Paper describes an approach to the problem of how particular pre-existing systems of cognitive structures in individuals could be brought to bear on the design and evaluation of an instructional unit. (Author)

Reports on a study of human problem-solving behavior in which a technique called First-Order Cognitive Analysis was employed to analyze the tasks involved in certain accounting processes such as bookkeeping. A reference list, an appendix outlining the problem employed in the study, and an appendix on the task analysis are attached. (JL)

Paper presents a two-fold operational partition of the structures involved in characterizing instructional knowledge. (Author)

Outlines a proposed model for understanding the human information processing system, which is conceptualized in terms of three interrelated major elements--executive, working, and long-term memory--with emphasis on the structure of long-term memory. Thirty-one references are listed. (MBR)

The proposed three-step strategy for research on human information processing--concept hierarchy analysis, analysis of example sets to teach relations among concepts, and analysis of problem sets to build a progressively larger schema for the problem space--may lead to practical procedures for instructional design and task analysis. Sixty-four…

Describes BACEIS (Behavior, Attitudes, Cognition, Environment viewed as Interactive Systems), a comprehensive theoretical model that includes internal and external factors affecting the development, retention, and transfer of thinking and learning skills. Uses of the model in instructional design, to guide research, and to critique existing…

Reviews psychometric approaches to problems of modeling student achievement (the student model) within intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). A number of cognitively oriented psychometric approaches, including latent-trait models, statistical pattern recognition methods, and causal probabilistic networks are described and discussed within the current…

Discusses how the reverse engineering approach can generate feedback on computer programs without the user having any prior knowledge of what the program was designed to do. This approach uses the cognitive model of programming knowledge to interpret both context independent and dependent errors in the same words and concepts as human programmers.…

From an ecological psychology perspective, a full analysis of any learning context must acknowledge the complex nonlinear dynamics that unfold as an intentionally-driven learner interacts with a technology-based purposefully designed learning environment. A full situation model would need to incorporate constraints from the environment and also…

Introduces the Cognitive-Motivational Model of Decision Satisfaction that extends work on closure and the motivational aspects of instruction and learning. Recognizes the importance of information processing in judgmental tasks and specifies confidence as a major contributing factor to learning satisfaction. Suggests potential applications to…

Summarizes information processing models of the mind based on a literature review; describes a prototypical model of college learning; examines links between mental models and cognitive errors; reviews cognitive science students; and identifies six factors contributing to cognitive error production. (104 references) (Author/MBR)

New knowledge is made meaningful by relating it to prior knowledge. Although meaningfulness usually relates new knowledge to prior superordinate knowledge, arbitrarily meaningful knowledge, coordinate, subordinate, and analogic ideas, experiential knowledge, and cognitive strategy also facilitate learning. Optimization of prior knowledge is done…

Presents results of a qualitative study of problem solving in the domain of instructional design. Novice and expert instructional designers worked on a "think aloud" design task, and their instruction protocols were analyzed for problem-solving processes. Analysis revealed that experts and novices used divergent design models and…

Outlines a path analytic interpretation of data collected in light of the theoretical formulation of a dynamic model of memory. An investigation of industrial trainees' capacity to differentiate various ferrous and nonferrous metals is described which emphasizes the role of relational, strategic, and empirical knowledge in cognitive skill…

Research on intelligent tutoring systems is discussed from the point of view of providing moment-by-moment adaptation of content and form of instruction to the changing cognitive needs of individual learners. Implications of this goal for cognitive diagnosis, subject matter analysis, teaching tactics, and teaching strategies are analyzed. (Author)