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Cognitive Psychology Overview
How does memory affect learning?
What types of information are more difficult to remember?
What strategies are useful for storing and retrieving information?
How can a teacher facilitate learning by better understanding memory?
The purpose of this chapter is to help you learn about the Information Processing Model and
other related cognitive concepts through encountering and resolving a classroom problem. The
problem this story is based on was a regular concern with one of the authors' 3rd-grade
classes, and one you're likely to encounter as a teacher.
Cognitive psychology (also known as cognitivism), a term used to describe "the process of thought," is a
branch of educational psychology that explores internal mental processes (Neisser, 1967). There are 6
different thought processes in cognitive psychology that have been researched extensively.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
perception
attention
memory
problem solving
reasoning
decision making
PAMPRD is a mnemonic to help you remember these 6 mental processes of cognition. They combine to
influence behavior and learning. These will be discussed in greater detail in this chapter.
Various models have been developed by cognitive theorists to describe how individuals think and
process information. The most commonly accepted model of how the brain structures memory is
referred to as the Information Processing Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968), which addresses
perception, attention, and memory (PAM) in the six thought processes described above.
Cognitive theories propose that the
mind has a general architecture for
processing information, often
comparing the way our minds process
information to the workings of a
computer. In other words, the human
mind is a system that processes
information through the application of
logical rules and strategies. Also like
the computer, the mind has a limited
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capacity for the amount and nature of
the information it can process. Just as
the computer can be made into a better
information processor by changes in its hardware (e.g., circuit boards and microchips) and its software
(programming), learners can also become more sophisticated thinkers through changes in their brains
and sensory systems (hardware) and in the rules and strategies (software) they learn.
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Sensory Memory
How does attention affect memory?
The standard information processing model has 3 major components: (a) sensory memory, (b)
working memory (i.e., short-term memory), and (c) long-term memory.
Sensory memory, the first level of memory, allows us to take a 'snapshot' of our environment and store
this information for a short period. The environment makes available a variety of sources of information
(light, sound, smell, heat, cold, etc.), but the brain only understands electrical energy. So, the body has
special sensory receptor cells that transduce (i.e., change from one form of energy to another) this
external energy to something the brain can understand. Through transduction, a memory is created. This
memory is very short; less than 1/2 second for vision, about 3 seconds for hearing, and about 10 seconds
for touch (Gilson & Baddley, 1969; Mahrer & Miles, 2002) .
Can you imagine trying to process
information about every single stimulus
you experience? Your brain would
quickly burn out! Fortunately, sensory
memory acts as a buffer for stimuli
received through the five senses.
Perception is the process of recognizing
different stimuli. A sensory memory
exists for each sensory channel: iconic
memory for visual stimuli, echoic
memory for aural stimuli and haptic
memory for touch.
A stimulus must first be perceived. In order for the information to be further processed, attention is key.
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Attention is a cognitive process that allows us to focus on particular environmental stimuli (Anderson,
2004). Once perceived, paying attention to something allows information to pass from sensory memory
into working memory. Thus, attention serves as a filter for stimuli from our environment. By
selectively determining what will 'get through' for further examination and what will not, attention
allows us to focus on only the necessary stimuli.
example
Think back to a time when you were in a crowded room and a lot of people were talking.
Were you paying attention to what each person was saying? Probably not, but what
happened when someone in the room said your name? I bet your ears perked up.
Even though you may not have actively perceived the words of the many conversations
around you, your brain did. Most of that information was quickly discarded because your
brain quickly judged you didn't need it. The common pattern of hearing your name,
though, triggered something your brain might have thought was important and caused you
to pay attention (the conscious act of recognizing a perceived stimulus) so you could move
that information to your working memory and decide what to do with it from there.
Cognitive psychologists have identified many different types of attention including:
Alternating attention: Mental flexibility, or the ability to move focus between tasks with
different cognitive demands.
Divided attention: The ability to respond simultaneously to multiple tasks.
Focused attention: The ability to respond directly to touch, sound, or sight.
Selective attention: Ability to maintain focus on a specific stimulus even with competing
stimuli fighting for one's attention.
Sustained attention: Vigilance, or the ability to remain consistent through continuous and
repetitive activity.
