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Understanding How People Think and Learn

Discussions on how individuals think and learn have taken place throughout history. As a result, various perspectives, influenced by philosophy and psychology, have developed and continue to be developed. Successful instructional designers have a clear understanding of the major perspectives and how they influence the design and implementation of instruction.

This chapter provides an overview of the most common perspectives on thinking and learning that influence instructional design.

Guiding Questions

Why is it important for instructional designers to understand how people think? How have historical and current perspectives on thinking and the thinking process in instructional design been influenced by philosophy and educational psychology? What point of view do instructional designers typically have regarding thinking and the thinking process? What is learning? Why is it important for instructional designers to understand how people learn? What are two of the most common theories on how people learn that instructional designers make use of in their work? What different types of learning are there?

Key Terms

behaviorism (page 30) classical conditioning model (page 34) cognition (page 27) cognitive abilities (page 28) cognitivism (page 31) constructivism (page 31) eclecticism (page 17) executive abilities (page 28) learning (page 33) learning objective (page 38) memory (page 28) mental power (page 28) metacognition (page 28) neuroscience (page 31) operant conditioning model (page 35) scholasticism (page 29)

Chapter Overview Take a moment to reflect on what your definition is for thinking. If you struggled to come up with what you believe is a clear definition, don’t anguish over it because you are not alone. John Dewey, in How We Think, wrote, “No words are oftener on our lips than thinking and thought. So profuse and varied, indeed, is our use of these words that it is not easy to define just what we mean by them” (1910, p. 2). The words that Dewey wrote decades ago still ring true. Thinking remains a complex concept that is often used in a variety of contexts to indicate very different things; therefore, at any given time, understanding what thinking means can be quite a challenge.

Despite the challenges inherent in understanding thinking and the thinking process, having knowledge about how people process, store, and retrieve information—in other words, think—is crucial for an instructional designer. This understanding can help him or her better comprehend how people learn because thinking and learning are very much interconnected. An instructional designer who has a solid grasp on thinking and learning is able to design and develop efficient, effective, and meaningful instructional interventions.

The goal of this chapter is to provide you with a framework for understanding how people think and learn. Our intention is to simplify, if possible, how thinking and learning have been conceptualized historically and in more modern times. The opening section of the chapter is organized around two major topics. The first is how instructional designers typically view thinking and the thinking process. The second is a discussion on thinking from various historical and contemporary perspectives. The second half of the chapter examines two major psychological perspectives of learning—behaviorism and cognitivism—and describes how each conceptualizes the learning process.

Cognition and Basic Cognitive Functions Before beginning a discussion on how instructional designers typically view thinking and the thinking process, an important concept to understand is cognition. How people go about the process of thinking is often referred to as cognition. Cognition is the mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment. In essence, cognition includes all of the brain’s mental input and output. Cognition encompasses basic activities like using language and math functions during a trip to the hardware store, to making complex decisions such as selecting between two job offers, to writing a creative story, to being able to understand another person’s perspective.

Cognition and thinking are terms that can be used interchangeably. This may not resonate well with some; however, this book is not the place for a debate over the intricacies of cognition and how thinking may or may not be synonymous. It is important to realize as an instructional designer that cognition and thinking can be and often are used to refer to the same thing.

Basic Cognitive Functions

Numerous technical terms exist related to cognition. Making sense of these is not an easy task. There are hundreds of terms for specific components of cognition, with many having the same or very similar meanings. What makes it difficult in dealing with these components of cognition is that they can mean different things in different settings. Some of the differences may reflect important scientific or theoretical nuances, but many are simply jargon specific to a particular discipline or profession.

The important thing to remember is that cognition and the components of cognition are important to understand because, as mentioned earlier, understanding how people think helps to understand how they learn. Understanding how people learn will

help you as an instructional designer assist your clients in developing effective and efficient instructional interventions. You do not, however, need to be a cognitive scientist to have an adequate understanding of how people think.

Let’s review some important concepts related to cognition.

Memory

Memory is much more than just a passive storage system of knowledge. Memory is a set of active processes that encode information. Memory places information into “packages” or “packets” making information easier to recall and allowing it to be associated with related items already in memory. Memory also involves storing information. Part of this process is the constant rearranging of what has been stored for that new knowledge to be integrated with what has already been stored. Additionally, it allows provides for locating and retrieving of information as it is needed.

Mental Power

Mental power is the basic energy that supports mental activity. It refers to how much mental work can be performed during a specific amount of time. Power can be used to sustain something simple like using a television remote control or something more complex like operating a computer. With either case, the central issue focuses on having enough power on hand to complete the task. In the cognitive domain, power refers to arousal level, concentration span, channel capacity, and mental stamina.

