Chronometric Constructive Cognitive Learning Evaluation Model: Measuring the Consolidation of the Human Cognition Schema in Psychology Students’ Memory

Abstract

This study illustrates the application of the Chronometric Constructive Cognitive Learning Evaluation Model to assess learning about human cognition knowledge schema in 48 second-year psychology students (79% females, 21% males). In the first phase, the participants carried out a conceptual definition task based on the Natural Semantic Networks technique. They defined ten target concepts related to the course by using verbs, substantives, adjectives, and pronouns (definers). Participants then rated the grade of relatedness between definers and targets concepts. Subsequently, the present authors carried out a computational simulation with data from the first study. In addition, students participated in a semantic priming experiment. They participated in a lexical decision task. Participants read pairs of words; these pairs were sometimes related by cognition scheme or common association, and sometimes were unrelated. The three tasks were applied at the start of the course and the end. The computational simulation analysis and ANOVA indicated that the initial pattern for conceptual activation had changed at the end of the course. Additionally, the initial chronometric behavior of the human cognition schema of the participants also changed at the end of the course. This evidence supports the idea that cognitive evaluation tools can help assess the schematic behavior patterns induced by academic learning.