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CUR 513 Psychological Foundations

Dr. Jeff Sapp

My Philosophy of Teaching

Philosophical Foundations of

Curriculum

Historical Foundations

Psychological Foundations

Learning Theories Behaviorist or Association

Theories: deals with various aspects of stimulus-response

(S-R) and reinforcers (conditioning, modifying, or

shaping behavior through reinforcement and rewards)

Cognitive Information-Processing Theories: view the learner in relation to the total environment and

consider the way the learner applies information (student’s developmental stages and multiple forms of intelligence, as well as problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity)

Phenomenological and Humanistic Theories: consider the whole child, including their

social, psychological, and cognitive development (learner’s needs, attitudes, and

feelings)

Behaviorism The behaviorists, who represent traditional psychology, are rooted in philosophical speculations about the nature of learning – the ideas of Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, and Rousseau. They emphasize conditioning behavior and altering the environment to elicit selected responses from the learner.

Behaviorism Edward Thorndike focused on S-R (classical conditioning); defined learning as “habit formation,” connecting more and more habits into a complex structure. He developed the 3 major laws of learning: (1) the Law of Readiness (2) the Law of Exercise, and (3) the Law of Effect.

“Whatever you do to one side of the equation…”  

“…you do to the other side of the equation.”  

Behaviorism Edward Thorndike Tyler & Hilda Taba believed that

learning had application and could be transferred to other situations. They peppered in some Dewey – That learning was based on generalizations. “Since no Program can teach everything, the task of all education is to cause a maximum amount of transfer.” Dewey would say that teaching is not preparation for life, but life itself. Taba said that what was important was “learning how to learn” (which would be Dewey’s idea of reflective thinking).

Dewey

 

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Behaviorism Ivan Pavlov is best known for his classical conditioning experiment using bells and dogs. This was also foundational in creating behaviorism…emphasizing that learning is based on what is

observable and

measurable.

Behaviorism Clark Hull, a neobehaviorist, defined drive as a state of tension arising from a person’s biological or psychological

needs and reward as the satisfaction of the need and reduction of the drive.

i.e. Teachers should understand that students who are hungry or haven’t slept become restless or inattentive and aren’t concerned

with secondary drive areas like curiosity or learning.

Also, teachers should s p a c e classroom activities to minimize fatigue and maximize performance.

Behaviorism B. F. Skinner developed operant conditioning. Said reinforcers can be either primary or secondary.

Behaviorism B. F. Skinner said that reinforcers can either be positive or negative.

Behaviorism B. F. Skinner – change is possible! This is what educators refer to as

behavior modification.

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Behaviorism

Albert Bandura added our understanding of learning through observation and modeling.

Behaviorism & Cognitivism Robert Gagne’ – 8 types of learning: 1.   Signal learning (classical conditioning, a response to a given

signal). Example: Fear response to a rat. 2.   Stimulus-response (operant conditioning, a response to a

given stimulus). Example: Students’ response to the command, “Please sit.”

3.   Motor chains (linking together 2 or more S-R connections for form a more complex skill). Example: Dotting the i and crossing the t to write a word with i and t.

4.   Verbal association (linking 2 or more words or ideas). Example: Translating a foreign word.

5.   Multiple discriminations (responding in different ways to different items of a particular set). Example: Discriminating between grass and trees.

6.   Concepts (reacting to stimuli in an abstract way). Example: animals, grammar, and so on.

7.   Rules (chaining 2 or more stimulus situations or concepts). Example: Animals have offspring. An adjective modifies a noun.

8.   Problem solving (combining known rules or principles into new elements to solve a problem). Example: Finding the area of a triangle given the dimensions of two sides.

