Studying learning and cognition through three approaches

• A context is explored through the three approaches and the key concepts (measurement, bias, causality…).
• Learning and thinking have biological (neural), cognitive (mental models) and sociocultural (observational, cultural) explanations.
• Cognitive research relies heavily on controlled experiments — powerful for causation but sometimes low in ecological validity.

Key idea: memory and thinking are active and reconstructive, not passive recordings.

Learning by conditioning and observation

• Classical conditioning (Pavlov): a neutral stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus comes to trigger a conditioned response.
• Operant conditioning (Skinner): behaviour is shaped by reinforcement and punishment.
• Social (observational) learning (Bandura): we learn by watching and imitating models, especially when the model is rewarded (vicarious reinforcement).

Concept — causality: conditioning studies manipulate stimuli/consequences, supporting causal claims about learning.

Which is right?

Schemas, dual processing and cognitive biases

• Schema theory: prior knowledge structures (schemas) guide how we interpret and remember information (e.g. Bartlett).
• Dual processing (Kahneman): fast, automatic System 1 versus slow, effortful System 2 thinking.
• Cognitive biases such as confirmation bias and anchoring arise largely from System 1 shortcuts.

Link: schemas make thinking efficient but can introduce systematic errors and biases.

Which is right?

Models of memory

• The multi-store model (Atkinson & Shiffrin) distinguishes sensory, short-term and long-term memory.
• The working memory model (Baddeley & Hitch) replaces a single STM with a central executive, phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad.
• Memory is reconstructive: Loftus showed leading questions and misinformation can distort recall.

Implication: eyewitness testimony can be unreliable because memory is rebuilt, not replayed.

Which is right?

Attention, perception and language

• Attention is selective — we filter information (e.g. the cocktail-party effect).
• Perception combines bottom-up sensory data with top-down expectations, so it can be shaped by context and schemas.
• Language interacts with thought; debates continue over how far language shapes cognition.

Concept — measurement: cognitive processes are inferred from performance (accuracy, reaction time), not observed directly.

Which is right?

Sort each idea to its strand

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Studying cognition rigorously

• Lab experiments give strong control (good for causation) but can have low ecological validity.
• Bias: demand characteristics can distort results; reconstructive memory research must handle ethics of implanting false memories.
• Measurement: reaction time and accuracy are common objective measures of cognitive processing.

Triangulating lab and real-world evidence gives a fuller picture of learning and cognition.

Which is right?

Match each item to its idea

Tap on the left, then its match on the right.

The big ideas to know

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