Cognitive Views of Learning Cluster 7

1
Cognitive Views of LearningCluster 7

• The Cognitive Perspective
• Information Processing
• Metacognition
• Becoming Knowledgeable

2
The Cognitive View of Learning A general
approach that views learning as an active mental
process of acquiring, remembering and using
knowledge. Knowledge guides new learning and
knowledge is the outcome of learning.

• Assumptions about the cognitive perspective
• Knowledge is learned, and changes in knowledge
  make changes in behavior possible
• Reinforcement is seen as a source of feedback
  about what is likely to happen if behaviors are
  repeated. Feedback is a source of information
• People are seen as active learners who initiate
  experiences, seek out information to solve
  problems, and reorganize what they already know
  to achieve new insights
• New cognitive approaches stress the construction
  of knowledge
• Already acquired knowledge determines to a large
  extent what we will pay attention to, perceive,
  learn, remember, and forget in the future

3
Comparing PerspectivesDiffer in their
assumptions about learning and in their methods
4
Types of Knowledge

• General-Information that is useful in many
  different kinds of tasks information that
  applies to many situations
• Domain Specific- Information that is useful is a
  particular situation or that generally applies to
  only one specific topic
• No absolute line between general and domain
  specific knowledge
• Declarative-Verbal information facts. Knowing
  that something is the case, specific facts,
  personal preferences, personal events, rules
• Procedural-Knowledge that is demonstrated when we
  perform a task. Knowing how to do something
• Conditional or structural- Knowing when and why
  to apply declarative and procedural knowledge

5
Overview of Informational Processing Model of
Memory Human minds activity of taking in,
storing, and using information

• Encoding
• gathering and representing information
• process by which information gets into memory
• Storage
• holding information
• Retrieval
• getting the information when needed
• Control Processes
• guides how and when information will flow through
  the system

6
Sensory Memory

• Use of the 5 senses
• Holds sensations from the environment for a brief
  time in their original form
• sensory memory for up to several seconds
• visual images about ¼ of a second
• Very large capacity
• Because of its short duration, it is important
  for students to attend to sensory information
  that is important for learning
• Perception
• The meaning we attribute to sensory memory
• Heavily influenced by what we already
  know-example lead vs. lead
• Gestalt (pattern/configuration) Theory- organized
  meaningful wholes vs. bits and pieces
• Bottom-Up processing- a.k.a. feature analysis-
  stimulus is analyzed into features or components
  and assembled into a meaningful pattern
• Top-Down Processing- Based on knowledge and
  expectations
• Attention
• limited resource
• can only pay attention to one demanding task at a
  time
• Automaticity
• ability to process information with little or no
  effort
• perform thoroughly learned tasks without much
  effort

7
Working Memory a.k.a. Short Term MemorySee
Figure 18.3, p. 236

• Holds the information that is currently activated
• Capacity Limited, 5-9 separate new items at
  once
• Duration Short, about 5-20 seconds (without
  maintenance rehearsal)
• Contents May be in the form of images or
  structured more abstractly and based on meaning
• Structure
• Central Executive-Supervisor. integrates
  information from the two below, and long term
  memory as well. Transfers information to the long
  term memory via strategies such as rehearsing.
  Plays important roles in attention, planning, and
  organizing behavior.
• Phonological Loop-Memory rehearsal system
  specialized to briefly store speech-based
  information. Limited capacity
• Visuospatial Sketchpad-Stores visual and spatial
  imagery. Can work with the phonological
  looprehearse numbers in phonological group while
  using visual spatial memory. Limited capacity.

