Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning

2012 Edition
| Editors: Norbert M. Seel

Rote Memorization

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_245

Synonyms

Definition

Rote memorization is theoretical term to describe storing of information in long-term memory through sheer repetition. Although rote memorization seems to be an important step in learning some subjects rote learning is often criticized as poor learning.

Theoretical Background

William James’ (1890) Principles of Psychology and Henri Bergson’s Matter and Memory (1991) have had wide and profound influence on cognitive science. For Bergson, there are two forms of memorization in the form of representations and action. Bergson distinguishes a memory that stores the facts of our daily life including images from a memory that is actualized in terms of motor mechanisms. Bergson takes the example of the lesson learned by heart and which, through repetition, results in a form of automatism. He likens this form of memory to habit-memory, opposing it to image-memory that does not rely on repetition but maintains an important degree of imagination. “We...

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References

  1. Anderson, J. R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
  2. Bergson, H. (1991). Matter and memory (N. M. Paul & W. S. Palmer, Trans.). New York: Zone Books. (Original work published 1896).Google Scholar
  3. Cohen, M. D., & Bacdayan, P. (1994). Organisational routines are stored as procedural memory: Evidence from a laboratory study. Organization Science, 5(4), 554–568.Google Scholar
  4. Damasio, A. (1994). Descartes’ error emotion reason and the human brain. New York: Grosset Putman Books.Google Scholar
  5. James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology (Vol. 2). New York: Henry Holt. Reissued by, New York: Dower 1950.Google Scholar
  6. Squire, L. R. (2004). Memory of the brain: A brief history and current perspective. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 82, 171–177.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.CNRS – GREDEGUniversity of Nice Sophia AntipolisValbonneFrance