What is cognition?
Cognition is a term referring to the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem-solving. These are higher-level functions of the brain which encompass language, imagination, perception and planning (http://psychology.about.com/od/cindex/g/def_cognition.htm). In short, cognition is the mental process, mental activities, or thinking process used by a person during a problem-solving process.
Cognition is a term popularly used in cognitive psychology, so what is cognitive psychology? Cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on how people process information. It looks at how our minds handle external stimuli and produce responses. Figure 1 is commonly used in cognitive psychology to explain what happens when new information is received from our senses, and how this is transferred to the short-term memory (STM) in our mind and finally to the long-term memory (LTM). The process is also known as the Information Processing Model.
Figure 1 shows how information from the external environment is processed from the sensory memory to the STM and then to the LTM.
Figure 1 Information Processing Model
Another popular theory that relates to information processing is called the Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). CLT argues that human cognitive architecture should be taken to be a major consideration when designing instruction. The cognitive architecture consists of mainly the STM and LTM. The STM can hold up to about seven pieces of new information or elements at any one time (Miller, 1956; Baddeley, 1992). Due to this limitation, any form of cognitive process can be overloaded if the task to perform is highly complicated with many interactive elements. The process can be even more challenging if it involves processes like organizing, contrasting and comparing (Cowan, 2000). The information after being processed in STM will be sent to LTM and stored as schemas. A schema is essentially a mental framework for understanding and remembering information. For more information, refer to the following document:
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In addition to cognitive psychology, there is another branch of psychology called the behavioral psychology that also has great impacts on learning. The following section will briefly explain what behavioral psychology is about. What is behavioral psychology about?![]()
The stimulus-response theory is central to the behavioral psychology. The basic assumption of behavioral psychology is that human behavior is learned; it is gradually shaped as a result of enforcement, with reinforcement typically being a stimulus or reward for a desired response. This theory has been commonly used in animal training as shown in Figure 2. In Figure 2, the rat moved around in a box in which it would accidentally knock a lever. When this happened, food would drop into a container next to the lever. After a few trials, the rat quickly learned the relationship of "pushing a lever to get a response". To encourage the rat to repeat the stimulus-response behaviour, the food is used as a positive reinforcement so that food is associated with the response. The stimulus-response effect is coined by B.F. Skinner (1938) as operant conditioning to denote the effect of changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response.
In education, behavioral psychology can be applied to encourage desired performance, for example, a teacher can tell his students that they will get a prize (reward) such as an iPhone if they get good results (response) in an exam (stimulus). Students are likely to repeat this behavior as it is reinforced by a reward. The result is that they will work harder for exam preparation in order to win the reward. For more on behavioral psychology, you may read the below document "learning_theory_1.pdf". ![]()
For a summary of the above discussion, you may also access the following video:
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Download the file "savedrecs.txt" given below. In this activity, extract as many email addresses as you can from the given file within 15 minutes, then put the extracted email addresses into an Excel file or a Word document. The tutor will check the number of email addresses each of you has managed to extract.
(Note: The file contains a large number of email addresses. You may use any method you can think of to get as many of them as possible. For instance. you may search for those that contain the sign "@" then do Copy-and-Paste the email addresses to the Excel file) savedrecs.txt Download File (After 15 minutes) How many email addresses have you extracted? 30? 40? or 100? I believe many of you would get around 20 but less than 50. Actually extracting email addresses from such a file is rather tedious even though you may apply the "search-copy-paste" function. How can we speed up the process and do the job more easily?
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24 Comments
R Vishunu
1/21/2018 09:40:36 am
From this topic is it has been established that behavior, is actually the end result of learning. Classical and Instrumental (Operational), are the most fundamental paradigm of behavior modification. It is also due to these two types of learning that the cognitive relations build a structure for understanding the fundamental cognitive processes that help elucidate higher forms of learning. Performance tends to contain the definite demonstration of learning as a behavior, but learning in itself only has to result in the potential for future behavior. So in basic terms, learning is behavior potentiality that plays the role of an intervening variable between experiences as well as behavior which eventually finds expression through the performance.
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Pamela Low
1/23/2018 02:28:41 am
One takeaway that I have from this topic is that proponents of Cognitivism and Behaviorism believe that these are two disjoint theories based on the differences in outcomes yielded as well as the differences in focus of investigation. While Cognitivism seeks to comprehend the workings of the mind of average individual and are not concerned with the individual’s history, behaviorism seeks to know why something happened to the individual and how is it related to the individual’s history. However, I beg to differ and see that the two theories are complementary to each other. The first part of Cognitivism requires the presence of an attention mechanism (Information Processing Model) to bring the information to the student. Attention is a process that involves many external stimuli and when students relate to the attention (stimuli) based on their experiences, they respond to the attention accordingly (by being interested in learning). In stimulus-response procedures, the focus is on environmental stimuli, which will also induce a desired behavior (response) from the individual. The individual then puts to memory the desired response, which is then repeatedly reproduced when reinforcers (Skinner’s Operant Conditioning) are present. To completely exclude individual’s history when discussing behaviorism is not entirely accurate given that the whole process of stimulating to producing the first response creates an experience for the individual, which is then used as history when the procedures are repeated to induce similar outcomes.
