Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42577402›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026

Effect of large language model assistance on undergraduate art history question-answering performance: a randomized crossover pilot study.

Yunting Zhang, Fan Zhang, Zili Zhang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Yunting ZhangSchool of Fine Arts, Jining University, Jining, China.
Fan ZhangGE Healthcare Systems Trade Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China.
Zili ZhangSchool of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used in higher education, yet empirical evidence for their effectiveness in art education remains scarce. This study aimed to evaluate whether LLM assistance could improve undergraduate art history question-answering performance and explanatory support. Methods: This study developed the Art History Theory Question Set (AHTQS), comprising 104 single-choice items with Bloom-level annotations, and benchmarked three LLMs (ChatGPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, and Qwen2.5-Plus). DeepSeek-V3 showed the highest accuracy (96.2%) and lowest observed run-to-run variability and was selected for a randomized crossover pilot study with six undergraduates. The primary outcome was the change in examination accuracy from independent to LLM-assisted answering. A Likert-scale evaluation involving nine students and three instructors was also conducted to assess the clarity and coherence of LLM-generated explanations. Results: A one-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed significant improvement with LLM support [ Discussion: These pilot findings suggest that supervised LLM assistance may support art history question-answering and explanatory feedback. Future studies should validate these findings in larger cohorts, assess delayed learning retention, and examine open-ended, image-based, and higher-order art history tasks before curriculum-level implementation.

Indexed as

art historyartificial intelligencelarge language modelpilot studyrandomized crossover studyundergraduate education

Identifiers

PMID42577402
PMCPMC13454124

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.