Specific Cognitive Abilities

These functions refer to an individual’s stored supply of knowledge and skills. This includes items such as reading, writing, comprehension, motor skills, and visual-spatial skills.

Executive Abilities

Executive abilities encompass a very large category of cognitive functions. Executive abilities include such higher-order thinking skills as being able to anticipate future needs and planning accordingly, the ability to set priorities, and being able to self-correct and regulate actions. In essence, these are the capacities, which allow an individual to use her mental power and specific cognitive abilities to meet social, professional, and psychological needs.

Metacognition

Metacognition is the ability to control one’s own cognitive processes. It is often referred to as the practice of “thinking about thinking.” In using metacognition, an individual takes an introspective look at the thought process that she has gone through. It allows her to critically consider how she arrived at certain ideas, concepts, and thoughts. Metacognition is a reflective process that helps improve an individual’s control over his or her own thinking process and learning (Bleiberg, 2001; Flavell, 1979; Mayer, 2011, 2017; Ormrod, 2013; Sternberg, 1986; Woolfolk Hoy, 2016).

A Historical Perspective on Thinking: A Brief History Historically, thinking was consigned to the realm of philosophy. Possibly the earliest theory about how the mind works was offered in the 4th and 5th centuries bc by Greek philosophers like Empedocles, Democritus, and Epicurus. These philosophers believed that the mind perceived images given off by objects. These perceived images were then copied as sense impressions and stored into memory. “Knowledge then becomes a matter of knowing these mental copies, and the earliest copy theories suggested that the mind knew directly what the sensory nerves brought to it” (Herrnstein & Boring, 1965 as cited in Driscoll, 2004).

A very different perspective, suggested by Plato (and much later by Kant), generally known as idealism, stated that the mind does not directly comprehend reality or copy it. With this perspective, reason is considered the primary source for understanding and knowledge. The major proposition behind this perspective is that all data coming from the senses are interpreted by the mind according to the mind’s innate tendencies (Collinson, 1978; Driscoll, 2004).

Philosophy followed this theme (with numerous slight variations) up until the influence of the Church shifted philosophical thought around the 9th century. This influence led to what was called scholasticism, a philosophical perspective based upon a mixture of Aristotelian and Church writings and thought. Scholastic philosophy was built around a highly organized system of truths, which were distinct from Church doctrines but were not in opposition to them. Scholastic philosophers, such as Thomas Aquinas, believed that human intellect was incapable of acquiring knowledge of intelligible things without illumination from God. Individual interaction and participation with the Word of God was necessary if knowledge was to be gained. Thinking was directly related to what God provided to individuals through his inspiration (or “illumination”) (Nichols, 2003).

Another shift in the view on thinking began with the dawn of the Renaissance and continued into the 17th and 18th centuries. A movement began that shifted attention away from the belief that truth was divinely inspired by God and that the individual was incapable of discerning what is real or what is truth. Philosophers, like Descartes and Locke, believed to be true what they saw with their own eyes and experienced with their senses. Rather than assuming God played the key role in the universe, humans began to be the standard for judging what was real and what truth was. Human intellect was deemed capable of discriminating between truth and error. Certain defined methods for discovering truth and evaluating evidence came to be considered reliable and sufficient for discovering truth. Thinking focused more on observation, experience, rational thought, and the scientific method, rather than solely on God and tradition (Almog, 2002; Sorell, 2001).

A Modern View on Thinking: The Shift from Philosophy to Psychology While philosophy continues to play a role in how thinking and the thinking process is conceptualized, the emergence of psychology (especially educational psychology), in the mid- to late 19th century, has had and continues to have the most significant influence on how instructional designers view thinking. Educational psychology, which originated as a separate branch of psychology in 1892 (Berliner, 1993; Mayer, 2017), has provided a concentrated look at thinking and learning through a more scientific perspective—one based upon research and which includes a focus specifically on how thinking and learning are interconnected.

Two Major Perspectives

Two major perspectives, with several variations, emerged from psychology and have dominated the way instructional designers view how people think, and, in turn, how people learn. Provided in this section are brief explanations of these two distinctly different perspectives—behaviorist and cognitivist—with mention of key individuals who have had influence on how these perspectives have developed.

As an instructional designer, it is important to keep in mind that neither perspective is inherently better than the other. Each perspective offers important contributions that help us understand how individuals think and how people learn. Although most instructional designers tend to feel more comfortable with one perspective over the other, instructional designers will use principles and practices from both as they design and develop instructional interventions. It is also important to remember that these two perspectives are two of out of many that exist. They are described here because they are two of the most influential perspectives.

Positivism and Interpretivism

Before we begin the discussion of behaviorist and cognitivist perspectives it is important to provide a brief description of two contrasting philosophical perspectives. We include this information because it helps explain how many people come to understand how people think and learn.

