3-1: Structure of the Human Brain (Figure 3-6) Teresa M. McDevitt, Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Child Development and Education Copyright ©2002 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

3-2: Neurons in the Brain (Figure 3-5) Teresa M. McDevitt, Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Child Development and Education Copyright ©2002 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

3-3: Examples of Risk Factors for Healthy Neurological Development (Table 3-1) Teresa M. McDevitt, Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Child Development and Education Copyright ©2002 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

BEHAVIORISTS’: BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF BEHAVIORISM PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING SHOULD APPLY EQUALLY TO DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS AND TO DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ANIMALS LEARNING PROCESSES CAN BE STUDIED MOST OBJECTIVELY WHEN THE FOCUS OF STUDY IS ON STIMULI AND RESPONSES. INTERNAL PROCESSES ARE LARGELY EXCLUDED FROM SCIENTIFIC STUDY LEARNING INVOLVES A BEHAVIOR CHANGE ORGANISMS ARE BORN AS BLANK SLATES (tabula rasa). LEARNING IS LARGELY THE RESULT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS. THE MOST USEFUL THEORIES TEND TO BE PARSIMONIOUS ONES.

5 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DARWINIAN EVOLUTION THEORY [FROM: MICHAEL SHERMER’S (2002) In Darwin’s Shadow: The life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, p. 207.] EVOLUTION: CHANGE (in behavior)THROUGH TIME. DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION: THE MODE OF EVOLUTION BY BRANCHING COMMON DESCENT. GRADUALISM: CHANGE (in behavior) IS SLOW, STEADY, STATELY. NATURA NON FACIT SALTUS. GIVEN ENOUGH TIME EVOLUTION CAN ACCOUNT FOR THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES. MULTIPLICATION OF SPECIATION: EVOLUTION PRODUCES NOT JUST NEW SPECIES (behavior), BUT AN INCREASING NUMBER OF NEW SPECIES (behaviors). NATURAL SELECTION: THE MECHANISM OF EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE CAN BE SUBDIVIDED INTO FIVE STEPS: (SEE NEXT SLIDE).

FIVE STEPS OF NATURAL SELECTION 1. POPULATIONS [behaviors] TEND TO INCREASE INDEFINITELY IN A GEOMETRIC RATIO. [FROM OBSERVATION] 2. IN A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, HOWEVER, POPULATION [behavior] NUMBERS STABILIZE AT A CERTAIN LEVEL. [FROM OBSERVATION] THERE MUST BE A “STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE” SINCE NOT ALL ORGANISMS [behaviors] PRODUCED CAN SURVIVE. [FROM INFERENCE] THERE IS VARIATION IN EVERY SPECIES [behaviors]. [FROM OBSERVATION] IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE, THOSE VARIATIONS THAT ARE BETTER ADAPTED TO THE ENVIRONMENT LEAVE BEHIND MORE OFFSPRING THAN THE LESS WELL ADAPTED INDIVIDUALS, ALSO KNOWN AS DIFFERENTIAL REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS. [FROM INFERENCE]

General Assumptions of Cognitive Theories  Some Learning Processes may be unique to human beings.  Cognitive processes are the focus of study.  Objective, systematic observations of people’s behavior should be the focus of scientific inquiry; however, inferences about unobservable mental processes can often be drawn from behavior.  Individuals are actively involved in the learning process.  Learning involves the formation of mental representations or associations that are not necessarily reflected in overt behavior changes.

Implications of Cognitive Theories  Cognitive processes influence learning.  As children grow, they become capable of increasingly more sophisticated thought.  People organize the things they learn.  New information is most easily acquired when people can associate it with things they have already learned.  People control their own learning.

Some key Cognitive theorists Jean Piaget (French) Lev Vygotsky (RUSSIAN) Edward Tolman (American) Jerome Bruner (American)

Self Regulated Learning: From Social/Cognitive Theory. Key people: Bandura; Schunk; Zimmerman. Key elements: Goal Setting Planning Self-motivation (intrinsic motivation) Attention control Application of learning strategies Self-monitoring Self-evaluation Self-reflection

Kurt Lewin (From Alfred Marrow’s book) BH = f (P+E)

BARRIERBARRIER GOALREGIONGOALREGION PSYCHOLOGICAL LIFE SPACE PERSON NEEDS ABILITIES - + FOREIGN HULLVECTORS VALENCES