The three types of background knowledge are declarative (factual information), procedural (how-to knowledge), and conditional (knowledge of when and why to use certain strategies or actions).

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Declarative knowledge is represented as a static collection of facts with a set of Procedures for manipulating the facts.

Declarative knowledge refers to factual knowledge and information that a person knows. Procedural knowledge, on the other hand, is knowing how to perform certain activities.

All knowledge starts out as declarative information and procedural knowledge is acquired through inferences from already existing knowledge.

For example, when I was learning to play tennis, I learned all about the rules of the game, where to come into contact with the ball on my racket, how to make the ball go where I wanted to by the follow through, and how to position my body for a backhand stroke. This is a set of factual information. Putting those facts into practice helped me gain the skills to transform a series of declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge. The skills I acquired couldn't be learned simply by being told. I gained the skills only after actively putting them into practice and being monitored by a coach who was constantly providing feedback.

Cognitive learning typically consists of three levels of knowledge: declarative knowledge (knowing what), procedural knowledge (knowing how), and conditional knowledge (knowing when and why to apply what and how). These three levels represent the spectrum of knowledge needed for effective cognitive processing and learning.