Block I: principles of learning

4. Fundamentals of cognitive learning Profª Paula Balea

Departamento de Psicología
Introduction
Introducción

Questions addressed by cognitive

1960s: shift in perspective psychology regarding learning:
• Latent learning.
Behavioral Cognitive • Do our expectations influence our
learning and behavior?
psychology psychology • How is information organized in our
mind?
• Is learning a continuous process? Or
are there qualitative leaps at different
stages of development?
Observable behaviors & Internal cognitive
Environment (stimuli processes • What is the role of culture in learning?
and responses) • How do other psychological processes,
such as attention and memory,
influence learning?
Precursors of
Cognitive
Psychology and
Main Cognitive
Theories of
Learning
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Edward Tolman
Latent learning – Expectations – Cognitive maps

• Behaviorist psychologist, but…

• He turned to mental phenomena (non-observable) to explain learning.

Latent learning:
• Learning is not the same as performance: sometimes
learning does not result in an observable change in behavior.
• The role of reinforcement: learning can occur in the
absence of reinforcement. The only thing reinforcement does
is encourage individuals to manifest what they have learned.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Edward Tolman
Latent learning – Expectations – Cognitive maps

The role of expectations in learning:

Why do reinforced responses tend to be repeated?
• Behaviorists: because the response has been reinforced. Reinforcement
strengthens the response.
• Tolman: because prior reinforcement creates the expectation of future
reinforcement. He believed that we behave as we do because we have
the expectation of a specific outcome.
In his experiment, learning became observable not because the response
in trial 10 had been reinforced, but because this reinforcement created in
the animals the expectation of a reward.
By using the term expectation (something not directly observable), Tolman
distanced himself from behaviorists.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Edward Tolman

Latent learning – Expectations – Cognitive maps

Cognitive maps:
How does a rat learn to escape from a maze?
Behaviorists: a specific sequence of responses (turn right – turn left – turn left again…) is
followed by reinforcement, which reinforces the behavioral sequence.
But... what if there is no reinforcement (as in the first 10 trials)?

Need for an alternative explanation

Tolman: the experience in the maze (its exploration) produces a cognitive representation of
the maze in the animal's mind. A kind of mental photograph.
He applied this idea to learning in general  The result of learning is nothing more than an
organized mental representation of information.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Gestalt psychologists
Wolfgang Köhler
Learning by insight

They studied problem-solving in chimpanzees.

The animals would pause to think, and suddenly "understood" how to solve the problem.
Insight: sudden understanding the solution to a problem.
Sometimes a problem seems difficult to solve, and then suddenly the pieces fit together, and
we find the solution. This sudden understanding is known as insight and gives us a feeling of
satisfaction.
For example, it is the feeling that a construction worker had when he figured out
how to rescue a bird that had fallen into a hole: he introduced sand to raise the
level of the ground the bird was standing on, doing it slowly so that the bird had
time to remain on the surface the entire time.

Insight is also experienced when we "get" a joke.

Problem solving by insight
With these elements, fix the lit candle to a corkboard
 Problem solving by insight
With these elements, fix the lit candle to a corkboard

00:20 Tries to stick the candle directly to the board with the pushpins.
1:05  Tries to form a "structure of pushpins" around the candle to hold it to the
corkboard.
1:45  Tries to melt the candle with the matches to make it thinner and see if
the pushpin can pierce the candle.
3:02  Realizes that if he empties the matchbox, he can use it as a "container"
(insight). Empties the box, puts the candle inside, and fixes the box to the
board with the pushpin (but the candle falls).
4:06  Realizes that if he melts a bit of the candle wax, this wax can hold the
candle to the box (insight). He does it and successfully solves the problem.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Wolfgang Köhler
Gestalt psychologists
Learning by insight

The solution to problems through insight is difficult to explain from a behavioral

perspective because:

• It shows that learning can occur through pure reasoning (not dependent on
reinforcement).
• It demonstrates that learning can happen in a single attempt (not through trial
and error).
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Jean Piaget

Learning "in leaps" (assimilation and accommodation)

He tried to identify the stages that all children go through to achieve the cognitive
skills of adults.
He believed that child development is marked by radical reorganizations of
thought at certain points in development, followed by prolonged periods (stages) in
which their understanding of the world remains stable.

Children try to maintain a balance or coherence between their representation of the world and the
experiences they live. To achieve this, they use two adaptation processes: assimilation and
accommodation.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Jean Piaget

Learning "in leaps" (assimilation and accommodation)

Assimilation: The process of integrating new experiences into existing cognitive

structures. It does not require a transformation of the child's mental schemas.

