Unit 2 Flashcards
Learning Approaches: applications for Educational Psychology
What is learning?
often defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour, knowledge, and thinking skills as a result of experience
What is the performance in learning?
temporary fluctuation in knowledge or behaviour that can be measured or observed in a short time.
What is nature?
a persons biological inheritance
What is Nurture?
how environmental experiences, education, culture, and social environment shape an individual’s characteristics and personality traits throughout their life
can we change nature?
no
-> working with nurture
What is important for educators to know about genes?
that there is nothing that can be done about Childs genes -> but: we can act in his/her Environment to create skills, motivation, tools knowledge
Can teachers make a difference in childrens learning, regardless of the children’s genetic predispositions?
yes
What are some examples of capacities that we inherit?
eye color, hair color and texture, skin tone, blood group, color blindness, dimples, etc.
What are some examples of learning through experience?
Hobbies, music genres, languages, favorite color, dogs or cats preferences
What are the 4 approaches to learning?
Behavioural
Constructivist
Cognitive
Social
What are examples of theories for the behavioral approach?
Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning
What are examples of theories for the social cognitive approach?
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, Cognitive- BEHAVIOURAL approaches
What are examples of theories for the cognitive approach?
information processing
What are examples of theories for the constructivist approach?
Vygotsky and Piaget
What is Behaviorism in the behavioral approach?
the view that behaviour should be explained by observable experiences, not by mental processes.
What is Behavior?
everything that we do, both verbal and nonverbal, that can be directly seen or heard. Some authors belonging to third-wave therapies assert that behaviour also includes thought and emotion
What does Behaviorism indicate?
that learning is associative: it consists of learning that two events are connected or associated.
what are private events?
Emotions, thoughts (everything that is within yourself - not observable for outside)
What is the old view of behaviorists in terms of private events?
they are not the focus of the change in therapy because they cannot be directly observed.
What do behaviorist believe in nowadays?
they believe in private events, but these are not the basis of the change in therapy. Change: Behaviour (context).
There are 2 approaches in behavioral approach, which ones?
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
What is Classical Conditioning?
A form of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response.
What is Operant Conditioning?
A form of learning in which the consequences of behaviour produce changes in the probability that the behaviour will occur
What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning regarding nature of responses?
Classical Conditioning: Involuntary, reflex
Operant conditioning: Spontaneous, voluntary
What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning regarding Reinforcement?
Classical Conditioning: occurs before response
Operant conditioning: occurs after response
What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning regarding Role of learner?
Classical Conditioning: passive
Operant conditioning: active
What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning regarding Nature of learning?
Classical Conditioning: Neutral stimulus becomes CS through association with a US
Operant conditioning: Probability of making a response is altered by consequences that follow it
What is the Unconditioned stimulus (US) in Classical Conditioning? Name an example.
a stimulus that automatically produces a response without any prior learning.
-> e.g.: food
What is the Unconditioned response (UR) in Classical Conditioning? Name an example.
an unlearned response that is automatically elicited by the US.
-> e.g.: dog’s salivation to food
What is the Conditioned stimulus (CS) in Classical Conditioning? Name an example.
a previously neutral stimulus that eventually elicits a conditioned response after being associated with the US.
-> Bell before dog ate the food
What is the Conditioned response (CR) in Classical Conditioning? Name an example.
learned response to the conditioned stimulus that occurs after US-CS pairing
-> The dog’s saliva by the sound of the bell
What can classical conditioning in the classroom involve?
positive and negative experiences
What can be a positive experience in classical conditioning in the classroom?
conditioning happy song in the classroom - response classroom is safe and fun place to be in
What can be a negative experience in classical conditioning in the classroom?
conditioning bullying in classroom - response will be fear in the classroom
What is Generalization in Classical Conditioning?
the tendency of a stimulus similar to the original conditioned stimulus to produce a similar response
-> e.g.: the bell or whistle were equally paired to the UCS and both elicited the dog’s salivation
Name an example of how can we applicate generalization to the classroom?
A student is criticized for poor performance on a biology test. When the student begins to prepare for a chemistry test, she also becomes very nervous because these two subjects are closely related to the sciences.
What is Discrimination in Classical Conditioning?
occurs when the organism responds to certain stimuli but not others
-> e.g. Pavlov gave food to the dog only after ringing the bell/ whistle, not after any other sounds. Subsequently, the dog responded only to the bell/whistle
What is an example of how we can applicate Discrimination to the classroom?
