What is a cognitive strategy?
In education, influencing a learner and assisting them in retention of information can be central and important tasks. To achieve these, the use of various cognitive strategies can be very effective, when carefully chosen to be appropriate for each learning situation. To influence a learner about the importance adequate pet care, the developer may appeal to affect (individual feelings), or to reinforce the importance of diet in nutrition, an authority figure such as a doctor might be enlisted to provide the advise. To assist in retention of information, cognitive techniques might be incorporated into the design and presentation of content which mimic mental processing of material. In data interpretation, for example, pictorials grouping related information together and emphasizing differences can be very useful. A conscious awareness and attention to these strategies and techniques results in systems which are better designed for human factors, interface, and learning.
