EDUCATIONALPHYCHOLOGY

Chapter Seven

Cognitive Views of Learning

Elements of the cognitive perspectivecognition: to become acquainted with, to know, the act

or process of knowing including both awareness

and judgment

growing realization among educational psychologists

that learning is an active mental process instead of

simply responding to reinforcement and punish-

ment

cognitive theorists believe that learning is the result of our

trying to make sense of the world

for this, we use all mental tools we have

the way we think about situations, along with our knowledge,expectations, feelings, and interactions with others and the environment, influence how and what we learn

Cognitive vs. Behavioral Viewcognitive view, knowledge is learned and changes in knowledge

make changes in behavior possible

behavioral view, the new behaviors themselves are learned

cognitions see reinforcement as source of feedback about whatmight happen if behaviors are repeated---a source ofinformation

behaviorists think reinforcement strengthens responses

cognitive view sees people as active learners, who initiate

experiences, seek out information to solve problems, and re-organ-ize what is already known to achieve new insights

behaviorists believe people are passively influences by events

much study of behaviorist theory has been with animals incontrolled lab settings with goal to establish a few generallaws of learning that can apply to all higher organisms, including humans, regardless of age, intelligence, or otherindividual differences

cognitions study a wide range of learning situations---they have notsought general laws of learning---one reason that there is no single cognitive model or theory of learning representi-tive of the entire field

Knowledge

knowledge guides new learning, according to cognitions

cognitive approach suggests existing knowledge affects whatwe will pay attention to, perceive, learn, remember, andforget,... what we already know provides a scaffold thatsupports all future learning

My question: if one doesn’t know much, does that mean hislearning capacity is diminished?

cognitions: “knowledge emphasizes understanding of conceptsand theories in different subject matter domains...

general knowledge: i.e. how to read or write, or use a wordprocessor, is general knowledge because it applies to

many different situations

specific knowledge (domain specific knowledge): applies to a particulartask or subject, i.e. knowing that the shortstop plays inbetween second and third base is knowledge specific to thesport of baseball

the text does point out that there is no specific line between general andspecific knowledge

declarative knowledge: knowledge that can be declared, usuallyin words, through lectures, books, verbal exchange...“knowing that” something is the case, i.e. range of declarative knowledge is tremendous, i.e. facts, generalities,preferences, rules...

procedural knowledge: knowing how to do something

conditional knowledge: knowing “when and why” to apply yourdeclarative and procedural knowledge

regarding math problems, it takes conditional knowledge to knowwhen to apply one procedure and when to apply anotherto solve the problem

Gagne’ feels this type of knowledge is a stumbling block formany students; the they have the facts and know theprocedures but don’t know when to apply what theyknow

Memory: Processing Informationmost common theory of memory is the information processing one,

including the neutral-network or connectionist approach(Martindale)

compares memory to a computer—human mind takes in information, performs operations on it to change form orcontent, stores the information, retrieves it when needed,

three parts--Sensory Memory, Working Memory, Long-term Memory

Sensory Memory: receives stimuli from environment—sights, smells , sounds--encodes it and stores it briefly, one to three seconds...perception and attention are critical at this stage

perception: the meaning we attach to raw informationattention: we pay attention to certain stimuli and ignore

others, we select what we will process

THE FIRST STEP IN LEARNING IS PAYING ATTENTION

students cannot process something that they don’t recognize orperceive---they must stay focused on the important featuresof the learning situation

Teachers should:figure out ways to gain and retain their attention---underline,

lighting level, bright banners,

develop a signal to tell students when to change activities, avoid distractions (pencil tap), give short clear directions before,not during, transitions

make sure purpose of assignment of lesson is clear to studentswrite goals or objectives on boardexplain reasons for learning, ask students how to apply tie new material to previous lessons

emphasize variety, curiosity, suprise“What would happen if...?”change room set-upuse movement, gestures, voice inflection, move aroundthe classroom, point

Working Memory: the “workbench” of the memory system, takes input from sensory memory, processes it withknowledge from long term memory, like workspace or screen of your computer, some psychologists call this“consciousness”

working memory capacity is limited to five to nine newitems at once

also called “short term memory” with duration of 5 -20seconds

must keep activating information in working memory or it willbe lost

maintenance rehearsal: keep repeating the information inyour mind—keep it “in play”, ---repeat a phone numberelaborative rehearsal: connect information you are trying toremember with something you already know---a type of“association”, you meet someone at a party whose nameis the same as your brother’s nameforgetting: information is lost from working memory byinterference or decay---replaced with “new” information,not used for the “duration” period

