Theories of Learning
Schema Theory
Overview: Schema Theory is part of the cognitive theories of learning module and deals with how the brain processes new knowledge (Chalmers, 2003). Schemata are packets of prior knowledge that have been stored in a learner’s memory. Each learner has developed schemata that are based on prior experience and knowledge. Learners seek to connect new information with prior knowledge and use generalizations to assist in organization of information. Schema Theory is focused on conceptual learning and states that knowledge seeks organization in order to develop meaning (Anderson, 1984).
Contributors: Major contributors to Schema Theory include Frederic Bartlett, Jean Piaget, Richard C. Anderson, Marvin Minsky, David Rumelhart, Roger Schank and Robert Abelson. However, Richard C. Anderson was critical in focusing on the educational aspect of Schema Theory.
Major Principles: The major principles of Schema Theory focus on the idea that knowledge is built upon structure and organized into units (Axlerod, 1973). Organization and structure are hall...
Prospero, the protagonist of the play, is perhaps one of the more controversial characters in literary history. Prospero is essentially on a quest to right the wrongs that he and his daughter Miranda have had to suffer. He sees himself as a bringer of justice, and that he is morally correct in doing what he is doing. He was formerly the Duke of Milan, a fairly high position in regards to political power in Italy. One day, however, he was stabbed in the proverbial back by his own flesh and blood, his brother Antonio. Antonio removed Prospero of his position and took the reigns of Duke for himself. He then banished Prospero and Miranda out to sea, where they eventually ended up on the island. Now this sounds unjust, and of course it is. But Prospero then begins to contradict his own self. The island that he and Miranda come upon is already inhabited by a witch, Sycorax, and her son Caliban. Prospero, an extremely powerful man, looks down on Sycorax because she is a witch, and he proceeds to take over the island and run it as himself. This all of a sudden sounds like a familiar tale. Sycorax eventually passes away, and Prospero enslaves her son, Caliban, to do all of Prospero's bidding. Prospero also comes across a prisoner, Ariel, who has been imprisoned for twelve years. Ariel is an interesting character in that he is almost a spirit-like entity.
Additionally to CBT and DBT, Schema-focused therapy is a type of therapy that combines elements of CBT with other forms of psychotherapy that focuses on reassessing an individual 's schemas about themselves. This therapy is based on the theory that BPD stems from a dysfunctional self-image that affects how an individual reacts to others, their environment, and how they cope with problems or stress, whether it originates from negative childhood experiences or not (NIMH, n.d, para 23).
Olson, M. H., & Hergenhahn, B.R. (2012). An introduction to the theories of learning (9th ed.)
This has been cultivated through Prospero. Who is a multi-layered character that is depicted as a father, magus and god/ruler of the island, thus Prospero is learning to balance and redefine himself which often leads to his intellectual response to get the better of him. Prospero’s personal context of having come from Milan means he expects power when he comes to the island, which is evident in the motif of mater vs servant relationship which is manifested by his knowledge about dominance. Shakespeare has created a complex character of Caliban, who fails to remove himself from a servant position. Caliban is the reflective nature of Prospero’s inner turmoil, “we visit Caliban my slave”, “My slave”, the use of personal pronoun, “my” further states Prospero’s intellectual response to control Caliban. Shakespeare here comments on how Prospero’s past lack of control has caused his power obsession and thus need to regain control. However, towards the end, Prospero’s rediscovery of compassion would have lead to the release of his servant Caliban, but due to the discovery of alcohol from Stephano and Trinculo, results in replacing them as his, “noble lord”. Further re-establishing his desire for authority, through his intellectual and emotional response which has been provoked by the
Each schema represents a particular concept, such as a specific object, place, or action. These basic units of knowledge are constantly being modified and new ones are added as a child learns more about the world. Schemas are very important to cognitive development as they greatly affect how an individual understands and responds to both new and familiar situations. Piaget believed that even newborn babies have schemas. These few, innate schemas are formed even before a child has had the chance to explore the world. They are the cognitive structures of the basic reflexes a child is born with, such as the grasping reflex or the rooting reflex. According to Piaget, a newborn infant would have a grasping schema and a rooting schema, as well as a sucking
Learning can be defined as the acquisition of knowledge through different means such as studying or through experience. There exist several ways of learning, and each individual is different in the way through which they learn best. Some of the ways of learning include visualizing, listening, read/write, and through kinesthetic (Nilson, 2010). Visualizing is whereby an individual learns best through diagrams used to represent information that would otherwise be represented through words. Such diagrams include graphs, maps, patterns, or hierarchies. Listening or aural learning, on the other hand, is whereby persons acquire information through listening. Such people are able to learn as a lecturer speaks or through group discussions. In turn, the read/write learning style is whereby an individual is able to acquire information through reading and writing. Finally, kinesthetic is whereby a person learns best through experience and practice such as experiments. The VARK analysis is used to determine which learning style a person gives preference to while learning (Ravenscroft, 2012).
