UNIT 12 COGNITIVE LEARNING AND ITS

ORGANISATION
Structure
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Objectives
12.3 Cognitive Learning
123.1 Meaning of Cognitive Learning
12.32 Nature and Scope of Cognitive Learning
12.3.3 Processes of Cognitive Learning
12.4 Organisation of Cognitive Learning
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12.4.1 Organising Perceptual Learning
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12.4.2 Organising Concept Learning ,
12.4.3 Associational Learning
12.4.4 Generalisationin Learning
12.4.5 Strategies for Enhancing Memory
12.4.6 Organising Reasoning

12.5 Let Us Sum Up

12.6 Unit End Exercises
12.7 References and Suggested Readings

12.1 INTRODUCTION
Cognitive learning refers to the learning processes and e+periences resulting from
application of brain. The learner's intellectual development apd functioning is the focus
of cognitive learning. It encompasses most of the learning events occurring either in
school or out of the school situations. In many cases cognitive learning also provides
the foundation for psychomotor and affective learning programmes. It happens because
of the need of the individual to acquire knowledge and understanding of the concepts
and other related aspects, which would later serve as the basis of the psycho-motor or
affective learning. For example, an individual attempting to acquire the skill of driving
a motor vehicle should know about the different parts of the vehicle, which are directly
involved in the process of driving. These aspects of learning involve cognition. Similarly,
to give an example of affective learning it is seen that a person's attitude towards an
object, a person or an issue changes when helshe acquires knowledge and
understanding of the learning theme.
As such, cognitive learning plays a vital role in the individual%intellectual and mental
functioning. The individuals mental and intellectual alertness influences hislher
behaviour.

12.2 OBJECTIVES 1

After studying this unit you should be able to: 1

understand the meaning, nature and scope of cognitive l&arning;

state the different processes through which cognitive learning takes place;
explain the importance of cognitive learning;
describe the elements of cognitive learning and how they are related to each
other; and
explain the organisational procedure of the different elemeds of cognitive learning.
5
Organising Learning
12.3 COGNITIVE LEARNING
12.3.1 Meaning of Cogilitive Learning
Cognitive learning has its origin in the term cognition, which refers to a broad spectrum
of activities, such as, thinking, conceiving,reasoning, knowing, understanding, establishing
relationship etc. A number of psychologists have used the term cognition to refer to
intellectual behaviours in which the underlying characteristics are of abstract nature.
Broadly, cognition is understood as a general concept embracing all forms of knowing.
It includes perceiving, imaging, reasoning, judging etc. Cognition is differentiated from
conation and affection.
There are four basic units of cognition. These units are schema, symbols, concepts
and rules. Siann and Ugwuegbu (1985) have differentiated and distinguished among
the different units of cognition. The term Schemata (plural schema) has been extensively
used by Piaget (1975) in his stage approach to cognitive development. Schema,
according to Ault (1977) are stored conceptualisations of experiences, the ways of
organising prior sensory events. They are necessarily not pictorial representations or
images, nor are they tied to language. Schema in the simplest form refers to the idea
of something.
A symbol generally refers to a thing it represents, signifies or indicates other than
itself. For example, the word 'God' refers to the concept of God. Similarly the picture
of a horse refers to a distinct kind of four footed animal called horse having a number
of special features and characteristics which differentiate it from all other kinds of
animals; but the picture itself is not a horse. Likewise, the symbols used in mathematics,
for example, a triangle or quadrangle etc. refer to certain classes of geometrical figures.
Symbols are also used to indicate different forms of traffic signals on the roads,
mathematical operations and formula of musical notations etc. All such symbols refer
to,different classes of objects, events, operations, symptoms, actions and the like.
Symbols are also used in lieu of certain verbal expressions through language to explain
the respective representations.
A symbol enables an individual viewer to get the mental picture of all the characteristics
and features of the object, which the symbol represents. The symbolised characteristics
give rise to concepts in the mind of the individual. A concept refers to a general idea
or meaning usually expressed by a word, symbol, sign or attribute. The concept is
formed by means of combination of several elements, characteristics or features of
the objects concerned, which are gathered through different sources and are stored in
the forms of experiences. Ausubel(1978) and Entwistle (1985) explained concepts as
objects, events, situations or properties that possess certain critical attributes and are
designated through some symbols or signs. Klausmeier and Ripple (1971) defined
concepts as mental constructs characterized by their psychological meaningfulness,
structure and transferability, which enable an individual to cognize the features and
events belonging to the same class and as different from the features and events
belonging to other classes. A concept also helps in cognizing its co-concepts or sub-
concepts. For example, when we say the concept 'school' it brings in automatically to
mind its related concepts like the class, students, working personnel, teaching-learning
situation and several such other sub concepts. The sub-concepts or co-concepts
enable the person to get the clues of tracing out the relationship existing among
them and also to find out solution to the problems arising from them involving the
main concepts. A proper understanding of the concept may help the person to get
clue for understanding some other concepts remotely related to it. For example, the
process, of flying of a bird may help in understanding the flying mechanism of an
aeroplane.
The concepts may be in the form of concrete objects, events and ideas. These are
comparatively simpler concepts. There are also concepts which are complex and
abstract in nature. These have comparatively higher difficulty level of understanding Cognitive Learning and
its Organisation
and conceptualization. For example, the concept of a peh is easier to understand
because of its simple and observable features and charaateristics, such as; shape,
size, colour and texture. On the contrary, the complex concepts like sincerity,kindness,
socialism etc. have many abstract characteristics, and are thus more difficult to
comprehend and conceptualise. Usually the attributes of abstract or complex concepts
are of varied nature and are different. For example, the features necessary for explaining
the concept of 'kindness' are not similar to those required for explaining the concept
of 'solidarity'.
The fourth unit of cognition is the rule or principle. Usuany a rule or a principle is
established when there is a need for finding out the relationship between two or more
concepts. For example, at the day break, the darkness of %henight vanishes. This
statement comprises of concepts like (i) the day break, which is an event and (ii) the
darkness vanishes which is another event. These two concepts are correlated with
each other and governed by the general rule that darkness vanishes because of the
presence of light.

Check Your Progress 1 r

Note: Write your answers in the space given below.

:
1) Name the different units of cognition.
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A

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2) Differentiate a schema from a symbol.
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3) Explain the nature of concepts.

