Transcript Cognitive and Information Processing Theories of Learning

Cognitive and Information
Processing Theories of
Learning
EDU 6303
Psychology of Teaching and Learning
Introduction
The human mind is a meaning maker.
From the first microsecond you see,
hear,taste, or feel something, you start a
process of deciding what it is, how it
relates to what you already know, and
whether it is important to keep in your
mind or should be discarded. ( Slavin,
2003, p. 172)
Overview
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Information processing model
What causes people to remember and forget?
How can memory strategies be taught?
What makes information meaningful?
Metacognition
Study strategies
How cognitive teaching strategies work.
Information Processing Model
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Describes the process by which information is
absorbed, and how teachers can take advantage of
this process to help students retain critical
information and skills.
It is the cognitive theory of learning that describes
the processing, storage, and retrieval of knowledge
in the mind.
It is usually referred to as the Atkinson-Shiffrin
model of information processing.
Atkinson-Shiffrin Model
External stimulus
 Sensory register - forgotten/passed on to
 Initial processing
 Rehearsal and coding – determines route
 Working short term memory –
repetition/forgotten
 Long term memory - retrieval
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Sensory register
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Receives large amounts of information from
each of the senses and hold it for a short
time, no more than a couple of seconds. If
nothing happens to information in the
sensory register it is rapidly lost.
Perception
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Sensory images are not exactly what we saw heard
or felt; they are what our senses perceived.
We perceive different stimuli according to rules
that have nothing to with the inherent
characteristics of the stimuli.
We do not perceive stimuli as we see or sense
them, but as we know (or assume) they are.
Attention (active focus on certain stimuli to the
exclusion of others) is a limited resource; how to
gain it – arouse interest.
Short-Term or Working Memory
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Information that a person perceives and pays
attention to is transferred to short-term memory.
It is a storage system that can hold a limited
amount of information for a few seconds. It is the
part of the memory in which information that is
currently being thought about is stored –working
memory.
Working memory is where the mind operates on
information, organizes it for storage or discarding,
and connects it to other information.
Short-Term or Working Memory
Rehearsal is important because the longer
something stays in working memory the
more likely it is to be transferred to longterm memory.
 Capacity – five to nine bits of information,
but bits may contain subcategories of
information.
 Bottle neck for long-term memory
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Long-Term Memory
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This is the part of the memory where we keep
information for long periods of time. It is thought
to have a very large capacity. Some theorist call it
permanent memory; i.e., we never lose the
information, just the ability to find it.
Theorists divide long-term memory into three
parts, episodic, semantic, and procedural.
Episodic Memory
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Is our memory of
personal experiences,
a mental movie of the
things we saw and
heard.
Semantic Memory
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Contains the facts and
generalized
information that we
know; concepts.
Principles, or rules,
and how to use them;
and our problemsolving skills and
strategies
Procedural Memory
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Refers to knowing
how in contrast to
knowing what
How They Work
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Episodic, semantic, and procedural store
and organize information in different ways:
– Episodic – images that are organized around
when and where things happened - flashbulb
memory.
– Semantic – a network of ideas - Schemata
– Procedural a complex of stimulus response
pairings – how to do something especially a
physical task.
“Instructional strategies that
actively involve students in
lessons contribute to long-term
retention” (Slavin, 2003, p. 182).
Levels of Processing Theory
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People subject stimuli to different levels of
mental processing and retain the
information that has been subjected to the
highest processing, i.e., meaningful to the
person.
Paivo’s Dual Code Theory
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You remember information more effectively
if it is stored in two forms visual and verbal:
episodic and semantic memory
Parallel Distributed Processing
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In 1989, Lewandosky and Murdock argued
that information is processed in the sensory
register, short-term memory, and long-term
memory at the same, because what we see is
heavily influenced by what we expect to
see.
Connectionist Models
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It is associated with the parallel distribution
model. It emphasizes that knowledge is
stored in the brain in a network of
connections
What Causes People to
Remember and Forget?
Interference happens when information gets
pushed aside or mixed up with other
information.
 Retroactive inhibition – information is lost
because it is mixed with new and somewhat
similar information – don’t teach similar
concepts to closely in time and use different
methods to teach similar concepts.
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What Causes People to
Remember and Forget?
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Proactive inhibition – decreased ability to
learn new information, caused by
interference from existing knowledge.
