Cognitive Theories. The cognitive school is probably best defined by exclusion: if it ain't biological, behaviourist or humanist, it's cognitive (I'm including information-processing models here). It all starts. Gestalt moved into problem-solving learning. It is also much influenced by the developmental psychology of Piaget (but also. Cognitive Learning I: Understanding Effective Thinking. • How can I teach my learners to become good thinkers? • What cognitive learning strategies can help my learners remember what I teach? • What cognitive learning strategies can help my learners improve their. Bacon. A book for those who want to explore not only the theories underlying cognitive approaches to learning but also the research methods and findings. . Functional Context Theory is a cognitive learning theory that was developed specifically for educating adults in businesses and the military. Originator: Thomas Sticht Keywords. Want a convenient ad-free PDF eBook of all of the theory summaries on this site? get the official Learning Theories In Plain English eBook instantly for $29.95 $6.95! You will receive a link via email to download the electronic book immediately after your purchase. Copy and paste excerpts for your homework.
Learning(Theories:((Thetheorieslisted$here$can$be$found$in$mostEd$Psych$textbooksand$the$ class$notes$ofmosthighereducation$students.Inschoolsofeducation$. learning research, involving cognitive scientists, organizational anthropologists, and traditional educators. Communities of practice is based on the following assumptions: Learning is fundamentally a social phenomenon. . and learning can occur Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to consider how human memory works to promote learning, and an understanding of short term memory and long term memory is important to educators influenced by cognitive theory. [24] They view learning as an internal mental process (including insight. Criticism of learning theory. Critics of learning theories that seek to displace traditional educational practices claim that there is no need for such theories.
Learning theory (education) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A classroom in Norway.
Learning also takes places in many other settings. Learning theories are conceptual frameworks describing how information is absorbed, processed, and retained during learning.
Cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences, as well as prior experience, all play a part in how understanding, or a world view, is acquired or changed and knowledge and skills retained.[1][2]Behaviorists look at learning as an aspect of conditioning and will advocate a system of rewards and targets in education. Educators who embrace cognitive theory believe that the definition of learning as a change in behavior is too narrow and prefer to study the learner rather than their environment and in particular the complexities of human memory. Those who advocate constructivism believe that a learner's ability to learn relies to a large extent on what he already knows and understands, and the acquisition of knowledge should be an individually tailored process of construction. Transformative learning theory focuses upon the often- necessary change that is required in a learner's preconceptions and world view. Outside the realm of educational psychology, techniques to directly observe the functioning of the brain during the learning process, such as event- related potential and functional magnetic resonance imaging, are used in educational neuroscience.
As of 2. 01. 2[update], such studies are beginning to support a theory of multiple intelligences, where learning is seen as the interaction between dozens of different functional areas in the brain each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses in any particular human learner[citation needed]. Educational philosophy[edit]Classical theorists[edit]Plato (4. B. C.) proposed the question: How does an individual learn something new when the topic is brand new to that person? This question may seem trivial; however, think of a human like a computer. The question would then become: How does a computer take in any factual information without previous programming? Plato answered his own question by stating that knowledge is present at birth and all information learned by a person is merely a recollection of something the soul has already learned previously,[3] which is called the Theory of Recollection or Platonic epistemology.[4] This answer could be further justified by the paradox of if a person knows something, then they will not need to question it and if a person does not know something, then they will not know to question it at all[4] Plato says that if one did not previously know something, then they cannot learn it.
He describes learning as a passive process, where information and knowledge are ironed into the soul over time. However, Plato's theory elicits even more questions about knowledge: If we can only learn something when we already had the knowledge impressed onto our souls, then how did our souls gain that knowledge in the first place? Plato's theory can seem convoluted; however, his classical theory can help us understand knowledge today still.[3]John Locke (1.
Plato's question as well. John Locke offered the "blank slate" theory where humans are born into the world with no innate knowledge. He recognized that something had to be present, however. This something, to John Locke, seemed to be "mental powers". Locke viewed these powers as a biological ability the baby is born with, similar to how a baby knows how to biologically function when born. So as soon as the baby enters the world, it immediately has experiences with its surroundings and all of those experiences are being transcribed to the baby's "slate".
