POL Seminar 5
Woot I'm almost at the end I think I need to up the frequency of my blogging a little ><
Although there are several different perspectives involved in psychology... of these the dominant ones I guess are the behaviourist, cognitive and humanistic...
I am wondering if there are any other perspectives avaiable like the psychoanalytic perspective e.g. can we program people, rather unlearning smoking?
I think the topic doesn't quite cover this aspect of learning *laugh* though I think most psychologist seem to have a bad impression of Freud's psychoanalytic methods
Learning refers to the change of schemas or mental models to accomodate or assimilate new information, in the learning process assimilation is usually preferred over
accomdation as assimilation refers to making knowledge innately their own
The behaviourist method simply believes in the tenants of reward and punishment, however this method isn't able to explain several aspects of learning.
That is the cognitive and social aspect of learning, e.g. if we see someone get caught for speeding on the highway, we'd most likely slow down if we were driving.
There is also research done by Deci and Ryan which demonstrates that rewarding people for task which they already find intrinsically rewarding decreases motivation,
an extreme example would be volunteering, once rewards are introduced it somehow decreases the intrinsic meaning attached to the task. This is term as overjustification.
The Humanistic approach stems from Maslow and Carl Rogers work in psychology. In Maslow's hierachy of needs, it has been discussed that individuals have basic needs
which must be fulfilled before other needs can be satisfied. These include the need for Survival and Safety. Imagine, going to school and worrying about someone might
simply pull out a gun and shoot you? Or being perpetually hungry?
Suppose an individuals' working memory can only process up to 7 items, then the working space of these individuals would be greatly reduced.
People aren't fools either, and Carl Rogers work asks us to carry with us Unconditioned Positive Regard (UPR) i.e. believe and trust in the capability and potential of each
and every individual. I think I've seen it in several of my teachers and lecturers, I remember someone saying before that in all his years of working with criminals there is
none who is absolutely hardcore, that they cannot shed tears of joy, pain or sadness.
As mentioned earlier, the cognitive perspective helps address areas which the other perspectives are lacking. The cognitive approach has several theories though
Expectany x Value Theory.
Expectancy is the percieved level of possible success... e.g. I don't think I'll be able to do a complex algebric maths question.
Value is the value placed on the task... e.g. I really don't believe I need to learn complex algebric maths in psychology
In this case 0 x 0 = 0
Thus if either of the factors in the equation is low or zero then we're not gonna get anywhere close to making someone want to learn
Self-Efficacy Theory
Self-Efficacy Theory is simply an individuals' held belief that he or she will succeed in a task, e.g. I don't believe that I'll ever be good in maths ><
this simply means I've already lost half the battle, I've created a self-defeating cognitive loop, I don't believe I can do maths, thus I do not put effort into learning or
practicing maths and in exams or assessments I continue doing poorly due to lack of effort, hence reinforcing my own thinking that I just suck at maths
Attribution Theory
This refers to how and where we attribute our failure/success to, is my success due to my lack of ability or is it due to my lack of work?
If success/failure is attributed to stable internal causes then it is less likely that I'll continue to stive towards success, since I can't improve myself in any way
similarly if success/failure is attributed to external causes, e.g. luck or lack of effort then there is a higher chance that we would continue to strive towards success...
a note of caution here is that some people might cause themselves to feel sick, or not study just so that they can create excuses for themselves to perform badly
Self-Determination Theory
Eh... I'm damn sianz of this thing liaoz!!!!!!!
Researched by Deci and Ryan, it postulates that human beings have 3 basic needs, the need for Competency, Autonomy and Relatedness, when fulfilled these lead to increased levels of
Subjective-Well Being (SWB), and increased levels of instrinsic motivation. Conversely, when these needs are thawarted indivduals experience lower levels of SWB, and decreased levels of motivation.
For further information refer to earlier posts -.-"""
Assessments and Exams
Make em frequent and regular. Cos
a) we want students to get used to taking exams
b) remove fear or nervousness so students can concentrate on taking the exam
c) provide frequent feedback to students (note exams or assessments MUST be marked and returned asap so students know where they've gone wrong and corrective action can be taken asap)
The next part of the seminar seems to be the application of the theories mentioned above with a focus on the individual stressing that individuals are unique and that lessons should be catered to their needs.
There are several aspects of motivation parents, peers and teachers, though I think if we really look in depth there are probably countless factors such as gender, Socio-Economic Status (SES), ethnicity.
