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Planning & Diversity
This display board organizes some of the most important education practices including: Bloom's Taxonomy, SEL practices, Sternberg, Gardner's multiple intelligences, and others. It makes a good reference guide for lesson planning.

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Behaviorism & Motivation
This lesson plan uses the principles of Operate Conditioning, Self-Efficacy, and Social Cognitive theory. My hope is to improve classroom management by implementing this lesson which includes a journal and ongoing rewards for positive behavior.

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Behavior Lesson to Begin the Year - ICAP Lesson Plan  (1)

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Constructivism & Creativity
This slide show is a presentation that can be given to teachers as a way of motivating and guiding them in using Piaget's and Amabile's theories in the classroom.

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5 Core Concepts

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by Francis Bailey and Ken Pransky

This chapter establishes five core realities about memory and the hardwiring of the brain that define learning at the physical level. It's important to ground our understanding of human learning in the realities of neurological and physiological processes. This understanding pulls back the curtain on educational philosophy and methodology and allows us to shine a light on learning "the way it is," based on how our brain works, at least to the degree that early 21st century science allows. We refer to these five elements throughout this book.

1. Learning Means the Efficient Functioning of the Memory System

Without memory, learning would be impossible. The very act of thinking cannot happen without engaging our brain's memory system. To a large degree, the process of learning means

1. Creating a representation of some type of information;

2. Storing that representation in long-term memory;

3. Being able to retrieve that representation to interpret reality and solve new problems.

In order to make meaning of the world around us and problem solve (e.g., apply math to a story problem, interpret a poem or graph, write an essay), all the components of our memory systems need to be working in sync. So, one of our primary roles as teachers must be helping students shape their memory systems to the demands of the school curriculum. We must also shape the focus and flow of the school curriculum to our students' memory systems. The memory systems explored in this book are represented in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1. Human Memory Systems

2. Memory Is a Physical Process

The brain is continually being shaped through experience. When we learn, a physical change takes place in our brain. Our ability to be lifelong learners, to continue to update our memory systems, is termed "neuroplasticity." Anyone can learn at any time. Understanding the physical side of the learning process can help us become better learning specialists in the classroom.

Our brains have a system of neurons-billions upon billions upon billions of them-linked together through a web of connections through axons (the armlike parts that send information to other neurons by electrochemical means) and dendrites (the fingerlike part of the neuron that receives information from other neurons). Data signals pass from neuron to neuron-the axon of one neuron meets the dendrite of another. There are actually tiny gaps between neurons, and signals jump these gaps aided by complex chemical processes. (See Figure 2.2.)

Figure 2.2. Neuron Diagrams

When we learn, our neurons are bombarded with all kinds of input, clamoring for their attention, sort of like being on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at peak trading hours-it is lively and cacophonous! Sometimes the loudest shouts are "Yes, yes, go for it!" and we choose it, at other times, "No, no, not that!" and we let that go. So, neurons can either send data along the neural web or inhibit the data. In fact, one of the main processes of learning is inhibiting unwanted information and selecting desired information. The things we exclude do not make it into our neural network and cannot be stored for future use. Successful learners are successful in part because they can select the right information to pass along and store. Conversely, this is a key obstacle for many struggling learners.

What to focus on, what to let pass? It seems easy enough, but when that curricular tidal wave is rolling over our struggling learners, their instinct is to grab onto the closest, most obvious, easiest thing-the problem is, that's not always the best one to grab onto.

As neurons get activated during learning, their axons get coated with goopy white brain matter, called a myelin sheath. The more a neuron gets activated about a particular piece of learning, the more goopy coating its axons get, which facilitates faster information transfer and protects that particular connection. The more we use a connection, the faster it gets triggered as well. While our parents always told us that practice makes perfect, it actually happens that practice makes goop (while it also makes permanent).

One other relevant thing to note about myelination is that it prevents the brain from "pruning" unused or rarely used connections. Our brain does periodic "desktop cleanups" with neural networks. It does a lot of dendrite pruning when children are very young, and as we get older, it prunes away some neural connections. Myelin is a signal to the brain to "leave this connection alone." (See Figure 2.3.)

Figure 2.3. Neuron and Myelination

Firing and Wiring

We retain information learned through stimuli and responses. This concept is famously expressed by Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb (1949) as " neurons that fire together, wire together." When we notice something in our environment, we automatically link that object or event to a network of internally stored information. When a child encounters a dog and hears the word "dog," she begins to build an association between the word and the animal. Over time, the network of neurons that constitute the child's representation of a specific animal will become densely connected to the verbal label "d-o-g."

The physical nature of learning and the brain's plasticity has profound implications for us as educators. It makes us question commonly held perspectives of early childhood and human development that view children as permanently limited if they have not attained the requisite developmental, behavioral, cognitive, and academic milestones by certain ages. For example, we may view a child who cannot read well at age 13 as not having the capacity to learn to read well. Research in cognitive science and education is now showing us that this view actually limits us; it limits our view of children and what they can do. As we understand our memory system, we gain new tools to make a deeper and more long-lasting impact in our work with students who struggle, helping them to become more flexible and considered learners in their future.

We should note that sleep loss, poor diet, and lack of exercise impair the generation of neurons in the brain. Many of us have students who, unfortunately, experience these conditions, so it is important to acknowledge the special challenge these students face in learning. Armed with this information, we can advocate for the pace of our instruction to be decided by our students' learning needs. But we must also advocate for the importance of helping accommodate these needs in school programs-such as having food available for students, resisting the reduction of recess time in favor of more on-task content learning time, or building more physical movement into the school day. These things may not be what politicians, bureaucrats, and district administrators think learning entails, but our kids' brains know better.

3. Our Brain Learns Best Through Multiple Pathways

Throughout most of human history, we learned through direct experience, when almost all our senses were engaged. Our brains evolved to prefer multisensory experiences for learning. Now, with schooling and literacy having taken on an increasingly important role in our cultural learning practices, we have forgotten how our brain is built, and we create learning experiences that do not build on the brain's preferred ways to learn. But we have all experienced how hands-on learning usually sticks best, and how students typically enjoy it more.

Each part of the brain is dedicated to a specific set of tasks: sensory processing, motor activity, and verbal and mathematical processing centers. For example, the brain's web of neural interconnections allows us to take visual information and integrate it with our language system so that we can talk about what we see, and so that we can reach into our long-term memory to recall a vacation we took to the mountains in Idaho in July and tell our family and friends about it when we get back to New England in August-or write in response to the prompt "What did you do during your summer break? Be sure to be as descriptive as you can."

Networks of Representations

The way our brains prefer to learn explains how information is stored once it gets into our memory system. Information is stored in diffuse networks linked to multiple regions of the brain, as language, nonverbal images, feelings, sounds, sensations, and smells. For example, here's a common tool:

This image activates neuron clusters in both your visual processing system and in the motor system that would activate in order to use the hammer. This allows you to both re-create an image of the tool in your brain as well as know how to use it. This neural network is also linked to the word "hammer," which in turn is also linked to the concept and word "tool." The flip side of saying that a student has "learned something" in our classroom is saying that a new neuron network has been forged across a range of regions of the brain, all connected up in semantic memory. So, for example, as we read, images and other mental sensations are created along with our processing of word meanings.

Teaching with a Multisensory Perspective

As Judy Willis, a neurologist and classroom teacher, notes, "By stimulating several senses with the information, more brain connections are available when students need to recall that memory later on. This means that the memory can be retrieved by more than one type of cue" (2006, p. 10). For example, having students listen to a video of a scientist talking about a concept, and then having them read about the same topic along with visual representations (such as pictures, graphic organizers, or charts), provides three pathways to learning the new concept and helps to build networks that facilitate long-term storage and retrieval. Then if we engage students in actively manipulating that information (sorting and categorizing the information, problem solving, experiments, projects), we add new possibilities of sense connections. Visuals, role-plays, manipulatives, and realia not only are more fun for students to engage with than verbal lessons but also allow them to grab onto learning in many different ways. All our lessons should involve at least two learning channels.

4. We Do Not Experience Reality Directly

Knowledge is a representation stored in long-term memory and is often termed "schema." A schema is essentially a network of neurons that gets activated based on what we experience in our environment or something we think about. To say you "know" or "know how to do" something means that you are able to access the relevant representation and activate it. Once you have activated the precise schema, you are able to use it to carry out daily plans, solve a problem, or learn something new.

An astonishing insight regarding learning comes from a deeper understanding of the connections between raw input from our environment-a thunderclap, an utterance from a teacher, a sentence from a book-and the "knowledge representations" we store in memory. By the time we are conscious of experiencing something happening around us, our brain has already processed the initial sensory information, activated the relevant schema, and created a new knowledge representation of the experience. We use that knowledge representation to think with and respond appropriately. In fact, whenever we are thinking, learning, or acting, we are manipulating schemas stored in long-term memory.

The sensory world does not have a direct pipeline into our memory system. The various centers of the brain are interconnected and process information at really high speeds, so it seems like we are reacting to an external stimulus. But we relate to reality through the lens of our own mental constructs about the world, through words, concepts, images, feelings, likes and dislikes, and our interpretation of experience rather than the direct experience itself. Students are not just information-processing devices-computers-neutrally taking in and storing our instructions, but rather are making sense of, interpreting, and shaping our instruction based upon their own internal schema. Student learning is fundamentally determined more by what goes on inside the learner than on our instruction pouring in from the outside.

This highlights three elements of instruction that we should be sure to incorporate in order to teach in sync with the realities of the brain: backgrounding, uncovering misunderstandings, and monitoring learning.

Backgrounding

Many of us already use "background-building" activities. Students are usually asked to focus on something they learned earlier in that school year or in a previous year, or on something they learned outside school that is related to the new material in some way. Indeed, from a memory system perspective, it is important to have some kind of schema-activating activity prior to any lesson. By engaging learners in extended talk about a topic, we wake up those neuron clusters in long-term memory associated with the topic.

