Introduction to Cognitive theories of

Learning

Understanding Learning:MOD001256
Learning Objectives

By the end of the session, you will:

• Review some of the research of the cognitivist

learning theorists: Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner.

• Consider how cognitivist learning approaches are

used currently in a range of learning contexts and
settings.
Cognitivist theory
•Learning is an internal process, associating previous knowledge with new
information, and organising knowledge and reinforcing memories

• Input (Attention) receiving information

• Process (Encoding) Translating information into a meaningful form which

can be remembered

• Output (Retrieval) identifying and recalling information for a particular

purpose

•Learning is a meaning making process where individuals CONSTRUCT their

own meaning of experiences.
Cognitivist theory
•Learning is a search for meaning.

•Meaning requires understanding of ‘wholes’ as well as parts.

•Teachers need to understand the mental models students use and

the assumptions they make.

•Students have to construct their own meaning rather than memorise

the ‘right’ answers.

•Assessment has to be part of the learning process.

Timeline

J. Piaget (1896-1980) [active 1920’s – 1970’s]

L. Vygotsky (1896–1934) [active 1920’s – 1930’s, but

translations influenced mainly in 1960’s – 1970’s]

J. Bruner (1915) [active 1950’s – 1990’s]

 Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

•Swiss, natural scientist: biologist and epistemologist (the theory of

knowledge).

•Best known for his research on children’s cognitive development.

•Interested in how children learnt and their increasing capacity to

understand the world through the process of maturation (growing up).

• Studied children from infancy to adolescence (including his own) through

observation and setting exercises and tests for the children to complete.
 Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Vygotsky (1986 [first pub. 1936], p.12) on Piaget:

‘Psychology owes a great deal to Jean Piaget. It is not an exaggeration to

say that he revolutionized the study of the child’s speech and thought. He
developed the clinical method for exploring children’s ideas that has since
been widely used. He was the first to investigate the child’s perception and
logic systematically; moreover, he brought to his subject a fresh approach
of unusual amplitude and boldness.’
 Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Key areas to Piaget’s Cognitive Theory

•Schema – innate and acquired.

•Children are actively engaged in the learning process.

•Changing cognitive structures: equilibrium, assimilation

and accommodation.

•Developmental stages of children which are age

defined.
Schema

• Understanding and knowledge of the world.

• How you make sense of and categorise knowledge.

•Representations in the mind of a set of perceptions, ideas, objects and

actions.

•Schemas can be acquired/learnt or innate (e.g. reflex).

•Schemas are not fixed but develop with experience.

•For example, part of an 8 months old baby’s schematic knowledge is that

when a rattle is shook, it will make a noise.
Cognitivists to Constructivists

Understanding Learning
Week 4
Assimilation, accommodation and
equilibrium

Assimilation

“…is the integration of external elements into evolving or completed

structures” (Piaget, 1970, p.706)

“The process by which a person takes material into their minds from the
environment”. (Atherton 2011)

Accommodation

“The difference made to one’s mind or concepts by the process of

assimilation…. assimilation and accommodation go together: you can’t
have one without the other.” (Atherton, 2011)

The adjustment or modification of schemas as new information is

assimilated.
The Developing Brain
to the Constructing
Brain
• Cognitivism
– The growing and maturing brain able to engage with its
environments

• Constructivism
– The child constructing its identity and understandings of its
environments

• Social constructivism
– The child constructing its identity and understandings within
her/his social environments
Assimilation, accommodation and
equilibrium
Assimilation, accommodation
and equilibrium

Equilibrium

“…is the force which drives the learning process, as we

do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore the
balance by mastering new challenges…an unpleasant
state of disequilibrium occurs when new information
cannot be fitted into existing schemas.” (McLeod, 2012)

Equilibration is Piaget’s equivalent to the notion of ‘motivation’

http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
Jean Piaget -
developmental stages

1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years)

Children:
• Differentiate self from objects.
• Develop knowledge of touch, smell, sight and taste.
• Develop knowledge of object permanence – children recognise
that objects exist even when they are no longer in their
presence.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue8y-JVhjS0&feature=related)
Jean Piaget -
developmental stages

2. Pre-operational Stage (2 – 7 years)

Children learn to use language and to represent objects by words

and images.

Their thinking is egocentric. They have difficulty taking the

viewpoint of others.