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12.3.2 Nature and Scope of Cognitive Learning

You know that most of the school learning programmes involve cognitive learning.
The teachers usually put a lot of effort and time in enabling p e leamen to acquire
various facts, concepts, rules and principles and cognitive skilk related to the subject
areas they are teaching, like language, mathematics, science +nd social science etc.
The learning exercises involved in such processes are the diffetent forms of cognitive
learning. These processes, as we may analyse, involve the learners' ability of cognition
or the cognitive skills, and hence the cognitive learning.
Organising Learning Such learning programmes definitely involve various mental processes of which
perception, concept formation, memory and reasoning are the major ones. These
processes encompass many sub-processes all of which refer to some sort of mental
functioning in relation to cognition.

Information processing is a major strategy of cognitive learning which attempts to

describe how the knowledge of various objects, ideas, facts, concepts of the world
outside and inside one's own environment is acquired, stored and retrieved from memory.
This mental process of the individual is quite analogus to the functioning of a computer
in which the information is fed from outside, processed, and stored. The same
information when needed is retrieved for use and re4tored.
The processes of association and generalization assist rhe cognitive learning. The
individual acquires new knowledge by associatin? Iiisiher previous knowledge with
the new ones and the process of generalization enable4 himiher to apply the acquired
knowledge in new relevant situations.
Cognitive learning is not confined to the acquisition of knowledge for which it provides
the base. It also leads to higher mental processes like understanding, analysing,
reasoning, synthesizing, comparing and evaluating. It gradually broadens the mental
horizon.
Cognitive learning provides the base for psychomotor and affective learning. For the
purpose of acquiring psychomotor skills an individual has to acquire the basic knowledge
and understanding of the skill related to learning situation, comprising of the methods,
materials and appliances for which the cognitive learning provides the base. Similarly,
cognitive learning enables an individual to acquire factual knowledge relating to the
various aspects of affective learning. Affective learning covers the modifications of
the learner's behaviour in the feeling domains like interests, attitudes, temperament,
sympathy etc. These modifications are usually possible because of the knowledge,
understanding and similarprocesses of cognitive functioning. As the individual is exposed
to the stimulus causing affective learning, helshe acquires new type of experiences,
which affect hidher previous feeling tone resulting in modifications in affective learning.
Cognitive learning is facilitated by different cognitive processes. These processes
enable the individual to acquire and retain knowledge about various objects, events,
facts, principles etc. and to apply it as and when required. These processes have been
discussed in the following section.

12.3.3 Processes of Cognitive Learning

The cognitive process is facilitated' by perception, concept formation, memory and
reasoning. These processes do not operate as water tight compartments and are not
mutually exclusive. These are interrelated and often overlapping.
a) Perception
Perception is the interpretation of sensations acquired by the sense organs. In other
words, it is the interpretation of the sensory experiences. It may also be defined as the
sensation as it is interpreted through the learning experiences of the individual. The
role of perception is seen in the gestaltic process of learning in which the perception of
the whole or the total situation is interpreted in the context of achieving the goal of
learning. In this process the learning situation is perceived in relation to the psychological
field, which includes the theme or object of perception including the situation, the
perceiver and the complex psychological background relating the two.
The quality of learning depends upon the nature of perception. The clearer the learner
perceives, the better is the learning. This process is affected by the individual's age, as
the quality of perception is known to improve with age. It is also influenced by attention
and earlier experiences of the perceiver.
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 b) Concept Formation d Cognitive Learning and
its Organisation
Concept formation is another important process of cognition. The nature of concept
as a unit of cognition has been discussed earlier. The concepts help to classify the
objects both animate and inanimate, ideas, principles and events those relate to use in
I
i the environment.
In the process of categorising we tend to seek commonality of characteristics among
the objects or elements of which the category is to be formed. As a result, a new
category is formed. In other words, this is the formation of a new concept. The terms
concept formation and concept attainment or concept learning have subtle differences
in their meanings and uses. Concept attainment or concept learning refers to acquisition
of a concept, which is already existing. But concept formation refers to, as the term
implies, structurising a new concept. In certain cases, the learner's concept learning
or concept acquisition may be just equivalent to concept formation. In case of a new
1 learner the concept learnt is new to the learner, and is as good as the formation of a
new concept. In view of this, the terms concept formation and concept learning are
often used synonymously to refer to the process of abstraction of a set of qualities,
properties or features that can be taken to represent a concept (Arthur, 1985).However,
C
it may be observed that the term concept formation is restrickd to the actual acquisition
of the concept whereas the term concept learning is used for the conditions under
which one learns to apply the concept which is already fonned or learned.

C) Memory

Memory is another important aspect or process of cognitive learning. It refers to the

storage of learned or acquired experiences of a person. Without memory learning is
not conceivable. It is a function of the mind that is responsible for retaining information
about stimuli, events, images, ideas etc. after the original stimuli are no longer present.
The term is also used to indicate storage of information in t+e individual's mind. The
information so stored can be recalled by the individual. The term may also refer to the
information retained in the mind. Memory is a very complex mental process. It has
wider application in teaching-learning process. It is affected by certain internal as well
as external factors concerning the individual, the material to be retained in memory,
and the learning environment which may not be within the iltdividual's control. There
are a number of inter-individualand intra-individualdifferencesin memory. For example,
one may have better memory for numbers than words.

d) Reasoning I

Reasoning is the fourth process of cognition, which is almbst a culmination of the

earlier stated three processes, namely; perception, concept formation and memory.
Reasoning involves all these processes in some form or other. Actually they form the
basis of reasoning, which is considered as one of the higkst mental activities. It
involves logical analysis of the facts, events, principles in the way of establishing
cause and effect relationship. Learning of principles and absbactions is possible due
to the process of reasoning.

These refer to the processes of thinking and mental recognition of cause and effect
relationships. This helps to predict an event on the basis of aq observed cause and in
some other cases affects the influence of an appropriate cause on an observed event.
The validity of the process of reasoning is judged from the poid of view of its accuracy
in predicting the cause and effect relationship.

