Chapter 8- Cognitive Views of Learning

Question 1

cognitive view of learning

Answer 1

a general approach that views learning as an active mental process of acquiring, remembering, and using knowledge, assumes mental processes exist, they can be studied scientifically, and that humans are active information processors, learning is extending and transforming the understanding we already have

Question 2

cognitive science

Answer 2

the interdisciplinary study of thinking, language, intelligence, knowledge, creation, and the brain

Question 3

mirror systems

Answer 3

areas of the brain that fire both during perception of an action by someone else and when performing the action, the brain rehearses an action it sees another person perform

Question 4

domain-specific knowledge

Answer 4

information that is useful in a particular situation or that applies mainly to one specific topic

Question 5

general knowledge

Answer 5

information that is useful in many kinds of tasks, information that applies to many situations

Question 6

information processing

Answer 6

the human mind’s activity of taking in, storing, and using information

Question 7

perception

Answer 7

interpretation of sensory information, process of detecting a stimulus and assigning meaning

Question 8

bottom-up processing

Answer 8

perceiving based on noticing separate defining features and assembling them into a recognizable pattern, first step in perception: features are extracted and analyzed to give a rough sketch

Question 9

gestalt

Answer 9

german for pattern or whole
gestalt theorists hold that people organize their perceptions into coherent wholes, second phase of perception: the features are organized into patterns

Question 10

top-down processing

Answer 10

making sense of information by using context and what we already know about the situation; sometimes called conceptually driven perception, last phase of perception: the features and patterns detected are combined in light of the context of the situation and our existing knowledge

Question 11

automaticity

Answer 11

the result of learning to perform a behaviour or thinking process so thoroughly that the performance is automatic and does not require effort, sometimes refers to excitement or stress, carry out complex behaviour with little mental effort, we are not completely automatic

Question 12

working memory

Answer 12

the information that you are focusing on at a given moment, new information is held in working memory temporarily and combined with knowledge from long-term memory to solve problems, limited capacity (not the same as short term memory- WM includes temporary storage and active processing), four elements: central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer

Question 13

short-term memory

Answer 13

component of memory system that holds information for about 20 seconds (not the same as working memory- STM is just storage), capacity = 5-9 things

Question 14

central executive

Answer 14

the part of working memory that is responsible for monitoring and directing attention and other mental resources, controls attention and other mental resources (the worker), supervises attention, makes plans, and decides what information to retrieve and how to allocate resources

Question 15

phonological loop

Answer 15

part of working memory, a speech and sound related system for holding and rehearsing (refreshing) words and sounds in short-term memory for about 1.5 to 2 seconds, holds verbal and sound information, activates verbal meaning in long term memory

Question 16

visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 16

part of working memory, a holding system for visual and spatial information, activates visual meaning in long term memory

Question 17

episodic buffer

Answer 17

part of working memory, the process that brings together and integrates information from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and long-term memory under the supervision of the central executive, workbench, creates complex memories

Question 18

cognitive load

Answer 18

the volume of resources necessary to complete a task, amount of mental resources (mostly working memory) required to perform a particular task, extent of load depends on what the person already knows about the task and what resources are available, goal is to manage intrinsic load, reduce extraneous load, and promote germane load

Question 19

intrinsic cognitive load

Answer 19

the resources required by the task itself, regardless of other stimuli, amount of cognitive processing required to figure out the material, essential to the task, unavoidable

Question 20

extraneous cognitive load

Answer 20

the resources required to process stimuli irrelevant to the task, cognitive capacity used to deal with problems not related to the task, can be managed by providing supports, focusing attention on the main ideas, and generally supplying scaffolding

Question 21

germane cognitive load

Answer 21

deep processing of information related to the task, including application of prior knowledge to a new task or problem, organizing and integrating the material with what you already know and forming new understandings, instruction can support this by asking students to explain material, draw/chart their understandings, take notes

Question 22

maintenance rehearsal

Answer 22

keeping information in working memory by repeating it to yourself, as long as you revisit, it can be maintained, useful for information you plan to use then forget

Question 23

elaborative rehearsal

Answer 23

keeping information in working memory by associating it with something else you already know, helps create long term memories

Question 24

levels of processing theory

Answer 24

theory that recall of information is based on how deeply it is processed, related to the notion of elaborative rehearsal, the length of time that information is remembered is determined by the extent to which the information is analyzed and connected with other information

Question 25

chunking

Answer 25

grouping individual bits of data into meaningful larger units, helps retain more information

Question 26

interference

Answer 26

processing new information interferes or gets confused with old information

Question 27

decay

Answer 27

the weakening and fading of memories with the passage of time

Question 28

long-term memory

Answer 28

permanent store of knowledge, unlimited, memories can remain there permanently, gaining access requires time and effort

Question 29

declarative knowledge

Answer 29

verbal information, facts, knowing that something is the case, knowledge that can be declared, domain-specific or general

Question 30

procedural knowledge

Answer 30

knowledge that is demonstrated when we perform a task, knowing how, can be domain-specific or general

Question 31

self-regulatory knowledge

Answer 31

knowing how to manage your learning, or knowing how and when to use your declarative and procedural knowledge, conditional knowledge, can be domain-specific or general

Question 32

explicit memory

Answer 32

long-term memories that involve deliberate or conscious recall, we are aware of these memories, we know we have remembered them (declarative knowledge, episodic memory (memory based on sequence of events), semantic memory (memory based on the meaning))

