Models, tools & systems
A model, a tool and an agent are different parts of a teaching arrangement. Use the distinctions to understand a product claim and choose what to inspect.
Language model
A model that generates language from its input context. The model is one component of a teaching application; the surrounding software determines access, storage and actions.
A psychology example: Produce candidate explanations for why an invented participant remembers a misleading detail.
What to examine: Evaluate the explanation against the specified evidence and the psychological distinction being taught.
A distinction to keep: Fluent language does not establish factual accuracy, human understanding or a learning benefit.
Reasoning model
A model designed or trained for extended problem solving. The label describes a model approach or product setting; it does not specify external tool access or independent action.
A psychology example: Compare alternative interpretations of a fictional experiment before choosing the most defensible conclusion.
What to examine: Inspect the conclusion, assumptions and treatment of alternatives. A longer explanation is not a correctness measure.
A distinction to keep: Reasoning capability and permission to act are separate properties.
Agent
A system in which a model can select subsequent actions in response to results, within the tools and boundaries supplied to it. Different systems delegate different amounts of control.
A psychology example: Investigate missing details in a lesson’s evidence and decide whether another source is needed before revising the draft.
What to examine: Identify which decisions it can make, what it can change and when it must stop for a person.
A distinction to keep: A conversational interface, an agent label or several model calls alone does not establish this arrangement.
Workflow
An organized process connecting inputs, operations and checks. A workflow can be fixed, partly adaptive, entirely human or a combination.
A psychology example: Use an approved reading to draft questions, check their answer keys and present them for instructor review.
What to examine: Determine whether the sequence fits the task and whether checks can detect meaningful errors.
A distinction to keep: Automation is not synonymous with agency. A fixed sequence can be useful without choosing its own next step.
Retrieval and RAG
Retrieval selects material from a collection or search source. Retrieval-augmented generation supplies selected material to a model when producing a response.
A psychology example: Supply an approved research-methods chapter while drafting a comparison of experimental and observational designs.
What to examine: Confirm that relevant material was retrieved and that each important claim is supported by the passage actually accessed.
A distinction to keep: Access to a library is not exhaustive reading. An attached citation does not guarantee support or prevent fabrication.
Multimodal systems
Systems that process or generate more than one form of information, such as text, images or audio. Supported inputs and outputs vary by implementation.
A psychology example: Create an accessible text description of an invented scatterplot and compare it with the plotted values.
What to examine: Check the interpretation against the underlying data and review the accessibility of the result.
A distinction to keep: Accepting an image does not establish accurate graph reading, and describing speech does not justify inferring a student’s psychological state.
Context and memory
Context is information available for a particular response. Memory mechanisms retain or retrieve information across interactions; their scope and persistence depend on the application.
A psychology example: Retain an instructor-approved course goal so that later practice drafts address the same distinction.
What to examine: Inspect what is saved, where it is available, how to correct it and whether it remains relevant.
A distinction to keep: An apparent recollection may come from current context or retrieval. It is not necessarily a durable or accurate personal memory.
Evaluation
A planned examination of performance against specified criteria. Artifact accuracy, system behavior, instructor workload and student learning require different measures.
A psychology example: Check a question bank for conceptual errors, then separately examine students’ explanations on a new unaided task.
What to examine: State the outcome, comparison and conditions before interpreting a favorable result.
A distinction to keep: Passing a software check, receiving a high model rating and improving student learning are different findings.
Conceptual sources and current examples
These are conceptual explanations and original teaching illustrations. Company profiles separately date claims about particular products.