Six Principles of Human Learning

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Six Principles ofHuman Learning

• Henk G. Schmidt
• Department of Psychology
• Erasmus University

Copenhagen, September 2001
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Example of a medical problem.
A plumber sees his doctor with the following
complaint "This morning during a vehement
cough, all of a sudden I tasted blood in my
mouth. As this has occurred more often these
past few weeks I am becoming a bit anxious."
Please explain these phenomena
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The Seven jump
1. Clarify terms and concepts in the problem
description unknown to you2. Define the problem
that is List the phenomena to be explained3.
Analyse the problem try to produce as many
different explanations for the phenomena as you
can think of. Use prior knowledge and common
sense4. Arrange the explanations proposed Try
to produce a coherent desciption of the processes
that, according to what you think, underly the
phenomena5. Formulate learning goals6. Attempt
to fill the gaps in your knowledge through
selfstudy7. Share your findings with your group
and try to integrate the knowledge acquired into
a comprehensive explanation for the phenomena.
Check whether you know enough
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The Seven Jump
1. Clarify unclear phrases and concepts in
the description of the problem 2. Define
the problem which means Describe exactly which
phenomena have to be explained or understood 3.
3. Brainstorm Using your prior knowledge and
common sense, try to produce as many different
explanations as possible 4. 4. Elaborate on the
proposed explanations try to construct a
detailed coherent personal theory of the
processes underlying the phenomena 5. 5. In the
process formulate learning issues 6. 6. Try to
fill gaps in your knowledge of the problem
through self-study 7. 7. Report your findings in
the group and try to integrate the acquired
knowledge in a suitable explanation for the
phenomena. Check whether you know enough.
Evaluate the process of knowledge acquisition.
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Little monsters
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Six Principles ofHuman Learning

• Henk G. Schmidt
• Department of Psychology
• Erasmus University

Bern, April 2002
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Prelude The metaphor of the empty bucket
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? 3,14......
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You will be presented with an animal. Which
animal do you see?
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horse
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rabbit
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pig
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dog
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What do people still know about school subjects
after fifty years?
100
Percentage

correct
80
60
40
20
30
20
10
40
50
Interval in years
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A Patient
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The Green Card
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A Complaint
Doctor, I had such a high fever last night that
I was in my bed shaking vehemently!
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Learning by Family Doctors
Diagnostic performance
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12
10
r .68
8
6
4
2
Years of experience
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The Bath Tub
Options
1 2 3
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Learning is Activity!
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The degraded text
Marianne Vermeer is a university professor in
educational psychology. In much of her own
teaching, she uses chapters from academic books
and journal articles. She carefully selects those
articles and gathers them in a reader. The
articles must be well-structured and show a
coherent writing style, because it is well-known
that organized, coherent texts are easier to
remember than disorganized, incoherent
texts. For her fourth-year elective course,
Memory - Capita Selecta, Marianne composed such
a reader. One of the articles in this reader is
presenting a particularly interesting study. A
popular theory about human memory, studied before
by her students, is clearly rejected by the
results of this study. In the examination for the
course, an open question is posed about this
study. Students are required to relate the
presented results to the human memory theory that
is questioned, and explain in their own words why
the reported results are not in agreement with
this theory.
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Features of Learning and Memory

• Learning as construction of meaning
• The role of prior knowledge
• Elaboration
• Organization of knowledge
• Contextual dependency
• Intrinsic interest

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Nobody...
Nobody tells productions when to act they wait
until conditions are ripe and then activate
themselves. By contrast, chefs in the other
kitchen merely follow orders. Turing units are
nominated by their predecessors, von Neumann
operations are all prescheduled, and LISP
functions are invoked by other functions.
Production system teamwork is more laissez-faire
each production acts on its own, when and where
its private conditions are satisfied. There is
no central control, and individual productions
never directly interact. All communication and
influence is via patterns in the common workspace
--like anonymous "to whom it may concern"
notices on a public bulletin board.
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Birthday

