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
Which disorders is Contracting useful for in therapy?
Borderline
Depression
Eating Disorder
What are prompts in the context of behavior?
a stimulus or cue that is given just before the response. It increases the probability that the response will occur.
What are prompts used for in the context of behavior?
They help the behaviour to get going. Once the students consistently show the correct responses, the prompts are no longer needed.
What are examples of some prompts in class?
A reading teacher holds up a card that says w-e-r-e and says: «Not was, but…». Reminders of class rules/ dates for projects…
What is the definition of shaping?
the process of teaching new behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations toward a specified target behavior
(smalls steps toward desired behavior)
What is an example of shaping regarding Sniffy the virtual rat?
the rat gets food when standing on its hind legs
What are the steps of shaping?
- Initially you reinforce any response that resembles the target behaviour.
- Then you reinforce the behaviour that most closely resembles the target behaviour, and so on…
What is an example in the classroom for shaping?
- Student that has never completed 50% of the maths assignment.
- The target would be achieving that 100%.
- But you reinforce her for successive approximations to the target (45%, 50%, 58%, 60%, 70%…)
When do we normally use shaping?
when prompting or positive reinforcement isn’t effective.
What is differential reinforcement?
a technique where a teacher reinforces a more appropriate or incompatible behavior instead of an undesired one, encouraging the desired behavior to occur more frequently
What is terminate reinforcement (extinction)?
withdrawing positive reinforcement from a child’s behaviour (many inappropriate behaviors are unintentionally maintained by positive reinforcement (teacher’s attention))
What is the best approach to decrease undesirable behaviors?
Always combine taking attention away from inappropriate behavior with giving attention to appropriate behavior.
How can we decrease undesirable behaviors?
removing desirable stimuli (negative punishment): removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior
What are the 2 ways of decreasing behavior?
Time Out & Response Cost
What is Time Out?
removing an individual from positive reinforcement.
-> activity MUST be interesting and motivating for the child
What is Response Cost?
taking a positive reinforcer away from a student, as when the student loses certain privileges. Involves some type of penalty or fine.
When should positive punishment be used?
Only as a last resort, alongside teaching appropriate behavior
What qualifies as an aversive stimulus?
ONLY a punishment that decreases undesirable behavior.
Why might aversive stimuli fail as punishments?
They may not decrease undesirable behavior and could increase it.
How should reprimands be delivered?
Preferably in private, rather than in public
What do Psychologists and Educators agree on?
That physical punishment should NOT be used in any circumstance
What effect does yelling have on children?
it models an out-of-control way to handle stress
What emotions can punishment provoke in students?
Fear, fury, or avoidance
What does Skinner say punishment teaches?
How to avoid something
How does punishment affect concentration?
can lead to anxiety, reducing focus
-> lack of concentration
What is a better approach than telling a child “No, that’s not right”?
Using positive guidance - “why don’t you try this?”
What mistake do teachers often make regarding student behavior?
focus more on monitoring mistakes than on reinforcing positive behavior
What did Skinner say about punishment?
“what punishment teaches, is how to avoid something.”
Who was Albert Bandura?
main architect of social cognitive theory
What does Bandura say about learning?
that when students learn, they can cognitively represent or transform their experiences
What does Social Cognitive theory state?
that social, cognitive, and behavioral factors play an important role in learning
What does the Reciprocal determinism model state?
behaviour, person/cognitive, and
environment interact to influence learning
What can influence behavior? And what can happen after that?
Environmental factors can influence behaviour, behaviour can influence the environment, as well as person (cognitive) factors can also influence behavior, and so on
What are “persons factors” in Bandura’s theory?
Personality traits and temperament (e.g.: introversion, extroversion)
What do affective and emotional factors include?
Emotional self-regulation, feelings, moods, and attitudes.
What cognitive factors are considered in Bandura’s theory?
Expectations, beliefs, attitudes, thinking strategies, and intelligence
What is self-efficacy according to Bandura?
The belief in one’s ability to master a situation and produce positive outcomes.
Why is self-efficacy important?
It significantly influences behavior and motivation.
What does Bandura state about self-efficacy?
factor has major influence on behavior
What happens to a student with low self-efficacy?
may not try to study for a test due to a lack of belief in their ability to succeed.
