This article reviews empirical findings that implicate personal knowledge in human information processing. It cites findings in relation to intelligence, automaticity, learning, schemata activation, analogical processing, problem solving, reading, and cognitive development, and indicates ways in which the impact of prior knowledge typically is not obvious to a teacher, and ways in which prior knowledge can, at times, disrupt the learning process (especially via misconception and know-it-all effects). Educational implications, especially the Matthew effect, are discussed
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