Question 33

implicit memory

Answer 33

knowledge that we are not conscious of recalling, but that influences our behaviour or thought without our awareness

Question 34

propositional network

Answer 34

(propositions: the smallest unit of knowledge that can be judged true or false) propositions that share information are linked in propositional networks, set of interconnected concepts and relationships in which long-term knowledge is held, when we want to recall a bit of information, we can translate its meaning as represented in the propositional network, into a familiar phrase or sentence or mental picture

Question 35

images

Answer 35

representations based on the physical attributes- the appearance- of information, seeing images in your head is not exactly the same as seeing the actual image

Question 36

dual coding theory

Answer 36

suggests that information is stored in long-term memory as either visual images or verbal units, or both, information that is coded both visually and verbally is easiest to learn

Question 37

concept

Answer 37

a category used to group similar events, ideas, objects, or people, we refer to our mental representation of the category when talking about a particular concept, help organize vast amounts of information into manageable units

Question 38

defining attribute

Answer 38

qualities that connect members of a group to a specific concept, the defining attribute theory of concepts suggests that we recognize specific examples by noting key required features

Question 39

prototype

Answer 39

a best example or best representative of a category, an example that has the most important core features of the category, other members of the category may be very similar

Question 40

exemplar

Answer 40

an actual memory of a specific object, used to compare with an item in question to see if that item belongs in the same category as the exemplar, prototypes are built from many experiences with exemplars

Question 41

theory-based

Answer 41

an explanation for concept formation that suggests our classifications are based on ideas about the world that we create to make sense of things

Question 42

schemas

Answer 42

basic structures of organizing information, concepts, abstract knowledge structures that organize vast amounts of information, guides perception and helps make sense of our experience based on what we already know and what we expect to happen

Question 43

story grammar

Answer 43

typical structure or organization for a category of stories, type of schema to help students understand and remember stories

Question 44

flashbulb memories

Answer 44

clear, vivid memories of emotionally important events in your life, when we have intense emotional reactions, memories are stronger and more lasting

Question 45

procedural memory

Answer 45

long-term memory for how to do things, skills, habits, how to perform tasks, this knowledge tends to be remembered for a long time, represented as scripts or productions

Question 46

script

Answer 46

schema or expected plan for the sequence of steps in common events such as buying groceries or ordering pizza, differs depending on the situation

Question 47

productions

Answer 47

the contents of procedural memory; rules about what actions to take given certain conditions, if A occurs, then do B

Question 48

priming

Answer 48

activating a concept in memory or the spread of activation from one concept to another, through some out-of-awareness process

Question 49

spreading activation

Answer 49

retrieval of pieces of information based on their relatedness to one another, remembering one bit of information activates recall of associated information, when a particular proposition or image is active, when we are thinking about it, other closely associated knowledge can be primed or triggered as well, and activation can spread through the network

Question 50

retrieval

Answer 50

process of searching for and finding information in long-term memory, occurs partly through spreading activation

Question 51

reconstruction

Answer 51

recreating information by using memories, expectations, logic, and existing knowledge, cognitive tool or problem-solving process that makes use of logic, cues, and other knowledge to construct a reasonable answer by filling in any missing parts

Question 52

elaboration

Answer 52

adding and extending meaning by connecting new information to existing knowledge, often automatic, material that is elaborated when first learned will be easier to recall later, form of rehearsal that leads to deeper levels of processing because the information is analyzed and connected with existing information

Question 53

organization

Answer 53

ordered and logical network of relations, material that is well organized is easier to learn and to remember than bits an pieces of information, especially if the material is complex or extensive

Question 54

context

Answer 54

the total setting or situation that surrounds and interacts with a person or event, it includes internal and external circumstances and situations that interact with the individual’s thoughts, feelings, and actions to shape development and learning, if you try to remember the information, it will be easier if the current context is similar to the original one

Question 55

mnemonics

Answer 55

techniques for remembering, builds meaning by connecting what is to be learned with established words or images

Question 56

loci method

Answer 56

technique for associating items with specific places, imagine a familiar place, and pit out particular locations to serve as pegs to hang memories

Question 57

acronym

Answer 57

technique for remembering by using the first letter of each word in a phrase to form a new, memorable word

Question 58

chain mnemonics

Answer 58

memory strategies that associate one element in a series with the next element, and the next element etc

Question 59

keyword method

Answer 59

system of associating new words or concepts with similar sounding cue words and images, recode the new vocabulary word as a more familiar concrete keyword, then relate the keyword clue to the vocabulary items definition through a sentence, retrieve the desired definition

Question 60

rote memorizing

Answer 60

remembering information by repetition without necessarily understanding the meaning of the information

Question 61

serial-position effect

Answer 61

the tendency to remember the beginning and the end, but not the middle of the list

Question 62

part learning

Answer 62

breaking a list of items into shorter lists, prevents serial position effect because less middle items to remember

Question 63

distributed practice

Answer 63

practice in brief periods with rest intervals, gives time for deeper processing and strengthens connections in the neural network of the brain

Question 64

massed practice

Answer 64

practice for a single, extended period of time, leads to cognitive overload, fatigue, and lagging motivation

Question 65

automatic basic skills

Answer 65

skills that are applied without conscious thought