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Lynette
1/18/2019 11:34:54 pm
My take away from this topic is how the cognitive process affects the way learners interpret and process a concept or idea. This essentially involves a stimuli (touching a hot iron) and the cognitive processes that follow (information processing model) where the information is stored in STM and when repeated often enough it moves to LTM (repository for permanent knowledge and skills needed for understanding). Cognitive load theory is where cognitive architecture consists of a limited working memory (WM), which interacts with a comparatively unlimited long-term memory (LTM). The limited WM carries the risk of learners being cognitively overloaded when performing a complexity. This theory resonates with me in my practice as often learners are overloaded with complex cognitive tasks which often overload the limited STM. This often results in poor learning outcomes and measures to reduce this can be a challenge with curriculum constraints. Having awareness of the various ways one may learn provides awareness to educators as to how instructional design can better control intrinsic cognitive load through for example chunking of ideas so as to minimize cognitive overload.
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Esther Tan
1/23/2019 12:15:02 am
I agree that often learners are overloaded with complex cognitive tasks which overloads the STM. This means that educators need to ensure that the learner’s WM load does not exceed the limit when designing the instruction - the learning program is ineffective if so much is attempted that little is accomplished. A small number of highly important objectives should be preferred over unimportant and contradictory ones when considering/building instructional design.
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Lynette
1/29/2019 12:21:37 am
Thanks Esther for the response. I glanced apon an article by Leppink 2017 on CLT and there are a few more to considerations thats mentioned with regards to instructional design to reduce CL other than specific learning goals which struck a cord with me which basically says to reduce extraneous cog load or unnecessary cognitive activity that does not contribute directly to the learning. Ahh.. this is where the goal must be always be referred to when designing I guess.. thanks for highlighting this for me.
K Pavitra
1/20/2019 02:50:27 pm
OOne of the important learning points I have learnt in this topic would be the differences in cognitive psychology and behavioural psychology and how it helps in our teaching and students' learning.Cognitive psychology focuses mainly on students' mental processes and cognition of applying the skills and using prior knowledge or experiences to complete a task.However,behavioural psychology focuses mainly on the learners' behaviour and how it influences their learning,It also provides a guide for teachers to design their lessons accordingly. When students work in small or big groups collaboratively, it will allow them to share their ideas with one another and conditioning occurs.In cognitive psychology, students would get to apply, create or evaluate tasks which will allow them to tap on their long term working memory.In reality,teachers use both theories in daily classroom teaching to guide students. Tasks are designed according to different learning needs and reinforcement is done to motivate students and to acknowledge their efforts. I believe that both theories do complement one another.
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Chee Jih Heong
1/21/2019 03:48:54 pm
I agree that these two theories complement each other. Students are at different level of cognitive development and might require the behavioral psychological approach to entice them to work towards the ultimate goals of learning. The repetition might get the students to imprint or transfer their short term memory into long term memory which they will be able to retain. Having said this, it is also important for us to consider not to overload any form of cognitive process when one is designing the instructions for the learner. It should be broken down into smaller and simpler parts so that the learner is able to achieve the learning objectives and have a sense of achievement after completing the tasks.
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K Pavitra
1/20/2019 02:53:07 pm
Another learning point I have learnt in this topic would be that we have to take note of cognitive load theory when we are designing lessons and tasks.If we design complex tasks without much scaffolding,it can lead to extraneous cognitive load and students will face difficulties.I also learnt that correct prompts are important to guide students in processing the information easily.In daily teaching,we can also provide tasks by varying difficulty progressively in different subjects and “I do,We do,You do” method will provide learners with opportunities to recap on their prior knowledge and good scaffolding can be done.However,we have to also provide independent tasks at times to test their understanding and it provides opportunities for collaborative learning. Through these methods, intrinsic cognitive load can be optimized and benefit the learners in our classes.
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Kasni
1/22/2019 11:33:15 pm
I have to agree with you Pavitra that scaffolding is important in ensuring the cognitive approach in learning gets translated to effective internalization of ideas and concepts. As for the resilient students, the use of concrete scaffolding helps them to organize their thoughts in a systematic manner to achieve the desired outcome of the lesson.With the intent of using collaborative learning, social interaction could lead to development of ideas and thinking in context. This idea of social constructivism would promote cognitive growth among students.