So what?
How can knowing about sensory memory actually help you as a teacher, though? Whether they realize
it or not, most effective teachers already use sensory memory to their advantage by creating some type
of advance organizer. An advance organizer prepares students to pay attention to specific aspects of
the lesson before they are even presented (hence, the term "advance"). A worksheet given before
watching a movie, a set of questions to guide students' thinking, or an activity that draws students'
attention to a specific aspect of the lesson, are all ways in which you might have already experience an
advance organizer. Teachers commonly refer to these as an "anticipatory set" or the "hook" for the
lesson.
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Working Memory
What happens after attention?
How do learners work with new information?
How can teachers design instruction to maximize learners' working memory capacity?
Working Memory
Whereas sensory memory is the initial door for recognizing the many stimuli that confront us, we have
to actually do something with that information if we are to learn anything. Information that is attended to
(i.e., that makes it past sensory memory) goes into a temporary store where we can actively work with
it. Atkinson and Shiffrin originally called this Short-term memory. Short-term memory is the capacity
for holding a small amount of information in the mind in an active, readily available state for a short
period of time. The duration of short-term memory is believed to be a matter of 15-30 seconds.
In 1974, Baddeley and Hitch extended cognitive scientist's understanding of short-term memory by
proposing that short-term memory is actually a sub-component of a system of working memory, which
emphasizes functionality over simple storage. Storage, though important, is only one part of how the
mind actively works with new information. In other words, information remains in working memory
because the learner is actually doing something with that information. One way to retain information in
working memory is through maintenance rehearsal, or repeating information over and over so you
don't forget it. Maintenance rehearsal is less effective because it requires a great deal of cognitive load.
example
In the movie, "The Search for Happyness," Will Smith's character repeats a telephone
number out loud over and over until he can write it down so that he doesn't forget it.
Baddeley and Hitch's original model of working memory was composed of three main components; the
central executive, which acts as supervisory system and controls the flow of information to and from its
slave systems: the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad. The slave systems are short-term
storage systems dedicated to a perceptual domain (verbal and visuospatial, respectively).
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The central executive serves the following functions:
binding information from a number of sources into coherent episodes
coordination of the slave systems
shifting between tasks or retrieval strategies
selective attention and inhibition
It can be thought of as a supervisory system that controls cognitive processes.
Baddeley and Hitch have discovered that the performance of two simultaneous tasks requiring the use of
two separate senses requires only slightly more cognitive load as performance of the tasks individually.
In contrast, when a person tries to carry out two tasks simultaneously that use the same perceptual
domain, performance is much less efficient. From this, researchers have proposed a dual encoding
theory, or the idea that the best way to learn something new is to use two different senses to present that
information.
Cognitive Load Theory
Just as sensory memory limits the amount of information that gets through to working memory, working
memory itself is limited in its capacity. There is only so much the brain can actively work on at a time.
Because information only remains in working memory for 15-30 seconds, a learner must practice some
form of maintenance rehearsal in order to keep the information in working memory. Miller (1954)
first determined through a series of experiments that the capacity for working memory is 5-9 elements.
This has come to be known as Miller's magic 7±2. This means that the average learner can only "work
with" 5-9 different pieces of information at any one time. Not surprisingly, this capacity is even less in
children, ranging from 4-7 distinct pieces of information. Cowan (2001) has discovered through recent
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experiments that completely new information is actually limited to 4±1 pieces of information.
Fortunately, the amount of information an individual can work with at any one time can be expanded
through methods such as chunking, or grouping multiple pieces of information into meaningful clusters.
example
Take 1 minute to memorize the following list of numbers.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20
0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,233,377,610,987
6,75,4,39,8,7,65,4,3,33,2,4,3176,5,9,8,7,5,604,3,2
Now, without looking, quiz yourself. Which set was the easiest to remember? I'm guessing
you didn't have too much trouble remembering the first list. The second list might've been
a bit harder, unless you realized it as the Fibonacci sequence (add the two previous
numbers). The third list is a totally random list of numbers. Even though each is the same
as long, it's easier to remember more numbers when you can "chunk" them into meaningful
groups.
