This paper explores a major theoretical framework from psychology, Dual Process Theory (DPT), which has received surprisingly little attention in the computing education literature. DPT postulates the existence of two qualitatively different kinds of cognitive systems, a fast, intuitive "System 1" and a slow, reflective "System…

Parents want to work with their children's teachers to help them succeed in school. "What Brain Research Says about Student Learning" provides parents and teachers the most recent findings in brain research and learning theory in a very approachable way. The reader will see how the child's brain develops, learns, remembers, and creates…

Why the brain is the most incredible network of information processing and interpretation in the body as we learn things is the scope of the Cognitive Learning Theories. When we use the word "learning", we usually mean "to think using the brain". Therefore, the basic concept of learning is the main viewpoint in the Cognitive…

Cognitive models of multimedia learning such as the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer 2009) or the Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller 1999) are based on different cognitive models of working memory (e.g., Baddeley 1986) and long-term memory. The current paper describes a working memory model that has recently gained popularity in basic…

Outlines a proposed model for understanding the human information processing system, which is conceptualized in terms of three interrelated major elements--executive, working, and long-term memory--with emphasis on the structure of long-term memory. Thirty-one references are listed. (MBR)

A study was conducted to test a model that conceives of long term memory as a propositional network of ideas made up of knowledge clusters and related subclusters. After two pilot studies suggested that recall order of ideas was unrelated to organization, the study investigated whether units of main and supporting ideas produced during…

The automatic/controlled processing theory proposal that the modification of long term memory (LTM) occurs only during controlled processing, and that stimuli can be automatically processed with no resulting LTM effect was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, subjects were shown words while performing tasks involving either…

Most popular strategies, including illustrations, for improving prose processing consist of procedures that force attention either to the text's macrostructure or to the organization and interconnections of its propositions. These strategies are assumed to enhance students' comprehension of the text as encoded, as well as to afford students an…

Piaget's theory that distinct stages in the organization of memory correspond to successive stages in cognitive development was tested using 150 eighth graders. Cognitive levels were assessed with Inhelder and Piaget's balance beam task, initially, and again at seven months. Mnemonic levels were assessed with Piaget and Inhelder's memory of an…

Although cognitive psychology is concerned with the processes of knowing rather than with behavior, certain applications of cognitive psychology and learning theory have been achieved: (1) behavior modification; (2) bio-feedback; (3) psycholinguistics; and (4) information processing psychology. (CJ)

Twenty-four college seniors summarized a 167-word text. Five days later, they completed a sentence-recognition task and described components of successful text summarization. It appeared that students who summarized efficiently also stored information in memory efficiently. (Author/CJ)

Accurate and automatic production of the basic number combinations is a major objective of elementary mathematics education. Typically, it is not an objective that is easily and quickly attained. Indeed, teachers regularly lament about how difficult it is to get their students to master the basic "number facts." This problem may be due,…

This report describes the first of three stages in a study in the domain of problem solving: the definition and explication of schema knowledge. One objective of this research is to understand how schema knowledge is acquired and used in the chosen domain. The focus is on ways in which instruction influences the development of specific knowledge…

Projects that soon a complete mechanistic understanding of simple forms of learning will be available. Describes some of the recent advances in neuroscience and psychology in understanding the changes in neural circuits that occur during certain behavioral situations. Suggests that learning involves the activation of second messenger systems. (TW)

This paper examines the cognitive processes associated with higher-order thinking strategies--i.e., cognitive processes directly associated with the employment of knowledge in the service of problem solving and creativity--in order to more clearly define a prescribed instructional method to improve problem-solving skills. The first section of the…