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Duan Jingjing Mrs Li
1/21/2019 11:31:01 pm
Students learn to play the piano for 4-5 years, and are able to receive Distinction for AMRSM Grade 8 test with ease, enjoying playing the piano, no painful memories, no long dull practice time, do you know how they achieve that? By optimising the students’ intellectual performance, even though the teachers without knowing.
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I believe cognitive psychology would help in developing students' ability to retain information better and longer. They would be able to apply on the information gathered for another context. Thus, the learning should be crafted purposeful. However, in some circumstances, behavioural psychology is needed to motivate pupils in lessons and especially those who has challenges in maitaining their focus. With this in mind, behavioural psychology is like a mean to an end. Thus, the decison to use either or both types of psychological methods would depend on the teachers' observation. Task must be clearly defined and explained with sufficient scaffolding to allow students to achieve the desired outcome. Thus, a mixture of tasks aimed at developing students ability and skills which focus on cognitive and behavioural apporaches would enhance learning in a productive and effective manner.
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Abirami
1/22/2019 10:00:30 pm
The objectivism and constructivism concept made me reflect on the way we teach in schools. As much as we do want our students to craft their own knowledge, it is somehow apparent that we do have to follow objectivism in situations. As a primary school educator who is currently teaching the lower primary students, believe that some lessons have to be structured and organized especially during activities. Teachers who infuse objectivism with their teaching have different ways of how they structure the lessons and the way they set up their classroom. Visual cues and instructions are one of the ways teachers who infuse objectivism would want knowledge to be seen in reality and in a classroom setting. Constructivism does give children the opportunities to discover and craft their own knowledge through experience however it is important to understand that at times, students craft their knowledge differently based on their experience, background and perception. Objectivism works when we would want to ensure a unified knowledge among all. As such, this made me reflect on my classroom practices. Do I give enough opportunities for my students to discover? Does technology give them that allowance? How is technology played in both objectivism and constructivism? I hope to learn more about these concepts and craft my knowledge as we go along the upcoming weeks.
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Abirami
1/22/2019 10:09:42 pm
The discussion on the bicycle being a cognitive tool and the use of a gear was an interesting discussion. Personally, I think it is very subjective and the user who perceives an object to be defined as a cognitive tool would need to think of its purpose and relation to cognition and how the object is used to stimulate thinking. Similarly, when we think about technology, we need to think about the purpose and how it stimulates our students thinking and understanding. Many a times in schools, we are expose to various sources of technology and it is used for multiple purposes. This sets me thinking if we as educators, really consciously think about the way we use them and its meaningful purpose in the integration of our lesson. We need to understand the whys and the purpose involved in the integration of technology. How is the affordance of technology giving students the opportunity to consolidate, build, extend and stimulate their learning? I ponder upon these questions as I do use technology in my classroom. However, how do I substantiate the use of technology when I can also drive the discussion through pen and paper? Is technology a mere engagement tool or does it really drive cognition and if so in what ways? These are some questions that I’ve started to ponder upon after the first lesson. Hope to learn more along the way!
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Nazrah
1/25/2019 12:09:29 am
I find the discussion on the bicycle example interesting as well. It illustrates the fact that the same object may be taken a cognitive tool and productive tool. It is all about perspective. Similarly, something that may not be designed to be educational in the first place could provide many affordances to help students learn. One example a simple camera function tool found in ipad which was used as an assessment tool for a PE lesson. The questions you raised with regards to using technology in classrooms are real valid concerns. Is there really a need to discuss online when students can still carry out the discussion offline? That is the reason why the choice to use certain tools needed to be considered carefully to see what are the affordances that it has to offer.
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Kasni
1/22/2019 11:18:34 pm
One learning point that I have gained from the first lesson is through the use of the bicycle as an example in understanding cognitive tool as compared to a behaviourist tool in teaching and learning. Although many at times, in class, technology is used to facilitate learning to maximise efficiency in progression in learning, like the use of presentation and processing IT tools, we should consider the use of IT tools to promote thinking in solving problems. This would allow students to curate their own learning and further create possibilities to explore new knowledge. Hence, decisions has to be made by students in the progress of learning. With reference to the bicycle as an example, it could be used as a cognitive tool when one needs to investigate which gear is the most suitable to use when climbing a hill so as minimise effort. When used as a behavioural approach, it could be seen as an efficient machine used to transport one person from one place to another. With the gear system found on the bicycle, the rider can think of ways to modify its use based on the situation he or she is facing.
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Esther Tan
1/23/2019 12:59:33 am
When discussing the objectivist or constructivist approaches to learning, I believe that both still have a place in the classroom. In an objectivist approach, the learning process is very much controlled by the teacher – instructional strategies are well-defined, organized and clear, and goals/objectives are set by the teacher. The student is responsible for comprehending and taking in this information as presented by the teacher. On the other hand, in a constructivist approach, the student controls the learning process – the learning environment is flexible and goals are set by the student. Students can create their own interpretations of the information from their own experiences and meaningful contexts. A blend of both approaches is ideal for learning. While constructivism encourages more engagement between students where they become more active and involved learners, objectivism is still important to maintain some structure in the classroom, as students could end up being confused and lost without any form of structure.
