Biological Basis for Language Learning

Language may be innate and it is a vehicle for the expression of thoughts. Eric Lenneberg (1967) pointed out the clinical evidence that the language functions are located in the left hemisphere of the brain.

My son started to speak three different languages whe he was four years old. He learned the words from different people who were taking care of him in a day care center. Children can learn and manage languages faster than adults. The child’s neurological age is a critical factor in the language learning.

One of my friends was worried about his son, who is not talking like other children, in the same age group. He just say “mama, papa”. I told him to send the child to a day care center. Within a months period the boy started to speak.

At home, the child was with his mother alone and there was only limited chance of language use. The young brain is quite flexible. In addition, there are different modes/ areas in the brain for language functions.


Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Attention & Brain

Attention to the learning subject is very important. Many scholars include attention as one of the many mechanisms, which accounted for good memory. Attention occurs when a learner maintain an attitude of expectation, alert to information and needless of directions.

I have experienced some times like selective attention, like listening to one conversation at a party while ignoring others.

Lack of attention control and inattention observed among patients with brain’s frontal lobe damage. One of my uncle a mathematics professor, had an accident, and he had a head injury. Once he was going through the recovery, he had trouble to control his attention in one topic. He started to repeat the same subject or topic. He can count numbers, but he cannot do any arithmetic operations. I was very upset to see my uncle’s condition.

Now I understood the damage caused to frontal lobe might be the reason for the above problem. I have learned that catecholaminar, an important neurotransmitter related to keep the attention.


Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Genetic Inheritance & Brain Psychology

The last year I studied biology was in my associate degree. I learned about DNA and RNA in details. I also learned about gene. It was so exciting to learn about those tiny tots determining our physical and mental characters. I used to think about genes as the “god’s own signature” to generations. It carries all the encoded informations from one generation to the other generation. The informations carried to the next generation can be good and bad. It makes somebody more intelligent compared to others.

I learned about mutation in one of the classes. According to Charles Darwin (1859) in a struggle fro existence, organisms that are perfectly adapt to their environments will survive unchanged. If the conditions are not favorable then the organisms will not adopt their environment perfectly, but a change in the structure of their gene will happen. A small change, mistake in one of the base of a DNA can change the properties of that and create sever problems. The mutation is responsible for the diversity in the world. Some times mutation helps the organisms to survive and some time causes problems.

Human went through several mutations and each of us differs from one another. Our abilities, physical characters, and mental characters are different. All related to the genes we own. Somebody can draw pictures, sing songs, lead a group, and the list goes on. All these are qualities and capabilities coming from the gene.

Genes are very much responsible for human intelligence, motor learning capabilities, criminality, alcoholism, and a broad range of other behaviors.

Even though research is progressing to alter the gene characteristics artificially, there are no known effective and safe techniques.


Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Internalization & Zone of Proximal Development

According to Vygotsky (1981), "Higher mental process are created, then, when mediation becomes more internal and symbolic." He proposed internalization and zone of proximal development to explain this.

When the children were small, they used to learn lot from us. They learn the meaning of our actions by imitating us. Once they learn those actions they internalize it.

They were knowing very few words. But they used to talk lot some times alone;using their limited vocabulary. According to Vygotsky (1962), “When children have made the transition of isolating their own consciousness from the social world around them, their egocentric speech will be entirely subvocal and inner-directed.” This is a way of internalization.

However, whenever I heard my children talking alone, I used to start talking with them. I really enjoyed that. For myself, I thought my childeren need somebody to talk with. But now I know, I was doing something more. I was helping them to belive that their talks can be used effectively to communicate.

I can talk in six languages. How did I learned these languages? For me, my mother tounge was the most comfortable language to use. I can learned some other languages by metatalk. When ever sombody talks in other language, I always try to understand the words meaning in my mothertoungue. Until the new language entirely internalized, I relyed on my mother tounge or another language I am proficient.

The gap separating the actual development from potential development is the Zone of Proximal Development. This concept has really revolutionary implications in the assessment of children’s intellectual abilities.

This concept takes me back to the old method of stayng and learning from a noted scholar. The learner will get appropriate instruction in the Zone of Proximal Development and the boundaries of the zone shifts.


Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Buying a Home

To day was a busy day for my family. Since we were planning to buy a home, we went with our realtor to see a couple of houses. She was living in the neighborhood, she took us, for long time. Therefore, she was explaining the good and bad things about each community.

“Individual development cannot be understood without reference to the social milieu in which the child is embedded.” (Tudge & Rogoff, 1989) According to Vygotsky, one of the brilliant psychologists, “Biological and cultural development do not occur in isolation. It is important to consider the social and cultural factors as they mediate the development of human intellectual capabilities.”

Children convert social relations in to psychological functions by mediation through signs. The mediation signs are, indexical (Cause-effect relationship with the events), iconic (images or pictures) and symbolic (abstract relation with the events). These signs are the same signs suggested by Bruner (1961). Children used to internalize these signs and leads to a new learning.
We decided not to buy few houses even though they were good. It is because the social situations in some of the communies were not very good. We were very much concerned about our children. Our children came from another country, another social system. We like our children to internalize all the good signs from the local social system, not the bad. We know their school, teachers, classmates, friends, or neighbors are going to influence their individual development. Before we buy any house, I will thoroughly study the social and cultural conditions of the community; I am going to put my children. As a father that is one thing, I can do for my children.


Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Bruner’s Modes of Cognitive Representation and My Son

I read about two great people Jerome S. Bruner and Lev S. Vygotsky yesterday. I always thought the aim of education is for improving our knowledge. However, Bruner says “The aim of education is to make the learner, as autonomous and self-propelled a thinker as possible” (Bruner, 1961, p. 23). I am changing my thoughts about education now.

My small son is learning to play piano. His elder brother is his trainer. I think he learned lot within a short period of time. Today I confirmed with my small son how much he learned. In the beginning he tried to explain what he learned. Then slowly he moved to the piano and started playing it. I recognized that he is trying to represent his understanding through motor responses. Or represents the past event of learning piano through appropriate motor response, which is playing. This is Enactive mode of cognitive representation.

I asked him to play more for me. He started to play music from his book. His piano book is having all the instructions. The diagrams, pictures and other instructions, generally called icons, helps him to play the music. The music in his mind is in the form of icons. This is Iconic mode of cognitive representation.

For him the music notations are the symbol by which he can encode and represent his experience. There are other symbols like the piano or the music book. The symbol system represents things by design feature that include remoteness and arbitrariness. This is symbolic mode of cognitive representation.

My son uses all the three mode of cognitive representations to learn the music. Using all the three modes is time consuming. However, that gives my son a deep understanding of concept and the ability to apply it appropriately in many contexts.

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Cognitive & Knowledge Development - Instructional Implications

There are several view and theories of Knowledge and Cognitive development. Which one is fully correct? It is very difficult to decide about that! Each theory explains the development in its own way. However clearly, children acquire knowledge and the ability to act upon that knowledge. That is what coming to my mind now.

The learning environment of a child is an important factor. Even the best teacher can fail if the environment is not good. Then the teacher can encourage the students by giving them the chance to learn from their own actions. Peer interactions are good for the children to move beyond their egocentric thoughts. It is the teacher’s responsibility to help children to build a positive thinking with out much conflicts and inconsistencies. It is a good idea to view children’s thinking in terms of rules. But as Siegler (1996) suggest, in a given situation, teachers need to stick with the simplest rule based on the student’s experience. Also teachers must be aware of children’s experimental beliefs. They need to Point out the difference between their beliefs and the scientific conceptions. This will allow the children to question their belief, and probably they change their beliefs (Vosniadou, 1988).

A good teacher needs to know the limitations of the child and design the learning methods, mostly hands on and preferably in a social environment. We are not supposed to overload their brain. The role of a teacher is a facilitator, guide or a trainer who can help the students to the new heights of learning.

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Knowledge – Types, Developments and My Views

Last week I was training the basics of computers, to a group of children, from different age groups. For most of them, that was the first computer training they ever had. They were so excited to see, touch and operate computers.

They were really paying attention to the educational games available with the computers. They try to interact with the mathematical and logical games at their level best. They asked me help every now and then and made me tied of by asking questions!

They talk each other about the computer, its parts, games and the features of the games.

According to Jean Piaget, one of the most influential developmental theorists of the 20th century, these are the types of knowledge children acquire; Physical, logical-mathematical and social.