However, it is usually a mistake to assume that all of our students have "learned" material from a previous month or year at school to the point that it is readily retrievable now. Have they really moved the new information into long-term memory storage and integrated it into existing networks of information? It is quite likely that many students will only have a vague recollection of it. In addition, we all have students who, for any number of reasons, were not at our school when those lessons were taught.

So we also advocate putting students in touch with their real-life experiences outside the classroom. All learners have knowledge and experiences from their home and community lives, and we can almost always find something to connect to. Whenever possible, we need to help students get in touch with information that they know best: their own lives.

There are parallels between real life and almost anything we learn at school. Some examples: we could use a discussion of fights with friends on the playground to learn about the American Revolution, because conflict is conflict; we could talk about planning for a party before we turn students' attention to the value of pre-writing. What real-life connections could you help students make to (see our suggestions at the end of the chapter)

Inferencing?

Multiplication?

The scientific method?

Manifest Destiny?

As we think in this way more and more, it becomes easier to see these connections.

Learning occurs because there is background to build on. All students can get excited talking about their lives, and that shared experience becomes the baseline of what the new learning is built on. Then students are walking into a lesson that otherwise they may have little or no interest in with more interest and desire to learn. It stimulates more of a feeling of "Hey, I know this already!" instead of "Yuck, another hard, boring thing I have to learn and will be bad at."

By making efforts to connect "inside school" to "outside school," we also help students to develop semantic memory systems fully integrated with the fabulous cultural resources and cognitive tools that they have inherited from their ancestors. We will be revisiting this topic of background grounding frequently throughout the book, as it is so important to the efficient functioning of the entire memory system.

Uncovering Misunderstandings

Students may have "faulty" background knowledge. We all have created misunderstandings about things, which form the (faulty) baseline for our new learning. The longer a misunderstanding persists, the harder it is hard to shake.

Once Ken was working with some students on a book about the fires that raged through Yellowstone in 1988. The book was about the controversy that ensued-should the fires be put out or not? The author stated directly on the back cover that the book was about the controversy, not taking a position on which side was right. But after reading and processing that with the students, Ken asked as a comprehension check, "So, does the author think the fires were good or bad for Yellowstone?" All the students instantly replied, "Bad!" Why? Even though they had ostensibly "understood" the back cover statement about the book, the year before in 4th grade they had all been through a fire safety unit where the message was quite clear: Fire is dangerous and bad! That past learning would have formed the faulty baseline for the comprehension in the present text if Ken had not lucked out by asking them a follow-up question that required them to apply what they apparently had "clearly understood" just seconds before in the conversation. There can never be too many comprehension checks or attempts to pin students down about what they actually understand.

Monitoring Learning

We have to create opportunities for students to demonstrate their real-time learning, which can be evaluated on an ongoing, formative assessment basis. With frequent check-ins, we have a better chance to head off misperception, misinformation, and poorly processed ideas at the pass. Not only are turn-and-talk, Think-Pair-Share, learning log reflections, and other ongoing assessment techniques helpful for students to get time to take stock of and solidify their learning, but if we actively attend to what students are saying or writing during such activities, we can see how accurate their fledgling understanding is.

5. Honoring the Limbic System

The limbic system is the brain's center of emotional control. The thing to realize about emotion is that it is a form of intelligence in its own right. Emotions like anger, fear, or joy are the result of our limbic system's assessment of our environment. The limbic system draws on the knowledge representations we've stored in long-term memory to make sense of context and come to a conclusion about what our priorities for action should be, based upon how we are feeling. Without the limbic system assigning a high priority to what is being taught, or if we sense a threat in the environment or even feel generally uncomfortable, we will simply not activate our memory systems for learning.

For example, if we are forced to go to a professional development (PD) workshop by our district about a topic we do not find engaging or important, and the presenter just reads off the slides, our limbic systems rebel, and we retain very little of the content-we might even get surly! Feelings of anxiety, fear, disconnection, confusion, and anger all make the limbic system tell the brain to hunker down in "protect" or "disengage" mode.

Similarly, if our classrooms feel to students like that PD feels to us, their learning won't happen, either. If students think that we don't like them, or that other students don't like them, or that they are just bad at school, or that everything moves too fast, or for any other reason, their emotional response makes it very unlikely that they'll engage their memory systems successfully in learning. Without positively engaging our students' limbic systems, we are unlikely to be able to teach them successfully, however wonderful or built on "best practices" our lessons are otherwise.

Or maybe a student's limbic system is still engaged with something that happened in the home, or on the street, or on the bus. It is so important to ensure a safe, welcoming, and open classroom environment. Otherwise, we are just slamming the door shut on even the possibility of some (or even many) of our students' being able to learn.

Acute stress causes us to produce hormones that make us go into "hunker down mode." Learning becomes problematic and it gets hard to think straight because our limbic system is on such high alert. At that point, neither working memory nor our long-term storage systems work as optimally. Many children, sadly, grow up in a very stressful environment and come to school fighting an uphill battle with their stress hormones. In Chapters 3 and 5, we will see that this directly impacts their ability to learn independently. Knowing this makes creating a warm, welcoming, and stress-free classroom so important, and we need to take the time to make it happen.

Teaching Point

The more we know about something, the better we can make use of it. That's the spirit behind the value of becoming a learning specialist. As we learn more about the physiological and neurological realities of learning, we can teach in ways that honor these truths. In the same way, students can make use of this information: everything we need to know, they can benefit from knowing, too. We highly recommend trying it out!

For example, if they know that without tapping into background, learning won't happen, there is at least the possibility that they will try to tap into it independently, and maybe be more proactive about asking if they don't know much about a subject or text. If they learn about myelination, it's an easier sell in reply to "We did this already-why are we doing it again?" to say, "But remember, practice makes goop!" Each of the core concepts in this chapter can be fodder for lessons where students learn about how they learn. The class can physically act them out after they learn about them, sing songs about them, or draw their own pictorial representations, cartoon, or learning flow chart.

The same can be done with the different memory systems (working memory, long-term storage systems) when we get to those. By learning how their brain is working as they learn, what makes learning easier and what complicates it, students can become better learners, more able to advocate for themselves individually and as a class.

What's Next

Before we explore each section of the memory system in greater detail, we first take up, in Chapter 3, the social and cultural context in which schooling occurs. Although it may seem counterintuitive, important elements of our memory system-which we just described as a physical and neurological process in this chapter-are profoundly affected by culture. In order to fully appreciate the workings of memory and the struggles of many learners, we need to establish learning as a social and cultural process.

OUR BACKGROUND GROUNDING IDEAS (from page 19)

Inferencing
We could ask students, "Have you wanted to ask your mom and dad for something, but when you go to ask them, something about them makes you think, 'Whoa, now's not the time!'?" Or, "Have you ever done something your parents asked you not to do, and just by looking at them, you know just how they feel about it?" All kids "read" expressions of parents, teachers, friends, etc.

Multiplication
We could ask students how many of them eat cookies or chips, how many of their parents buy gas for the car or how basketball shots turn into points. There are many examples of things that kids know well that come in packages or groups, or that are calculated more than one at a time.

The Scientific Method
We could ask students what they do if they ask their parents for something and their parents say no. Do they ask again another time, in a different way? Or, how do they figure out how to beat levels in a video game? Kids hypothesize and make adjustments to what they do through what they've experienced throughout their lives.

Manifest Destiny
We could ask, "How many of you have a bigger brother or sister who comes into your room anytime they want, even takes your things, but you aren't allowed into their room without getting permission first"; or, "If you're the older brother/sister, is it that way for your younger brother/sister?" There's unfairness (at least the perception of it), and the abuse of position because one has the means to do so, in every child's life.

Endnotes

KEYWORDS

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by Francis Bailey and Ken Pransky This chapter establishes five core realities about memory and the hardwiring of the brain that define learning at the physical level. It's important to ground our understanding of human learning in the realities of neurological and physiological processes.

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Guidelines

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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9 Events of Learning

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Theory Image

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Merging 2 theories

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Claude Steele

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Stereotype Threat: A Conversation with Claude Steele

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Multiple Intelligences

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

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The triarchic theory of intelligence proposes that there are three distinct types of intelligence: practical, distinct, and analytical. It was formulated by Robert J. Sternberg, a well-known psychologist whose research often focuses on human intelligence and creativity.

The triarchic theory is comprised of three subtheories, each of which relates to a specific kind of intelligence: the contextual subtheory, which corresponds to practical intelligence, or the ability to successfully function in one's environment; the experiential subtheory, which corresponds to creative intelligence, or the ability to deal with novel situations or issues; and the componential subtheory, which corresponds to analytical intelligence, or the ability to solve problems.

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Key Takeaways

Sternberg proposed his theory in 1985 as an alternative to the idea of the general intelligence factor. The general intelligence factor, also known as g, is what intelligence tests typically measure. It refers only to "academic intelligence."

Sternberg argued that practical intelligence-a person's ability to react and adapt to the world around them-as well as creativity are equally important when measuring an individual's overall intelligence. He also argued that intelligence isn't fixed, but rather comprises a set of abilities that can be developed. Sternberg's assertions led to the creation of his theory.

Subtheories

Sternberg broke his theory down into the following three subtheories:

Contextual subtheory: The contextual subtheory says that intelligence is intertwined with the individual's environment. Thus, intelligence is based on the way one functions in their everyday circumstances, including one's ability to a) adapt to one's environment, b) select the best environment for oneself, or c) shape the environment to better fit one's needs and desires.

Experiential subtheory: The experiential subtheory proposes that there is a continuum of experience from novel to automation to which intelligence can be applied. It's at the extremes of this continuum that intelligence is best demonstrated. At the novel end of the spectrum, an individual is confronted with an unfamiliar task or situation and must come up with a way to deal with it. At the automation end of the spectrum, one has become familiar with a given task or situation and can now handle it with minimal thought.

Componential subtheory: The componential theory outlines the various mechanisms that result in intelligence. According to Sternberg, this subtheory is comprised of three kinds of mental processes or components:

Metacomponents enable us to monitor, control, and evaluate our mental processing, so that we can make decisions, solve problems, and create plans.

