EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY
REFLECTION FOR ACTION
Canadian Edition
O’Donnell, D’Amico, Schmid, Reeve, Smith
CHAPTER 7
Cognitive Theories of Learning
Chapter 7
Cognitive Theories of Learning
• Themes of the chapter
– The relationship between the individual and the
environment is the key focus of cognitive theories
of learning
– Cognitive and constructivist theories of learning
are related
– Information processing descriptions of memory
and storage of information
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Guiding Questions
• How do cognitive and constructivist theories of
learning differ?
• What are attention, perception, and working
memory important for learning?
• How is knowledge represented?
• What are the different kinds of long-term memory?
• How is encoding related to retrieval?
• Why and how do we categorize?
• How can teachers promote complex cognition?
• How can teachers apply cognitive theories of
learning in working with diverse students and
students with special needs?
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Cognitive and Constructivist
Theories of Learning
• Cognitive approach to learning – explores
how individual differences in knowledge
and experience influence the way we
interpret the environment what we learn
from that interaction
• Knowledge is constructed by the learner
and affected by the learner’s prior
experiences
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Constructivism
• Exogenous – constructed knowledge that
mirrors information in the environment
• Endogenous – construction of new
knowledge structures from existing
structures rather than from the
environment
• Dialectical – knowledge lies in continual
interaction between the individual and the
environment
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Information-Processing Model –
Endogenous Constructivism
• The learner develops internal representations of
the external world
• Perceptual and attentional processes limit the
amount of information that is available
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The Information-Processing Model
• Limited capacity of various components of
the memory system
• Information processed in working memory
• Information then transferred to long-term
memory for later retrieval
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The Information-Processing Model
• Sensory memory – brief memories
associated with various senses
• Short-term memory – a temporary memory
storage
• Long-term memory – storage for indefinite
periods of time
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Perception
•
The meaning attached to sensory
information
–
–
Recognizing objects
Objects recognition relies on form
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Recognizing Objects
• Feature analysis – identifying the component
features of objects and building a representation
of the object from them
• Bottom-up analysis – a process in which a
stimulus is analyzed into it components, then
assembled into a recognizable pattern, also
known as feature analysis
• Top-down processing – a type of perception in
which a person uses what he or she knows about
a situation to recognize patterns
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Object Recognition Relies on Form
• Figure-ground – the ground is always seen
as farther than the figure
• Proximity – objects that are physically close
together are grouped together
• Continuity – objects that continue a pattern
are grouped together
• Closure – the tendency to see a finished
unit
• Similarity – similar objects are grouped
together
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Attention
• Attention involves simultaneous experiences
• It is selective, withdrawing from some objects
and focusing on others
• Lack of attention is characterized by
confusion and diffusion
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Theories of Attention
• Filter theory – attention compared to a filter;
sensory information processed, but quickly
reaches a bottleneck; an all-or-none
phenomenon
• Attenuation model – attention to one source of
information is reduced when one pays attention
to another source
• Capacity model – limited resource, similar to a
reservoir that can be filled up or emptied
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Your Turn
• What are some ways that a Grade 4
teacher can help his students pay attention
to his lesson?