Behaviorism & Cognitivism Robert Gagne’ – described 5 learning outcomes that can be observed and measured: 1.   Intellectual skills is the “knowing how” to categorize and use

verbal and mathematical symbols, forming concepts through rules, and problem solving;

2.   Information is the “knowing what” of facts, names, and dates; 3.   Cognitive strategies are the skills needed to process and

organize information – today what we refer to as learning strategies;

4.  Motor skills are the ability to coordinate movements that come with practice and coaching; and

5.   Attitudes are the feelings and emotions learned through positive and negative experiences.

Behaviorism & Curriculum Behaviorists prefer organizing curriculum that is highly prescriptive and diagnostic; they rely on step-by-step, structured learning methods. Curriculum is broken down into small steps so everyone can master it. Long story short…most behaviorists today acknowledge and incorporate cognitive developmental theories into their approaches to learning.

Behaviorism & Curriculum

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Cognitive Psychology Today most psychologists classify human growth and development as cognitive, social, psychological, and physical. Although an individual grows and develops along all these fronts, most psychologists agree that learning in school is mainly cognitive.

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Central Questions for Cognitive Psychologists:

•  How do people organize knowledge?

•  How do they store information?

•  How do they retrieve data and generate conclusions?

Memory & Recall

Cognitive Psychologists: Maria Montessori (1870-1952) •  Her work was foundational to K •  Her strategies were adopted by William

Kilpatrick at Columbia U •  She was influenced by the child-

centeredness of Rousseau & Pestalozzi

•  She’s progressive & child-centered, but a cognitive psychologist first because she emphasized sensory learning

•  She believed that “environmental nourishment” was necessary for poor children to foster intellectual growth

Cognitive Psychologists: Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Dewey’s experience

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Jean Piaget’s Influence on Bruner

Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum – learning is continuous and

subject matter is built on a foundation from grade-to-grade

Jean Piaget’s Influence on Kohlberg

Don’t forget that all of Kohlberg’s research was with males only. Check out Carol

Gilligan’s work.

Developmental Theorists Developmental theorists like Benjamin Bloom hold that the early years are more important than successive years. Home environment is crucial. They believe that class matters. A child’s social class is related to his/her environmental experiences, which influence the child’s learning capabilities and experiences.

Developmental Theorists Lev Vygotsky believed children developed their potential via enculturation into society’s mores and norms. Schooling, in Vygotsky’s opinion, was the key institution for enculturation.

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Constructivism Constructivism is concerned with how students learn and it treats the students as actively involved in the process of thinking and learning. Vygotsky,

Piaget, & Dewey The learner is the player.

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Brain-Based Learning

Reflective Thinking

Critical thinking skills

Cognition & Curriculum Curriculum specialists must understand that school should be a place where students are not afraid to ask questions, be wrong, take cognitive risks, and

play with ideas.

Phenomenology & Humanistic Psychology

Some view phenomenology (also known as humanistic psychology) as the 3rd force in learning theory – after behaviorism and cognitive development. Influenced by existentialism, phenomenology is

about the study of the self and how that self-concept influences learning.

Maslow

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Maslow Carl Rogers Rogers views therapy as a learning method to be used by the curriculum worker and teacher. He believes that positive human relationships

enable people to grow; therefore, interpersonal

relationships among learners are as important

as cognitive scores.

Carl Rogers Curriculum, for Rogers, would be concerned

with process, not products; personal needs, not subject

matter; psychological meaning, not cognitive

scores.

Phenomenology Phenomenologists believe that the raw data of personal experience is vital to understanding learning. The data is “inside” the researcher as well as being “out there” in experience. The questions will “reveal” themselves.

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Phenomenology Motivation Desire Feelings Ways of perceiving Freedom

The humanistic approach… …requires a certain amount of warmth, genuineness, maturity, and concern for people. The focus is on the whole child – his/her social, psychological, physical, and cognitive needs. Progressive educators adopt a lot of the humanistic, phenomenological theories without even knowing that they are because the ideas are so in synch with classic progressive thinking.

The humanistic approach to curriculum

The humanities and arts, especially philosophy, psychology, and aesthetics, are appropriate because they further introspection, reflection, and creativity. Assessment relies on testimonials and products and present less empirical evidence of student-achievement scores.

Behaviorism  

Cogni/vism  

Phenomenology  

Humanism  

Psychological  Founda/ons  of    Curriculum