Reasoning is closely related to problem solving activities. Ib our problem solving

behaviour we formulate certain hypotheses and test them to p i v e at an appropriate
solution of the problem. Thus, the process of reasoning involves the mental activities
concerning formulation and testing of hypotheses to find out solLftionsof the problem(s).
Organising Learning Reasoning as well as the problem solving ability of the individual develop with age.
Although reasoning and problem solving competencies appear at an early age,
reasoning remains confined to concrete and personal objects and mostly to the
child's immediate environment. As the child grows older, there is a gradual
increase in hislher ability to state a problem in words and to verbalise its solution
(Garrison et al., 1967).
b

Check Your Progress 2

Note: Write your answers in the space given below.
1) Name any three internal factors which affect cognitive learning.
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2) Mark the following statements T or F for true and false statements
respectively.

a) Cognitive learning is confined to the acquisition of

knowledge and understanding. ( )

b) The external factors that affect the learner's cognitive

learning refer mostly to the social factors. ( 1
c) Cognitive learning is mostly affected by the learner's
perception. ( )

d) Recognition is concerned with the storage of one's .-

_
acquired knowledge. ( 1
e) Reasoning and problem solving are independent of
each other. ( )

12.4 ORGANISATION OF COGNITIVE LEARNING

We have discussed earlier broadly the meaning of cognition and the term cognitive
learning as derived from it. The cognitive learning theory deals with the problems of
how individuals gain knowledge and understanding of the objects, facts and principles
surrounding them in their environment and how through their cognition they act in
relation to their environment (Bigge, 1981). In the context of learning the term
environment does not refer to the physical environment of learning alone. It
encompasses the overall characteristics of the learner, the goals of the learner, the
demands of what is to be learned and how the learner interacts with hisher immediate
total environment. The cognitive learning as we have discussed earlier constitutes
mainly the learning involving the mental processes. Out of all the mental processes
involved in cognitive learning the major ones are perception, concept formation or
concept attainment, memory and reasoning. For strengthening the cognitive learning
process we need to organise these processes effectively.

12.4.1 Organising Perceptual Learning

Perception as aprocess of cognitive learning has been discussed earlier. In the discovery
approach there is thrust on perception of the total learning situation. Unless the total
situation is perceived by the learner, l e h i n g cannot be fully effective. Perception
provides the base for cognition. The term perception refers to a coherent unity of the
sensory inputs like, visualising, listening and feeling an object or stimulus, whlch the
individual has to perceive or about which the individual needs to acquire perceptual
P experiences. Perception is defined as the process of determining the meaning of what Cognitive Learning and
is sensed (Klazkay, 1984). For example, an individual senses a stimulus wjth hisher its Organisation
sense organs by way of seeing it, or listening about it, or feeling its shape, size, texture
etc. and also in some cases by smelling or through taste. Through perception the
individual also differentiates the characteristics of the stimulus in focus from similar
other objects or stimuli.
Ii Researches have focussed on three major characteristics of sensing stimuli, such as
the visual sensory register, auditory sensory register aqd tactile sensory register.
Perception starts with sensing processes. The data or the information gathered through
the sense organs are interpreted by the sensory registers resulting in perception. Thus
perception assists in acquiring information, which lay the foundation of cognitive learning.
It covers the entire sequence of events from the presentation of the stimulus physically
to its phenomenological experience. Thus, the perceptual process includes the physical,
physiological, neurological, sensory,cognitive and affective components. Thus the t e q
perception is used in a very broad sense.
Perception,by its very nature plays a significant role in cognitive learning.The individual
acquires various experiences through different sense orgaris, which are interpreted in
relation to the individual's previous learning experiences, already existing in hisher
mind. These previous learning experiences may be in the form of schema, symbol,
concept and rule. The new experiences in the form of information, facts, objects and
such other elements are associated with the previous experiences through a type of
mental process, broadly termed as information processing. Through this mental activity
the new concept inputs which may be in the form of idea, image, fact and knowledge
are considered as parts of information organised and stored in the mind. This storage
may exist in its real form or in a modified form. However, it is the new learning
experience for the individual, which adds to hisher existing stock of cognitive
experiences. Thus perception helps in acquiring new information, which serves as the
basis for developing the individual's cognitive experiences.
In the previous paragraphs we have discussed how the pttrceptual process helps in
acquiring new ideas, facts, concepts etc. which are translatkd to information through
informationprocessing. The acquiring of new information does not remain at knowledge
level only. It may be pointed out that acquiring of knowledge is the fundamental step
for cognitivelearning. Cognitivelearning is not limited to the k t of knowing or gathering
new fact, idea or information; it further continues in terms d higher mental processes
like understanding, analysing, reasoning, comparing, synthesizing and evaluating. As
such, perception and perceptual process help in laying the fqundation for activising or
leading the mind towards higher mental processes. j

The information processing models of the mind's thought 'md action view that the
cognitive and perceptual operations take place in stages, such as input, coding. storage,
retrieval, decoding and output. According to many psychologists, the information
processing involves classic mental processes of perception, memory, thinking, reasoning,
decision making, problem solving etc. (Reber, 1985). In the ppcess of acquiring higher
intellectual abilities, perception plays an important role thropgh a process that Piaget
referred to as adaptation. Adaptation as a mental activity cmsists of either changing
the response to the environment or changing the current schemata to reconcile with
the environment. The process of adaptation takes place in two forms, assimilation and
accommodation. Assimilation takes place when the indivigual's existing schemata
influence hisher response to the newly experienced stimulbs. For example, a child
may be having the schema of a writing equipment, say per9cil. When helshe sees a
pen, which is another form of writing equipment, helshe cohfuses it with the pencil
because the pencil schema is already there in the mind. On the other hand, the process
of accommodation changes the already existing schemata. Continuing with the previous
example, the child after perceiving the second stimulus (the pen), in the proper
perspective finds out its differential feature and thereby hisher previous or the former
11
 t%ganising Learning schemata get modified; rather new schema is formed. Therefore, the most important
thing in cognitive development, as you have seen, is the perception of the learning
situation or the learning environment.
The learner's capacity for cognitive learning depends upon certain external and internal
factors. Among the external factors, the learner's environment at home and community
are important. Along with this, the learning environment at the school also largely
affects cognitive learning. Therefore, emphasis is placed on providing better learning
environment at school and home for ensuring improvement in cognitive learning. The
role of perception in the individual's cognitive development is not cenfined to formal
learning situation only. Eggen and Kauchak (1992) pointed out that other factors also
influence the individual's cognitive development. For example, social development of
i the individual has a very significant contribution in such adjustment and the self-
management as an effective member of the society. This is possible through proper
social interaction during which the individual acquiresnumemus cognitivecompetencies
in the social context. Piaget also postulated social interaction as a critical factor in the
cognitive developmentof the individual (Hensen and E k r , 1999).bgotsky emphasised
the mle of social and cultural influences on the cognitive development of children. An
important element in the process of the children's cognitive development occuring
through social and cultural interaction is that this process need not be awaited for long,
till they enter fullfledged social life as grown up and responsible members of the
society. Vygotsky gave importance to cultural factors in cognitive development
alongwith the individual's growth process.
There is need to place emphasison perception for the development of cognitivelearning.
Perception takes place through different sense organs. If more and more sensory
perceptions can be involved in the learning process, the learning will be strengthened.
In classroom learning situations there is thus, the need for emphasising the use of
visual perceptions of the students along with the teachers auditory communications,
accompanied by the verbal interactions between student and the teacher and vice
versa. The teacher should try to explore, and use improved type of teaching-learning
strategies for enabling students to acquire learning experiences through different
sensory perceptions. As summarised by Hensen and Eller (1999) some of the
instructional strategies for improving perceptual learning in class room context as
suggested by Piaget, Bruner and Vygotsky are as follows.
The teacher requires to know the child's potentials for learning. He/she should also try
to understand the child's learning style, and the characteristics of learning process in
brder to ensure better learning. Further, helshe should understand the mental operations
taking place in the learner's mind when helshe perceives the objects of learning; so
that the teacher can devise and use appropriate techniques for each individual learner
to learn effectively.