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Automaticity and Controlled
Processes
• Automaticity – the ability to perform a task
without having to think much about it
• Controlled processes – cognitive processes that
require conscious attention
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Sensory Memory
• Iconic memory – memory for visual
information
• Echoic memory – memory for auditory
information
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Phenomena Associated with ShortTerm Memory
• Serial position effect – fact that the likelihood of
information being recalled varies according to its
position in a list
• Memory is better for some positions
– Primacy – things at the beginning of the list
– Recency – things at the end of the list
• Unattended speech effect – verbal information in the
environment has automatic access to the
phonological loop and can interfere with cognitive
processing
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Short Term/Working Memory
•
•
•
•
•
•
Capacity:
Duration:
Contents:
Strategies:
Forgetting:
Other Features:
Limited, 5- 9 bits of info
Brief, < 20 seconds
Visual, verbal
Rehearsal, Chunking
Decay, Interference
Serial Position,
Unattended speech effect
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Keeping Information in Short-Term
Memory
• Maintenance rehearsal – cognitive process in which
information in working memory is repeated to
oneself frequently
• Elaborative rehearsal – way of remembering
information by connecting it to something that is
already well known
• Chunking – grouping of bits of data into larger,
meaningful units
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Information Lost from Short-Term
Memory
• Decay – loss of memories because information
is not used
• Interference – loss or deficiency of memories
because of the presence of other information
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Baddeley: Working Memory
• Limited but active memory system
• Differs from short-term memory in that it
has storage and manipulation functions
• Central processor or executive is guided
by the goals of the individual
– Monitors and executes current plan, such
as attention, thinking, judging, and decision
making
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Possible Memory Difficulties of
Children with Special Needs
• They may exceed their working memory’s
capacity
• Constant interruption can produce interference
effects
• Difficulty writing because of limited working
memory capacity
• Deficits in working memory
• One strategy: multiple modalities i.e., appeal to
multiple senses
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Long-Term Memory
Types of long-term memory:
• Episodic memory – long-term memory of
particular places and event in a person’s
life
• Semantic memory – memory for meaning;
the memory of verbal information or
declarative knowledge i.e., knowledge of
what or of facts
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Long-Term Memory
Brain Processes and Memory
• Several structures in the medial temporal lobes
of the brain are important for memory
• Areas of the medial temporal lobe related to
memory include:
– Amygdala
– Hippocampus
– Rhinal cortex
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Long-Term Memory
Semantic Memory
• Declarative knowledge – factual
knowledge that can be expressed through
verbal exchange, books, Braille, or sign
language; know that something is true
– Declarative memory – memory for abstract
information
– Procedural memory – memory for how to
do things
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Long-Term Memory
Semantic Memory
• The basic unit of a semantic network is a
proposition, the smallest unit of meaning
that can be verified as true or false and
involves linking two concepts by a
relationship
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Your Turn
• Describe the steps a teacher can take to
help students store the information from a
lesson in long-term memory
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Long-Term Memory
• Images – representations of objects that
are not present and are thought to be
stored in piecemeal fashion in long-term
memory
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Long-Term Memory
Propositional network
• Set of interconnected pieces of information
that contains knowledge for the long term
– Schema – the basic structure for organizing
information
– Script – a schema for the sequence of
events in common events, such as ordering
food at a fast-food restaurant
• Story grammar – a type of script, typical
structure of a category of stories
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Long-Term Memory
Levels of processing
• A theory that asserts that recall of
information is based on how deeply
it is processed
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Encoding, Retrieval, and Forgetting
• Encoding – the taking in of information
• Retrieval – probability that information
will be retrieved depends on quality of
encoding
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Types of Knowledge
• Procedural knowledge – knowledge about
how to perform tasks
• Conditional knowledge – knowledge that
guides a person in using declarative an
procedural knowledge
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Organization, Practice, and
Elaboration
Organized material is easier to learn than
disorganized material
• Distributed practice – practice that is
interspersed by unequal intervals
• Massed practice – intense practice for a single
period of time (cramming)
• Elaboration – a process through which we add
and extend meaning by connecting new
information to existing knowledge in long-term
memory
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Mnemonic Strategies
• Strategies for remembering nonmeaningful
information by making it meaningful
– Acronyms
– Keyword strategy
– Pictorial mnemonics
– Method of loci
– Pegword mnemonics
