Book: Keys to Educational Psychology Introduction to Educational Psychology, Cognition, and Learning

Review of Cognition and Learning

Cognition and learning are important for educational learning. We need cognition in order to process the knowledge we get, while learning is all data that taken place as attribute in knowledge. Cognition and learning are major areas of study in the field of Educational Psychology. It is likely that you are reading this chapter because you are interested in studying the topic and you wish to gain some insight into thinking and learning processes in an educational context. Studying and learning means thinking about the ways people process information, solve problems, make decisions and expand their knowledge.

According to this book, cognition is a broad term that describes the ways in which people process information, solve problems, make decisions and expand their knowledge. Learning is a process to get the knowledge and information. Studying cognition and learning is an exciting and challenging task that requires students to be interested in subdisciplines such as cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, instructional psychology, philosophy and educational matters.

The Development of Cognitive and Learning Theory

There is little scientific consensus regarding definitions of cognition and learning. Instead, definitions generally depend on the assumptions made by a particular theory of cognition and the context in which it is studied, while definitions (and theories) of learning are strongly informed by the cognitive theories on which they are based.

There are three parts that are important in this part. They are response acquisition period, knowledge acquisition period and knowledge construction period. During the response acquisition period, cognitive theory was largely influenced by the work of behaviourists and learning theory was formulated accordingly. The knowledge acquisition period was characterized by information-processing theory, which strongly influences educational practice even today. As we shall see, information-processing theory is severely criticised by some for its inability to explain complex, real-world problem-solving. The knowledge construction period featured constructivist theories of cognition that emphasized the social and contextual dimensions of cognition.

Cognition and Learning as Response Acquisition

In this chapter, there are six main points that will be discussed. Those six points are very important for students to learn about cognition and learning as response acquisition. The knowledge acquisition period was characterized by a shift in emphasis from behavioral responses to information-processing. The information-processing approach to cognition is largely modeled on the way computer processes information.

Situated cognition: The context in which people think and the meaning that they derive from physical and social events. Associationism: A theory that describes cognition as simple associations between different events. Operant conditioning: An associative form of learning in which behaviours are regarded as associations between events, and responses are strengthened through positive reinforcers (rewards) or negative reinforcers (punishments) (Long, 2000). Classical conditioning: A form of associationist learning in which an association is formed between a stimulus and an involuntary response. Positivism: The philosophical position that an objective truth exists and that such a truth can be discovered through sensory experience only. Gestalt psychology: A theory proposing that human experience and consciousness form an integrated whole, and are understood as such rather than by being broken down into simple units.

In Western psychology, the scientific study of internal, cognitive processes began gaining popularity in the mid-20th century not only owing to Chomsky's critique of Skinner's work, but also because of a rapidly changing social context. It was during this time that technological developments and inventions. The move from the study of cognition as observable behavior to internal cognitive processes heralded the beginning of the knowledge acquisition period.

Cognition and Learning as Knowledge Acquisition

Cognition and learning are the main topic in this chapter. They are becoming main topic since the knowledge acquisition use them in term of psychology. The knowledge acquisition period was characterised by a shift in emphasis from behavioural responses to information-processing. The information-processing approach to cognition is largely modelled on the way computer processes information.

In this part, we will discuss about some sub-topics, namely Cognitivism: A theoretical approach that locates cognition in the mind and views it as problem-solving through computation. Knowledge: Information that is internally represented in the mind of a person. Declarative knowledge is factual knowledge about the world, while procedural knowledge is knowledge about our skills and how we do things. Learning: Broadly, a relatively permanent change in behaviour. Metacognition: A process of thinking about what you know and what you are doing and thinking, and how you can improve your learning (Gibbons, 2002).

The knowledge acquisition period was very productive with regard to the study of cognition and learning. Information-processing theory was especially influential in shaping educational practice, and it continues to be so to a great extent. It highlighted the importance of attention and memory processes in learning, and led to educational practices that encouraged educators to capture their learners' attention using interesting material.

Mnemonic strategies: Lists, acronyms or rhymes which students can use to memorise information. The awareness of the social and cultural contexts in which people think and learn was partially responsible for the onset of the knowledge construction period. This period can be seen as a reaction against the positivist assumptions of the modern study of cognition. Constructivist approaches place much more emphasis on the active role of the learner through the belief that knowledge is not passively received, but actively construed by the learner. Constructivist views also make it necessary for us to consider the contexts in which people construe knowledge, and thus socio-cultural theories of cognition belong to this period.

Cognition and Learning as Knowledge Construction

As we know that in constructing knowledge, all we needed is cognition and learning. We cannot learn something without cognition, while having no cognition and we want to learn something. In this part, we will learn about some topics related to cognition and learning as knowledge construction.

Constructivist theories of cognition and learning generally assume that the knowledge human beings possess does not exist in a perfect form outside human existence. Instead, knowledge is seen as the result of human beings interacting actively with their world. Constructivist theory assumes that people are actively involved in construing knowledge and that such knowledge is always construed within a particular social and cultural context.

Constructivist theory allows us to view knowledge from a different perspective. It recognises that all knowledge is subjective and created in the human mind, not discovered in nature. Instead of being seen as a process by which knowledge is acquired or discovered, learning is viewed as a process of active construction. Rather than making claims about the truth, constructivist theory is more interested in investigating whether a particular statement is viable within its context. If the knowledge we as humans create allows us to cope with the world, such knowledge is considered to be viable. We need to be aware that knowledge may be viable in one context, but not in another. For example, viewing intelligence from a constructivist point of view, we must concede that the kinds of behaviours that different societies may regard as intelligent would vary greatly according to the context in which a particular society lives. In Western society, intelligence has become synonymous with logical, ordered and analytical thinking, and the kinds of tasks used to assess intelligence also measure how well people perform those intellectual, academic skills. Western society tends to focus on academic performance while paying less attention to social and emotional skills, which are favoured in non-Western contexts far more than analytical problem- solving skills. However, increasing recognition is given to the fact that intelligent behaviour comprises much more than academic performance: it may also involve superior social and emotional skills.

The main topic in this part are: Zone of proximal development: The distance between a child's actual develop- mental level, as determined by inde- pendent problem-solving (that is, when a child can solve a problem without any adult guidance), and the level of potential development, as deter- mined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky, 1935/1978).

Conclusion

After discovering this chapter , at least we have known the main topics where cognitive and learning are very important for response acquisition, knowledge acquisition and knowledge construction. In this chapter you have been introduced to some of the major theories of cognition. As you ponder the questions that have been posed, consider that you are beginning to become a 'cognitive theorist' and that you can make a contribution to the development of cognitive theory by thinking further about cognition. Formulating cognitive theory is not simply the function of researchers or academics - it begins the moment you start to question knowledge about cognition and reflect on how current theories can be developed.