Cognitive load studies examine the amount and type of information that a person can work with at any
one time. Currently, scientists believe there are 3 types of cognitive load: intrinsic, extrinsic, and
germane. Intrinsic cognitive load is thought of as the difficulty of learning certain material. It is
assumed to be immutable. Extraneous cognitive load concerns the way in which information is
presented to the learner. For many years, scientists focused on reducing extrinsic load by the prudent
presentation of material. Recently, however, studies have examined germane cognitive load, which
involves the manner in which information is processed and automated in working memory. A teacher
can design learning in such a was as to help learners reduce the needed cognitive load by: (a) directing
their attention to cognitive processes that are directly relevant to the construction of schemas, or (b)
helping them to build automaticity.
Instructional designers have provided useful research that demonstrates how an understanding of the
executive control system described above can actually play an important role in instruction. For
example, because visual and auditory information are processed and handled by different sub-systems,
using both simultaneously to present new information may be more effective than using one or the other
independently. The dual-encoding theory proposes that information processed by two senses
simultaneously records information at a deeper level than information presented by a single sense.
Sweller (2006) studied how learners solved complex problems. He noted
that many people engaged in means-end analysis (i.e., working backward),
which required a heavy cognitive load. Instead, Sweller recommended that
instruction be designed using a worked-example (see the example on the
right). "A worked-example includes step-by-step demonstration on how to
perform a task or solve a problem" (Clark, Nguyen, & Sweller, 2006, p.
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190). The Kahn academy (http://www.kahnacademy.org) is a free site
dedicated to teaching mathematics through worked examples (ranging from
simple 1-digit addition to advanced calculus).
One caution with worked examples is that they do not work equally well for all learners. They work
best when the content is new to the learner. Worked examples should also be faded over time in favor of
practice in solving actual problems.
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Long-Term Memory
Are there types of knowledge that are easier to remember than other types of
knowledge?
It would be difficult to keep information in working memory forever. Instead of performing
maintenance rehearsal indefinitely, we break down memories and encode them into a long-term store.
Using long-term memory consists of three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Encoding or registration (receiving, processing and combining of received information)
which occurs in the short-term and working memory component of the information
processing model.
Storage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded information) which happens in the
long-term memory component. Storage in long-term memory is thought to be indefinite.
Retrieval, recall or recollection (calling back the stored information in response to some cue
for use in a process or activity) which happens between all 3 components of the information
processing model.
Long-term memory is the stored representation of all that a person knows. The items stored in long-term
memory lie dormant until they are recalled (or reconstructed) back into the working memory and thus
put back into to use. Three different kinds of long-term memory are: procedural, declarative,
conditional.
Procedural Knowledge
Procedural knowledge is often referred to as knowing how. Procedural knowledge is implicit and is
therefore often difficult to articulate. For example, describe to somebody how to balance themselves
while walking. What about all the movement during swimming? Riding a bike? Learners often build up
a strong automaticity for procedural knowledge, which frees up cognitive load, allowing learners to
focus on more explicit types of knowledge creation. Some examples of procedural knowledge might be:
Knowledge of formal language or symbolic representations
Knowledge of rules, algorithms, and procedures
Declarative knowledge is the type of knowledge that is expressed in declarative sentences or indicative
propositions. This is often referred to as knowing what. Facts that you might state about a situation,
what names people give to things are examples of declarative knowledge. One type of declarative
knowledge that is thought to be very important is semantic knowledge. The word "semantic" means
"meaning." Some researchers have found that stored memories are actually stored in terms of the
meaning they have to each other instead of the exact way in which people might have experienced
them. Try the following experiment:
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example
Read the following list of words to a group of students. They're not allowed to write
anything down while you read the list:
Sleep
Blanket
Pillow
Dream
Bathe
Bed
Lamp
Pajamas
Teddy Bear
Wash
Drowsy
Nighttime
Darkness
Nightlight
Prayers
After reading the list, ask people to write down as many words as they can remember.
