Research on adult learning and memory: Retrospect and prospect

Abstract

It is argued that whether the course of cognitive development is characterized by growth, stability, or decline is less a matter of “fact” than a matter of the metamodel on which the theories and data are based. Three historical shifts in basic research on adult learning and memory are reviewed. The associative approach, dominant until the late 1950s, is rooted in the mechanistic metamodel. Within this approach, learning and memory are seen as the formation and dissolution of stimulus-response bonds. The associative approach has projected an irreversible decrement view of aging and learning/memory performance. The information processing approach, dominant from the early 1960s until the present, is rooted in the organismic metamodel. Within this approach, learning and memory are governed by storage structures and control processes, and active processing on the part of the learner is emphasized. The information processing view has projected a decrement with a compensation view of aging and learning/memory performance. Finally, it is argued that a contextual approach is emerging in the present historical context. A contextual perspective appears to emphasize the activities of perceiving, comprehending, and remembering rather than encoding, storage, and retrieval. Acquisition is seen as involving the articulation of input with past experience which sets the boundary conditions for perceiving and comprehending the new material. This differentiation and integration are viewed as occurring within a hierarchy of levels which reflect wider and wider contexts. Remembering is seen as the reconstruction of previous events. Event reconstruction depends, in large measure, on the extent to which original events are differentiated from and integrated with past experience during acquisition. In addition, event reconstruction also depends on events occurring following acquisition. Such a contextual perspective on acquisition and remembering leads to several suggestions for examining these activities during adulthood including an emphasis on meaning, broad contexts, and multiple influences on cognitive development.