Elucidating the Mechanism of Spontaneous Diagram Use in Explanations: How Cognitive Processing of Text and Diagrammatic Representations Are Influenced by Individual and Task-Related Factors

摘要: Although diagrams are considered effective tools for communication, students have been reported as lacking sufficient spontaneity in using when explaining what they learned. This study examined the possible mechanism that relates text to diagram production process of providing written explanations. It puts forward hypothesis and diagrammatic representations shares same cognitive processing resources, allocation which is influenced by individual factors like language ability task-related imageability needs be explained. was tested on Japanese university who were administered a passage (two versions varying imageability) read subsequently explain English or Japanese. A significant correlation found between use competence (measured TOEIC scores) - but only among asked with lower imageability, English, support hypothesis.