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any hree ey w (no ctor outcome. Results indicate that the goal specificity affects the element interactivity of a task and cognitive ifically cquisit l, usua specificity effect there is usually a condition with one or more specific problem solving goals (‘‘well-defined”; cf., Dörner & Wear-ing, 1995) that is compared with a condition with nonspecific problem solving goals (‘‘ill-defined”), or even with a condition with no problem solving goal at all (‘‘goal-free”). Summarizing the results of this kind of research on the goal specificity effect can lead to the assumption that the advantage this issue; Sweller & Levine, 1982). For example, when solving a maze problem with a specifically described exit of the maze envi-ronment (a specific problem solving goal), the problem is to be solved by carrying an object (e.g., a grey square on a computer screen, Paas et al., 2001, or a problem solver’s index finger, Sweller & Levine, 1982) from its initial position to the exit position. The problem solving goal is achieved with success as soon as the object is in the exit position of the maze environment – independent of what a problem solver has learned about the structure of the maze environment. In contrast to problem solving goals, learning goal