On Learning, Motivation and Cognition


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To dare speak about such a broad range of topics, one must decide on a perspective. Mine will be guided by time so let’s start getting all hands on deck to learn from the not-so-far-away decades of the 70s and 80s - a thrilling time for many - when the focus on mental associations created a propitious context for the appearance of the cognitive model for learning (Svinick, 1999).

When we consider cognitivist models we come to an era where attention is drawn to the learners; their mental associations (phase I), metacognition (Phase II), and self-regulation (phase III) showed us that there are too many learner variables to consider (Svinicki, 1999). That led to a shift in our focus: if there are so many variables to consider, what concept would provide the underlying similarities through which we could understand the fundamentals of cognitive development? Memory came to fore and now we know that, as with self-deception (Kegan, 2012), it is an elusive construct that relies on patterns and is influenced by strategies, knowledge and capacity (Chi, 1978).

To get to transfer, Barnett and Ceci (2002) draw attention to the matrix of combinations between context and content for when teachers design learning tasks: near transfer require tasks that have much in common whereas far transfer demands tasks that have little in common. Therefore, transfer is more likely to happen when memory demands are low and general stratefies are apllied. Byrnes (2007) points to the links between goals and skills that have to be present if one aims at transfer. That leads us to a central point for transfer:  providing clear (Hattie, 2009), attainable (Elliot & Dweck, 1988) and specific (Byrnes, 2007) goals has to become a top priority in contexts that are designed for learning. Whether these goals are learning or performance ones (Dweck & Legget, 1988), proximal or distal, social or academic, or even a mix-and-match of them all (Byrnes, 2007), learners must be aware, and be made perceptually aware, that they are the driving force in one’s motivation to learn.

That is a great challenge but one that needs to be faced as goals are the signatures of external or social (macro) elements that will establish relations with our internal (micro) ones (Tudge & Winterhoff, 1993). By being consciously aware of one's goals, learners will be more likely to build up the necessary motivation for that is what will engage or not their attention and determine (or not) their step forward.

How do you face that challenge in your environment?

References

Barnett, S. M., & Ceci, S. J. (2002). When and where do we apply what we learn? A taxonomy for far transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 612-637. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.612 

British Columbia Organization Development Network [BCODN]. (2012, July 21). An evening with Robert Kegan and Immunity to Change [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/FFYnVmGu9ZI

Byrnes, J.P. (2007). Cognitive development and learning in instructional contexts (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Chi, M. (1978). Knowledge structures and memory development. In R. Sternberg (Ed.) Children’s thinking, what develops? (pp. 73-96). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum  

Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(2), 256-273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256

Elliott, E. S., & Dweck, C. S. (1988). Goals: An approach to motivation and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(1), 5-12. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.1.5

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge.

Svinicki, M. (1999). New directions in learning and motivation. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 1999(80), 5-27. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.8001

Tudge, J. R., & Winterhoff, P. A. (1993). Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bandura: Perspectives on the relations between the social world and cognitive development. Human Development, 36(2), 61-81. https://doi.org/10.1159/000277297

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