Peaget also explains about the cognitive stages that developed in an individual’s life; Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, and Formal operational.
Each of these stages is related to the age of the individual.

According to me, not always the cognitive development follows the stages proposed by Peaget. There are exceptions. The age at which children reached certain stages varied from heredity to heredity, culture to culture, and environment to environment. Reaching to the formal operations was no means assured.

I know children finished their associate degree way ahead. I know children mastering some particular tasks, according to Piaget not supposed to be at their age. Also I met children who do not do reading at a fifth grade level or children who cannot perform basic mathematical calculations.

I have seen India’s old Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. She born and brought up among a group of intellectuals like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagoor (Nobel Price Winner, Literature). Interaction with them made Indira Gandhi to become one of the great women in the world history at an early age.

We have musicians like Beethoven who shows his skills irrespective of the developmental stages proposed by Peaget.

This may be related to the ability, need or culture around an individual. I think it is more the interaction with the real events, objects and situations, the more children to construct knowledge even at an early age.


Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

My Experience - Cognitive and Knowledge Development

I heard about Jean Piaget long back by his four major stages of cognitive development and his genetic epistemology. But it was not clear at that time about his studies and thoughts.

Now after reading about him and his teachings, my thoughts are mixed.

Heredity is one factor really decides about cognition. It is the “god’s signature” to every animal in the world. Another factor is the environment we are in. According to Piaget, “Cognition is the interaction between heredity and environment.”
Cognitive and knowledge development is the changes taking place in an individual’s cognitive structure, abilities and activities.

A new born baby cries when feels hunger or thirst. It opens mouth to every object. It sucks the finger; but continues the cry. Crying stops when the child is feeded by the mother.

Next time feels hungry, the child know what to do! Even the mother’s presence makes the child to stop crying. Child starts to recognize mother. Starts to show happiness by actions by seeing his/her mother. All these are new developments.
According to Piaget a child acquires physical, logical-mathematical and social knowledge.

I remember the day, my son called me “Papa”. I was with him from his birth. He Know me as someone important. He smiles at me and talks with me in his own language to me. He used to call me some name in his language. But he never knows to address me with “Papa”. May be he invented and reinvented that knowledge from his mother.

My son learned to cry, learned to express emotions, learned what to do when hungry, and learned to recognize parents. All these he learned from the environment around him. He approaches the environment and acquires knowledge through actions; a continuous self-construction.

During those days, every day he learned some thing new. He learned about toys and to play differently with different toys.

When he becomes a toddler he calling car for all vehicles, for him, event he big truck was a car.

I used to explain to him that it is a truck not a car. But there were some problem for him to accept that. He took long time to distinguish between car and truck.

When he calls all vehicles “Car”, between his schemes and his experience there was equilibrium. When he calls a truck a car, he was trying to interpret the new experience by interpreting in terms existing schemes (assimilation). When I told him the difference between the car and truck he becomes confused. There was disequilibrium. But once he accepts the concept, the successful accommodation restores equilibrium. There happens a rearrangement in the existing schemes for my son (Organization).

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Legitimate Peripheral Participation

I am enjoying writing my thoughts. I am recollecting all my experiences and analyzing with the help of my new studies. This is changing my thoughts and outlook. I need to thank my professor for this.

I remember how I learned tailoring. There was a tailoring shop in front of my house. The owner of the tailoring shop is my friend. I started visiting his shop just as a social visit. Our subjects of taking were different from local to universal.

One day I got the idea of learning tailoring. He agrees to teach me. I did not know anything. I started watching him to learn what he does. He used to talk and show me different fabrics. He explains the quality of the fabrics.

He showed me how to take the measurements. After few days, I was able to take measurements. Then he asked me to add buttons and hemming cuffs. I learned those. He started show me the way he put markings on the fabric before he cut. Within days, I learned how to cut the fabrics in to required pieces.

He asked me to site with the tailoring machine. He explains the parts of the machine. Then he asked me to stitch on some cloths. That time there were no motors to connect with the machine. I need to peddle the machine to make it run. I struggle lot to learn the technique. I learned stitching on some raw cloths before starting stitching my Shirt.

