INST6260
Schema Theory: A theory of
representation in long-term memory
What parts belong to whom?
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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressorare needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressorare needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressorare needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressorare needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressorare needed to see this picture.
Recognize Anyone??
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How is Information Stored in Memory?
Representation Organization
Propositional Representations
semantic - meaning only smallest unit of knowledge
Propositional Network A network can be thought of as a tangle of
marbles, connected by strings. The marbles are the “nodes” and the strings are the “links.”
isis
GradeGrade
BEAUTIFULBEAUTIFUL
Enrolled-inEnrolled-in
give togive to
JohnJohn
MimiMimi
GoodGood
INST6260INST6260
give whatgive what
Brandsford & Franks (1971)
The ants ate the sweet jelly which was on the table.The ants ate the sweet jelly which was on the table. The rock rolled down the mountain and crushed the The rock rolled down the mountain and crushed the
tiny hut.tiny hut. The ants in the kitchen ate the jelly.The ants in the kitchen ate the jelly. The rock rolled down the mountain and crushed the The rock rolled down the mountain and crushed the
hut beside the woods.hut beside the woods. The ants in the kitchen ate the jelly which was on the The ants in the kitchen ate the jelly which was on the
table.table. The tiny hut was beside the woods.The tiny hut was beside the woods. The jelly was sweet.The jelly was sweet.
Which of these sentences did you see?
The ants ate the jelly beside the woods.The ants ate the jelly beside the woods.
The ants in the kitchen ate the jelly.The ants in the kitchen ate the jelly.
The ants ate the sweet jelly.The ants ate the sweet jelly.
Spread of Activation
ChewChew
BONEBONE
EatEat
Part OfPart Of
MEATMEAT
DOGDOG
ChaseChase
CATCAT
Schemas
An organized body of knowledge Represents generic concepts Composed of abstract and perceptual
knowledge Used to guide encoding, organization, and
retrieval of knowledge Shapes and shaped by experiences Reflect prototypical properties of
experiences Relatively stable
Prototypes
WingsWings
FeathersFeathers
BeakBeak
WormsWorms
ChirpsChirps
Average or best example of members of a category
??
hashaseatseats
hashashashas
makesmakes
Classify these:
duckbilled platypus ostrich turkey penguin Big Bird
Problems with Prototype Theory
number of potential features is very large
features have different importance in different contexts
what determines the feature weights
Creation and modification Created through experiences
and generalizations Bottom-up and top-down Modification
accretion tuning restructuring
Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was strong but he thought he could break it. He knew, however, that his timing would have to be perfect. Rocky was aware that it was because of his early roughness that he had been penalized so severely - much too severely from his point of view. The situation was becoming frustrating; the pressure had been grinding on him for too long. He was being ridden unmercifully. Rocky was getting angry now. He felt he was ready to make his move. He knew that his success or failure would depend on what he did in the next few seconds..
Wrestling
Prison
Other
Every Saturday night, four good friends get together. When Jerry, Mike, and Pat arrived,Karen had just finished writing some notes. She quickly arranged the cards and stood up to greet her friends at the door. They followed her into the living room and sat down facing each other. They began to play. Karen's recorder filled the room with soft and pleasant music. Her hand flashed in front of everyone's eyes and they all noticed her diamonds. They continued for many hours until everyone was exhausted and quite silly.Jerry made his friends laugh as he theatrically took a bow, entertaining them all with the wildness of his playing. Finally, Karen's friends went home.
Playing cards
Playing music
Other
Schema theory and instruction
• Provide unifying themes for content• Design materials with standard
arrangement• Use headings and titles• Determine current schemata• Consider contexts and cultural
knowledge
Mental ModelsMental Models
• Includes perceptions and task demands and Includes perceptions and task demands and performancesperformances
• Interpretive representation of environmentInterpretive representation of environment• Often incomplete and idiosyncraticOften incomplete and idiosyncratic• Example: intuitive physicsExample: intuitive physics
Mental models and IDMental models and ID
• Model-centered instructionModel-centered instruction Identify students' current "theories" or algorithmsIdentify students' current "theories" or algorithms Use student errors as a source of information about their Use student errors as a source of information about their
mental modelsmental models Use "think aloud" activities, since these help to uncover Use "think aloud" activities, since these help to uncover
current modelscurrent models Model real problem-solving for studentsModel real problem-solving for students Explicitly teach problem-solving strategiesExplicitly teach problem-solving strategies Focus on processes, structures, and decisions, not answersFocus on processes, structures, and decisions, not answers