Long-Term Memorythis holds all the information previously processed and stored

for long term usecapacity is unlimited, duration is permanent

information stored as visual and/or verbal units, some feelinformation coded visually and verbally easier to learn

Semantic memory: memory stored as meaning, in form ofpropositions, images, schemas (structures for organizinginformation; concepts)schemas (schemata): abstract knowledge “structure” thatorganizes vast amounts of info, a pattern, a frameworkthat encompasses all available knowledge about a topicand puts it into play in the understanding of an event, a concept, or a skill

example of the term “antique” in the book, page 259

Episodic memory: memory tied to specific place or time, an“episode”

Procedural memory: memory of “how to do things” likeski, serve a tennis ball, work quadratic equations

Storing and Retrieving Info in Long-Term MemoryHow we first learn information affects how easily we can recall it

Elaboration: adding and extending meaning by connectingnew information to existing knowledge, build in “handles”or retrieval clues, “associate” it with existing infoOrganization: place concept in a structure, well-organizedinfo easier to find than bits and piecesContext: easier to remember info in the same “context” asit originally occurred, same room, same location, etc. another example of “association”??

Retrieving Information from Long-Term MemoryWe search both consciously and automatically

We retrieve information by “association” and “reconstruction”

Reconstructed memory plays big part in eye-witness testimony

Forgetting and Long-Term MemorySome studies show that students retain much of the knowledgetaught in the classroomTeaching strategies that encourage student engagement lead tolonger retention of info in long-term memory

Teachers should:Get students’ attention---previously discussed in slide 9Separate essential from non-essential details---make a good point

pause, repeat, ask student to repeat it, write it on board incolored chalk, ask students to highlight itmake it “stand out” in their minds

Help students “connect” new information to known informationask questions to bring known information into playuse outline or diagram (verbal or visual) to “find a place”for the new informationstructure lesson to specifically use new info with oldprovide for repetition or review---begin class with quickreview, give frequent short tests to measure progress,students work in groups to interact and quiz each other

Connectionism: An Alternative View of Memory

Views of knowledge being stored in patterns of connections amongbasic processing units (neurons) in the brain

this model not developed enough to be useful to teachers

Metacognition, Regulation, and Individual Differences

Metacognitive Skills: control processes, such as attention,maintenance rehearsal, elaboration, organization, that canbe intentionally used to regulate cognition---knowledgeabout our own thinking process“people’s awareness of their own cognitive machinery andhow that machinery works”---Meichenbaum

metacognitive knowledge is used to regulate thinking and learningin three ways:planning: decide how much time to give a task, how to start, what resources to use in what ordermonitoring: how am I doing?, am I going to fast?,is this making sense?evaluation: should I change strategies, get help?, give up for now?, am I finished? (YES, THANK HEAVENS!)

These planning, monitoring, and evaluation processes are notalways conscious but are often automatic, especially in adults

Metacognitive abilities develop around age 5-7 and improvethroughout school---Flavell, 1985

Superior metacognitive skills can compensate for lower levels ofability

Individual differences in metacognitive skills attributed to biological, cultural, and experience differences

Individual Differences and Working MemoryYoung children have limited working memories, may be because ofcapacity or strategy---they need to keep room for basic daily thingsYounger children can be taught to “rehearse” (repeat) to improveworking memory

children are 10-11 years old before developing adult-like workingmemories

older elementary-school students and adolescents create imagesor stories to remember ideas

Individual Differences and Long-Term MemoryThe major individual difference that affects long-term memory isknowledge

students with more domain-specific and procedural knowledgeare better at learning and remembering material in that domain

with more domain knowledge, you are not trying to understandand remember at the same time

the more you know about a subject, the easier it is to know more

to develop expert understanding and recall in a domain requires“continuous interplay of skill (i.e. knowledge) and thrill (i.e. interest)”---Alexander, 1994

How Can Teachers Support the Development of Knowledge

declarative knowledge: “knowing that” something is the case---can be facts, generalities, rules, preferences

trying to build up general, overall knowledge from which to draw associations for “new” knowledge

Rote memorization: a method of “learning” additional info soas to increase the overall knowledge base

Mnemonics: systematic procedures for improving memory,many using imagery (a form of association?)

loci method: loci means “place”, imagine a place like your houseand put information you want to remember in a “place” inyour house, then visualize walking through your house andseeing the information in its place

acronym: an abbreviation, a good way to remember informationfor a long time SEE from MSF classes

chain mnemonics: “associating” one element is a series with thenext element---”i” before “e” except after “c”

key word method: associate new word or concept with known cueword

Teachers should (to help develop knowledge and skills):present lessons in vocabulary that makes sense to studentsclarify new terms with ties to familiar words and ideas

use old information to help students understand new informationuse examples and analogies

develop “super learner” home work with material to belearned in different ways, i.e. memorization

include family members, make a “parent coaching card”showing different strategies to assist with

encourage families to create “study spaces” (quiet)

ensure parents know purpose of homework lessons

Constructivism and Situated Learning

General consensus regards the human mind as a symbol-pro-cessing system that converts sensory input into symbols (pro-positions, images, schemas) then processes these symbols soknowledge can be held in memory and retrieved. Learningleads to modifications of the internal symbol structures. Oncethe symbols get into working memory, the important workoccurs “inside the head” of the individual.

