Bruner believes that the primary source for educational subject matter is provided by academic disciplines.This subject matter must be converted into various modes of representation.Three modes of representation may be used to signify any basic idea.These modes are based on the learner’s stage of intellectual development.They usually progress from enactive to iconic to symbolic (Deng, 2007).
1. Enactive Representation (First Year)- Involves encoding action based information and storing in our memory. For example, in the form of movement as a muscle memory, a baby might remember the action of shaking a rattle (McLeod, 2008).
2. Iconic Representation (Second Year)- Information is stored visually in the form of images (a mental picture in the mind's eye) (McLeod, 2008). The perceiver can summarize events by the selective organization of percepts and of images by the special, temporal, and qualitative structures of the perceptual field and their transformed images (Driscoll, 2005, p. 228). An example ofthis is a child being able to draw a map from her house to the strore (Driscoll, 2005).
3. Symbolic Representation (6-7 and beyond)- This develops last and is where information is stored in the form of a code or symbol, such as language. This is the most adaptable form of representation, for actions and images have a fixed relation to that which they represent (McLeod,2008).
1. Enactive Representation (First Year)- Involves encoding action based information and storing in our memory. For example, in the form of movement as a muscle memory, a baby might remember the action of shaking a rattle (McLeod, 2008).
2. Iconic Representation (Second Year)- Information is stored visually in the form of images (a mental picture in the mind's eye) (McLeod, 2008). The perceiver can summarize events by the selective organization of percepts and of images by the special, temporal, and qualitative structures of the perceptual field and their transformed images (Driscoll, 2005, p. 228). An example ofthis is a child being able to draw a map from her house to the strore (Driscoll, 2005).
3. Symbolic Representation (6-7 and beyond)- This develops last and is where information is stored in the form of a code or symbol, such as language. This is the most adaptable form of representation, for actions and images have a fixed relation to that which they represent (McLeod,2008).