In particular, scientists proposed other approaches to the study of learning, such as cognition and neurology. Driscoll devotes all but the last three chapters to an in-depth discussion of cognition. Additionally, each chapter focuses on the works of one or two prominent scientists in the field. In Chapter 3, Driscoll develops a theory of cognitive information processing to explain how humans learn. The information processing theory treats the human learner like a computer.
Information is received, processed and stored or returned as an output.
How learned information is retrieved and the implications of cognitive information processing for instruction finish Chapter 3. Knowledge is built over time, with new ideas being added to old ideas. New information can be integrated if it provides the learner with an illustrative example of something previously learned, which is referred to as a derivative subsumption. If new information modifies or extends previously learned information, it is referred to as a correlative subsumption. If old information can be subsumed under the new information, this is superordinate learning.