Cognitive Psychology/Information Processing

Cognitive Psychology/Information Processing Case Study Analysis

Case 1: Mr. West wants his students to truly understand Civil War battles. He engages the help of a local Historical Re-enactment Society and assigns each of his students to the Union or Confederate side. His students join the re-enactors from 7:00am-7:00pm for a full day of activities which include a long march (complete with rudimentary battle gear), setting up camp, cooking over campfires, scouting territory, and engaging in a historically representative battle.

1. After participating in this activity, what do you think the students will remember? How might those memories differ from those students would have if they only read about the Civil War in their textbook?

I think that these students will remember the specifics of the Civil War. They were completely engaged in the experience so they will have fond memories of the activity. The fact that so many of their interests and senses were involved will encourage even more of the knowledge to be retained. Not only are they reading about the information but they are acting it out, smelling it, feeling it, thinking about it, seeing it, and just being in the actual atmosphere. They are getting the full experience so that more information will be remembered.

2. How does Mr. West’s use of a Civil War re-enactment engage students’ emotions? What is the relationship between emotions and learning?

The students emotions are engaged because they are acting as though they are actually in the civil war. They realize what other people were going through so now they relate to it more personally. The relationship between emotions and learning is that the more emotions that are connected to, the more likely the student will learn the information. If they are attached to the emotion and feel as though it relates to them personally, they are more likely to learn more.

3. Based on the principles of dual-coding theory, what activities would be effective for Mr. West to use as a follow-up to the re-enactment?

If Mr. West was to combind the kinesthetic activity with maybe a written activity or an oral presentation or something that comes from a different angle along with the re-enactment I think that the students would be able to remember the experience even more. Possibly if the students had a written activity they could explain what they felt and what they went through and then have that paper there later to refer back to and refresh their memory of the experience and the things that they learned.

Case 2: Mr. Dunkin and Mr. Richards, teachers at the same school, are debating in the teacher’s lounge about who provides the best type of organization for the students’ learning. Mr. Dunkin lectures and assigns reading and chapter problems Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays he gives a short answer exam. In Mr. Richards’ class the students never know what will take place on any given day until they arrive in class and look at a detailed outline of the hour’s activities on the chalkboard. His class engages in mix of role-plays, lecture, videos, group projects and demonstrations. Mr. Richards occasionally gives surprise quizzes and his unit tests can include true/false, multiple choice, short answer, or essay.

4. Who do you think provides better instruction for his students? Support your answer from an information processing perspective.

I think that Mr. Richards provides better instruction for his students because he is involving several of their senses. He has a variety of activites that the students participate in so that they can better retain the information. When the information is repeated several times and in several different ways, it is much more likely that they will retain the information and they will be able to relate to it better which also encourages the students to learn more.

5. How would you expect the students’ learning outcomes to differ depending on which teacher they had?

I think that if the students had Mr. Richards they would learn a great deal more and enjoy the learning process more as well. I think that the students will relate to the information more so they will have the ability to remember it much better as well. They will have a positive memory of the experience so they will be more likely to remember the information instead of the awful situation that they were in instead. It also depends on what type of a learner is in each class though, some students may prefer the same monotonous stuff and the lecture style of teaching.

Social and Moral Development (Ch. 4) Analysis Questions

Social and Moral Development (Ch. 4) Analysis Questions:

1. From a social development standpoint, how might we explain Laura's preoccupation with her appearance? In particular, consider this statement by Laura: "I don't want people to think I'm a geek!" Include information from Erikson's theory and social development in general in your response.
Social Development is an important aspect of teens lives because they are becoming who they want to be and making friendships that will last for a very long time, possibly forever. A huge aspect of social development is peer pressure. If Laura doesn't want to associate with the so called "geeks" of the school, looking good is a must have for her. Erikson's theory relates to this situation because in his Identity versus Role Confusion stage teenagers are trying to identify who they are. They want to establish the group of people they are going to be around and the kind of person they want to be identified as. If Laura was to be labeled as a geek and never had the opportunity to break that mold, she would most likely be unsatisfied with her identity.

