ABSTRACT
One criticism of Anderson’s model is its inability to distinguish among levels of “skilled” performance. Anderson’s theory proposes that the achievement of automaticity is the endpoint in the acquisition of a skill, where a learner’s knowledge is fully compiled and s/he is able to fluently execute a skill. But automaticity may not be the only endpoint of procedural skill development. Karmiloff-Smith has found that competent, automatic performance can be followed by a period of meta-procedural representational redescription, where procedural knowledge becomes increasingly explicit, flexible, manipulatable, and available to conscious access. Noah engaged in a two-step verbal protocol during the equation solving portion of the sessions – planning and solving. In the first step (planning), Noah was asked to verbally describe or plan all problem-solving steps that he thought would be needed to solve a particular problem. Planning occurred before Noah began any written work on the problem. In the second step (solving), Noah attempted to solve the problem.