Give them a few minutes to do this. Next, read a list of words back to them and ask if
they wrote each word down. Include a few words that clearly weren't on the list, such
as "volleyball," "kitchen," and "thinking." Also include the word "tired." It's probable
that about half of the people will either have written down the word "Tired" on their
lists or will comment, "oh, I forgot that one!" Why? This is because of the semantic
nature of long-term memory. People stored this information in their memory in terms
of what these items tended to mean to them. Because "tired" shares the same meaning
as many of the items on the list, they may believe it was one of the original group of
words they remembered.
Another type of declarative knowledge is episodic memory, which contains time and space detail about
the experience of memories (Tulving, 1983). These episodes are the glue that hold together the factual,
semantic memories we experience and provide personal meaning. Emotions, smells, sights, and sounds
are stored in these memories and work together with semantic meaning to create stronger networks
(Howard & Kahana, 2002). In fact, Roger Schank has proposed that all memory is episodic and that
there is a set script that we follow for each situation. We modify the script slightly per each context.
For example, he found that people were more likely to get a positive response from others when they
followed the script: request + reason, as opposed to simply: request. This was the case even when the
reason didn't make sense given the situation. Due to the strength of episodic memory, Schank proposed
that stories are perhaps one of the most effective ways of encoding meaning in long-term memory. Thus,
the telling of a story may be a powerful way to help students encode and then later recall specific
information, because they bring together episodic memories with semantic and conditional knowledge.
think about it
Have you ever suddenly smelled something and had a rush of memories come
flooding back to you? Perhaps you've been in the middle of taking a test and you
used you memory of the day the teacher taught a particular topic to you to follow a
train of thought until you remembered the fact you needed to answer the question.
This is often referred to as spreading activation, which is flow of thought as you
connect one piece of information with another, then another, and so on, until you
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arrive at the desired piece of information you were looking for.
Conceptual/Conditional Knowledge
Conceptual/Conditional knowledge is akin to wisdom. It is knowing when and why? to use specific
information. Conceptual knowledge refers to a person's representation of the major concepts in a
system. Examples include being able to answer questions such as, "What is the difference between the
units-column and the tens-column in two-column addition problems such as 39+45=___?
Knowledge rich in relationships and understanding
It is a connected web of knowledge, a network in which the linking relationships are as
prominent as the discrete bits of information.
Examples concepts square, square root, function, area, division, linear equation,
derivative, polyhedron
By definition, conceptual knowledge cannot be learned by rote. It must be learned by
thoughtful, reflective learning.
Is it possible to have conceptual knowledge/understanding about something without
procedural knowledge?
Conceptual knowledge is also known as the kind of knowledge that may be transferred between
situations. This is different from routine knowledge, which is knowledge that is applicable only to
certain situations. A practical strategy that some have suggested to make use of the semantic nature of
long-term knowledge, episodic memory, and conditional/conceptual knowledge is through the creation
of concept maps. A concept map is a visual network of ideas that connects ideas to each other through
their semantic meaning.
Loss of Memory
So, if long-term memory lasts forever, why don't we remember everything perfectly? There are several
different reasons why an individual may forget what they have been taught or what they thought they
had learned. Interference Theory states that interference occurs when the learning of something new
causes forgetting of older material, due to competition between the two. The main assumption of
Interference Theory is that the stored memory is intact but unable to be retrieved due to competition
created by newly acquired information. Three reasons for forgetting are:
Decay: A hypothesized weakening over time of information stored in long-term memory, especially if
the information is used infrequently or not at all.
Interference (proactive and retroactive): A phenomenon whereby something stored in long-term
memory inhibits one's ability to remember something else correctly.
Reconstruction error: Constructing a logical but incorrect "memory" by using information retrieved
from long-term memory plus one's general knowledge and beliefs about the world (think of the semantic
knowledge experiment in the above example. Why did some believe "tired" was one of the original set
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of words)?
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Encoding Strategies
One way to remember things more effectively is to encode them (i.e., put them into long-term memory)
effectively in the first place. Myriad different strategies have been proposed for getting things to stick in
long term memory. There are several practical strategies for doing this.