What term describes the mindset of someone who feels incapable of affecting outcomes?
Learned helplessness
What does observational learning involve?
acquiring skills, strategies and beliefs by observing others
Is observational learning limited to imitation?
no - involves imitation but is not limited to it
How does what is learned through observational learning differ from the model?
What is learned is not an exact copy of the model; creativity is also involved in the learning process.
What does observational learning eliminate?
trial-and-error learning
How does the time taken for observational learning compare to operant conditioning?
Observational learning often takes less time than operant conditioning
What are the 4 key processes in observational learning?
Attention
Retention
Production
Motivation
What is Attention in the Social Cognitive Approach?
What enters our consciousness/what we are focused on
What is an example for attention in learning processes?
Warm, powerful, atypical professors get more attention than cold, weak, typical people.
-> High-status models vs. Low-status models.
What is the difference between high-status models and low-status models?
High-status models are typically more influential and garner more attention compared to low-status models
What is Retention in the social cognitive approach?
Code information and keep it
Why is Retention important in learning processes?
To produce a model’s actions, students must code the information and keep it in memory in order to retrieve it.
How will student retention improve?
If the teacher gives clear and logical demonstrations.
What is Production in the social cognitive approach?
we have to be able to produce it
Why is Production in learning processes important?
Children might attend to a model, code in memory that information, but not be able to reproduce the model’s behavior (motor ability limitations)
-> observing famous pianist but not capable of reproducing
What is Motivation?
We need motivation in order to do things :)
Why is Motivation in learning processes important?
They may have attended to the model, coded their behavior, and possessed the motor skills to perform it, but not be motivated to do so.
What behavior are children likely to imitate if they witness overly aggressive behavior by an adult model (bobo the doll experiment)?
likely to imitate similar aggressive behavior, even if adult is not present
Why do boys tend to be more aggressive than girls, according to the Bobo doll experiment conclusions?
Boys tend to be more aggressive than girls because society has traditionally tolerated and defended violent behavior in men more than in women.
What are self-instructional methods in the social cognitive approach?
cognitive-behavioral techniques aimed at teaching individuals to modify their behavior through self-talk strategies.
How do self-instructional methods help students and teachers?
they help to cope with stressful situations by altering what they say to themselves.
How should a high school student who is extremely nervous about an exam behave?
Prepare for anxiety or stress
Confront and handle the anxiety or stress
Cope with feelings at critical moments
Use reinforcing self-statements
What does the information-processing approach emphasize?
It emphasizes that children manipulate, monitor, and strategize about information.
What is the goal of cognitive psychology in the context of the information-processing approach?
Cognitive psychology aims to explain behavior by examining mental processes
What is the analogy used to explain human cognition in the information-processing approach?
The analogy compares the human brain to a computer, where mental operations in computers offer clues about human cognition.
In the computer-human brain analogy, what represents the hardware and software?
Hardware = Physical brain
Software = Cognition
Which ability increases as children grow and mature?
information processing abilities
What are the changes in information processing abilities influenced by?
by children’s cognitive capacity and speed of processing
What factors influence changes in children’s information processing abilities?
by biology, experience and cognitive resources
What key cognitive resources are involved in children’s information processing?
Memory and problem solving
What are the three mechanisms that create changes in children’s cognitive skills according to Robert Siegler?
Encoding, automaticity and strategy construction
What is encoding in the context of cognitive skill development?
the process by which information gets stored in memory, involving the ability to focus on relevant information and ignore irrelevant details
What is an example of encoding skills in children?
A four-year-old cannot distinguish between a handwritten and a printed “s”, while a 10-year-old can focus on the content and ignore the shape
What is Automaticity in cognitive skill development?
the ability to process information with little or no effort, developed through practice.
How does practice affect automaticity in children?
allows children to automatically encode growing amounts of information, using mental shortcuts (heuristics) to solve problems efficiently
What is an example for automaticity in a child learning a skill?
When a child learns to read well without making a conscious effort, automaticity is at work
What is strategy construction in cognitive skill development?
the creation of new procedures for processing information
What is an example of strategy construction in reading?
Children’s reading improves when they stop periodically to understand what they’ve read so far
What is self-modification according to Siegler (1998)?
the ability to use previously learned knowledge to adapt to new situations.
