The Impact of Example Comparisons on Schema Acquisition: Do Learners Really Need Multiple Examples?

Comparing multiple examples within problem categories is usually considered a necessary prerequisite for schema acquisition. However, there is an evident lack of conclusive empirical evidence supporting this claim. Moreover, there are findings indicating that carefully designed one-example conditions may allow for profitable processes of example comparison as well. In line with this reasoning, we present an experiment - that builds up on a series of studies conducted by Quilici and Mayer (1996) -- yielding that multiple examples are only helpful for schema acquisition if the examples are processed thoroughly and if additional instructional support is provided for learners. Moreover, our study gives first evidence that multiple examples may even impede performance under less optimal learning conditions.