Elaborative Rehearsal
Whereas rote learning is simply repeating information over and over, elaborative rehearsal requires a
learner to elaborate on, or attach special meaning to, new concepts. Elaborative rehearsal emphasizes
meaning over repetition. This often involves tapping into prior knowledge to relate new information to
already formed understanding. The focus of elaborative rehearsal is the actual meaning of the learned
content. Craik and Lockheart (1972) proposed a levels of processing theory that emphasized the way in
which memories are learned are more important than the type of memory itself. This proposition
actually changed the direction of memory research as the focus was no longer on simple storage of
memories, but instead on how the memories were put into memory. Thousands of experiments were
conducted that demonstrated that explaining what something means and focusing on its semantic nature
resulted in better recall of that information later on. Therefore, simple talking about a concept and what
it means to a person may be an effective form of encoding information.
Further research has demonstrated a few problems with levels of processing theory. First, it's difficult to
distinguish between the differences that lead to "deep" vs. "shallow" elaboration. Second, it may
actually be the additional time and effort associated with deep processing that results in better encoding.
Third, some studies have shown that relating new information to seemingly random or unrelated prior
knowledge results in better recall. This may be due to the fact that the oddity or uniqueness of the
connection makes it easier to recall. For example, stating a house is like a nutshell may be more
effective than elaborating how a house shelters that which is inside it.
Concept Maps
Novak (1990) proposed that concepts maps were an effective means of visualizing a learner's semantic
network of understanding. Researchers have found that the effective use of knowledge maps includes
four key components: (a) nodes, (b) links, (c) linking words or phrases, and (d) propositions (see figure
1)
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Nodes, represented above in ellipses, contain the "what?" or the concepts of interest. Links are lines
showing the connection and linking words and phrases explain those connections. Perhaps most
important are the propositions, which is the combination of any two nodes and the label that connects
them. These are important because they relay the meaning in a concept map. Researchers have
proposed that concepts maps are useful because they reveal students' network of understanding.
Mnemonics
A mnemonic is the association of unrelated information. For example, while a desk and dental hygiene
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might seem to have nothing to do with each other, I might use the desk to remind myself that I have to
look in all the nooks and crannies to find what I want and get all the undesirables out of my mouth.
Several methods have been proposed for working with
First-Letter Mnemonics
An acronym simply takes the first letter of each word in a list that a person must remember and creates
a word out of it. You might use the acronym HOMES to remember the names of the 5 great lakes, for
example (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Eerie, and Superior). Can you identify what these mnemonics stand
for?
think about it
ROYGBIV
SOHCAHTOA
Another first-letter mnemonic technique is an acrostic, which involves making a sentence out of
the first letter of the words you are trying to remember. For example, "Kings Play Chess on Fine
Grained Sand," is a mnemonic I learned for remembering the classification taxonomy of living
things (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Family, Genus, Species).
Chain mnemonic
A chain mnemonic involves using one item to trigger the recall of the next item in a list. This is often
done by putting the items into a story. For example, to remember the order of the first five U.S.
Presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe), I might create the following story:
I was in Washington, buying some Adam's apples, when my son, Jefferson asked if we
could go to Madison square gardens. I told him we could go to Monroe (said like
"tomorrow").
Keyword method
The Keyword method is often used in language learning. It involves using one word that sounds like or
reminds you of another word or set of words. For example, to learn the word "here" in Spanish (aqui), I
might think "Here is a key!"
Loci-method
The loci-method involves using locations to remember the items in a list. This works best when the
learner uses a location s/he is very familiar with. For example, to remember a shopping list, you might
create a story of where these items belong in your kitchen. Try it the next time you go shopping and see
how accurate you are without writing anything down.
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Peg-type mnemonic
Peg-type mnemonics have been used to remember elaborate, long-lists of information. The notion is to
"hang" each piece of information on a related set of "pegs." For example, to remember the 4
components to learning through modelling proposed by Bandura in his book, Social Learning,
(attention, retention, production, motivation), my students came up with a peg-type mnemonic using the
face. It went like this.
If I want to learn by watching somebody else, I attend to them (point to your eyes),
remember/retain what they did (point to your brain), produce it myself (point to your
mouth), and be motivated to do it (smile).
Whole - Part - Whole
This method of encoding is useful in learning skills requiring procedural knowledge (as well as some
declarative tasks). For example, in a sports situation, a learner might begin by swimming one lap in a
pool. His coach observes him and gives feedback on the different parts that he needs to work on. The
athlete then practices those different parts in isolation, moving focus from one to the next, gradually
increasing the use of each. Whole - part - whole has been shown to be particularly effective for adults.
