On this basis, it has been proposed that this developmental trend indicates a shift
from a direct implicit theory of learning (a sort of naı¨ve behaviourism focused only
on objective, clear-cut learning results) to an interpretative theory focused on
learner’s processes, which mediate learning not only from the outside but from the
inside (Scheuer et al., 2002). Such a shift seems to be oriented by a process of
hierarchical integration involving increasing complexity and internalization of
learning agency. Let us briefly justify this interpretation. First, an interpretative
theory is more complex than a direct theory because it considers more components
of learning and establishes more relations among such components. Second, an
interpretative theory indicates a movement towards the internalization of agency in
learning, since it takes the learner’s affective states, epistemic states, production
procedures and mental processes into account. Third, the shift from a direct theory
to an interpretative one involves hierarchical integration, since the emergence and
consolidation of new ideas and relations leads to the reorganization of previous ways
of thinking, rather than discarding them.