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

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

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

Sensory register

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

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

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 long-term memory.

Capacity – five to nine bits of information, but bits may contain subcategories of information.

Bottle neck for long-term memory

Long-Term Memory

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

Is our memory of personal experiences, a mental movie of the things we saw and heard.

Semantic Memory

Contains the facts and generalized information that we know; concepts. Principles, or rules, and how to use them; and our problem-solving skills and strategies

Procedural Memory

Refers to knowing how in contrast to knowing what

How They Work

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

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

You remember information more effectively if it is stored in two forms visual and verbal: episodic and semantic memory

Parallel Distributed Processing

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

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.

What Causes People to Remember and Forget?

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.

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.

What Causes People to Remember and Forget?

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

How Can Memory Strategies be Taught

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

Paired-Associate Learning (most frequently used in education)

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

How Can Memory Strategies be Taught

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.

How Can Memory Strategies be Taught

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.

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.

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.

How do Cognitive Teaching Strategies Help Students Learn?

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?

Organizing Information– Use Questions– Use Conceptual Models

Conclusion

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

Slavin, R. E. (2003). Educational Psychology, 7th Ed. Allyn and Bacon: New York.