Assimilation Theory (Education)

Assimilation theory, a cognitive learning theory developed by psychologist David Ausubel, holds that people learn best when they can link, or assimilate, new information with previous knowledge. In this way, learning becomes meaningful as learners construct their own understandings of new information, making it more likely that it will be retained. The six basic principles of assimilation theory are subsumption, superordinate learning, progressive differentiation, integrative reconciliation, obliterative subsumption, and advance organizers.

Keywords Advance Organizers; Assimilation Theory; Behaviorism; Cognitive Learning; Epistemology; Meaningful Learning; Reception Learning; Rote Learning; Social Learning Theory; Subsumption

Overview

Origins in Behaviorism

The first theories on epistemology were classified as theories of behaviorism. Behaviorists, such as B. F. Skinner, believed that learning processes were researched most objectively when attention was given to stimuli and responses. Theories of behaviorism included claims that organisms are born as blank slates, that learning involves a change in behavior and is largely the result of environmental events (Barrett, 2003).

Cognitivism emerged in opposition to behaviorist ideas (Barrett, 2003). Early behaviorists would rather not include mental events in their learning theories due to the trouble of measuring them, but by the 1950s and 1960s, some psychologists began to turn away from this human learning approach (McGriff, 2001). The behaviorist perspective could not answer important questions such as why people attempt to organize what they learn or change the way the information is received. As a result, more cognitive research began to take place, and psychologists such as Edward Tolman and Jean Piaget laid the foundation for cognitive learning theories (McGriff, 2001).

Cognitive Learning

Edward Tolman further advanced the idea of cognitive learning, which referred to the development of learning from interacting with the environment and evaluating how the learner relates to it (McGriff, 2001). He came to his conclusions after performing an experiment on rats in a maze. Tolman periodically closed off portions of the maze, and the rats chose not to take the route that led to the closed path even though the other route was longer (McGriff, 2001). Cognitivism focuses on alterations in thought that are not directly observable (Barrett, 2003).

A Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget, founded a research program that paved future viewpoints and theories of cognitive development. His cognitive theory sprang from his many years of keen observation. He determined that intellectual development appears in response to the child’s relationship with the world around him or her. Throughout the child's development, according to Piaget, knowledge is invented and reinvented (McGriff, 2001). Piaget's theory “addressed children growing through a specific set of cognitive stages in which they develop increasingly sophisticated ways [of] handling the world of knowledge” (McInerney, 2005, p. 590).

In Piaget's theory of development, assimilation and accommodation prove to be the most important cognitive processes responsible for progression through multiple stages (McGriff, 2001). Piaget often asserted that students of all kinds created the vast majority of their knowledge by way of their personal experiences and relationship to their surroundings. Piaget referred to this self-teaching as cognitive constructivism (McInerney, 2005). Cognitive constructivism acts as the foundation for which all other educational psychology research and theorizing builds upon, including the assimilation theory work of David Ausubel (McInerney, 2005). Ausubel’s work in the context of instructional design is further explored in the 2011 book The Instructional Design Knowledge Base: Theory, Research, and Practice (Richey, Klein & Tracey; reviewed by Para, 2013).

Cognitive theories of learning deal directly with the mind as it relates to the reception, assimilation, storage, and recall of information. By understanding the mechanics of the learning process, cognitive theorists believe that they can recommend better teaching methods (McGriff, 2001). Most cognitive theorists agree on some basic principles of learning. General assumptions are that knowledge is organized and that each person is an active participant in their own learning. Learning also includes behavior differences in addition to the more subtle changes of mental association (Barrett, 2003). Cognitive theorists also believe that observations of behavior are necessary, and inferences can be made about mental processes based on observed behavior (Barrett, 2003). The implication is that people organize information as they receive it because new knowledge is easy to associate with already stored information (McInerney, 2005). As they grow or learn more, they are capable of more sophisticated thought (Barrett, 2003)

Since the mid-1970s, cognitive psychology has become one of the most dominant topics in educational research (McInerney, 2005). There have been amazing advances in the study of human learning and the nature of knowledge, many of which have sprung from the work of Tolman, Piaget, and Ausubel (Novak, 2003).

What Is Assimilation Theory?

Ausubel developed his assimilation theory of learning in the 1960s. Influenced by Piaget, Ausubel's theory mainly concentrates on the acquisition and use of knowledge (McGriff, 2001). The theory focuses on the idea that learning, to be effective, must be meaningful (Novak, 2003). The belief is that each student needs to develop his or her own form of learning as it relates to key concepts and the relationship between different pieces of information (Novak, 2003).

