David Ausubel, M.D.
(1918 - 2008 )
Meaningful Verbal Learning
Subsumption Theory
Biography
David Ausubel was an American psychologist who did his undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania (pre-
med and psychology). He graduated from medical school at Middlesex University. Later he earned a Ph.D in
Developmental Psychology at Columbia University. He was influenced by the work of Piaget. He served on the
faculty at several universities and retired from academic life in 1973 and began his practice in psychiatry. Dr. Ausubel
published several textbooks in developmental and educational psychology, and more than 150 journal articles. He
was awarded the Thorndike Award for "Distinguished Psychological Contributions to Education" by the American
Psychological Association (1976).
Theory
Ausubel, whose theories are particularly relevant for educators, considered neo-behaviorist views inadequate.
Although he recognized other forms of learning, his work focused on verbal learning. He dealt with the nature
of meaning, and believes the external world acquires meaning only as it is converted into the content of
consciousness by the learner.
Meaningful Verbal Learning
Meaning is created through some form of representational equivalence between language (symbols) and mental
context. Two processes are involved:
1. Reception, which is employed in meaningful verbal learning, and
2. Discovery, which is involved in concept formation and problem solving.
Ausubel's work has frequently been compared with Bruner's. The two held similar views about the hierarchical
nature of knowledge, but Bruner was strongly oriented toward discovery processes, where Ausubel gave more
emphasis to the verbal learning methods of speech, reading and writing.
Subsumption Theory
To subsume is to incorporate new material into one's cognitive structures. From Ausubel's perspective, this is
the meaning of learning. When information is subsumed into the learner's cognitive structure it is organized
hierarchically. New material can be subsumed in two different ways, and for both of these, no meaningful
learning takes place unless a stable cognitive structure exists. This existing structure provides a framework into
which the new learning is related, hierarchically, to the previous information or concepts in the individual's
cognitive structure.
When one encounters completely new unfamiliar material, then rote learning, as opposed to meaningful
learning, takes place. This rote learning may eventually contribute to the construction of a new cognitive
structure which can later be used in meaningful learning. The two types of subsumption are:
1. Correlative subsumption - new material is an extension or elaboration of what is already known.
2. Derivative subsumption - new material or relationships can be derived from the existing structure.
Information can be moved in the hierarchy, or linked to other concepts or information to create new
interpretations or meaning. From this type of subsumption, completely new concepts can emerge, and previous
concepts can be changed or expanded to include more of the previously existing information. This is "figuring
out".
Ausubel is a proponent of didactic, expository teaching methods. From this perspective, expository (verbal)
learning approaches encourage rapid learning and retention, whereas discovery learning (Bruner) facilitates
transfer to other contexts.
Advanced Organizers
Ausubel contributed much to the theoretical body of cognitive learning theory, but not as much to the practical
classroom aspects as Bruner and others. Ausubel's most notable contribution for classroom application was the
advance organizer.
The advance organizer is a tool or a mental learning aid to help students `integrate new information with their
existing knowledge, leading to "meaningful learning" as opposed to rote memorization. It is a means of
preparing the learner's cognitive structure for the learning experience about to take place. It is a device to
activate the relevant schema or conceptual patterns so that new information can be more readily `subsumed'
into the learner's existing cognitive structures.
Ausubel believed that it was important for teachers to provide a preview of information to be learned. Teachers
could do this by providing a brief introduction about the way that information that is going to be presented is
structured. This would enable students to start with a "Big Picture" of the upcoming content, and link new
ideas, concepts, vocabulary, to existing mental maps of the content area.
