Learning And Cognitive Processes Ch6

Question 1

What is learning?

Answer 1

Learning is a relatively permanent change, due to experience, either in behaviour or in mental representation

Question 2

Learning as a change in behaviour …

Answer 2

Behaviourist focus on observable changes, such as how someone responds to a particular stimulus.

Question 3

Learning as a change in mental representations or associations

Answer 3

Social cognitive system focus on the learning that occurs from observation.
Cognitive psychologists focus on the mental process that underlie learning and behaviour

Question 4

How are learning and the brain linked? (3)

Answer 4

Learning results in an increase in both the size and the number of synapses between neurons.
Neuron formation is stimulated by new learning
Learning and or thinking about something tends to be an activity that is distributed across many part of the brain

Question 5

What are the basic assumptions of cognitive psychology (6)

Answer 5

• cognitive processes influence the nature of what is learned
• people are selective about what they process and learn
• meaning is constructed by the learner, rather than being derived directly from the environment
• prior knowledge and beliefs play a major role in the meanings that people construct
• one of the most important elements in any learning process is what the student brings
• people are actively involved in their own learning

Question 6

What is memory ?

Answer 6

Ability to save something (mentally) that has been peevishly learned, or the mental location where such information is stored

Question 7

What is storage h

Answer 7

Process of putting new information into memory

Question 8

What is encoding?

Answer 8

Changing the format of the new information as if is being stored in memory

Question 9

What is retrieval ?

Answer 9

Process of finding information previously stored in memory

Question 10

What are the three key components of memory

Answer 10

A sensory register
A working memory
A long term memory

Question 11

What is a sensory register

Answer 11

Holds in coming information in a relatively unenvodes form. Has a very large capacity but a v short duration (1s)

Question 12

What is the working memory

Answer 12

Holds and actively think about and processes a limited amount of information
May also include a central executive that focuses attention, oversees the flow of information and inhibits inappropriate thoughts or actions
Has a limited capacity and short duration

Question 13

What is the long term memory ?

Answer 13

Holds knowledge and skills for relatively long time.

Has an unlimited capacity and long duration

Question 14

What is attention ?

Answer 14

It is the focusing of mental processes on a particular stimuli

Question 15

What does attention enable us to do ?

Answer 15

To move selected information from the sensory register to the working memory

Question 16

To ensure students are paying attention it is important to ….

Answer 16

Ask questions about the lessons while it is happening
And students to put classroom material to work
Encourage students to take notes

Question 17

What are the knowledges found in long term memory ?

Answer 17

Declarative and procedural

Question 18

What is declarative knowledge

Answer 18

Knowledge that refers to the nature of how things are (facts )

Question 19

What is procedural knowledge ?

Answer 19

Knowledge concerning how to do soemthing (procedures)

Question 20

How is declarative knowledge learned ?

Answer 20

Via rote learning 
Via organisation
 via elaboration 
Via meaningful learning 
Via visual imagery

Question 21

Describe learning declarative knowledge through rote learning

Answer 21

• involves repeating something Over and over (rehearsal)
• helps us keep material in working memory in definetly which may move to long term memory
• makes few, if any connections between new information and existing knowledge

Question 22

Describe learning declarative knowledge through meaningful learning

Answer 22

Related new information to things we already know. Is far more effective than rote learning

Question 23

What conditions facilitate meaningful learning bc the learner:

Answer 23

Has a meaningful learning set
Has appropriate knowledge base
Sees the connections new and old information

Question 24

Describe learning declarative knowledge through organisation.

Answer 24

Learners find connections among the various pieces of information they need to learn.
Students are more likely to organise material if it fits into an organisational structure or hierarchical arrangement
Teachers must help students see interrelatedness they their organisation is more effective

Question 25

Describe learning declarative knowledge through elaboration

Answer 25

Cognitive process in which learners expand on new information based on what they already know

Question 26

Describe learning declarative knowledge through imagery

Answer 26

Process of forming mental pictures of objects or ideas
Asking students to imagine how certain events in history might have looked or have students draw their own illustration of an item being learned

Question 27

How to easily retrieve long term memories?

Answer 27

Ensure the information is Stored in a logical, organised fashion.
Connect new information with related pieces of existing information

Question 28

What are the factors affecting retrieval (4)

Answer 28

How many kmowledge connections are made
Whether the information has been learned to mastery
How frequently the knowledge is used
Whether there is a relevant retrieval cue.

Question 29

What are the five reasons learners sometimes forget?

Answer 29

Retrieval failure 
Reconstruction error. 
Interference 
Decay. 
Failure to store

Question 30

What is retrieval failure

Answer 30

Inability to locate material stored in long term memory (could be due to poor organisation )

Question 31

What is reconstruction error

Answer 31

Happens when students can only retrieve part of a memory and thus fill in the rest with information based on general knowledge and assumptions

Question 32

What is interference

Answer 32

Something the students already learned inhibits ones abolity to remember something else correctly

Question 33

What is decay?

Answer 33

Information used infrequently is difficult to retrieve

Question 34

What is failure

Answer 34

Students fail to use strategies that promote storage

Question 35

What occurs when teachers allow 3s to leaps after their question

Answer 35

Increased participation

Improved quality

Question 36

What are general recommendations for facilitating cognitive processing

Answer 36

Make sure you have students attention
Help students separate essential from nonessential details and focus on the most important information
Help students make connections between new information and what they already know
Provide tune for reputation and review
Focus on meaning not memorisation.