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Retrieval Strategies
Herman Ebbinghaus, a pioneer in research on memory, conducted several experiments on himself to try
and remember lists of words and nonsense syllables. In recalling lists of information, he discovered that
there was a curious effect that occurred; the ease or difficulty of recalling that information had to do
with where it fell in the order of when he learned it. Read the following and then quickly cover it up:
example
David, Robyn, Rebecca, Michael, Peter, Dan, Matt, Sarah, Liz, Adam
Now, try and recall the list as well as possible. Which names were easiest to remember? Most
difficult? Research has found that people are almost twice as likely to remember the items at the
beginning and end than they are to remember those in the middle. Additionally, those at the end
tend to be the easiest to recall due to the recency effect (the most recent is the easiest to recall, to a
certain point). This is called the serial-position effect.
Rote Learning
Perhaps the most frequently used method for teaching a new method is through simple repetition (no
pun intended ;). Rote learning has typically been disparaged because of its brute approach that proposes
that learning is simply the act of constant repetition. While there are certainly less effective methods of
rote learning, there are also very effective rote learning techniques. One less effective technique is
massed practice, or attempting to learn a large amount of material in a single sitting, commonly
referred to as "cramming." Spreading out the learning of repeated material over time appears to be a
much more effective encoding technique. This is referred to as distributed practice.
A very effective rote-learning technique that you have likely used is songs to repeat and remember
information. For example, how do you remember what position the letter "V" is in the alphabet? What
about the book of Habakuk in the Old Testament? Did you find yourself singing a song? That's because
you likely used a song to learn the order of these items by rote. What songs have you learned in school?
Metacognition
Metacognition means "thinking about thinking." It involves the use of all the three types of knowledge
mentioned earlier in Long-term memory (procedural, declarative, and conditional/conceptual).
Meta-cognition is considered a higher-order thinking skill because it makes students aware of their own
knowledge structures, how they are formed, and how they are used. Each person's metacognitive
abilities are different. As a teacher, it's most important to help students learn techniques to help them
think about their own thinking and to see it objectively so that they might be able to improve upon it.
The skills that help students to improve their metacognition involve planning, monitoring and
evaluating. Planning is deciding how much time to dedicate to a task, what parts of the task to learn
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first, and the order in which one will learn it. Monitoring is seeing how one is doing during learning
(e.g., "do I understanding?," "what am I struggling with?"). Evaluating is the process of reflecting on
and judging the quality of the strategies one uses. This is NOT a judgment of whether or not you
understand the material, but rather how well your strategies for learning the material function for you.
The teaching of learning strategies has been shown to be an effective technique for reinforcing
metacognition. Derry (1989) proposed the following (taken from pp. 330 of Anita Woolfolk's book,
Educational Psychology, 11th edition).
Examples
1. Attention Focusing
Making outlines
Looking for headings and
topic sentences
Tactics for learning
verbal information
Use When?
With easy, structured materials; for
good readers
For poorer readers; with more difficult
materials
2. Schema Building
story grammars
theory schemas
networking and mapping
3. Idea Elaboration
self-questioning
imagery
With poor text structure, goal is to
encourage active comprehension
To understand and remember specific
ideas
1. Pattern learning
hypothesizing
identifying reasons for
actions
Tactics for learning
procedural
information
To match procedures to situations
2. Self-instruction comparing
own performance to expert
To tune, improve complex skills
model
3. Practice
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To learn attributes of concepts
When few specific aspects of a
performance need attention. To
maintain and improve skill.
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Part practice
Whole practice
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References
Atkinson, R.C.; Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). "Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes".
In Spence, K.W.; Spence, J.T.. The psychology of learning and motivation (Volume 2). New York:
Academic Press. pp. 89�??195.
Cognitivism (psychology). (2010, July 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:17,
February 2, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cognitivism_(psychology)&
oldid=374730396
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive psychology. New York, NY: Meredith.
Anderson, John R. (2004). Cognitive psychology and its implications (6th ed.). Worth Publishers. p. 519.