Once my friend satisfies, he asked me to join the pieces in an order. I learned all the tips and tricks to give a personal touch to the final product from my friend. I finished the work with adding buttons and hemming cuffs, which I learned before.

Finally, I made my shirt myself. (Of course with the help of my friend)

Remember that I learned to stitch a shirt fro the real participation. I learned stitching from a social interaction with my tailor friend at his tailoring shop.

I did not know or never I believe or accept this concept is a scientific way of learning.
Now after I read about legitimate peripheral participation I am accepting the concept.
“Legitimate peripheral participation is the process accounts for the way a newcomer to the community of practice develops into a full time participant” (Driscoll, p.165).

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Situated Cognition

I read about situated cognition today. What exactly is situated cognition?
There are several definitions in the Driscoll’s book and in the internet.

“The theory of situated cognition…claims that every human thought is adapted to the environment, that is, situated, because what people perceive, how they conceive of their activity, and because what they physically do develop together”(Clancey, 1997, pp. 1-2)

"Knowledge is situated in activity, context, and culture of which it is a part...Iearning is inseparable from and not ancillary to the content." (Brown, Collins and Duguid, 1989)

"Learning, thinking, and knowing are relations among people engaged in activity in, with, and arising from the socially and culturally structured world." (Lave, 1991)

These are all about situated cognition from great people in the field.

Human are social animals. We always interact with the environment around us. We used to communicate and convince each other to understand our ideas. By that process, we all learn lot from each other. This process is a real method of learning and is a continuous process if the learner is a part of the society. The knowledge we acquired is the result of the process by interacting with the situations. To get this type of knowledge we necessarily be situated in a society or environment.

According to Driscoll (p. 158), the situated cognition theory considers the individual’s socio-culture setting and the activities within that setting. Any theory of learning must start with the culture in which the learner resides.

For a child his home is the first school and his family is the first teachers. From birth, the child started to learn form the home, the very first socio-culture center. The child will be learning lot from the parents and other family members. Therefore, as a parent I need to be careful to give the right behaviors to the children.

As a child, I used to play with other children in my community. That was my first social circle out side my home. I got so many friends. We used to share information’s in our circle, another learning event.

A Child’s basic character molded happens mainly at his/her home. The child learns from the instructions given by parents. They learn to accept or reject certain things. They learn to like or dislike some items. They learn to believe and love somebody or some concepts. They learn to fear or not to fear some thing. All these are very much depending on the socio-cultural settings.

The everyday situation a person faces is another venue of learning. Knowledge acquired is situational and transfers only to similar situations.

I am thinking about a Basketball player and Basketball fan. A Basketball player and the fan can go for the same game, but they can experience it differently. A player plays the game, lives and communicates with other players, and participates in all the events of the game. On the other hand, a fan usually enjoys the game by observing the activities of the players and other fans inside the venue. The Basket ball player exemplifies the situated cognition theory of learning.”

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Learning-in-Practice

“Learning is a process by which a person internalizes knowledge, whether discovered, transmitted from others, or experienced in interaction with other (Lave & Wenger 1991).” Acquiring knowledge is a thirst of every good learner.

Recently a new intern joined our department. He tried working with different places, trying different professions. He did not know much about computer networks or support. Our place was very new environment for him. Therefore, when he joined us, we all were orienting him in our field of expertise.

One of my colleagues asked him to join with his project. He was configuring wireless access points (WAP)*. My colleague gave the intern a walk-through to do the configuration process. Also explains the steps he need to remember to configure the device.

At the end of the training session, both my friend and the intern were confident. Intern was ready to do the configuration process.

The next day my colleague asked the intern to configure few WAPs*. However, this time alone. He found the work difficult in the beginning. He clarified the procedures every now and then with my colleague. However, when configured the third or fourth one, he became independent. He learned a new skill by practicing it.

The intern learned the concept and the procedure from my colleague. He never had a chance to practice it. That was the reason for his failure when he tried to configure the device alone.

In the second part of the incident, the next day my colleague gave him another set of wireless access points*. Those were different types from the previous ones. He was trying to find the procedure from the new manual he got. However, he failed to do it. “When an appropriate schema fails to be activated, learners have trouble in making sense of the learning materials.”