Performance components are what enable us to take action on the plans and decisions arrived at by the metacomponents.

Knowledge-acquisition components enable us to learn new information that will help us carry out our plans.

Kinds of Intelligence

Each subtheory reflects a particular kind of intelligence or ability:

Practical intelligence: Sternberg called one's ability to successfully interact with the everyday world practical intelligence. Practical intelligence is related to the contextual subtheory. Practically intelligent people are especially adept at behaving in successful ways in their external environment.

Creative intelligence: The experiential subtheory is related to creative intelligence, which is one's ability to use existing knowledge to create new ways to handle new problems or cope in new situations.

Analytical intelligence: The componential subtheory is related to analytical intelligence, which is essentially academic intelligence. Analytical intelligence is used to solve problems and is the kind of intelligence that is measured by a standard IQ test

Sternberg observed that all three kinds of intelligence are necessary for successful intelligence, which refers to the ability to be successful in life based on one's abilities, personal desires, and environment.

There have been a number of critiques and challenges to Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence over the years. For example, educational psychologist Linda Gottfredson says the theory lacks a solid empirical basis and observes that the data used to back up the theory is meager. In addition, some scholars argue that practical intelligence is redundant with the concept of job knowledge, a concept that is more robust and has been better researched. Finally, Sternberg's own definitions and explanations of his terms and concepts have at times been imprecise.

Gottfredson, Linda S. "Dissecting practical intelligence theory: Its claims and evidence" Intelligence, vol. 31, no. 4, 2003, pp.343-397.

Meunier, John. "Practical Intelligence." Human Intelligence, 2003.

Schmidt, Frank L., and John E. Hunter. "Tacit Knowledge, Practical Intelligence, General Mental Ability, and Job Knowledge" Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 2, no. 1, 1993, pp. 8-9.

Sternberg, Robert J. Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence. Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Sternberg, Robert J. "The Theory of Successful Intelligence" Review of General Psychology, vol. 3, no. 4, 1999, 292-316.

"Triarchic Theory of Intelligence." Psychestudy.

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Understanding the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

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The triarchic theory of intelligence proposes that there are three distinct types of intelligence: practical, distinct, and analytical. It was formulated by Robert J. Sternberg, a well-known psychologist whose research often focuses on human intelligence and creativity.

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Understanding Micro-insults

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An Asian-American student is complimented by a professor for speaking perfect English, but it's actually his first language. A black man notices that a white woman flinches and clutches her bag as she sees him in the elevator she's about to enter, and is painfully reminded of racial stereotypes. A woman speaks up in an important meeting, but she can barely get a word in without being interrupted by her male colleagues.

There's a name for what's happening in these situations, when people's biases against marginalized groups reveal themselves in a way that leaves their victims feeling uncomfortable or insulted: microaggressions.

You may have heard the term if you've read up on psychology, the academic field where the term was born, or if you've spent time perusing Twitter and Tumblr, where it's had a recent resurgence.

The renewed embrace of the concept has aggravated some who think "microaggressions" simply describes situations in which people are being much too sensitive. At the same time, it's also provided a common vocabulary for those who want to put a label on the specific type of daily indignities they face. And in a society in which explicit racism is frowned upon (and thus, not a daily problem for most people) but implicit biases are going strong, there's probably more use for it now than ever before.

The word "microaggression," like the behaviors it describes, is probably going to be with us for some time, so it's worth understanding what it means.

What makes microaggressions different from other rude or insensitive actions or comments?

Microaggressions are more than just insults, insensitive comments, or generalized jerky behavior.

They're something very specific: the kinds of remarks, questions, or actions that are painful because they have to do with a person's membership in a group that's discriminated against or subject to stereotypes. And a key part of what makes them so disconcerting is that they happen casually, frequently, and often without any harm intended, in everyday life.
They happen casually, frequently, and often without any harm intended
This is how psychologist Derald W. Sue, who's written two books on microaggressions, defines the term: "The everyday slights, indignities, put downs and insults that people of color, women, LGBT populations or those who are marginalized experiences in their day-to-day interactions with people."

As he explained in the video below, which provides an overview of the concept, microaggressions often appear to be a compliment or a joke, but contain a hidden insult about a group of people (as in the example above, about the Asian-American student's English, or when a lesbian is told, "You don't look like you're gay!" )

Where did this term come from, and why are we suddenly hearing it so much?

Back in the 1970s, Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce coined the term "microaggression" to describe the insults and slights he had witnessed against black people.

These [racial] assaults to black dignity and black hope are incessant and cumulative. Any single one may be gross. In fact, the major vehicle for racism in this country is offenses done to blacks by whites in this sort of gratuitous neverending way. These offenses are microaggressions. Almost all black±white racial interactions are characterized by white put-downs, done in automatic, preconscious, or unconscious fashion. These mini disasters accumulate. It is the sum total of multiple microaggressions by whites to blacks that has pervasive effect to the stability and peace of this world.

The word was revived, mostly in academic circles, and applied to other minority groups when Sue, a professor of psychology at Columbia Teacher's College, began using it in his writing around 2007.

Given the way social media gives a rare platform to a lot of the same groups who field these sorts of daily insults, it's caught on and has become a popular topic of discussion on Twitter and Tumblr, especially among young people.

Harvard University students' " I, Too, Am Harvard" campaign - a collection of photos and testimonials about the microaggressions black students experienced - was hugely popular. There are Tumblrs dedicated to chronicling microaggressions at colleges including St. Olaf University, Swarthmore College, Oberlin College, Dartmouth College, and Smith College, too.
People have embraced it because it described things that are really happening to them
Here, students quote the things people have said to them ("You're so lucky to be black - so easy to get into college," and "You can't be a woman if you can't reproduce,") and vent about their frustrations with the types of comments they have to field ("'What are you?' is not an introduction").

In an April 2014 interview with USA Today, Sue that he was happy to see the term go "mainstream" and said he'd noticed that college students found microaggressions "experientially true." In other words, people have embraced it because it described things that are really happening to them.

How do microaggressions actually harm people?

Research has shown that microaggressions, although they're seemingly small and sometimes innocent offenses, can take a real psychological toll on the mental health of their recipients. This toll can lead to anger and depression and can even lower work productivity and problem-solving abilities.
Microaggressions can even cause physical health problems
Plus, they can affect a work or school environment, making it more hostile and less validating and perpetuate stereotype threat (the fear of confirming existing stereotypes about one's group, which can have a negative impact on confidence and achievement).

None of this is hard to imagine if you simply consider how it would impact your life if you felt like you were subject to a constant stream of insults and slights and were always bracing for or recovering from an offense. It's not just about being upset, though: some researchers have found that microaggressions can even cause physical health problems.

Are microaggressions the same as racism, sexism, and homophobia?

They are based on some of the same core ideas about people who are minorities or are marginalized in America (for example, that they're not smart, that they don't belong, or that they make good punchlines), but microaggressions are a little different from overtly racist, sexist, or homopohobic acts or comments because they typically don't have any negative intent or hostility behind them.

Sue explained in his video primer on the topic, "People who engage in microagressions are ordinary folks who experience themselves as good, moral, decent individuals. Microaggressions occur because they are outside the level of conscious awareness of the perpetrator."

"It (is not) the overt racists, the white supremacists, the Klan, the skinheads," he told USA Today. But, he clarified, in some ways, this makes them all the more dangerous. The outright bigots, he explained, "are less likely to affect the standard of my living than individuals who are well-intentioned - educators, employers, health care providers - who are unaware of their biases."
"People who engage in microagressions are ordinary folks"
In this way, microaggressions are closely tied to implicit biases, which are the attitudes, stereotypes, and assumptions that we're not even aware of, that can creep into our minds and affect our actions (also known as, " thoughts about people you didn't know you had.")

A person with implicit bias against black people might have trouble connecting "black" with positive terms on the Implicit Association Test, a computerized test designed to measure how closely we associate certain topics in our minds. It's fair to guess that that same person might be someone who gets a little nervous - and shows it - when she first sees a black man in the elevator she's about to enter. So, more than expressions of conscious prejudice or intentional bigoted statements, you can think of microaggressions as implicit biases come to life in our everyday interactions.

And yes, just like we all harbor various prejudices, we've all probably subjected someone to a microaggression at some point in life.

Are people who complain about microaggressions being too sensitive?

In some camps, there's intense hostility to the idea that an "innocent" remark would ever be labeled problematic. All you have to do is glance through the comments on Sue's YouTube video on microaggressions to see examples of this attitude.

Here's one: "I have to say the analyzation of micro aggression is annoying to me. Our society is a society of over sensitive people. What happened to being intelligent enough to understand that people are going to react, and sometimes do inconsiderate things. It is my feeling that our society will never be eutopean enough to completely eradicate micro aggressions. Therefore the sooner we stop wasting energy on pointing out natural human behaviors, the sooner we can put that energy to better, more productive fields of study." (sic)

And another one: "As we say out my way, Eat some concrete and harden the fuck up princess. Fuck your mico microaggression, i'll give you some real aggression." (sic)

Some of these reactions are more thoughtful and come from Sue's peers in academia. In rebuttal letters to his 2007 American Psychologist article on microaggressions, some accused Sue of blowing the phenomenon out of proportion and manufacturing the perception of harm where none exists.

"Implementing his theory would restrict rather than promote candid interaction between members of different racial groups," Kenneth R. Thomas, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told the American Psychological Association Monitor. Thomas, a white male, said he believed that "the [microaggression] theory, in general, characterizes people of color as weak and vulnerable, and reinforces a culture of victimization instead of a culture of opportunity."
This criticism seems to fit into a larger conversation about multiculturalism and "political correctness"
This criticism seems to fit into a larger conversation about multiculturalism and " political correctness" in which opposition often includes an underlying disbelief in the seriousness of the claims of marginalized people or a sense that it is too much trouble or impractical to cease the behaviors that they say cause them harm.

What do I do if I want to avoid subjecting people to microaggressions?