In the case of the student taking tests in different classes, she doesn’t become as nervous about taking an English test or a history test because they are very different subject areas
What is Extinction in Classical Conditioning?
involves weakening the conditioned response (CR) in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (US).
-> e.g.: In one session, Pavlov rang the bell repeatedly but did not give the dog any food. Eventually, the dog stopped salivating at the sound of the bell.
What is a Downside of Extinction in Classical Conditioning?
Downsides: It is more difficult to develop and with a single episode of C.C., extinction can disappear.
What is an example of how we can applicate Extinction to the classroom?
A student who experiences anxiety during exams, since he never used to study and kept failing. One day, he decides to study, and he starts passing the exams, resulting in reduced anxiety (change in context, not in private events).
What is Systematic desensitization in Classical Conditioning?
A method based on classical conditioning that reduces anxiety by getting the individual to associate relaxation with successive visualizations of increasingly anxiety-provoking situations (counterconditioning).
Is Systematic desensitization the same as extinction?
no
What is an example of how we can applicate systematic desensitization in classical conditioning?
A student in your class is extremely nervous about talking in front of the class. The goal of systematic desensitization is to get the student to associate public speaking with relaxation. Using successive visualizations, the student must practice systematic desensitization repeatedly before the talk
What is Operant conditioning (instrumental)?
Is a form of learning in which the consequences of behavior produce changes in the probability that the behavior will occur
Who was the main pioneer of Operant conditioning?
Skinner (1938)
Which are the 2 parts in operant conditioning?
Reinforcement and Punishment
What types of Reinforcement and Punishment are there?
Negative and Positive
What experiment influenced the field of education?
The Skinner box
What played a central role in shaping behavior in the Skinner box?
reinforcement (positive or negative)
What can motivate students and reinforce desire behaviors in education?
Feedback and reinforcement
What is self-paced learning?
students can advance through the material quickly, ensuring they grasp one concept before moving on to the next
What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement occurs when the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by a rewarding stimulus
What is negative reinforcement?
Negative reinforcement occurs when the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by the removal of an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus
How can we increase desirable behaviors in the classroom?
by choosing effective reinforcers
What makes reinforcers effective?
- Child’s perception of the reinforcer’s value
- Natural reinforcers are better than material rewards
- Reinforcement history
What is the Premack Principle?
‘A high probability activity can serve as a reinforcer for a low probability activity’
e.g.: “when you complete your math exercise you can go out and play”
-> only working if “going out to play” is more desirable than “doing maths”
What does it mean to make reinforcers contingent and contiguous?
The teacher or psychologist must give the reinforcer just after the behaviour has been performed (CONTIGUITY).
-> “If…then”, child has to perform to get rewarded
What happens if there is no contiguity?
there is no association (no connection)
What is important regarding the reinforcement?
selecting the best schedule
There are 2 types of reinforcement (not referring to positive and negative), which ones?
Continuous reinforcement and Intermittent reinforcement
What is Continuous reinforcement?
child is reinforced every time he/she makes a response
What is Intermittent reinforcement?
Reinforcing a response only part of the time
Is continuous reinforcement common in classrooms?
no, it is rare - hard to everytime respond appropriately due to having many students in the classroom
What is ratio?
number of responses
What is Interval?
the amount of time
There are 4 main schedules of reinforcement. which ones?
Fixed-ratio
Variable-ratio
Fixed-Interval
Variable-Interval
What is fixed-ratio?
a behavior is reinforced after a set numbers of response
What is variable-ratio?
a behavior is reinforced after an average number of responses
What is fixed-interval?
the behavior will be reinforced after a fixed amount of time
What is variable-interval?
the response will be reinforced after a variable amount of time
give an example for fixed-ratio.
the teacher will give a happy face to the child after 3 correct responses
give an example for variable-ratio.
giving the reinforcement to the child after the average of 5 responses, but then after 7 responses. Interval schedules are determined by the amount of time elapsed since the last reinforced behaviour
give an example for fixed-interval.
the teacher will praise the child 5 minutes after he/she has given the correct response.
give an example for variable-interval.
giving the reward after 5 minutes, but another time after 15 minutes have passed
What is contracting?
the agreement between the teacher and the child