to moderate the efficacy of learning techniques, the interaction between these two factors has received scant empirical or theoretical attention. Several researchers have speculated about the possibility of such an interaction, but have not offered a thorough treatment of the subject (see, e.g., Carvalho & Goldstone, 2015b;Noh et al, 2016;Sorensen & Woltz, 2016;Zulkiply & Burt, 2013a). The purpose of this review was to gather and discuss empirical evidence concerning an interaction between these moderators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual category learning: Navigating the intersection of rules and similarity

Hughes

Thomas

2021

Psychon Bull Rev

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Visual categorization is fundamental to expertise in a wide variety of disparate domains, such as radiology, art history, and quality control. The pervasive need to master visual categories has served as the impetus for a vast body of research dedicated to exploring how to enhance the learning process. The literature is clear on one point: no category learning technique is always superior to another. In the present review, we discuss how two factors moderate the efficacy of learning techniques. The first, category similarity, refers to the degree of featural overlap of exemplars. The second moderator, category type, concerns whether the features that define category membership can be mastered through learning processes that are implicit/non-verbal (information-integration categories) or explicit/verbal (rule-based categories). The literature on each moderator has been conducted almost entirely in isolation, such that their potential interaction remains underexplored. We address this gap in the literature by reviewing empirical and theoretical evidence that these two moderators jointly influence the efficacy of learning techniques.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual category learning: Navigating the intersection of rules and similarity

Hughes

Thomas

2021

Psychon Bull Rev

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“…Several studies have suggested that interleaved presentation may be beneficial for inductive learning (Higgins & Ross, 2011;Kang & Pashler, 2012;Kornell & Bjork, 2008;Kornell et al, 2010;Rohrer & Taylor, 2007). However, other studies have found no positive effect of interleaved presentation (Carpenter & Mueller, 2013;Dobson, 2011;Higgins & Ross, 2011;Rau et al, 2010;Sorensen & Woltz, 2016). A recent meta-analysis (Brunmair & Richter, 2019) shed light on these mixed results revealing that interleaving is most effective when learning complex visual stimuli, and when the similarity between the interleaved concepts is high.…”

Section: Blocking and Interleavingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is important to note that the studies reviewed thus far all implemented blocking and interleaving throughout the whole training phase. Sorensen and Woltz (2016) combined blocked and interleaved presentation and reported that better learning of verbal categories in a hybrid condition compared to a condition that employed interleaved presentation alone.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of blocked versus interleaved presentation on children’s vocabulary learning: A pilot study

Ning¹,

Bishop

Parker³

2020

Preprint

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In some educational contexts, it has been shown that interleaved presentation (i.e. alternating different tasks/skills) results in better learning than blocked presentation (i.e. practising one task/skill at a time). However, this interleaving effect has been studied in a limited range of contexts. Here, we examined whether blocked versus interleaved presentation influenced vocabulary learning in 56 children aged from 6 to 10 years old. We devised a novel online game involving two tasks. The first was a vocabulary learning task, in which children matched spoken words to images of novel animals. The second was a comprehension task, where the children arranged objects to match the spatial relations described in a spoken sentence. Stimuli were presented in a between-subjects design, such that trials from each task either occurred in blocks of 10 or were fully interleaved. Our analysis revealed vocabulary learning in both conditions, but the rate of learning did not differ for participants assigned to the blocked vs interleaved conditions. We did not, however, use posttest assessment means, so we cannot rule out any benefit of interleaving that may emerge after the initial learning phase.

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“…The answer may stem from the fact that L2 learning of Spanish verb conjugation skills is a multi-stage process involving different cognitive skills at different stages (e.g., learning explicit rules vs. recalling and applying those rules; for an analogous example see Kole & Healy, 2013). For relatively complex skills that involve a transition from knowledge to application (e.g., Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001;Bloom, 1956Bloom, , 1984, it may be the case that interleaving that is implemented too early impairs the acquisition of basic knowledge (possibly if explicit rules are involved, as suggested by Sorensen & Woltz, 2016), thus affecting learners' ability to later apply that knowledge. More research is needed to scrutinize that possibility across foreign language and other materials (e.g., other subdomains of language learning may also require the initial acquisition of basic knowledge before interleaving and other learning interventions are effective).…”

Section: Hybrid Interleaving Schedulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results of Experiments 3 and 4 also stand in contrast to prior work on hybrid schedules that involved different designs and yielded divergent results. Specifically, the hybrid schedules used in Sorensen and Woltz (2016) and Yan et al (2017; Experiments 1 and 2) did not involve multiple training phases on component tasks as in the present experiments. Rather, a single task type was first learned under blocked, and then interleaved, conditions.…”

Section: Hybrid Interleaving Schedulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pan, Tajran, Lovelett, Osuna, and Rickard (2018) Interleaved practice and foreign language learning (preprint)

Pan¹,

Tajran²,

Lovelett³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Do the cognitive benefits of interleaving—the method of alternating between two or more skills or concepts during training—extend to foreign language learning? In four experiments, we investigated the efficacy of interleaved vs. conventional blocked practice for teaching adult learners to conjugate Spanish verbs in the preterite and imperfect past tenses. In the first two experiments, training occurred during a single session and interleaving between tenses began during the presentation of introductory content (Experiment 1) or during randomly-ordered verb conjugation practice trials at the end of the training session (Experiment 2). This yielded, respectively, numerically higher performance in the blocked group and equivalent performance in the interleaved and blocked groups on a two-day delayed test. In Experiments 3 and 4, the amount of training was increased across two weekly sessions in which the blocked group trained on one tense per session and the interleaved group trained on both tenses per session, with random interleaving occurring during verb conjugation practice trials. Interleaving yielded substantially better performance on a one-week delayed test. Thus, although interleaving did not confer an advantage over blocking under two different single-session training schedules, it improved learning when used to practice conjugating verbs across multiple training sessions. These results constitute the first demonstration of an interleaving effect for foreign language learning.

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Blocking as a friend of induction in verbal category learning

Cited by 13 publications

References 42 publications

Visual category learning: Navigating the intersection of rules and similarity

Visual category learning: Navigating the intersection of rules and similarity

Effects of blocked versus interleaved presentation on children’s vocabulary learning: A pilot study

Pan, Tajran, Lovelett, Osuna, and Rickard (2018) Interleaved practice and foreign language learning (preprint)

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