In short: make an effort.
Stop for a beat and think before you speak, especially when you're weighing in on someone's identity
It's not very hard to put some thought into the biases you might hold, become curious about the way your words and actions are perceived by others, listen when people explain why certain remarks offend them, and make it a habit stop for a beat and think before you speak, especially when you're weighing in on someone's identity.

In his video on microaggressions, Sue offered five suggestions for things individuals can do to avoid them:

1. Be constantly vigilant of your own biases and fears.

2. Seek out interaction with people who differ from you (in terms of race, culture, ethnicity, and other qualities).

3. Don't be defensive.

4. Be open to discussing your won attitudes and biases ad how they might have hurt others or in some sense revealed bias on your part.

5. Be an ally, by standing personally against all forms of bias and discrimination.

Bonus tip: Peruse the many examples of microaggressions that have been chronicled in articles, in academic research, and using social media. Once you hear about how they affect people, chances are, you will be more aware of what they look like, and suddenly much less likely to repeat them.

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Six things to know, especially if you want to avoid being a jerk.

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Social Emotional Learning

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Infographic

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Classroom Application

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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in the Classroom

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Ecological Systems Theory

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Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory posits that an individual's development is influenced by a series of interconnected environmental systems, ranging from the immediate surroundings (e.g., family) to broad societal structures (e.g., culture).

These systems include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem, each representing different levels of environmental influences on an individual's growth and behavior.

Background

American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner was critical of previous theories of child development.

He argued that studies of children in unfamiliar laboratory environments with one other person, usually a stranger, were ecologically invalid (See Mary Ainsworth's 1970 experiment of the ' Strange Situation ').

Bronfenbrenner (1974) claimed most earlier studies were 'unidirectional,' meaning that the laboratory studies observed the influence of A on B (e.g., a stranger/mother with a child) rather than looking at the possible influence of the child on the stranger/mother, or any other third party's influence.

Bronfenbrenner maintained that these laboratory features of research are not characteristic of environments that children actually live and develop in.

Bronfenbrenner recognized multiple aspects of a developing child's life interact with and affects the child. His work looked beyond individual development, taking into account wider influencing factors and the context (or ecology) of development.

He proposed the 'Ecological Systems Theory' based on these dynamic interactions that the environments have on the developing child.

Bronfenbrenner's (1974) perspective has some resemblance to the works of Albert Bandura's social learning theory and Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural theory in which the environment is explicitly or implicitly considered as a crucial mechanism in development.

The Five Ecological Systems

Bronfenbrenner (1977) suggested that the child's environment is a nested arrangement of structures, each contained within the next. He organized them in order of how much of an impact they have on a child.

He named these structures the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and the chronosystem.

Because the five systems are interrelated, the influence of one system on a child's development depends on its relationship with the others.

The Microsystem

The microsystem is the ﬁrst level of Bronfenbrenner's theory and are the things that have direct contact with the child in their immediate environment, such as parents, siblings, teachers, and school peers.

Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional, meaning other people can influence the child in their environment and change other people's beliefs and actions.

Furthermore, the child's reactions to individuals in their microsystem can influence how they treat them in return.

The interactions within microsystems are often very personal and are crucial for fostering and supporting the child's development.

If a child has a strong nurturing relationship with their parents, this is said to positively affect the child. Whereas distant and unaffectionate parents may hurt the child.

The Mesosystem

The mesosystem encompasses the interactions between the child's microsystems, such as the interactions between the child's parents and teachers or between school peers and siblings.

The mesosystem is where a person's individual microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and assert inﬂuence upon one another.

For instance, if a child's parents communicate with the child's teachers, this interaction may influence the child's development. Essentially, a mesosystem is a system of microsystems.

According to the ecological systems theory, if the child's parents and teachers get along and have a good relationship, this should have positive effects on the child's development, compared to negative effects on development if the teachers and parents do not get along.

The Exosystem

The exosystem is a component of the ecological systems theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner in the 1970s.

It incorporates other formal and informal social structures, which do not themselves contain the child but indirectly influence them as these social structures affect one of the microsystems.

Examples of exosystems include the neighborhood, parents' workplaces, parents' friends, and the mass media. These are environments in which the child is not involved and are external to their experience but nonetheless affect them anyway.

An instance of exosystems affecting the child's development could be if one of the parents had a dispute with their boss at work.

The parent may come home and have a short temper with the child as a result of something which happened in the workplace, which may result in a negative effect on development.

The Macrosystem

The macrosystem is a component of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory that focuses on how cultural elements affect a child's development, such as socioeconomic status, wealth, poverty, and ethnicity.

Thus, the culture that individuals are immersed within may influence their beliefs and perceptions about events that transpire in life.

The macrosystem differs from the previous ecosystems as it does not refer to the specific environments of one developing child, but the already established society and culture in which the child is developing in.

This can also include the socioeconomic status, ethnicity, geographic location, and ideologies of the culture.

For example, a child living in a third-world country would experience a different development than a child living in a wealthier country.

The Chronosystem

The fifth and final level of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory is known as the chronosystem.

This system consists of all the environmental changes that influence development over the lifetime, including major life transitions and historical events.

These can include normal life transitions, such as starting school, and non-normative life transitions, such as parents getting divorced or having to move to a new house.

The Bioecological Model

It is important to note that Bronfenbrenner (1994) later revised his theory and instead named it the 'Bioecological model'.

Bronfenbrenner became more concerned with the proximal development processes, meaning the enduring and persistent forms of interaction in the immediate environment.

His focus shifted from environmental influences to developmental processes individuals experience over time.

'...development takes place through the process of progressively more complex reciprocal interactions between an active, evolving biopsychological human organism and the persons, objects, and symbols in its immediate external environment.' (Bronfenbrenner, 1995).

Bronfenbrenner also suggested that to understand the effect of these proximal processes on development, we have to focus on the person, context, and developmental outcome, as these processes vary and affect people differently (Bronfenbrenner & Evans, 2000).

Critical Evaluation

Bronfenbrenner's model quickly became very appealing and accepted as a useful framework for psychologists, sociologists, and teachers studying child development.

The Ecological Systems Theory provides a holistic approach that is inclusive of all the systems children and their families are involved in, accurately reflecting the dynamic nature of actual family relationships (Hayes & O'Toole, 2017).

Paat (2013) considers how Bronfenbrenner's theory is useful when it comes to the development of immigrant children. They suggest that immigrant children's experiences in the various ecological systems are likely to be shaped by their cultural differences. Understanding these children's ecology can aid in strengthening social work service delivery for these children.

A limitation of the Ecological Systems Theory is that there is limited research examining the mesosystems, mainly the interactions between neighborhoods and the family of the child (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Therefore, the extent to which these systems can shape child development is unclear.

Another limitation of Bronfenbrenner's theory is that it is difficult to empirically test the theory. The studies investigating the ecological systems may establish an effect, but they cannot establish whether the systems directly cause such effects.

Furthermore, this theory can lead to assumptions that those who do not have strong and positive ecological systems lack in development. Whilst this may be true in some cases, many people can still develop into well-rounded individuals without positive influences from their ecological systems.

For instance, it is not true to say that all people who grow up in poverty-stricken areas of the world will develop negatively. Similarly, if a child's teachers and parents do not get along, some children may not experience any negative effects if it does not concern them.

As a result, people need to avoid making broad assumptions about individuals using this theory.

Bronfenbrenner's Theory in the 21st Century

The world has greatly changed since this theory was introduced regarding technological developments.

The exosystem of a child could be expanded to consider influences from social media, video gaming, and other modern-day interactions within the ecological system.

This could suggest that the ecological systems are still valid but may expand over time to include new modern developments.

Kelly and Coughlan (2019) used constructivist grounded theory analysis to develop a theoretical framework for youth mental health recovery and found that there were many links to Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory in their own more recent theory.

Their theory suggested that the components of mental health recovery are embedded in the 'ecological context of influential relationships,' which fits in with Bronfenbrenner's theory that the ecological systems of the young person, such as peers, family, and school, all help mental health development.

Classroom Application

The Ecological Systems Theory has been used to link psychological and educational theory to early educational curriculums and practice. The developing child is at the center of the theory, and all that occurs within and between the five ecological systems are done to benefit the child in the classroom.

According to the theory, teachers and parents should maintain good communication with each other and work together to benefit the child to strengthen the development of the ecological systems in educational practice.

Teachers should also be understanding of the situations their student's families may be experiencing, including social and economic factors that are part of the various systems.

According to the theory, if parents and teachers have a good relationship, this should positively shape the child's development.

Likewise, the child must be active in their learning, both academically and socially. They must collaborate with their peers and participate in meaningful learning experiences to enable positive development (Evans, 2012).

Empirical Evidence

There are lots of studies that have investigated the effects of the school environment on students. Below are some examples:

Lippard, LA Paro, Rouse, and Crosby (2017) conducted a study to test Bronfenbrenner's theory. They investigated the teacher-child relationships through teacher reports and classroom observations.

They found that these relationships were significantly related to children's academic achievement and classroom behavior, suggesting that these relationships are important for children's development and supports the Ecological Systems Theory.

Wilson et al. (2002) found that creating a positive school environment, through a school ethos valuing diversity has a positive effect on students' relationships within the school. Incorporating this kind of school ethos influences those within the developing child's ecological systems.

Langford et al. (2014) found that whole-school approaches to the health curriculum can positively improve educational achievement and student well-being. Thus, the development of the students is being affected by the microsystems.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1974). Developmental research, public policy, and the ecology of childhood. Child development, 45 (1), 1-5.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American psychologist, 32 (7), 513.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1995). Developmental ecology through space and time: A future perspective.

Bronfenbrenner, U., & Evans, G. W. (2000). Developmental science in the 21st century: Emerging questions, theoretical models, research designs and empirical findings . Social development, 9 (1), 115-125.

Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature-nurture reconceptualised: A bio-ecological model. Psychological Review, 10 (4), 568-586.

Hayes, N., O'Toole, L., & Halpenny, A. M. (2017). Introducing Bronfenbrenner: A guide for practitioners and students in early years education. Taylor & Francis.

