NOTETAKING GUIDES: PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology

• Concerned with the question
• -- How do people learn?
• Psychology provides a basis for understanding the teaching and learning process.
  Teaching and learning are interrelated, and psychology cements the relationship.
• It provides theories and principles that influence teacher-student behavior.

Major Theories of Learning

• Behaviorism, Cognitive, Humanistic (Page 131 for overview of theories).
• Behaviorism - Association theories;
• Stimulus - Response with reinforcers;
• Connectionist theories

Behaviorism/Connectionism

• Edward Thorndike -- Habit Formation
• Law of Readiness
  When ready learner, receives satisfaction; when not, learner expresses annoyance
• Law or Exercise --
• Other conditions being equal, the more frequently a modifiable connection with a situation is made and a response is made, the stronger that connection will be.
• exercise = practice, repetition, frequency
• Law of Effect (Pleasure-pain principle) --
• When a modifiable connection has been made between a stimulus and a response is satisfying, that connection is strengthened (reinforced)
• A response which is annoying or discomforting weakens the connection.
• Fundamental Law of Learning

Connectionism

• Thorndike maintained that: Behavior is influenced more likely by conditions of learning
• Thorndike maintained that:
  Attitudes and abilities of learners could change over time with proper stimuli
• Thorndike maintained that:
  Instructional experiences could be designed and controlled
• Thorndike maintained that:
  It was important to select appropriate stimuli or learning experiences that were integrated and consistent -- that reinforce each other

Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov
  UCS (food) >>> UCR (salivating dog)
  CS (food) >>> CR (salivating dog)
  CS (ring bell when food is presented)
  CS (ring bell) >> CR (salivating dog)
  Bond:
  CS >>>>>>>>>> CR (salivating dog)

Operant Conditioning

• B. F. Skinner
• Reward is given only for the correct response
• Primary reinforcers -- satisfy basic drive -- food, water, etc.
• Secondary reinforcers -- approval of friends, teachers, receiving money, school/company awards
• Positive reinforcement -- presentation of a reinforcing stimulus
• Negative reinforcement -- removal or withdrawal of a stimulus
• Punishment -- presentation of unpleasant or harmful stimuli

Behaviorism in the Classroom

• Review the Curriculum Tips for behaviorism in the classroom, page 105.
• Review models for a behaviorist approach to instruction on pages 108.

Major Theories of Learning

• Cognitive - Information processing theories;
• Relationship of learner to the whole environment;
• the way learners apply information.

Cognitive Development

• Human growth and development = cognitive, social, psychological, and physical
• Learning in school is mainly cognitive in nature
• Cognitive development is influenced by heredity and environment
• There is controversy about the extent or role of heredity versus environment in determining cognitive outcomes in school.

Jean Piaget

• Cognitive development is progressive in four stages:
• Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)
• Objects have permanence . . . establishes simple relations between similar objects.
• Preoperational stage (age 2 to 7)
• Learns more complex concepts from experience when examples are provided
• Concrete operations stage (ages 7 to 11)
• Organizes logical relationships and gains facility in manipulating data in problem-solving situations.
• Formal operations stage (age 11 onward)
• Development of formal and abstract operations. Analyzes ideas and comprehends spatial and temporal relationships. Can think logically about abstract data, formulate hypotheses, deduce possible consequences from them.

Structured Intelligence

• J.P.Guilford
• Operations - Evaluation, Convergent Thinking, Divergent Thinking, Memory, Cognition
• Products - Units, Classes, Relations, Systems, Transformations, Implications
• Content - Figural, Symbolic, Semantic, Behavioral

Other Cognitive Ideas

• Multiple Intelligences - Gardner
• Learning Styles - Felder and Silverman
• Constructionism -
• Problem Solving & Critical Thinking -

Implications for Teaching

• Cognitive-Field Theories
• Always provide the learner with a goal which he/she can perceive and to which he/she can relate as an individual.
• Provide information, facts, clues, hints with structure and sequence clearly in mind.
• Recognize that the learner's cognitive structure is dependent upon prior experiences.
• Present information as a whole structure -- show elements and relationships to improve insight.
• Factual information keyto learning concepts and principles.
• Instructor should constantly ask, "Am I leading the learners to use their present knowledge to solve new problems?"

Major Theories of Learning

• Humanistic - Phenomenological theories; Consider the whole learner; social, psychological, and cognitive development.

Phenomenology/Humanistic or Third Force Theories

• Believe that the way we look at ourselves is basic for understanding our behavior. What we do, what we learn is determined by our concepts of ourselves.
• Humanism grew out of the concern that we are slowly becoming a pawn in an advanced stage of technology and violence. Man is passive . . .
• The question is whether we can regain our identities or remain faceless in this technological society.

Gestalt Theory

• Concerned with the wholeness of the problem. Humans do not respond to isolated stimuli, but to an organization or pattern of stimuli.
• When confronted with a learning situation, the learner:
• analyzes the problem,
• discriminates between essential and nonessential data,
• and perceives relationships.
• The environment is continuously changing, and thus the learner is continuously reorganizing his or her perceptions.

Carl Rogers

• Teacher's role is a facilitator
• Curriculum is concerned with process
• Learner requires experience through self-initiation, self-discovery, self-actualization, and self-evaluation

Humanistic Psychology

• Cooperative Learning - reducing competition and increasing cooperation among students may diminish hostility, prejudice, and patterns of failure among many students.
• The Concept of Freedom - Do we use it enough or too much?

Humanistic Features

• Positive relationships are emphasized
• Individual freedom of choice and self-initiative are stressed
• Teacher is a "facilitator" rather than a "disseminator."
• There is more responsibility for self-evaluation by individuals students.

Psychology Summary

• Behaviorism - instructional modules, individualized instruction, mastery learning, competency-based instruction, etc.
• Cognitive Development - concept thinking, problem solving, and creativity.
• Humanistic Psychology - attitudes and feelings, freedom to learn, value clarification, etc.