2. In suggesting that Laura join the debating class, Ms. Watkins is hoping to pique an interest in classroom subject matter by capitalizing on Laura's desire to be the center of attention. What two other strategies might the school faculty use to motivate students who seem to be more interested in social matters than in academic pursuits?
Faculty members could also encourage Laura to join a sports team. If Laura is on a sports team she will have people looking at her while she performs on the field or court or whatever it may be. She will also have the social aspect of the school environment because she will be surrounded by team mates that will also become her friends. Also, being on a sports team requires students to get good grades in order to remain on the team and in good stance to play. Another option for Laura would be to participate in the school play. Laura will once again have all eyes on her when she performs for the school and for any other people who want to watch. She will also have the social network of the other performers in the school play to be social with.

3. From the perspective of Kohlberg's theory, in which stage of moral development is Laura? Justify your response. How might Mr. Marcalescu help Laura to advance her moral reasoning?
I believe that Laura is at the Conventional Morality stage because she is still abiding by the rules of the debate team, but she is only doing so because she feels obligated. She has not chosen to relate the topic to her, or to internalize what it is that she is doing. She just wants to be the center of attention and will do whatever it takes to get to that point. There is no relation to her of why she is doing what she is doing, she is basically just doing what she is told. I believe that Mr. Marcalescu could help Laura move up to the Postconventional Morality stage by pointing out to her that it isn't all about her. Maybe at some point he could prove to her that her way of thinking isn't necessarily always the best option. He could show her a different way that works and explain to her that she needs to be open minded about things.

4. In what ways might a debating class contribute to students' cognitive, linguistic, social, and moral development?
A debate team will relate to a students cognitive development because it will encourage students to study certain topics in order to provide evidence for their opinion or whatever it may be that they are taking a stance on. It promotes linguistic development because students are talking in front of their peers and other individuals that may be judging them. By getting this experience they are becoming more comfortable with public speaking as well as just talking and reasoning things out in general. The social aspect is also addressed because there are several people on debate teams that work together with each other to form supporting arguments. Individuals are also working out their social skills by resolving conflicts and providing valid argument points. Last of all, moral development is established because students are forming their own opinions are certain topics and learning how to take a stance and defend the choice that they make. They have to decide what things are important to them and of value and then find ways to back up why they believe what they believe. All around the debate team is a beneficial option for students.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development (Ch. 3) Analysis Questions:
1. From the perspective of Piaget's theory, in which stage of cognitive development is Laura? Justify your response.

I believe that Laura is in the Formal Operation Stage because she can come up with her own hypothesis and support it with logic. She is able to think it through systematically, but she seems to be somewhat stuck on her own opinion. She seems to be struggling with a little bit of egocentrism. Laura doesn't appear to see what other solutions could possibly work besides her own. She also isn't necessarily grasping all of the factors behind the implications of just getting rid of gasoline entirely.

2. How is Laura's reasoning affected by her knowledge base--that is, by what she does and doesn't know about pollution? Use terminology from Ch. 3 in your response.

Laura only has a specific amount of information on pollution. She has made a schema for pollution and doesn't know how to assimilate or accomodate anything else into her schema. She is not encountering the disequilibrium required in order to accomplish true learning. Instead she appears to be only focusing on her opinion, forcing herself further and further into her egocentrism.

3. By posing a series of questions, Mr. Marculescu continually challenges Laura to reconsider her thinking about the pollution problem. What are potential benefits of this strategy? Use terminology from Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories in your response.

By Mr. Marculescu questioning Laura so intently, he is encouraging Laura to engage in propositional logic of her argument. Mr. Marculescu is asking Laura if her argument is really logical and consistent with reality. Not only is he encouraging her to use that mental logic, but he is encouraging her to use all mental operations in the Formal Operational Stage. According to Vygotsky's theory Mr. Marculescu is promoting Laura to move outside of her Actual Development Zone into her Zone of Proximal Development. By encouraging her to go a little bit outside of the bubble, she can learn more from his questioning. By being the superior individual, he can help her to learn things that she wouldn't have been able to learn on her own. She also has his assistance so she can actually learn.

4. How does this scenario represent Piaget's and Vygotsky's conceptions of play?

Piaget and Vygotsky's conceptions of play are represented through the questioning process. Piaget is represented because it is a form of self discovery, Laura is learning by forming her own opinion. Vygotsky is represented because it is a superior individual helping to lead an individual into a high level of learning.

Get to Know Me!

I was born and raised in Springville Utah, but I currently live in Orem. I love to play all sorts of sports but I am currently unable to play any sports because I recently had knee surgery. I am very family oriented and love to go home and visit every week. I come from a family of five, I have an older sister and a younger brother on each side of me. I really enjoy school and the outdoors. I am going into health education, this is my first semester in the program. I look forward to a great class!