Often when children are told that the Earth is round, they imagine it as a flat disk,
like a coin. In this way, they assimilate a new idea without modifying their belief
that the Earth is flat.
Through assimilation, a child will start calling any four-legged animal a dog.
Children use assimilation to acquire new knowledge within each stage. During
assimilation, the underlying cognitive skills and their view of the world do not
change.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Jean Piaget

Learning "in leaps" (assimilation and accommodation)

The process of assimilation has its limits. There comes a point when the child can no longer reconcile
what they believe with their experiences (as in the previous example, when shown a globe). At this
moment, they use accommodation.

Accommodation: It involves altering beliefs to make them more compatible with

experience. It entails a change of stage, as it forces children to see the world in a new
way.
The underlying idea of Piaget's perspective is that...
• Learning is not simply the accumulation of experiences or knowledge; it is not a
cumulative and progressive process.
• Learning occurs in leaps or stages, and our worldview changes qualitatively
between them.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Vygotsky

Sociocultural perspective – mediated learning

Sociocultural perspective:
• Cognitive development occurs through the interaction of the child with adults.
• Both formally and informally, adults transmit culture to the child. That is, a particular way
of understanding and interpreting concepts/values/situations...
• Since each culture is different, the result is that children from different cultures will have
different cognitive development.

While Piaget focused on describing the principles that govern the development
of all children, Vygotsky emphasized the differences in development based on
culture.
 Precursors of Cognitive Psychology and Main Cognitive
Theories of Learning
Vygotsky

Sociocultural perspective – mediated learning

Mediated learning and the zone of proximal development:

At any moment in development, there are:
• Things that the child can do alone  current development zone.
• Things that the child can do with help  zone of proximal development
The adults surrounding the child mediate their learning. They are responsible for
guiding the child from the current development zone to the zone of proximal
development. Over time, the current development zone becomes increasingly
larger, and the zone of proximal development includes increasingly complex
behaviors.
Attention
 Attention

Attention:
• Control and selection mechanism of information that regulates perceptual,
cognitive, and behavioral activity.
• It would act as a supervisory system that regulates information processing along
the "assembly line" of cognitive operations.
• It modulates the rest of the cognitive processes (thinking, learning, memory,
etc.).

Selective attention Divided attention Sustained attention

Different types of attention

 Attention

Selective attention:
The ability to select relevant information and ignore the irrelevant.
• Attention as a focus: what falls under our attentional focus is processed, while
what falls outside is not processed.
Selective attention allows us, for example, to find a friend in the middle of a crowd.

Phenomena of selective attention:

• In the auditory field  Cocktail party effect: the ability to follow only the
conversation of our interlocutor despite being surrounded by other
simultaneous conversations.
• In the visual field  Attentional blindness: failure to detect an unexpected
object in an image. [Link]
 Attention

Selective attention in educational contexts:

If the activity we are engaged in requires selective attention (focusing on
something and ignoring everything else), it will be advisable to:
• Avoid noise
• Maintain a classroom layout that supports the activity (e.g., avoid having
students in groups or semicircles)
• Avoid placing students who distract each other together
• Create a concentration or quiet work corner in an isolated area of the
classroom.
• Ensure that students only have access to what is necessary to complete
the activity
 Attention

Divided attention:
• The ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Attention is viewed as a limited resource that we distribute among various
tasks.
Divided attention is only possible when we have automated some of the tasks we
are doing.

The role of practice:

When we learn a new task, performing it requires controlled processing that
demands many resources. With practice, this processing becomes more
automatic, and only then do we free up resources (attentional resources) that
allow us to do something else simultaneously.
 Controlled vs. Automatic processes
Great feeling of effort Example: driving
Controlled processes Requires a lot of attentional resources

A lot of interference if done at the same

time as another task

Automatization
Ptractice

Example: reading

Little sense of effort

Automatic process Requires few attentional resources

Little interference when doing another

task at the same time
 Attention

Sustained attention:
• Appears in situations that require maintaining concentration for long periods of
time.
• Our attention declines after 30 minutes of sustained attention.
• Attention acts as vigilance or activation (arousal).

Clock test: speed of 7 mm/second. Only 1% of trials resulted in a double jump (14
mm). Task: press a key each time a jump was detected.

Result: A significant decline in the detection rate was observed after the first 30
minutes.
Relationship between the level of activation and performance

The Yerkes-Dodson Law (1908)

It states that the relationship between activation and performance is shaped like an inverted U.
Performance is optimal when our activation is in an intermediate range of activation.

Below the optimal point, activation is

low, and our performance is also low.
Above that point, we will be too anxious
or stimulated, leading to a certain loss of
control.
Only when we are moderately activated
do we experience the balance between
our level of activation and the control
that allows us to achieve our goals.
Relación entre el nivel de activación y el rendimiento
The Yerkes-Dodson Law (1908)

Nowadays, it is known that another factor affecting the Yerkes-Dodson law is the difficulty of the
task.

• If we have to perform a simple task, it is best for our activation to be medium-high.

• If we have to perform a complex task, it is best for our activation to be medium-low.

