Discussion of TOPIC 2 : COGNITIVE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

TOPIC 2 Cognitive School of Thought

Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes such as "attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and thinking." Much of the work derived from cognitive psychology has been integrated into various other modern disciplines of psychological study, including educational psychology, social psychology, personality psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and economics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_psychology#History

Cognitive School

Cognitive psychology is the most popular school of psychology today.  Cognitive psychologists focus on our thinking patterns.  They are concerned with how our mind processing information and the schema we form (see Piaget).  Unlike other schools of psychology, cognitive psychologists use the scientific method to analyze thought patterns.  If you break up with your significant other and go into a great depression, the cognitive therapist would say that you have learned somewhere along the line to act depressed when you end a relationship (you have a schema for a breakup).  They would focus on changing your schema to get you out of the funk.  They might say things like "there are other fish in the sea" or "you will find somebody better".  If they can change the way you view a situation (your schema) then they help you function more efficiently in society.  If you think about it, we are all cognitive therapists.  We all give advice to our friends by trying to change their perspective of a dire situation.

Cognitive Therapies

As cognitive therapists locate the cause of psychological problems in the way people think, their methods of therapy concentrate on changing these unhealthy thought patterns.  Cognitive therapy is quite often combative (aggressive) as therapists challenge the irrational thinking patterns of their clients.  In other words, the therapist often give advice using strong words in an attempt to break the unreasonable thoughts of the client.

The two most famous cognitive therapists are Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck.

·         Albert Ellis created what we know as Rational Emotive Therapy (REBT).  Therapists employing REBT look to expose and confront the dysfunctional thoughts of their clients.  For instance, someone suffering from a social phobia (speaking in public) might voice concern over being publicly embarrassed when giving a class presentation.  By using REBT, a therapist would question both the likelihood of such embarrassment occurring and the impact that would result.  The therapist's goal would be to show the client that not only that his or her failure an unlikely occurrence but that, even if it did occur, it would not be such a big deal.

·         Aaron Beck is the biggest guy in this field and he created Cognitive Therapy, a process most often used to treat depression.  This method involves trying to get clients to engage in pursuits that will bring them success.  He is often quoted as saying "we have to take the dark sunglasses of depression off and see the world for the bight, wonderful place it is".  Beck explains depression using the cognitive triad, people's beliefs about themselves, their worlds, and their futures.  People suffering from depression often have irrationally negative beliefs about all three of these areas.  Cognitive therapy aims to make these beliefs more positive.

School of Thought

A school of thought (or intellectual tradition) is a collection or group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement.

Schools are often characterized by their currency, and thus classified into "new" and "old" schools. There is a convention, in political and philosophical fields of thought, to have "modern", and "classical" schools of thought. An example is the modern and classical liberals. This dichotomy is often a component of paradigm shift. However, it is rarely the case that there are only two schools in any given field. Schools are often named after their founders such as the "Rinzai school" of Zen named after Linji Yixuan and the Asharite school of early Muslim philosophy named after Abu l'Hasan al-Ashari. They are often also named after their places of origin, such as the Ionian School of philosophy that originated in Ionia and the Chicago school of architecture that originated in Chicago, Illinois and the Prague School of linguistics, named after a linguistic circle found in Prague, or Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School whose representatives lived in Tartu and Moscow.

Cognitive Domain

Cognitive science has changed the way educators view learning. Early beginning of the Cognitive Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, learning theory undergone a great deal of change.

Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning.

Cognitivists consider how human memory works to promote learning.

Cognitive  Domain

Educational objectives in the cognitive domain cause

learners to engage in intellectual tasks e.g. to recall,

understand, apply, breakdown, combine, or judge the information given.

1.Knowledge: Learners have knowledge and the ability to recall or recognize the information. 
Example, learners can recite multiplications facts.

2.Understanding/comprehension: The learner understand and can explain knowledge in their own words. 
Example, learner can explain why 6x7 and 7x6 are equivalent.

3.Application: Learners can apply the knowledge and they are able to use it in practical situation.

4.Analysis: Learners are able to break down complex concepts or information into simpler related parts.

5.Synthesis: Learners are able to combine elements to form a new, original entity.

6.Evaluation: Learners are able to make a judgment.

Objective of Education

Search and Read 

Behaviorism (Scholars)
Theoretical framework was developed in the early 20th century with the animal learning experiments of Ivan Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, Edward C. Tolman, B.F. Skinner and others.

Read Pavlov and Skinner works and present in class. (Try to connect with students behavior)

Behavior Modification (BM) by B. F. Skinner:

Molding all children to conform by use of standard punishments and rewards.

Prediction is an important part of Skinner’s work.

Behavior Modification (BM) techniques suggest that specific rewards and punishments will yields predictable results in the behavior of children.

Compliance with these prescribed norms restricts student autonomy.
Reflective process

•All positive

•Negative, or

•Neutral reinforcement to a behavior.

Classical Conditioning  

Scholars statements:

(1)Assertive teachers do not punish students.  Students are taught to accept the consequences for their own actions (Canter, 1988, p.24);

(2) 15 years of research have confirmed that offering a reward for an enjoyable behaviour can decrease the likelihood that the behaviour will be performed under subsequent non-rewarded condition, Bracey (1994);

(3) The goal in classrooms should be that the students want to learn more and feel good about what they do in the classroom (Glasser, 1993);

(4) Classroom management techniques are an important focus point (Guthrie, 1993)

Humanistic

•Psychoanalysis was focused on understanding the unconscious motivations that drove behavior while behaviorism studied the conditioning processes that produced behavior. Humanist thinkers felt that both psychoanalysis and behaviorism were too pessimistic, either focusing on the most tragic of emotions or failing to take the role of personal choice into account.

Humanistic approach

promotes personal development which includes values clarification, moral and character education and multiethnic education

–Value clarification refers to techniques by which learners identify how they feel or what they believe about something, express what they feel about the values and take steps to act advocate the values they feel about.

–Moral education is similar to character education and citizenship education. These help students to acquire more responsible behaviors in and out of school.

–Multiethnic education refers to educational practices that encourage learners to revere their roots and culture. Educational practices include helping learners to become aware of ethnic and national groups to a nation’s development and well-being as well as encouraging learners to find out more about their own ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

•Humanistic psychology was instead focused on each individual’s potential and stressed the importance of growth and self-actualization. The fundamental belief of humanistic psychology was that people are innately good, with mental and social problems resulting from deviations from this natural tendency.
Strong Points of Humanistic Psychology

•Emphasizes the role of the individual; humanistic psychology gives more credit to the individual in controlling and determining their state of mental health.

•Takes environmental influence into account; rather than focusing solely on our internal thoughts and desires, humanistic psychology also credits the environment's influence on our experiences.

•Humanistic psychology continues to influence therapy, education, healthcare, and other areas.

•Humanistic psychology helped remove some of the stigma attached to therapy, and made it more acceptable for normal, healthy individuals to explore their abilities and potential through therapy.