• Mary celebrated her birthday
• John gave a book

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Birthday

• Mary celebrated her birthday
• John gave a book
• Henry was happy with it

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A newspaper is better than a magazine. A
seashore is a better place than the street. At
first, it is better to run than to walk. You may
have to try several times. It takes some skill
but it's easy to learn. Even young children can
enjoy it. Once successful, complications are
minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain
however, soaks in very fast. Too many people
doing the same thing can also cause problems.
One needs lots of room. If there are no
complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock
will serve as an anchor. If things break loose
from it, however, you will not get a second
chance.
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Paired Association

• Dog Bike
• Shoe Fire
• Farm Frog
• Chair Flower
• Bird School
• Pipe Freedom
• Bath tub Archimedes

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The Birds
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Paired Association

• Dog
• Shoe
• Farm
• Chair
• Bird
• Pipe
• Bath tub

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Features of Learning and Memory

• Learning as construction of meaning
• The role of prior knowledge
• Elaboration
• Organization of knowledge
• Contextual dependency
• Intrinsic interest

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Flight Connections SIB Airlines
Maastricht - Amsterdam vv Maastricht - Brussel
vv Amsterdam - Hamburg vv Amsterdam - Edinburg
vv Amsterdam - Brussel vv Amsterdam - Londen
(Gatwick) vv Brussel - Parijs vv Brussel -
Londen (Heathrow) vv Manchester - Londen
(Heathrow) vv
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Flight Connections SIB Airlines
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Context dependent memory
50
45
40
?
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?
Recalled on land
?
30
Recalled underwater
?
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Percentage of words recalled
?
?
20
15
10
5
0
Learned on land
Learned underwater
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Features of Learning and Memory

• Learning as construction of meaning
• The role of prior knowledge
• Elaboration
• Organization of knowledge
• Contextual dependency
• Intrinsic interest

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An example Love at first sight
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The picture shows the Capilano Bridge in the
neighborhood of Vancouver. On this bridge, Dutton
and Aron conducted in 1974 a curious experiment.
A beautiful research assistant (Gloria) was
placed halfway on the bridge. She asked passing
males to write, on the spot, a short story about
a number of pictures shown. In addition, she
offered the subjects the opportunity to phone her
a few days later to be informed about their score
for the story. Exactly the same procedure was
carried out at another site, a short bridge that
crosses the Capilano River three meters above
water level. The stories were scored with regard
to the amount of sexual content. In addition the
percentage of participants that called the
research assistant was recorded. About 12 of the
low-bridge-males called Gloria, whereas almost
half of the Capilano bridge participants called.
In addition, the stories produced on the Capilano
Bridge contained significantly more sexual
material.
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Claims of Problem-based Learning

• Problem as activator op prior knowledge
• Small-group discussion as means of elaboration
  and knowledge construction
• Problem as context for learning
• Learning as intrinsically motivated
• Learning as self-directed

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Platos problem
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Some other learning phenomena

• Chunking Learning by running
• Implicit learning H. M. learns to play the Tower
  of Hanoi
• Distinctiveness vs repetition Are you mad, all
  of you?
• Total time hypothesis Vosss Law
• Massed versus spaced practice distribution of
  study time.
• Levels of processing

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Will it rain tomorrow?
Approximately 85 of the Dutch population listens
regularly, i.e., at least once per day, to the
weather forecast. Approximately 80 of the
population considers the weather forecast on
radio and television to be clear and
understandable. The following text is an example
of a typical Dutch weather forecast as presented
on radio "Forecast for tonight and tomorrow. In
the evening in the southern part of the country
overcast skies, with in the southeastern region
occasional showers, otherwise some cloudless
periods but tomorrow in the afternoon some local
showers, especially in the northern and western
regions. Minimum temperatures around 10 degrees
Celsius, on the Friesian Islands a few degrees
higher. Maximum temperatures from 16 degrees
Celsius in the northwest to 22 degrees Celsius in
the southeastern regions." In a series of
experiments it was found that radio presentation
of this type of weather forecast results in
rather low recall scores (22-29).
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Vosss Law
Number of hours of self-study
Number of guided hours
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Distribution of study time
Number of hours of self study
Study pattern in two semester program
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A coin is thrown
F
F
h
h
F
h
F
g
F
F
g
g
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Simplified Model of Cognitive System
Input
Short term memory
Long term memory
Sensors