Advances in graphical technology have now made it possible for us to interact with information in innovative ways, most notably by exploring multimedia environments and by manipulating three-dimensional virtual worlds. Many benefits have been claimed for this new kind of interactivity, a general assumption being that learning and cognitive processing are facilitated. We point out, however, that little is known about the cognitive value of any graphical representations, be they good old-fashioned (e.g. diagrams) or more advanced (e.g. animations, multimedia, virtual reality). In our paper, we critique the disparate literature on graphical representations, focusing on four representative studies. Our analysis reveals a fragmented and poorly understood account of how graphical representations work, exposing a number of assumptions and fallacies. As an alternative we propose a new agenda for graphical representation research. This builds on the nascent theoretical approach within cognitive science that analyses the role played by external representations in relation to internal mental ones. We outline some of the central properties of this relationship that are necessary for the processing of graphical representations. Finally, we consider how this analysis can inform the selection and design of both traditional and advanced forms of graphical technology.

This article proposes a theoretical framework for external representation based problem solving. The Tic-Tac-Toe and its isomorphs are used to illustrate the procedures of the framework as a methodology and test the predictions of the framework as a functional model. Experimental results show that the behavior in the Tic-Tac-Toe is determined by the directly available information in external and internal representations in terms of perceptual and cognitive biases, regardless of whether the biases are consistent with, inconsistent with, or irrelevant to the task. It is shown that external representations are not merely inputs and stimuli to the internal mind and that they have much more important functions than mere memory aids. A representational determinism is suggested--the form of a representation determines

Multiple representations and multi-media can support learning in many dierent ways. In this paper, it is claimed that by identifying the functions that they can serve, many of the conflicting findings arising out of the existing evaluations of multi-representational learning environments can be explained. This will lead to more systematic design principles. To this end, this paper describes a functional taxonomy of MERs. This taxonomy is used to ask how translation across representations should be supported to maximise learning outcomes and what information should be gathered from empirical evaluation in order to determine the eectiveness of multi-representational learning environments. # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 1.

The creative outcome of a design process hinges on whether or not designers are able to find important aspects of a given problem and thereby invent design issues or requirements during the process. How do they do this? What becomes the impetus for the invention of important issues or requirements? Socalled "unexpected discoveries", the acts of attending to visuo-spatial features in sketches which were not intended when they were drawn, are believed to contribute to it. The purpose of the present research is to verify this hypothesis. Analysing the cognitive processes of a practising architect in a design session, we found that in about a half of his entire design process there was bi-directional causality between unexpected discoveries and the invention of issues or requirements; not only did unexpected discoveries become the driving force for invention, but also the occurrence of invention, in turn, tended to cause new unexpected discoveries. This has pedagogical implications.

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Research into the cognitive aspects of programming originated in the study of professional programmers (whether experts or students). Even "end-user" programmers in previous studies have often worked in organizations where programming is recognized to be demanding professional work- the term 'vower-user" recognizes this technical kudos. But as personal computers become widespread, and most new domestic appliances incorporate microprocessors, many people are engaging in programming-like activities in domestic or non-professional contexts. Such users often have less motivation and more obstacles to programming, meaning that they may be unlikely even to take the first steps. This paper analyses the generic nature of those first steps, and identifies the cognitive demands that characterize them. On the basis of this analysis we propose the Attention Investment model, a cognitive model of programming that offers a consistent account of all programming behaviour, from professionals to end-users.

This paper is about syllogistic reasoning, i.e., reasoning from such pairs of premises as, All the chefs are musicians; some of the musicians are painters. We present a computer model that implements the latest account of syllogisms, which is based on the theory of mental models. We also report four experiments that were designed to test this account. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the strategies revealed by the participants ’ use of paper and pencil as aids to reasoning. Experiment 3 used a new technique to externalize thinking. The participants had to refute, if possible, putative conclusions by constructing external models that were examples of the premises but counterexamples of the conclusions. Experiment 4 used the same techniques to examine the participants ’ strategies as they drew their own conclusions from syllogistic premises. The results of the experiments showed that individuals not trained in logic can construct counterexamples, that they use similar operations to those implemented in the computer model, but that they rely on a much greater variety of interpretations of premises and of search strategies than the computer model does. We re-evaluates current theories of syllogistic reasoning in the light of these results. I.

Why are freeahand sketches essential in early conceptual design processes, and how? Little research has been done, however, to empirically examine this issue. One promising approach to this is a protocol analysis to examine the cognitive processes of designers. We have devised a new scheme for coding designers' cognitive actions from video/audio design protocols. Designers' actions are coded into four cognitive levels; physical, perceptual, functional and conceptual. Relations between actions belonging to different levels, such as dependencies and triggering relations, are also coded. The present scheme has two benefits. First, we found that design actions are definable in a systematic way using the vocabulary of the scheme, and thus a designer's cognitive behaviours in each of local design stages is represented as a structure composed of defined primitive actions. This is expected to lay the foundation for microscopic analyses of how particular types of actions contribute to the forma...

Self-explaining is an effective metacognitive strategy that can help learners develop deeper understanding of the material they study. This experiment explored if the format of material (i.e., text or diagrams) influences the self-explanation effect. Twenty subjects were presented with information about the human circulatory system and prompted to self-explain; 10 received this information in text and 10 in diagrams. Results showed that students given diagrams performed significantly better on post-tests than students given text. Diagrams students also generated significantly more self-explanations that text students. Furthermore, the benefits of self-explaining were much greater in the diagrams condition. To discover why diagrams can promote the self-explanation effect, results are interpreted with reference to the multiple differences in the semantic, cognitive and affective properties of the texts and diagrams studied.

The importance of both social processes and of representational aids for learning is well-established, yet few experimental studies have addressed the combination of these factors. The research reported in this article evaluates the influence of tools for constructing representations of evidential models on collaborative learning processes and outcomes. Pairs of participants worked with 1 of 3 representations (Graph, Matrix, Text) while investigating complex science and public health problems. Dependent measures included (a) the content of participants ’ utterances and representational actions and the timing of these utterances and actions with respect to the availability of information; (b) a multiple choice test of the ability to recall the data, hypotheses, and evidential relations explored; and (c) the contents of a written essay. The results Do Not Copy show that representational notations can have significant effects on learners ’ interac-tions, and may differ in their influence on subsequent collaborative use of the knowledge being manipulated. For example, Graph and Matrix users elaborated on previously represented information more than Text users. Representation and discussion of evidential relations was quantitatively greatest for Matrix users as predicted, yet this came at the cost of excessive consideration and revision of unimportant relations. Graph users may have been more focused in their consideration of evidence, and the work done in the Graph representation had the greatest impact on the contents of the essays. Although limited to initial use of representations in a laboratory setting, the work demonstrates that representational guidance of collaborative learning is worthy of study and suggests several lines of further investigation.