Adaptive Memory: Fitness-Relevant “Tunings” Help Drive Learning and Remembering

Nairne, James S.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-29986-0_10

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Primary knowledge, for which our brain has evolved, would be processed easily, quickly and without the need for cognitive resources, unlike secondary knowledge, which would require effort and time. This distinction is consistent with the one used in adaptive memory theory (Nairne, 2016) but now extended to more complex learning. Thus, we would be efficient for primary knowledge, even if it concerns unknown objects (Lespiau & Tricot, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Secondary knowledge requires considerable investment and its processing rarely motivates learners, whereas primary knowledge seems to be intrinsically motivating. This distinction between primary and secondary knowledge may be similar to Nairne's work on adaptive memory, suggesting that our memory systems evolved to better remember information that is related to our survival (Nairne, 2016;Nairne, Pandeirada & Thompson, 2008). For example, individuals retain information related to animated objects (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…This paper is in line with research involving the evolutionary approach in learning (Paas & Sweller, 2012) or in memory (Nairne, 2016) and advances Lespiau and Tricot (2018), seeking to use the evolutionary approach to knowledge to promote learners' motivation and performance in a real learning task rather than its application to an artificial task. To this end, we conducted three experiments in which the main task was to learn the rules of formal logic.…”

Section: Present Studymentioning

confidence: 54%

“…According to a recent theory in evolutionary psychology (Geary, 2007(Geary, , 2008Geary & Berch, 2015, our brain evolved to efficiently process (through attentional and cognitive mechanisms) certain adaptive types of information called primary knowledge as illustrated with fitness-relevant words and memory (Nairne, 2016). Thus, we are pre-wired to easily and quickly acquire knowledge related to folk psychology (e.g.…”

Section: Primary and Secondary Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Primary Knowledge: an Efficient Way To Motivate Students and Promote the Learning of Formal Reasoning

Lespiau

Tricot

2019

Educ Psychol Rev

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According to Geary's evolutionary approach, humans are able to easily acquire primary knowledge and, with more efforts, secondary knowledge. The present study investigates how primary knowledge contents can facilitate the learning of formal logical rules i.e. secondary knowledge. Framing formal logical problems in evolutionary salient contexts should increase learners' efficiency, motivation and engagement in learning compared with framing logical problems in secondary knowledge. In two experiments, high school students (n=210) had to train with syllogisms of unknown content (to reduce the use of prior knowledge) and which could be related to primary knowledge (rules about invented food and animals) or secondary knowledge (fictitious mathematics and grammar rules) in order to best pass a final test. The training phase was compulsory or left to learners' choice. In a third experiment, participants (university students, n=227) were confronted with three phases: (i) a priming phase consisting of problems with primary or secondary knowledge contents, then (ii) a training phase consisting of secondary knowledge only and (iii) the final test. Results confirmed the positive influence of primary knowledge in a learning task: participants were more efficient, more motivated, more confident and experienced less cognitive load when confronted with primary knowledge compared to secondary knowledge. In particular, primary knowledge favored the involvement and persistence of learners in the training phase regardless of their personal characteristics unlike secondary knowledge. Finally, presenting primary knowledge first and then secondary knowledge was more efficient both in terms of performance and motivation. The evolutionary approach to knowledge would provide a framework for developing a way to present new content that is cost-efficient in keeping learners motivated, whatever their age or personal characteristics.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Present Studymentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Primary and Secondary Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Primary Knowledge: an Efficient Way To Motivate Students and Promote the Learning of Formal Reasoning

Lespiau

Tricot

2019

Educ Psychol Rev

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“…In further explorations of the effect, myriad control conditions that typically lead to high levels of retention have been used, including the ones originally used by Nairne et al (2007), such as rating the pleasantness or self-relevance of the information, as well as other conditions, such as rating the ability to form an image of the information and a generation task where participants had to unscramble the first two letters of the word before rating the pleasantness of the item (e.g., Nairne, Pandeirada, & Thompson, 2008). Most studies have found a retention advantage for the survival grasslands scenario when compared to conditions that are not related to survival (see Kazanas & Altarriba, 2015;Nairne, 2015Nairne, , 2016and Nairne, Pandeirada, & Fernandes, 2017 for reviews on the survival processing effect).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%