Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Prior research has shown that executive function (EF) ability predicts science achievement. Here, we ask whether EF alsopredicts science learning. We focus on the shifting EF, and predict that students with high (vs. low) shifting ability will beable to better learn new science concepts from interleaved (vs. blocked) instruction than students with low shifting ability.We are evaluating this hypothesis in a study where eighth graders learn about different attributes (origin, texture, compo-sition) of different rock types (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic) in instruction that is either blocked by or interleavedacross rock types. We are measuring shifting using the WCST and local-global tasks. We are collecting post-test and long-term retention measures of learning and transfer. We predict better performance for high (vs. low) shifting individuals andfor interleaved (vs. blocked) instruction, and an overadditive interaction because shifting ability is critical for noticing thediscriminations that interleaved instruction highlights.