1
The teacher should keep in mind that learning takes place better through use of concrete
objects in case of the young learners. Therefore, the teacher should try to use or
relate their learning materials to concrete objects, facts, events, phenomena and the
like. The approach should be such that the learners can use their sensory perceptions
in different ways, like feeling, seeing, listening, manipulating and other sensory
perceptions. In case the school learning programme has limitations for providing direct
learning experiences, steps can be taken to provide such experience through audio-
visual and other types of teaching aids.
The teacher should try to utilise the discovery approach to enable students to find out
the results of learning by participating in some learning activities. In other words, the
techniques of learning by doing should be adopted by the teacher or by directly involving
the learners in the process of learning. For such an approach, the teacher's instructions
need not be confined to classroom situation. Field trips and other observational methods
and techniques should be made available to the learners so that they can acquire the
desired learning experiences through direct participation. In learning situations where
I direct learning experiencescannot be provided, teacher shquld attempt to give vicariou Cognitive Leadng and
learning experiences through contrived and simulated learning situations that mak its Orgulisation
I room for indirect observation.

The teacher should allow the students to proceed at their own pace-of learning an
according to their individual capacity. It may be remembqed that, there are individuc
differences among the learners in their speed and capacity of learning. A teache
should give attention to individual learners.
According to Vygotsky, the social experiences of the leainer have impact on bidhe
cognitive process. The learner gets ample opportunity t6 develop hidher cognitio
through adequate social interaction. Normally the young l m e r s in schoolshave almo:
no scope for social interaction in their day to day social life. Therefore, the teache
should organise simulated social situations under appropdftte settings to provide ther
social experiences through necessary interactions.
I
Check Your Progress 3
Note: Write your answers in the space given below. .

II 1 Name and indicatethe nature and types of learning caused through various
sensory perceptions.
a) .............:.............................. .....
.............a*.............................m.
:...........-..
I 'b) ............................... ............+.....................'-'..........

I 2) How do sensory pe~eptionshelp in cogniti0h? '

I 3) Mark the following statements as true or fals< by indicating T or F

respectively as the case may be.

I a) Auditory communications are not necessaiy

in perceptual learning. h
- (T/F)

I
E
b) Adaptation results both from assirkation and (T/F)
accommodation.

I C)

d)
Sensory experience has Lime effect on cogktive
learning.
Perceptual learning has no role in acqWg higher
(T/F)

(T/ F)
intellectualabiities.

12.43 Organising Concept Learning

Learning of concepts is an important objective of school edacation programme. But
cdncept learning is not confined to formal learning situations.We learn various concepts .
'in real life situation. Certain aspects of it have been disc* earlier in this unit.
. However, it should be noted that concept learning lays the ibundation for cognitive
learning.
13
Organising Learning Concept formation and concept learning are often used synonymously to refer to the
process of abstraction of a quality, property or set of features that can be taken to
represent a concept. However, some authors use the term formation for actual
acquisition of the concept; and the concept learning to indicate the conditions under
which the individual learns how to apply a known or acquired concept. For example,
the formation of the concept of 'triangle' refers to acquiring some idea about the
nature and characteristicsof triangles whereas the learning of that concept goes beyond
the scope of acquiring such information. The learning of the concept of triangle by the
child is indicated by hisher capacity to identify the shape of a triangle among the
shapes of various other geometrical figures. Both concept formation and concept
learning occupy vital position in the process of cognitive learning. The classroom
instructional objectives are directed towards them.
Acquiring of information is the basis of concept formation which ultimately leads to
concept learning. Information is acquired through various sources and different sense
organs, as discussed earlier.When a piece of new information is acquired it is processed
in the mind leading to the formation of a concept on the basis of its interaction with the
-1
related concepts stored in the mind. The processing of any information in the mind
takes place according to certain ~ l e and
s principles. Concept learning as well as the .
learning of principles are closely related to language learning, because most of the
concepts are in the form of symbols and are experienced in the form of words.
1
According to Carroll (1964) in a meaningful verbal or written expression, there is
complex relationship among the words used leading to mean a concept. In this process
a word either in the verbal or in the written form conveys certain meaning to the
'listener or the reader. Such meaning leads to the formation of a concept. It is essential
that a particular word conveys the same meaning to the communicator as well as to
the receiver or listener,Anything contrary will lead to a confusing situation for conveying
the concepts. Therefore, the meanings of words are to be given in societal acceptable
forms. There are several instances of words conveying the meanings of different
concepts, but they do not convey different meaning to the speaker as well as the
listener.
The basic consideration is that the concepts are socially standardised and have wider
acceptance. There are also instances of some concept words conveying different
meaning. Usually such concept words create confusion for the speaker and the listeners.
In the learning of children, particularly in the case of language learning, use of such
concepts should be avoided. It seems thus evident that language facilitates concept
learning. In some cases concept learning may also be possible without the use of any
language or by using a language, which is not well developed. But in such cases
concept learning is not found much effective; for example, concepts cannot be well
developed through the use of uncommon dialects, and concept learning can not be
facilitated. It remains restricted in applicability.
Let us now discuss some of the practical approaches to concept learning. As concept
learning is facilitated through the use of language, greater emphasis should be placed
on explaining and exposing the concepts through the use of language. This means
greater use of the meaningful, precise and understandable language for expressing
the concepts for the benefit of the learners.
The learners' expected competency in the use of concepts is to be kept in mind while
teaching hirnlher about the concepts. In other words, the learning outcomes in respect
of a concept should be assessed in terms of the learner's competency in using that
concept.
Concept learning is found facilitated by sequencing the related concepts. While
sequencing the concepts, attention should be given to their difficulty levels. The easier
concepts are to be taken up first and then the more difficult ones. The sequencing of
concepts is to be considered also from the point of view of their concreteness. The
14
concrete concepts should be presented first followed by the abstract ones. The learning Cognitive Learning and
its Organisation
of abstract concepts poses difficulty for the learner's undtrstanding in the absence of
concrete examples. In this context, it may be pointed out that the complex concepts
should be reduced to simpler forms before presenting. .
Before presenting the new concepts to learners, there is $eed to ascertain their entry
level behaviour in respect of such concepts. In case the learner has no idea or knowledge
of the new concepts, the first task would be to make wrbal associations with the
concept. There is lot of commonality between verbal learning and concept learning
(Underwood, 1966).The following key points should be emphasised in concept learning.
Attributes of the concepts should be emphasized in explaining them.
The concepts are to be worded in correct terms, which would convey the meaning
and nature of its functioning or any other remarkabje characteristics.
The nature of the concept needs to be explained and made clear to the learner
because knowledge of the definitional and structural cfiaracteristicsof the concept
facilitate its learning.
i

