The general position espoused in these papers is that (a) practice in performing the tasks one wishes to learn is critical; learning by passively absorbing directions is not effective, but that (b) instruction that only focuses on practice in the anticipated situations without any generalized instruction or abstractions of principles is also likely to produce weak performance.


Anderson, J.R., Greeno, J.G., Reder, L.M., & Simon, H.A. (2000). Perspectives on Learning, Thinking, and Activity. Educational Researcher, 29(4), 11-13. [download PDF]

Anderson, J.R., Simon, H.A., & Reder, L.M. (non-published). Applications and misapplications of cognitive psychology to mathematics education. [download PDF]

Anderson, J.R., Reder, L.M., & Simon, H.A. (1998). Radical Constructivism and Cognitive Psychology. In Ravitch, D. (Ed). Brookings Papers on Education Policy: 1998. Washington, D.C. Brookings Institution, pp.227-255. [download PDF]
Also published in Chile in Spanish Translation (2001). Educaci¨®n: El constructivismo radical y la psicolg¨ªa cognitiva. Estudios P¨²blicos, 81, pp.89-127.

Anderson, J.R., Reder, L.M., & Simon, H.A. (1997). Situated versus Cognitive Perspectives: Form versus Substance. Educational Researcher, 26(1), 18-21. [download PDF]

Anderson, J.R., Reder, L.M., & Simon, H.A. (1996). Situated Learning and Education. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 5-11. [lead article] [download PDF]

Reder, L.M. & Klatzky, R. (1994). Transfer: Training for Performance. In Druckman, D. & Bjork, R.A. (Eds.) Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing team and individual performance. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.  [download PDF]

Charney, D.H., Reder, L.M., & Kusbit, G.W. (1991). Improving documentation with hands-on problem solving. Proceedings of "Documentation: The First Conference on Quality" sponsored by the Centre for Professional Writing, University of Waterloo, Canada. [download PDF]

Charney, D.H., Reder, L.M., & Kusbit, G.W. (1990). Goal setting and procedure selection in acquiring computer skills: A Comparison of tutorials, problem-solving, and learner exploration. Cognition and Instruction, 7(4), 323-342. [download PDF]