Phase Two Part II

1. Explain a classical conditioning using a scenario that YOU have created. DO NOT use one the book lists. Try to explain this type of conditioning using something that is relevant to your life: school, home, or work could all be areas you can pull from.  (Molly)
          Classical conditioning can be explained in my family. My mom is very down to earth and encouraging. She wears a certain perfume. Overtime, I have associated that perfume smell with a comforting and welcoming feeling. I feel at home whenever I smell that perfume. The warm feeling when I am in the presence of my mom is the UCR. The UCS is the presence of my mom. The CS would is the perfume smell. The comforting feeling I get from the smell of her perfume is the CR.
2. Explain operant conditioning using a scenario that YOU have created. DO NOT use one the book lists. Try to explain this type of conditioning using something that is relevant to your life: school, home, or work could all be areas you can pull from. (Molly)
           A personal scenario that is an example of operant conditioning for punishment is when my parents make me and my siblings sit on the steps. If we talk back, we have to sit on the steeps for a certain amount of time. By sitting on the steps, something we do not want to do, we are punished and try to not give attitude to our parents anymore. Another example of operant conditioning, but used for reinforcement, is when my parents gave candy when we were being potty trained. When I and my sisters were learning how to go to the bathroom, my mom would give us M&M’S. This reinforced that using the bathroom was a good thing and we should keep doing it. For this reason, when we were younger, we associated the bathroom with M&M’S.
3. Compare Classical and Operant Conditioning. How are they the same? How are they different? (Molly)
          Classical conditioning is when someone learns by association. It is involuntary and automatic. There is a particular relationship between two things. Basically, classical conditioning pairs two things together, and when one occurs, then this means the other thing will occur also. Subjects expect that the conditioned stimulus signals the arrival of the conditioned response. Operant conditioning involves more reinforcement. When someone does a particular action, they can be positively reinforced, which normally causes him/her do it again, or negatively reinforced, which punishes him/her and causes him/her to not to it anymore. Operant conditional is operated by the environment. There is an association of the response with the consequences. Classical and Operant conditioning are similar because they both are revolved around learning techniques. They are two ways people/animals discover things mainly by cause and effect.
4. Do you think either plays a role in how you respond to teachers and your academic role here at Wilson? Explain. (everyone)
          Yes, operant conditioning definitely plays a role here at Wilson. For example, this school district negatively reinforces cell phone use, disrespect, and violation of the rules by punishing the students in detention, suspension, or a call home to their parents. We are also positively reinforced with things like the PSSAs. If we receive a good score on this test, then we are granted with a parking spot or prom tickets. (Molly)

Yes, I feel that both Classical and Operant Conditioning play a role in how you respond to teachers and your academic role here at Wilson. Classical conditioning is used by many of the teachers in Wilson. If a teacher has a certain way of setting up tests, for example an essay the first day and multiple choice the next day, students adapt to these circumstances and know that after every essay test, there is a multiple choice test. Additionally, I think teachers use operant conditioning during their class. If a student is praised (positively reinforced) for an excellent grade, the student is more likely to do well in his/her class. Many students’ grades are affected by the way teachers react to how well they do in school. (Nina)

I believe that Operant Conditioning plays a huge role in how students respond to a teacher.  This is saying that students associate their behavior with their consequences.  They will essentially repeat rewarded behaviors and not punished ones.  The way the teacher prevents himself/herself is important because if he/she demands respect and sets that tone from the beginning of the year, he/she will get it.  If the teacher appears to be vulnerable, it seems that students try to take advantage of the teacher.  For example, when I was in ninth grade, we had a sub because our teacher when to China to adopt a child.  The teacher was very young and instead of setting the rules from the beginning she almost tried to be more like a friend and was very shy and hesitant with punishment.  Some of the students in my class were very disrespectful and rude to her.  They refused to listen and do what she asked.  I believe if our sub would have come into our class and set the tone demanding respect she would have gotten it.  (Chrissy)

I think that both operant and classical conditioning play a role here at Wilson. For operant conditioning, reinforcers are given, for example, studying hard makes for a student to get good grades. Also, giving detentions keeps students from repeating bad, unwanted behaviors. For classical conditioning, bells ring at the end of each class so the students associate the bell to leaving one class and heading for another. (Laura)

