Group/Class Meeting for 6/18

One of the things I really like about group discussion is that I’m able to get different (or similar) perspectives on various topics. As I was absorbing all of the information related to this week’s module on Behaviorism I found myself caught between wanting to drink all of it up like cold water on a hot day, or to analyze and ponder it before consumption. Quite frankly my mind was being blown on a continuous basis, with each chapter, article, and video I was exposed to.  It was nice to be able to chat with others about different themes and discussion points. We talked at great length about whether our behaviors are automatic and what environmental or cultural influences are at play. Also regarding whether conditioning was manipulative, which we ended up deciding that ‘modification’ was a more appropriate term, and would it matter if the subject knew about said manipulation (would it then still be manipulation). We were able to discuss, somewhat in depth, all of the questions posed by Dr. Usher. The main benefit for me was that I was able to make connections with things that I was unsure of or questioning earlier on in the week. My group members provided several different examples and scenarios that helped them understand things more fully, which in turn helped me to do as well. Although I still feel a bit overwhelmed by all things Behavioristic (is that even a word?), I don’t feel alone and I’m ready to tackle Constructivism. Bring it on!!!!

Activity 2.5 (Automaticity and Implicit Learning)

                I was quite shocked by the first IAT test that I took, which was on race preference, because I figured I would have a slight preference, but apparently I have a strong automatic preference for White people.  After completing the readings, listening to the audio excerpts from Blink, and watching the video clips on IAT, I decided to try out another test that wasn’t race related. So I did the test on alcohol preference, whether I associate with it or abstain from it. My results were that I have a moderate preference for associating abstinence with myself and alcohol. The concept in general, of implicit association, is quite fascinating to me. Several questions popped into my mind regarding these tests.  Do our brains have more response time lag because of the shifting in categorization? Does each test start off with the same pairing (white=bad or me=alcohol) and if so would it make a difference in the results if the pairings were changed (white=bad or me=abstain)? I’m assuming that it wouldn’t make a difference based off the validity and reliability of the test. However, I did find an example that Gladwell used in one of his excerpts quite fascinating. It was of the African American man who took the test dozens of times with the same results (slight preference for Whites I believe), but this one time he took it and got a different outcome (slight or moderate preference for African Americans). He attributed this shift to the fact that earlier in the day he was listening to or discussing Martin Luther King and it was in a positive light (how can you not). That one positive connection associated with African Americans remained long enough to affect his implicit associations.

                How does this affect learning? Well I think it affects it in various ways. For example, I think the majority of my students come in the class thinking “I HAVE to take this class because it’s a general education requirement or my advisor signed me up for it”. That association is already putting up mental barriers to learning the content, learning it in a way that will not only result in their success in the class but result in the ability to apply it to their lives. Another element to address, which was discussed in one of Gladwell’s excerpts, was the example of the group of African Americans that were asked to provide their demographic information (race) prior to taking the GRE and another group was asked it at the end. The first group did significantly worse than the other and when asked if the question of race identification had left any lingering apprehension the majority answered with “No”. However, the researchers believed that it did. I think that students experience these very same mental hurdles that do affect their ability to learn. For examples statements such as; “I’m so much older than most of these kids”, “I was never good at understanding science or statistics”, or even “Oh I’m going to breeze through this class”. There is a communication concept that could be incorporated here with regard to how these associations play in determining future behaviors; it’s called the self-fulfilling prophecy. Very fascinating!

                In chapter 5 James talks about the importance of not just verbal recitation (not the parroting recitation though) but also the application of the concepts being verbally recited. It’s not just what you hear, read, or watch but how you apply that to whatever you have chosen to apply it to. This connects well with, on of my favored passages, in chapter 8 on page 38 where he talks about the fifth and final practical maxim about habits; which is to “keep the faculty of effort alive in you by gratuitous exercise everyday”. Changing old habits and starting new ones is difficult and he talks about the different stages that we could discuss with our students regarding the habits they form in connection with the goals they set for the class. However it’s not just the students embarking on this habit forming journey, we as teachers should be doing so as well. Keeping our interests and passions alive by practice but also being open to learn and experience new ones.

Activity 2.4 (Behaviorism in Practice)

            I recently watched a 60 minutes episode clip on a new generation of students call ‘Generation Y’ or ‘Millennial’ which are individuals under the age of 30. The main discussion point was how this new generation of individuals’ are so used to getting what they want when they want it (constant stimulation with the incorporation of various technical devices, games, and applications) but also grew up getting praised, supported, protected, or even coddled for much of their behavior and it was effecting how teachers interact with them along with how employers needed to adapt to them. As I read both Pryor’s (2002) selected chapters and Kohn’s (2001, 2012) articles on positive reinforcement and praise, my mind quickly referred back to this specific example as a point of reference.

