Chapter 2, page 28
presented below so that you can begin to develop ideas about memory phenomena as you read through
this chapter.
Below, you will read about an experiment investigating how memory works and develops. You will
then see some typical results from this experiment. As you read, consider your current ideas about how
memory develops. You will undoubtedly refine and broaden these ideas as you read about the human
memory system later in this chapter.
In a memory experiment, psychologists were studying how students of different ages (6 year olds and
18 year olds) remember lists of items. They were interested in how memory works as students try to
remember lists of numbers and lists of words.
An experimenter interviewed each student individually. The experimenter read aloud a list of 20 words
to each student at the rate of one word per second. After reading all of the words, the experimenter directed
the student, “Tell me all the words (or numbers) you can remember from the list.”
The list of words was: orange apple strawberry banana desk sofa table bed pig cow dog
horse necktie skirt shirt shoes car train bus airplane
Here are the results. Ellipses show where the students paused.
Student
GIRL, age 6 airplane.... cow orange ... car ... dog ... apple
GIRL, age 6 ... orange ... pig ... table shoes ... bed
BOY, age 6 banana desk ... cow strawberries ... shoes ... cat
BOY, age 6 airplane ... orange apple.... shirt ... airplane
GIRL, age 18 orange apple peach ... ... necktie skirt shirt ... ... horse cow ...
cat dog ... ... car truck airplane
BOY, age 18 orange banana apple peach cherry... sofa chair table ... ... horse
cow sheep cat dog
GIRL, age 18 airplane bus train car ... orange apple ... desk sofa .... bed
BOY, age 18 car bus truck airplane .... orange apple ... shirt skirt shoes ...Explain these results. Classify the responses in a way that can highlight important differences between
different groups of students, between different words, or anything else you can think of. Present a graphical
analysis of your results.
Theoretical models of learning are powerful tools that will help you understand your students and
how they learn; this understanding, in turn, will allow you to design effective instruction. This chapter
presents an overview of two theories of learning: information processing theory and constructivism.
INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORYInformation processing theory (also called cognitive learning theory) is a theory of human
learning based on the idea that learning involves moving information in and out of different memory
stores. Information processing theory has been developed by numerous psychologists; two of the seminal
thinkers were Herbert Simon and Allen Newell (Newell, Shaw, & Simon, 1958; A. Newell & H. A.
Simon, 1972). In information processing theory, learning occurs when learners store information in a
long-term memory store. Learners can then retrieve that information and use it to solve problems, to
reason, or to learn new information. The processing of information occurs within another memory store,
called working memory or short-term memory. In direct opposition to radical behaviorism’s rejection of
all speculation about mental processes, information processing theory explains learning by examining
what is happening inside the mind during the learning process. As we have discussed earlier, social
cognitive theory emphasizes the importance of mental or cognitive processes. Information processing