CRITIQUE OF COGNITIVISM AS A THEORY IN EDUCATION
Cognitivism or cognitive psychology is a theory of learning that sees a learner as an active receiver, processor, and stoker of information that is being learned (Eysenck and Keane, 2015). This theory was developed in the twentieth century in criticism of behaviourism, especially following the advent of computers. Cognitive psychology likened a human mind to a computer that receives, processes and stores information (Leonard, 2002). Essentially, cognitivism focuses on the mental process that leads to learning. However, this theory is not devoid of pitfalls. This paper addresses the various strengths, pitfalls, and weaknesses seen in the theory of cognitive psychology by first giving a brief summary of the theory.
Cognitive psychology is a theory of learning thatappreciates the role of unseen mental phenomena in the learning process (Leonard, 2002). Cognitivism appreciates the importance of cognitive and mental development in the learning process. For one to learn, they have to pay attention – cognitivism sees attention as an active process initiated by the attributes of the learner (Eysenck and Keane, 2015). There are existing schemes according to which information received by hearing and vision is processed and organised. These schemes also guide the storage and subsequent retrieval or recall of the information that is stored. The concept of schemes means that cognitivismemphasises that learning is dependent on what the learner already knows; the schemes are made from pre-existing information (Baron-Cohen et al., 1994). The environment and the process of instruction highly influence the learning process as postulated by the theory of cognitivism. The learning process, therefore, includes the learner’s beliefs, attitudes and thoughts.
The main strength of the theory of cognitive psychology is its wide application in current education systems. A study by Baron-Cohen and colleagues used this theory to identify the thinking deficits that constituted the condition known as autism or Asperger’s syndrome (Baron-Cohen et al., 1994). This makes cognitive psychology an important concept in the diagnosis of autism and in subsequent management of children with autism. Understanding the mental and thinking deficits that underlie the learning difficulties seen in autism can help a teacher know how best to handle such children. The concept of cognitive psychology is also used widely in eyewitness testimonies and forensic psychology (Loftus and Palmer, 1996). This use was enhanced by a study conducted by Loftus and Palmer (1996), which used leading questions to enhance memory; the leading questions essentially made it easier for information to be retrieved from the many storage compartments in the brain. These are not the only applications of cognitivism, and an understanding of this theory is key to any teaching exercise (Geiselman et al. 1986). Teachers, for instance, must first strive to catch the attention of learners since attention is the first process in learning. Moreover, the fact that attention is an active learner-determined process has heavily informed the learner-directed learning system towards which the world is moving.
Another chief strength of cognitivism is its reliance on experimentation as the major research method. Experiments can help to determine a cause and effect relationship and demonstrate temporality between the suggested cause and effect. The most famous experiments in this regard were the Loftus and Palmer (1996) laboratory experiment, a quasi-experimental study by Cohen-Baron and colleagues, and a field study by Geiselmanet al. (1986). These experiments confirm that studies on cognitive psychology are actually scientific and have high internal validity, since the confounding factors are well controlled (Geiselman et al., 1986). The high internal validity of such studies makes them highly reliable and highly applicable in real life situations.
By explaining behaviour in only one dimension, cognitive psychology makes understanding behaviour much easier and thus enhances the applicability of the theory to more areas. Cognitive psychology explains behaviour solely as a result of cognitive decisions made by the individual (Leonard, 2002). Such a nomothetic approach reduces the number of variables that need to be modified in order for behaviour change to be achieved, hence enhancing the applicability of the theory.
Despite its applicability and widespread acceptability, cognitivism also has its weaknesses. The main weakness of cognitivism lies in its reliance on complex cognitive processes that cannot be observed (Higgs, 2008). Despite there being scientific evidence for the applicability of cognitivism, there is no such evidencefor the principle of cognitivism. The theory is reliant mainly on inferences. The study of the theory seems to be unscientific since it relies on subjective memories as the research findings. Critics of the famous Loftus and Palmer (1996) experiment argue that such memories could have been the result of poor judgment or the demand of the leading questions. Since memory cannot be directly observed, it is impossible to tell whether or notthe memory has undergone changes before it is reproduced. The fact that the findings in studies of cognitivism are dependent on mental processes that cannot be seen and are heavily subjective seems to nullify the internal validity of such studies.
The second major weakness of the theory of cognitive psychology lies in the importance the theory gives to cognitive decision-making over other factors that are known to affect behaviour. This is demonstrated best by a study into moral reasoning and behaviours of decision making among criminals by Palmer and Hollin (1997). The study concluded that the only explanation as to why the members of the study group were criminals and the control group were not was because of their own cognitive decision making. However, it is known that behaviour is influenced by many other factors including the environment, one’s upbringing, and one’s biology as demonstrated by studies conducted by Juby and Farrington (2001). It is reductionist to ascribe behaviour to cognitive decision making alone. Thought, language, attention, memory, and perception alone cannot explain behaviour sufficiently; behaviour is a complex result of many things surrounding an individual’s past and present life. Moreover, as McLeod (2003) puts it, the theory does not explain initial learning in the absence of prior knowledge.
Cognitive psychology is a theory of great applicability in the current education system. Even though it has weaknesses as discussed above, and various theories have been proposed to try and explain what the theory does not explain, we can conclude that cognitivism is a strong and real theory. From the discussion above, it is clear that the strengths of the theory are numerically and empirically superior to its weaknesses. The fact that the theory can be demonstrated experimentally makes the theory so realistic. It is a theory whose continued application in current education is justifiable.
Bibliography
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Palmer, E.J. and Hollin, C.R., 1997. The influence of perceptions of own parenting on sociomoral reasoning, attributions for criminal behaviour, and self-reported delinquency. Personality and Individual Differences, 23(2), pp.193-197.