Both the positive and negative attributes, charactehstics and examples of the
concepts are to be presented to the learners for a Gtter grasp of them.
The concepts to be learned should relate to the day to day life experiences of the
learners. Learning by doing, discovery learning and problem-solving are considered
suitable strategies for the learning of concepts in relevant situations.
In the course of concept learning, provision should be made for feedback on
interim attainment by the learners. I

Concept learning can be better accomplished th&ugh concrete situations.

Presentation of concrete objects and events relating tp the concept facilitates the
learning of such concepts. But this may not be exactly possible in many situations.
In lieu of the concrete or real objects provision may be made through contrived
or simulated situations.
12.4.3 Associational Learning
Learning through association or associational learning is not situation or time specific.
The process of associational learning starts from the early stage of an individual's life
and continues till the end. It cannot be compared with any formal learning situation.
Rather it takes place in all possible informal and formal learning situations, at home, at
school, at work and in the community. The basic element in this learning is the process
of association. Association refers to the process of relating Larners' present experience
with hislher earlier experiences for using these relationships in the present and future
course of learning (Skinner, 1960). The process of associadonal learning has made the
human civilization possible to make progress from pri itive to modern life. The
'f
individual's learning experiences gained through both the real and vicarious situations
become more meaningful if related to hidher previous exper/ences.The present learning
experiences are aroused through the process of associatkn with the earlier related
experiences. As a result of such association the present qxperiences take on a new
meaning. Memory functions as an essential aid in learning through associations, but
association does not help in memory. However, memory is an important part of
associational learning and it helps in strengthening associations.
Through the association process, the child starts to associate symbols with objects, for
example, the word 'pen' with a particular type of writing maprial; the chemical symbols
with a particular type of chemical compound or a reaction:The associational learning
takes place inside as well as outside the classroom situatiqns.
The associational learning can be categorised as automatic association, concept
formation and generalisation. All of these are mostly verbal and symbolic in nature.
15
Organising Learning They usually follow the sequence from facts to concepts and from concept to
generalisations. Facts are often regarded as automatic associations, for example,
'mammals' refers to a category of animals rearing their offsprings on breast feeding;
3 multiplied by 2 gives the same results as 3 added 2 times and the word 'toy' means
a type of play material for kids.
In order to make the learning meaningful and clear, the association between the word,
fact or information and its meaning should be made automatic.

12.4.4 Generalisation in Learning

Generalisation refers to establishing relationship between two or more concepts or
facts on the basis of certain rules, laws and principles. The generalizations are not
arbitrarily made. It is deriving and establishing relationships among concepts, facts
and phenomena etc. For example, we know the conceptual fact that 2+2+2=6 which
is the process of addition of three 2s. We also know that 3 times 2 is equal to 6 or we
say 3x2=6. We can take.similar other examples and can establish the relationship
between two separate conceptual facts that the process of multiplication in arithmetic
involves repeated addition of the same number for the given number of times. Through
such generalization the learner is able to acquire a new generalised concept which is
based on certain simpler conceptual facts. In this example, the conceptual facts are
(i) continuous addition of the same number for a given number of times leading to a
result of summation; and (ii) simple arithmetic multiplication of the given number by
the number of times of the previous case. The results of both the arithmetical operations
establish the new generalized concept that 'multiplication is continuous addition'.
The process of generalisation of concepts has the characteristic of transferability.
The transfer may be within the same situation or extend to other situations. This is
also true for all types of concepts in general that the generalized concepts assist in
problem solving. The processes of generalizations of concepts and problem solving
are mutually dependent on each other. Generalizations facilitate in problem solving
situations and in some cases generalizations are made through problem-solving.
The learner's level of attainment in concept learning is indicated through hisfher ability
for drawing generahitions from the learning of the related concepts. When an individual
has acquired certain concepts hdshe should have the ability to apply these concepts in
other relevant situations. It may be in the form of presenting a problem involving these
concepts. In view of its utility in education emphasis is placed on the learner's ability
for making generalizationsin classroom teaching-learning situations.

Check Your Progress 4

1) Fill in the blanks in the following sentences.

a) Concept formation and ....................................... are used

synonymously to refer to the process of abstraction that can be
taken to represent a concept.
b) There should be greater emphasis on ........................ for making
the concepts meaningful.

c) Attainment in concept learning can be better tested through the

learner's competence in .........................

d) The concepts to be learned should relate to the day to day ..................

of the learners.

e) Concept learning can be better accomplished through ..................

