Information Processing Theory Of Jerome Bruner

Introduction to the problem For this discussion, the information processing theory and Jerome Bruner’s theory of discovery learning are to be applied regarding the curriculum and instruction of an English as a Second Language (ESL) course at a community college. To insure clarity, certain assumptions will have to be made. This writer must imagine that the students enrolled in the class are non-traditional and according to the National Center for Education Statistics (2002), each student must meet at least one of the following criteria:
“[he or she did] not enter postsecondary education in the same calendar year that he or she finished high school; attends [college] part time for at least part of the academic year; works full time…while enrolled;

Because there was dissatisfaction with behaviorism due its simple emphasis on external behaviors rather than internal processes, cognitive psychology came into being in the mid-1950s. According to Gerrig and Zimbardo (2002), cognitive psychology operates using the following assumptions: “thought influences human behavior, it is a science, and human beings are information processors. Furthermore, it is used to study the mental processes such as “attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and thinking” (pp.

From the information processing theory, this writer has used the process of guiding students as each one develops his or her sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory regarding a standard. This instructor has found that sensory memory images and recordings work the best (this educator is a social studies teacher. Regarding short-term memory, recall is important so therefore a variety of activities are used by which the student must remember aspects of the lesson and apply to other assignments. Long-term memory is reinforced not just by giving the student a unit test, rather it is demonstrated by giving the student assignments by which the student must make the connections between a previously learned topic to a newly acquired one (i.e. how World War I, the Great Depression, Fascism, Nazism, and Japanese Imperialism contributed to World War