ACQUIRING, PROCESSING, &

RETAINING INFORMATION

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LEARNING

Practice = repetition of a task Attention = detecting the stimulus to

attend to ex. Teacher’s voice

Chemicals = stimulants & depressants Emotions = humor, etc. Feedback = discovering the

consequences of a behavior or the results of a performance ex. Garbage can game Implications of feedback activity =

people need to know how they have done in order to learn

TRANSFER OF LEARNING

Transfer = learning of one set of materials influences the later learning of another set

Positive transfer = facilitates learning in a new situation ex. Learn stick shift car, then

learn stick shift truck Negative transfer = hinders

learning in a new situation ex. Study French, then

German

INFORMATION PROCESSING

Schema = pattern; plan for solving problems ex. How do you get to your next class?

[Think about which class it is, remember where you are now, see the layout of the school, see the position of the next class, follow the hallway to that class from this one.]

Elaboration = add associations & details to information so that it is easier to remember ex. “Jack’s birthday is February 9.”

becomes “Jack’s birthday is the day before my dad’s birthday…it is February 9.”

Mnemonic devices = unusual associations to help you remember ex. Roy G. Biv (colors of the rainbow)

Principle learning = learn the underlying theme of the material; look for the pattern in the details ex. Adam is 4 & needs 10 hours

of sleep per nigh; Joe is 10 & needs 9 hours; Sandi is 16 & needs 8 hours; Maddy is 30 & needs 6 hours. SO, you need less sleep as you get older.

Chunking = organize information in “chunks” or groups ex. Phone numbers, social

security number

INFORMATION PROCESSING

RETAINING INFORMATION (MEMORY)

Types of storage sensory = unprocessed; held here until

you decide to pay attention to it or ignore it iconic = visual

ex. Man walks by door acoustic = sound

ex. Fan kicks on short-term = 1-30 seconds after

exposure; 7-9 pieces of info used & discarded unless rehearsal takes place to move it into long-term ex. Look up number in phone book,

dial, forget number (unless it’s important & you want to learn it)

long-term = information in sensory & short-term memory is processed & rehearsed; unlimited retention possibility ex. Song lyrics from the 1980s

Photographic/eidetic = very rare; person can remember every detail of information after looking at picture/text

eyewitness memory = often wrong because people fill in details they don’t remember

Forgetting: Increase in errors when trying to bring learned material out of memory storage

RETAINING INFORMATION (MEMORY)

MEASURES OF RETENTION

Recognition = must identify the correct answer by picking one of the choices given ex. Multiple choice questions

Recall = must remember the answer without cues/choices. ex. Essay questions

Relearning = subject may have to relearn materials that he/she learned before learning should be faster the 2nd

time