situation.
12.4.5 Strategies for Enhancing Memory Cognitive Learning and
- its Organisation
Memory plays an important role in cognitive learning. Much of cognitive learning
coming under school education depends on memorization. Even the higher cognitive
learning processes, like analysing, reasoning, synthesiaing and evaluating etc. have
their base in memorization. Without memory it is d i f f ~ u l tot conceive of learning.
Memory is interlocked with perception; and perception serves as the basis for cognitive
learning. In a sense, the development of human civilization bas become possible mostly
because of human memory. All inventions, discoveries and developments in scientific,
technological and social fields are based on this. The continuity in scientific innovations
and experiments is maintained because the scientists ar$ the innovators are capable
of remembering what has already been done and accomplished in earlier experiments
and innovations made. In other words, such things have been retained in their minds
because of their memory process and are recalled and reproduced at the time of need
in subsequent activities. We also find that learning phehomenon depends upon the
learner's capacity for memorizing.
All intellectual activities are made possible because of dUr memory. Though we use
the term memory as a single mental process, it has differeht functions. These different
functions are exercised by the process of memory. The fhnctional processes covered
under memory are the act of memorization (consolidation of information), and retention
(memory) vis-a-vis loss in retention (forgetting).Therefoq, memory has three primary
functions of memorizing, retaining and remembering: Memorizing is the act of
internalising or processing of information; retaining is the storage of information; and
remembering is the storage of recalling, reproducing or &cognizing the information
stored in memory. Remembering is just the opposite of forgetting, referring to loss of
information from memory. These processes by their nature are very inter-related.
One of the major advances made in the arena of cognikve learning is the idea of
representing the mind as an information processing syst$n that determines the flow
of information and how it is acquired, stored, represented,Irevised and accessed in the
mind (Pelligrini,2001).
Piaget's theory of cognitive development is recogniaed by some educational
psychologists as the nearly complete systematization of hbw cognitive development
takes place (Sternberg, 1984). However, some psychologkts are of the view that his
theory lacks in providing details of how individuals develop cognitively. It does not
answer how the individuals thihk and learn. Information Processing theory suggests
the way to study cognitive development, how the brain deals with the information
received by the sense organs.
Processing of information starts with their storing. Approplate analyses of the stored
infomytion takes place in the cognitive system like the storage of information in s
library. The items of information are stored in the form of cognitive units. Atkinson
and Shiffrin (1968, 197I) are of the view that there are thret forms of storage in terms
of the duration of their lasting, method and process of reb-ieval and the reasons of
failure of being stored for longer duration. Firstly, there is,sensory registering of the
cognitive units. There are as many sensory registers aslthere are types of sense
perception. The information in the form of environmental4stimuli enter the sensory
storage system, but this information is stored for a very s h a t duration may be for the
part of a second after which they are lost. The second Qpe of storage holds the
information comparatively for a longer period, but not in its ~riginalform. This is also
the shoa-term storage of information which is known as s h w term memory (STM) or
working memory. This type of memory is needed for sorting out the cognitive units or
items which are to be remembered from those which are ndt to be remembered. The
items which are not to be remembered are forgotten. flor example, in doing a
multiplication in arithmetic we are required to multiply the iritegers. As soon as we get
a multiplied value, we use it at that particular place as per the need of the process and
then we forget it. Those bits of information are not kept in memory for subsequent
Organising Learning use. Immediately our attention goes to another item in the process. In this manner, we
forget many units or items. The work of Ebbinghaus towards the end of 19th century
pointed out a clear distinction between short term memory (STM) and long term
memory (LTM) earlier used as primary and secondary memory respectively. The
STM as proposed by him has the capacity of being retained for about seven units. At
about the same time Wundt demonstrated that the storage load of STM is limited to six
or seven units, which has also been later supported by MelIer, who referred to that
magic number of seven units. MelIer has used the term 'chunks' for these units (Dobson
et al., 1981). The third type of memory, that is, the long term memory (LTM) has no
such limit in terms of units and nothing is lost from it. But it so happens that at times
we forget something that was in our LTM earlier, may be some years ago. Though we
do not find the traceability of such information in our memory, it can be traced if we
use a suitable searching strategy. For example, we might have forgotten certain specific
events on our first day in college or how we enjoyed our visit to a place. But the total
event can be traced back in our mind if we find certain related aspects connected with
those events or occurrences. However, long-term memory (LTM) is very important
for us. It contains two different types of information-semanticinformation refemng to
the information relating to the use of words, and the procedural information, referring
to the information-related to the procedures and approaches of how the things are
done.

In order to remember the information, facts, ideas and such other cognitive elements
for a long-time &d to be able to use at the time of need, the individual has to make a
concerted effort. For example, the individual has to repeat or rehearse his learning
from time to time to remember the content for a longer period. However, the short-
term memory and long-term memory storage are processed by different mechanisms
and strategies, which are mostly governed by the information processing theory,
otherwise known as 'cybernetic' theory. Basically this approach to study memory
involves (i) the process of storage in memory and (ii) the process of retrieval of the
information from the memory at the time of need.

The entire process of memory from input phase to the output phase is divided into four
- stages, namely; acquisition, encoding, storage and retrieval. The first one deals with
f
J

how the individual acquires information. It has been discussed earlier. The second one
'encoding', implies the transformation of the acquired information into a form, which
can be processed in the memory system mostly in relation to the earlier learning
experiences. Out of the acquired information if something is to be remembered then
the storage must take place. For that purpose the encoded information is transferred
to the memory system. The fourth and final stage, retrieva1,involves the tracing out of
the required information stored in the memory and relating it to the present situation
for use as per need.

Earlier we have discussed about schema, one of the basic units of cognition which
refers to the stored conceptualization of experience. It refers to a type of idea about
the acquired information stored in the mind. It does not have any specific form. It
may have a visual or verbal form or may be a combination of the two forms. The
perceptual experiences of an individual are acquired in the form of schemata and
subjected to the process of memory. The role of schema in the process of memory
is widely recognised. When the individual is exposed to a new material, the idea
about the material is incorporated in the existing structure of hislher knowledge.
The schema of the new material interacts with the related schemata learnt earlier
and stored in the mind. As a result of such interaction, there is the possibility of
reconstructing of the old schemata in the memory leading to a new memory structure.
It may be completely different from the old memory structure or may have some
resemblance to it or exactly identical. The structural change in the new schemata, is
due to some new information acquired through the present schema or schemas
which were missing in the earlier ones.
18
 Because of the importance of memory in cognitive learning there is need for enhancing Cognitive Learning and
memory skills. Memorization depends upon certain inteqnal factors of the learners. its Organisation
The important ones are; the learners' age and maturation level, need, interest,
motivation and the like. Unless the learner is intellectually mature for understanding
and acquiring the desired cognitive learning experiences; he/she may not be able to
memorise the contents of learning. Sustenance of the learner's interest and motivation
in the learning process are affected by hislher needs of learning. Unless the needs
of the learner are satisfied through the learning process, Mshe lacks genuine interest
in it. As a result, the entire process becomes almost fume and ineffective. In case
of classroom learning the students' interest and motivation are also affected by
certain external factors like, appraisal of students' performance by the teacher, the
parents, the learning tasks and materials, the learning environment, the process of
examination and evaluation. These factors affect the learners' achievement
motivation, which directly or indirectly influences the F e s s of memorisation of
the learners. The learners' lack of interests in the learning contents will also affect
the process of learning and memorising.
The teacher may use certain techniques for improving the memory of the learners. In
, this connection they should give importance to developing the learners' meta-memory
skills. It relates to the learners' awareness of their own memory processes and
capabilities. The learners' problem solving memorization skills can also be developed
through enhancement of meta-memory skills.
Certain mnemonic devices are also used for enhancing memory. Mnemonic device or
mnemonic is a term usually used to cover any technique for committing the learning
material to memory or for improving one's memory. Let u$ discuss examples of such
mnemonics.
Pairing or associating the new learning materials with something memorable to the
learner is one way of remembering. For example, in order to remember a new telephone
number, one may pair it with another figure like hisher dateof birth which is usually in
the individual's memory or in case of remembering a new name we may pair it with
another familiar name of a friend or relative. Similarly,certain new information to be
remembered can be paired with some familiar type of matetial, which is already in the
individual's memory. There is no common formula for such pairing. It is to be devised
and used by the individual himselfherself.
Another mnemonic device for remembering certain long tern phrases, terminologies,
or a list of some specific termslwords is to use acronyms. Acronym refers to a
pronounceable abbreviation of a multi-word term composed with the first letters of
each word. For example, in order to remember the colours of rainbow (violet, indigo,
blue, green, yellow, orange and red) we try to memorise the term VIBGYOR, coined
by using the first letters of the seven colours. Likewise the name Culture Fair
Intelligence Test can be remembered by using the acronym CFLT and the basic formula
for finding out the standard deviation of an ungrouped set of scores can be remembered
=
by memorising the term 'RMSD' or simply RMS for Root Mean Squared Deviations
(Root of the mean of the sum of the squared deviations). Similarly PQ4R is a mnemonic
which can be used to organise classroom activities in sequenOe for improving students'
retention. The mnemonic stands for Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite and
Review. Some other mnemonics are Acrostics, Link metliod, Loci method, Peg word
technique and Keyword technique (Henson and Ellor, 1995).
Another important strategy for facilitating learners' understanding and remembering
is the use of advance organizers containing new concepts prior to presenting the
information to help the students organize new information into meaningful
concepts. Advance organisers are.related to what the students already know about
the new information as well as the materials to be comprehended and memorised
by students.
Organising Learning Quite similar to the use of advance organizers, another technique known as 'keyword
organizer' is used for the purpose. In this technique the teachers emphasise the
important concepts and words of the lesson to be learned, prior to and after the
presentation of the lesson. Such technique is also used in developing the text books
and other such learning materials by printing the key concepts and words in bold types
so that the reade; gives more emphasis to it.

