E PSY 200 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: High Tech, Distributed Knowledge, Cognitive Load
7 Sep 2016
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Chapter 3 summary: pages 57 to 75.
The focus in this chapter has been on the many contexts that shape human beings’ learning and
development
The specific stimuli and events in learners’ immediate environments influence learners’
behaviors and cognitive processes. Human learning takes places within many contexts that
operate at a variety of levels. Learners’ most local and immediate learning contexts consist of
stimuli and events in the here-and-now—both those that elicit certain behaviors and those that
are the consequences of learners’ behaviors. Some especially influential factors are the people in
learners’ lives who model various ways of performing and thinking about everyday tasks.
A good deal of the knowledge and skills that learners acquire are tied to specific activities and
environments. To some degree this situated nature of learning is the result of the fact that
learners mentally connect the new things they learn with some things—but not with other things
—already in their long-term memories. But in addition, some activities and environments—but
not others—provide the tools and social support systems learners need to keep their cognitive
load in challenging tasks at a manageable level.
Learners acquire knowledge and skills not only from the things that environmental events and
other people do to or for them, but also from the things that other people do with them. Learners
often co-construct knowledge with other people, sometimes with adults and other more
experienced individuals and sometimes with peers whose ability levels are similar to their own.
Social interaction has many benefits. It introduces learners to ways in which their culture
interprets and responds to everyday experiences and problems, and it encourages learners to
elaborate on prior knowledge and examine existing beliefs for possible gaps in understanding.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The focus in this chapter has been on the many contexts that shape human beings" learning and development. The specific stimuli and events in learners" immediate environments influence learners" behaviors and cognitive processes. Human learning takes places within many contexts that operate at a variety of levels. Learners" most local and immediate learning contexts consist of stimuli and events in the here-and-now both those that elicit certain behaviors and those that are the consequences of learners" behaviors. Some especially influential factors are the people in learners" lives who model various ways of performing and thinking about everyday tasks. A good deal of the knowledge and skills that learners acquire are tied to specific activities and environments. To some degree this situated nature of learning is the result of the fact that learners mentally connect the new things they learn with some things but not with other things.