Children have difficulty in adjusting to changes in appearances of

matter – lack of conservation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLj0IZFLKvg&feature=relate
d
Jean Piaget -
developmental stages

Concrete Operational Stage (7 – 11 years)

Children:
• Can think logically about objects and events.
• Can use logical rules to solve problems.
• Objects can be ordered to features such as height, weight or
speed.
• Concept of conservation is developed and grasped.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMgb42EBpMc&feature=related
Jean Piaget -
developmental stages

Formal operational stage (11 – 15 years)

• Thinking becomes more flexible.

• Children/teenagers can think logically about abstract concepts.

• Thinking becomes more symbolic. For example: symbols can stand for
numbers in Maths. What is Y in the sum 3 x X = Y, if X is 4?

• Children/teenagers become concerned with the hypothetical and the

future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjJdcXA1KH8&feature=related
Jean Piaget – in practice

Learning should be child centred and tailored to meet the child’s

readiness to learn.
Learning should be constructive and active. There should be an
emphasis on practical activities.
The teacher is a facilitator rather than an instructor.
Materials and learning activities should help children to construct
learning and to progress from discovery to discovery.
Gray and McBlain, 2012
Jean Piaget - Critiques

Piaget does not consider how factors such as environment and culture impact on
children’s cognitive development and learning.

Piaget’s stages are too rigid. Children develop at different rates. Some will never
attain the formal operation level or may not be asked to display this level of
knowledge.

Piaget’s theory places less emphasis on the role of the teacher, where theorist such
as Bruner and Vygotsky believe the role of the teacher is essential.

Criticism of the research methods use by Piaget:

• The language used in tests was too complicated for the children to understand.
(Meadows 1993)

• Sample sizes were too small. They did not include a range of children from
different cultures and also included Piaget’s own children (Calloway, 2001)
Social Constructivism

Understanding Learning
Week 5
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

• Russian psychologist (originally studied law) – active

in 1920’s & 1930’s. Came to influence Western
researchers mainly in 1960’s and 1980’s when
translations of his work became available

• Much of his research is based on language learning in

children.
Lev Vygotsky: Ideas

•Key ideas/concepts: cognitive development is essentially a social

process.
• Thought development is determined by language.
• Intellectual growth is contingent upon the development of the
social key of language.

Social Development/Constructivist Theory

•Definition: Social construction emphasizes the importance of culture
and context in understanding what occurs in society and constructing
knowledge based on this understanding (Pagram and McMahon,
1997)

•Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Lev Vygotsky: Social
Development/Constructivist theory

•Children do not develop in isolation but in a social world.

•The child’s environment, age, culture and life experiences, social

relationships and their interactions with other adults and children,
need to be considered when reaching conclusions about children’s
development. (socio-cultural influences)

•Learning is based in real life experiences. Social and cultural

interaction is vital for learning to take place.
Lev Vygotsky: Social
Development/Constructivist theory

•Language is essential to learning. It is the main means by

which adults communicate and transmit information to
children.

•Children internalise language as thought and ‘inner speech’.

Therefore, thought is the result of language. This is criticised
by Fox (2001), who argued that if thought cannot exist
without language, then until a child speaks; they must be
devoid of thought.
Lev Vygotsky: Ideas
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
•Learning is accelerated through the learner working with or the
teaching of a ‘More Knowledgeable Other’

Source
http://www.instructionaldesign.o
rg/theories/social-
development.html
Zone of Proximal
Development
• “…not a specific quality of the child, nor is it a specific
quality of the educational setting or educators…it is…
collaboratively produced in the interaction between the
child and more knowledgeable others. The aim of the
collaborative interaction is to lift the learner to become a
‘head taller’” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.102)
Jerome Bruner (1915)
• American psychologist. Focused on schooling in
1950’s. Bruner believed the role, purpose and method
of education should reflect the values of society.

• Influenced by Vygotsky and the social constructivist

approach to learning. Bruner was interested in how
context and culture influenced learning.
Jerome Bruner - Key ideas:
Three modes of learning

Bruner proposed they are three ways or modes of making sense of our
world…

Enactive: actions
Muscle memory: a baby remembers how to shake a rattle, adult: how to type
or drive a car.

Iconic: images and pictures

Information is stored as mental pictures. This is why diagram and images are
useful to learning.

Symbolic: Information is stored as a code, symbols and language.

Symbols offer flexibility in that they can be manipulated, ordered and
classified. They can also be used to describe and explain abstract
information that cannot be explored through the enactive and iconic modes.
Jerome Bruner - Key ideas:

Constructivist
Learning is an active process. Learners construct new
ideas/concepts based on current and previous learning.
Bruner’s work supported discovery learning and
children engaging in problem solving activities.

