COGNITION AND INSTRUCTION - THEIR HISTORIC MEETING WITHIN EDUCATIONAL-PSYCHOLOGY

The purpose of this article is to examine the emergence of cognitive approaches to instruction, with hope that an understanding of the origins of this field will yield perspective on where it is going. First, an historical analysis of the relation between psychology and education, especially cognitive psychology and instruction, is undertaken. Then, an historical overview is provided of the progression of 3 views of learning and instruction: learning as response acquisition, learning as knowledge acquisition, and learning as knowledge construction. Next, cognitive theory is examined in more detail, with a particular focus on cognitive processes involved in learning. Finally, examples of progress and potential progress in the area of cognition and instruction are provided, through a focus on the emergence of psychologies of subject matter and on the cognitive analysis of individual learning strategies.