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MENTAL MODEL · M12101

Cognitive Flexibility Theory

Cognitive Flexibility Theory
Learn & MetacognitionmediumCognitive Science
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Updated 2026-08-15

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

A theory developed by Rand Spiro and colleagues for learning in ill-structured domains such as medical diagnosis and legal reasoning. The core proposition is that complex knowledge cannot be reduced to a single structure without distortion, so learners must traverse the same content repeatedly from different perspectives and compare cases against each other rather than accumulating them in sequence. The key qualification is that the domain must genuinely be ill-structured; applying the method to well-structured material adds cost without benefit, and case collections that are never cross-compared provide variety without integration.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Multiple entry: approach the same material from a genuinely different angle on each pass. - Case crossing: compare cases against each other rather than reviewing them in sequence. - Structure check: test whether the connections you build transfer to a new case.

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Anchor fast decisions

Knowledge in ill-structured domains has no single organizing hierarchy, so any linear presentation suppresses the interactions that make the domain difficult. Revisiting the same content from different angles recombines its elements in different ways, which builds representations indexed by situation rather than by position in a sequence. Comparing cases forces those recombinations into explicit contrast, and it is that contrast, not the volume of cases, that produces knowledge flexible enough to transfer.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_flexibilityZH · Explicit
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