How Do Readers Utilize a Theoretical Distinction?

Waern, Y. 1980. How Do Readers Utilize a Theoretical Distinction? Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 24,25-39. Psychology students were trained to recognize a theoretical distinction by reading an instructional text, presenting the difference between a 'copy theory' and a 'reconstructive theory' of human thinking, learning, and problem solving. No difference appeared between the trained experimental and an untrained control group as to the intake (thinking aloud during reading) or the interpretation of the text (verifying or rejecting statements as possible inferences from the text). Free recalls were different, however. Some experimental subjects included in their recall of the new text aspects covered by the instructional text, without recognizing theoretical inconsistencies. These results imply that teaching a theoretical distinction can lead to a theoretical confusion.