Behaviorism and Social Cognitivism Case Study

Behaviorism and Social Cognitivism Case Study

Seventeen-year-old Robin is determined to be ready if her teacher, Mr. Kessinger, calls on her during her third-period world history class. Last night she prepared a concept map--a diagram that depicts important interrelationships among the concepts in a chapter or unit--to help her remember the events that eventually led the United States to join the Allied Forces during World War II. Now she has both her concept map and her notebook lying in front of her on ther desk. As Mr. Kessinger fires questions at his class, Robin writes her classmates' responses in her notebook.

"So, Jacob, why didn't the United States jump in and help the Europeans when World War II began?"

"Well, at the beginning of the war, we thought the people in Europe should handle their own battles. When we first heard about how Hitler was having lots of Jewish people killed, we didn't believe that anybody could do such a thing. We thought all the stories were just lies that the media made up."

"Micki, when did we finally realize there were many concentration camps in Europe?"

"Uh...I'm not sure exactly," Micki answers hesitantly.

"Well, you should be!" Mr. Kessinger angrily admonishes her.

Micki squirms in her seat, then attempts to answer her teacher's question. "Well...when people...um...when European news reporters started sending us pictures of how horrible the war was, then we started getting involved. We...um..."

"I think that starting tonight, Micki, you'd better read your history book a little more carefully. Robin, what event brought the United States into World War II?"

Taking a look at her concept map, Robin begins, "It was..." But then she sees Mr. Kessinger towering over her desk.

"What??!! You're using notes??!!" he screams as he tears her concept map into shreds.

As she watches the pieces of paper fall to the floor, she thinks to herself, "I worked for more than an hour on that concept map. Kessinger had no right to tear it up." Her teacher is saying something to her, but she doesn't hear him.

"Well, Robin? I'm waiting for an answer! What gives you the right to cheat in my class?!!" The rest of the class is quiet; everyone is too stunned to speak.

"I...I didn't think I was cheating," Robin stammers. "It's not as if this was a test. I thought I was supposed to be in here to learn. My concept maps help me connect different ideas together."

"You are expected to know this stuff before you come to class. If you ever pull such a stunt again, I will insist that you drop my class. Do I make myself clear?!"

Robin doesn't answer. And she doesn't look up from her desk until the bell rings. Her notebook remains open in front of her, but she writes nothing else in it for the rest of the class period.

Later in the day, as Robin is walking down the hall to Ms. Yamashita's psychology class, Jane and Cami run to catch up with her.

"Hey, are you OK, Robin?" Jane asks her. "I can't believe what Old Man Kessinger did to you today."

"I just hate him. I really do," Cami adds. "I mean, who cares if we take notes?"

As the three friends continue complaining about their world history teacher, they hear the bell ring. They hurry to their psychology class, arriving after class has already begun. Robin slips into her seat in the front row, pulls her psychology notebook out of her backpack, and opens it to the notes she wrote from her assigned readings the night before.

"Nice of you girls to join us," Ms. Yamashita says, smiling. "We're talking about Freud. Robin, what did Freud mean when he talked about the id?"

"The id is...uh..." As Robin pauses, she looks down at her notebook and realizes that the concept map she drew of Freud's theory is in full view of her teacher. Before she has a chance to hide it, Ms. Yamashita is at Robin's desk and lookking at her work. Robin cringes, expecting the worst.

Ms. Yamashita picks up the concept map. "Why, Robin! This is lovely! Do you mind if I copy it for everyone else? Class, you should see this beautiful concept map that Robin has created."

Oblivious to what her teacher is saying, Robin jumps quickly out of her seat the minute Ms. Yamashita picks up the concept map. She runs down the hall to the restroom, crying and shaking uncontrollably.

Note: Robin never again took notes of any kind in Mr. Kessinger's class.

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, because the teacher does not allow the students to build on the others' ideas and make connections in a positive way that represents knowledge being built on what others' know. A community of learners presents opportunities for students to learn and grow based off of the knowledge of their fellow learners. The teacher here is closed off to the ideas of students taking and connecting ideas by using such ideas as concept maps, etc. The idea that a student would take notes on her own studying and the studying of others' shows that she is formulating ideas and opinions based off of what her other classmates know. The teacher does not ask questions that build on each other or that were open ended to the effect that they could relate the ideas to one another.

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

I feel like the teacher utilized both here, he not only made a public spectacle of the fact that Robin had taken the time to make her own notes and implied that it was cheating but he took away one of her resources of learning by ripping up the concept map. He used negative stimuli to make an example out of the fact that Robin was using outside resources to accomplish more understanding in class. The teacher used more of a discrimination approach to get his point across and made Robin feel somewhat worthless in the class and most likely killed any motivation that she had going in order to succeed in the class and actually apply herself.

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?

This teacher chose to associate the positive reinforcement along with classical conditioning in the fact that she rewarded Robin for doing extra work and going the extra mile. This praise will in effect give Robin the idea that Ms. Yamashita is appreciative of the extra work and will provide a positive influence with her going the extra mile. Robin will in turn associate this praise and positive reinforcement with her academic achievement's. This association will begin to make Robin realize that certain people appreciate her extra effort with her willingness to learn and put forth the extra effort.

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.

Ms. Yamashita's positive remarks with Robin's concept maps and the fact that she used her as an example to portray that Robin was doing a supposedly remarkable thing by making the concept map will make Robin seek more praise. Robin will do this by creating more maps with topics that are taught in class and making them visible for her teacher to see and praise her more. The teacher is shaping Robin to try and put forth an effort to the extent that Robin will soon see improvement in her own academics. Robin has associate positive praise with her work and will continue to associate this praise with future efforts related to the 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.

Ms. Yamashita provided more vicarious reinforcement through acting like she was living through the idea that Robin had made a concept map, her positive praise puts her emotionally invested in the concept. By using her own reinforcement for Robin's benefit and by making it justified to use for the class she is using somewhat of a token economy with using Robin's positive academic effort for the rest of the class.

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

It may not cross his mind, however, by first yelling at her for having the concept map and then proceeding to rip up the map in front of the class. Both of these are going to be considered negative stimuli that would be influencing of each other. By first making a public spectacle of Robin and accusing her of cheating when she was simply taking notes and using notes to better secure her knowledge in the class, he is beating down her sense of character and discriminating against her for going the extra mile. Secondly, by ripping up the concept map and not giving her the opportunity to explain this is further beating down her sense of character and motivation for academic achievement, both of these together will ultimately destroy her sense and drive for his class. She will no longer exhibit an effort to succeed and will most likely become very passive and gain the attitude of lack of caring for him and his class.

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

Robin will most likely be demonstrating the effort of generalization and visual stimuli, she creates the concept map most likely because she is either a visual or kinesthetic learner and learns best by visually demonstrating her knowledge. She is also demonstrating off of a community of learners due to the fact that she is building off of her classmates' knowledge and applying it to her own. Robin is one who succeeds by going the extra mile and making her efforts for her own academic success.

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.

Her sense of motivation and the fact that she did put forth an effort to go the extra mile in his class, by him ripping that up she will no longer have a sense to succeed or give a care pertaining to his class. His lack of respect for her efforts and her ideas has pushed her down to a level where she will no longer exhibit ways to succeed in his class. Her sense of learning and ways that she does learn by building off of other's knowledge will be destroyed by his yelling at her and ripping up her efforts. She was made a public spectacle and she know longer demonstrate an effort adequate enough to succeed or apply herself further.