Abstract
The purpose of the present investigation of the receptive learning of scientific concepts was to study the effect on the generalization of acquired knowledge of instruction that used examples of the operating attributes of the concept's structure in addition to providing explanations about the nature of the concept. Undergraduates (N=206) were taught about dynamic properties of air pressure phenomena; the lesson included experimental examples of the operating attributes of those phenomena. In order to assess the effect of this teaching method on the generalization of the knowledge that the students had acquired about air pressure, they were then asked to solve problems. The main results were as follows:(1) presenting examples of operating attributes promoted the adaptability of acquired knowledge to problems that were not similar to the original examples; and (2) this effect was caused by the students' extracting from what they had been taught not only basic principles about dynamic properties of air pressure, but also knowledge about procedures for transforming the relationships between the multiple attributes included in air pressure phenomena.
