Declarative Knowledge - Essay Example

Psycology (Systems and Theories) Declarative knowledge is all about the basic facts in one individuals life i.e. if one has a clear understandingof things or not. It describes about the knowledge one has about different topics and what aspects actually affect the performance of one individual. As stated by Garner in 1987 that good learners have the capacity to understand and gain more knowledge than others. Where as Procedural knowledge is all about performing the tasks or doing the tasks taught to them by declarative knowledge.

This type of knowledge helps one individual to build up his strategies and implement them properly. As Schraw (2001) explains about the individuals who possess a greater quantity of procedural knowledge. He describes them as having the ability to carry out more errands than others. Declarative knowledge refers to the factual information occupied by a person; this type of knowledge can be stated verbally or textually. Declarative knowledge is the most important among the types of knowledge due to the fact that it talks 'about' the thing or process.

If a person in unaware of the basic facts about a process or thing he cannot practice it ever. For instance, if you want to measure the weight of a body you must have the knowledge about its measurement tools and units. However, procedural knowledge is the knowledge which tells about carrying out some process. It talks about the 'how' perspective of a process. It tells how to use the formula or a given fact be used in finding something. For e.g. if one knows the formula of speed he cannot use it directly until he knows the process of using it.

Similarly if one would not know the formula i.e. would not have Declarative knowledge, he would not be able to use procedural knowledge. Declarative knowledge at times does not have meaning and are forgotten by the individuals. But at times it is not necessary that this knowledge is forgotten as this type of knowledge is necessary for the individuals. This type of knowledge tells one about the basic facts. For e.g. if one event is described in a book it would be known as declarative knowledge.

Therefore declarative knowledge is an important part of one individual's life. Most of the content of the syllabus one studies involves declarative knowledge. This shows how important declarative knowledge is in our daily life routine. Declarative knowledge helps one individual to differentiate between different subjects and analyze one particular subject. For e.g. if an individual possesses declarative knowledge he would know how to analyze a topic which has different views. This analysis would help the individual to come up with his own views on the topic.

Declarative knowledge therefore can be said to be one important aspect in one's live. This is because this type of knowledge is involved in every stage of one's live. Declarative knowledge not only helps to build up the skills of the individual but also helps him to further use his knowledge properly.Works CitedGarner, Ruth, and Mark G. Gillingham. "Students' Knowledge of Text Structure." Journal of Reading Behavior. 19. 3 (1987): 247-59.Schraw, Gregory, Terri Flowerday, and Stephen Lehman.

"Increasing Situational Interest in the Classroom." Educational Psychology Review. 13. 3 (2001): 211-224.