Prior knowledge

Alison Preston examines how prior knowledge organizes memories and supports the integration of new information. She discusses neural accounts of schemas, distinctions between schemas and cognitive maps, and how these processes change from childhood to adulthood, alongside differences in how researchers define the underlying concepts.

…behavior depends on learning/prior knowledge and stimulus novelty. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover stud

New memories are integrated into prior knowledge of the world. But what if consecutive memories exert opposing demands on the host brain network? We report that acquiring a robust (food-context) memory constrains the hippocampus within a population activity space of highly correlated spike trains that prevents subsequent computation of a flexible (object- location) memory. This densely correlated firing structure developed over repeated mnemonic experience, gradually coupling neurons of the superficial CA1 pyramidale sublayer to whole population activity. Applying hippocampal theta-driven clos

Perception is molded by sensory input, prior knowledge, and contextual cues, collectively giving rise to perceptual biases whose neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study aimed to elucidate these mechanisms by examining prefrontal cortex (PFC) neural recordings from monkeys performing a vibrotactile frequency discrimination task (Fig. 1a). Monkey’s behavior exhibited the contraction bias (Fig. 1b), a contraction of the perceived first frequency towards its mean. This bias increased with longer delay periods, suggesting a Bayesian explanation of this effect. Examination of PFC’s ne

Analogies between old and new concepts are common during classroom instruction. While previous studies of transfer focus on how features of initial learning guide later transfer to new problem solving, less is known about how to best support analogical transfer from previous learning while children are engaged in new learning episodes. Such research may have important implications for teaching and learning in mathematics, which often includes analogies between old and new information. Some existing research promotes supporting learners' explicit connections across old and new information withi

The limited capacity of visual working memory constrains the quantity and quality of the information we can store in mind for ongoing processing. Research from our lab has demonstrated that verbal labeling/categorization of visual inputs increases its retention and fidelity in visual working memory. In this talk, I will outline the hypotheses that explain the interaction between visual and verbal inputs in working memory, leading to the boosts we observed. I will further show how manipulations of the categorical distinctiveness of the labels, the timing of their occurrence, to which item label

It is a truth universally acknowledged that relational reasoning is important for learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. However, much research on relational reasoning uses examples unrelated to STEM concepts (understandably, to control for prior knowledge in many cases). In this talk I will discuss how real STEM concepts can be profitably used in relational reasoning research, using fraction concepts in mathematics as an example.