The teachers as well as learners can devise other suitable techniques for improvi~
their memory.

Check Your Progress 5

1) Briefly explain the meaning of mnemonics and their uses, limit your
answer to 150 words.

2) Explain the following terms within 25 words each.

a) Long-term Memory

I b) Functions of Memory

I c) Information Processing

d) Stages in Memory
 ---------------------------- Cognitive Learning and
3) Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the most suitable words its Organisation
or phrases from among the words given in the brackets.

a) The individual's memory influences hisfher .............................

development,
(Physical, cognitive, skill, emotions)

b) Memory is better tested by the procesg of ......................

(encoding, learning, forgetting, retrieving)

C) The process of ....................... is not esskntial in the individuals

learning.
(forgetting, remembering, memorising, relearning)

d) The mental function of informationprocessing is very much similat

to the process of .........................
(memory, cybernetics, analysis, comparispn)

1
12.4.6 Organising Reasoning
Reasoning is the fourth cognitive process. It is almost a combination of the other three
processes; perception, conceptualisation and memory. It is a higher mental ability
through which generalizations are made on the basis of individual's earlier experiences,
1 by establishing cause and effect relationship, formulating and solving hypotheses. It
helps in solving various problems that the individual faced in hisfher life situations.
Reasoning is explained as a process of controlled thinking or association, which starts
from certain problem that the individual intends to solve. Siann and Ugwuebu (1985)
considered the process of reasoning as an activity in which the hypotheses relating to
the problem are formulated and tested. As such, reasoning is an essential condition in
problem solving activity.
In view of its nature, reasoning has significant role in cogniti\ie learning. The cognitive
learning enables the learner to adjuht and adopt himself/herself effectively with the
environment and to solve various problems that he/she comes across in life situation.
As such, problem solving is considered as an essen$ial aspect of cognitive learning.
All the cognitive processes have the ultimate aim of assisting in solving problems in
one way or other. The experiences gained through perception and concept formation
cannot be of any use if they function in isolation of each other. For example, simple
perception of an object or event without a subsequent action will yield no benefit to
the learner. Perception helps and leads to concept formation; and the concepts are
retained in mind through memory. The concepts so retainedj are to retrieved and
used by the individual, when needed. The simple retrieval of the concepts will have
no meaning unless proper relationships are established amahg them. A number of
isolated informations cannot help the learner in solving any pwblem. For solving any
problem the learner needs to establish logical relationship among the informations
relating to the problem, on the basis of which he/she can fdrmulate hypotheses or
tentative solutions to solve the problem. The reasoning process assists in establishing
such relationship. In many instances of cognitive learning w t have to depend upon
the process of reasoning. The individual's reasoning ability develops with increase
inage and maturation. It is caused mostly by the individual's environmental
experiences. The reasoning ability of a child is not mature like an adult as the child
lacks adequate experiences in comparison to the adult. Accordng to Garrison (1967)
although reasoning and problem-solving behaviour appear at an early age, the
reasoning ability at early stage is confined to concrete and personal th~ngsin the
child's immediate environment. As the child grows older, there is significant increase
in hidher ability to state a problem in words and also to verbalize its solution. 'The
children usually have poor reasoning ability because they lack experiences. As a
Organising Learning child grows up helshe gathers more and more experiences, and hisher ability to
reason out the problems that helshe faces develops gradually. Therefore, the reasoning
ability proceedes from simple to c6mplex.
In order to improve the reasoning ability of young learners, the teachers in classroom
situations are required to provide a variety experiences to them. Such experiences
can be related to classroom and school situations and to outside school environment.
The experiences relating to outside school environment like the various social and
community experiences can also be provided to the learners through simulated
programmes in the class and the school. By participating in such activities the learners
can gain required experiences relating to different social events. The activities for
providing such experiencescan be integrated with the curricular as well as co-curricular
programmes of the school. The participation of learners in such programmes and
activities will help them to develop their reasoning ability.
The individual's reasoning ability may be of different types like verbal, numerical and
spatial etc. These are required for solving the different types of problems befitting
their nature. Most of such reasoning abilities are developed through various curricular
programmes. The teachers organize different types of learning activities in different
curricular subjects and arrange for participation of the learners in such activities to
provide them ample scope for development of the relevant reasoning abilities. Besides,
the curricular activities, the reasoning abilities can be developed through different co-
cumcular activities like quiz programmes, puzzles, debates, literary competitions,games
etc. Such co-cumcular programmes relating to different types of reasoning abilities
need to be identified and organized keeping in view the scope and facilities available in
the institutions. There is also need for taking into consideration-the interest and
requirement of the students so that their whole-hearted participation in such programmes
can be ensured.
-

Check Your Progress 6

1) Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with suitable words given in
the brackets
(imagination, situation,controlled thinking, analysis, problem, perception)

a) Reasoning is explained as a process of ............................ , which

originates from .....................that the individual intends to solve.

b) Cognitive learning enables the learner to ...................... himself 1

herself successfully with the environment and to .......................
in life situations.

e) The individual in order to solve a problem needs to establish ........