Smidt (2011, p. 10) comments,

“For Bruner, meaning has always been at the heart of any
investigation into mind and cognition. When we talk of meaning
we are talking about making sense of something, of
understanding or comprehending it.”
Jerome Bruner - Key ideas:

Language
Language is important in learning, as it helps learners to develop thinking
skills, to problem solve and to deal with abstract concepts.

Motivation
Learners need to be interested and motivated to learn.

Social learning
Bruner like Vygostsky emphasised the social nature of learning and felt
adults should play an active role in children’s learning. The teacher role is to
facilitate learning and to encourage and support children to learn.

Scaffolding
Complex tasks are broken down into smaller tasks for the child to achieve.
The adult works along side the child offering support. The support is
gradually reduced as learning takes place and the child can work
independently.
Jerome Bruner - Key
ideas:
Spiral curriculum – This opposes Piaget’s stages of learning and his
concept of readiness to learn.

Bruner argued that:

•Schools waste time trying to match the complexity of subject

material to a child’s cognitive stage of development.

•Children are held back by teachers as certain topics are seen as too
difficult to understand.
 Spiral Approach
Different topics are studied more
than once. Each time they are
revisited, it is at a deeper and
more complex level.

‘We begin with the hypothesis that

any subject can be taught
effectively in some intellectually
honest form to any child at any
stage of development.’
(Bruner, J., 1960, The Process of Learning,
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press)

Advantage: A spiral curriculum

Criticism: Some learners may view
can help learners to link a topic to
the spiral approach as too repetitive.
a range of concepts, as it is
revisited.
Image from: Neary, M., 2002, Curriculum Studies in Post-compulsory
and Adult Education. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd
Cognitivist: key impacts on
learning

• Child/learner centred approach to teaching and learning:

Discovery learning; Active learning; Inquiry based learning;
Reciprocal learning.

• Teacher as facilitator: Role is guiding/helping student to learn

rather than transmission of information – zone of proximal
development and scaffolding.

• Education is shaped by Society: Alignment with values and

belief systems
References

Atherton J. S., 2011. Learning and Teaching; Piaget's developmental theory. Accessed 5 October 2012 from:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm

Calloway, W. R., 2001. Jean Piaget: A Most Outrageous Deception. New York: NOVA

Fox, R. 2001. Constructivism examined. Oxford Review of Education, 27, 1 23-35.

Gray, C. & MacBlain, S. 2012. Learning Theories in Childhood. London: Sage

McLeod, S., 2012. Jean Piaget. Accessed 2 October 2012 from: http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

Meadows, M., 1993. The Young Child as Thinker: The Cognitive Development and Acquisition of Cognition in Childhood. London:
Routledge

Pagram, J. & McMahon, M. 1997. WeB-CD: An Interactive Learning Experience for Distance Education Students Studying
Interactive Multimedia. Poster presented at ICCE97 International Conference on Computers in Education, Kuching, Malaysia, 2-6
December.

Piaget, J. P., 1970. Science of Education and the Psychology of the Child. New York: Orion.

Smidt, S., 2011. Introducing Bruner: A Guide for Practitioners and Students in Early Years Education. London: Routledge

Vygotsky, L. S. 1978 [first published together]. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.

Vygotksy, L.S. 1986 [1934]. Thought and Language. Newly revised and edited by Alex Kozulin. Cambridge, Ma.: MIT Press.
Further reading & resources –
check the Weblinks section on
the VLE.

Cognitive Learning - general:

http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-cognitive.htm

Piaget:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm
http://tip.psychology.org/piaget.html
http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/piaget.html

Vygotsky:
http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/constructivism.htm#Vygotsky
http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vygotsky.html

Bruner:
http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-cognitive.htm
http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.html
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/bruner.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bruner.html
Further reading: Cognitivist
theorists

Chapter 4 Cognitivist Theories in: Jarvis, P., Holford, J., Griffin, C., 2003.
The Theory and Practice of Learning. 2nd edn. London: Routledge (E-
book - library)

Chapters 4, 5 & 7 in Gray, C. & MacBlain, S. 2012. Learning Theories in

Childhood. London: Sage Publications Limited.

pp.212-219 & pp. 225-233 in Barlett, S & Burton, D. 2012. Introduction to

Education Studies. Third Edition. London: Sage Publishing Limited.

pp. 37-62 & pp337-340 in Woolfolk, Hughes & Walkup. 2013. Psychology
in Education. Second Edition. Harlow: Pearson