The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction

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written by David T. Brookes, Brian H. Ross, and Jose P. Mestre

In physics instruction we often begin by presenting students with an abstract principle, and then illustrating the principle with one or more examples. We hope that students will use the examples to refine their understanding of the principle and be able to transfer the principle to new situations. However, research in cognitive science has shown that students' understanding of a new principle may become bound up with the example(s) used to illustrate it. We report on a study with physics students to see if this "specificity effect" was present in their reasoning. The data show that even students who understand and can implement a particular physics principle have a strong tendency to discard that principle when the transfer task appears superficially similar to their training example.

Physics Education Research Conference 2008
Part of the PER Conference series
Edmonton, Canada: July 23-24, 2008
Volume 1064, Pages 83-86

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Published: October 20, 2008
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Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Practices - Active Learning = Problem Solving - Pedagogy = Analogies Optics - General	- Lower Undergraduate - Graduate/Professional	- Reference Material = Research study

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Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3021280
Access Rights:: Free access and
Available for purchase
Restriction:: © 2008 American Institute of Physics
A hard copy of the PERC 2008 proceedings is available for purchase from the AIP.
DOI:: 10.1063/1.3021280
PACSs:: 01.40.Fk; 01.40.Ha; 01.40.G-; 01.40.gb; 01.50.Lc; 01.50.ht
Keywords:: PERC 2008, analogy, educational aids, educational technology, engineering education, optics, physics education research, refraction, research and development management, scientific information systems, specificity effect, student experiments
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created September 27, 2008 by Jenny Rempel
Record Updated:: July 16, 2013 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: October 20, 2008
Other Collections:: The PER-Central

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<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=8117">Brookes, D, B. Ross, and J. Mestre. "The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2008, Edmonton, Canada, July 23-24, 2008.</a>

AIP Format

D. Brookes, B. Ross, and J. Mestre, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2008, Edmonton, Canada, 2008, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8117&DocID=751).

AJP/PRST-PER

D. Brookes, B. Ross, and J. Mestre, The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2008, Edmonton, Canada, 2008, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8117&DocID=751>.

APA Format

Brookes, D., Ross, B., & Mestre, J. (2008, July 23-24). The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2008, Edmonton, Canada. Retrieved May 4, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8117&DocID=751

Chicago Format

Brookes, D, B. Ross, and J. Mestre. "The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2008, Edmonton, Canada, July 23-24, 2008. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8117&DocID=751 (accessed 4 May 2025).

MLA Format

Brookes, David T., Brian Ross, and Jose P. Mestre. "The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction." Physics Education Research Conference 2008. Edmonton, Canada: 2008. 83-86 Vol. 1064 of PER Conference. 4 May 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8117&DocID=751>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "David T. Brookes and Brian Ross and Jose P. Mestre", Title = {The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2008}, Pages = {83-86}, Address = {Edmonton, Canada}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {1064}, Month = {July 23-24}, Year = {2008} }

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%A David T. Brookes %A Brian Ross %A Jose P. Mestre %T The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction %S PER Conference %V 1064 %D July 23-24 2008 %P 83-86 %C Edmonton, Canada %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8117&DocID=751 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2008 %O July 23-24 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Brookes, David T. %A Ross, Brian %A Mestre, Jose P. %D July 23-24 2008 %T The Specificity Effect: An Example from Refraction %B Physics Education Research Conference 2008 %C Edmonton, Canada %V 1064 %P 83-86 %S PER Conference %8 July 23-24 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=8117&DocID=751

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