ARTIFACT 3

Karla Reed
September 23, 2014
Cognitive Schema Theory in the Constructivist Debate
Sharon J. Derry
Phillips multidimensional framework for characterizing and comparing constructivist viewpoints
1. Individual psychology (how the individual learner goes about the construction of knowledge) vs
public discipline (construction of human knowledge in general)
2. Differentiate whether theorist views knowledge as socials situated or individually processed.
3. Constructivist theories fall on a scale ranging from empiricist extreme (the mind is shaped by
nature in a relatively passive fashion) and radical (all knowledge is perspectival)
Schema- a general term connoting virtually any memory structure
3 Different General Classes of Schemas in Cognitive Literature
1. Memory objects: basic component of stored human knowledge
a. phenomenological primitives or p-prims are simplest form
b. Object family a loosely organized collection of ideas that tend to work together in
certain types of situation
2. Mental models: a process of constructing, testing, and adjusting a mental representation of a
complex problem or situation
a. Goal is to construct an understanding of a phenomenon
b. A mental model may be used as a basis for further reasoning and problem solving
3. Cognitive fields: a distributed pattern of memory activation that occurs in response to a
particular event that makes certain memory objects more available for use than others
a. Determines what interpretations and understandings of experience are probable
b. Also determines which previously existing memory objects and object systems can be
modified or updated by an instructional experience
Promoting Schema Change
Change and improve conceptual systems that learners activate as a basis for interpreting their
world
Understand the difference between misconceptions and p-prims (which are loosely organized
primitive memory objects that are valuable resources that can be reorganized into stable higher
order patterns of activation)
School fosters gradual schema change

Reference
Derry, S. J. (1996). Cognitive schema theory in the constructivist debate. Educational Psychologist,
31(3/4), 163-174.