Building extensive, well-organized domain knowledge may enhance functional use of intelligence in novel problems¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r2 · q1
Currency · newest study 2026 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? Acquiring extensive and well-organized schemas in long-term memory could improve functional use of intelligence by providing analogies and general principles for novel reasoning, and may increase effective working memory capacity through chunking. → Kalyuga 2026

Evidence¶

Kalyuga 2026¶

Kalyuga, S. (2026). Instructional Implications of Evolutionary Perspective on Human Cognitive Architecture as an Intelligent Natural Information Processing System. Educational Psychology Review, 38, 33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10135-6

q1 · i? · theoretical · r2

Theoretical argument in the section on enhancing novel problem solving: the article argues that domain-specific expertise (crystallized intelligence) supports reasoning on novel problems and, via the chunking effect, may increase working memory processing capacity. No empirical data are reported.

"Such extensive and well-organized knowledge base could improve functional use of intelligence, the ability to use intelligence in productive ways. For example, it could provide potential analogies and general domain principles to be used while reasoning and solving truly novel problems."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• General Cognitive Ability — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Prior Knowledge — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Problem Solving — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• The worked example effect holds for the schema-acquisition goal, but other instructional goals may be better served by other means — related
• The evolutionary analogy for a smaller working memory being more efficient is doubtful — related
• Comparing cases side by side improves learning and transfer by a moderate average amount, though in one algebra study it raised procedural knowledge and flexibility but not conceptual knowledge — related
• Prompting learners to self-explain, one generative strategy, improves learning by a moderate average amount; other generative activities are not tested by the evidence recorded here — related
• Long-term memory is effectively unlimited and holds schemas that vary in their degree of automation — related