Human Memory and the New Science of Learning - New Science of Learning - page 78

North Judy Dime

Celery Red Cucumber

Karen South Purple

Blue Carrot Donna

Quarter Nickel Tomato

West Brown Betty

Penny East

Almost certainly you were able to recall more of the second than of the first
list. In this chapter we analyze the characteristics of human memory that help us
understand why this is the case and also examine the implications of memory for
learning and teaching.

Cognitive Perspectives on Learning

Until about the middle of the twentieth century, behaviorism was the dominant view
of learning. Behaviorism explains learning in terms of observable changes in behav-
ior that occur as a result of experience with the environment. For example, many of
us (guys) tend to leave our dirty socks on the floor of the bedroom, which results in
mild to harsh reprimands from our wives or significant others. As a result, we are
more likely to pick them up, and because our behavior has changed from not picking
up our socks to picking them up, behaviorists would say that learning has occurred.
The environmental experience is the reprimand from our significant other.
Behaviorism is able to explain simple behaviors, such as picking up dirty socks,
driving slower after being picked up for speeding, or children's attempts to answer
teachers' questions because they are being praised for their efforts. However, beha-
viorism is not able to explain the development of complex skills, such as problem
solving, insights and novel ideas, or the acquisition of language (Chomsky, 1959).
Factors such as these, combined with the development of computers, all led to a
search for different explanations for people's behaviors. The result was the “cogni-
tive revolution,” which marked a shift toward cognitive learning theories , theories
that explain learning in terms of changes in the mental structures and processes
involved in acquiring, organizing, and using knowledge (Royer, 2005; Sawyer,
2006). They help us explain tasks as simple as remembering a phone number. They
also explain the ability to solve ill-defined problems and understand complex rela-
tionships, such as the influence Marco Polo's visit to the Far East and the Portuguese
explorers had on Columbus's discovery of the Americas, or how the vast difference
in the temperature on the side of Mercury facing the sun compared to the side facing
away from the sun is related to its period of rotation.
The cognitive revolution occurred between the mid-1950s and early 1970s, and
its influence on our understanding of learning and its implications for teaching have
steadily increased since that time (Berliner, 2006).