            One of the main themes that I’ve noticed within these selected readings, including Skinners 1984 article, is that desirable behavior should be reinforced at that exact moment or what Pryor (2002) calls “the timing of reinforcers”. That animals and humans, the learner, needs to know that what they are doing right then, at that specific moment, was what we liked or really what they should continue to keep doing. The positive reinforcement (giving them something for good behavior, each time it happens) should be constant in the learning stage, when the connection between the behavior and the reward is being established. After the initial association has been made then the reinforcers should be presented in intervals or at random so as not to devalue/desensitize the reward that’s being presented. This is where the example of gambling or video games can be used to describe the power of scheduled reinforcement. I personally liked the example used by Skinner (1984) when explaining how the game Pac-Man can lure gamers into continuous play and how we as teachers can use this to our advantage. He says, “What is reinforcing is successful play, and in a well designed instructional program students gobble up their assignments.”

            What about giving praise though, isn’t that a positive reinforcer, and why would Kohn be suggesting that we stop giving it? The problem isn’t praise itself; it’s when we give it, what we give it for, and why we give it that’s cause for concern. Children are merely being taught to try and get attention from their caregivers or other adults, no matter what they are doing. They don’t necessarily know why they are doing it, if they have any interest in what they are doing, or what constitutes mediocre, good, and great (or highly acceptable) behaviors from one another. In addition, Kohn presents a valid point in that praise is more a benefit to the adult or one delivering the praise rather than it is for the one receiving it. It doesn’t benefit children when they become dependent on others to identify what is right or wrong, what is acceptable or unacceptable, and what they should say or not say in certain situations. We are essentially stripping them of their right to be an independent thinker. What type of adults will they turn out to be? Portraying a sense of entitlement, narcissism, and dependency (which I see often in my classroom) like many Millennials do?

Activity 2.3 (Skinner and American Education)

The largest theme that stuck out for me in Skinner’s article, outside of reiterating why cognitive and humanistic psychologists haven’t been able to grasp the essence of effective teaching, is that teachers need to use their time in class more efficiently. He gives 4 suggestions which include needing to understand and be clear about what is being taught, that the bulk of what we teach should focus on the process (first things first) rather than just being about the end results (tests), also that each student learns at different paces and through different methods, and finally that we need to program the subject matter specific to our audience members (individual/student). I found it very interesting how Skinner talks about research and other scholar’s views on education from 10-30 years ago, in 1983 when he wrote this particular article, and that 30 years later in 2013 we still are missing fundamental aspects of what learning and education is really about. My favorite statement is on page 4 when he says that “It has long been said that college teaching is the only profession for which there is no professional training.”

With that being said, would Skinner be ashamed at American education today? Absolutely! We aren’t training our teachers to be effective teachers in the college setting. They get a Masters or PhD in their major field of study and, if they want to teach, go right into the classroom as if they know how each student will absorb and apply the information. I know I’ve been guilty of this approach as well.

I think Skinner would not only embrace the School of One but be one of its biggest advocates. One of his solutions to the problem with American education was that we need to “stop making all students advance at the same rate”, which is essentially what the School of One is all about. It allows students to learn through various means and methods either by use of technology, hands on experience, or within a group. At the end of the day, hypothetically speaking, students learn what the teachers set out for them to learn.

Free will is said to be more of a thought of fiction, that we must be willed to act based off of our internal thoughts and feelings. Skinner, and behaviorism, believes that there are external reasons or causes for the internalized state of affairs. Once we identify the causes then we can get rid of or “dispose of” free will and “attribute nothing to it”. I’m beginning to rethink everything I do now!

Activity 2.2 (Behaviorism Chart)

Here is my attempt at doing a graphic overview. Thank you for the tool suggestion Dr. Usher.

Click on the chart itself to enlarge it, or you an access the link below if you like.
http://screencast.com/t/aGaoM3qerfRw

Activity 2.1 Habits vs. Free Will (Pie chart)

I attempted to create a legend for my pie chart and was hoping to just have two colors representing either habit or free will. No such luck on two colors and the legend is relatively brief. Below is a description for each category along with the pie chart link.

Habits comprise 12% and Free Will 88%.

Habits
Numbers 1-3 which include:
Hygiene Rituals 4% (basic morning and night behaviors that I refer to as toiletries)
Driving 4% (to and from work, roughly 15 minutes each way, and my memory is rather fuzzy on some trips)
Office Prep 4% (when I arrive at work and leave I have certain behavioral patterns such as turning on/off the lights, turning on/off the computer, gather my class folder, clicker, water or tea etc...)

Free Will
Numbers 4-11 which include:
Interacting w/Tech Devices 19%-20%, my 2nd largest category (checking email, Facebook, computer programs, iPad apps, and ds/pc games. This group may be more than what I allotted to be honest but it mainly depends on how much free time I have so I averaged it for the week.)
Eating 8% (I included preparing food as well but generally that's just dinner, we do eat out too, I usually eat leftovers for lunch and breakfast is a quick grab at home.)
Runs 4% (I started running back in December and try to get in a 2-3 mile run usually four or five days a week)
Making the Bed 2% (I think this particular behavior is more expectation driven which I'll explain below.)
Dressing 4% (I didn't really think about how much time I spent getting ready or changing clothes until this assignment. I don't think it's too terribly much in comparison to some individuals but it's more than my husband for sure.)
Teaching 40%, my largest category (on average I teach about 4 hours a day Mon-Thur and Fri is my admin day where I do way too much grading.)
House Chores 8% (typical chores such as dishes, laundry, dusting, floors, bathroom, etc... This is another area I think of more as expectations than free will, because honestly I would love to NOT choose to clean the bathroom.)
Other Activities (weekend) 15% (we generally don't have set things on the weekends it's sort of whatever suits our fancy or needs to get done such as errands, grocery shopping, or yard work and we both usually participate in this.)

