#1: Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3rd ed.) (pp. 91-110). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
In this section of the chapter, Driscoll (2005) discusses long-term memory (LTM) beginning with the concepts of episodic and semantic memory. Episodic memory (p. 91) is related to specific events and experiences, while semantic memory concerns how all general information is stored. The latter is important to education since it is more concerned with learning a skill rather than the events that caused the knowledge learning. Network models of LTM state that concepts are represented according to their associations to one another (p. 92), such as the colors “black” to “white”. The network is considered to be made up of nodes representing concepts. This model easily represents individual differences between learners. The feature comparison model (p. 93) of LTM states that concepts are a set of defining features and the overlap of these features is where association occurs. However, there are concepts that are not as clear as others, known as “fuzzy set”, where it becomes harder to make associations. Defining concepts, features that are a must, are more easily recognized than characteristic, features that are usually associated. This approach is not economical in that there is a large set of features required in order for learning to happen. Dual-code models (p. 98) assume a strong connection between the verbal and imaginal systems. In the case of any model, information stored in long-term memory is either retrieved for use, retained over time, or forgotten. Recall is the retrieval of information with or without cues. Without cues, the individual tends to recall little of the actual concept, where with cued recall, they are able to recall more details. Recognition involves stimuli to aid with retrieval. Encoding specificity states that the cues used to code the memory will also aid in better retrieval of that information. #2: Clark, J.M., & Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory and education. Educational Psychology Review, 3, 149-210. Dual Coding theory (DCT) easily models diverse educational learning opportunities due to its focus on human behavior and experience. The processes described are based on verbal and non-verbal associations. There is a need for general psychological theories due to the cognitive challenges that can arise related to student study skills, student aptitudes, and effective instructional practices, among others. Also included in this list, can be other ‘affective’ topics like student motivation and test anxiety. DCT can address these phenomena through development and activation of verbal and imaginal representations and the context surrounding these activations. Visual and auditory codes represent concrete examples, such as a book (though arbitrary), have meaning and can evoke imagery to a learner. Non-verbal codes represent specific entities, such as a chemical symbol, and can encode in parallel or simultaneously. Verbal codes include visceral invocations such as feelings when triggered by a negative image. Complex images may lose detail as the learner tries to add and recall detail, but the learner can more easily understand a process (or animation) presented this way, rather than verbally (explaining what is happening). The links between verbal and non-verbal representations are called referential connections. Associative connections are links within the verbal and non-verbal representations, such as words related to other words (verbal). This is also the case with images, non-verbal, linked to other images. Patterns of activation in these representations can extend the network of associations, strengthening the connection. This can also have the opposite affect when influences are misleading or instruction (in terms of educations) are unclear. This goes back to the individual adding associations but invoking arbitrary searches for stored information. Ultimately, educational tasks should focus on concreteness and imagery to create meaning. #3: Mayer, R.E., Sims, V.K. (1994). For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? Extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 389-401. The research in this paper seeks to aid in closing the gap between the introduction of computer technology that creates interactive media for physical media such as textbooks, and the design of computer-based instruction using words and images. This paper begins with a study of low-spatial versus high-spatial students. In the study, the students watched a computer-generated animation of a process, bicycle tire pump and human respiratory system. When watching concurrently (verbal/non-verbal together), the groups responded more creatively to subsequent transfer problems (p. 389) than when watching in succession. Research found that the contiguity effect was strong for high-spatial ability students but not for low-spatial ability students. These results supported the dual-coding theory that states that spatial ability allows high-spatial learners to focus more cognitive resources to building referential connections between verbal and non-verbal representations. Conversely, low-spatial ability students spend more cognitive resources on building representation connections. Presenting verbal and visual explanations in close proximity, inexperienced students were better able to better show what they learned and transfer that knowledge to later problems. They built stronger connections, likely due to this concurrent presentation (multimedia learning). Referential connections were less likely to form when successive presentations (of verbal and imagery) were given. Per the DCT, they lack relevant knowledge in long-term memory. The study did not, however, perform direct experimentation whether these presentations affected high-spatial students positively or negatively. #4: Pylyshyn, Z.W. (2003). Return of the mental image: Are there really pictures in the brain? Trends in Cognitive Science, 7, 113-118. In this paper, Pylyshyn (2003) argues that new evidence from recent research does not change or support the issues of picture theory from the as many as 300 years prior. The author presents reasoning that one’s mental images are their own and can in no way be analyzed from neural imaging or neuropsychology. Previous findings on representations, verbal or visual, cannot represent the content for which one stores information from an image. This includes experience or inexperience on having seen an image previously. In the example of the map, varied conclusions were discovered on connecting landmarks. This is simply because one person’s view of the map is different than another’s view as well as being different from the person’s view providing the map. Ultimately, one’s image is made their own and they are able to give it any feature or behavior they so desire (p.114). #5: Ally, M. (2004). Foundations of educational theory for online learning. Theory and practice of online learning, 2, 15-44. I chose this chapter of this book because I am interested in online learning and how the dual-coding theory relates to how students learn when taking an online class or completing an online degree program. This chapter immediately focuses on the crux of debate for the online learning community, “Is it the delivery technology or the design of the instruction that improves learning”? (p. 3). Although specialized tools exist and provide efficient access to need information for online learners, it is still the case that this is just a ‘vehicle of delivery’ (p. 4). Also, as stated in the dual-coding theory, the multimedia tools that provide information both visually and verbally (in close proximity) do improve student learning. However, it is the design (and strategies) of the learning materials that really provide the benefit. Instructional designers must design online instructional material, as with any learning material, so that information can be transferred from sensory to working to long-term memory. This is reliant on the attention given to incoming material. If not enough attention is given and cognitive structures do not exist, then instructional designers must also provide for pre-instructional activities. According to Kalat (2002), the duration of working-memory is about 20 seconds. It is up to the instructional designer to provide the material so that students can process efficiently. So as with traditional educational that uses dual-coding theory, online learning strategies must include visual and verbal representation that allow for connections to be made to currently stored knowledge so that learners can add to their st
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