Assimilation theory is applicable to reception learning, also known as expository learning. Reception learning is learning in which the concepts to be learned are presented explicitly to the learner (Novak, 1979). Concept introduction is the first step, and then an overview of information is presented (Andrews, 1984). Teachers who encourage reception learning execute carefully planned, methodical explication of meaningful information. Information is organized, explained, and connected to a bigger picture (McGriff, 2001). Students are then expected to process information and apply concepts (Andrews, 1984).

Under assimilation theory, it is believed that input, processing, storage, and \retrieval of all learned knowledge are at the core of every learning process and are universal for everyone (McGriff, 2001). Instructors remain the managers of the information but the learner is the one who carries out his or her own learning (McGriff, 2001). Teachers can only assist in learning by offering strategies and encouragement, but learning is a highly individualistic process that varies from person to person (Novak, 2003).

Meaningful learning is controlled by the learner and only takes place when new information is attributed to existing knowledge that the learner already possessed (McGriff, 2001). Reception learning provides the learner with the structure and motivation necessary to learn. Meaningful learning requires the learner to seek out relationships and incorporate the new learning into the knowledge base he or she already possesses (Novak, 2002). The learner then connects the two forms of information and joins them to create the newly attained knowledge (McGriff, 2001).

Learning can be extremely variable, comprising the most mundane repetition to complex and meaningful abstract thinking (Novak, 2003). Memorization and rote learning are used for information that is required but that a learner does not find meaningful (Novak, 2003). Memorization and rote learning are used because little prior knowledge is necessary to perform rote tasks, and it is easy for an instructor to conduct. Rote learning is most often used when a learner fails to try connecting his or her new knowledge to the old (Novak, 2003). Rote learning has negative consequences for creative problem-solving and attainment of organized knowledge, and rote learning often avoids the procedures, rules, and practices that are necessary for increasing the understanding and retention of new information (McGriff, 2001).

The process of assimilation is preferred because it is believed to strengthen the learner's knowledge structure (McGriff, 2001). If the learner's entire knowledge base is strengthened (like a muscle) the results are improved recall ability and an improved capacity to process more challenging information . Assimilation theory is thus named because it avers that new information is best acquired when the learner can assimilate it with or build off previous knowledge (Novak 2003). Ausubel states that if he had to simplify educational philosophy the most important element influencing learning is "what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly" (Ausubel, 1968). In one study, researchers looked at students with learning disabilities and examined whether “massive practice” in the form of repetive and “spontaneous play” and involving what the children already knew, positively affected their cognitive development (Mahoney, 2013). Meaningful learning has three components:

• learner's relevant prior knowledge,

• meaningful material, and

• learner's choice to use meaningful learning strategies (McGriff, 2001).

Applications

The six basic principles of assimilation theory are

• subsumption

• superordinate learning

• progressive differentiation

• integrative reconciliation

• obliterative subsumption

• advance organizers

Subsumption

In reception learning, existing concepts provide a base with which to link new information (McGriff, 2001). This is an interactive process between teacher and learner, and the process changes both the subsuming concept and the newly gained concepts for the learner.

• Derivative subsumption refers to the reference of a new concept that can be found in a concept that has been previously learned, stored, and retained (McGriff, 2001). If a learner already knows what a fish is and then learns about a specific type of fish, this new knowledge will be attached to the initial concept of fish, while at the same time avoiding any alteration to the original concept (McGriff, 2001).

• Correlative subsumption refers to learning that enriches a previous concept. Correlative subsumption requires a higher level of thinking than derivative subsumption. If a learner is introduced to new kind of fish that does not fit the accepted definition, like an eel, the learner has to receive the new information, then modify his or her concept of fish to include the possibility of no fins (McGriff, 2001).

Superordinate learning

Superordinate learning refers to the process in which a more general and new concept relates to known examples of a concept (Novak, 1984). Superordinate learning occurs when new information is made up of many groups of “larger” information that were not initially thought of as being connected (McGriff, 2001). For example, a learner may already know about sharks, sting rays, and skates but later learns that these are all examples of fishes with a cartilage skeleton (McGriff, 2001). Again, the teacher needs to provide the exposition of concepts, but the learner must make the assimilation.