Kelly, M., & Coughlan, B. (2019). A theory of youth mental health recovery from a parental perspective. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 24 (2), 161-169.

Langford, R., Bonell, C. P., Jones, H. E., Pouliou, T., Murphy, S. M., Waters, E., Komro, A. A., Gibbs, L. F., Magnus, D. & Campbell, R. (2014). The WHO Health Promoting School framework for improving the health and well‐being of students and their academic achievement. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (4).

Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: the effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126 (2), 309.

Lippard, C. N., La Paro, K. M., Rouse, H. L., & Crosby, D. A. (2018, February). A closer look at teacher-child relationships and classroom emotional context in preschool. In Child & Youth Care Forum 47(1), 1-21.

Paat, Y. F. (2013). Working with immigrant children and their families: An application of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23 (8), 954-966.

Rhodes, S. (2013). Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory [PDF]. Retrieved from http://uoit.blackboard.com

Wilson, P., Atkinson, M., Hornby, G., Thompson, M., Cooper, M., Hooper, C. M., & Southall, A. (2002). Young minds in our schools-a guide for teachers and others working in schools. Year: YoungMinds (Jan 2004).

Further Information
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1974). Developmental research, public policy, and the ecology of childhood. Child Development, 45.

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Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory posits that an individual's development is influenced by a series of interconnected environmental systems, ranging from the immediate surroundings (e.g., family) to broad societal structures (e.g., culture). These systems include the Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, and Chronosystem, each representing different levels of environmental influences on an individual's growth and behavior.

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Trauma Informed Practices

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Operate Conditioning

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Operant conditioning, or instrumental conditioning, is a theory of learning where behavior is influenced by its consequences. Behavior that is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, and behavior that is punished will occur less frequently.

By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology, and other behaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical conditioning. Perhaps the most important of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Although, for obvious reasons, he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner.

Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913). Skinner believed that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study observable behavior rather than internal mental events.

The work of Skinner was rooted in the view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic to be a complete explanation of complex human behavior. He believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning.

BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning

Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on Thorndike's (1898) law of effect. According to this principle, behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is less likely to be repeated.

Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect - Reinforcement. behavior that is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened); behavior that is not reinforced tends to die out or be extinguished (i.e., weakened).

Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a " " which was similar to Thorndike's puzzle box.

A Skinner box, also known as an operant conditioning chamber, is a device used to objectively record an animal's behavior in a compressed time frame. An animal can be rewarded or punished for engaging in certain behaviors, such as lever pressing (for rats) or key pecking (for pigeons).

Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant, that can follow behavior.

Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.

Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.

Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.

We can all think of examples of how our own behavior has been affected by reinforcers and punishers. As a child, you probably tried out a number of behaviors and learned from their consequences.

For example, when you were younger, if you tried smoking at school, and the chief consequence was that you got in with the crowd you always wanted to hang out with, you would have been positively reinforced (i.e., rewarded) and would be likely to repeat the behavior.

If, however, the main consequence was that you were caught, caned, suspended from school and your parents became involved you would most certainly have been punished, and you would consequently be much less likely to smoke now.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a term described by B. F. Skinner in his theory of operant conditioning. In positive reinforcement, a response or behavior is strengthened by rewards, leading to the repetition of desired behavior. The reward is a reinforcing stimulus.

Primary reinforcers are stimuli that are naturally reinforcing because they are not learned and directly satisfy a need, such as food or water.

Secondary reinforcers are stimuli that are reinforced through their association with a primary reinforcer, such as money, school grades. They do not directly satisfy an innate need but may be the means. So a secondary reinforcer can be just as powerful a motivator as a primary reinforcer.

Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box. The box contained a lever on the side, and as the rat moved about the box, it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so that a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever.

The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food, if they pressed the lever, ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.

Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding. For example, if your teacher gives you £5 each time you complete your homework (i.e., a reward), you will be more likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.

The Premack principle is a form of positive reinforcement in operant conditioning. It suggests using a preferred activity (high-probability behavior) as a reward for completing a less preferred one (low-probability behavior).

This method incentivizes the less desirable behavior by associating it with a desirable outcome, thus strengthening the less favored behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement is the termination of an unpleasant state following a response.

This is known as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is 'rewarding' to the animal or person. Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it stops or removes an unpleasant experience.

For example, if you do not complete your homework, you give your teacher £5. You will complete your homework to avoid paying £5, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.

Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever.

Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.

In fact, Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current from being switched on.

These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.

Punishment (weakens behavior)

Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it. It is an aversive event that decreases the behavior that it follows.

Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance, deducting someone's pocket money to punish undesirable behavior.

Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement.

They are two distinct methods of punishment used to decrease the likelihood of a specific behavior occurring again, but they involve different types of consequences:

1. Positive Punishment:

Positive punishment involves adding an aversive stimulus or something unpleasant immediately following a behavior to decrease the likelihood of that behavior happening in the future.

It aims to weaken the target behavior by associating it with an undesirable consequence.

Example: A child receives a scolding (an aversive stimulus) from their parent immediately after hitting their sibling. This is intended to decrease the likelihood of the child hitting their sibling again.

2. Negative Punishment:

Negative punishment involves removing a desirable stimulus or something rewarding immediately following a behavior to decrease the likelihood of that behavior happening in the future.

It aims to weaken the target behavior by taking away something the individual values or enjoys.

Example: A teenager loses their video game privileges (a desirable stimulus) for not completing their chores. This is intended to decrease the likelihood of the teenager neglecting their chores in the future.

There are many problems with using punishment, such as:

Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behavior returns when punishment is no longer present.

Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way to cope with problems.

Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors, e.g., fear of school.

Does not necessarily guide you toward desired behavior - reinforcement tells you what to do, and punishment only tells you what not to do.

Examples of Operant Conditioning

1. Positive Reinforcement: Suppose you are a coach and want your team to improve their passing accuracy in soccer. When the players execute accurate passes during training, you praise their technique. This positive feedback encourages them to repeat the correct passing behavior.

2. Negative Reinforcement: If you notice your team working together effectively and exhibiting excellent team spirit during a tough training session, you might end the training session earlier than planned, which the team perceives as a relief. They understand that teamwork leads to positive outcomes, reinforcing team behavior.

3. Negative Punishment: If an office worker continually arrives late, their manager might revoke the privilege of flexible working hours. This removal of a positive stimulus encourages the employee to be punctual.

4. Positive Reinforcement: Training a cat to use a litter box can be achieved by giving it a treat each time it uses it correctly. The cat will associate the behavior with the reward and will likely repeat it.

5. Negative Punishment: If teenagers stay out past their curfew, their parents might take away their gaming console for a week. This makes the teenager more likely to respect their curfew in the future to avoid losing something they value.

6. Ineffective Punishment: Your child refuses to finish their vegetables at dinner. You punish them by not allowing dessert, but the child still refuses to eat vegetables next time. The punishment seems ineffective.

7. Premack Principle Application: You could motivate your child to eat vegetables by offering an activity they love after they finish their meal. For instance, for every vegetable eaten, they get an extra five minutes of video game time. They value video game time, which might encourage them to eat vegetables.

8. Other Premack Principle Examples:

A student who dislikes history but loves art might earn extra time in the art studio for each history chapter reviewed.

For every 10 minutes a person spends on household chores, they can spend 5 minutes on a favorite hobby.

For each successful day of healthy eating, an individual allows themselves a small piece of dark chocolate at the end of the day.

A child can choose between taking out the trash or washing the dishes. Giving them the choice makes them more likely to complete the chore willingly.

Skinner's Pigeon Experiment

B.F. Skinner conducted several experiments with pigeons to demonstrate the principles of operant conditioning.

One of the most famous of these experiments is often colloquially referred to as " Superstition in the Pigeon."

This experiment was conducted to explore the effects of non-contingent reinforcement on pigeons, leading to some fascinating observations that can be likened to human superstitions.

Non-contingent reinforcement (NCR) refers to a method in which rewards (or reinforcements) are delivered independently of the individual's behavior. In other words, the reinforcement is given at set times or intervals, regardless of what the individual is doing.

The Experiment:

1. Pigeons were brought to a state of hunger, reduced to 75% of their well-fed weight.

2. They were placed in a cage with a food hopper that could be presented for five seconds at a time.

3. Instead of the food being given as a result of any specific action by the pigeon, it was presented at regular intervals, regardless of the pigeon's behavior.

Observation:

1. Over time, Skinner observed that the pigeons began to associate whatever random action they were doing when food was delivered with the delivery of the food itself.

2. This led the pigeons to repeat these actions, believing (in anthropomorphic terms) that their behavior was causing the food to appear.

Findings:

1. In most cases, pigeons developed different "superstitious" behaviors or rituals. For instance, one pigeon would turn counter-clockwise between food presentations, while another would thrust its head into a cage corner.

2. These behaviors did not appear until the food hopper was introduced and presented periodically.

3. These behaviors were not initially related to the food delivery but became linked in the pigeon's mind due to the coincidental timing of the food dispensing.

4. The behaviors seemed to be associated with the environment, suggesting the pigeons were responding to certain aspects of their surroundings.

5. The rate of reinforcement (how often the food was presented) played a significant role. Shorter intervals between food presentations led to more rapid and defined conditioning.

6. Once a behavior was established, the interval between reinforcements could be increased without diminishing the behavior.

Superstitious Behavior:

The pigeons began to act as if their behaviors had a direct effect on the presentation of food, even though there was no such connection. This is likened to human superstitions, where rituals are believed to change outcomes, even if they have no real effect.

For example, a card player might have rituals to change their luck, or a bowler might make gestures believing they can influence a ball already in motion.

Conclusion:

This experiment demonstrates that behaviors can be conditioned even without a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Just like humans, pigeons can develop "superstitious" behaviors based on coincidental occurrences.

This study not only sheds light on the intricacies of operant conditioning but also draws parallels between animal and human behaviors in the face of random reinforcements.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Imagine a rat in a "Skinner box." In operant conditioning, if no food pellet is delivered immediately after the lever is pressed then after several attempts the rat stops pressing the lever (how long would someone continue to go to work if their employer stopped paying them?). The behavior has been extinguished.

