Learners performing pattern matching using arrayed chessboard tiles illustrates how each atomic square stands on its own until patterns are observed. People attempting to identify patterns in the tiles do so by inferring those patterns projecting their perceptions onto an otherwise meaningless grid. After assimilating and recognizing patterns in the tiles the original tiles return to their original arrangement. Bransford & Johnson 1972 (in Chapman 1993 p. 6) give another example of pattern recognition stating: when it is finished you arrange the things into different groups again so that they can be put away where they belong. The example is then revealed to be the act of doing laundry.
This form of (subjective) pattern recognition seems to be typical of how learners can acquire new knowledge - seeing patterns where others might not. To truly understand a field and strive toward erudition Sulloway in Born to Rebel speaks of Darwin's organism classification stating that learners who "understand" a subject acquire that understanding by intentional elucidation as a result of inquiry and argument not simply memorizing facts as Darwin's contemporaries did. To understand learners who understand teachers must elucidate the learners themselves.