Ed Psych Midterm Flashcards
Emergent properties
properties that occur due to interaction of individuals; doesn’t occur in just one person (more than the sum of the parts)
Near decomposability
complex systems are “nearly decomposable” hierarchies; interactions within horizontal level, not between higher/lower levels; changes happen locally, not to entire system. Justifies study of Ed Psych at one level of analysis (child) and not succumbing to infinite regression
Cautions of studying one level of analysis (child)
1- what we think we know at one level may not translate up; to avoid, understand theories of how levels impact each other
Cautions of studying one level of analysis (child)
Caution 2- theories of instruction; sci & application of science are different, no values/goals in science, never straightforward
Effective studying strategies
Most effective: practice tests, distributed practice; least effect & most common: highlighting, rereading, summarizing, memorizing
Memory model
Sensory to working memory via attention/perception; working to long term memory via encoding; retrieval/storage
Transfer appropriate processing
memory system most effective when the way you think about it at encoding matches the way you think about it at retrieval
What can teachers do to encourage deep processing?
Think about what kids will actually think about during lesson plan
Deep Processing Technique- Elaborative Integration
explain why something is true; HUGE effect for background knowledge- better off being familiar w/ topic and not elaborating than elaborating and knowing nothing
Deep Processing Technique- Summarization
SHOULD work b/c focuses on what’s important, relationship between ideas; can’t do good summary if you don’t have good comprehension
Deep Processing Technique- Key Work Mnemonics
works short term; easier for learning language vocab, but hard to difficult images/associations for more complex/less concrete ideas
Deep Processing Technique- Imagery
every few paragraphs, create an image of what’s happening; doesn’t work, relies on summary, is hard
Deep Processing Technique- Self evaluation
Procedural; why am I doing this now?; in the moment; abstract problems (classroom evaluations- what are you doing? why?)
WHEN instead of HOW you process
Study schedules
Time on Task
the longer you study, the shorter the amount of time it takes you to relearn (writing classes taken, and feedback given- study)
Distributed practice
for long periods and short periods, it helps a lot; no effect on middle times; gaps between studying different depending on how long you want to remember things; distributed better than massed if you want to remember for a long time; time between study sessions complexly relates to retention
Interleaved Practice
study part of one thing, part of another thing, arti of another alternating instead of all massed; at first worse, but later it’s more effective- you have to decide what operation to do instead of repeating learned procedure (matches exam- think math, distinguishing artists study)
Testing effect
retrieval practice; practice tests are beneficil even w/out feedback (in long term, initially more studying better but later test, pretest better)
Solution Comparison (math)
Beneficial only if students have background knowledge of each method
Reading processes
Decoding (skill that transfers); comprehension (dependent on background knowledge)
Ways background knowledge is important in reading
Fill in gaps of what’s not explicitly said (LISTENER can clarify, LEADER cannot); clarifies ambiguities (adds topic/context); directs attention (what stands out more); makes it easier to put ideas together (punctuation as guide, chunking of concepts); helps you generalize/transfer
Recht & Leslie- reading/background knowledge
Background knowledge of baseball stronger effect than reading skill; poor readers who were baseball fans performed better than good readers who were not fans (but effect of reading skill also present)
Logic skills
Case based reasoning, memory component of all expert skills (ex: blitz chess)
Ways scientific reasoning is taught
1- Scientific concepts (laws) or 2- Scientific reasoning (develop a model, test solutions)
Science & background knowledge
often tested specifically w/out prior knowledge, but studies show that prior knowledge helps, influences reasoning (chem/political science problem model development); current teaching/understanding very shallow, w/out background knowledge; background knowledge influences which variables you test; what data you’ll believe; which data you find anomalous
Background knowledge needed- math, reading, science
math- math facts; reading- general shallow knowledge on BROAD range of subjects; Science- conceptual knowledge of moderately broad set of facts
Transfer definition
something learned in one context being applicable in other contexts; it’s bad currently
Transfer according to Thorndike
Identical Elements Theory- transfer only occurs to extent that tasks include similar steps, elements of thinking (more similar elements, more transfer)
Tranfer is bad b/c
People notice surface similarity (it’s about a bird) over structural similarity (split then converging forces) ; transfer of objects (dogs/cows, kids) easy, natural
High level thought transfer
depends on RELATIONS between objects, not objects’ properties (so must 1 know functional roles and 2 avoid/forget surface properties)
Gentry Structure Mapping Model
The more abstract the info retrieved is, the more helpful (ex relations of relations over object to object comparison)