Behaviorists discovered that different patterns (or schedules) of reinforcement had different effects on the speed of learning and extinction. Ferster and Skinner (1957) devised different ways of delivering reinforcement and found that this had effects on

1. The Response Rate - The rate at which the rat pressed the lever (i.e., how hard the rat worked).

2. The Extinction Rate - The rate at which lever pressing dies out (i.e., how soon the rat gave up).

Skinner found that the type of reinforcement which produces the slowest rate of extinction (i.e., people will go on repeating the behavior for the longest time without reinforcement) is variable-ratio reinforcement. The type of reinforcement which has the quickest rate of extinction is continuous reinforcement.

(A) Continuous Reinforcement

An animal/human is positively reinforced every time a specific behavior occurs, e.g., every time a lever is pressed a pellet is delivered, and then food delivery is shut off.

Response rate is SLOW

Extinction rate is FAST

(B) Fixed Ratio Reinforcement

Behavior is reinforced only after the behavior occurs a specified number of times. e.g., one reinforcement is given after every so many correct responses, e.g., after every 5th response. For example, a child receives a star for every five words spelled correctly.

Response rate is FAST

Extinction rate is MEDIUM

(C) Fixed Interval Reinforcement

One reinforcement is given after a fixed time interval providing at least one correct response has been made. An example is being paid by the hour. Another example would be every 15 minutes (half hour, hour, etc.) a pellet is delivered (providing at least one lever press has been made) then food delivery is shut off.

Response rate is MEDIUM

Extinction rate is MEDIUM

(D) Variable Ratio Reinforcement

behavior is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times. For examples gambling or fishing.

Extinction rate is SLOW (very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability)

(E) Variable Interval Reinforcement

Providing one correct response has been made, reinforcement is given after an unpredictable amount of time has passed, e.g., on average every 5 minutes. An example is a self-employed person being paid at unpredictable times.

Response rate is FAST

Extinction rate is SLOW

Applications

1. Behavior Modification Therapy

Behavior modification is a set of therapeutic techniques based on operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938, 1953). The main principle comprises changing environmental events that are related to a person's behavior. For example, the reinforcement of desired behaviors and ignoring or punishing undesired ones.

This is not as simple as it sounds - always reinforcing desired behavior, for example, is basically bribery.

There are different types of positive reinforcements. Primary reinforcement is when a reward strengths a behavior by itself. Secondary reinforcement is when something strengthens a behavior because it leads to a primary reinforcer.

Examples of behavior modification therapy include token economy and behavior shaping.

Token Economy

Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviors are reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) and later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers).

Tokens can be in the form of fake money, buttons, poker chips, stickers, etc. While the rewards can range anywhere from snacks to privileges or activities. For example, teachers use token economy at primary school by giving young children stickers to reward good behavior.

Token economy has been found to be very effective in managing psychiatric patients. However, the patients can become over-reliant on the tokens, making it difficult for them to adjust to society once they leave prison, hospital, etc.

Staff implementing a token economy program have a lot of power. It is important that staff do not favor or ignore certain individuals if the program is to work. Therefore, staff need to be trained to give tokens fairly and consistently even when there are shift changes such as in prisons or in a psychiatric hospital.

Behavior Shaping

A further important contribution made by Skinner (1951) is the notion of behavior shaping through successive approximation. Skinner argues that the principles of operant conditioning can be used to produce extremely complex behavior if rewards and punishments are delivered in such a way as to encourage move an organism closer and closer to the desired behavior each time.

In shaping, the form of an existing response is gradually changed across successive trials towards a desired target behavior by rewarding exact segments of behavior.

To do this, the conditions (or contingencies) required to receive the reward should shift each time the organism moves a step closer to the desired behavior.

According to Skinner, most animal and human behavior (including language) can be explained as a product of this type of successive approximation.

2. Educational Applications

In the conventional learning situation, operant conditioning applies largely to issues of class and student management, rather than to learning content. It is very relevant to shaping skill performance.

A simple way to shape behavior is to provide feedback on learner performance, e.g., compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation.

A variable-ratio produces the highest response rate for students learning a new task, whereby initial reinforcement (e.g., praise) occurs at frequent intervals, and as the performance improves reinforcement occurs less frequently, until eventually only exceptional outcomes are reinforced.

For example, if a teacher wanted to encourage students to answer questions in class they should praise them for every attempt (regardless of whether their answer is correct). Gradually the teacher will only praise the students when their answer is correct, and over time only exceptional answers will be praised.

Unwanted behaviors, such as tardiness and dominating class discussion can be extinguished through being ignored by the teacher (rather than being reinforced by having attention drawn to them). This is not an easy task, as the teacher may appear insincere if he/she thinks too much about the way to behave.

Knowledge of success is also important as it motivates future learning. However, it is important to vary the type of reinforcement given so that the behavior is maintained. This is not an easy task, as the teacher may appear insincere if he/she thinks too much about the way to behave.

Operant Conditioning vs. Classical Conditioning

Learning Type

While both types of conditioning involve learning, classical conditioning is passive (automatic response to stimuli), while operant conditioning is active (behavior is influenced by consequences).

Classical conditioning links an involuntary response with a stimulus. It happens passively on the part of the learner, without rewards or punishments. An example is a dog salivating at the sound of a bell associated with food.

Operant conditioning connects voluntary behavior with a consequence. Operant conditioning requires the learner to actively participate and perform some type of action to be rewarded or punished. It's active, with the learner's behavior influenced by rewards or punishments. An example is a dog sitting on command to get a treat.

Learning Process

Classical conditioning involves learning through associating stimuli resulting in involuntary responses, while operant conditioning focuses on learning through consequences, shaping voluntary behaviors.

Learning by Association (Classical Conditioning): In learning by association, a person (or animal) learns to associate two stimuli, causing a behavior change. A neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally triggers a response.
Over time, the person responds to the neutral stimulus as if it were the unconditioned stimulus, even when presented alone. The response is involuntary and automatic.

An example is a dog salivating (response) at the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus) after it has been repeatedly paired with food (unconditioned stimulus).

Learning by Consequences (Operant Conditioning): In learning by consequences, behavior is learned based on its outcomes or consequences. The learner is active, and the response is voluntary.
Behavior followed by pleasant consequences (rewards) is more likely to be repeated, while behavior followed by unpleasant consequences (punishments) is less likely to be repeated.

For instance, if a child gets praised (pleasant consequence) for cleaning their room (behavior), they're more likely to clean their room in the future.

Conversely, if they get scolded (unpleasant consequence) for not doing their homework, they're more likely to complete it next time to avoid the scolding.

Timing of Stimulus & Response

The timing of the response relative to the stimulus differs between classical and operant conditioning:

Classical Conditioning (response after the stimulus): In this form of conditioning, the response occurs after the stimulus. The behavior (response) is determined by what precedes it (stimulus).

For example, in Pavlov's classic experiment, the dogs started to salivate (response) after they heard the bell (stimulus) because they associated it with food.

Operant Conditioning (response before the stimulus): In this form of conditioning, the response generally occurs before the consequence (which acts as the stimulus for future behavior).
The anticipated consequence influences the behavior or what follows it. It is a more active form of learning, where behaviors are reinforced or punished, thus influencing their likelihood of repetition.

For example, a child might behave well (behavior) in anticipation of a reward (consequence), or avoid a certain behavior to prevent a potential punishment.

Summary

Looking at Skinner's classic studies on pigeons' / rat's behavior we can identify some of the major assumptions of the behaviorist approach.

* Psychology should be seen as a science, to be studied in a scientific manner. Skinner's study of behavior in rats was conducted under carefully controlled laboratory conditions.

* Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. Note that Skinner did not say that the rats learned to press a lever because they wanted food. He instead concentrated on describing the easily observed behavior that the rats acquired.

* The major influence on human behavior is learning from our environment. In the Skinner study, because food followed a particular behavior the rats learned to repeat that behavior, e.g., operant conditioning.

* There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals. Therefore research (e.g., operant conditioning) can be carried out on animals (Rats / Pigeons) as well as on humans. Skinner proposed that the way humans learn behavior is much the same as the way the rats learned to press a lever.

So, if your layperson's idea of psychology has always been of people in laboratories wearing white coats and watching hapless rats try to negotiate mazes in order to get to their dinner, then you are probably thinking of behavioral psychology.

Behaviorism and its offshoots tend to be among the most scientific of the psychological perspectives. The emphasis of behavioral psychology is on how we learn to behave in certain ways.

We are all constantly learning new behaviors and how to modify our existing behavior. behavioral psychology is the psychological approach that focuses on how this learning takes place.

Critical Evaluation

Operant conditioning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviors, from the process of learning, to addiction and language acquisition. It also has practical applications (such as token economy) which can be applied in classrooms, prisons and psychiatric hospitals.

Researchers have found innovative ways to apply operant conditioning principles to promote health and habit change in humans.

In a recent study, operant conditioning using virtual reality (VR) helped stroke patients use their weakened limb more often during rehabilitation. Patients shifted their weight in VR games by maneuvering a virtual object. When they increased weight on their weakened side, they received rewards like stars. This positive reinforcement conditioned greater paretic limb use (Kumar et al., 2019).

Another study utilized operant conditioning to assist smoking cessation. Participants earned vouchers exchangeable for goods and services for reducing smoking. This reward system reinforced decreasing cigarette use. Many participants achieved long-term abstinence (Dallery et al., 2017).

Through repeated reinforcement, operant conditioning can facilitate forming exercise and eating habits. A person trying to exercise more might earn TV time for every 10 minutes spent working out. An individual aiming to eat healthier may allow themselves a daily dark chocolate square for sticking to nutritious meals. Providing consistent rewards for desired actions can instill new habits (Michie et al., 2009).