.............................among the ...................related to the problem.
2) Mark each of the following statements true (T) or false (F).

a) Reasoning as well as problem-solving behaviourappear at the early

stage of the individual's growth and development. (TIF)

b) Social experiences cannot be provided to the learners through

simulated situations. (TIF)

c) Mnemonics help in correct perception. (TIF)

d) A learner's metarnemory skill is not related to the awareness of

histher own memory process and capabilities. (TIF)
 Cognitive Learning and
12.5 LET US SUM UP i\ its Organisation

Cognitive learning plays a vital role in an individual's lifelby providing a direction to his/
her mental and intellectualdevelopments. It influencesindividual's behaviour. Cognitive
learning is based on the process of cognition, a psychological construct. It comprises
of four basic units such as schema, symbol, concept and rule.

Cognitive learning involves various mental processes of which perception, concept

formation, memory and reasoning are the major ones. Perception involves the
interpretationof an individual's sensory experiences,and it helps in acquiringknowledge
about various objects, facts and concepts etc. with the asfistance of other basic mental
processes. Acquiring of knowledge about objects, facts!and concepts etc. forms the
'
basis of cognitive learning, on the foundation of which the individual gradually acquires
higher mental abilities.

There is need for organising the processes of perceptual learning, concept learning,
memory and reasoning for effective cognitive learning.

Perceptual learning takes place through sensory experiences gained by the individual
through various sense organs. Therefore, in all the learning situations there is need to
emphasis the acquiring of sensory experiences.in as many ways as possible. Perceptual
learning helps in acquiring higher mental abilities through the activities of adaptation,
assimilation and accommodation. In the formal learning situation there is need for
providing various sensory perceptions, understanding of the learner and the learning
process, using concrete learning materials, emphasising learning by doing approach,
and participatory learning for ensuring better cognitive learning.

Concept learning serves as the foundation of cognitive learning because concepts are
the basis of cognition. Language facilitates concept learning. Meaningfulness of the
concepts make the process of concept learning smooth.and effective. The basic
processes involved in concept learning are learning through association and
generalization. New learning is to be associated with previous learning in meaningful
ways. The generalizations in learning are based on princides, rules or laws. Both of
- these processes strengthen concept learning vis-a-vis cognitive learning. Generalization
serves as the indicator of concept learning. It helps in problebn-solving and vice-versa.

Organisation of memory is an essential aspect of cognitive learning. It serves as the

key for the cognitive development of the individual. Progress of human civilization has
been made possible due to human memory. Memory has three distinct functional
aspects, namely; the acts of memorizing, retaining and remembering. The mind's act
of information processing has a role in this. Memory depending upon the nature of
retention may be of short-term or long-term. All the information that we acquire are
not retained in our memory. Many informations are not required to be retained. We
have to forget many things for our benefit. However, many essential informations are
to be retained, and remembered when needed. Memory has. four stages; acquisition,
encoding, storage and retrieval. There are different strategies for enhancing memory.
In classroom learning the teachers may use certain techniques, like improving the
meta-memory skills of the learners by using mnemonic devi&s. The mnemonics refer
to a technique used to facilitate the memorising of the terms, concepts, figures etc.
There are various devices like pairing and use of acronyms, advance organisors,
keyword organiser etc. The learner may think of such otber mnemonic devices
according to the situational and personal convenience. ,
,
Reasoning as a process of cognitive learning plays an important role in problem solving
and in individual's adjustment. Suitable learning experiences tlwugh various cumcular
and co-curricularactivities need to be provided to the learner fbr developing reasoning
ability.
Organising Learning
12.6 UNIT END EXERCISES
1) Make a list of five problems inherent in the process of cognitive development of
the socially deprived learners.

2) Suggest ten strategies for improving sensory perceptions. Point out the strategies
difficult to adopt in classroom teaching.

3) Discuss with your co-learners how the process of association of ideas influences
cognitive learning.

4) Discuss the need of generalisations in cognitive learning and how this process is
related to problem solving.

5) List five learning situations in which short term memory (STM) is required, and
five situations in which long term memory (LTM) is required.

6) Cite any three examples of different learning situations in which the advance
organizers have been used.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTEDREADINGS

Atkinson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). Human Memory : A Proposed System and
its Control Processes. In K.W. Spence & J.T. Spence (eds.), The Psychology
of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, Vol. 2.
New York: Academic Press Inc.

Atlunson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. (1971). The Control of short-term Memory. Scientijic
American, 224: 82-90.

Biehler, Robert. F. & Snowman Jack (1997). Psychology applied to teaching (8th
edn.). Boston: Houghton Miffin.

Bigge, M.L. (1982). Learning Theory for Teacher. New York: Harper & Row
Publishers Inc.

Bruner, J:S., Goodnow, J.J. & Austin, G.A. (1977). A study of Thinking. New York:
John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Carroll, J.B. (1964). Words, Meanings and Concepts. Harvard Educational Review,
34: 178-202.

Eggen, P.D. & Kauchak, D. (1992). Educational Psychology; Classroom

Connections. New York:. McMillan

Gage, N.L. & Berliner, David, C. (1992). Educational Psychology (5th edn.). Boston:
Houghton Miffin.

Garrison, K.C., Kingston, A.J.& McDonald, A.S. (1967). Educational Psychology.

Bopbay: Vakils, Feffer & Simmons, Pvt. Ltd.
Klausmeier, H.J. & Harris, C.W. (eds.) (1966). Analysis of Concept Learning. New
York: Academic Press Inc.

Siann, G. & Ugwuegbu, D.C.E. (1985). Educational Psychology in a changing

world. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

Skinner, B.E (1968). The Technology of Teaching. New York: Appleton Century-
Crofts Inc.
Skinner, B.F. (1953). Science and Human Behaviour. New York: The Macmillan Cognitive Learning and
Publishing Company, Inc. its Organisation

Sternberg, R.J. (1985). The Triarchic Mind: A new T h b r y of Human Intelligence.

New York: V i n g .
Sternberg, R.J. (ed.) (1984). Human Abilities :An Information Processing
Approach. New York : Freeman.

Underwood, B.J. (1966). Some Relationships Between Concept Learning and Verbal
Learning. In H.J. Klausmeier and C.W. Harris (eds.), Analysis of Concept
Learning. New York : Academic Press Inc.