Cognitive Psychology - Learning Strategies (Lecture Notes)

HOW LEARNING HAPPENS

  • Take in new information

  • Organize pieces of information

  • Link related knowledge

  • Form schema

CORE CONCEPTS: CONCRETE, DUAL CODING, ELABORATION, EXAMPLES

  • Concrete

    • Emphasizes using tangible, specific instances to anchor understanding

  • Dual Coding

    • Use both verbal and visual representations to encode information

  • Elaboration

    • Expand on ideas, make connections, add detail to enhance encoding

  • Examples

    • Provide illustrative instances to ground concepts

  • Practice and retrieval

    • Spaced retrieval practice and interleaving are used to solidify learning

  • Topic cycling

    • Topics (e.g., A, B, C) are revisited over time; interleave to mix related ideas

  • Interleaving cues

    • Mix topics (e.g., Topic A with Topic B) to strengthen discrimination and recall

DUAL CODING GUIDE

  • Tasks involved in applying Dual Coding:

    • Reading task

    • Analysis & interpretation

    • Writing task

    • Group work/discussion

    • Annotation

    • Individual task

THE DUAL CODING THEORY

  • Verbal channel

    • Information presented in words and language

  • Visual channel

    • Information presented as images, diagrams, or figures

  • Goal

    • Combine verbal and visual representations to enhance encoding and retrieval

SPACING

  • Spacing and cramming distinction:

    • Spacing: distributed study across days

    • Cramming: concentrated study on a single day

  • Spacing schedule shown:

    • Spacing: day 11, day 22, day 33

    • Cramming: day 11

  • Exam planning

    • Exams are positioned relative to spaced study periods to optimize retention

APPLICATION BY LEARNERS

  • Commit to _ min every day

  • Review older material

    • 11 day ago

    • 11 week ago

    • 11 month ago

  • Long-term review cadence

    • Keep revisiting material across increasing intervals to reinforce memory

INTERLEAVING FOR NURSING EDUCATION

  • Mix and associate different subjects

    • Example: health assessment and pharmacology

  • Differentiate concepts

    • Distinguish between type 11 diabetes and type 22 diabetes

  • Shuffle material that is often confused

    • Example: hydromorphone vs morphine

CONCRETE EXAMPLES

  • Visual and verbal sequences used to reinforce learning

  • Patterns and repetitions (e.g., letters or grouped items) to illustrate how ideas can be chunked and recalled

  • The sequence imagery suggests pairing concrete items with abstract concepts to aid memory

RETRIEVAL PRACTICE: WHAT STUDENTS DO

  • Students pull out what they know using retrieval practice

  • Example prompt language seen in the transcript includes a simple conversational line: “bonjour, comment ça va” to illustrate recalling a known phrase

USING THE STRATEGIES TOGETHER

  • Integrated activities include:

    • WRITING

    • DRAWING

    • RECALL ( retrieval practice )

    • CONCEPT MAPS

  • Drawing and diagrams used to rehearse content (e.g., anatomy components):

    • Ribosome A…

    • Mitochondrion --

  • Recall prompts for science processes:

    • Water cycle recall: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, transpiration, flow

  • Concept mapping example:

    • Concept Map is made of concepts labeled with terms such as:

    • Cell membrane

    • Nucleus

    • Vacuole

    • Cytoplasm

  • The process supports organizing knowledge visually and verbally to strengthen understanding

SPACED PRACTICE STRUCTURE (REVIEW CYCLES)

  • Spacing across days supports long-term retention

  • Repetition across days helps shift knowledge from short-term to long-term memory

  • Visual schedule cues from the slides show alternating spacing with cramming avoided for most topics

ORGANISING KNOWLEDGE: CONCEPT MAPS

  • Concept Map components:

    • Concepts

    • Labels connecting concepts

  • Example domain: cell biology

    • Cell membrane, Nucleus, Vacuole, Cytoplasm

  • Purpose:

    • To visually organize knowledge and expose relationships between ideas

QUESTIONS TO DRIVE UNDERSTANDING

  • How? Why? Because…

  • Use interrogatives to deepen understanding and connect rationale to evidence

REAL-WORLD RELEVANCE AND IMPLICATIONS

  • Practical impact for exam preparation:

    • Use dual coding to leverage both text and visuals

    • Space study to improve retention and reduce cramming

    • Interleave topics to improve discrimination and application in clinical contexts

  • Ethical/practical considerations:

    • Encouraging evidence-based study routines that enhance long-term learning

    • Avoiding reliance on cramming due to diminished retention

SUMMARY OF KEY STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINK TO LEARNING PRINCIPLES

  • Dual Coding Theory links verbal and visual channels to strengthen encoding

  • Spacing effect supports long-term retention by distributing study sessions

  • Interleaving improves transfer by varying practice and reducing interference

  • Elaboration deepens processing by linking to prior knowledge and generating connections

  • Retrieval practice strengthens memory via active recall

  • Concept maps promote organization of knowledge and explicit relationships

  • Concrete examples provide anchor points for abstract concepts

  • Regular, incremental review cycles (day, week, month) support durable learning over time