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Christina Peh
1/24/2019 08:37:16 pm
Hi Esther, I agree with you that a blend of both approaches would be ideal for students' learning. However, as a primary school teacher, my teaching approach is rather objectivist. I'm always in control of my students' learning process as I have to follow the SOW to complete the required syllabus on time. For me, I have to do weekly lesson plan to plan out teaching activities for the class. Lesson are usually structure and in order. Constructivist approach to me is a luxury if we can use it in class.
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Abirami
1/25/2019 04:36:04 pm
Dear Christina and Esther,
Lynette
1/29/2019 12:28:40 am
With the constructivist approach being more student centric.. I wonder whether this approach to learning is suited for younger learners who have less to offer in terms of experience? Then there is the myrid of inaccurate information floating around out there. Should we as educators be concerned that with this approach the students are learning the wrong facts??
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Esther Tan
1/23/2019 01:31:20 am
When we compare behavioral and cognitive psychology, the difference lies in what is learned when learning takes place – observable behaviors vs mental processes. In the classroom context, behavioral learning involves the relationship between stimulus and response – you reinforce a desired behavior/response with a stimulus or reward. For example, rewarding a student with sweets when he does well in a test so he will want to do well in the next test. On the other hand, cognitive learning involves processing information through thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem-solving. Teachers can help students by making learning meaningful – organize what they learn and connect it to what they already know or have experienced. In my opinion, teachers should use a combination of both approaches whenever appropriate in the classroom. Helping to organize information in the best way that the students can process and remember, and at the same time motivating them with positive reinforcement.
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K Pavitra
1/23/2019 08:29:13 am
Yes,I agree with Esther that it is good for teachers to use both approaches in class during lessons.Cogntive approach helps students to build on their coginive development when they are given tasks with progressive difficulty and helps them to build on their prior knowledge.At the same time,their intrinsic congnitive load is optimized.As teachers, we can use behavioural psychology in everyday lessons with each child to help them to build self-confidence and "I can "positive attitude.It is important for educators to use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to build students' confidence.Using both theories in class and tasks designed help them to address to the leaners' learning needs academically(move to a higher level of critical thinking) and emotionally.I also support the view that both theories complement one another and teachers should tke these theories into consideration when esigning tasks and enabling prompts.
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Tammy Ng
1/24/2019 03:27:23 pm
These are interesting insights into how scientists think about the way people learn and process information. I can conclude from this session that the theories seem to be standalone ideas of the way people think and learn. While some scientists might argue that one theory could be better than the other, I see all the theories as different perspectives of how the human brain works, like the different parts to a puzzle. Cognitive psychology focuses on the intrinsic understanding of how new information is being processed and stored in the brain. On the other hand, behavioural psychology studies the extrinsic interactions of the environment that a learner is in and how a learner’s behaviour can change according to the use of an external stimulus. There are also the two theories of learning, objectivism, and constructivism. Both theories seem to be extreme opposites of one another, however, I feel that one cannot exist without another. For example, in a group work discussion, students are free to interpret the information provided to them, but it is up to the teacher to contextualize and emphasise the important points so that it meets the learning objectives that the teacher intended for. Therefore, it is also possible to see the learning theories as complementary of one another, with a common goal of achieving the true understanding of how the human brain works.
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Seah Lee Chean
1/24/2019 08:31:55 pm
Very often, schools adopt A particular stance towards a particular learning theory. Via a top-down approach, the theory is then hard-sell to all members of the school community as THE way to go when dealing with the students on hand. However, it is heartening to read from the article that as teachers, we should "develop an eclectic attitude toward the various schools of learning psychology". This statement certainly concurs the saying "Different strokes for different folks". Hence, regardless of the learning perspective that teachers choose to adopt, the importance is the use of the right theory for the right group of students. However, are there any students factors that affects the type of learning perspectives teachers should adopt? If yes, what would these factors be?
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Nazrah
1/24/2019 11:39:59 pm
Understanding about information processing model would allow educators to create a more effective learning task for learners. For instance, to reduce cognitive load, providing smaller tasks with increasing level of difficulty would be helpful. Also, providing scaffolding to learners will provide support for learners to construct and understanding what they are learning. This scaffolding and support is lesser as the learner progress. It is also recommended that supporting information is provided first instead of expecting learners to manage both the task and information simultaneously. In other words, by providing learners with the supporting information and giving time for them to form a cognitive schema, this will be retained in their long term memory. Hence, it is easier for them to retrieve and activate this infomation rather than when it is just stored in the working memory. So educators need to make a conscientious effort to design tasks that would not cause a cognitive overload for the learners.
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