Week 6 - Cognitive views of learning

Question 1

Cognitive perspectives (week 6)

Answer 1

• Mental processes exist
  
  • Active participants
  • Individual and developmental differences

○ Cognitive theorists hold the belief that the mind is a powerful tool and plays a significant role in learning.

○ They also hold the belief that humans are actively involved in learning and in constructing their own knowledge

○ They understand there are individual and developmental differences which can impact our ability to learn

Question 2

According to Information Processing models, how many memory systems are there?

Answer 2

3

Question 3

Provide a brief explanation of sensory memory:

Answer 3

Sensory memories are stored for a few seconds at most. They come from the five senses: hearing, vision, touch, smell, and taste.

Question 4

Cognitive views of learning

Define general knowledge

Answer 4

Refers to knowledge useful in a range of situation

E.g. reading and writing

Question 5

Cognitive views of learning

Define domain-specific knowledge

Answer 5

Refers to knowledge useful in a specific situation

E.g. knowing how to solve an algebra equation, or how to fix a car

Question 6

Cognitive views of learning

Define Declarative knowledge

Answer 6

Demonstrated through words and symbols basically involves knowing something is what it is

E.g. what a car is, meaning of words

• Knowing all the planets in the solar system
• Knowing what the alphabet is
• Knowing the sum of 2x2

Question 7

Cognitive views of learning

Define Procedural knowledge

Answer 7

Knowing how to do something

E.g. how to ride a bike, drive a car, how to make cookies

Question 8

Cognitive views of learning

Define Conditioned knowledge

Answer 8

Knowing when and why to use declarative and procedural knowledge

E.g. knowing when to read carefully or skim through a chapter, knowing when to slow down whilst driving

Question 9

Provide an explanation of working memory:

Answer 9

Working memory is a temporary storage system and is vital for many day-to-day tasks (e.g. following instructions, responding in conversations, listening and reading comprehension, organisation).

Question 10

Provide an explanation of long-term memory:

Answer 10

Long-term memory refers to unlimited storage information to be maintained for long periods, even for life. There are two types of long-term memory: declarative or explicit memory and non-declarative or implicit memory. Explicit memory refers to information that can be consciously evoked.

Question 11

Provide one example of a memory strategy used to aid learning and knowledge retention:

Answer 11

Mind Maps

Question 12

Information Processing Model definition

Answer 12

Holds the view that the human mind takes in information, stores it, and is able to retrieve this information when needed.

Question 13

Information Processing Model

Sensory Memory

Answer 13

- Five senses
	• See, smell, touch, hear, taste
- Sensory register
- Contents
- Large capacity
- Short duration
	• >1 second to 3 seconds
	• Which is why we need to actively shift this information to our working memory
Role of attention and perception

Question 14

Information Processing Model

Perception

Answer 14

• Gestalt
• Bottom-up processing
  Top-down processing

Question 15

Information Processing Model

Attention

Answer 15

• Selected stimuli
• Guided by what we know and need to know
• Affected by environment
• Task complexity
• Ability to control and focus attention
• Automacity
  Frees our mind to think of other things

Question 16

Information Processing Model

Working Memory

Answer 16

Work bench of the memory system, the interface where new information is held temporarily and combined with knowledge from long-term memory
Contains what you were thinking about at the present moment
- Central executive (controls attention)
- Working memory has a limited capacity
- System for rehearsing words and sounds known as the phonological loop
- Has a visuospatial sketchpad where mental images can be manipulated
- Episodic buffer (above 3 + LTM are integrated) which draws information from the central executive, phonological loops and visuospatial sketchpad so that they can all work together
Tool used to be able to control our attention and be able to see and hear things all at once

Question 17

Information Processing Model

Educational implications

Answer 17

Repetition

• Make sure you repeat information
• Repeat instructions for students more than once

Direct attention

• Direct students’ attention on the task at hand
• Get them to focus on what you want them to pay attention to

Prior knowledge
- Serves as a basis for new knowledge

Written instructions
To help with limitations of working memory

Question 18

Long term memory

Answer 18

Where information is permanently stored

- Unlimited capacity
- Unlimited duration
- Contains visual/verbal or combination of codes

Important to intergrade new information with information already stored in our long term memory, as we construct an understanding, and this is where elaboration, organisation and context come into play.

Retrieving information from LTM through:
- Spreading activation
Reconstruction

Question 19

Storing information in LTM strategies

Answer 19

(From STM and LTM)
Learn:
- Elaboration
- Organisation
- Context

Retrieve (from LTM to STM)

Forget

• Time and decay
• Interference