Actions do not have inherent meaning but rather can be interpreted in many ways. The interpretation a person adopts has important effects on a range of higher order cognitive processes. One dimension on which interpretations can vary is the extent to which actions are identified abstractly--in relation to broader goals, personal characteristics,…

We report two experimental studies on the potentially detrimental effects of nonshared, external representations in an instructional setting. Domain experts viewing an external representation responded to E-mail inquiries for medical advice written by people who were unable to see this external representation. Based on research on expert-layperson…