in shaping, we reward successive approximations of a target behavior
I think a parallel to shaping in our lives is when you are teaching someone how to play a game for the first time we congratulate their successes along the way not just the time they score that basket or goal for example. In the beginning we celebrate every time they even get the ball close to the basket or net.
Today’s psychologists and parenting experts favorreinforcement over punishment—they recommend that you catch your child doing something good andreward her for it.
I think the difference between reinforcement and punishment can be compared to looking at a glass half full or a glass half empty. You can chose reinforcement and focus on the positive and increasing a desirable outcome. Or you can chose to focus on the more negative approach of punishment.
The most effective way to teach a person or animal a new behavior is with positive reinforcement. In positivereinforcement, a desirable stimulus is added to increase a behavior
I think it is interesting to see how reinforcement plays a critical role in so many areas of our life. Last week we spoke about the importance of reinforcement when it comes to learning something new or studying. Now we are speaking about how reinforcement plays a role in behavior.
we are born with little knowledge but have the potential for enormous intelligence
This piece was intriguing to read as it helped me understand the great affect our emotions have on our learning and development. It is interesting to see how our emotions, personalities and interest all impact our learning and how it plays a role in why one topic may be more interesting to one person then another.
trait curiosity (Kashdan, 2004; Kashdan et al., 2009). People low in curiosity prefer activities and ideas that are tried and true and familiar; people high in curiosity, in contrast, prefer things that are offbeat and new. Trait curiosity is a facet of openness to experienceOpenness to experienceOne of the five major factors of personality, this trait is associated with higher curiosity, creativity, emotional breadth, and open-mindedness. People high in openness to experience are more likely to experience interest and awe.,
It is interesting to note how our personalities can impact our learning. If we are curious or not or open to new experiences or not can all impact our learning.
Finding something interesting motivates “for its own sake” learning and is probably the major engine of human competence (Izard, 1977; Silvia, 2006).
This is a really fascinating concept. I think sometimes the relationship between emotions and learning is overlooked. But this is emphasizing the importance of that relationship. Interest is a prime example of that provided here. Interest is an emotion that can spark some ones curiosity and trigger learning, which is so important.
If you are studying for a final exam next week and plan to spend a total of five hours, what is the best way to distribute your study?
Spacing out studying has been super helpful for me. I find that not only does it help me understand and remember the material better. But it also helps me feel less overwhelmed even when it is a big exam. When I break up my studying and start studying earlier, then when the day before the exam comes I am feel less overwhelmed by the quantity of material and more confident in how well I know it.
Anxiety also affects the quality of learning. For example, people with math anxiety have a smaller capacity for remembering math-related information in working memory, such as the results of carrying a digit in arithmetic (Ashcraft & Kirk, 2001). Having students write about their specific anxiety seems to reduce the worry associated with tests and increases performance on math tests (Ramirez & Beilock, 2011).
This idea that writing about anxiety can help reduce it was really interesting to read about and I want to understand it further. I personally can really relate to the anxiety affecting learning concept being discussed here. Since a bad experience in a science class in senior year of high school I have developed bad test taking anxiety. It has thankfully slowly been improving but there are times that I know the information on test after studying for extended periods of time. But when I get to the test I psych myself out and end up getting things wrong just because of the self doubt and lack of confidence I have developed.
If you live in a house with a grandfather clock, you know that what was once an annoying and intrusive sound is now probably barely audible to you.
I find that this concept also comes up often with other senses like smells. The more exposure you have to something sometimes the less it sticks out. I use to pass by this really bad smelling area daily and in the beginning it was bothersome but after a while I got use to it and it didn't stick out to me anymore. Then I passed by there with someone that had never been there before and they said to me "what is that terrible smell." I then realized that I must have become so use to it that it stopped sticking out to me.