WHO KNEW OR DEJA VU?

After identification, the next task that engages our brains is integrating recent information with prior knowledge. Once a caveman knew there was a large animal nearby, he then had to ponder, "Hmm, is it dinner or am I dinner?" Some large animals made a feast for the tribe. Other large animals made a feast of the tribe.
Application users will compare new programs to others they may have used and wonder, "Can I work this thing? Is this tool something that is suitable for my use?"

Even though interface elements may be familiar, a new application may require some training before efficient use is possible. For instance, if I asked you to model a 3D object with the Softimage brand 3D tool suite and you had never used any modeling package before, your reaction would no doubt be, "Where’s the manual?" or "HELP!" If you had experience with 3D modeling but not Softimage, then you might assume that the new program would be similar to the tools you had used before. Still, it is likely that you would want to test that assumption to see if your skills were transferable.

In any event, for us to take effective action it is not enough to simply remember the past. We have to search for differences and seek similarities. We must integrate new information with prior knowledge so that we can predict the future -- a very useful survival skill.