Explanations play an important role in learning and inference. People often learn by seeking
explanations, and they assess the viability of hypotheses by considering how well they …

In pedagogical contexts and in everyday life, we often come to believe something because it
would best explain the data. What is it about the explanatory endeavor that makes it …

Generating explanations can be highly effective in promoting category learning; however,
the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We propose that engaging in …

Research suggests that the process of explaining influences causal reasoning by prompting
learners to favor hypotheses that offer “good” explanations. One feature of a good …

Generating explanations can be highly effective in promoting learning in both adults and
children. Our interest is in the mechanisms that underlie this effect and in whether and how …

Although comparison and explanation have typically been studied independently, recent
work suggests connections between these processes. Three experiments investigated …

Research has found that when children or adults attemptto explain novel observations in the
course of learning, they are more likely to discover patterns that support idealexplanations …

When learners explain to themselves as they encounter new in-formation, they recruit a suite
of processes that influence sub-sequent learning. One consequence is that learners are …

There is ample evidence that analogy can be employed as a powerful strategy for learning
new concepts, transferring knowledge, and promoting higher level thinking. Similarly, self …

The goal of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of a video comparison activity
in teaching 6-and 7-year-old children that a diagonal brace provides stability in structures …