Apps like Habitica apply operant conditioning by gamifying habit tracking. Users earn points and collect rewards in a fantasy game for completing real-life habits. This virtual reinforcement helps ingrain positive behaviors (Eckerstorfer et al., 2019).

Operant conditioning also shows promise for managing ADHD and OCD. Rewarding concentration and focus in ADHD children, for example, can strengthen their attention skills (Rosén et al., 2018). Similarly, reinforcing OCD patients for resisting compulsions may diminish obsessive behaviors (Twohig et al., 2018).

However, operant conditioning fails to take into account the role of inherited and cognitive factors in learning, and thus is an incomplete explanation of the learning process in humans and animals.

For example, Kohler (1924) found that primates often seem to solve problems in a flash of insight rather than be trial and error learning. Also, social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) suggests that humans can learn automatically through observation rather than through personal experience.

The use of animal research in operant conditioning studies also raises the issue of extrapolation. Some psychologists argue we cannot generalize from studies on animals to humans as their anatomy and physiology is different from humans, and they cannot think about their experiences and invoke reason, patience, memory or self-comfort.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who discovered operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning was discovered by B.F. Skinner, an American psychologist, in the mid-20th century. Skinner is often regarded as the father of operant conditioning, and his work extensively dealt with the mechanism of reward and punishment for behaviors, with the concept being that behaviors followed by positive outcomes are reinforced, while those followed by negative outcomes are discouraged.

How does operant conditioning differ from classical conditioning?

Operant conditioning differs from classical conditioning, focusing on how voluntary behavior is shaped and maintained by consequences, such as rewards and punishments.

In operant conditioning, a behavior is strengthened or weakened based on the consequences that follow it. In contrast, classical conditioning involves the association of a neutral stimulus with a natural response, creating a new learned response.

While both types of conditioning involve learning and behavior modification, operant conditioning emphasizes the role of reinforcement and punishment in shaping voluntary behavior.

How does operant conditioning relate to social learning theory?

Operant conditioning is a core component of social learning theory, which emphasizes the importance of observational learning and modeling in acquiring and modifying behavior.

Social learning theory suggests that individuals can learn new behaviors by observing others and the consequences of their actions, which is similar to the reinforcement and punishment processes in operant conditioning.

By observing and imitating models, individuals can acquire new skills and behaviors and modify their own behavior based on the outcomes they observe in others.

Overall, both operant conditioning and social learning theory highlight the importance of environmental factors in shaping behavior and learning.

What are the downsides of operant conditioning?

The downsides of using operant conditioning on individuals include the potential for unintended negative consequences, particularly with the use of punishment. Punishment may lead to increased aggression or avoidance behaviors.

Additionally, some behaviors may be difficult to shape or modify using operant conditioning techniques, particularly when they are highly ingrained or tied to complex internal states.

Furthermore, individuals may resist changing their behaviors to meet the expectations of others, particularly if they perceive the demands or consequences of the reinforcement or punishment to be undesirable or unjust.

What is an application of bf skinner's operant conditioning theory?

An application of B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning theory is seen in education and classroom management. Teachers use positive reinforcement (rewards) to encourage good behavior and academic achievement, and negative reinforcement or punishment to discourage disruptive behavior.

For example, a student may earn extra recess time (positive reinforcement) for completing homework on time, or lose the privilege to use class computers (negative punishment) for misbehavior.

Video

Further Reading

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Dallery, J., Meredith, S., & Glenn, I. M. (2017). A deposit contract method to deliver abstinence reinforcement for cigarette smoking. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 50(2), 234-248.

Eckerstorfer, L., Tanzer, N. K., Vogrincic-Haselbacher, C., Kedia, G., Brohmer, H., Dinslaken, I., & Corbasson, R. (2019). Key elements of mHealth interventions to successfully increase physical activity: Meta-regression. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(11), e12100.

Ferster, C. B., & Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

Kohler, W. (1924). The mentality of apes. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Kumar, D., Sinha, N., Dutta, A., & Lahiri, U. (2019). Virtual reality-based balance training system augmented with operant conditioning paradigm. Biomedical Engineering Online, 18(1), 1-23.

Michie, S., Abraham, C., Whittington, C., McAteer, J., & Gupta, S. (2009). Effective techniques in healthy eating and physical activity interventions: A meta-regression. Health Psychology, 28(6), 690-701.

Rosén, E., Westerlund, J., Rolseth, V., Johnson R. M., Viken Fusen, A., Årmann, E., Ommundsen, R., Lunde, L.-K., Ulleberg, P., Daae Zachrisson, H., & Jahnsen, H. (2018). Effects of QbTest-guided ADHD treatment: A randomized controlled trial. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 27(4), 447-459.

Skinner, B. F. (1948). 'Superstition'in the pigeon. Journal of experimental psychology, 38(2), 168.

Schunk, D. (2016). Learning theories: An educational perspective. Pearson.

Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century.

Skinner, B. F. (1948). Superstition" in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38, 168-172.

Skinner, B. F. (1951). How to teach animals. Freeman.

Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. Macmillan.

Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal intelligence: An experimental study of the associative processes in animals. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2(4), i-109.

Twohig, M. P., Whittal, M. L., Cox, J. M., & Gunter, R. (2010). An initial investigation into the processes of change in ACT, CT, and ERP for OCD. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 6(2), 67-83.

Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158-177.

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
Saul Mcleod, PhD
Educator, Researcher

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Operant Conditioning In Psychology: B.F. Skinner Theory

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Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence. B.F Skinner is regarded as the father of operant conditioning and introduced a new term to behavioral psychology, reinforcement.

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Health Behavior and Health Education | Part Three, Chapter Eight: Key Constructs

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For more information: Winett RA, Anderson ES, Whiteley JA, Wojcik JR, Rovniak LS, Graves KD, Galper DI, Winett SG. Church-based health behavior programs: Using Social Cognitive Theory to formulate interventions for at-risk populations. Applied & Preventive Psychology 1999; 8:129-142.

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Social cognitive theory and behaviorism are two perspectives in psychology that are considered learning theories because they focus on acquired behavior. Both of these perspectives try to explain how a behavior is first acquired, then strengthened or weakened over time. These two perspectives developed fairly recently in the psychological field, with behaviorism emerging early in the twentieth century as a reaction to depth psychology while social cognitive theory was formally proposed in the 1970's and was in turn a reaction to traditional behaviorism. Many concepts are similar within these two perspectives and the application of these concepts and their contributions to human knowledge and improvement of society are equally important.

Although the same in subject matter, the two are very different in approach and philosophy. The experimentation that each of these two perspectives took are also different, and today has various applications in real life. More about the social cognitive theory and behaviorism, and their differences are discussed in the following sections.

What is Social Cognitive Theory?

Social cognitive theory was proposed by Albert Bandura through his 1986 book Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, and is the culmination of his work on social learning theory, differentiating it by giving more emphasis on cognitive factors than do other social learning theorists or behaviorists. Although Bandura is himself considered a behaviorist, he departs from traditional behaviorist perspectives on how new behaviors are acquired. His theory states that humans acquire new behaviors through the process of observational learning. The probability of these behaviors being repeated is dependent on a combination of cognitive and environmental factors. In addition, Bandura also conceptualizes humans as having agency and capability and he introduced the concept of self-efficacy which is the personal belief in one's own ability to plan and act according to the situation. Thus, learning takes place within a mechanism called a triadic reciprocal determinism, where personal factors, the behavior and the environment all affect each other.

Bandura demonstrated observational learning in his famous Bobo Doll experiments where he showed that most children are likely to repeat the behavior they observe from a model with or without motivation. The likelihood of them copying the behavior increases when they also observe a reward given to the model for the behavior. The behavior of course persists if the children themselves are given rewards for their behavior.

Although social cognitive theory is a little different today from when Bandura first formulated it, its concepts are readily observable in how children are socialized by modeling the behavior of their parents, teachers and peers. Bandura himself emphasized the power of the media through modeling, where adults copy the behavior of people they see in media that they deem worthy of emulating for one reason or another. He especially expressed concern over the aggression and violence that children see in the media, a topic that is still, or even more, relevant today.

What is Behaviorism?

Behaviorism is both a psychological approach and a learning perspective which states that behavior is learned through a process of conditioning, where the environment continuously acts on a behavior, and either strengthens or weakens it. Although behaviorism is evident in psychological works even in the late 19 century and although many theorists have contributed to this body knowledge, it only became a dominant force in psychology with the publication of John Watson's 1913 article Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It, and through the works of Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. Watson himself is considered in America as the father of behaviorism and has contributed significant work even though his methodologies have been controversial.

As a psychological perspective, behaviorism avoids concepts that are not directly observable such as mental processes and unconscious motivations, focusing instead on behavior that can be controlled and measured. As behaviorists put it, this is mainly so that psychology can progress as a natural science. As a learning theory, behaviorism emphasizes that all behavior is a function of stimulus and response and is learned through classical or operant conditioning. Classical conditioning, also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning, states that an animal or a human learns to associate two previously unrelated stimuli with each other. it has been adequately demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov in his animal experiments on dogs and by John Watson in his controversial 'Little Albert' experiment. Operant conditioning, also called Skinnerian conditioning, states that humans and animals learn a behavior by associating it with a response from the environment, Behavior is further strengthened or weakened by schedules of either reward or punishment. Skinner demonstrated operant conditioning through his animal experiments on rats and pigeons.

Although inadequate in explaining why humans behave in certain ways, behavioral concepts are widely applied in clinical settings, most notably in the treatment of mental disorders such as various phobias, depression, and others. It is arguably more effective than psychoanalytic, cognitive, and humanistic approaches.

Difference between Social Cognitive Theory and Behaviorism

Definition

Social cognitive theory is a learning theory which states that humans acquire new behavior by observing others and that learning occurs through the interaction between personal or cognitive factors, the behavior and the environment. Behaviorism is a psychological approach and a learning theory which states that behavior is a function of stimulus and response and learning occurs through classical or operant conditioning.

Proponent/s

Social cognitive theory was proposed by Albert Bandura while behaviorism is collection of works although most notable behaviorists are John Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner.

