COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY
CRYSTAL
ELEENA
FAIZ

What is Cognitive Learning Theory?
• Explains why the brain is the most incredible
network of information processing and
interpretation in the body as we learn things
• Cognitive learning theories are based on how
people think (Ormrod, 2008).

Learning
• ‘to think using the brain’
• active mental process to receive, store and
apply knowledge.
• cognitive process to choose, focus, ignore,
reflect and make decision on changes in
environment (Woolfolk, 1998).

Learning takes place when new
knowledge is gained or modified
through experience.

Did you know that…
The bushes and clouds in Super Mario Bros are
the same, just colored differently.

Did you know that…
Mayonnaise is made from oil and eggs

Did you know that…
Goats have rectangular pupils

Did you know that…
Butterflies are cannibals
www.buzzfeed.com

Cognitive learning models
Gestalt
Ausubel
Gagne
Bruner

Gestalt Learning Model
The three main Gestalt theorists
1. Max Wertheimer (1880 - 1943)
• His ideas featured the view that thinking proceeds from the whole
to the parts, treating a problem as a whole.
2. Kurt Koffka (1887 - 1941)
• There is no such thing as a completely meaningless learning.
3. Wolfgang Kohler (1887 - 1967)
• Köhler emphasized that one must examine the whole to discover
what its natural parts are.

Ausubel Learning Model
David Ausubel, M.D. (1918 - 2008 )
• American psychologist
• Did his undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania
(pre-med and psychology)
• Particularly relevant for educators, considered neo-
behaviorist views inadequate.
• Focused on verbal learning
• He dealt with the nature of meaning
• Believes the external world acquires meaning only as it is
converted into the content of consciousness by the learner.

Gagne Learning Model
• Robert Gagne (1916–2002) was an educational psychologist
who pioneered the science of instruction in the 1940s.
• 5 types of learning
 Verbal Information
 Intellectual Skills
 Cognitive Strategies
 Motor Skills
 Attitude

Gagne Nine Levels of Learning
Gagne Nine Levels of Learning : to ensure that your team fully understands and retains
information

Eight Conditions of Learning
• Signal learning: the learner makes a general response to a signal
• Stimulus-response learning: the learner makes a precise response to a
signal
• Chaining: the connection of a set of individual stimulus & responses in a
sequence.
• Verbal association: the learner makes associations using verbal
connections
• Discrimination learning: the learner makes different responses to different
stimuli that are somewhat alike
• Concept learning: the learner develops the ability to make a generalized
response based on a class of stimuli
• Rule learning: a rule is a chain of concepts linked to a demonstrated
behavior
• Problem solving: the learner discovers a combination of previously learned
rules and applies them to solve a novel situation
• The Gagne Assumption ~ is for each of the different types of learning
(learning goals) that exist different instructional conditions are required.

Bruner Learning Model
• Born New York City, October 1, 1915. He received his A.B.
degree from Duke University in 1937 and his Ph.D in 1947
from Harvard.
• Bruner's theories emphasize the significance of categorization
in learning.
• Bruner believes children have to learn by themselves.
• Enactive representation –The child has little in the way of
mental faculties so ‘thinking is a physical action.’ Knowledge
is what the child can manipulate or do with movements, for
example tying knots, pointing etc.

• Iconic representation –These icons or images are built up
from past experience and based on a number of exposures to
similar objects and events.
• Symbolic representation –For the first time the child can
categorise, think logically and solve problems.

The information processing approach
• Depicts how mental processes operate
• See the human mind as a computer that
processes information from external sources,
then stores and retrieves it
• Thinking is a rational process
• Memory is central to information processing

The multistore model
of information processing
• Depicts information processing as a sequence of
discrete stages
• Each stage has a different processing function

• Sensory register: new information enters through
the senses and is stored for less than a second
• Short-term memory (STM): a temporary storage
place with the capacity to store approximately
seven items
• Strategies for remembering information in STM:
• chunking is when related items are grouped into
a single meaningful unit
• rehearsal is where information is repeated and
practised to aid storage and retrieval

• Long-term memory (LTM) is a permanent
storage facility for information
• Types of LTM:
• episodic – memories of events
• semantic – memories about language and the
world around us
• procedural – memories about procedures for
performing a skill

Connectionist Model
Brain = complex network of interconnected
units of information
Information = stored in patterns of
connectivity (neural networks)

Why & How Learners Forget
Fail to pay adequate attention to information
during the sensory register & short-term
memory (STM) stages
STM has limited capacity, thus leading to us
not remembering everything
Long-term memory (LTM) decays

Interference occurs – new memories interfere
with LTMs, thus making the retrieval of
information difficult
We do not use the right cues to retrieve info
(cue-dependent forgetting)

Information?? Knowledge??
Information becomes knowledge when we act
upon it cognitively to make meaning for
ourselves
Types of knowledge:
- declarative (knowing that)
- procedural (knowing how)
- conditional (knowing when and how)

