A COGNITIVE THEORY OF SCHOOL LEARNING’
DAVID P. AUSUBEL
City University of New York
The distinctive features of a cognitive learning theory as a theory of how learn-
ing takes place in school and similar learning environments, in my opinion, are that
it both (a) deals primarily with meaningful as opposed to rote learning, and (b)
emphasizes the salient role of the learner’s existing structure of knowledge in defining
the conditions, determinants, and outcomes of the acquisition and rete