Core concepts

Social cognitive theory emphasizes observational learning, self-efficacy and the triadic reciprocal determinism. Behaviorism emphasizes stimulus-response behaviors and classical and operant conditioning

Perspective on learning

Social cognitive theory states that learning occurs through the interaction between personal, behavioral and environmental factors. Behaviorism states that learning occurs through environmental (conditioning) factors only.

Applications

Social cognitive theory is evident in media modeling, where people model the behavior of influential people they see in the media. Children are especially susceptible to modeling not just from the media but also from their parents, teachers and peers. Behaviorism is widely used in clinical settings in the treatment of various mental illnesses such as phobias and depression.

Landmark publications

Social cognitive theory was formally proposed by Albert Bandura through his 1986 book Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory while behaviorism became a psychological force in America through John Watson's 1913 article Psychology as the behaviorist views it.

Famous experiments

Albert Bandura's Bobo Doll experiments were instrumental in developing his social cognitive theory. John Watson's 'Little Albert' experiment and Pavlov's experiments on dogs and Skinner's experiments on rats and pigeons contributed much to behaviorism.

Social Cognitive Theory vs Behaviorism

Social cognitive theory and behaviorism are two psychological perspectives that focus on observable behavior and try to explain how humans acquire and learn behavior. Both perspectives are fairly recent in the psychological literature emerging and developing only in the last century.

Social cognitive theory was proposed by Albert Bandura and states that humans acquire new behaviors through observation and that learning happens through the interaction of personal, behavioral and environmental factors.

Behaviorism was influenced greatly by the works of John Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. Behaviorism as a whole is a psychological approach that aims to develop psychology into a natural science by focusing only on behavior that can be directly observed, measured and controlled. As a learning theory, behaviorism holds that all behavior is a function of stimulus-response and that learning occurs through environmental factors called conditioning.

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Difference Between Social Cognitive Theory and Behaviorism

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Difference Between Social Cognitive Theory and Behaviorism Social cognitive theory and behaviorism are two perspectives in psychology that are considered learning theories because they focus on acquired behavior. Both of these perspectives try to explain how a behavior is first acquired, then strengthened or weakened over time.

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Amabile

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Teresa Amabile - Creativity and Motivation

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Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and innovator, acclaimed for her educational method that builds on the way children learn naturally.

She opened the first Montessori school-the Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House-in Rome on January 6, 1907. Subsequently, she traveled the world and wrote extensively about her approach to education, attracting many devotees. There are now thousands of Montessori schools in countries worldwide.

Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870, in the provincial town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father was a financial manager for a state-run industry. Her mother, raised in a family that prized education, was well schooled and an avid reader-unusual for Italian women of that time. The same thirst for knowledge took root in young Maria, and she immersed herself in many fields of study before creating the educational method that bears her name.

Beginning in early childhood, Maria lived in Rome, growing up in a paradise of libraries, museums, and fine schools.

I celebrate Maria Montessori...and the fact that she overcame the stifling conventions put on women of the late nineteenth century and succeeded in establishing her own voice for all to hear and follow.

Phyllis Povell, "Montessori Comes to America: The Leadership of Maria Montessori and Nancy McCormick Rambusch"

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Maria Montessori was a physician and educator who developed an education method based on the premise that children love to learn.

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Social Constructivism

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Constructivism Learning Theory & Philosophy of Education

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Constructivism is a learning theory that emphasizes the active role of learners in building their own understanding. Rather than passively receiving information, learners reflect on their experiences, create mental representations, and incorporate new knowledge into

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Cognitive Constructivism

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Emotional Intelligence

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Daniel Goleman Introduces Emotional Intelligence | Big Think

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English-language learners, or ELLs, are students who are unable to communicate fluently or learn effectively in English, who often come from non-English-speaking homes and backgrounds, and who typically require specialized or modified instruction in both the English language and in their academic courses.

Educators use a number of terms when referring to English-language learners, including English learners (or ELs), limited English proficient (LEP) students, non-native English speakers, language-minority students, and either bilingual students or emerging bilingual students. The proliferation of terms, some of which may be used synonymously and some of which may not, can create confusion. For example, the term English-language learner is often used interchangeably with limited English proficient student, but some school districts and states may define the terms differently for distinct classifications of students. Nonetheless, the federal government and many state governments have acknowledged that both terms refer to the same group of students-those with limited proficiency in English. When investigating or reporting on English-language learners, it is important to determine precisely how the term, or a related term, is being defined in a specific educational context. In some cases, for example, the terms are used in a general sense, while in others they may be used in an official or technical sense to describe students with specific linguistic needs who receive specialized educational services.

Generally speaking, English-language learners do not have the English-language ability needed to participate fully in American society or achieve their full academic potential in schools and learning environments in which instruction is delivered largely or entirely in English. In most cases, students are identified as "English-language learners" after they complete a formal assessment of their English literacy, during which they are tested in reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension; if the assessment results indicate that the students will struggle in regular academic courses, they may be enrolled in either dual-language courses or English as a second language (ESL) programs.

English-language learners may also be students who were formerly classified as limited English proficient, but who have since acquired English-language abilities that have allowed them to transition into regular academic courses taught in English. While assessment results may indicate that they have achieved a level of English literacy that allows them to participate and succeed in English-only learning environments, the students may still struggle with academic language . For this reason, the federal government requires schools and programs receiving federal funding for English-language-learner programs to monitor the academic progress of students and provide appropriate academic support for up to two years after they transition into regular academic courses.

Reform

English-language learners are not only the fastest-growing segment of the school-age population in the United States, but they are also a tremendously diverse group representing numerous languages, cultures, ethnicities, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. While most English-language learners were born in the United States, their parents and grandparents are often immigrants who speak their native language at home. In addition, English-language learners may face a variety of challenges that could adversely affect their learning progress and academic achievement, such as poverty, familial transiency, or non-citizenship status, to name just a few. Some English-language learners are also recently arrived immigrants or refugees who may have experienced war, social turmoil, persecution, and significant periods of educational disruption. In some extreme cases, for example, adolescent-age students may have had little or no formal schooling, and they may suffer from medical or psychological conditions related to their experiences (the term students with interrupted formal education, or SIFE, is often used in reference to this subpopulation of English-language learners).

On average, English-language learners also tend, relative to their English-speaking peers, to underperform on standardized tests , drop out of school at significantly higher rates, and decline to pursue postsecondary education. In school, they may also be enrolled-at significantly higher rates than their English-speaking peers-in lower-level courses taught by underprepared or less-experienced teachers who may not have the specialized training and resources needed to teach English-language learners effectively.

The increase in the number of English-language learners in public schools, coupled with the significant educational challenges faced by this student population, has led to numerous changes in curriculum , instruction, assessment , and teacher preparation. For example, states and national organizations have developed standards to guide curriculum and instruction in English-as a second language programs, while customized teaching and learning materials for English-language learners are now routinely introduced into regular academic courses. In addition, assessments and standardized tests have also been adapted to more accurately measure the academic achievement of English-language learners, and the majority of states now use the same large-scale assessment-the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment consortium's ACCESS assessment (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State)-to identify English-language learners, place them into appropriate programs, and measure their academic progress and English acquisition. Teacher-preparation programs and certification requirements have also been modified to address relevant skills and training, and many states and national accrediting associations require formal training in the instruction of English-language learners. And in schools with significant populations of English-language learners, relevant experience, credentials, and training are often given priority during hiring and employment.

While there are a wide variety of instructional models and academic-support strategies for English-language learners being used throughout the United States, the following represent the three dominant forms:

Dual-language education, formerly called bilingual education, refers to academic programs that are taught in two languages. While schools and teachers may use a wide variety of dual-language strategies, each with its own specific instructional goals, the programs are typically designed to develop English fluency, content knowledge , and academic language simultaneously.

English as a second language refers to the teaching of English to students with different native or home languages using specially designed programs and techniques. English as a second language is an English-only instructional model, and most programs attempt to develop English skills and academic knowledge simultaneously. It is also known as English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), and English as a foreign language (EFL).

Sheltered instruction refers to programs in which English-language learners are "sheltered" together to learn English and academic content simultaneously, either within a regular school or in a separate or building. Teachers are specially trained in sheltered instructional techniques that may require a distinct licensure, and there are many different sheltered models and instructional variations.

Debate

Given the culturally sensitive and often ideologically contentious nature of the peripheral issues raised by the participation of non-English-speaking students in the American public-education system-including politicized debates related to citizenship status, English primacy, immigration reform, and employment and social-services eligibility for non-citizens-it is perhaps unsurprising that English-language learners, and the instructional methods used to educate them, can become a source of debate. For example, a significant number of states have adopted "English as the official language" statutes, and citizen referendums have passed in other states prohibiting dual-language instruction except in special cases.

The issues of citizenship status and fairness tend to be at the center of debates about English-language learners and the best ways to educate them. Critics often argue that the use of the non-English languages in public schools (outside of world-language courses) deemphasizes the role of English as a source of linguistic and cultural unification. While critics generally do not object to bilingualism-the ability to speak two languages-they often contend that non-English instruction inhibits or delays the acquisition of English fluency (yet there is a growing body of research indicating that increasing reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in their native languages can facilitate English acquisition among English-language learners).

While there is widespread agreement that English-language learners should become proficient in English, debates often center on issues related to cultural assimilation. Those who favor assimilation into American society tend to emphasize English-only policies and instruction, while those who favor acculturation tend to argue for the importance of maintaining bicultural identity and bilingual development. In addition, since English-language learners and dual-education programs may require additional funding, training, and staffing, debates about fairness and resource allocation may also arise.

For more detailed discussions, see dual-language education (for debates related to non-English instruction), multicultural education (for debates related to cultural education and assimilation), and test accommodations and (for debates related to the assessment of English-language learners).

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English-language learners, or ELLs, are students who are unable to communicate fluently or learn effectively in English, who often come from non-English-speaking homes and backgrounds, and who typically require specialized or modified instruction in both the English language and in their academic courses. Educators use a number of terms when referring to English-language learners, including [...]