What Is Meant by Cognitive Structures? How Does It Influence Teaching –Learning of Psychology?

<div><p><em>Cognitive structures are the basic mental pattern people use to process any information. Metaphorical thinking being one of the mental tool present innate in human beings which when practiced consciously could help developing cognitive structures in turn help to process information. According to Jean Piaget and William Perry learning is facilitated by the mechanism comprising symbolic representations of the mental processes that is actively constructed by the learners based on the existing cognitive structures. Therefore, teaching/learning process should focus on the development of existing intellectual framework. Unlike the behaviourist approach, knowledge is acquired by the learner through intentional mental representations derived from past learning experiences. Teacher’s role is to facilitate the learners with resources to build new knowledge to old and to modify the old to accommodate the new. The present paper focuses on how cognitive structures help in processing information by implementing metaphorical thinking statements in teaching/leaning process.</em></p></div>

William Perry’s The Royal Standard English Dictionary (1775)

Summary This paper examines the role of William Perry (1747–post 1805), an active Scottish schoolteacher and lexicographer, in the prescription of norms for a ‘correct’ pronunciation of standard English, being perfectly in line with the language guardians of the time. Although Perry shares a few characteristics with Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788) and James Buchanan (fl. 1753–1773), as he himself maintains in the Preface to his The Royal Standard English Dictionary, first published in Edinburgh in 1775, he also reveals a certain dissatisfaction with the way ‘the sounds of words are expressed’ by the other two 18th-century scholars. Therefore, the paper examines the ‘more rational method’ proposed in his attempt to better represent the sounds of the English language.

William Perry’sThe Royal Standard English Dictionary(1775): A provincial’s attempt to ascertain and fix a standard to the pronunciation of the English tongue

This paper examines the role of William Perry (1747–post 1805), an active Scottish schoolteacher and lexicographer, in the prescription of norms for a ‘correct’ pronunciation of standard English, being perfectly in line with the language guardians of the time. Although Perry shares a few characteristics with Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788) and James Buchanan (fl. 1753–1773), as he himself maintains in the Preface to hisThe Royal Standard English Dictionary, first published in Edinburgh in 1775, he also reveals a certain dissatisfaction with the way ‘the sounds of words are expressed’ by the other two 18th-century scholars. Therefore, the paper examines the ‘more rational method’ proposed in his attempt to better represent the sounds of the English language.

Enhancing Horticulture Students' Reasoning and Thinking Skills: Applying the Perry Theory to Horticulture

This study explored students' cognitive complexity as defined by William Perry (1970) as influenced by teaching methods promoting active involvement at a higher level of interchange than traditional lecture. Two components of this research are: 1) an understanding of Perry's theory to serve as a guide for curricula development incorporating activities to influence intellectual growth by considering the student's current Perry positions in order to encourage upward movement according to Perry's Scheme; and 2) to investigate the reliability of using the student's Learning Environment Preference Inventory (LEP) (Moore, 1987) as a tool to understand the student's cognitive growth. The qualitative portion of this research examined cognitive complexity using the LEP instrument. LEP would give instructors an approximate idea of how to construct their courses to deliver information encouraging higher-order thinking. It is a mistake to assume students in upper division courses are all operating in upper Perry positions. It is difficult to make significant gains in intellectual development during one semester, but it is particularly challenging if instructors are unaware of where students are initially in respect to cognitive complexity. The utilization of a reliable instrument may also help explain some perplexing incidents that occur in classrooms. Instructors can be comforted knowing that what frequently transpires in a class might be motivated more by where students are in their cognitive development than by what is said or done by the instructor.