Chapter 8 - Cognitive Views of Learning Flashcards
Cognitive view of learning
Knowledge / Strategies learned
- changes in knowledge / strategies make behaviour possible
- reinforcements inform about whart happens if behaviours repeated or changed
- learning is active - construct knowledge, transform understanding
goal: study wide range of learning situations, focus on individual developmental differences in cognition
Behavioural view of learning
- New behaviours themselves are learned
- Reinforcement strengthens responses
- learning is passive
- goal is to identify general laws of learning
Mirror Systems
areas of brain that fire during perception of an action (by someone else) and when performing the action
Domain-specific knowledge
Information that is useful in a particular situation or that applies mainly to one specific topic
General knowledge
Information that is useful in many different kinds of tasks, info that applies to many situations
Information processing
human mind’s activity of taking in, storing and using information
Sensory memory
Initial processing that transforms incoming stimuli into information so we can make sense of them
- aka sensory buffer, iconic memory (images), echoic memory (sounds)
- duration: less than 3 seconds
Perception
interpretation of sensory information
bottom-up processing
- data-driven
- stimulus must be analysed into features or components and assembled into meaningful pattern “from the bottom up”
- for example, recognizing the letter A
Gestalt
- German for pattern or whole
- people organize perceptions into coherent wholes
Top-down processing
- making sense of information by using context and what we already know about the situation
- aka conceptually-driven perception
sequential multitasking
- switching back and forth from one task to another - focus on one task at a time
simultaneous multitasking
overlapping focus on several tasks at a time
Working Memory (overview)
- The workbench of memory
- includes temp. storage and active processing
- the information you are focusing on at a given moment
- limited capacity
4 Elements of Working Memory
- Central Executive
- Phonoligocal loop
- Visiospatial sketchpad
- long-term memory
4 Elements of Working Memory
- Central Executive
- Phonoligocal loop
- Visiospatial sketchpad
- long-term memory
Central Executive
- part of working memory that is responsible for monitoring and directing attention and other mental resources (the “worker” of working memory)
Phonological Loop
- speech and sound-related system for holding and rehearsing (refreshing) words and sounds in short-term memory for about 1.5 to 2 seconds (spoken data)
Visiospatial Sketchpad
- part of working memory
- holding system for visual and spatial information
Episodic Buffer
- “workbench” of working memory
- process that brings together visiospatial sketchpad, phonological loop and long-term memory under supervision of central executive
- keeps track of the order of things - store jokes, gossip, plots
Cognitive Load
Volume of resources necessary to complete a task (mostly working memory)
Three kinds of cognitive load
- Intrinsic
- Extraneous
- Germane
Intrinsic Cognitive Load
- unavoidable
- recources required by task itself, regardless of other stimuli
Extraneous Cognitive Load
- avoidable
- resources required to process stimuli irrelevant to task
Germane Cognitive Load
- Deep processing of info related to the task
- includes application of prior knowledge to a new task or problem
- e.g. ask students to explain material to each other, draw chart
Teacher’s goals regarding cognitive load
- manage intrinsic load (stay in zone of proximal development)
- reduce extrenuous load (clear away as much as possible)
- promote germane load (support deep processing)
Maintenance rehearsal
- keep info in working memory by repeating it to yourself
- phonological loop or visuospatial sketchpad
- revisit to maintain it in working memory
- eg phone number, location on map
Elaborative rehearsal
- connect info with something you already know - with knowledge from long-term memory
- helps create long-term memory and retain info in working memory
Levels of processing theory
- aka depth of processing theory
- related to elaborative rehearsals
- length of time info remembered determined by extent to which info analysed and connected with other info
chunking
group individual bits of data into meaningful larger units
Interference
processing new information interferes or gets confused with old info
- mind processes new information, previous information overwritten
forgetting
- info lost from working memory through interference or decay
- without forgetting, working memory and learning would cease
decay
the weakening and fading of memories over time
Three aspects of memory that improve over time
- memory span
- memory processing efficiency
- speed of processing
Working memory in elementary students impacts …
- reading abilities, comprehension
- academic achievement, math computation
- intelligence tests
Declarative knowledge
- knowledge that can be declared through words and symbols, verbal information, facts, “knowing” that something is the case
Procedural knowledge
Knowledge that is demonstrated when we perform a task - “knowing how”
Self-regulatory knowledge
- knwing how to manage your learning or knowing how tand when to use declarative and procedural knowledge
Explicit Memory
- long-term memories that involve deliberate or consciopus recall
- we are aware of the memories
- for example, declarative knowledge
- includes episodic memory (own experiences) & semantic memory (facts, general knowledge)
Implicit memory
- knowledge that we are not conscious of recalling
- influences our behaviour, or thoughts without our awareness
- includes classical conditioning, procedural memory & priming