Positivism and interpretivism are often seen as a dichotomy for describing individual approaches to how knowledge is generated and verified. Positivism presumes that there are only two sources of knowledge—logical reasoning and empirical experience. Logical knowledge includes mathematics, which is reducible to formal logic. Empirical knowledge includes such areas as physics, biology, and psychology. Experience is the only judge of scientific theories (and therefore knowledge). Interpretivism is based upon the view that knowledge is a matter of perspective. To understand the world, an individual must interpret it. Schwandt (1998) wrote, “what we take to be objective knowledge and the truth is the result of perspective. Knowledge and truth are created, not discovered by the mind” (p. 167).

As you will read below, behaviorist and cognitivist perspectives draw from the positivist and in interpretist philosophies.

The Behaviorist Perspective

The behaviorist perspective, known as behaviorism, dominated psychology for first half of the 20th century (Brandt & Perkins, 2000). Behaviorism includes a group of theories that share several common beliefs—“the generalizability of learning principles across species, the importance of focusing on observable events, and the ‘blank slate’ nature of organisms” (Ormrod, 2013, p. 48). According to behaviorists, mental processes are invisible and therefore cannot be studied scientifically. What can be observed is outward behavior; therefore, rather than speculating on internal causes for why things take place, focus should be placed on how organisms respond to different stimuli (Brandt & Perkins, 2000; Brunning, Schraw, & Norby, 2011; Ormrod, 2013; Woolfolk Hoy, 2016). From a behaviorist perspective, the human mind is malleable, capable of being shaped and formed into producing desired responses and behaviors if specific conditions and circumstances are accounted for and controlled.

The early foundational work of behaviorism was carried out by individuals such as Pavlov (1800–1950), Thorndike (1874– 1949), Watson (1878–1958), and Guthrie (1886–1959). Their research was most notably conducted using animals—typically rats, pigeons, cats, and, in the case of Pavlov, dogs. Examples include the experiments conducted by Pavlov related to

salivation in dogs. He observed that a dog’s behavior could be conditioned in such a manner that if provided with a specific stimulus (e.g., the ringing of a bell) a specific behavior (e.g., salivation) would take place. Pavlov conditioned a dog to associate the ringing of a bell with eating, which was done by repeated ringing of a bell and then immediately feeding some meat to the dog. After following this process, Pavlov eventually rang the bell but did not provide meat to the dog; despite this, the dog still salivated in response to hearing the bell. The dog was conditioned to associate the bell with food (Pavlov, 1927). This became known as the Classical Conditioning Model. Skinner, unquestionably the best-known behaviorist, built upon this early body of research by developing what is known as operant conditioning. By observing pigeons and rats, Skinner observed that the increase in the frequency of a behavior was more likely to occur if followed immediately by a reinforcer (i.e., a reward) (Skinner, 1978). These concepts provided important insights that have helped provide understanding of the mind and how people think.

The Cognitivist Perspective

Psychologists in the years following World War II began to move away from behaviorism toward a different perspective of the mind and how people think. This perspective was distinguished as cognitivism. With this perspective, internal mental processes were considered important and capable of being identified and studied (Brandt & Perkins, 2000; Ormrod, 2013). From a cognitivist perspective, the human mind is considered highly complex. A metaphor typically used by cognitivists to describe the mind is a computer. Like a computer, the mind processes information through a series of different processes that work together as a complete system.

Several individuals have had tremendous influence on the cognitive perspective. The foundations of cognitivism were built on the work of Vygotsky (1896–1934), Dewey, Piaget (1896–1990), and Bruner (1915–).

More Recent Perspectives

Although behavorist and cognitivist perspectives have dominated the way in which thinking has been perceived, more recent perspectives have influenced instructional designers views’ on how people think. These perspectives are constructivism, neuroscience, and postmodernism.

Constructivism

Constructivism, a variant of cognitivism, is centered around the principle that an individual constructs his own understanding of the world he lives in by reflecting on his experiences. An individual generates his own mental models, which he uses to make sense of his experiences. Brandt and Perkins (2000) write, “Both a philosophical and psychological stance, constructivism argues that the human mind does not simply take in the world but makes it up in an active way” (p. 160). Brooks (2001) describes the underlying principle of constructivism in more detail.

Each of us makes sense of our world by synthesizing new experiences into what we have previously come to understand. Often, we encounter an object, an idea, a relationship, or a phenomenon that doesn’t quite make sense to us. When confronted with such initially discrepant data or perceptions, we either interpret what we see to conform to our present set of rules for explaining and ordering our work, or we generate a new set of rules that better accounts for what we perceive to be occurring. Either way, our perceptions and rules are constantly engaged in a grand dance that shapes our understandings.

