Behaviorism Case Study (Ch. 5)

1. Does Mr. Kessinger's class represent a community of learners as defined in Constructivist theory? Why or why not?
I don't believe that Mr. Kessinger's class represents a community of learners as defined by constructivist theory because the students are not working together to get to an end goal. The students are on their own and the teacher is just firing questions at them and not encouraging them to learn from each other in a group setting. They may learn from the students right answers, but i don't feel as though the students are sharing knowledge necessarily.
2. Does Mr. Kessinger utilize presentation punishment or removal punishment with Robin? Justify your response using definitions and evidence from the case.
I believe that Mr. Kessinger uses presentation punishment because he is presenting aversive stimulus when an undesirable behavior is dispalyed. Mr. Kessinger yells and screams when he doesn't get the answer that he is looking for. He is punishing the students by having a bad attitude so that they no longer want to give a wrong answer. I don't agree with the way that Mr. Kessinger handles this situation, and I think that very little parents or teachers would agree.
3. Explain Robin's reaction in Ms. Yamashita's class from the perspective of classical conditioning. Which stimuli are paired and how does that condition her response?
Robin just expects Ms. Yamashita to get angry with her because Mr. Kessinger got angry with her in the exact same situation. Having a concept map and the teacher getting mad are paired. Through Robin's experience with Mr. Kessinger she has been conditioned to believe that all teachers are going to get mad when you take notes in class and when you answer a question wrong.
4. How might Ms. Yamashita encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future? Include behavioral concepts such as shaping, reinforcement, etc., in your response.
I think that Ms. Yamashita can encourage Robin to create concept maps in the future by positively reinforcing her. She can use words of affirmation that compliment her hard work on the concept maps, I also think that she did a great job by showing it to the class and wanting to use her work for the class. It is showing Robin that she truly appreciates her work and she hopes that she continues this behavior in the future. She can correct misconceptions and conditioned responses that she may have learned from other teachers by explaining that she appreciates that type of stuff in her class.