Chapter 7: Cognitive
Views of Learning
Taylor
is having considerable difficulty remembering terms, names, and facts in his
English Literature class. On his last exam, he identified Shakespeare as the
author of The Canterbury Tales and London
as the location of the Tales. Historical authors and their works are so
confusing to him that he doesn't even try to remember them. The result is that,
although he typically does satisfactorily on essays (he purposefully leaves out
connecting authors with their works that he is uncertain about), his scores are
extremely low on objective items such as multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank
items.
- With what type of memory (procedural, episodic, or semantic)
is Taylor
having difficulty?
- Apply the concepts of massed vs. distributed practice
to suggest an effective strategy that Taylor might employ to improve his
performance.
- Identify at least two mnemonic strategies that he could
employ and give an example of how each might be used.
- How did your reflections on this case study prepare you
to become more responsibly engaged
in the world?