National Institute of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Abstract
This paper is concerned with the question of whether and why individuals who know more about a particular knowledge domain acquire domain-related information more readily than individuals who know less about the domain. A conceptual framework is presented that hypothesizes differences in the memory structure of the high-knowledge and low-knowledge individuals, primarily with respect to concepts, higher ordered conceptual groupings, goal structures, and related strategies. Acquisition differences between high-knowledge and low-knowledge individuals are assumed to be a function of differences in memory structure, and the primary factor involved in the acquisition of domain-related information is assumed to be a process termed structural mapping, i.e., encoding input information in terms of one's existing memory structure. The results of six experiments using male and female college students that were designed to study various aspects of the acquisition process are reported. The findings support the general framework and also emphasize the facilitative effect of conceptual differentiation and of context in the high-knowledge individuals
