Declarative Information and Procedural Information;

Quicktime® Video, Declarative Learning and Procedural Learning.

Bridging the Gap between Matter and Symbol I

[On (or back) to Cognition, Recognition, and Recall , Bridging the Gap between Matter and Symbol II ]

Quicktime® digitized videos (e.g. TipCartsNet.mov and BobJonesNet.mov) simultaneously present to the viewer declarative information about a task, and procedural information about the task.

• Declarative information is presented in the text track.
• Procedural information is presented in the video track.
• The sound track provides the situated-ness of the task, for example the noise of the workplace or the voice of an experienced worker saying something in the accustomed vernacular of the workplace; or both, plus some music. Sound is the one medium where you can have a chorus.
  If you didn't really want to read a heavy duty discourse on epistemology and cognitive science, Back to FrogOJT page with links to some Quicktime movies.

The only way to catalyze the learning of the task is to present the declarative information and the procedural information to the trainee, on the screen of a computer.

Any image is an elaboration in the brain of a retinal image. We don't have to know how the brain of the trainee accomplishes the integration of the information in the Quicktime® video into knowledge of how to perform the task.

We can then assay that learning has taken place by measuring the performance of the trainee.

• This is the usual metric approach.
• We will do better, if we measure cognition directly during the training procedure (using the method of Chance et al, or any other real-time noninvasive technique. The Chance method measures volume/concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in the cerebral cortex by Near InfraRed Spectroscopy to image the area[s] of the brain that are mobilizing their resources adequately for cognition to be taking place. This is the grown up version of the same NIRS that is used routinely in hospitals to simply monitor whether the brain is getting enough oxygen or is in fact ischemic and near death.) Some people won't achieve cognition, because they can't pay attention or can't understand either the words or the pictures or both. If cognition does take place, we may or may not get learning; some people just aren't cut out for that kind of work, as they say. If we do achieve cognition, and on the occasions when we do get learning, then we may further manipulate the learning situation to optimize knowledge acquisition.

Perhaps by this further manipulation and experiment, we may obtain insight into the integration referred to above. This would be desirable, but it will be perfectly acceptable to me if the integration of information into knowledge remains a mystery of the organism.

A search engine that looks up +"procedural learning" will probably provide resources that are necessary and sufficient for background here.

Quicktime® Video has been proven as a learning tool

We have used a Quicktime® digitized video to train hockey skaters.

The digitized video is called Skate Forward and depicts André Lacroix skating the length of a hockey rink. It is available on the web at www.frogojt.com/skatefwd.html.

This video was used to train a cohort of young hockey players at the Vallco rink in November 1998. The video record of the training session is on the FrogOJT CD-ROM.

The skaters watched the André video six times, then skated; watched six more times, then skated again. The metrics applied to their performance were arm position, shoulder position, and stick position. The skaters acquired skill within a few minutes.

Note that most players never acquire the skill of skating like André.

Note also (not shown on the video) that their new skill was eradicated within minutes by Coach Bill Fruen, who extinguished the learning by a quick regimen of traditional hockey practice skating drills.

Back to FrogOJT page., with links to some Quicktime movies.

On to Cognition, Recognition, and Recall , Bridging the Gap between Matter and Symbol II