What Causes People to
Remember and Forget?
Proactive facilitation – increased ability to
learn new information due to the presence
of previously acquired information.
 Retroactive facilitation – increased
comprehension of previously learned
information due to the acquisition of new
information.
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What Causes People to
Remember and Forget?
Primacy effect – the tendency for items at
the beginning of a list to be recalled more
easily than other items.
 Recency effect – the tendency for items at
the end of a list to be recalled more easily
than other items.
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What Causes People to
Remember and Forget?
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Automaticity – a level of rapidity and ease
such that tasks can be performed or skills
utilized with little mental effort.
– Why is it necessary?
– How is it developed?
What Causes People to
Remember and Forget?
Massed practice – intensively practice until
new information is learned is better for fast
initial learning.
 Distributed practice – a little practice over a
period of time is better for retention.
 Enactment – we learn better by reading and
doing – implications for manipulatives and
simulations
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How Can Memory Strategies be
Taught
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Verbal Learning – Learning words or facts
expressed in words.
Paired-associate – learning items in linked pairs so
that when one member of a pair is presented, the
other can be recalled.
Serial – memorization of a series of items in a
particular order
Free-recall – learning a list of items in any order
How Can Memory Strategies be
Taught
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Paired-Associate Learning (most frequently
used in education)
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Imagery – mental visualization of images to
improve memory strengthens paired associate
learning – how is this related to Paivo’s Dual Code
Theory?
Mnemonics (memory devices) –key word method
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How Can Memory Strategies be
Taught
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Serial and Free-Recall learning
– Loci method – a strategy for remembering lists by
picturing items in familiar locations.
– Pegword method – images of key words that rhyme
with 1-10.
– Initial letter strategies – to create an an image, e.g.,
solar system – my very educated monkey just served us
nine pizzas – Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
One of the teacher’s most important tasks is to
make information meaningful to students by
presenting it in a clear, organized way, by
relating it to information already in the
students’ minds, and making sure that the
students have truly understood the concepts
being taught and can apply them in new
situations. (Slavin, 2003, p. 199)
How Can Memory Strategies be
Taught
Rote learning – memorization of facts or
associations that might be essentially
arbitrary.
 Meaningful Learning – mental processing
of new information that related to
previously learned knowledge.
 Inert knowledge – information learned in
school that we cannot apply to life.
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How Can Memory Strategies be
Taught
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Schema Theory – theory stating that
information is stored in long tem memory in
schemata (networks of connected facts and
concepts) which provide structure for
making sense of new information – What
theory of development does this recall?
One of the most important insight of schema
theory is that meaningful learning requires the
active involvement of the leaner, who has a
host of experiences and knowledge to bring to
understanding and incorporating new
information. What you learn from any
experience depends in large part on the
schema you apply to experience. (Slavin,
2003, p. 201)
How do Metacognitive Skills
Help Students Learn?
Metacognition – knowledge about one’s
own learning or about how to learn.
 Metacognitive skills – methods for learning,
studying, or solving problems.
 Self-questioning – learning strategies that
call on students to ask themselves who,
what, where, and how questions as they
read material.
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What Study Strategies Help
Students Learn?
Note-Taking – provide skeletal outline
 Underlining – requires self-questioning, i.e.,
determining what is important.
 Summarizing – requires self-questioning to
be effective.
 Writing to learn – helps make knowledge
meaningful.
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How Can Memory Strategies be
Taught
Outlining and mapping – might possibly tie
into episodic memory and relates to Paivo’s
Dual Code Theory.
 PQ4R – preview, question, read, reflect,
recite, and review material.
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How do Cognitive Teaching
Strategies Help Students Learn?
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Making Learning Relevant and Activating Prior
knowledge.
– Advance organizers – activities and techniques that
orient students to the material before reading or class
presentation.
– Analogies – images, concepts, or narratives that
compare new information to information already
understood - you need to know your students.
– Elaboration – the process of connecting new material to
information or ideas already in the learner’s mind.
How do Cognitive Teaching
Strategies Help Students Learn?
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Organizing Information
– Use Questions
– Use Conceptual Models
Conclusion
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What elements of
cognitive theories of
learning that you do
not currently use can
you incorporate into
your next set of lesson
plans? Please discuss
this in your work
group?
Reference
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Slavin, R. E. (2003). Educational
Psychology, 7th Ed. Allyn and Bacon: New
York.