5. How can understanding classical and operant conditioning help us to understand the way we learn? Provide at least two examples to illustrate your point. (Molly)
          Classical and operant conditioning can help us understand how we learn by discovering the mental processes that we possess when there is a result to a stimuli. It can help us comprehend why we react the way we do to certain situations or why we do things more often opposed to doing some things less frequently. For example, if an individual receives money from his/her parents every time he/she scores a goal for a sport, he/she is being positively reinforced and will most likely score more often (extrinsic motivation). If we know who performs the best when being bribed, we can probably utilize this knowledge to make them succeed. If we understand that the best way for some individuals is by associating two things like in classical conditioning, we can use this to create an effective way to advertise. For example, if a commercial shows a product and targets it to relate to their emotions and feelings of a person’s past, then the product would probably sell better, especially if the product brings good memories back.
6. In your normal day here at school, explain a time where you have seen the use of positive reinforcement and one of negative reinforcement. For each one, analyze the impact that it had on you or the class you were in. (Nina)
           During school, I see both positive and negative reinforcements. A positive reinforcement occurred when a student received an A on a test and was praised for his work ethic. The teacher smiled at him as she returned the test. The A on the test and the smile from the teacher are positive reinforcers. I could tell that the boy was impressed with his work and was excited for receiving this grade. It impacted the class because this boy became more involved with the class activities. This improvement and positive reinforcement from the teacher encourages the boy to continue to work harder to receive high grades. A negative reinforcement occurred in school when a student studied for an exam to avoid getting a poor grade. The low grade is the negative reinforcer for studying. The student learned that he had to study in order to avoid receiving a poor grade; in turn, he learned more about the subject and was able to participate in class and do well on further test.
7. How do punishments impact your learning here in school? Consider what you know about punishment systems from the learning chapter to help guide your response. (Nina)      Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement; punishment decreases a behavior.  A major punishment in our school system is that failing can get you held back. Being held back advocates a student to do well the next year so he or she passes and is able to graduate. Another major punishment in our school system deals with cheating and plagiarism. If a student is caught cheating and plagiarizing, he or she will receive academic consequences and may be subject to the school discipline code. These punishments encourage students to do their own work; these consequences positively influence a student to work harder and perform to his or her abilities.
   Also, another major punishment involves cellphones. If a student is caught using a cellphone in school, he or she receives detention and, at times, have to pay money to get his or her phone back. These consequences enforce that students should not be using their cellphones during school and, instead, paying attention to their schoolwork.  Punishments effectively impact our school.
8. We talked about the impact of grades during Unit 2. Do you think they fall into this unit at all? Why or why not? (Nina)
             In Unit 2, we talked about how grades impact students; we decided that students want and need to do well to succeed. This idea is affected by the environment and society. This idea about grades definitely falls into this unit. Grades have both positive and negative reinforcements on students’ lives. Grades are believed to determine success. Therefore, these reinforcements are the reasons why students are succeeding; they are striving to do well in school and receive good grades. Also, I think the environment encourages this success and creates these reinforcements. Additionally, society guides students into being successful. Society creates undesirable punishments in order to decrease the frequency of a preceding behavior. Negative actions, such as cheating, have consequences. These consequences are created in order for students to be focused and led in the right direction (towards success). Society influences students to succeed. The impact of grades during Unit 2 falls into this unit.
9. Your textbook has a very positive bias when explaining the implications of Skinner’s research on operant conditioning. Do you agree or disagree with this bias? Explain by providing at least two examples that illustrate your point. (Nina)
            I disagree with the textbook’s positive bias when explaining the implications of Skinner’s research on operant conditioning. Skinner believed that external influences, not internal thoughts and feelings, shape behavior and by urging the use of operant principles to influence people’s behavior at school, work, and home. I believe that both internal and external influences shape behavior. Reinforcement with jobs well done is very effective in boosting productivity when the performance is desired. The external influence of money plays a role in the productivity, but so does the desire to do the job effectively for self-satisfaction and personal success. Additionally, when a person makes personal decisions, that person considers both external and internal influences. He or she considers their individual morals and beliefs, but also the external beliefs of his or her society. Both strongly effect a person’s decision with school, work, and at home. I disagree with the textbook’s positive bias when explaining the implications of Skinner’s research on operant conditioning because I believe that both internal and external influences shape behavior.
10. Let’s not forget learning my observation: Think of something that you do that might be influenced by what you have observed and explain it and how it applies to both the psychological aspect of our study and also the biological. (Chrissy)

