I. Absorption of knowledge

Explained by the assimilation theory of cognitive psychology, the result of meaning learning is to acquire psychological meaning, and the acquisition of meaning is the process of knowledge assimilation. Cognitive assimilation is the internal psychological mechanism of meaning learning. Ausubel inherited and developed the assimilation theory of cognitive psychology and made a new explanation for classroom learning.

(A) the historical origin of cognitive assimilation theory

Behavioral psychology only emphasizes the external behavior between the stimulus and the response of learning, and opposes the study of the internal mechanism in learners' minds, while cognitive psychology emphasizes the study of the internal psychological mechanism of learners, which are opposite. Cognitive assimilation theory comes from Gestalt psychology, which emphasizes the internal organizational function of psychological activities and is the basic principle of brain dynamics. Learning is achieved through "epiphany" and comes into being after discovering the relationship between things. Tolman put forward the concept of cognitive structure, and regarded learning as the process of forming symbol-gestalt, that is, the process of forming cognitive structure or "cognitive map", and regarded human learning as the change of cognitive structure guiding behavior. Piaget's genetic epistemology introduced the concept of assimilation in biology into psychology and began to explain the development of children's wisdom with cognitive assimilation theory. Learning is an individual's response to external stimuli, and the change of response is to adapt to the outside world through the internal organization of the individual. The individual's response to external stimuli is always based on his existing schema or cognitive structure. So he said: "There is no behavior from scratch, it is always grafted on the previous schema." According to genetic epistemology, schema or cognitive structure develops through the balance of assimilation and adaptation. Assimilation is to bring the object into the existing schema of the subject, which leads to the development of schema quantity. If you can't assimilate, you have to reorganize or create a new schema to adapt to the changing environment. Adaptation changes the schema qualitatively to better adapt to the environment. Cognitive development is carried out through the balance of assimilation and adaptation. Ausubel inherited genetic epistemology's viewpoint, regarded learning as the organization or formation of cognitive structure, and attributed genetic epistemology's assimilation and adaptation to the interaction of old and new knowledge. He believes that generic learning, general learning and parallel learning in proposition learning are all internal cognitive processes, and only through the interaction of old and new knowledge can psychological significance be produced. This interaction between old and new knowledge is the assimilation process of old and new meanings, and then a more differentiated cognitive structure is formed. Inferior learning (generic learning), dominant learning (general learning) and parallel learning in proposition learning are three assimilation modes for new knowledge to gain meaning. These assimilation models put forward by Ausubel describe how human cognition produces a new picture of cognition through the interaction of old and new knowledge, and embody the dialectical thought that external factors are the conditions of change and internal factors are the basis of change.

(B) the basic ideas of cognitive assimilation theory

1. Proper concepts in learners' cognitive structure are the key to learning new knowledge.

No matter representative learning, concept learning and proposition learning, they are all based on the practical experience gained in the early stage. There is no potential meaning, that is, there is no suitable fixed concept in the cognitive structure, and even if there is a sense of learning with logical meaning and meaning, it is impossible to obtain new psychological meaning. So Ausubel said, "If all educational psychology must be reduced to one principle, I would say that the most important factor affecting learning is what learners already know." It is required to "find out what learners already know and teach on this basis". In particular, once the concept of "inclusion" is formed, it has the following characteristics: (1) It is particularly suitable for subsequent learning tasks and can establish direct relationships; (2) It has the psychological significance of firmly fixing new learning; (3) Through this common knowledge point, we can organize relevant knowledge and contact old and new knowledge; (4) It can fully explain the details of the teaching materials, so that it has potential significance. These characteristics show that the original concept of appropriateness is the key to learning new knowledge.

2. New meaning is the product of the interaction between old and new knowledge.

The three assimilation modes in propositional learning are the manifestations of the different relations between old and new knowledge, and subordinate learning is the learning of subordinate relationship; Cognitive learning is the assimilation of cognitive relations; Parallel learning is the understanding of the relationship between parallel learning. The principle of meaningful learning put forward by Ausubel is continuous differentiation and comprehensive integration, which is the embodiment of vertical and horizontal assimilation in scientific knowledge groups. As a result of the interaction between old and new concepts, the concept with potential significance is transformed into actual psychological meaning, and the original cognitive structure has undergone quantitative and qualitative changes. It can be seen that the core of assimilation theory is interaction theory.

3. Meaningful reservation and forgetting are the continuation of cognitive assimilation.

Knowledge tends to be abbreviated, and through the process of cognitive assimilation, limited basic concepts and principles are mastered, which is more economical, labor-saving and easy to use than memorizing a large number of facts. Therefore, the concepts and principles obtained through meaning learning are not easy to forget. The basic concepts are deeper and deeper, and the knowledge is more and more consolidated, but the specific examples are meaningfully forgotten. Meaningful maintenance is a process of continuous reorganization and reorganization, which is also a process of cognitive assimilation. Meaningful forgetting is also the result of constant assimilation, and cognitive assimilation runs through the whole process of meaningful learning.

In fact, knowledge is mastered through understanding, consolidation and application. The core of mastery is thorough understanding. Cognitive assimilation theory is a theory about how to understand things.