Finally DONE gym again :) I think gym is a rewards now lol
Although there are several different perspectives involved in psychology... of these the dominant ones I guess are the behaviourist, cognitive and humanistic...
I am wondering if there are any other perspectives avaiable like the psychoanalytic perspective e.g. can we program people, rather unlearning smoking?
I think the topic doesn't quite cover this aspect of learning *laugh* though I think most psychologist seem to have a bad impression of Freud's psychoanalytic methods
Learning refers to the change of schemas or mental models to accomodate or assimilate new information, in the learning process assimilation is usually preferred over
accomdation as assimilation refers to making knowledge innately their own
The behaviourist method simply believes in the tenants of reward and punishment, however this method isn't able to explain several aspects of learning.
That is the cognitive and social aspect of learning, e.g. if we see someone get caught for speeding on the highway, we'd most likely slow down if we were driving.
There is also research done by Deci and Ryan which demonstrates that rewarding people for task which they already find intrinsically rewarding decreases motivation,
an extreme example would be volunteering, once rewards are introduced it somehow decreases the intrinsic meaning attached to the task. This is term as overjustification.
The Humanistic approach stems from Maslow and Carl Rogers work in psychology. In Maslow's hierachy of needs, it has been discussed that individuals have basic needs
which must be fulfilled before other needs can be satisfied. These include the need for Survival and Safety. Imagine, going to school and worrying about someone might
simply pull out a gun and shoot you? Or being perpetually hungry?
Suppose an individuals' working memory can only process up to 7 items, then the working space of these individuals would be greatly reduced.
People aren't fools either, and Carl Rogers work asks us to carry with us Unconditioned Positive Regard (UPR) i.e. believe and trust in the capability and potential of each
and every individual. I think I've seen it in several of my teachers and lecturers, I remember someone saying before that in all his years of working with criminals there is
none who is absolutely hardcore, that they cannot shed tears of joy, pain or sadness.
As mentioned earlier, the cognitive perspective helps address areas which the other perspectives are lacking. The cognitive approach has several theories though
Expectany x Value Theory.
Expectancy is the percieved level of possible success... e.g. I don't think I'll be able to do a complex algebric maths question.
Value is the value placed on the task... e.g. I really don't believe I need to learn complex algebric maths in psychology
In this case 0 x 0 = 0
Thus if either of the factors in the equation is low or zero then we're not gonna get anywhere close to making someone want to learn
Self-Efficacy Theory
Self-Efficacy Theory is simply an individuals' held belief that he or she will succeed in a task, e.g. I don't believe that I'll ever be good in maths ><
this simply means I've already lost half the battle, I've created a self-defeating cognitive loop, I don't believe I can do maths, thus I do not put effort into learning or
practicing maths and in exams or assessments I continue doing poorly due to lack of effort, hence reinforcing my own thinking that I just suck at maths
Attribution Theory
This refers to how and where we attribute our failure/success to, is my success due to my lack of ability or is it due to my lack of work?
If success/failure is attributed to stable internal causes then it is less likely that I'll continue to stive towards success, since I can't improve myself in any way
similarly if success/failure is attributed to external causes, e.g. luck or lack of effort then there is a higher chance that we would continue to strive towards success...
a note of caution here is that some people might cause themselves to feel sick, or not study just so that they can create excuses for themselves to perform badly
Self-Determination Theory
Eh... I'm damn sianz of this thing liaoz!!!!!!!
Researched by Deci and Ryan, it postulates that human beings have 3 basic needs, the need for Competency, Autonomy and Relatedness, when fulfilled these lead to increased levels of
Subjective-Well Being (SWB), and increased levels of instrinsic motivation. Conversely, when these needs are thawarted indivduals experience lower levels of SWB, and decreased levels of motivation.
For further information refer to earlier posts -.-"""
Assessments and Exams
Make em frequent and regular. Cos
a) we want students to get used to taking exams
b) remove fear or nervousness so students can concentrate on taking the exam
c) provide frequent feedback to students (note exams or assessments MUST be marked and returned asap so students know where they've gone wrong and corrective action can be taken asap)
The next part of the seminar seems to be the application of the theories mentioned above with a focus on the individual stressing that individuals are unique and that lessons should be catered to their needs.
There are several aspects of motivation parents, peers and teachers, though I think if we really look in depth there are probably countless factors such as gender, Socio-Economic Status (SES), ethnicity.
Finally DONE gym again :) I think gym is a rewards now lol