Which theory posits learning occurs via internal mental activity?

Which theory posits learning occurs via internal mental activity?

• A. Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory
• B. Cognitivist
• C. Sensorimotor
• D. Skinner's Behaviorist Theory

Answer: (B)

Learning via internal mental activity is a hallmark of the cognitivist perspective. This view sees learners as active processors who think, reason, and construct mental representations—coding information, organizing it into schemas, and using strategies like attention and rehearsal to encode and retrieve knowledge. In this view, understanding comes from how the mind processes and stores information, not just from changes in outward behavior. That’s why this option fits best: it emphasizes internal processing, memory, and problem solving as core to learning. In contrast, Skinner’s behaviorist approach focuses on observable actions and external reinforcement; a Piaget sensorimotor stage describes early learning through physical interaction, while Piaget’s broader cognitive development theory covers thinking across development but isn’t the label that directly pinpoints learning as internal mental activity.

Learning via internal mental activity is a hallmark of the cognitivist perspective. This view sees learners as active processors who think, reason, and construct mental representations—coding information, organizing it into schemas, and using strategies like attention and rehearsal to encode and retrieve knowledge. In this view, understanding comes from how the mind processes and stores information, not just from changes in outward behavior.

That’s why this option fits best: it emphasizes internal processing, memory, and problem solving as core to learning. In contrast, Skinner’s behaviorist approach focuses on observable actions and external reinforcement; a Piaget sensorimotor stage describes early learning through physical interaction, while Piaget’s broader cognitive development theory covers thinking across development but isn’t the label that directly pinpoints learning as internal mental activity.