Perceived task load and germane load did not differ between the contingent tutor and either baseline¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Neither perceived-load item separated any pair of tutors, and both were equivalent between the contingent and question-only tutors within a 0.25-point bound. → Hou 2026

Evidence¶

Hou 2026¶

Hou, X., Weng, Y., Yeh, C. H., Lee, D. L., Zheng, L., Li, F., Wang, W., & Liu, Y. (2026). Adaptive Scaffolding Needs Contingency: An AI Tutor That Escalates and Fades on What the Learner Does. arXiv preprint. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.22993 doi:10.48550/arxiv.2609.22993

q3 · i? · causal · r?

After-task self-report from the within-subjects study (N=131), with two one-sided tests against a 0.25-point bound. Perceived task load means were 3.36, 3.30 and 3.29 and germane load 3.85, 3.74 and 3.78 across the three tutors; "neither perceived-load item separates any pair of tutors".

"neither perceived-load item separates any pair of tutors, and both are equivalent between Tutor C and Tutor B within the same bound: perceived task load sits at 3.36, 3.30 and 3.29 (𝑝TOST =. 020) and germane load at 3.85, 3.74 and 3.78 (𝑝TOST =. 007)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Contingent scaffolding improves learning more than fixed or absent support. — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• A contingent tutor surrendered the full answer in one session in sixteen, against one in six for the question-only tutor — related
• Frustration under the contingent tutor sat between the answer-on-request assistant and the question-only tutor — related
• A contingent AI tutor places metacognitive demand equal to a question-only tutor and higher than an answer-on-request assistant — related
• Voice and text tutoring produced statistically equivalent weekly mastery within students, while voice transformed the interaction at a 2.8× cost premium — related