Progressive differentiation

Progressive differentiation is a process of developing and refining existing cognitive structures (McGriff, 2001). When learning commences, the act of creating and building upon subsuming concepts also takes place. Ausubel believes concept development is most effective with reception learning, when the simplest ideas are presented first and then elaborated, or differentiated, with more specific detail (McGriff, 2001). To carry out the fish example, this general concept can be expanded with concepts such as types of fish and the physical structure of a fish (McGriff, 2001). With rote learning, progressive differentiation is not possible because connections are not made.

Integrative reconciliation

Integrative reconciliation is a type of cognitive differentiation that connects links and new relationships between different concepts in the mind (McGriff, 2001). For instance, dolphins are animals that are quite similar to fish in many ways, but despite their fishlike appearance and their ocean habitat, they are mammals (McGriff, 2001). These complex concepts must be received and reconciled in the cognitive structure in order to be reconciled.

Obliterative subsumption

Obliterative subsumption refers to learners sometimes forgetting what they learn (Lim, 1999). Ausubel argues that the amount of recall a learner can achieve depends on the degree of meaningfulness associated with the acquisition of information (McGriff, 2001). Rote learning has a high rate of obliterative subsumption. Reception learning can often be recalled much later because it is meaningful.

Advance Organizers

Teachers can facilitate learning by better organizing information and presenting it in a way “so that new concepts are easily relatable to concepts already learned” ("David Ausubel," 2007, p. 40). To assist with this aspect of reception learning, Ausubel “is credited with the learning theory of advanced organizers” ("David Ausubel," 2007, p. 39). Advance organizers involve the use of general materials “that introduce new information and facilitate learning by providing an idea to which the new idea can be anchored” ("David Ausubel," 2007, p. 39).

These organizers are “introduced in advance of learning itself, since the content of a given organizer is selected based on its appropriateness for explaining and integrating the new material” (Ausubel, 1963, p. 1). Some devices include pictures, references to familiar stories, reviews of previously learned concepts, and video clips ("David Ausubel," 2007). Ausubel emphasizes “that advance organizers are different from overviews and summaries, which simply emphasize key ideas and are presented at the same level of abstraction and generality as the rest of the material. Organizers act as a bridge between new learning material and existing related ideas” (Kearsley, 2007, p. 4). Advanced organizers are an important element in successful reception of knowledge and a key aspect in Ausubel's assimilation theory.

Viewpoints

Ausubel sets forth in his theory that it can only be applicable to reception or expository learning in educational environments (Kearsley, 2007). Ausubel favors reception learning, which is completed on one’s own without outside aid or processes. This contrasts with a more recent emphasis on social learning and active student involvement (McGriff, 2001). Ausubel does agree that problem-solving skills must be taught, but asserts that a schools' primary responsibility is to deliver content. Teachers can engage learners by helping students search for relationships between new information and previously gained knowledge and by compensating successful connections with rewards (Novak, 2003).

Ausubel does not advocate “discovery learning, a process through which learners were expected to discover and construct their own understandings and knowledge from problems” (McInerney, 2005, p. 589). Discovery learning requires students to make connections and recognize patterns before being introduced to concepts (Andrews, 1984). General introduction of concepts and disclosure of information is not provided until after student experiments or discoveries. Learning is less meaningful, according to Ausubel, because connections are made after application rather than during (Andrew, 1984). Ausubel also does not fully accept learner-centered instruction (McGriff, 2001). Rather, he embraces teaching methods that are more direct in nature, believing that it is the best way to absorb large bodies of content knowledge (McGriff, 2001).

Ausubel's assimilation theory suggests that learning is primarily in the hands of the learner, but he acknowledges that teachers can influence the student's decision to learn meaningfully by the way they organize and present information (Novak, 2003). He also stresses the importance of meaningful assessment methods as opposed to the traditional multiple-choice tests common in most schools and encourages rote learning over understanding and retention (Novak, 2003). Meaningful learning, as Ausubel maintains, is defined as newly acquired knowledge that is capable of being attributed or related to previously acquired information. Meaningful learning, then, is often more easily gathered, stored, and applied ("David Ausubel," 2007). Karpicke and Grimaldi (2012) argue that the retrieval or gathering of information is key to understanding and to the promotion of learning. Because of these benefits, meaningful learning is an important tool for classroom instruction and the learning success of students.