ISBN 9780716701101.
Gilson; Baddeley (1969). "Tactile short-term memory". Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
21: 180-184. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
Mahrer, P., & Miles, C. (2002). Recognition memory for tactile sequences. Memory, 10(1), 7-20.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a741935434
(14) Our Human Memory Architecture
The blog is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC
BY-NC-SA 3.0)
(18) Wikipedia: Short-term memory
(32) Wikipedia: Baddeley's model of working memory
(33) Working-memory-en.svg�?? (SVG file, nominally 588 �? 352 pixels, file size: 102 KB)
(41) Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our
capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, 81-­‐97.
(42) Baddeley, A. (1999). Essentials of human memory. Philadephia: Psychology Press.
Howard, M.W.; Kahana, M.J. (2002). "When does semantic similarity help episodic retrieval". Journal
of Memory and Language 46: 85–96. doi:10.1006/jmla.2001.2798
Tulving, Endel (1983). Elements of Episodic Memory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cañas, A. J., Hill, G., Granados, A., Pérez, C., & Pérez, J. D. (2003). The network architecture of
CmapTools (Technical Report No. IHMC CmapTools 2003-01). Pensacola, FL: Institute for Human and
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Machine Cognition.
Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research.
Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, 671-684.
Novak, J. D. (1990). Concept maps and vee diagrams: Two metacognitive tools for science and
mathematics education. Instructional Science, 19, 29-52.
Ebbinghaus, Hermann (1913). On memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New
York: Teachers College.
Glossary
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ACRONYM
No definition provided
ACROSTIC
A mnemonic device in which the first letters of a the words to
remember are represented by a sentence of words that also start
with those letters, in the same order.
ADVANCE ORGANIZER
A cognitive device that primes students to pay attention to specific
aspects of a lesson prior to being given that information.
ALGORITHM
Algorithm: a prescribed sequence of steps that, if selected and
followed correctly, guarantees a correct solution
ANALOGICAL THINKING
Analogical thinking: limits the search for solutions to situations that
are most similar to the one at hand
ATTENTION
Attention: The focusing of mental processes on particular
environmental stimuli. Attention is defined as a cluster of integrated
events and processes that determine which stimuli receive further
processing.
AUTOMATICITY
Automaticity: The ability to respond quickly and efficiently while
mentally processing or physically performing a task.
CENTRAL EXECUTIVE
Central Executive: The part of working memory that is responsible
for monitoring and directing attention and other mental resources.
CHUNKING
Chunking: Grouping individual groups of data into meaningful
larger units.
COGNITION
Cognition is often used as a scientific term for the process of
thought and the study of how the human brain thinks and (3,5).
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COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Cognitive psychology (also known as cognitivism) explores how
the human brain thinks (7).
CONCEPT MAPS
Visual representation of a learner's conceptual network of
understanding.
CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE
Conceptual knowledge: A form of mental representation that
reflects an understanding of declarative or procedural knowledge.
DECAY
Decay: A hypothesized weakening over time of information stored
in long-term memory, especially if the information is used
infrequently or not at all.
DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE
Declarative knowledge: Knowledge related to "what is
DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE
Learning information repeatedly spread out over time.
DUAL ENCODING THEORY
A theory that information encoded using two different senses is
better remembered than when using only a single sense.
DUAL-ENCODING THEORY
Encoding memories using two different senses at the same time.
ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL
Elaborative rehearsal: A cognitive process in which learners expand
on new information based on what they already know.
ENCODING
recording information to Long-Term memory.
EPISODIC MEMORY
The contextual information that includes temporal, spatial, and
affective (i.e., emotional) information associated with particular
events at the time a memory is formed.
EXTRANEOUS COGNITIVE LOAD
The way information is presented to the learner. The teacher is in
control of this process.
FORGET
the decay of memories.
FUNCTIONAL FIXEDNESS
Functional fixedness: the inability to use objects or tools in a new
way
GERMANE COGNITIVE LOAD
The type of cognitive load directly related to processing,
constructing and automating schema.
HEURISTIC
Heuristic: a general problem-solving strategy that relies on common
sense or rule of thumb.
