By Brant Wilkerson-New
November 7, 2024
Declarative knowledge is the foundation of information. Imagine standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. You know it’s in Paris, that it was built in 1889, and that it stands 324 meters tall. But how do you know these facts? Although you can’t build the Eiffel Tower yourself, you know the facts behind its construction. You have declarative and factual knowledge about it.
From the moment we wake up to the second we fall asleep, we live in a world packed with knowledge of facts. We recognize faces, recall historical events, and understand scientific principles and conditions. This incredible ability to store and retrieve information is the bedrock of our understanding of the world. It’s what helps us engage in meaningful conversations, make informed decisions, and continuously expand our horizons.
In our example, the information about the Eiffel Tower — its location, construction date, and height — represents a specific type of factual knowledge that cognitive scientists and educators have long been fascinated by. This is declarative knowledge, a concept that shapes how we learn, remember, and interact with the world around us.
So, how does declarative knowledge benefit us?
What Is Declarative Knowledge?
Declarative knowledge, also known as descriptive or propositional knowledge, refers to processes, information, and concepts that can be stated or declared.
It’s the “knowing that” type of knowledge — the related information we can easily articulate, write down, or teach to others. For example, the fact that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, or that Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina.
This form of knowledge includes all types of information, from historical dates to scientific facts and even personal experiences.
Characteristics of Declarative Knowledge
Declarative knowledge has several defining features. Specifically:
- It’s explicit: it can be easily verbalized or written down.
- It’s conscious: We are aware of this knowledge and can recall it intentionally whenever we need it.
- It’s factual: conceptual knowledge is factual, as it deals with facts, concepts, and principles that can be easily proven.
- It’s transferable: It can be communicated and shared with others. Declarative knowledge is the basis of what children are taught at school and beyond.
Types of Declarative Knowledge
Declarative knowledge can be divided into two main subcategories.
Semantic memory
The first is semantic memory, which includes general facts and concepts about the world. For example, knowing that Paris is the capital of France or that water boils at 100°C at sea level falls under semantic memory.
Episodic memory
Episodic memory refers to personal experiences and events. Remembering your first day at school or your last birthday party are examples of episodic memory.
Declarative vs. Procedural Knowledge
To better understand declarative knowledge, compare it to procedural knowledge. While declarative knowledge is about “knowing that,” procedural knowledge is about “knowing how.”
Procedural knowledge is all about skills and procedures that we can perform but may have difficulty explaining. For instance, knowing the rules of chess is declarative knowledge, but knowing how to play chess well is procedural knowledge. Likewise, knowing the basic ingredients for a cookie is declarative — after all, the recipe is written down, and everybody can follow it. But knowing how to bake a perfect cake is procedural.
In practice, declarative and procedural knowledge support each other as we go through our everyday lives.
Declarative Knowledge in Technical Writing
In the world of technical writing, declarative knowledge is particularly important.
Technical writers rely heavily on declarative types of knowledge to convey complex information clearly and accurately. This type of knowledge is a standalone basis of technical documentation, user manuals, and instructional guides. For example, when describing a software’s features or explaining a scientific concept, technical writers draw upon their declarative knowledge to provide precise definitions, specifications, and factual information.
The ability to articulate this knowledge clearly and concisely makes technical documents effective and helps readers understand them. For a technical writer to remain at the forefront of their industry, they must constantly update and expand their declarative knowledge to keep pace with evolving technologies and methodologies in their field.
The Importance of Declarative Knowledge
Declarative knowledge is how we understand things and the world. In education, most of a child’s school training concerns declarative knowledge. It’s how we communicate and share information and ideas effectively with others. We often rely on declarative knowledge for problem-solving, and we use it to analyze situations and make decisions.
Declarative knowledge is much more than facts and information, though. It’s everything that helps us understand cultures, their differences, and how societies function.
Acquiring and Improving Declarative Knowledge
How do we learn declarative knowledge? Well, we first acquire it from teachers, books, and the education system.
But we also learn by observing and watching what’s happening around us. We learn about our environment, society, and the people surrounding us. In addition, personal experiences, living through events and remembering them, make a significant part of our declarative knowledge. Some media consumption, including gaining knowledge from TV, the Internet, and other media sources, helps us expand our declarative performance base as well.
How Can We Improve Declarative Knowledge?
Reading, lectures, and discussions with knowledgeable people can add to our declarative knowledge and enrich our internal database of facts and information. Online sources can also broaden your knowledge base and provide valuable information on specific topics and industries.
Declarative Knowledge and Technical Writing
Declarative knowledge is the building block of human understanding and learning. It includes facts, concepts, and experiences that we can easily articulate and share with others. Once we have mastered declarative knowledge, we are ready to process information and retain and handle new knowledge. We can then apply this new knowledge to new forms of living and writing.
Knowledge never ends: it’s what makes our world so wonderful but also so challenging. The sources of knowledge are endless, which means our potential for declarative knowledge is endless as well. It is up to us to acquire, retain, and use this knowledge at work and throughout our lifetime.
Declarative knowledge is a springboard for advanced learning, whether in academic pursuits, professional development, or personal growth. Through it, we can improve our work and ourselves. It’s a tool for engaging with the world around us more effectively and fulfilling our potential as human beings and professionals.
If you need help organizing your organization’s declarative knowledge, contact us today to share your project’s goals, book a free demo, and find out how we can help you. TimelyText is a trusted professional writing service and instructional design consulting partner for Fortune 500 companies worldwide!
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