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Imagery and Visual-Learning
Strategies
• Dual-coding theory – images and words are
represented differently; when they are linked the
memory for the information is stronger
– Graphic organizers
– Knowledge structures
– Concept mapping
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Imagery and Visual-Learning
Strategies
Knowledge
Structure: Chains
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Imagery and Visual-Learning
Strategies
Knowledge Structure: Chains
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Imagery and Visual-Learning
Strategies
Knowledge Structure: Hierarchy
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Canadian Research into Practice
Allan Paivio, University of Western Ontario: Dual
Coding Hypothesis – Improving Learning Via
Multiple Memories
– Professor Paivio created a model of long-term
storage that suggests that verbal and visual
information are often tied together in both
complementary and supplementary ways
– His dual-coding hypothesis states that memory is
distributed across several modalities or sensory
traces
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Retrieval and Forgetting
• Recognition memory – memories are cued, then
recognized
• Recall – information is retrieved from long-term memory
• Spread of activation – the retrieval of bits of information
on the basis of their relatedness to each other;
remembering one piece of information stimulates the
recall of associated knowledge
• Interrogating memory – conducting a relationship-guided
search for memories
• Forgetting – occurs when there is interference or decay
or when information is not used
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Categorization
• Categorization helps us to:
–
–
–
–
–
Reduce complexity
Identify objects
Devote less effort to learning
Decide what actions are appropriate
Order and relate classes of objects and
events
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Categorization
• Concepts
– Abstractions with which a person
categorizes objects, people, ideas, or
experiences by shared properties
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Categorization
Ways to categorize
• Conjunctive rule – use the relationship and;
classify an object as red and square
• Disjunctive rule – use the relationship or;
classify an object as red or square
• Conditional rule – use the relationship if-then
• Biconditional rule – use the relationship if-then
in both directions
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Categorization
Criterial Attributes
• Attributes that must be present for an
instance to be a member of a particular
category
– Abstraction: process of including recurring
attributes and excluding nonrecurring
attributes
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Categorization
Concept Attainment
• Selection strategies
– Focus gambling – focus on a certain
attribute, gambling that it is the correct one
– Simultaneous scanning – keep all attributes
in mind
– Successive scanning – test a single
hypothesis and persist until it has been
proven wrong
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Teaching Concepts
• Errors can occur in learning concepts
– Overgeneralization – inclusion of a
nonmember of a category or class in that
category of class
– Undergeneralization – exclusion of some
instances from a category or group even
though they are true members of that
category or group
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Teaching Concepts
Criticisms of Classical Concept Research
• Natural categories – real world categories that
are difficult to define
– Prototype – best representative of a category
– Graded membership – extent to which an
object or idea belongs to a category
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Diversity, Culture, and Experience
• A child’s culture and experience influence
the kinds of categories and concepts that
he or she develops
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Complex Cognition
• Metacognition – thinking about one’s own
thinking; planning, monitoring, evaluating
• Self-explanation – used to test
comprehension of material by explaining
understanding of a concept
• Reasoning and argumentation – taking a
position, providing reasons for that
position, and presenting counterarguments
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Complex Cognition
Reasoning and argumentation (continued)
– Benefits of argumentation
•
•
•
•
Understanding content
Increasing interest and motivation
Improving problem-solving skills
Increasing argumentation skills
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Complex Cognition
Reasoning and argumentation (continued)
– Teaching argumentation
• Teachers should vary the complexity of
questions
• Teachers should help students construct
knowledge rather than generate lists of
arguments
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Complex Cognition
• Problem Solving – IDEAL
– Identifying problems and opportunities
– Defining goals and representing the
problem
– Exploring possible solution strategies
• Algorithms, heuristics, means-end analysis
– Anticipating, acting
– Looking back
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Complex Cognition
Problem Solving (continued)
– Hindering Problem Solving:
• Cognitive rigidity – lack of flexibility in
thinking
• Functional fixedness – being able to
consider only the typical function of an
object
• Anxiety
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Complex Cognition
• Transfer – ability to use previously learned skills
or information in a new context
– Low road transfer – automatic application of
previously learned skills
– High road transfer – deliberate application of
previously learned strategy or knowledge to a new
problem
– Positive transfer – prior knowledge or skill is
successfully applied to a new context
– Negative transfer – prior learning interferes with
new learning
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