Annotated Bibliography: Module 2

#1 Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3rd ed.) (pp. 71-77). Boston, MA: Allyn and

Bacon.

This chapter describes the differences between the Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) view and that

of behaviorists to process information. Driscoll references the computer metaphor to describe these

processes describing new stimuli as input and the resultant behaviors as output, while incorporating

sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory as the basic memory stages.

Driscoll continues by describing the properties of each of these basic memory stages and how they

influence the assimilation of new stimuli. Sensory memory is described as the first stage that is initiated

by the senses and is retained briefly so to be further processed or discarded. Short-term, working,

memory, is described as the stage following sensory memory. In this stage there are limits on the

amount of information retained and the length of time for retention. This stage also leads to a response

and requires further processing to the next stage. Long-term memory is a permanent storage for

information and has, what was described, as no limits in storage amount and duration.

The processing and transformation of data throughout these stages is not considered to be linear in

nature, nor does it flow in one direction. Driscoll describes scenarios that follow a top-down processing

and bottom-up processing.

#2 Guenther, R.K. (1998). Introduction and historical Overview.Human Cognition (pp. 1-27). Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

In this chapter Guenther describes the history of human cognition from the earliest known

understandings of cognition to present day. The chapter begins with the discussion of ancient
understanding of perception of dreams and consciousness, related to the once accepted idea that

supernatural forces were responsible for dreams and actions.

As the understanding of how the physical world operated and how processes yielded responses, more

scientific explanation began to arise. Guenther discusses the next major concept to evolve, Dualism.

Dualism describes a hybrid between the physical/spiritual ideas for cognitive processing. Another

accepted ancient cognitive paradigm was that of Materialism, which does not rely on the physical and

non-physical realm to explain cognitive processes. Materialism focuses on the brain and its function,

rather than creating a difference between the brain and mind.

The development of cognitive science has been attributed to studies and discoveries by many

psychologist and scientists such as Jean Piaget, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud. Charles Darwin’s

concept of evolution has allowed for a great understanding of the cognition due to helping understand

the changes in species over time.

As time has continued and technology has evolved new understandings of the cognitive processes has

also changed. One popular theory, the computer metaphor, was used to explain how the brain

processes information. This metaphor has come into question and essentially has been challenged by

the Neural Net Model. The Neural Net Model focuses more on how a computer works and makes

decisions rather than on the hardware of the computer.

Finally discussed was the concept of behaviorism and how it differs from cognitive psychology.

Behaviorists, such as B.F. Skinner, focus on the surrounding environment and the role that it plays on

how decisions are made. Cognitive Psychologists focus more on causality and how they relate to

exhibited behaviors.

#3 Smith & Ragan (1999). Introduction to Instructional Design. Instructional Design (pp. 1-12). New York:

Wiley.
This chapter describes what instructional design is, along with how and when it should be used. Smith &

Ragan start out by explaining the difference between education, instruction, teaching, and training.

Education is the broad category of any situation in which an individual learns but also encompasses

instruction, teaching, and training. As a subset of education, instruction requires a set of goals to meet

and will not be used in job specific implementation. Teaching will include educational opportunities that

are presided over by a teacher/educator. Trainings will be classified as goal oriented educational

opportunities used to teach a job/performance related task.

The instructional design process is broken down into three major steps of analysis, strategy

development, and evaluation. Analysis is the research portion that requires the designer to determine

the target audience, context of the product, and what outcomes should be evident. Strategy

development suggests that the designer will determine the organizational strategies, delivery strategies,

and management strategies to be used. Evaluation is the stage of the process in which an assessment is

designed to determine if the goals have been achieved.

Instructional design models follow a systematic approach; however, it is not always linear in nature.

While working in analysis the designer may also be determining an organizational strategy or also

contemplating the assessment. Rigidity does not have to describe instructional design, one model

mentioned was the “ball of worms” model which insists that each stage is interwoven and connected

throughout the process.

#4 Smith & Ragan (1999). Foundations of Instructional Design. Instructional Design (pp. 13-29). New

York: Wiley.

In this chapter Smith & Ragan apply philosophy and theory in the realm of Instructional Design. The first

to be discussed was the difference between Constructivism (Rationalism) and Empiricism.

Constructivism (rationalism) is described as a belief that reason is the biggest source of knowledge and is

constructed rather than discovered. There are three major divisions of Constructivism including

Individual Constructivism, Social Constructivism, and Contextualism. Individual Constructivism focuses

on the belief that knowledge is constructed based on experience, whereas, Social Constructivism

believes that acquiring knowledge is based on collaborative learning. Contextualism believes that

learning is dependent on the context of a realistic setting. Empiricism believes that knowledge is gained

through experiences. The philosophy that is found in the middle between Constructivism and

Empiricism is Pragmatism which would describe knowledge as being true for now until future

experiences change or disprove them.

As for the theories Smith & Ragan focus on the differences between behaviorism and cognitive theories.

Behaviorism has been directly influenced by such psychologists as B.F. Skinner, J.B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov,

and many more. These have all contributed methods of learning such as classical conditioning and

operant conditioning describing the relationship between behaviors and stimuli. Cognitive learning

theories focus more on the internal factors of the learner rather than those of the environment.

Information-Processing Theory is one that describes the procedures inside the brain that contribute to

information being processed from the sensory register to working memory, and finally to long term

memory encoding.

#5 WINN, W. (1990). Some implications of cognitive theory for instructional design. Instructional

Science, 19(1), 53-69. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org.login.library.coastal.edu:2048/stable/23369904

This article focuses on how instructional design, education, and how we understand learning have

changed since their inception. The beginning of instructional design and education relied on the

teachings of behaviorism to influence the design of instruction. Behaviorists believe that learning occurs
when behavior changes as a result of instruction(stimulus), after which, reinforcement or correction

takes place. These theories allow for prescribed principles about what will strengthen the stimulus-

response links to increase the effectiveness of learning.

In recent years we have seen a transition away from the focus on behaviorism, transitioning to one of

Cognitive theory and principles. Cognitive theory proposes that learning is a system of processes that

take place in the brain, rather than solely relying on stimuli-response relationships. Winn proposes that

cognitive theory is applied to task analysis, objectives, learner characteristics, and strategies in current

methods of instructional design and education. Task analysis would have designers focus on identifying

“unobservable” tasks rather than behaviors that can be directly observed, which is at the heart of

cognitive theory principles. Cognitive objectives are statements that represent the knowledge that

students should attain, and the processes required to complete these objectives. Learner

characteristics in Cognitive Theory focuses on the fact that students are not completely empty vessels

waiting to be filled, but that they walk into educational environments with prior knowledges that may

be at varying levels of understandings. Strategies enforce cognitive principles that lead to greater

understanding rather than just memorization and recall of information.