Strengths
Represents/illustrates the complexity of
cognitive processing
Allows for close analysis of cognitive processes
& thus helps educators understand how
learners think
Emphasises on the importance of memory
and how to enhance recall

Limitations
Sequential depictions of information
processing do not represent the complexity of
neural networks
We depend too much of the computer as an
analogy for how humans think
The model fails to consider environmental,
genetic and cultural influences on info
processing

Metacognition: Managing Cognitive
Processes
An executive control process overseeing
cognitive activity which includes self-
monitoring & self-regulation

• Ability to control your own thoughts.
1) Person knowledge: knowledge about one’s self
& others’ thinking
2) Task knowledge: knowledge that different types
of task exert different types of cognitive
demands
3) Strategy knowledge: knowledge about cognitive
& metacognitive strategies for enhancing
learning and performance (planning,
monitoring, evaluating)

Metacognitive Experiences
Include feelings associated with particular
cognitive activities
e.g., you feel anxious when you realise you
do not know what the lecturer is talking
about.
Connected to self-esteem
e.g., when we feel confident about regulating our
cognitive processing, we will feel more positive
about ourselves & abilities

Metacognitive Development
Develops when children’s capacity develop for
abstract thought, self-reflect & self-regulate.
Some research shows evidence of
metacognition in younger children, but the
skill develops most notably among
adolescents.

A positive relationship between performance
on academic tasks & learners’ ability to use
metacognitive strategies (Lucangeli, Coi &
Bosco, 1997)
Students of learning disabilities show that
metacognitive strategy instruction enhances
learners’ thinking and social skills (Rosenthal-
Malek, 1997)

Strategies Across Culture
Sociocultural factors may influence the ways
individual think about themselves & their own
thinking (their metacognitive knowledge and
strategy use)
Research findings on cross-cultural differences
in metacognitive strategy use are equivocal
(ambiguos), but some differences between
cultures have been noted

Cognitive Style
Different people have preferred ways of
perceiving, processing & remembering info
(different cognitive styles)
Also have preferences for approaching
learning & learning contexts (different
learning styles)

Perceptual Style: Field Dependence-
Independence
Field-dependent learners: perceive items,
events or info. They depend on the context
(field) to help them understand and perceive
better.
Field-independent learners: perceive
individual items, events & info analytically, as
distinct & independent from the broader
context/field.

What Is Your Perceptual Style?
The way you take in information
through your five senses and make
that information meaningful to you.
Basically, it acts as filters between
sensation and understanding.

Let’s Draw Your Attention!
Can you find a gargoyle, a key, a hat, five dwarves
and a fairy in this picture?

Perceptual style
Field
dependence
learners
Field
independence
learners

Conceptual
Tempo
Impulsive
Learners
Reflective
Learners

Deep & Surface Learning
Deep Learning Surface Learning
Definition • Learners with deep
approach to learn.
• Intrinsically motivated
to study.
• Make use of time
efficiently to study.
• Have extrinsic
motivations .
• Use memorisation
strategies to learn
Learning Methodology • Use problem – solving
strategies (e.g.
questioning, planning
and evaluating)

Sociocultural
Factors and
Cognitive Style
Sociocultural factors
Influence learners’
preferred ways of
thinking and learning
Social structures
influence the types of
activities learners engage
in and value
Have a powerful effect on
cognitive development
and preferred cognitive
styles

Learning Approaches In The Classroom
Students’ preferred cognitive and learning styles to classroom practices
Aptitude–treatment interaction
The relationship between learner characteristics and the characteristics of the
learning situation

Constructivism
Definition:
Explanation of learning that views it as a self-regulated process that builds on
learners’ existing knowledge.
Psychological constructivism:
Focuses on individual learners and on how they construct their own knowledge,
beliefs and identity.
Social constructivism:
Acknowledges the role of social and cultural factors in shaping learning.

4 Key Principle of
Constructivism
2. Learners are self-
regulated
3. Social interaction is
necessary for effective
learning
4. Encouraged to make
sense of information for
themselves
1. Learners are active
participants

Encourage
learner-
centred
experiences
and activities
Provide
opportunities
for students to
work together
Benefits of
Constructivism
Assist novice
learners to
develop
expertise

How To Stimulate Learner - Centred
Experiences & Activities
DiscoveryLearning
Guided Discovery
Problem solving with teacher
guidance
Open Discovery
Problem solving without a
teacher monitoring

Providing Opportunities For
Students To Work Together
Cooperative
Learning
Collaborative
Learning
Peer-assisted
Learning

Helping Novice Learners to
Develop Expertise
Cognitive
apprenticeships
Partnership
Reciprocal
teaching

Benefits of Constructivism
Acknowledges
learners as active
‘constructors’ of
their own
meaning
Attaches
importance to
prior learning and
background
knowledge
Encourages social
networks in
learning
environments
Provides practical
guidelines for educators
who want to encourage
student interaction and
group work in their
classrooms

Disadvantages of Constructivism
Time
consuming
Teachers face
pressure
regarding
curriculum
coverage
Daunted by
classroom-
management
concerns
when
managing
group work

-THE END-