LEARNING THEORIES

Information
Processing
Theory
by : Sri Hardianti
 information processing occurs in stages that intervene

between receiving a stimulus and producing a

Assumptions response. A corollary is that the form of information, or

how it is rep- resented mentally, differs depending on

the stage. The stages are qualitatively different from

one another forming asso- ciations between bits of

knowledge helps to facilitate their acquisition and

storage in memory.
Two-Store
(Dual) Memory
Model
Information processing begins when a stimulus
input (e.g., visual, auditory) impinges on one or more
senses (eg, hearing, sight, touch). The appropriate
sensory register receives the input and holds it briefly
in sensory form. It is here that perception (pattern
recognition) occurs, which is the process of assigning
meaning to a stimulus input. This typically does not
involve naming because naming takes time and
information stays in the sensory register for only a
fraction of a second. Rather, perception involves
matching an input to known information.
Alternatives to
the Two-Store
Model
different ways to process information (such as
levels or depth at which it is processed) exist:
physical (surface), acoustic (phonological,
sound), semantic (meaning). These three
levels are dimensional, with physical
processing being the most superficial (such
as "x" as a symbol devoid of meaning as
discussed by the teachers in the introductory
scenario) and semantic processing being the
deepest.
 ATTENTION
The word attention is heard often in educational settings. Teachers and parents complain that students do
not pay attention to instructions or directions. (This does not seem to be the problem in the opening
scenario, rather, the issue involves meaningfulness of pro- cessing.)

1 2 3

Theories of Attention and Attention

Attention learning and reading

Gestalt Theory
This apparent motion is known as
the phi phenomenon and
demonstrates that sub- jective
experiences cannot be explained by
referring to the objective elements
involved. Observers perceive
movement even though none
occurs. Phenomenological
experience (apparent motion) differs
from sensory experience (exposure
of lines).
Meaningfulness of
Perception.
Gestalt theory originally applied to perception, but
when its European proponents came to the
United States they found an emphasis on learning.
Applying Gestalt ideas to learning was not difficult.
In the Gestalt view, learning is a cognitive
phenomenon involving reorganizing experiences
into different perceptions of things, people, or
events (Koffka, 1922, 1926).
Principles of
Organization
Gestalt theory postulates that people use
principles to organize their perceptions. Some of
the most important principles are figure-ground
relation, prox- imity, similarity, common direction,
simplicity, and closure
Sensory Registers
Environmental inputs are attended
to and received through the
senses; vision, hearing, touch,
smell, and taste.

LTM Comparisons
An information processing theory
of perception is template
matching, which holds that people
store templates, or miniature
copies of stimuli, in LTM.
Verbal Learning
Stimulus-Response
Associations
The impetus for research on verbal learning derived
from the work of Ebbinghaus who construed
learning as gradual strengthening of associations
between verbal stimuli (words, nonsense syllables),
With repeated pairings, the response dij became
more strongly connected with the stimulus wek
Other responses. also could become connected
with wek during learning of a list of paired
nonsense sylla- bles, but these associations
became weaker over trials.
Learning Tasks.
Verbal learning researchers commonly employed
three types of learning tasks: serial, paired-
associate, and free-recall. In serial learning, people
recall verbal stim- uli in the order in which they
were presented. Serial learning is involved in such
school tasks as memorizing a poem or the steps in
a problem-solving strategy.
Influences on Encoding
Encoding is the process of putting new (incoming)
information into the information pro- cessing
system and preparing it for storage in LTM.
Encoding usually is accomplished by making new
information meaningful and integrating it with
known information in LTM. Important factors that
influence encoding are organization, elaboration,
and schema structures.
 Representation of Spatial Information
Mental imagery refers to mental representations of
visual/spatial knowledge includ- ing physical properties of

MENTAL the objects or events represented Visual stimuli that

areattended to are held briefly in veridical (true) form in the

IMAGERY sensory register and then are transferred to WM.

Individual Differences
The extent to which people actually use imagery to remember
information varies as a function of cognitive development.
Kosslyn (1980) proposed that children are more likely to use
imagery to remember and recall information than adults, who
rely more on propositional representation. Kosslyn gave
children and adults statements such as, "A cat has claws," and
"A rat has fur."

Imagery in LTM
LTM has two means of representing knowledge. A verbal
system incorporating knowledge expressed in language and
an imaginal system storing visual and spatial information.
These sys- tems are interrelated-a verbal code can be
converted into an imaginal code and vice versa-but important
differences exist.
Advance Organizers
Advance organizers are broad statements
presented at the outset of lessons that help to
connect new material with prior learningThe
conceptual basis of organizers derives from
Ausubel's (1963, 1968, 1977, 1978; Ausubel &
Robinson, 1969) theory of meaningful
reception learning. Learning is meaningful
when new material bears a systematic
relation to relevant concepts in LTM; that is,
new ma- terial expands, modifies, or
elaborates information in memory.
Cognitive Load
The information processing system can
handle only so much processing at once.
If too many stimuli impinge
simultaneously, observers will miss many
of them because of their limited
attentional capacity. The capacity of WM
is limited. Because information process-
ing takes time and involves multiple
cognitive processes, at any given time
only a limited amount of information can
be held in WM, transferred to LTM,
rehearsed, and so forth. Cognitive load
theory takes these processing limitations
into account in the design of
 Conditions
of Learning

Learning Outcomes.
One of the best known instructional
theories based on cognitive principles
was formu- lated by Robert Gagne (1985). Learning Events
Two steps are critical. The first is to
specify the type of learning outcome,
Learning Hierarchies
Gagné identified five major types
(discussed later). The second is to
determine the events of learning, or Phases of Learning
factors that make a difference in
instruction.
Thank you!!!!