“In a learning setting if the appropriate schema fails to activated, the learner usually forced to memorize or otherwise learn by rote. In addition, when the context changes from learning to application or practice, learner often fail to transfer the knowledge they acquired in one context to the other related context.”

To acquire a new knowledge, we need some prior-knowledge in the subject. The intern got the trained from my colleague. However, his pre-knowledge was so weak. That is why he came back repeatedly to clarify the procedures.
Before doing anything the intern need to get a pre-learning session or special supplementary learning events to gain the perquisite knowledge and skills.

*Wireless access point (WAP) is a device used to connect wireless communication devices in a wireless network.

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Advance Organizers

After reading about Advance Organizers few days back, I added one more feature to my style of studies. Advance Organizers are the fillings; fills the gap between what is already learned and what is to be learning.

Before knowing about advance organizers and its science, I never thought of comparing my current knowledge to the knowledge I am trying to acquire. Some times the subject seems very difficult to me. I thought it is because of my lack of skills to understand the concept.

Now I know that, if I want to succeed in my studies in any subject, I need some introductory knowledge to bridge the gap between my prior knowledge and the knowledge I needs to earn.

Advance Organizers can connect the new knowledge to the old knowledge in the long-term memory. In addition, it helps to confirm the new knowledge in the memory and make us thinking that the new subject is not at all a new one!

Before starting to study a subject, I think for a while to find out what I know about that subject. Using the new subject’s manual, I compare my knowledge the new one. I note down the points in which I need more knowledge. At the end of my comparison studies, I get the gap in my present knowledge and the knowledge I am trying to acquire.

I look for Advance organizers to help myself to fill the knowledge gap. The very first one I like to use is the one created by my teacher. These structures may be visual, written, or oral. There may be another reliable one from the author of the book. Advance organizers are very effective teaching tools when used appropriately.

Usually I find the Advanced Organizers at the beginning of a new lesson. It may in the form of a document emphasizing, summarizing, and listing the major principles of that chapter. Using the examples in the text as a model is a good idea.

I expect my teacher to alert me about the schematic structures of text materials. Knowing the text material is an important factor in learning.

I need to find reference books with appropriate textual schemas. A tough subject can be made simple if the author uses simple structures, words, and good explanation.

If there is no appropriate schema present, an inappropriate schema will be used in the learning process and is not a good idea. The use of wrong schema will take learner to a wrong destination. This suggests that learner need a definite guidance from the teacher to find out the right schema for the learning process.

In addition, learners will be better able to construct and automate an appropriate schema or mental model for a particular class of problems when the instruction minimizes extraneous cognitive load but increases germane cognitive load.
There is another side for the use of Advanced Organizers too. I remember I joined for a Flash training program few years back. I thought I am having knowledge in similar programs. This will be easy.” However, the course was in an advanced level, which I cannot cope with. I tried to learn the basics, but I was feeling frustration and inadequacy. I told my teacher about the situation. He asked me to retake the course after completing a basic level course. I accepted his advice. I think there is no harm in that situation to give up the learning program. My teacher took a very good decision to help me. These experiences made me to think that advance Organizers are useful only if the learner have some preliminary knowledge about the subject. If the learner is having no knowledge in a subject, it is better to give up avoiding frustrations.

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Developing & Teaching a Course. Retrieved July 2, 2006, from http://www.pitt.edu/ Web site: http://www.pitt.edu/~ciddeweb/FACULTY-DEVELOPMENT/FDS/advorg.html

Meaningful Learning and Schema Theory

“Meaningful learning is the process of relating potentially meaningful information to what the learner already known in a non - arbitrary and substantive way.”

Schemas (Schemata) are knowledge packets stored in long-term memory and are organized around a central theme or topic. To interpret a particular situation in terms of schema; we need to match the elements in that situation to schematic knowledge structure.

I would like to compare the three different educational systems I worked with. The first one is the Indian educational system. Most of my studies are from India. Indian education system is very successful these days. However, the method of learning in India is mainly reception learning. Of course, a small part of the learning process uses Discovery learning. Tests and papers are always a part of the learning. The schemata created in India were connected with the Indian culture.

When I started teaching in the Arabian Gulf Country, Oman, things were different. The life of the people heavily related to religion and the culture. The schemata for that community are different. The learning methods are almost similar to Indian methods but so many restrictions.

