Do you know the whys behind prescriptions for instruction and performance support? Do you know how your own brain works and learns? This information is critical to be effective at applying instruction and performance support, yet too often is missed. You can’t fill in the gaps that theory leaves without having a good basis upon which to make inferences. 

In this presentation, we’ll cover the basics of cognitive and learning science. We’ll explore how our brains process information, both to performance and to improve. Then we’ll look at emergent behaviors from our cognitive architecture that are particularly important for learning and development. We’ll do this through experiencing the phenomena through experiments that create a visceral understanding. Come learn how your brain works to not only design better solutions, but to improve your own learning! 

Learning objectives: 

• Know the characteristics that distinguish the different memory stores.
• Apply knowledge of the cognitive processes to fine-tune instruction.
• Understand how mental models facilitate learning.
• Use knowledge of errors to determine performance approaches.
• Recognize the importance of context for learning.