          Over the years, I have watched my parents use coupons as well as talk about specific goals that they have set over the years.  I have begun to mimic their behavior and save money.  It has taught my siblings and me to be frugal with our money causing us to not be very big spenders.  We do not eat out very much and we do not shop often, but when we do we use coupons and look for sales.  If my parents would always be using credit cards and bringing home shopping bags it would have probably given me the impression that our money was limitless.  This behavior plays into the psychological aspect because it teaches us to plan our spending and to use what we have.  This behavior is really easy for us to mimic because of mirror neurons which are in the frontal lobe adjacent to the brain’s motor cortex.  They provide a neural basis for observational learning.

1. Consider the first two units that we discussed this year: the history of psychology and applying science to Psychology, how do they fit into our midterm project?  Provide at least three examples to illustrate your point. (Chrissy)
             The history of psychology and the science of psychology both play a role in our midterm project.  The different theories, learning strategies, and the evolution in psychology all impact our project.  For example, we are using a survey to see which learning method is most prevalent so that we can reach out to the most students.  This survey will tell us whether we need to have a more hands on discussion or if we should lecture with the students taking notes.  In addition, studying empiricism has helped because it is the view that knowledge comes from experience like through the senses.  This deals with observational learning and learning through experiments.  This will help us to make sure we are enforcing the terms and major points that are important through different methods.  We have come up with different ideas to help cover different learning types.  For example, we will display our project through games, posters, worksheets, and possibly a scrapbook.  These different ideas will help learn these units.  Finally, we will also try to implement the use of critical thinking so that the students will examine assumptions, evaluate evidence, and asses to their own conclusions on different topics. 
2.  How can you use what you know about the history of psychology and the science behind psychology to create your learning strategy?  Provide two paths you can take to incorporate knowledge into your final product. (Chrissy)
             Through the study of the history of psychology, theories have developed and evolved influencing our learning strategy.  For example, we could try to teach using empiricism or structuralism.  Empiricism deals with the fact the knowledge comes from experience and learn through observation where as structuralism is a more self reflective introspection meaning looking inward.  Structuralism has varies more depending on the person it deals with.  We are using empiricism because we believe that observational learning is very effective.  It will also help that they will be acquiring the knowledge through their different senses which will only help bind the knowledge into the brains.
3. You know some of the ways we learn—but what types of learners are there in our classroom (use your survey data to complete this question)?  What ideas do you have for incorporating those learners into your learning strategy? (Chrissy)            By using our survey, we decided to use some posters, games like memory, and a scrapbook to try to incorporate the learners into our strategy.  These methods will reach beyond just one learning type helping the majority of the students in the class.  These methods will also help them learn the information more by repetition of key points.  In addition, this will make them think critically about some of the points that we make.
4. How can we utilize psychology to help create learning strategies for all our learners? (Laura)       Psychology helps to provide insight to different people. When a teacher really understands and observes his/her student, he/she knows how that student learns the best. Knowing this could help to create a learning strategies for learners that suit the way they remember information.
5. How does biology play a role in how we develop learning strategies for learners? (Laura)
          Biology plays a huge role in learning. Biological predisposition allows or disallows organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive. It is easier and natural for a learner to learn something that is biologically fit for them; for example, as stated in part I, when mice are put on a bar, they use their front arms to elicit a response off of a bar that moves because it is natural for them to run or pick up food with their front arms. It easier to develop learning strategies for learners when their biological predispositions are known.

Summarize what you have learned or will learn throughout Phase I and II and begin thinking about creating your learning strategy….

What is the most effective way to teach every learner neuroscience without falling back on rote memorization? (This one you will want to add on to as we move into chapters 9 and 10) (Laura)       An easy, yet effective way to teach learners neuroscience without memorization would be repetition. When learning something new, many learners tend to memorize what they are learning. However, if a teacher repeatedly does activities involving neuroscience each day, it starts to become engrained in the learner’s mind. Example activities could be to play “memory games” with cards and pictures that a student must match together, videos and lectures that pertain to neuroscience, or discussions with peers to increase the knowledge of neuroscience. There are many different learning/teaching strategies that could be used to learn neuroscience; however, it is important to keep repeating different activities on neuroscience to keep the information processing in the brain. (Laura)