Reasons Transfer so Poor
1 Greater cognitive load to consider mulltiple roles of object (object, object as relation, toy vs symbol experiment); easy memory retrieval for surface characteristics, not relationships; 3- Abstractions are hard (we study materials through example problems); 5- too many possibilities(different abstractions and deep structures to think about for one problem)
Day & Goldstone- transfer and comprehension
Abstract teaching helps transfer, but concrete examples helps comprehension
Presentation Strategies to Improve Transfer
Questions- have students explain what they’re doing, then explain in abstract terms; Labeling- label steps and substeps w/in concrete problems to help students remember abstract procedure (less popular than combo strategies)
Combination Strategies to Improve Transfer
1 Compare concrete problems (easier to see similarities); Cycling between concrete (ex problem) and abstract (formula) good for both transfer and comprehension (variant: students solve problem, you ask for new solutions based on different variable changes til students abstract, see commonalities)
Constructivism (completely different approach #1)
People learn by doing in a community of practice (apprentices) so transfer doesn’t occur; classroom level of analysis
Transfer as preparation to learn (completely different approach #2)
knowledge doesn’t always apply but can always help us interpret new info in future; test for potential to learn, not just straightforward understanding
3 things Practice does
makes long-term memory long lasting; helps new learning by moving some work to long term memory/automaticity and leaving more working memory resources; improves transfer
overlearning
students have to keep studying after they know 100% to compensate for forgetting (list not just recognize)
Forgetting
If you learn it really well, you don’t forget less, you just had more to start w/; all students forget material at same rate after they stop using the material
Bahric Ohio small town algebra study
w/ 3 years distributed practice, all algebra remembered; different grades still same rate of forgetting
Practice: Implication
What students need to remember most sould remain in curricul for years with distributed practice; practice best protection from long term forgetting
Practice- Math
Knowing math facts leaves more working memory, improves performance;
Practice- reading
Once decoding is automatic, comprehension dramatically increases; ((garden path sentences- can think about meaning/relations more))
How to improve reading fluency
Guided oral reading w/ feedback for mistakes (makes sense as kids are learning) VS sustained silent reading (how adults read, practice for later but kids don’t know when making mistakes)
Practice and Transfer (experts)
experts “just see it”, don’t have to think of all prior conceptualizations as they learn another definition; experts are better at SHAPE MEMORY (recognizing patterns)
Practice vs Experience
(Erikson)- practice is deliberate, trying to get better, monitoring progress and strategies, feedback; thoughtful practice- focusing on errors, immediately correcting mistakes (instead of blundering through repeatedly)
Feedback (problems in feedback)
Hard to know when you made mistake (self assessment not always reliable); hard to know what to do differently when wrong
Practice strategies
structured; sequenced; unrelated activities
Difficulties w/ practice in school setting
motivation- “busy work,” overlearning hard b/c boring; student self image (as student)
Metacognition- Knowledge monitoring and control
knowing what you currently know (capability, what task requires, good/bad ways to approach); regulating your thought process (*application- what I’m going to do, how it’s working)
Knowledge: Task- Memory
3rd-5th grade people realize that learning 2nd thing will interfere w/ memory of 1st thing (retroactive interference)
Knowledge: Task- Math & Science
Students view math as rigid, formulas and science as set book of knowledge; experts see them as flexible, contingent
Knowledge: Task- Reading
subject where teachers try to get the most change in HOW students are doing it (initially, just decoding is okay then new strategies introduced)
Calibration (JOL)
Diference between what you predict you’ll get and what you do get; (all kids think they’re doing fine, so the ones who are doing poorly are poorly calibrated) ; w/ JOL, people (illogically) DON’T study hardest items most, study easier items most
Confidence w/ in class
top performing students are under confidant, bottom performing students are over confident– if you don’t know the material well at all, you don’t know how much or little you know
Metacognition heuristic: familiarity
Students mistakenly read problems as familiar when saw similar numbers and different operands
Metacognition Heuristics: fluency from partial access
you know some/a lot about something, so you assume you know everything (you don’t immediately think of everything you’ve forgotten)
Knowledge- strategy
3rd to 5th grade shift in knowing which strategies to use for a task
Knowledge- memory
Middle school kids research/elaborate 50-50; adults also say 50-50 but in experiments they recognize elaboration is better
Knowledge- interpersonal
4 year olds get theory of mind
Theory mind- reasons important
1 understanding social interactions; 2 understanding literature
spotlight effect
belief that people are looking at/noticing/judging us much more than they are in reality; extreme in ages 12-15
Adolescent egocentrism