Cognitivism is a response to behaviorism where learners participate in their learning. The mind functions like a computer where information is the input. The mind stores the information for the time being and the information is stored to retrieve later on. Learning is shaped by getting strategies and knowledge and attitudes, called schemas. The cognitivism view of learning is teacher-centered, and information is presented to achieve the most effective learning. Cognitivism is used in problem-solving where there are complex concepts, and the parts must be broken down, Prior knowledge creates ideas and concepts which encourage a stronger comprehension. The strengths of cognitivism are the learning information is processed in short-term memory and then stored away in long term memory. When bits of information are broken down, learners are not overwhelmed with information because they have time to process smaller bits. A weakness of cognitivism is it is hard to adapt to changes in what has been learned and
During his reign he became consumed in his studies of magic, and was neglecting his people, as a result was exiled to a desolate island, by order of his brother Alonzo. On this island Prospero met another outcast to society, just like himself, named Caliban who is native to the island. Caliban originally trusted Prospero, but due to misunderstanding of events, Prospero claimed Caliban as his slave and the island as his own, and thus Caliban hates Prospero for taking his island. Even though these two have little in common, they both feel as though something has been wrongfully taken from them, Prospero in his Dukedom and Caliban with his island. Up until the later acts of the play, Prospero is filled with hatred and desire for revenge on those who took his Dukedom from him, very similar to the hate that Caliban has toward Prospero for betraying him. Prospero’s hatred manifests itself against Caliban, as shown through the verbal abuse Caliban suffers from Prospero, along with the magic abuse he endures as
William Shakespeare's The Tempest presents ideas that have been deemed ahead of their time and at a first glance, there appears to be little more to this story than an exiled ruler and a shipwrecked crew. However, the many ways of interpreting this text vary greatly, and may rely on the context of the author to be related, where the text is found to be filled with intricacies and complex comments on society and reflections of the human experience. The first way this text may be interpreted is in a colonialist way, directly reflecting the new age of explorers, traversing into the New World, at the expense of the 'natives'. Shakespeare has used the characters of Caliban and Prospero to represent the colonised and coloniser , as well as all
‘This island’s mine, by Sycorax, my mother’ raises issues about authority and colonialism (Goold, 2007). The play suggests that Prospero has taken Caliban as his slave after the dispute. Caliban does not think Prospero is in charge of him, which could even be seen by the way he addresses Prospero. One of the simplest signs of respect in Shakespeare’s times was shown by addressing a single superior with the plural form of the second-person pronoun; ‘ye’ or ‘you’. Superiors were entitled to address their inferiors as ‘thou’ or ‘thee’, although ‘thou’ could also be used as a form of intimacy (Norbrook, 1998). When Caliban speaks to Prospero, he addresses him with ‘thou’ – “When thou cam'st first, / Thou strok'st me and madest much of me,” – therefore Caliban thinks of himself as equal as or more powerful than Prospero. However, it could also be seen that he uses ‘thou’ in the informal way, and therefore could be seeing Prospero as a fatherly figure, and this would mean he does see Prospero as one above him and in possession of power. Caliban also challenges Prospero’s authority, even after Prospero treats him like dirt, saying that because Prospero taught him the language, he can now curse him. It could be said that because of the way Prospero has been treated in the past, he now feels like someone else must suffer through what he has suffered. He
Cognitive learning theory will be applied to this teaching. Supporting data and content will be presented through slides, pamphlets and informational flyers to help target audience understand the disease prevention and importance of the influenza vaccine. In addition, preventive behaviors such as; washing hands, avoiding contact to persons known to have the flu will be communicated and supported.
Section 2 - With reference to one theory of how people learn, discuss how knowledge is being acquired by learners in your session.
Piaget argued that cognitive development is based on the development of schemas. This refers to a psychological structure representing all of a person’s knowledge of actions or objects. To perform a new skill which the person has no schema, they have to work from previous skills that they have. This is called assimilation, where they have pulled previous schemas together then adapted and changed them to fit their task through accommodation.
Throughout The Tempest, Shakespeare depicts Prospero as the ultimate puppet master, pulling each individual’s string towards his master plan. Along with his bossy and controlling attitude, Prospero claims “it was mine art/ that/… let thee out” (I.ii.351) to force Ariel into obedience. Hence with Prospero’s demands, Ariel sets up the encounter between Miranda and Ferdinand, causing them to fall in love, resulting in Prospero “rejoicing/ at nothing can be more” (III.ii.114-115). Considering the amount of power he possesses, Prospero wants to try to maintain the power. In order to keep the power, Shakespeare makes Prospero’s attitude demanding to explain the effects of having excessive amounts of power. Presenting Prospero as the bitter tyrant, Shakespeare expands on how power corrupts a person. Not satisfied with their current status, he addresses the issue of these people constantly craving
Another important use of the cultural schema theory is the development of culture-based product design. Prameswari, Hibino and Koyama (2016) argued that culture and design are two concept that are very connected and studied and these studies “are mainly focusing on transformation and application of cultural knowledge to design”. They also explained different sorts of applications of schema theory in design and discovered new kinds of schemata such as the image schema or visual image schema.