When creating products and services for an organization, there is a saying that goes like this:
“Good, fast, cheap--choose two.” In other words, if you want it fast and good, it will cost you a lot.
Is it fast and cheap you desire? Then the quality of the result will suffer. Are good and cheap your
choices? Sorry, but you won’t get it quickly; we’ll do it when we can. In this article, we offer all
three to you. We introduce you to six cognitive strategy groupings that you and your learners can
apply. These strategies have been shown to help speed up learning, make it stick more
powerfully and longer, and cost less in time and energy for both teaching and learning.
First, what are cognitive strategies? We borrow both definitions and much of what follows from
three author-researchers at the University of Illinois: Charles K. West, James A. Farmer, and
Phillip M. Wolff (1991). Cognitive strategies are the mental methodologies we use as we study
and learn. Unlike metacognitive skills, which are higher level, executive skills we deploy for any
learning, our cognitive strategies form a database of thinking and learning packages that we can
apply to specific learning situations. They enable us to organize a piece of learning so we can
internalize and recall it more easily. Let’s apply a simple example right now. Examine the two
Lincoln pennies depicted below.
In the coin of the left, Lincoln is facing right. In the coin on the right, he is facing left. Without
peeking at a real Lincoln penny, which depiction is correct, A or B?
Your answer:
of them select B, although they have seen the coin numerous times. They just weren’t paying
attention. When we ask our audiences if they would bet $10,000 on their selection before we
reveal the correct answer, we find very few takers. The correct answer is A.
So, how do we ensure that we remember which direction Lincoln faces? Here’s a little statement
to help: “Our great President Lincoln always did right by the people.” Will you remember now?
Probably. But what about the nickel, dime, and quarter? Which way do the presidents on these
coins face? Here’s a clue: “All the other presidents were left behind.” Yes, they face left (except
for the recently minted nickel).
What is the point of this coin discussion? It’s simple. You will probably remember this set of notvery-
useful facts for the rest of your life. Associating some arbitrary (hence, hard to retain) facts
with a mnemonic device that’s easy and familiar (“…did right by the people…were left behind”) is
a powerful means for grasping and retaining information. It is part of a cognitive strategy that is
good (learn and retain well), fast (you learned it quickly, didn’t you?) and cheap (two simple
sentences--not much mental storage and retrieval cost).
Now that you have been introduced to cognitive strategy, let’s continue to tune your
understanding. Cognitive strategies are collections of methods that help people learn. Good
learners have a larger repertoire of these strategies and use them more naturally, frequently, and
appropriately than do poor learners. They also obtain better results. Here are six types of
cognitive strategies you can use to transform your learners.
Six types of cognitive strategies
Clustering: Different ways to arrange information for easier perception,
understanding, retention, and recall. Any time you cluster
declarative or procedural knowledge into logical, easy-tounderstand
groupings, you employ a highly successful cognitive
strategy.
Spatial: Visual displays of information that lay out a large number of
elements in a manner that is easy to comprehend and to retain or
recall. Laying out information to be learned in some kind of visual
manner often helps learners see how things relate. Common forms
of spatial organizers are matrices, flowcharts, and pie charts.
Advanced organizers: Organized, short introductory information packages that set an
expectation or build a vision. They help the learner picture what’s to
come and how it relates to prior knowledge or content that has
come before. An advanced organizer is usually a brief introduction
made prior to getting into a new topic or set of skills that gives the
learner a heads-up as to what’s coming. It is almost always short.
Most times it links prior knowledge to new material and makes
comparisons and logical linkages. It may outline the new content
and also prepare the learner mentally to approach it with the proper
mindset.
Image-rich comparisons: Analogies, metaphors, and literal comparisons that build bridges
between what the learner already knows and new learning.
Throughout our lives we have been taught with image-rich
comparisons. We use metaphors in our daily speech: “She’s a
peach,” or “He’s a skunk!” Our computer interfaces are built on
metaphors. We have a “desktop” on our screen along with menus
and icons. The strength of this cognitive strategy lies in the bridge
(connection) that is established between what the learner already
knows--the familiar--and what is yet to be learned.
Repetition: Activities that allow learners to rehearse content they have
encountered and practice it in organized ways until it sticks in the
mind. Repetition and rehearsal in their various forms can be
immensely effective, especially for long-term, hard-wired learning.
Study, memorization, practice, rehearsal, self-tests, and tests have
all demonstrated the power to assist learning. The keys to all of
these are organization, meaningfulness, and systematic application.
Over time, content acquisition improves, as does efficiency in
learning.
Memory aids: Groups of easy-to-remember letters, words, or images that help
store and retrieve more complex material. This cognitive strategy,
also known as mnemonics, is a favorite for remembering.
Essentially, a mnemonic is a memory crutch-- a group of easy-toremember
letters, words, or images that help store and retrieve
more complex material. The most common ones include acronyms,
acrostics, rhymes, and key words.
All the cognitive strategies presented in this article are packages of thinking modes that we can
deploy whenever we wish to learn something. As trainers, instructors, and educators, our mission
is to create learning success. It would be wonderful if all our learners were endowed with high
ability, deep prior knowledge, and powerful motivation to learn and possessed well-developed
metacognitive skills along with a large repertoire of oiled and efficient cognitive strategies to cover
every specific learning situation. We simply could lay out the learning goals, provide the
resources, and stand back. But that’s not reality. Our learners come to each learning event with a
broad range of strengths and deficiencies, and our job is to structure learning for successful
transformation.
Note: This article is an excerpt from Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps' book, Telling Ain't
Training. Reprinted with permission of Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps.
Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps are the principals of HSA LEARNING &
PERFORMANCE SOLUTIONS LLC, an international consulting firm that specializes in the
application of instructional technology and human performance technology to business, industry,
government, and the military. Stolovitch and Keeps are co-authors of the best-selling, awardwinning
books Telling Ain’t Training and Training Ain’t Performance. They are also co-authors of
the Wiley/Pfeiffer Learning & Performance Toolkit Series as well as co-editors of the Handbook of
Human Performance Technology. Their most recent book, Beyond Telling Ain’t Training
Fieldbook, was released in May 2005. For more information on their books or workshops, visit
their website at www.hsa-lps.com. Stolovitch and Keeps can be reached at info@hsa-lps.com or
310.286.2722.
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