The Psychology Book (52 page)

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 163

WHEN A BABY

HEARS FOOTSTEPS,

AN ASSEMBLY

IS EXCITED

DONALD HEBB (1904–1985)

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

I
n the 1920s, a number of assemblies and phase sequences

psychologists turned to

are being formed. In his book,
The

neuroscience for answers

Organization of Behavior
(1949), he

to questions about learning and

gave the example of a baby hearing

Neuropsychology

memory. Prominent among these

footsteps, which stimulates a

BEFORE

was Karl Lashley, who led the way

number of neurons in its brain;

in examining the role played by

if the experience is repeated, a

1890
William James puts

neural connections, but it was his

cell assembly forms. Subsequently,

forward a theory about neural

student, the Canadian psychologist

“when the baby hears footsteps…

networks in the brain.

Donald Hebb, who formulated a

an assembly is excited; while this

1911
Edward Thorndike’s

theory to explain what actually

is still active he sees a face and

Law of Effect proposes that

happens during the process of

feels hands picking him up, which

connections between stimulus

associative learning.

excites other assemblies—so the

and response are “stamped in,”

Hebb argued that nerve cells

‘footsteps assembly’ becomes

creating a neural link, or

become associated when they are

connected with the ‘face assembly’

association.

simultaneously and repeatedly

and with the ‘being-picked-up

active; the synapses, or links, that

assembly.’ After this has happened,

1917
Wolfgang Köhler’s study

connect them become stronger.

when the baby hears footsteps only,

of chimps shows that learning

Repeated experiences lead to the

all three assemblies are excited.”

by insight is longer-lasting

formation of “cell assemblies,” or

In adults, however, learning tends

than learning by trial and error.

groups of connected neurons, in the

to involve the rearrangement

brain—a theory often summed up

of existing cell assemblies and

1929
Karl Lashley publishes

as “cells that fire together, wire

phase sequences, rather than the

Brain Mechanisms and

together.” Similarly, separate cell

formation of new ones.

Intelligence
.

assemblies can also become linked,

Hebb’s theory of cell assembly

AFTER

forming a “phase sequence,” which

was a cornerstone of modern

1970s
George Armitage Miller

we recognize as a thought process.

neuroscience, and his explanation

coins the term “cognitive

This associative process, Hebb

of neural learning, which became

neuroscience.”

found, is especially noticeable in

known as Hebbian learning,

childhood learning, when new cell

remains the accepted model. ■

1980s
Neuroscientists devise

imaging techniques, allowing

See also:
Edward Thorndike 62–65 ■ Karl Lashley 76 ■ Wolfgang Köhler 160–61 ■

them to map brain functions.

George Armitage Miller 168–73 ■ Daniel Schacter 208–09

164

KNOWING

IS A PROCESS

NOT A PRODUCT

JEROME BRUNER (1915– )

IN CONTEXT

Instructing someone is not

APPROACH

We learn things by

just telling them something

Cognitive development

active experience
.

but
encouraging them

to participate
.

BEFORE

1920s
Lev Vygotsky develops

his theory that cognitive

development is a both a

We acquire knowledge through the use of reasoning, by

social and a cultural process.

constructing meaning
from the information.

1936
Jean Piaget publishes

his developmental theories

in his book,
Origins of

Intelligence in the Child
.

This is a form of
information processing
.

AFTER

1960s
The teaching program

“Man: A Course of Study

(MACOS),” based on Bruner’s

Knowing is a process, not a product.

theories, is adopted in

schools in the US, the

UK, and Australia.

widened the meaning of the word

1977
Albert Bandura

T
he field of developmental

psychology was dominated

“experience” to encompass cultural

publishes
Social Learning

throughout much of the

and social experience. Children,

Theory
, which looks at

20th century by Jean Piaget, who

he said, learn mainly through

development through a

explained how a child’s thinking

interaction with other people.

develops and matures in stages,

At this point in the 1960s, the

mixture of behavioral

as a result of a natural curiosity

“cognitive revolution” was gaining

and cognitive aspects.

to explore the environment. Lev

momentum; mental processes were

Vygotsky’s theory, which appeared

increasingly being explained by

in English shortly after Piaget’s,

the analogy of the brain as an

also claimed that a child finds

“information processor.” Jerome

meaning through experience, but

Bruner was a key figure in this new

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 165

See also:
Jean Piaget 262–69 ■ Lev Vygotsky 270 ■ Albert Bandura 286–91

Ideas are first presented in a

simple and intuitive
way.

They are continuously

revisited and

reconstructed
in an

Jerome Bruner

increasingly formal way...

The son of Polish immigrants

in New York City, Jerome

Seymour Bruner was born

...and are finally

blind, but regained his sight

connected to other

after cataract operations at

A spiral curriculum
would work

knowledge
for

the age of two. His father died

best in schools, Bruner suggested. This

comprehensive mastery

of cancer when Bruner was 12,

involves a constant revisiting of ideas,

of the subject.

and his grief stricken mother

building incrementally until the child

moved the family frequently

reaches a high level of understanding.

during his subsequent school

years. He studied psychology

approach, having previously

development, but “to instruct

at Duke University, then at

studied the ways that our needs

someone... is not a matter of getting

Harvard, where he attained a

and motivations influence

him to commit results to mind.

PhD in 1941 alongside Gordon

perception—and concluding that

Rather, it is to teach him to

Allport and Karl Lashley.

we see what we need to see. He

participate in the process.” When

Bruner served in the US

became interested in how cognition

we acquire knowledge, we need to

army’s Office for Strategic

Studies (an intelligence unit)

develops, and so began to study

actively participate and reason,

during World War II, then

cognitive processes in children.

rather than passively absorb

returned to Harvard, where he

information, because this is what

collaborated with Leo Postman

The mind as processor

gives knowledge meaning. In terms

and George Armitage Miller. In

Bruner began his investigations

of cognitive psychology, reasoning

1960, he cofounded the Center

by applying cognitive models to

is seen as “processing information,”

for Cognitive Studies with

Piaget and Vygotsky’s ideas,

so the acquisition of knowledge

Miller at Harvard, remaining

shifting the emphasis in the study

should be seen as a process, not

until it closed in 1972. He spent

of cognitive development from the

a product or end result. We need

the next ten years teaching at

construction of meaning to the

encouragement and guidance in

Oxford University in England,

processing of information: the

that process, and for Bruner, that

before returning to the US.

means by which we acquire and

is the role of a teacher.

Bruner continued to teach

store knowledge. Like Piaget, he

In
The Process of Education

into his nineties.

believes that acquiring knowledge

(1960), Bruner presented the idea

Key works

is an experiential process; but like

that children should be active

Vygotsky, sees this as a social

participants in the process of

1960
The Process of Education

occupation, not a solitary one. He

education. The book became a

1966
Studies in Cognitive

maintains that learning cannot be

landmark text, altering educational

Growth

conducted unassisted: some form of

policy in the US at governmental

1990
Acts of Meaning

instruction is essential to a child’s

and schoolteacher level. ■