Expectations (these could be either gender or childhood related)
For me it seems as though house chores and making the bed (this doesn't feel like a chore to me really) are more expectation driven. I was expected as a child to make my bed every morning, when I was in my 20's I rebelled against this and hardly ever made my bed, but in my 30's this behavior came back around but not as a habit really and I also don't put much thought into it before I do it. As for the house chores yes it was expected that I do chores while growing up but I noticed the list of items expand significantly when I became a young adult and even more so when I became a homeowner. Even though I'm used to doing house chores myself since I lived by myself for many years, I noticed a shift when distributing the chores when my husband and I moved in together. This is where I think a gender expectation arose which is interesting to me. I tend to gravitate towards the chores that one would categorize a woman doing whereas my partner does ones that could be described as more masculine.
To be honest, I do most of the house chores and that's mainly because my level of cleanliness is higher than my partners and we worked out an arrangement that I'm satisfied with (I do the chores when I feel the need to do them and he helps out when I ask him).

Pie Chart Link

My ChartGo Graph

Activity 1.5 (James' Talk to Teachers Preface - Ch.4)

Preface

William James discusses how he takes various aspects of his ‘talks’ or lectures and addresses them in this book, along with extending the discussion on specific topics. He humbly mentions that he wished he was able to make the philosophy section a bit more impressive, however the main gist being that of the “sacredness of individuality”.

                To me the preface is very similar to a course overview or syllabus discussion. It’s important to not only address the specifics that will be covered throughout the course but the reasons why they are being covered. It’s not just the product, it’s also the process.

Chapter 1 (The Psychology and the Art of Teaching)

                The main essence of this chapter to me was about the dichotomy that many teachers will experience while digesting the specifics of psychology. That this opposition is natural because psychology is a science and teaching is an art. Teachers should be considerate of that and not let it hit their self-esteem in a negative way if the psychology (data, research, etc…) is not coming together as easily as one would hope.

                The best connection I made from this chapter was James’ comparison of teaching being like war. That teachers should try to get their students into a position of learning and interest from which they can’t escape (draw them in, hold their attention), then overwhelm them with relevant connections (how the material applies to them and their careers), and lastly to leave them wanting more. Similar to an ending of a movie that’s a cliffhanger; you can’t wait until the next one comes out and are first in line to see it. Wow, wouldn’t it be great if my students felt this in my class!

Chapter 2 (The Stream of Consciousness)

                Whether we are awake or asleep our mind is constantly processing information, stimulations, emotions, and cognitions. There are focal (specific) and marginal (general) objects for which our consciousness is drawn to and as teachers it is imperative that we stimulate this stream of consciousness to the best of our ability.

                If I received a nickel for every time I noticed a student’s thoughts drift from our class discussion to something else I would probably be able to retire right now. This is one of the main things that I struggle with in the classroom, keeping their attention. This is essentially the same connection that James’ makes in this chapter that our minds are constantly active and can also be easily distracted. At a conference I recently attended a fellow teacher stated that she doesn’t lecture or talk for more than 12 minutes and because the average attention span on something specific (focal object) was roughly that long before moving on to something else (marginal object).

Chapter 3 (The Child as A Behaving Organism)

                Being an advocate for functionalism James’ discusses how our mind (and behavior) has various functions. Evolutionarily the mind and behavioral functions were for survival and adapting to one’s environment. It can be similarly said for individuals, specifically children, that we are a product of our environment.

                I specifically connected with his second and fourth points of reference, that “mental action is conditioned by brain action” and action being used to describe our broad, general tendencies. An individual operates on its basic level, survival, naturally without much effort. But it is the “unpractical activities that are more connected with our behavior and our adaption than one might realize”. Change, growth, development, learning, and so on are all difficult endeavors that can be met with much resistance but will ultimately affect the individuals life in generally positive ways.

Chapter 4 (Education and Behavior)

                Behavior and education have a reciprocal relationship. Education provides opportunities for the acquisition of learning, knowledge, and information which is then expressed through one’s behavior. An individual’s actions create an opportunity for education to present itself.

                The example James’ used of how educated and prepared students in Germany are that they can go off by themselves to explore the world in such a concise way and also find novel areas for future research. I want my students to practice critical thinking not only in the classroom but in their lives as well because it goes beyond just basic functioning. I also connected with the last example used that Oxford can teach them how to be an English gentlemen and also what it means to be one.  I struggle with classroom behavior and trying to explain how their behavior in class reflects on them as an individual, and most of the time I’m not impressed.