What is an example of self-modification in a child?
A child familiar with dogs and cats sees lions and tigers at the zoo and modifies their concept of “animal” to include these new animals
What is meta-cognition?
“knowing about knowing”
-> the awareness of one’s own cognitive processes (self-awareness)
How can we improve meta-cognition?
Relating things to their own lives (emotions)
What is the definition of attention in the social cognitive approach?
the act of focusing on mental resources, where both children and adults can only pay attention to a limited amount of information (latent inhibition)
What are the 4 types of attention?
Selective attention
Divided attention
Sustained attention
Executive attention
What is Selective attention?
Focusing on something that is relevant while ignoring irrelevant facts.
What is an example of Selective attention?
Focusing on one voice among many in a crowd room
What is Divided attention?
Concentrating on more than one activity at the same time
What is an example for Divided attention?
Listening to music while studying
What is Sustained attention?
Maintaining attention over a period of time
What is an example for Sustained attention?
Staying focused while solving a math problem
Executive attention
planning actions, setting goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progression task, dealing with difficult circumstances
What is an example for Executive attention?
Scheduling the time for studying each unit of the exam
What is the definition of memory in the social cognitive approach?
memory is the retention of information over time
What are the 3 parts of Memory?
Encoding (How is information placed in memory?)
Storage (How is it retained after being encoded?)
Retrieval (How is it found in the storage?)
What is the difference between declarative and procedural memory?
Declarative memory: conscious recollection of facts or events that can be verbally communicated
Procedural memory: nondeclarative knowledge of skills and cognitive operations which cannot be consciously as specific events or facts
How are episodic and semantic memory classified in long-term memory?
Episodic memory: retention of information about specific life events, such as where and when things happened
Semantic memory: General knowledge about the world, independent of personal experiences or identity
What are Episodic and Semantic Memory part of?
Declarative Memory
What are recommendations to enhance memory skills in the classroom?
- motivate children to remember by understanding rather than memorizing
- provide variations on a lesson theme (to increase then umber of association)
- Assist students in organizing what they put into their memory (organize information hierarchically)
- Teach mnemonic strategies
What are mnemonic strategies?
Memory aids for remembering information
What is the method of loci?
children develop images of items to be remembered and mentally store them in familiar locations.
-> was adopted in ancient Rome and Greece
What are 3 examples of Mnemonic strategies?
- Method of loci
- Rhymes
- Acronyms (HOME (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior: Great Lakes in America)
How does memory representation work according to network theories in the Social Cognitive Approach?
Memory is represented hierarchically, with concrete concepts (e.g., “canary”) grouped under abstract ones (e.g., “bird”). However, memory networks are irregular, with typical examples (like canaries) closer to the category center than atypical ones (like ostriches)
What can we compare Long-term memory with?
like a library full of books
-> memory stores information just as a library stores books
-> when we look for a book, sometimes not all pages are intact
What are Schema Theories?
when we reconstruct information, we fit it into information that already exists in our mind
What is a Schema?
information (concepts, knowledge, information about events) that already exist in our mind
What is Vygotsky’s term for the range of tasks that are too difficult for the child to master alone, but that can be learned with guidance?
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
What is the Zone of achieved development (ZAD)?
where the learner is right now (Middle)
What is the lower limit of the ZPD in Vygotsky’s Theory?
the level of skill reached by the child working independently
What is the upper limit of the ZPD in Vygotsky’s Theory?
the level of additional responsibility the child can accept with the assistance of an instructor
What does Scaffolding mean?
changing the level of support
-> a more-skilled person adjusts the amount of guidance to fit the child’s current performance
How does scaffolding change a students learns?
- A student learns a new task: direct instruction is provided
- Students competence increases: guidance decreases
What are the key elements of scaffolding in Vygotsky’s theory?
- Guided support
- Adjustment to the students level
- Modeling
- Guiding questions
- Feedback
What is very important to children according to Vygotsky?
language
-> use speech not only for social communiation but also to help them solve tasks
-> plan, guide, monitor their behavior
What did Vygotsky state about language and thought?
initially develop independently of each other and then merge
What did Vygotsky argue about children who use private speech?
they are more socially competent than those who don’t
What have researchers found in children who use private speech?
they are more attentive and improve their performance more than children who do not use private speech