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HIGH-ROAD TRANSFER
High-road transfer: applying abstract knowledge learned in one
context to a different situation.
INFORMATION PROCESSING MODELS
Information processing models identify general rules and
procedures of how the human brain processes information (7).
INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
Information processing theory is a perspective that believes the
human mind processes information according to rules and strategies
similar to that of a computer (9).
INTERFERENCE (PROACTIVE AND
RETROACTIVE
Interference (proactive and retroactive): A phenomenon whereby
something stored in long-term memory inhibits one's ability to
remember something else correctly.
INTRINSIC COGNITIVE LOAD
The natural difficulty of learning a task. This can't be changed.
LONG-TERM MEMORY
Long-term memory: The component of memory that holds
knowledge and skills for a relatively long period of time
LOW-ROAD TRANSFER
Low-road transfer: spontaneous, automatic transfer of highly
practiced skills.
MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL
Maintenance rehearsal: Repetition of information over and over to
keep it "fresh"" in working memory. "
MASSED PRACTICE
Cramming.
MEANS-ENDS ANALYSIS
Means-ends analysis: a heuristic in which the main problem-solving
goal is divided into subgoals.
MINDFUL ABSTRACTION
Mindful Abstraction: a defining feature of high-road transfer in
which information that is consciously and actively learned is
retrieved and applied to a new situation, guided by one?s
metacognition.
MNEMONIC DEVICES
Mnemonic Devices: A special memory aid or trick designed to help
students learn and remember a specific piece of information.
NEGATIVE TRANSFER
Negative Transfer: occurs when previous learning hinders learning
on a new task.
PERCEIVED
Perception is the first stage of recognizing a piece of information
(stimulus). Our brains perceive thousands of stimuli at once, but
usually throw that information out because we judge it not to be
immediately important.
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PERCEPTION
The unconscious act of recognizing a stimulus.
PHONOLOGICAL LOOP
Phonological loop: Part of working memory. A memory rehearsal
system for verbal and sound information of about 1.5 to 2 seconds.
POSITIVE TRANSFER
Positive transfer: occurs when previous learning facilitates learning
on new task.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Prior knowledge: Process of reminding students of things they have
already learned relative to a new topic.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Problem solving: the means we use to reach a goal in spite of an
obstacle or obstacles.
PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE
Procedural Knowledge: Knowledge concerning how to perform a
certain skill or task
RECALL
Recall: A memory task in which one must retrieve information in
its entirety from long-term memory.
RECONSTRUCTION ERROR
Reconstruction error: Constructing a logical but incorrect
"memory"" by using information retrieved from long-term memory
plus one's general knowledge and beliefs about the world. "
REHEARSAL
Rehearsal : A cognitive process in which information is repeated
over and over as a possible way of learning and remembering it.
When it is used to maintain information in working memory, it is
called maintenance rehearsal. When it is connected with prior
knowledge and expanded upon, it is called elaborative rehearsal.
RETRIEVAL CUES
Retrieval cues: A hint about where to "look"" for a piece of
information in long-term memory. "
SEMANTIC KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge related to the meaning of connections between
concepts, or factual information.
SEMANTIC MEMORY
Semantic Memory: your memory for meanings and general
(impersonal) facts.
SENSORY MEMORY
Sensory memory: A component of memory that holds incoming
information in an unanalyzed form for a very brief period of time
(probably less than a second for visual input and two or three
seconds for auditory input).
SERIAL-POSITION EFFECT
The effect whereby information learned first and last is remembered
most easily and information in the middle is only recalled half as
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often.
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SPREADING ACTIVATION
The process of connecting one memory with an already formed
memory and activating prior memories until arriving at the desired
information.
VISUOSPATIAL SKETCHPAD
Visuospatial sketchpad: Part of working memory. A holding system
for visual and spatial information.
WORKING BACKWARD STRATEGY
Working backward strategy: a heuristic in which you start with the
final goal and think backward to identify the steps that would be
needed to reach that goal
WORKING MEMORY/SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
Working memory/Short-term memory: A component of memory
that holds and processes a limited amount of information; also
known as short-term memory. The duration of information stored in
working memory is probably about 5 to 20 seconds.
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