I. WHAT IS AN INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL?

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Draw a diagram representing the Atkinson-Shiffrin information-processing model that includes the following terms: sensory register, attention, short-term (working) memory, rehearsal, repetition, coding, long-term (permanent) memory, and retrieval. Summarize the current research on the brain.

QUESTION 1: Draw a diagram representing the Atkinson-Shiffrin information-processing model.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:

QUESTION 2: Summarize the current research on the brain.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: One important finding is that early brain stimulation results in an increase in the number of neural synapses, at least in non-human animals. This finding indicates that the brain is plastic. A related finding is that the number of connections formed is proportional to use. Therefore, to make neural processing more efficient, neural connections not used are eliminated, especially after 18 months. Another important finding is that brains become more efficient with experience, using fewer brain resources to complete tasks requiring greater brain processes for the novice.

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Reread the vignette at the beginning of this chapter on Ms. Bishop’s memory experiment. Why did her students remember some things but not others? How might the different kinds of practice enhance the students’ learning in this case?

QUESTION 1: Why did Ms. Bishop’s students remember some things but not others?

POSSIBLE ANSWER: Students remembered little of the slide presented. Remembering is facilitated by practice. Perhaps students were hungry, and focused on the smell of broccoli cooking in the cafeteria, committing broccoli to long-term memory, or they were bored and paid attention to the sound of a passing truck or the appearance of a classmate. Had students been instructed to pay close attention to the material projected on the board, it is likely that more students would have remembered more of the model. Memory is facilitated by practice. Therefore, material remembered by Ms. Bishop’s students was that material they likely focused on more than the material never given a chance to enter long-term memory.

QUESTION 2: How might the different kinds of practice enhance the students’ learning in this case?

POSSIBLE ANSWER: For the short run, massed practice would have helped them recall the information moments after the material was flashed. However, if Ms. Bishop wanted her students to remember the material over the long run, she should have had them practice by repeating material at intervals over time. Finally, she could have had them work problems that emphasize different facets of the model, thereby enacting what they learned.

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Draw a diagram of the memory strategies associated with paired-associate learning, serial learning, and free-recall learning.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Define metacognition and explain how self-questions promote learning.

POSSIBLE ANSWER: Metacognition refers to knowledge about one’s own learning or about how to learn. Self-questions promote learning as students internalize questions teachers would ask them about a task, such as "For what audience am I writing?" Once internalized, students begin to ask themselves questions while performing cognitive tasks, familiarizing themselves with their own thinking strategies, and guiding their thinking toward the desired outcome (e.g., finding a solution to a mathematics word problem in a multi-step process).

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Make a list of all the study strategies listed in this section. Explain how you might use each one in your classroom.

POSSIBLE ANSWER:

• Note taking: I would teach my students to find the main points of different concepts discussed or bullets in my lecture slides, rather than copying everything they see or hear, which is a popular but difficult strategy.
• Underlining: I would tell my students to underline only the key sentence of each paragraph, in hopes that they learn to read critically each paragraph.
• Summarizing: I would have my students summarize key sections of each chapter they read and prepare their summaries for other students to read and use in preparation of exams.
• Writing to learn: I would ask my students to write about their understanding of difficult concepts encountered in each chapter, focusing on clarification of their understanding by writing easily comprehensible sentences that can be understood by others.
• Outlining and mapping: Outlining and mapping are very useful strategies that allow students to understand connections among a variety of factors. I would have my students demonstrate their understanding of relationships by having them outline factors in a hierarchical fashion, with general concepts preceding specific concepts. Further, I would have them graphically model relationships, like the different stages of memorization and retrieval seen in the present chapter.
• The PQ4R method: I would ask students to preview chapters, question material to be read, read the material, reflect on each section or paragraph, recite difficult or important concepts, and then review the material read. Summarization or writing to learn would be an ideal strategy to employ in conjunction with the PQ4R method.

SELF-CHECK ITEM: Compare cognitive teaching strategies that help students to elicit prior knowledge with cognitive teaching strategies that assist the learner in organizing new learned information. Give an example of how each strategy can be used in the classroom.

• Advance organizers: This strategy relies on the presence of prior knowledge to learn new concepts, such as asking students to recall their knowledge of Christianity before discussing Islam.
• Analogies: Analogies are metaphors or images that help students learn new concepts by relating them to information already known. For instance, teaching students about a difficult concept like regression in psychology, I generally like to compare it to an army fleeing a tense battle to a comfortable and secure base.
• Elaboration: Elaboration involves creating complex phrases around new material, using material already known. For instance, in learning new concepts, I urge students to tie new material into their daily lives, forming connections with existing knowledge. For example, in discussing stress, I ask students to recall their own experiences of stress as they imagine new terms like adrenaline and cortisol.