All of the experiences then eventually culminate into complex and abstract ideas. This theory can still help teachers understand their students' learning today.[3]Educational psychology[edit]Behavior analysis[edit]The term "behaviorism" was coined by John Watson (1. Watson believed the behaviorist view is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science with a goal to predict and control behavior.[5][6] In an article in the Psychological Review, he stated that "its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior.
Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness."[7] Behaviorism has since become one of three domains of behavior analysis, the other two being the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and Applied Behavior Analysis. Methodological behaviorism is based on the theory of treating public events, or observable behavior. B. F. Skinner introduced another type of behaviorism called radical behaviorism, or the Conceptual Analysis of Behavior, which is based on the theory of treating private events; for example, thinking and feeling. Radical behaviorism forms the conceptual piece of behavior analysis.
In behavior analysis, learning is the acquisition of a new behavior through conditioning and social learning. Learning and conditioning[edit]There are three types of conditioning and learning: Classical conditioning, where the behavior becomes a reflex response to an antecedent stimulus. Operant conditioning, where an antecedent stimuli is followed by a consequence of the behavior through a reward (reinforcement) or a punishment. Social learning theory, where an observation of behavior is followed by modeling. Classical conditioning was discovered by Ivan Pavlov.
He observed that if dogs come to associate the delivery of food with a white lab coat or with the ringing of a bell, they will produce saliva, even when there is no sight or smell of food. Classical conditioning regards this form of learning to be the same whether in dogs or in humans.[8]Operant conditioning reinforces this behavior with a reward or a punishment. A reward increases the likelihood of the behavior recurring, a punishment decreases its likelihood.[9] Social learning theory observes behavior and is followed with modeling. These three learning theories form the basis of applied behavior analysis, the application of behavior analysis, which uses analyzed antecedents, functional analysis, replacement behavior strategies, and often data collection and reinforcement to change behavior. The old practice was called behavior modification, which only used assumed antecedents and consequences to change behavior without acknowledging the conceptual analysis; analyzing the function of behavior and teaching new behaviors that would serve the same function was never relevant in behavior modification. Behaviorists view the learning process as a change in behavior, and will arrange the environment to elicit desired responses through such devices as behavioral objectives, Competency- based learning, and skill development and training.[1.
Educational approaches such as Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, curriculum- based measurement, and direct instruction have emerged from this model.[1. Transfer of learning[edit]Transfer of learning is the idea that what one learns in school somehow carries over to situations different from that particular time and that particular setting.[1. Transfer was amongst the first phenomenons tested in educational psychology. Edward Lee Thorndike was a pioneer in transfer research. He found that though transfer is extremely important for learning, it is a rarely occurring phenomenon. In fact, he held an experiment where he had the subjects estimate the size of a specific shape and then he would switch the shape.
He found that the prior information did not help the subjects; instead it impeded their learning.[1. One explanation of why transfer does not occur often can be explained in terms of surface structure and deep structure.
The surface structure is the way a problem is framed. The deep structure is the steps for the solution.
For example, when a math story problem changes contexts from asking how much it costs to reseed a lawn to how much it costs to varnish a table, they have different surface structures, but the steps for getting the answers are the same. However, many people are more influenced by the surface structure. In reality, the surface structure is unimportant. Nonetheless, people are concerned with it because they believe that it will give them background knowledge on how to do the problem. Consequently, this interferes with people's understanding of the deep structure of the problem. Even if somebody is trying to concentrate on the deep structure, transfer still may be unsuccessful because the deep structure is not usually very obvious.
Therefore, surface structure gets in the way of people's ability to see the deep structure of the problem and transfer the knowledge they have learned to come up with a solution to a new problem.[1. Current learning pedagogies focus on conveying rote knowledge, independent of the context within which gives it meaning. Because of this, students often struggle to transfer this stand- alone information into other aspects of their education. Students need much more than abstract concepts and self- contained knowledge; they need to be exposed to learning that is practiced in the context of authentic activity and culture.[1. Critics of situated cognition, however, would argue that by discrediting stand- alone information, the transfer of knowledge across contextual boundaries becomes impossible.[1.
There must be a balance between situating knowledge while also grasping the deep structure of material, or the understanding of how one arrives to know such information.[1. Some theorists argue that transfer does not even occur at all. They believe that students transform what they have learned into the new context. They say that transfer is too much of a passive notion. They believe students, instead, transform their knowledge in an active way.