1947 -
ACT* (Adaptive Character of Thought)
Biography
John Anderson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1947. He entered the University of British Columbia with hopes to become a writer, but left with the dream of practicing psychology as a precise and quantitative science. He graduated at the head of his class in Arts and Science in 1968.
Anderson earned his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1972 under Gordon Bower. He then spent one year at Yale as an assistant professor, three years at the University of Michigan as a Junior Fellow, one year at Yale as an associate professor, and a final year as a full professor. He has been at Carnegie Mellon University since 1978. ACT* (Pronounced "A-C-T-star") is a cognitive theory dealing primarily with memory structures.
Theory
The model describes a spreading activation model of semantic memory, combined with a production system for executing higher level operations. According to this theory, there are three types of memory and three types of learning.
Declarative memory (WHAT) encompasses factual components and their associations and sequences.
Procedural memory, or production memory, (HOW) are sequences of behaviors (productions) based on conditions and actions stored in declarative memory. A production is a series of "if - then" rules: if x happens, then do y. New productions are formed by linking up existing ones, adding components, and deleting components.
Working memory is the part of long-term memory which is currently in consciousness. These three aspects of memory work closely together, and each has its own functions and processes.
Three types of learning are
- Generalization- in which procedures (productions) are cross-contextualized or more widely applied
- Discrimination - in which procedures (productions) become more specialized
- Strengthening - in which procedures (productions) are applied more frequently.
The theory includes notions of goal structure, problem-solving context, and feedback. Research with ACT* has showed that reaction time for fact retrieval increase as a function of the number of times the items sought were mentioned in a story. Unique content in stories is easier for the reader to retrieve.
Memory ACTIVATION determines the probability of access to memory, and the rate at which a memory can be accessed, after a subject is cued to recall information. Two factors influence the level of activation: how recently the person has accessed the memory, and how much they have practiced or rehearsed the information.
SPREADING ACTIVATION proposes that activation travels along a network of connections, so that once cued, a subject may have multiple responses based on the connections among bits of information in memory. Spreading activation is not believed to be entirely under the subject's control, but cueing may activate remote connections without the subject's volition being involved. This tendency for memories to be activated is called ASSOCIATIVE PRIMING.
Learning Theory Bibliography
Anderson, J. (1976).
Anderson, J. (1983).
Anderson, J. (1990).
Anderson, J. (1993).
Anderson, 1995
Kearsley, G. (n.d.). ACT* (J. Anderson). Retrieved 11/09/2002 from http://tip.psychology.org/anderson.html
Harley, 1995
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