Generalized cognitive structure is the whole content and organization of students' existing ideas; In a narrow sense, it is the whole content and organization of students' thoughts in the field of specialized knowledge of a certain subject. Ausubel put forward three main cognitive structural variables that affect meaningful learning and transfer: the availability of ideas, the distinguishability of ideas and the stability and clarity of ideas.
Importance:
Piaget in Switzerland, Bruner and Ausubel in the United States all emphasized the importance of cognitive structure. They all agree that learning includes an internal knowledge organization that integrates new materials or new experiences, that is, cognitive structure. Piaget pointed out that this structure is in the form of schema, assimilation, adaptation and balance. Under Piaget's influence, Bruner applied the cognitive structure theory to the school curriculum reform in the United States. Ausubel systematically expounded the cognitive structure and its relationship with classroom learning.
Ausubel (1963) clearly pointed out that in the past, many psychologists often gave priority to non-cognitive, mechanical and sports learning, and paid more attention to the current situation and individual factors, such as work tasks, exercises, internal drive, motivation and reinforcement, while underestimating the importance of cognitive structure.
The influence of past experience on current learning is generally placed under the headline of positive and negative transfer; This transfer is usually explained as the direct interaction between stimulus and response attributes in two learning tasks. In fact, as far as classroom learning is concerned, learners need to integrate new concepts and information into the existing cognitive structure.