INST6260

Schema Theory: A theory of

representation in long-term memory

What parts belong to whom?

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are 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.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Recognize Anyone??

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

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