the psychology of learning and motivation - Percepts and Concepts ...

Cognitive Load Theory 47assumed to be largely unrelated to the characteristics of long-term memorycan now be seen to closely depend on it. Long-term memory is acentral to, perhaps the central structure in, human cognitive architecture.The nature of learning is also changed by this perspective. A competentperson is not someone who has acquired complex, sophisticated,cognitive strategies that can be used in a variety of unrelated areas. Suchteachable/learnable general strategies have not been described, probablybecause they are biologically primary. Rather, competence is domainspecific. Some domains may be applicable in a large variety of areas, butit is still the particular domain that is important. Acquiring chess skill maynot be usable in any areas other than playing chess. Acquiring reading skillmay allow a person to read an unlimited number of unrelated texts.Nevertheless, reading skill applies only to reading. It will not improve aperson’s chess skill. Neither, in isolation, will it improve a person’sknowledge of history. It will, of course, enable one to read historical textsand being able to read historical texts will improve a person’s knowledgeof history. The point is that in each case, the skill can be clearly specifiedand so clearly taught. From an educational perspective, the role of educationis to increase knowledge held in long-term memory of particulardiscipline areas. How that knowledge is best acquired is a concern ofcognitive load theory. Teaching general cognitive skills, on the otherhand, may need to await the specification of such skills.2.2.2. Borrowing and Reorganizing PrincipleIf, as indicated by the information store principle, natural informationprocessing systems require a very large store of information in order tofunction in complex natural environments, the processes by which largestores of information are acquired become a critical issue. In the case ofevolution by natural selection, the processes of reproduction, both asexualand sexual, are well known. They constitute the primary procedures bywhich a store of information is acquired. During asexual reproduction,each genome is copied exactly from the genome of the previous generation,with the exception of occasional mutations. In this sense, theinformation store that constitutes a particular genome has been borrowedlargely in its entirety from the information store of the preceding generation.Borrowing can be seen to be a major procedure for acquiring a largeinformation store.Borrowing is equally important in the case of sexual reproduction.The major difference between asexual and sexual reproduction is that inthe case of asexual reproduction, an information store is borrowed withno or minimal change, while in the case of sexual reproduction, theinformation is reorganized. Not only is the information reorganized, inaddition, that reorganization provides the major reason for the existenceof sexual reproduction. The reorganization of information during sexual