Week 6 - Cognitive views of learning Flashcards
Cognitive perspectives (week 6)
- 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
According to Information Processing models, how many memory systems are there?
3
Provide a brief explanation of sensory memory:
Sensory memories are stored for a few seconds at most. They come from the five senses: hearing, vision, touch, smell, and taste.
Cognitive views of learning
Define general knowledge
Refers to knowledge useful in a range of situation
E.g. reading and writing
Cognitive views of learning
Define domain-specific knowledge
Refers to knowledge useful in a specific situation
E.g. knowing how to solve an algebra equation, or how to fix a car
Cognitive views of learning
Define Declarative knowledge
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
Cognitive views of learning
Define Procedural knowledge
Knowing how to do something
E.g. how to ride a bike, drive a car, how to make cookies
Cognitive views of learning
Define Conditioned knowledge
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
Provide an explanation of working memory:
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).
Provide an explanation of long-term memory:
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.
Provide one example of a memory strategy used to aid learning and knowledge retention:
Mind Maps
Information Processing Model definition
Holds the view that the human mind takes in information, stores it, and is able to retrieve this information when needed.
Information Processing Model
Sensory Memory
- 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
Information Processing Model
Perception
- Gestalt
- Bottom-up processing
Top-down processing
Information Processing Model
Attention
- 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
Information Processing Model
Working Memory
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
Information Processing Model
Educational implications
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
Long term memory
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
Storing information in LTM strategies
(From STM and LTM) Learn: - Elaboration - Organisation - Context
Retrieve (from LTM to STM)
Forget
- Time and decay
- Interference
