Psycholinguistics - Lesson 9 - 1st and 2nd Language Acquisition = Cognitivism

Summary

This psycholinguistics lesson delves into cognitivism, a shift from behaviorism's stimulus-response model to cognitive science's focus on mental processes. It emphasizes the active role of learners in knowledge acquisition, the importance of memory in learning, and the influence of thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes. Cognitive theories are particularly effective in explaining complex learning like problem-solving and information processing. The lesson highlights the need for instructional design that encourages learners to use appropriate strategies, make connections with prior knowledge, and organize information meaningfully.

Takeaways

• 📚 Cognitivism emerged in the late 1950s as a shift from behaviorism, focusing on cognitive processes over stimulus-response mechanisms.
• 🔄 The cognitive approach emphasizes mental activities leading to a response, including planning, goal setting, and organizational strategies.
• 💡 Learning in cognitivism is about changes in knowledge states rather than changes in response probabilities, highlighting internal mental processes.
• 🧠 Cognitivism views learning as an active process involving internal coding and structuring by the learner, contrasting with behaviorism's passive view.
• 🌟 Environmental conditions are still considered crucial for facilitating learning in cognitivism, just as in behaviorism.
• 📈 Cognitive theories focus on how learners attend to, code, transform, rehearse, store, and retrieve information, including the influence of thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and values.
• 🔑 Memory plays a central role in learning, with the emphasis on storing information in an organized and meaningful manner for effective retrieval.
• 🔄 Forgetting, according to cognitivism, is the inability to retrieve information from memory, often due to interference or missing cues.
• 🔄 Transfer of learning is the ability to apply knowledge in different contexts, facilitated by how information is stored and organized in memory.
• 🛠️ Instruction design in cognitivism involves making knowledge meaningful, organizing, and relating information to existing knowledge and memory structures.
• 🔑 Teachers are encouraged to use techniques like analogies and advanced organizers to help learners connect new information with prior knowledge.

Q & A

What is the main focus of cognitivism in the context of language acquisition?

Cognitivism focuses on the mental processes and internal mental activities of the learner, emphasizing the importance of mental processing over behavioral responses.

How did learning theory shift in the late 1950s?

In the late 1950s, learning theory shifted from behavioral models to cognitive science approaches, moving away from stimulus-response mechanisms to cognitive processes like thinking, problem-solving, and information processing.

What is the difference between behaviorism and cognitivism in terms of learning?

Behaviorism views learning as mechanical and based on changes in the probability of response, while cognitivism sees learning as changes in states of knowledge and emphasizes the mental activity of internal coding and structuring by the learner.

What role does memory play in the learning process according to cognitivism?

Memory plays a prominent role in the learning process in cognitivism, as learning results when information is stored in memory in an organized and meaningful manner.

How does cognitivism explain the process of forgetting?

According to cognitivism, forgetting is the inability to retrieve information from memory, which can be due to interference or missing or inadequate cues needed to access the information.

What is the concept of transfer in cognitive theories?

Transfer in cognitive theories is the ability to apply knowledge in different contexts, which occurs when a learner understands and can use the knowledge appropriately.

What types of learning are best explained by cognitive theories?

Cognitive theories are best suited to explain complex forms of learning such as reasoning, problem-solving, and information processing.

What are the two techniques used to achieve effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer according to cognitivism?

The two techniques are simplification and standardization, which involve analyzing, decomposing, and simplifying knowledge into basic building blocks and eliminating irrelevant information.

What are some of the basic principles of cognitivism relevant to instruction design?

Some basic principles include emphasizing the active involvement of the learner, using learner control and cognitive training techniques, employing hierarchical analysis for prerequisite relationships, and structuring, organizing, and sequencing information to facilitate learning.

How should instruction be structured according to cognitive theories?

Instruction should be structured to make knowledge meaningful, help learners organize and relate information to existing knowledge, and be based on students' existing mental structures or schemas.

What are the major tasks of a teacher according to the cognitive approach?

The major tasks include understanding the various learning experiences individuals bring to the learning situation, determining the most effective way to organize and structure new information, and arranging practice with feedback to assimilate and accommodate new information within the learner's cognitive structure.