Cognitive theory views thinking, decision making, and remembering as underlying behaviors. It focuses on how people think, understand, and acquire knowledge. Key cognitive theorists discussed include Paivio with his dual coding theory of verbal and nonverbal processing, Gagne with his learning hierarchies and instruction model, Gardner with his theory of multiple intelligences, and Bloom with his taxonomy of learning domains. Teachers can apply cognitive theory through expository teaching, meaningful learning connections, and dual coding with text and images. Students use memory and existing knowledge to organize and retain new information.