Category: Cognitive Theories
Cognitive Load Theory of Multimedia Learning (Sweller)
Summary: A theory that focuses the load on working memory during instruction.
Originators and proponents: John Sweller
Keywords: cognitive load theory, working memory, multimedia learning
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Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer)
Summary: A cognitive theory of multimedia learning based on three main assumptions: there are two separate channels (auditory and visual) for processing information; there is limited channel capacity; and that learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating information.
Originator: Richard Mayer
Key terms: dual-channel, limited capacity, sensory, working, long-term memory
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Cognitivism
Summary: The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the “black box” of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor (like a computer).
Originators and important contributors: Merrill -Component Display Theory (CDT), Reigeluth (Elaboration Theory), Gagne, Briggs, Wager, Bruner (moving toward cognitive constructivism), Schank (scripts), Scandura (structural learning)
Keywords: Schema, schemata, information processing, symbol manipulation, information mapping, mental models
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Social Learning Theory (Bandura)
Summary: Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation.
Originator: Albert Bandura
Key Terms: Modeling, reciprocal determinism
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Attribution Theory (Weiner)
Summary: Attribution Theory attempts to explain the world and to determine the cause of an event or behavior (e.g. why people do what they do).
Originator: Bernard Weiner (1935- )
Key terms: Attribution, locus of control, stability, controllability
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