+ Cognitivism & Information Processing MLS7123 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Neo Mai

Background Information Learning theories allow teachers to better understand the process of learning Together with the use of technology, learn theories have made a significant impact in the classroom. There are many learning paradigms: Behaviorism Cognitivism Constructivism

+ Representations of the Learning Process Behaviorism Stimulus-Response Reinforced Behavior Antecedent Behavior Consequence Sequenced knowledge and skills presented in logical limited steps Cognitivism Cognitivist Learning Perspective Information Processing Schema Mental Models Constructivism Inquiry-based Discovery learning

+ Cognitive Learning Between 1950 and 1980, a whole new subfield of psychology was created by researchers who wanted to know what goes on in the mind when people process information. Drawing on emerging fields of linguistics and computer science, cognitive psychologists devised clever experiments and built creative models to describe human information processing. Collectively, their work is known a cognitive learning theory

Cognitivism Information Processing looks at how information is retrieved and stored. This theory focuses on how to store and retrieve information. Learning is attained through rehearsal and consistent use of the information. Retention strategies such as breaking down information and comparing the information to long term storage are great techniques.

+ Key Principles: Cognitivism Learning is a change of knowledge state Knowledge acquisition is described as a mental activity that entails internal coding and structuring by the learner. Learner is viewed as an active participant in the learning process Emphasis is on the building blocks of knowledge (e.g. identifying prerequisite relationships of content) Emphasis on structuring, organising and sequencing information to facilitate optimal processing

Information-processing theory of cognition or cognitive development: framework for understanding cognition that is built on a set of assumptions about how humans acquire and use information. Information-Processing Perspectives

Limited capacity – assumption that there are constraints on: 1. How much information we can think about at any one time, 2. How long we can hold information in mind before it is lost, and 3. How quickly we can process information. Information-Processing Perspectives

Information Flow & the Store Model Sensory Register: first information-processing store. Stimuli briefly noticed. Working or Short-term Memory: second information-processing store. Stimuli are retained for several seconds and operated upon. Long-term Memory: third information-processing store, goes to permanent store for later use. Information-Processing Perspectives

Central Executive Control: Information-Processing Perspectives

+ Information processing theory - Use to understand how our minds work - Developed by George Miller in 1960s - "chunking" and the capacity of short term memory. Miller (1956) presented the idea that short-term memory could only hold 5-9 chunks of information (seven plus or minus two) where a chunk is any meaningful unit. A chunk could refer to digits, words, chess positions, or people's faces. The concept of chunking and the limited capacity of short term memory became a basic element of all subsequent theories of memory. Cognitive Learning

+ Information processing theory Areas in focus: - Attention - Processing - Memory Cognitive Learning

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+ Senses: According to this model, information enters through any of the five senses and impinges on a sensory register. Filters are activated and let pass or screen out what we will give our attention to, based on interest or necessity. The main feature of the information are to be analysed and encoded. Cognitive Learning

+ Information processing - making meaning Researchers have found that context, meaning and prior knowledge deeply affect our understanding of information. Cognitive Learning

+ Context: We process things in the context of their surroundings, we look at the big picture and its frame. Cognitive Learning

+ (2) Meaning - We also look for semantic meaning. For example, look at this sentence: "The car slide on..." Finished the sentence. Cognitive Learning

+ Naturally,we think of ice or oil not a banana peel. When we read we are not only examining letters and words, we are looking for meaning. Cognitive Learning

+ (3) Prior Knowledge Meaning does not come out of thin air, it comes from prior knowledge. What a person already knows about he information being presented has a great effect on the speed and ease of processing it. If the presenter throws in an acronym that is foreign to you, you will have trouble processing it. Cognitive Learning

+ There is considerable evidence that we organise this prior knowledge into scripts, frames and schemas and we call up this prior knowledge rapidly and in pre-organised packets to make meaning of new information Cognitive Learning

+ Memory How do you remember things? After many years of research, cognitive psychologists have agreed on a distinction between Short-Term Memory (STM) and Long Term Memory (LTM). Cognitive Learning