Constructivism and Situated Learning challenge the above

some major proponents of constructivism were Piaget, Vygotsky,and John Dewey

there is no ONE , agreed-upon, constructivist theory of learning

Constructivist Perspective emphasizes the active role of the learner in building understanding and making sense ofinformation

Types of Constructivism

exogenous constructivism views learning as building accurate,mental structures (propositional networks and schemas)that reflect “the way things really are” in the world,direct teaching, feedback, and explanation affect learning

role of teacher in this venue is to guide students toward moreaccurate and complete knowledge, to teach and modeleffective strategies, and to correct misconceptions

endogenous constructivism says new knowledge is constructedby transforming and reorganizing previous knowledge,

knowledge is not a mirror of the external world, even thoughexperience influences thinking and thinking influencesknowledge. Exploration and discovery are more importantthan teaching---Piaget

role of the teacher in this venue is to challenge, to guide towardmore complete understanding, to act as facillator, listenfor students’ current conceptions, ideas, thinking

dialectical constructivism says knowledge is based on socialinteractions and experience, knowledge reflects the outside world as filtered through and influenced byculture, language, beliefs, interactions with others, andby direct teaching and modeling...guided discovery, models, and coaching as well as the individual’s priorknowledge , beliefs, and thinking affect his learning

role of the teacher in this venue is to co-construct knowledgewith the student, act as facilitator and guide, co-constructdifferent interpretation of knowledge, listen to sociallyconstructed conceptions

Situated learningthe idea that skills and knowledge are tied to the situationin which they were learned and are difficult to apply in newsettings

Vygotsky---learning is inherently social and embedded ina particular cultural setting

learning in the real world is not like learning in school,more like an apprenticeship, with a guide and a model,this explains learning in factories, at the dinner table,

in the business, on the playground

often described as “enculturation”, or adopting the norms,beliefs, skills, language, etc. of a particular community

emphasis that students should acquire skills and knowledgein meaningful contexts , with connections to “real-life”situations in which the skills and knowledge will be useful

evidence exists that skills and knowledge can be applied acrosscontexts that were not part of the initial learning situation

Summary

cognitive view sees students as active learners,

who initiate experiences, seek out new information to solveproblems, and reorganize what they know to achievenew insights

cognitive approach suggests that important element of thelearning process is what knowledge the individualbrings to the learning process...what we already knowinfluences what we will pay attention to, perceive, learn,remember, and forget

cognitive view that knowledge is learned, and changes in knowledge make changes in behavior possible

behavior view is that new behaviors themselves are learned

behavior view feels that reinforcement strengthens responses

much of work on behavior learning principles have been

animals in a controlled lab settings, attempting to draw a fewconclusions that can be applied to humans regardlessof age, culture, etc.

cognitive psychologists study a wide range of learning situations,focusing on individual and developmental differences incognition---they have not sought general laws of learning

knowledge is important to learning, the more you know, the easier it is to “know more”

general and domain specific knowledge

sensory memory...the initial reception of stimuliworking memory...stimuli are initially processed, not kept long,

need to keep these stimuli in actionlong-term memory...knowledge is stored for future reference

need to apply “handles” to it for easier retrieval

The first step in learning is paying attentionmany factors in the class room affect student

attentioncolor, banners, posters, lighting, teacher’s actions

andmovements, calling students names, pacing

metacognition is knowing our own learning and thinking

processes an individual needs to understand how he

himself thinks and learns

ways of developing knowledgeschemas, build frameworks, scaffolds on which to

buildand store new knowledgememorization, mnemonics (chain memory, “i before

eexcept after c), acronyms

constructivism - --build accurate mental structures that reflect“the way things really are”new knowledge is abstracted from old knowledgeknowledge is based on social interaction and experience

situated learning---skills and knowledge are tied to the situationsin which they were learned

teachers functions are to guide, to facilitate, to con-constructknowledge, listen for students conceptions, ideas, andthinking, challenge, guide toward more completeunderstanding

The best way to learn and remember is to understand.To make the information to be learned meaningful isoften the greatest challenge to teachers.