Read the following passage from the research of Bransford and Johnson (1973):

The Procedure is quite simple. First, you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient, depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more, and the whole cycle will have to be repeated. (Source: Bransford, J.D., and Johnson, M.K. (1973). Consideration of some problems in comprehension. In Visual information processing, W.G. Chase (Ed.). New York: Academic Press.)

Which concept best explains the difficulty you have with understanding this passage? Circle the letter of the best answer, and explain why it is the best answer and why each other answer is not as good.

1. schema
2. attention
3. elaboration
4. metacognitive knowledge
5. content knowledge

ANSWER KEY

1. This is the best answer. The various statements do not seem to be related to each other, nor are there clues in the passage to clarify what their relationship is. One has to impose an organizational schema, a schema that will indicate what role each statement plays in the event that is being described (doing the laundry).

2. This is not the best answer. The difficulty is not that a reader does not pay attention to each individual statement. In fact, a motivated reader will probably devote a great deal of attention to such a passage, even focussing on the material to the exclusion of other stimuli in an effort to understand. However, simply committing attention to the passage will not render it more understandable.

3. This is not the best answer. Elaboration will not guarantee understanding, because there are few if any clues about how best to elaborate these sentences. Some prior indication is needed, such as would be provided by a schema. With an appropriate schema in hand, useful and clarifying elaboration could take place.

4. This is not the best answer. Metacognitive knowledge by itself would mainly indicate to a reader that he or she is not understanding the passage. On the other hand, metacognitive knowledge might provide a clue to what is missing. Sure cognitive monitoring would prompt the question, "What is this passage about?", which might lead to a search for appropriate candidate schemas that would lead to insight.

5. This is not the best answer. Content knowledge cannot be activated until an appropriate knowledge domain is activated by a schema. Once that happens, however, content knowledge can provide useful elaboration, which would lead to better understanding.