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Crossing conceptual terrain: ERP correlates of learning biology concepts through conversational tutoring dyads using metaphorical and literal explanations
Poster Session C, Saturday, September 13, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, Field House
This poster is part of the Sandbox Series.
Lindsay Krebs1,2, Laura Baiocco1,2, Vicky T. Lai1,2; 1Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 2Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona
Metaphors are employed in science classrooms to help students understand abstract concepts by mapping them onto more concrete, familiar alternatives (e.g., describing enzymes and substrates as a “lock and key”). While educational research has shown that metaphors can support learning, prior studies have generally relied on small sample sizes, lacked control conditions, and mostly assessed metaphor use after learning without assessing baseline prior to learning. Only one EEG study investigating metaphor and learning, which taught participants metaphoric meaning of novel words and found that supportive metaphorical context facilitates such learning. This study will compare metaphoric learning against literal learning using behavioral measures (a science test) and electroencephalography (EEG). We hypothesized that metaphorically learned concepts, in comparison to literally learned, will become more familiar, more concrete, and better retained, as reflected by testing scores and EEG representations of those concepts. Specifically, we expected that metaphorically taught concepts will elicit a larger frontal N400 after learning, indexing greater concretization (Lai & Desai, 2019). On the basis of novel word learning literature, we also predicted that both literal and metaphoric conditions will show LN effects consistent with the incorporation of new meaning, or an episodic LP associated with having recently learned a novel word (Perfetti et al. 2005). Forty-six high school students (14-17 yo) learned 40 biological concepts (e.g. cilia), half metaphorically and half literally, during a one-on-one conversational tutoring session. In each trial, the concept was presented on the screen first. Then, the tutor used a script to introduce the concept, before elaborating it via 3 paragraphs either literally (The cilia move back and forth to clear mucus out of your sinuses and lungs) or metaphorically (The cilia form a broom that sweeps mucus out of your sinuses and lungs). Metaphoric and literal explanation scripts were matched for readability (Flesch, 2007). Immediately after the interactive tutoring, the concept was presented on the screen to end the trial. Before and after tutoring, participants gave concept familiarity and concreteness ratings and answered free-response and multiple-choice questions. EEG recordings were collected to analyze event-related potentials (ERPs) to the target concepts before and after student-tutor discussions. In a preliminary analysis, concepts immediately after the tutoring showed an attenuated N400 in comparison to the very same concepts before learning, possibly suggesting a facilitation of semantic processing. Concepts after learning elicited a more positive late positivity (LP) than the very same concepts before learning, consistent with the episodic LP effect (Perfetti et al., 2005). These observations still need to be verified statistically. Oscillatory analyses are also being planned. Interpretations of EEG data will be supported by insights from the behavioral data and conversation data, which require annotation in the next few months. This study will provide novel insights into the neural correlates of real-time change in science concept representations during live learning.
Topic Areas: Meaning: Lexical Semantics, Meaning: Discourse and Pragmatics