Presently in US, I am studying for the master’s program "MIST". I am introduced to a very different schemata. The learning here, always need you to know the material and the evaluation follows a point system.

Comparing the three systems, I think, the system here in the US is much more follows a meaningful learning path. That is why, after the degree the learner becomes a well-rounded individual and not just someone who can learn things from a book and be a good test taker.

In each country, my schemata from Indian culture were restricting me to change. However, I made up my mind to change. I have given full concentration to my studies. I convinced myself about the differences around. Now I am totally following the learning system here by altering my schemata.

(Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.)

Meaningful Learning

I remember my writing test at the DMV for my driver’s license. A week ahead of the test date, I started my preparation. My study materials include a training manual from DMV and a bunch of old question papers from one of my friend.

“An international driver with almost ten year’s experience; this test will be very easy”, I thought. I read the book without much concentration. Then I started to answer the old questions. I tried the question papers from one to five. “One hundred percent”, I calculated. However, I was wrong. The real percentage I scored was between ten and thirty.

I was shocked. What happened? I started to rethink.
Finally, I find out the problem. I was not giving perfect attention or concentration to the material I was learning or my over confidence in the subject failed me?

That evening one of my friends took me for a ride around the town. While he was driving, we talked lot about the driver’s test. He showed me the usual roads the examiner takes me for the test and how to drive efficiently. Through out the ride I was watching and studying a real driver, in a real car!

I read the book once again, that night, with full concentration. I was remembering all the pictures from the ride I had. This time I understood lot and I did very well in the followed test (questions six to ten). The percentage increased to ninety to nifty five!

Great! Let me think about the processes. What makes the difference?!

In the first method of learning, I got the entire material in the final form. I tried to internalize the information in a form that will be available for later use. That was Reception learning. However, that method was not at all good for me in that situation.

In the second method of learning, before the reception learning happens, I rearranged the given array of information, integrate it with existing cognitive structure, and recognize or transform the integrated combination in such a way as to create the desired product or discover a missing means-end relationship. That was the discovery learning and that method was very much successful.

Another example is one of my elementary English training. My teacher used to teach new English words, Sentences, basic language, and grammar. In one of his classes, he taught us the words, walk, jump, skip, run, etc. He took us outside our classroom. When he introduces new words; then showed us the meaning. In addition, he asked us to do it. Today, after reading about Meaningful Learning, I think his method of teaching was scientific. He took us from a reception learning setting to discovery learning setting. These two situations made me to believe in discovery learning and to think its importance in the field of instruction.

“Meaningful learning is the process of relating potentially meaningful information to what the learner already known in a non - arbitrary and substantive way. Either rote or meaningful learning can occur in reception and discovery learning situations.”

What I learned from my experiences with DMV test and from my elementary English training verifies the importance of the points below:

Meaningful reception learning implies that the learner is cognitively active.
Learner must employ a meaningful learning set to many learning task. (No Memorizing!)
The material the learner wants to learn must have some potential meaning.
What the learner already know and how that knowledge relates to the learning subject.

According to Ausubel (1961), Cognitive structure is the learner’s overall memorial structure or integrated body of knowledge. This cognitive structure is made up of sets of ideas that are organized hierarchically and by theme. Within this structure, the most inclusive ideas are the strongest and most stable.

In my learning process, I was anchoring specific or relevant ideas in my cognitive structure that provides the entry points for new information to be connected.

Cognitive structure and specific anchoring ideas within the cognitive structure are perquisites to meaningful learning. They describe the memory structure within which all the new knowledge is integrated.

Immediately after the learning for DMV, I remember all the new information I learned and was easily accessible. The next day, subsumed ideas become less and less distinguishable, or dissociable, from the inclusive anchor. On the following day I could no longer retrieve certain points I want to remember, as entities separate and distinct from the anchoring idea. Yes, I have forgotten those points. I need to refresh the material once again.

For me the preparation for the DMV test was easy, because I knew the skill of driving already.

Finally, I won the DMV written test with good score. After the test, I found that the most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. To be ready for learning new material, learners of all sorts must possess a relevant, stable, and organized cognitive structure. The two additional influences on readiness are the age difference among learners and the cultural diversity.

(Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.)