Behaviorism & Social Cognitivism Case Study

Behaviorism (Ch. 5) Questions:

1. Does Mr. Kessinger's class represent a community of learners as defined in Constructivist theory? Why or why not?

No, Mr. Kessinger's class does not represent a community of learners at all. He calls on everyone individually and does not let anyone engage in any other type of learning, but his lecture. They can't work together to answer questions or build off one another's ideas and comments. It is strictly and individual learning environment. I seriously was so bugged by this guy in the narrative.

2. Does Mr. Kessinger utilize presentation punishment or removal punishment with Robin? Justify your response using definitions and evidence from the case.

I would say that this is more an example of removal punishment. Mr. Kessinger takes Robin's desired concept map and destroys it. The definition says, removing desirable stimuli to try to stop an undesirable behavior. Mr. Kessinger takes her concept map and tears it up and tells her she is not allowed to use notes in is class and by removing her desired stimuli it teachers her it is not acceptable.

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 assumes the worst in Ms. Yamashita's class because of her experience in Mr. Kessinger's class. When the situation with her psychology concept map takes place she assumes that Ms. Yamashita's reaction will be similar to Mr. Kessinger's and flees from the situation because of her assumption. She was conditioned to fear the situation. The concept map is the stimuli that pairs the two separate situations together.

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 will probably talk to Robin after class and use shaping to encourage Robin to continue creating notes and concept maps for her class and the curriculum. Positive reinforcement will be much needed for Robin to realize that she is in the right and Mr. Kessinger's rules only apply to his lame ass class.

Social Cognitivism (Ch. 8) Questions:

1. Which teacher in the scenario demonstrates vicarious reinforcement? Justify your response with definitions and an example from the case study.

I think they both do. Both teachers use Robin as an example. One uses her as a negative responsible to teach their students what is not acceptable in their classroom and the other uses Robin as a positive example to set a higher standard for her classroom and uses she uses Robin's concept map as an example to show other students what they can do to succeed in her classroom.

2. Is Mr. Kessinger considering reciprocal causation in his class? Explain your response, including all aspects of reciprocal causation in your reasoning.

Reciprocal causation is the interrelationship between a student and their environment. If Mr. Kessinger realized the environment he was creating in his classroom he might change is approach. These kids are scared to interact in classroom and how he treated Robin is just going to multiply and enhance these negative feelings for all his students towards his classroom's environment.

3. Which self-regulated learning process is Robin engaging in when she creates her concept maps? Explain your reasoning.

I would say that Robin is in the self monitoring stage of the self-regulated learning process. She is monitoring her own actions and progressing towards her goals on her own. I would also say she is in the self-control stage though as well. She is using strategies (concept map) to progress and accomplish her goals too.

4. How do you think Robin's self-efficacy has been affected by this experience. Be specific about which self-efficacies have been affected and justify your response with examples from the case study.

I think Mr. Kessinger just crushed poor Robin's positive self-efficacy. She really was working towards something positive for her learning experience and he destroyed that progression and confidence by embarrassing her in front of her peers in her classroom. She had no confidence in her actions, because when Ms. Yamashita went to give her praise for her the concept map she ran in fear from the because she had no confidence that her great idea and the work she put into the concept map was a positive thing anymore. I hate teachers like Mr. kessinger. They are the types of teachers that destroy positive self-efficacy in education and I know because I had an English professor do this to me before another one praised me for my ideas a two semesters later. It wasn't until I had this professors positive reinforcement, that I started speaking in class again. Mr. Kessinger is a failure, no matter what kind of remembering level learning he provides for his students.