extreme version of spotlight effect; imaginary audience; personal fable (life experiences are unique to you, no one else can relate): LITERATURE implications– literature can break them of this vs they don’t have enough perspective taking to study complex literature
Knowledge: Planning
we think projects will take shorter than they do; people are overconfident in their abilities, discount ALL low probability events (instead of considering chance that something will go wrong, they think each specific thing is unlikely)
Regulation- reading comprehension
readers don’t notice inaccuracy unless specifically asked
Self-paced learning
Good for simple, predictable tasks
Knowledge: evaluating
attribution of poor performance: teacher- we should work on studying skills vs student- this test sucks, I didn’t have time
Applications: Memory
inform students about heuristic effects; test of understanding is if YOU can explain it, not if you understand someone else’s explanation
Applications: JOL
sense of familiarity comes from reading textbook and notes; NOT good way to study
Metacognition- reading
most commonly taught strategies; most seem to be helpful (educated guess, q & a, image story); tell what to do but not how, so forcing kids that they either get it or they don’t
Critical thinking definitions
cognitive processes that transform and apply our idea, skills, knowledge in novel situations; process of evaluation of information and reasoning worth (deciding if you/someone else has done something legitimate)
Critical thinking- development
Piaget stages (sensoriomotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational) problematic b/c assumed that next stage comes naturally w/out teaching, and that kids aren’t ready for next level yet
Critical thinking- common conceptualization
logical thinking, abstraction, comparing hypothesis to evidence
Critical thinking programs
generally successful to the extent that test matched program, but at least small skill boost for long term; transfer still difficult- courses don’t really help in other types of logic testing
Critical thinking- specific set of skills
Domain specific; need knowledge base in order to use working memory; must learn different norms/criteria for different fields
Critical thinking- avoid errors
teach mental biases, try to prevent dumb mistakes (confirmation bias, clustering bias (clusters expected in random distribution), sunk costs; bias bling spot- people recognize that others make these mistakes but they believe that they do not
Avoiding errors- effectiveness
mixed success- motivation (easier for sunk costs, harder for confirmation bias)
Disposition
need for cognition- habit is to NOT think during routine decisions, but culture/household plays effect too
Critical thinking in classrooms- status
VERY difficult to pull off- common in science, successful histroy (detective, primary sources) program that teaches deductive reasoning ; but unfortunately most US teachers ask closed (yes/no) questions
Reading processes
turning print into sound; comprehension’ visual representations for orthography
Turning prints into sound
finding written way to convey meaning; pictographs, logographs (one symbol/word)- too much memorization; English code easier to memorize/know; it’s visual
Reading challenges- sound/visual
sounds- alphabet splits sounds unnaturally; we hear syllables, not phonemes w/out training, phonemes are abstractions in different syllables; also visual similarity of letters
reading challenge: mapping
phoneme to orthography mapping is hard (ghoti/fish)
Implications- phonemic knowledge
letter and phoneme awareness in preschool entry are best longitudinal predictors for reading success; if you don’t know the letters or sounds, you can’t learn the code; Deaf students don’t read well; easier to learn to read in shallow orthographies ((easier to speak English badly))
Reading- beyond decoding
context clues; after 4th grade, background knowledge better predictor of reading success than decoding skills
Simplified view of reading
Reading= decoding + language; if you can decode, you can comprehend; reading goes wrong when bad at decoding (dyslexia)
Right view of reading
semantics orthography both connected w/ phonology; there’s a visual based mechanism AND a sound based mechanism
Preschool reading instruction methods
sounds, letters, “literacy conventions” (author name, parts of book); phonological awareness through tongue twisters, rhymes, alliteration; phonological knowledge age 5 accurate predictor of reading at age 11; familiarity of letters also helps (ex: W is wuh, not dub u); “preliterary experiences” also predictive (nursery rhymes, books in house, know how to hold book)
Kindergarten- decoding instruction
Phonics- boring, kids hate, ad aloud and sound out words, content unimportant VS whole word- put kids into interesting environment, meaning, silent, kids figure out themselves, phonics as needed
Sounds vs content
it’s not just sound- easier to id letter in word than in isolation (word superiority effect) but sound still matters (muscles in vocal tract contract during silent reading, slower to read tongue twisters silently, homophones take longer to classify)
Reading wars
phonics popular 1970s, 80s whole word gains momentum, by 2000 policy took note that phonics better (known to psych since 67)
Other factors that influence decoding
teacher warmth; NOT IQ
Where does general knowledge come from (need broad, shallow knowledge base to be good reader)
HOW MUCH you read; NOT how well, IQ (written sources more formal lanugage than spoken/tv, more beneficial)
