As early as the 1920's people began to find limitations in the behaviorist

approach to understanding learning.

People are not “programmed animals” that merely respond to environmental

stimuli; people are rational beings that require active participation in order to
learn, and whose actions are a consequence of thinking.
What is cognitivism?

The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the “black box” of the mind should be
opened and understood.
The learner is viewed as an information processor (like a computer).
Cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind as computer: information comes in, is
processed, and leads to certain outcomes.

Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental activities/processes such as thinking, memory,

knowing, and problem-solving.

Knowledge can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. Learning is defined as

change in a learner’s schemata.
Key Concepts

Schema (schemata) - An internal knowledge structure (symbolic mental

constructions).

New information is compared to existing cognitive structures called "schema".

Schemata may be combined, extended or altered to accommodate new information.

Three-Stage Information Processing Model - input first enters a sensory
register, then is processed in short-term memory, and then is
transferred to long-term memory for storage and retrieval.
 Sensory Register - receives input (light, sound, smell, heat, cold, etc.) from
senses which lasts from less than a second (less than 1/2 second for
vision; about 3 seconds for hearing) to four seconds and then disappears
through decay or replacement. Much of the information never reaches
short term memory but all information is monitored at some level and
acted upon if necessary.

It is absolutely critical that the learner attend to the information at this initial
stage in order to transfer it to the next one. There are two major concepts for
getting information into STM:

First, individuals are more likely to pay attention to a stimulus if it has an

interesting feature.

Second, individuals are more likely to pay attention if the stimulus activates a
known pattern. To the extent we have students call to mind relevant prior learning
before we begin our presentation we can take advantage of this principle.
Short-Term Memory (STM) - sensory input that is important or interesting is
transferred from the sensory register to the STM.

Information can be retained here for up to 20 seconds or more if rehearsed

repeatedly. Repetition or is a technique we all use to try to "learn" something.
However, in order to be effective this must be done after forgetting begins.
Researchers advise that the learner should not repeat immediately the content
(or skill), but wait a few minutes and then repeat.

Short-term memory can hold up to 7 plus or minus 2 items, but more recent
research suggests the number may be more like 5 + 2 for most things we are
trying to remember. STM capacity can be increased if material is chunked into
meaningful parts.
Long-Term Memory and Storage (LTM) - stores information from STM for long
term use. Long-term memory has unlimited capacity. Some materials are "forced"
into LTM by rote memorization and over learning. Deeper levels of processing
such as generating linkages between old and new information are much better for
successful retention of material.
There are several examples of elaboration that are commonly used in the
teaching/learning process:
Imaging: creating a mental picture;
Method of Loci: (locations)--ideas or things to be remembered are connected to
objects located in a familiar location; (spoon, bed, picklock, wrench)
Pegword method: ideas or things to be remembered are connected to specific words
(e.g., one-bun, two-shoe, three-tree, etc.)

1-gun Visualize the first item being fired from a gun

2-zoo Visualize an association between the second thing and a zoo
3-tree Visualize the third item growing from a tree
4-door Visualize the 4th item associated with a door
5-hive Visualize the fifth item associated with a hive or with bees
6-bricks Visualize the sixth item associated with bricks
7-heaven Visualize the seventh item associated with heaven
8-plate Visualize the 8th item on a plate as if it is food
9-wine Visualize a glass containing the 9th item
10-hen Visualize the 10th item associated with a chicken.

Housewife, apple, cushion, ant, candy, hammer, diamond, businessmen, bear, pencil,
napkin
Rhyming: (songs, phrases)--information to be remembered is arranged in a rhyme

I scream,

You scream

We all scream for ice-cream!

Rain, rain, go away!

All the children want to play.

Rain, rain, go away!

Come again another day

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

How I wonder what you are.

Meaningful Effects - Meaningful information is easier to learn and remember.

Serial Position Effects - It is easier to remember items from the beginning or end
of a list rather than those in the middle of the list, unless that item is distinctly
different.