(p. 4)

With constructivism, one of the most important factors that influences learning—the construction of meaning and knowledge —is interacting with others. Through social interactions learners will build deeper understandings (van Merrienboer & de Bruin, 2014).

Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the study of the brain and nervous system. Neuroscientists focus on interpreting how the brain controls of all its varied and diverse functions. According to the Society for Neuroscience (2014), “Brain researchers are motivated to understand behavior. How do cell circuits enable us to read and speak? How and why do we form relationships? How do we think, remember, despair, or motivate?” (para. 6). Additionally, neuroscientists focus on disorders of the brain and body—how they occur and how they might be prevented or cured (Society for Neuroscience, 2014).

Although neuroscience is not a new field, the focused application of neuroscience to education has been relatively recent. According to Beauchamp and Beauchamp (2012), “Modern neuroscience research has produced findings about the brain and its functioning that could potentially impact the ways teachers in school classrooms approach their learners” (location 489). These findings can also have an impact on how instructional designers go about creating instruction. It should be noted that despite the positive applications of neuroscience in education, there have been many documented instances where applications

have not been based on sound empirical data (Anderson & Della Sala, 2012). According to Mayer (2017), “The potential of educational neuroscience rests in building connections between the science of learning and neuroscience to build a neuroscience-informed science of learning” (p. 844). This will help bring about “new implications for instructional design and classroom teaching” (p. 845).

Postmodernism

In the late 20th century and into the early 21st century, an approach called a postmodernism has provided a different perspective on how humans think.

Postmodernism is largely a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality. In essence, it stems from a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in human understanding of it, but rather, is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality.

(PBS, 2003)

In addition,

In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything; reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually. Postmodernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, knowing always that the outcome of one’s own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain and universal.

(PBS, 2003)

As mentioned, postmodern philosophy questions (and often rejects) the idealized view of truth and of knowing inherited from past philosophical traditions. To the postmodernist, thinking is a dynamic, ever-changing function that depends upon an individual’s interpretation of the world they live in (Butler, 2003; Goodman, 2008).

An Instructional Designer’s View on Thinking It is important to recognize that a person’s perspective on thinking largely depends upon a combination of that person’s education, training, philosophical beliefs, and profession. The perspective of instructional designers is no different. An instructional designer’s perspective on thinking, and in turn learning, is highly influenced by training and by the nature of the profession.

Instructional designers tend to look at thinking from a pragmatic point of view, asking themselves, What do we need to know about thinking and the studies done on thinking that will help develop efficient and effective instructional interventions? It is no surprise that the majority instructional designers are considered eclectic—borrowing from different perspectives and using what works for a given situation to produce desired results. Instructional designers tend to take a systems theory approach when it comes to looking at thinking (and learning) by exploring it from several different perspectives, rather than focusing narrowly on one aspect of what thinking is or is not. Instructional designers perceive thinking as a complex process that includes various interconnected elements, and therefore cannot be encapsulated in one neat and tidy description or theory. This view has been shaped by centuries of thought and study conducted by philosophers and psychologists on thinking and how the mind works.

What is Learning? As is the case with thinking, learning can be conceptualized in a variety of ways. Most often, learning is defined as being a relatively permanent change in either behavior or in mental representations or associations brought about by experience (Ormrod, 2013). The change that takes place will last for some time, but it may or may not last forever. These changes may be readily observable, such as when a child learns to tie his or her shoes, while other changes may be more subtle, such as when an individual gains a better appreciation for classical music (Ormrod, 2013). Additionally, these changes that occur may be deliberate or unintentional, correct or incorrect, and conscious or unconscious (Hill, 2002).

It is important to understand that change occurs as a result of experience. These experiences are events, planned or not, that occur in a learner’s life. Thus, change occurs as an individual interacts with his or her environment. It is important to note, however, that not all changes that take place are learned and therefore cannot be attributed to learning. These types of change are based on maturation or on temporary body states (e.g., fatigue, hunger, intoxication); they are not based on experiences (thus, they are not considered learned).

In examining the definition of learning, we propose that two very different types of changes can take place when learning occurs. The first is a change in behavior; the other is a change in mental representations or associations. It is important to note this difference because it reflects the divergent viewpoints of two psychological perspectives: behaviorism and cognitivism.

Two Major (and Very Different) Approaches to How People Learn There unquestionably exist more than two perspectives that describe how humans learn. Arguably, however, two of the most influential and popular perspectives that have had the greatest impact on instructional design are behaviorism and cognitivism. Throughout much of the first half of the 20th century, behaviorism dominated how instructional designers approached their work; it wasn’t until after World War II that cognitivism began to supplant behaviorism by providing an alternative viewpoint. Both perspectives, along with their various branches, continue to have great influence on instructional design activities in the 21st century. The purpose of this section is to provide a brief overview on how each perspective approaches how people lea

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