+ ST is known as working memory and does not last very long or hold very much. It is used to keep information in mind long enough to decide what to do with it. STM is like RAM. LTM is what most people mean by memory - the capacity to remember information over time. It is like the HD. LTM picks up where STM leave off (after a few seconds / minutes /hours) and goes on for weeks months or years. Cognitive Learning

+ Here are some memory devices to change STM to LTM: Rehearsal - This is the most frequent used and least effective memory device but it has at least limited use. Rehearsal, aka ROTE LEARNING involves repeating the info, over and over again till it sinks in. Cognitive Learning

+ Here are some memory devices to change STM to LTM: Encoding - involves associating a key word with the word or words to be remembered. (i) Using a synonym is one form of encoding so is placing the new word in a memorable sentence. EG -Every good boy does fine" to remember the lines on a music sheet EGBDF. (ii) chunking is another way of encoding -it involves sub-diving long strings of information down into smaller chunks Cognitive Learning

+ For example: How do we remember ? Cognitive Learning

+ For example: How do we remember ? We can chunks the numbers into groups of four: Cognitive Learning

The Stage Approach One of the major issues in cognitive psychology is the study of memory. Based on the work of Atkinson and Shriffin (1968), the stage theory proposes that information is processed and stored in 3 stages. The focus of this model is on how information is stored in memory. 1.Sensory memory (STSS). 2.Short-term memory (STM). 3.Long-term memory (LTM)

In the behavioral model, an external stimulus either is associated with a response as a result of contiguous placement; elicits a naturally occurring response; changes the probability a voluntary response will occur again. The Stage Approach

This model shows an external stimulus activating a sensory receptor cell that results in the generation of a “sensory memory.” In the cognitive model, the learning process begins when an external stimulus activates a sensory receptor cell. The Stage Approach #1: Sensory memory

Sensory memory is affiliated with the transduction of energy (change from one energy from to another). The environment makes available a variety of sources of information (light, sound, smell, heat, cold, etc.), but the brain only understands electrical energy. The Stage Approach #1: Sensory memory

In the process of transduction, a memory is created. This memory is very short (less than 1/2 second for vision; about 3 seconds for hearing). The body has special sensory receptor cells that transduce (change from one form of energy to another) this external energy to something the brain can understand. The Stage Approach #1: Sensory memory

It is absolutely critical that the learner initially process (attend) to the information at this beginning stage in order to transfer it to the next one. Otherwise, according to the stage model of memory, the information is immediately forgotten. The Stage Approach #1: Sensory memory

If the stimulus that activates a sensory receptor cell is attended to, it is combined with information stored in long-term memory, and brought into short-term memory. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

Short-term memory is sometimes called working memory (although recent research has demonstrated these are two separate issues) and relates to what we are thinking about at any given moment in time as well as what we have attended to in the recent past. In Freudian terms, this is working memory is called the conscious. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

Short-term memory is created by our paying attention to an external stimulus, an internal thought, or both. It will initially last somewhere around seconds unless it is repeated (called maintenance or rote rehearsal), at which point it may be available for up to 20 minutes. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

The hypothalamus is a brain structure thought to be involved in this shallow processing of information. The frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex is the structure associated with working memory. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

For example, you are processing the words you read on the screen in your frontal lobes. However, if I ask, "What is your telephone number?" your brain immediately calls that from long-term memory and replaces what was previously there. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

Another major limit on information processing in STM is in terms of the number of units that can be processed an any one time. Miller (1956) gave the number as 7 + 2, but more recent research suggests the number may be more like for most things we are trying to remember. Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are three major concepts for getting information into STM: First, individuals are more likely to pay attention to a stimulus if it has an interesting feature. We are more likely to get an orienting response if this is present. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are three major concepts for getting information into STM: Second, individuals are more likely to pay attention if the stimulus activates a known pattern. To the extent we have students call to mind relevant prior learning before we begin our presentation, we can take advantage of this principle. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are three major concepts for getting information into STM: Third, because of the variability in how much individuals can work with (for some it may be three, for others seven) it is necessary to point out important information. If some students can only process three units of information at a time, we need to make certain it is the most important three. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are two major concepts for retaining information in STM: organization repetition The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are four major types of organization that are most often used in instructional design: Component (part/whole) Classification by category or concept (e.g., the components of the teaching/learning model); The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are four major types of organization that are most often used in instructional design: Sequential Chronological; cause/effect; building to climax (e.g., baking a cake, reporting on a research study The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are four major types of organization that are most often used in instructional design: Relevance Central unifying idea or criteria (e.g., most important principles of instruction for boys and girls, appropriate management strategies for middle school and high school students) The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