8
Retaining Information in Working Memory

• Rehearsal can increase duration
• Maintenance rehearsal
• Elaborative rehearsal
• Chunking
• Forgetting
• Interference
• Decay

9
Comparison of Short- Long Term Memory
Long Term Relatively slow input Practically
unlimited capacity Practically unlimited
duration Contains networks, schemata Retrieval
depends on connections

• Short Term
• Very fast input
• Limited capacity
• 520 seconds duration
• Contains words, images, ideas, sentences
• Immediate retrieval

10
Long-Term Memory The Goal of Teaching

• Hold information that is well learned
• Capacity Unlimited
• Duration Can remain in long-term memory
  indefinitely
• Access can be difficult
• Dual Coding Theory (Alan Paivio) Information is
  stored as either visual images or verbal units,
  or both
• Information coded both ways may be easier to
  learn
• See Figure 19.1, p. 242
• Declarative-Explicit-Long term memories.
  Conscious recollection of informationspecific
  facts, events that can be verbally communicated.
  Deliberate recall.
• Procedural-Implicit-Knowledge that we are not
  conscious of recalling in the form of specific
  events. Knowledge in the form of skills and
  cognitive operations.

11
Types of Memory
Yesterdays golf outing
Episodic
Semantic
The concept airplane
How to give a presentation
Procedural
12
Explicit Memories

• Semantic Memory-memory for meaning
• Stored as propositions, schemas and images
• Propositions propositional networks
• proposition-smallest unit of information that can
  be judged
• propositional network-interconnected bits if
  information
• Bits of information can trigger or activate
  recall of another proposition
• Images are representations based on
  perceptionsperception of the appearance of
  information
• Schema are abstract knowledge structures
• organize a vast amount of information
• patterns or guides for understanding an event,
  concept, or a skill
• Story grammar
• Event schema/script
• Episodic memory is memory for information tied to
  a particular place and time, especially events in
  one'

13
Implicit Memories -- Procedural

• Knowledge in the form of skills and cognitive
  operations
• Mental and motor skills are stored as procedural
  knowledge
• musicians ability to play a song
• athletes to perform in an event
• driving a car
• Knowledge that we are not conscious of recalling,
  but given the correct conditions, an action is
  triggered

LTM Storage Strategies

• Elaboration-the addition of meaning to new
  information through its connection with already
  existing information
• Organization-material that is well organized is
  easier to learn and to remember than bits of
  information
• Context-aspects of physical and emotional content
  are learned along with other information
• Serial Position Effect-recall is better for items
  at the beginning and end of a list

14
Retrieval ForgettingLevels of Processing
Theories-the more completely information is
processed, the better are the chances of
retrieving the information later.

• Cues
• Spread of activation-retrieving of information
  based on relatedness to other information
• Reconstruction
• Decay
• Interference
• See Guidelines, Woolfolk p. 249

15
Metacognitive Knowledge

• Awareness of your own thinking processes
• Knowing what you know (declarative knowledge)
• Knowing how to use what you know (procedural
  knowledge)
• Knowing when and why to use what you know
  (conditional knowledge)
• Planning
• Monitoring
• Evaluation

Differences in Metacognition and Memory

• Individual Differences in Metacognition
• due to development
• age/maturation
• biological differences
• variations in learning experiences

16
Learning Declarative Knowledge

• Making it meaningful
• Mnemonics
• Rote memorization
• Serial position effect
• Part learning
• Distributed practice
• Massed practice

• Mnemonics
• Loci method
• Peg type keyword, peg word,
• acronyms
• Chaining
• Key Word Method
• Rote Memorization

• Making It Meaningful
• Relating to previous knowledge
• Relating to students experiences
• Clarifying unfamiliar terms
• Give examples, illustrations, analogies from
  students view
• Use humor, emotion, novelty

17
Procedural Conditional Knowledge

• Automated basic skills
• Cognitive stage- rely on declarative knowledge
  and general problem-solving strategies
• Associative stage- individual steps of a
  procedure are combined into larger units
• Autonomous stage- whole procedure can be
  accomplished without much attention
• Prerequisite knowledge
• Practice with feedback-teachers can help students
  become experts through constructive feedback and
  practice
• Domain-specific strategies- consciously applied
  skills to reach goals in a particular subject,
  task or problem area