With more difficult tasks, the ideal arousal

is lower than that required for easier tasks.
In other words, the optimal activation
levels are slightly lower for complex tasks
than for simple ones.
 Attention

Sustained attention in the classroom.

If our attention level declines after 30 minutes, we should implement measures

to maintain high levels of concentration.
• Take regular breaks (every 30 minutes).
• The break can simply involve temporarily changing activities (e.g., watching a
video).
• Incorporate unexpected elements into our classes to avoid a sense of
monotony.
• Use different resources/materials.
• Change environmental conditions (e.g., the arrangement of desks).
• Try to surprise students.
Memory
 Memory

Definition: persistence of learning over time. It involves the

encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Processes involved in memory:

• Encoding: initial processing of information (involves extracting physical characteristics and
meaning of the information…).
• Storage: retention of encoded information over time.
• Retrieval: process of obtaining previously stored information.
Encoding: Massed vs. Distributed Practice

Spaced encoding results in less forgetting

 Memory

Multi-store model by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Attention to
important or new
stimuli
Encoding

External Memoria Short-term Long-term

sensorial memory memory
events
Retrieval

Sensory memory: the first stage through which all stimuli we receive at a given moment pass. Of these stimuli, only
the most relevant will be attended to and will move to short-term memory for encoding. The rest of the information
is lost.
Short-term memory (STM): a storage system where information is temporarily held. If the information is rehearsed
or undergoes further processing, it will then transfer to long-term storage. Otherwise, it will be lost.
Long-term memory (LTM): a storage system where information is kept relatively permanently and is available for
retrieval.
 Memory

Short-term memory (STM)

Short-term memory (STM): memory that retains a limited number of

items for a short period of time.

For example, the time that passes from when we are told a phone number
until we dial it, the memory of the number will disappear unless we use some
strategy for rehearsal or encoding.

The short-term memory (STM) is limited in duration unless we encode that information by giving it meaning or repeating
it.
But it is also limited in capacity: our short-term memory (STM) stores around 7 items ± 2 (between 5 and 9).
 Memory

Working memory

Alan Baddeley challenged the view of short-term memory as a brief storage space containing recent experiences and
thoughts.

According to Baddeley, short-term memory is not a

passive storage space, a shelf where information is
temporarily stored, but an active desk where the brain
processes, manipulates, assigns meaning, and links it to
other memories in our short-term and long-term
memory.
To emphasize this active processing, he referred to Right now, your short-term memory allows you to connect this
short-term memory as working memory. information with that from the previous slide, and your long-term
memory, which contains all the vocabulary you have learned, gives
If we were to use the computer analogy, working meaning to the characters you are reading. The information
memory would be the RAM and long-term memory received is temporarily stored, but not passively; instead, it
would be the hard drive. undergoes active processing.
 When children have problems with working
memory…

• They find it difficult to remember all the instructions for a task.

• They behave as if they are not paying attention (i.e., they do not complete the task).
• They get lost in complicated tasks and do not finish them.
• They omit or repeat words/numbers in a task.
• They show low academic performance, particularly in mathematics and
reading/writing.

Teachers often describe them as "dreamers" or distracted; not problematic, just unable to
follow instructions and do the right things at the right time.
 Memory
Long-term memory

Long-term memory: memory that retains an unlimited number of elements relatively permanently. It is divided
into explicit and implicit memory.

Explicit memory (declarative memory): memory of Implicit or procedural memory: this is a memory that
facts and experiences that a person can consciously manifests in a non-declarative way. It reflects the learning
"declare." It is divided into semantic memory and of perceptual-motor tasks (such as skiing or riding a bike)
episodic memory. and classical and operant conditioning.

Semantic memory
Memory of facts (general knowledge)In 1492,
Columbus arrived in America; Paris is the capital of
France. A table is a surface that is used for...

Episodic memory
Memory of personally experienced events
Remembering what we did yesterday, cities we have
visited, recognizing people we know,...
 Long-term memory

Long-term
memory

Explicit Implicit or
(declarative) procedural

Episodic Semantic Skills Classical and operant

(events) (facts) (motor and cognitive) conditioning
Memory

3 ways to measure memory

Recall: assessment of memory based on the retrieval of

previously learned information. For example, in an open-ended
exam question.
Recognition: assessment of memory based on the
identification of previously learned information. For example, in
a multiple-choice test with several options, including the
correct one.
Relearning: a way to measure memory that evaluates the
amount of time saved when re-learning information.
 Ebbinghaus's experiment
Ebbinghaus experimented on himself to discover how memory works. In one of his studies, he
tried to memorize lists of nonsense syllables.

To see how the number of times he read the list affected memory. He read a list of words 8
times, another 16 times, another 24 times...

The next day (day 2), he counted the time

needed to memorize the list completely.
Result: the more repetitions he had made
on day 1, the faster the relearning was on
day 2.