There are four major types of organization that are most often used in instructional design: Transitional (connective) Relational words or phrases used to indicate qualitative change over time (e.g., stages in Piaget's theory of cognitive development or Erikson's stages of socioemotional development) The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

A related issue to organization is the concept of chunking or the grouping into pieces of data into units. For example, the letters "d b e" constitute three units of information while the word "bed" represents one unit even though it is composed of the same number of letters. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

A related issue to organization is the concept of chunking or the grouping into pieces of data into units. Chunking is a major technique for getting and keeping information in short-term memory; it is also a type of elaboration that will help get information into long-term memory. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

Repetition or rote rehearsal is a technique we all use to try to "learn" something. However, in order to be effective this must be done after forgetting begins. Researchers advise that the learner should not immediately repeat the content (or skill), but wait a few minutes and then repeat. The Stage Approach #2: Short-Term memory

The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory Remember that learning is defined as “the relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavior potential) as a result of experience or practice. Until information is processed into long-term memory, learning has not occurred.

In Freudian terms, long-term memory is also called preconscious and unconscious memory. Preconscious means that the information is relatively easily recalled (although it may take several minutes or even hours) while unconscious refers to data that is not available during normal consciousness. The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory

It is preconscious memory that is the focus of the study of long-term memory in cognitive psychology, although the levels-of-processing theory acknowledges that there is much we "know" that is not easily accessed. The two processes most likely to move information into long-term memory are elaboration and distributed practice (referred to as periodic review in the direct instruction model). The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory

There are several examples of elaboration that are commonly used in the teaching/ learning process: ImagingCreating a mental picture The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory

There are several examples of elaboration that are commonly used in the teaching/ learning process: Method of loci --(locations) Ideas or things to be remembered are connected to objects located in a familiar location The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory

There are several examples of elaboration that are commonly used in the teaching/ learning process: Pegword method Ideas or things to be remembered are connected to specific words (e.g., one- bun, two-shoe, three-tree, etc.) The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory

There are several examples of elaboration that are commonly used in the teaching/ learning process: Rhyming (songs, phrases) Information to be remember is arranged in a rhyme (e.g., 30 days hath September, April, June and November, etc The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory

There are several examples of elaboration that are commonly used in the teaching/ learning process: Initial letter The first letter of each word in a list is used to make a sentence (the sillier, the better) The Stage Approach #3: Long Term memory

The Stage Approach In summary, the three processes of the stage approach are very similar to that postulated by the levels-of-processing approach: Attention (process to STM) Repetition (maintain in STM) Elaboration (process to LTM)

To recap

+ Constructivism Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner constructs knowledge based on their past experiences. The teacher only acts as a facilitator who encourages students to explore within a given framework Learners may collaborate with others to organize their ideas and learn from each other to construct their own knowledge.

+ Key Principles: Constructivism Learners build personal interpretation of the world based on experiences and interactions Knowledge is embedded in the context in which it is used (authentic tasks in meaningful realistic settings) Create novel and situation-specific understandings by "assembling" knowledge from diverse sources appropriate to the problem at hand (flexible use of knowledge)

+ Putting It All Together Learning TheoryLearning ProcessTechnology Support Behaviorism Through positive/ negative reinforcement and punishment Educational software can be used to measure the students assessment Cognitivism Rehearsing information and then storing it for long term use Flashcards and memory games can help retain information taught in a lesson Constructivism Constructing ones own knowledge through past experiences and group collaboration Group PowerPoint projects allow students to work together and combine their knowledge to learn