Based on Gagné’s ideas Learning requires differentiated instruction and

various levels of support. As each student has unique prior knowledge, the
lessons must always address the complexity and the processing level of
the learner. Different strategies will be required to achieve different learning
goals. Both internal and external stimuli affect the conditions of learning.
Just as new abilities are processed internally, the classroom conditions
should support the learning process. The learning hierarchy outlines the
order of instruction as well as what skills should be learned.

On learning hierarchies discusses some difficulties impeding widespread use of

Learning Hierarchies, and suggests areas in cognitive psychology that may help
overcome some of these difficulties.  It is suggested that even though Gagné has
provided instructional designers with a rationale and procedures for determining what
prerequisite knowledge is necessary to support present learning, factors related to
complexity, inadequate theory, and limited knowledge of competence prevent the wide-
scale effective use of these procedures. Discussions of schematic representation of
knowledge and information processing analyses, particularly analyses of expert and
novice performance, are presented as indicative of Cognitive Psychology areas that
might be useful to instruction. It is acknowledged that most of the research in Cognitive
Psychology is decidedly basic in nature, and it is suggested that combining a modified
hierarchical analysis with the more cognitively oriented analysis procedures may
accelerate the movement of this work toward more instructional relevance