25 Sep 01
INST 6260
Dr. Mimi Recker
REFLECTION PAPER ON BEHAVIORISM AND COGNITION
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ ëLearningí to me refers to acquiring new knowledge, understanding and applying them whenever the opportunity arises. These could be during schooling, working or simply in solving a real-life problem. ëTo have learntí would then naturally mean that one has already acquired that piece of knowledge and can easily put it to use any time in his life. ëInstructioní on the other hand, is the means to facilitate this ëLearningí.
I admit that I have no prior background in the study of psychology during my university days. When I first hear about this term called ëBehaviorismí, the first thing that comes into my mind is that it refers to a field of study on behaviors and in particular, human behaviors. As I read the book on ëPsychology of Learning for Instructioní by Marcy P. Driscoll, I am more or less convinced that behaviorism is indeed referring to the understanding of human behaviors and our responses when subjected to different stimuli. However, the question that really intrigues me isÝ ñ Is behaviorism truly applicable in todayís context of learning and instruction?
As I read on and subsequently perform some mental recollections on my past experiences, the one thing that best describes behaviorism is perhaps the ëConcept of Reinforcementí by B. F. Skinner (1950). His argument of using reinforcement as a consequence of behavior that functions to enhance the probability of that behavior reoccurring do shed some truth about the way we behave, though not always the case. Described simply, behavior is more likely to reoccur if it has been rewarded, or reinforced. On the contrary, a response is less likely to occur again if its consequence has been aversive.
Almost instantaneously, I can easily identify and associate that meaning of positive reinforcement especially to what I am actually doing right now ñ writing this Reflection Paper in the wee hours on a Monday night. Why? The reason is simple. Apart from doing my due requirement as a graduate student, I actually see that the stimulus presented to me was a positive reinforcement in that as long as I work hard, I will be assured of reasonably good grade at the end of the course. Isnít this concept of reinforcement marvelous if applied well? Of course, I do also agree that it may not necessarily be true all the time and especially when we want to use it to maintain certain kind of behavior over a long period of time. Nevertheless, I personally believe there are still validity and benefits in the application of positive reinforcements in todayís context of instruction and learning.
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Next, I would like to address the effectiveness on the contribution of behaviorism to instruction as an entirety in my country. While few may indeed dispute the profound impact radical behaviorism already had on psychology and instruction, I would however want to offer my perspective to this. I understand that the key assumption in the successful application of behavioral principles is the presence of a setting where reinforcers (both positive and negative) can actually be controlled. Unfortunately, this underlying assumption, in my opinion may not stand firm in todayís context, especially in Singapore educational system.
Today, the present educational environment in Singapore is as such: teachers at both the elementary and high schools have somehow ëlostí their rights to exercise even the mildest form of disciplinary actions even if the students were to misbehave.Ý This may not totally be the fault of todayís students but perhaps it is a result of a pro-active parental involvement in our educational system. Over the last few years, we have seen teachers taken to tasks for ëexcessivelyí punishing the students for acts of misbehave or mischief. Why?
The reason is primarily because our system now advocates the active participation of parents in their childrenís education instead of previously where parents simply entrust their sons and daughters to the public educational system. Ironically, the repercussion we have is that parents now have a stronger say on the roles of teachers and how they expect their kids to be treated in school. Students today no longer need to ëlistení to the teachers all the time because they know that they can always lodge complains to their parents on mediocre issues such as how they were reprimanded and how ëunfairlyí they were treated in school. In most studentsí view, they need not account for their own behaviors and even sad to say, they believe that ëjusticeí will prevail if they are unfairly treated. In this aspect, the application of aversive stimuli and sometimes even positive stimuli may not work on these students. Perhaps it now lies on applying other approaches such as motivational theory to promote a better learning environment in our schools.
I would also like to present my insights on the application of Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) towards the design of instructional strategies. My understanding of the CIP model is one that utilizes the mind processing power to store, retrieve, transform and subsequently use the acquired information to handle our routine as well as non-routine tasks. As Atkinson and Shaffrin (1968) put it - information received goes through three stages of memory system; namely, sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Information within each memory system can have different storage times and how well we can subsequently retrieve the processed information depends very much on how we perceive the information when it first enters the sensory memory.
In principle, I do agree with this cognitive view on the human processing system. However, my ultimate interest is really in asking myself how best then that understanding how our brains function can help me and others to create instructional strategies that promote an enhanced learning and perhaps higher retaining power of learners in general.Ý Does it mean that learners from the very beginning also need to know how their brains work before they even consider embarking into any strategies on learning? Or do all instructors, educators and trainers from various fields need to appreciate this concept of cognition prior to their design and delivery of instructions?
My view is that while it may not be critically necessary for both learners and instructors to have a good understanding on cognition theory but it definitely helps to know how our brains may actually work in terms of processing, storing and retrieving information. On second thoughts, the responsibility may reside more in the hands of instructional designers and all those in the educational fields rather than the learners themselves. At this point, I cannot deny but strongly agree that if one were to know that there is this existence of a sensory memory that can only register and briefly holds the information for a short period of time, then he/she would want to be more conscious in transferring the more important information into the next level of memory, i.e. short-term or even long-term memory using methods such as rehearsal and encoding.
As Driscoll (1994) puts it - rehearsals is the use of repetition to maintain that information in the memory for some designated period of time whereas encoding refers to the process of relating incoming information to concepts and ideas already in memory in such a way that the new material is more memorable.Ý Some practical use of encoding are mnemonics and imagery in which most students are already subconsciously using these techniques when comes to memorizing information.
The question now is how, we, as instructional designers or even teachers, make use of this knowledge of CIP model in instruction? Driscoll (2000) recommended three general approaches; namely, providing organized instruction, arranging extensive and variable practice and enhancing learnersí self-control of information processing. I personally see the benefits of each of these approaches in their application. For instance, the use of imagery and graphics representations definitely help to facilitate encoding and better memory storage of information. In this sense, text description should be minimized in any presentation as far as possible. The use of rational set generator (i.e. combining into one procedure for teaching concept discrimination) and metacognition (i.e. awareness if oneís own thinking) are pretty good examples of applying the knowledge of cognition theory in instructional practice.
In conclusion, I see that behavioral principles do have their benefits in todayís context of learning and instructions. Cognitive approach, too, has its usability and effectiveness in enhancing learning. The challenge now for instructional designers, teachers and instructors from various fields is to better understand how the behavior of oneself and that of others, coupled with the understanding of cognitive theory, can create a synergistic impact during this transfer of knowledge whether it is through conventional classroom setting, computer-based, web-based instructions or even apprenticeship.