Cognitive processes

Cognitive processes are the processes that move information from one store to another, and they include:

AttentionPerceptionRehearsalMeaningful encoding, andforgetting

Attention

It is the beginning of information processing

Attention is the process of consciously focusing on a stimulus

It appears next to sensory memoryTeachers should plan their lessons so

students attend to what is being taught and ignore outside noises and irrelevant stimuli

Strategies of attracting attention

TypeExample

DemonstrationsPull a student on the chair to demonstrate the concept of force

Discrepant

events

Teacher comes to class in a sheet to discuss ancient Greece

ChartsDisplay a chart showing a high fat content of a popular food

PicturesShowing picture of a bearded Ernest Hemingway as introducing 20th century American novels

Strategies of attracting attention, cont

TypeExample

ProblemsA boy makes 10 Dirhams an hour, how many hours does he need to make 85 Dirhams

Thought-provo-

king questions

Suppose Germany had won the WW-II, how might the world be different now

EmphasisTeacher: “Pay attention, the next item is very important”

Student namesAmina! What is the answer?

Perception

Perception is the process people use to attach meaning to stimuli

Students’ perceptions of what they see or hear are what enter working memory, and if these perceptions are not accurate, the information stored in long-term memory will also be inaccurate

Rehearsal

Rehearsal is the process of repeating information over and over, either aloud or mentally, without altering its form

Although rehearsal usually causes information to stay in working memory only until it is used, if rehearse enough, information can sometimes be transferred to long-term memory

Rehearsal is one of the first memory strategies that develops in young children

Meaningful encoding

Encoding is the process of representing information in long-term memory

Meaningfulness describes the number of connections or links between an idea and other ones in long-term memory

The more background information that exists, and the more interrelated the knowledge (the more elaborate the schemas) the more locations a learner has to connect new information and the more likely it is to be meaningfully encoded

Meaningful encoding can be ensured by promoting 3 things: organization, elaboration, and activity

Organization, elaboration, and activity

Organization is the process of clustering related items of content into categories or patterns that illustrate relationships

Elaboration is the process of increasing the meaningfulness of information by forming additional links in existing knowledge or adding new knowledge

Activity: Attempts to answer a question and then checking the feedback is an active process

Making information meaningful

Making information meaningful

OrganizationImpose order and conn-

ections in new information

ElaborationExpand on existing

schemas

ActivityPut learner in the mostActive role possible inMaking connections

forgetting

Forgetting is the loss of, or inability to retrieve, information from memory

Forgetting as interference: or the loss of information because something learned either before or after detracts from understanding

Forgetting as retrieval failure: Retrieving information is pulling it from long-term memory into working memory for further processing

Retrieving is like putting information into a file folder and then trying to figure out where you stored the folder; the information is there but can not be found