Conclusion

There is a strong correlation between knowledge-based psychological research and learning processes. The knowledge and teaching methods exercised in classrooms should reflect the best research-based theories (McInerney, 2005). Some practices have had to evolve with changing times and technologies (McInerney, 2005). Other practices have become outdated or disregarded due to flawed research (McInerney, 2005). There has been an increased amount of validated research conducted on cognitive psychology. Research has focused on “the nature of effective skills and strategies, and whether they should be taught independent of or in conjunction with content” (McInerney, 2005, p. 587). In addition, social learning theory and other theories like positive teaching and direct instruction all share an ever-present cognitive element that belies each process. As a result of cognitive theory research, many outlets have been receptive to the theory’s application, improving the capture and organization of information and facilitating one’s own ability to participate in their learning process (McGriff, 2001).

Terms & Concepts

Advance Organizers: Advance organizers involve the use of general materials that provide learners with new information and new ideas with which to anchor to other ideas.

Assimilation theory: The theory focuses on the idea that learning, to be effective, must be meaningful and that “each learner must construct his own understanding of key concepts and relationships” (Novak, 2003).

Behaviorism: The predominant school of thought before cognitive learning that argued that :organisms are born blank slates and learning is largely the result of environmental events” (Barrett, 2003).

Cognitive Learning: Cognitive theories of learning deal with the mind’s ability to accept, mold, and retain the information it receives.

Epistemology: The study of the nature of knowledge and learning.

Meaningful Learning: Meaningful learning refers to the belief that, for learning to be effective, each learner must create an individualized understanding of key ideas and the relationships between them (Novak, 2003).

Reception Learning: Reception learning is learning in which the concepts to be learned are presented explicitly to the learner. Reception learning requires carefully planned, methodical presentation of meaningful information.

Rote Learning: Rote learning is learning by routine and mechanical tasks, specifically memorization.

Social Learning Theory: “Social learning focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context. It considers how people learn from one another, encompassing such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and modeling” (Barrett, 2003, p. 3).

Subsumption: Subsumption refers to the process of attaching new information with previously learned information.

Bibliography

Andrews, J. (1984). Discovery and expository learning compared: Their effects on independent and dependent students. Journal of Educational Research, 78 , 80. October 28, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=5006870&site=ehost-live

Ausubel, D. (1968). Educational psychology: A cognitive view. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Ausubel, D. (2007). Great ideas in education. Retrieved October 21, 2007, from University of Florida College of Education http://www.coe.ufl.edu/webtech/GreatIdeas/pages/peoplepage/ausabel.htm

Ausubel, D. (1963). The psychology of meaningful verbal learning. New York: Grune and Stratton.

Barrett, E. (2003). Cognitive learning theory. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from http://suedstudent.syr.edu/~ebarrett/ide621/behavior.htm.

Karpicke, J., & Grimaldi, P. (2012). Retrieval-based learning: A perspective for enhancing meaningful learning. Educational Psychology Review, 24, 401-418. Retrieved December 22, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=79308926&site=ehost-live

Kearsley, G. (2007). Exploring learning and instruction: Theory into practice database. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from http://tip.psychology.org/ausubel.html.

Lim, B. (1999). Instructional design theories site. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from Indiana University http://www.indiana.edu/~idtheory/methods/m6c.html.

McGriff, S. (2001). ISD knowledge base/assimilation theory. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from Pennsylvania State University, College of Education. http://www.personal.psu.edu/sjm256/portfolio/kbase/Theories&Models/Cognitivism/assimilation.html.

McInerney, D. (2005). Educational psychology-theory, research and teaching: A 25-year retrospective. Educational Psychology, 25, 585-599. Retrieved October 21, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=18786909&site=ehost-live

Mahoney, G. (2013). Assimilative practice and developmental intervention. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 5, 45-65. Retrieved December 22, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=91515676&site=ehost-live

Novak, J. (1998). Learning, creating and using knowledge. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Novak, J. (2003). The promise of new ideas and new technology for improving teaching and learning. Cell Biology Education, 2, 122-132. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/reprint/2/2/122.pdf.

Para, S. (2013). Review of The Instructional Design Knowledge Base: Theory, Research, and Practice. Journal of Applied Learning Technology, 3, 49-51. Retrieved December 22, 2013, from from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=91271620&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Ausubel, D. (2000). The acquisition and retention of knowledge: A cognitive view. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.

Ausubel, D. (1977). Theory and problems of adolescent development (3rd ed.). New York: Grune and Stratton.

Novak, J. (1979). The reception learning paradigm. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 16, 481-488. October 28, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=21415674&site=ehost-live