Positive feedback loop
1st grade reading scores HIGHLY PREDICTIVE of 11th grade reading scores; if good at reading, keep doing it for fun, getting better vs being bad, avoiding, getting worse relative to peers; knowledge to reading just as important as vice versa
Math- what’s natural
numerosity up to 4; approcimate number system; relation of #s and space
Math- what need to learn
math facts; algorithmic; conceptual
Numerousity
Cardinal numbers up to 4- infants can add/subtract, adults have no problem labeling quantity up to 4 w/ dots flashed; larger numbers use “approximation” system; numerosity comparisons infants 2;1, adults 8:7
Numbers and Space related
number line (weak argument); brain areas over lap for left/right addition/subtraction; damage to one area damages space and numerosity; behavioral interference- easier to tap small numbers left hand large #s right, we get the algorithmic sense of numbers
Math wars
Knowing concepts makes algorithms easier to learn vs knowing algorithms makes concepts easier to learn (unresolved)
US Math- Status
Kids okay at first, get horrible in 10th grade; know facts but not conceptual base
Potential US Math improvement
Math board game for kids- counting token, saying number names, moving along line
Methods of science instruction
Direct instruction (lecture- better for understanding) vs inquiry based (better for transfer, more fun, never happens)
Current US History and Civics standings
Okay in elementary school, declines through middle and high school
Problems in History instruction
focus on facts (controversy over what makes curriculum); tendency to avoid controversial topics; discussion limited b/c kids don’t do it well; textbooks are inconsistent; teacher discomfort and district policies; humanities undervalued
New promising history model
“Reading like Historian” primary texts, consider context/bias, compare multiple documents; wonderful b/c centers around questions, student discussion ; benefits historical thinking, reading (also lots of resources available to teachers)
Motivation- personality theory
Motivation is a personality variable, related to conscientiousness; not helpful to teachers b/c can’t adapt in classroom
Motivation- Self determination theory
People are motivated towards autonomy; (intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation) (today we say behavior is either result of internal interest or external contingencies such as grades/parents, social comparisons) ; teachers can be supportive, emphasize interest
Motivation- Attribution theory
the causes of success/failure matter to future motivation; internal/external locus of control belief; learned helplessness when students think they have no control and cause of failure stable; teachers can emphasize controllability, monitor types of praise
Motivation- Achievement Goal theory
goals are motivators; mastery approach (feedback, appropriate tasks), performance (easy tasks, cheating), approach, mastery avoidance (I should know! fear of forgetting), performance avoidance (self handicapping, anxiety)
Developmental motivation trends
Kids like school in Kindergarten, by late elementary school some know it’s “not for them”; increased social comparison, academic pressure (parental)
Teacher approach- motivation
Make understanding the only way to meet goals; reward effort, point out necessity of mistakes (hard) ; frame for positive outcomes, reward not punish
Motivation- Expectancy value theory
Motivation based on 1 need for achievement, 2 probability of success, 3 value of outcome (interest, utility)
Time discounting
Reward only appealing now, loses value in future
Task value- scheduling
schedules make people stick to goals more; commitment doesn’t always help, need support
Rewards (behaviorist)
effective ONLY AS LONG AS REWARD PRESENT; token economies
Rewards- objections
philosophical- anipulates, belittles students; it doesn’t work when rewards stop; if kids know they’ll get reward, makes task less appealing
Praise
Differs from rewards b/c personal; ineffective when unearned, insincere, or controlling
Views of intelligence- fixed/malleable
praise of ability encourages fixed view (easy problems) vs praise for work, process which encouraged kids to do harder problems (Social comparison praise bad- some kids not picked, if picked b/c like school or b/c teacher wants you to like school?)
Self efficacy
how well do I do task; object, not personal judgment ; academic self efficacy predictive of college GPA (controlled for high school GPA)
Self efficacy- causes and implications
comes from performance, beliefs, social comparisons (to those you relate to), verbal persuasion; influences task selection, harder goals, better strategies for scheduling, persistence (reading as leisure activity**); if it’s bad, dropout
Self efficacy- how to improve
teacher self efficacy (teacher believes they can teach every kid); drops naturally as students age (social comparisons, pressure increases; transitions/anxiety); good goals (specific, attainable) TEACHER SUPPORT, seeing their peers succeed, attribution feedback
Self worth theory
Goal of self worth SAME, approaches differ- performance oriented define worth by others, mastery oriented don’t or give up and find self worth beyond academics
Self regulation
ability to inhibit automatic response and do something else for long-term goal
Self regulation causal factors and implications
ability to maintain attention, delay gratification, inhibit emotions; suggest getter performance academically; if bad, more arrests, less earning,poor health