Practice Effects - Practicing or rehearsing improves retention especially when it is

distributed practice. By distributing practices the learner associates the
material with many different contexts rather than the one context afforded by
mass practice.

Transfer Effects- The effects of prior learning on learning new tasks or material.

Interference Effects - Occurs when prior learning interferes with the learning of
new material.

Organization Effects - When a learner categorizes input such as a grocery list, it is

easier to remember.
Mnemonic Effects - Mnemonics are strategies used by learners to organize
relatively meaningless input into more meaningful images or semantic
contexts. For example, the notes of a musical scale can be remembered by
the rhyme.
Mnemosyne was one of the Titanesses, the
daugher of Gaia and Uranus.

She is the personification of memory.

Mnemosyne also presided over a pool in

Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe.

The dead who drank from Lethe forgot

everything related to their previous life when
reincarnated. Those who drank from
Mnemosyne kept their memories alive
remembered their previous life when
reincarnated.

The word “mnemonic” derives from her name,

which means any learning technique that aids
information retention.

Mnemonic systems are special techniques or

strategies consciously used to improve
memory.
Knuckle mnemonic is a tecnique to remember the number of days in each month of the
Gregorian Calendar.
Each protruding knuckle represents a 31-day month.

Rhyming, peg method, imaging, making assoications, using music, etc...

Schema Effects - If information does not fit a person's schema it may be more
difficult for them to remember and what they remember or how they conceive
of it may also be affected by their prior schema.

Advance Organizers – David Ausebel's advance organizers prepare the learner

for the material they are about to learn. They are not simply outlines of the
material, but are material that will enable the student to make sense out of
the lesson.

An Advance Organizer helps to organize new material by outlining, arranging and

sequencing the main idea of the new material based on what the learner already
knows.

Advance Organizers use familiar terms and concepts to link what the students
already know to the new information that will be presented in the lesson,
which aids in the process of transforming knowledge and creatively applying it
in new situations. This process helps to embed the new information into long
term memory.
The following strategies can function as Advance Organizers:

- Use charts, diagrams, oral presentations, or concept maps. For example, provide a
graphic that contains a visual clue about a complex relationship among many parts.

- Have students identify the characteristics of a known phenomenon and then relate
it to the new idea/concept. For example, discuss characteristics of the Mississippi
River to introduce the impact that the Nile River has on Egypt.

- Offer renderings of different types of geometric forms before discussing their

individual likenesses and differences.

- Review basic concepts of Christianity (in order to activate the students' schema
for "religion") prior to studying a unit on Buddhism.

- Ask students to compare and contrast the new content based on what they already
know. For example, what can they tell about its color, shape, smell, feel, or taste?

- Identify a problem and ask for a reason why it may occur (before teaching the
reason). For example, discuss the origins of a war before describing its major
battles.
 USING THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH IN THE
CLASSROOM

Principle
Example
1. Gain the students' attention.

 Use cues to signal when you are ready to begin.

 Move around the room and use voice inflections.

2. Bring to mind relevant prior learning.

 Review previous day's lesson.

 Have a discussion about previously covered content.

3. Point out important information.

 Provide handouts.
 Write on the board or use transparencies.
4. Present information in an organized manner.

 Show a logical sequence to concepts and skills.

 Go from simple to complex when presenting new material.

5. Show students how to categorize (chunk) related information.

 Present information in categories.

 Teach inductive reasoning.

6. Provide opportunities for students to elaborate on new information.

 Connect new information to something already known.

 Look for similarities and differences among concepts.
7. Show students how to use coding when memorizing lists.

 Make up silly sentence with first letter of each word in the list.
 Use mental imagery techniques such as the pegword method.

8. Provide for repetition of learning.

 State important principles several times in different ways during

presentation of information.
 Have items on each day's lesson from previous lesson.
 Schedule periodic reviews of previously learned concepts and skills.

9. Provide opportunities for overlearning of fundamental concepts and skills.

 Use daily drills for arithmetic facts.