Ch. 7 Theoretical Approaches to the study of Learning

Question 1

What are the 5 theoretical approaches to the study of learning?

Answer 1

1. Behaviorism
2. Social Cognitive Theory
3. Information Processing Theory
4. Constructivism
5. Sociocultural Theory

Question 2

Behaviorism

Define. Who are the main Theorists?

Answer 2

view learning as a process of accessing and changing associations between stimuli and responses.

Theorists:
B.F. Skinner
Edward Thorndike
Ivan Pavlov

Question 3

Social Cognitive Theory

Define. Who are the main Theorists?

Answer 3

focus on the ways people learn from observing one another.

Theorist:
Albert Bandura

Question 4

Information Processing Theory

Define. Who are the main Theorists?

Answer 4

focus more on what happens inside the learner’s mind, considering the processes of learning, memory, and performance. Some theorists believe the human mind works like a computer processor, using terms such as: storage, retrieval, working memory, and long-term memory.

advanced the idea of building students’ declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge.

NO Key Theorists.

Question 5

Constructivism

Define. Who are the main Theorists?

Answer 5

suggest that people construct or create knowledge (as opposed to absorb knowledge) based on their experiences and interactions. Some focus on individual (how one person makes meaning) and some on social (how people gain knowledge by working together).

Theorists:
Jean Piaget
Jerome Bruner

Question 6

Sociocultural Theory

Define. Who are the main Theorists?

Answer 6

suggest that the combination of social, cultural, and historical contexts in which a learner exists have great influence on the person’s knowledge construction and the ways teachers must organize instruction.

Theorist:
Lev Vygotsky (zone of proximal development)