Activity 5.3 Video on Memory

I chose this TED talk about false memories because I was interested in finding out more about them.  False memories happen when people remember things that didn’t happen or remember things differently from the way they actually happened.  The PowerPoint we watched talked all about the process of memory, and only touched on false memories just a bit, so I thought it would be interesting to show how easily our memories can be altered.  Elizabeth Loftus, the speaker, talks about memory as a Wikipedia page- we can change it, but so can others.  She goes on to talk about studies done in which leading questions altered subjects’ memories about what actually happened, and discussed how false memories are often created in therapy by the use of leading questions and other methods.  She also talked about several studies in which false memories were planted in a good number of subjects.  This makes me think about my memories; for instance, I have a memory in which I saw a ghost as a child and played with her (it’s a long story) but I don’t know if it is actually my own memory or if I have just heard it told so many times it has been implanted in my mind.

Activity 5.1: Warm-up: Long Term Memory and Retrieval

   I think that learning does depend on memory; after all, what is the purpose if learning if you can't remember it in order to use it?  On the other hand, I think that just because we can't remember something doesn't mean we haven't learned it; more like, we have trouble retrieving that something from our long-term memory.  I also don't think we can conclude that we have forgotten something if we can't recall the information verbally; I'm thinking about the "tip of the tongue" phenomenon here, where  one cannot retrieve a word or series of words, but knows that he/she knows the word/s trying to be recalled.  I think we learn a lot more of what we have been taught than we think we do, but I also think that we remember little of what we have been taught because information gets tangled up with previously learned information and can be tough to retrieve.  As for remembering things we wish to forget, I think we spend so much time ruminating on those things and actually trying to forget it that it becomes more and more prevalent in our memories.

Activity 4.5: Short Term Memory

Performing these short-term memory tasks seemed kind of funny to me, as if the tables had turned a little bit, because there are tasks on cognitive assessments (which, for those who are unaware, are the school psych’s specialty, in a way) that measure short-term memory, like number recall; I always feel thankful I don’t have to perform those tasks.  But, today, I did.  And I learned that I don’t have great short-term memory, especially when it comes to numbers!  Something I did learn, however, was on item #3 when the word pairs were also paired with pictures, I performed better, and I also displayed some chunking, primacy, and recency in my answers.  Also, I noticed that on the countries task, I tended to remember the country names in which I found interesting and exotic, i.e., Botswana and Dubai.  Another thing I learned was if I am interrupted and asked to do another task (i.e., item #12), I am not very good at retaining the information I was learning to begin with.  I found this activity interesting, because, like I said before, I usually am on the other side, measuring others’ memory, and so it was refreshing to be able to test my own instead.

Activity 4.4: Dispelling Three Myths About How Learners Process Information

The Kirschner and van Marrienboer article debunks three educational urban myths; one, learners as digital natives, learners as having distinct learning styles, and learners as self-educators on the internet. 

To begin, the first myth talks about this idea of a new generation of children who are able to do many things at one time due to technological fluency.  However, the authors express the range of resources these students use is small, and this generation does not actually have a good idea of what technology can actually do for them.  In debunking this myth, the authors bring up two things I found interesting: the butterfly defect, which says that children just flutter around and pick things at random (without a plan or value); and the inability for humans to multi-task.  I always thought I was a good multi-tasker, until I read this part of the article and realized that what I actually do is switch fluently between activities.  This also reminds me of the texting and driving issue: people say that they can do both, but really, they can’t focus their attention on two things at once, which is what makes texting and driving that much more dangerous.

Myth two talks about learning styles, and how it is thought that instruction targeting individual learning styles is the best way to introduce concepts in education.  However, as the authors say, there are a lot of issues with learning styles, for instance the way they are assessed- via self-report, which may not be the most accurate way to report learning styles.  Learning styles also put students in groups, and may not always generalize to all subjects, for as the authors say, the preferred learning style for someone may not be the most effective one.  Instead, the authors suggest, “it is probably more fruitful to focus on the fundamental things that learners have in common… than on the myriad of styles in which they may be different from each other” (p. 175).

Myth three specifies learners as self-educators, using the Internet as their main resource, giving there no reason to teach and acquire knowledge.  This myth talks about   If this myth is true, how are teachers supposed to guide students?  What role will they take, if not to teach information?  

Reading this article, especially when it talked about the role of technology and learning for students today, reminded me of two connections, one within my experience and one outside my experience.  The high school in my district recently received a grant in which every student got an iPad to use for school.  This has resulted in almost all instruction being online via a program called Edmodo (which I believe is something like BlackBoard).  The assumption that students can be self-educators is clear at this school, and it seems to me that it probably is not a good assumption.  The talk about technology reminded me also of a conversation I overheard at the Kentucky Association for Psychology in the Schools (KAPS) conference last week about.  Two people were talking about the update of the Weschler Intelligence Scales for Children (it will be the 5^th edition) and how it is all computerized; the materials needed are two iPads, and one set of blocks.  I think the developers of the WISC may be playing into that first myth; what do you think?

Activity 4.3: Resource on Perception

     I chose this video about how we perceive color because of my love for art in all forms, and also because I learned something new that I didn't know before.  First of all, as I mentioned, I love art; I like pretty things and have always been drawn to colors (as a child, apparently, I saw people's auras), and so I found this video interesting.  I chose the video because I wanted to convey how we perceive information other than general knowledge.  What I learned from the video is something we don't ever think about- why we don't see colors at night.  I knew that I didn't see colors at night, and thought maybe I knew why, but I didn't quite know.  This video is connected to learning because colors are information to be processed, just as any other sensory information is.  A connection I made while watching the video was just that this is another example of how the human brain perceives and processes information.  Color is visual information that is taken in and processed; what I found interesting is the colors we perceive as colors are actually mixtures of color waves. 

Activity 4.2: William James Chapters 11 and 14

Chapter 11: Attention

James’ 11^th chapter in Talks to Teachers is all about attention and how teachers can get students to attend more by making new and old concepts interesting, eliciting student interest from within (by making connections between previously learned/interesting material and new information), and constantly changing the modes of instruction used.  After giving instructions on how to capture student’s attention, James moves on by saying that attention levels and types differ between all people, but that there is no “right” level of attention; in some situations, being scatter-brained can be an asset, and in some situations, it can be a boon, just as being hyper-focused in some situations can be an asset or a boon. 

This chapter really interested me, as attention is something I struggle with personally and thus am interested in working on with students.  When James began talking about focusing on the dot as an example of voluntary attention, I was instantly reminded of what happens every time I try to do yoga.  I like the idea of yoga, however when it comes down to it, I do not have the attention span for it.  My voluntary attention during the activity (like my voluntary attention during most activities) maybe lasts about a minute.  Then, while trying to concentrate on nothing, I begin thinking about what homework I have left to do, what my plans for the weekend will be, if my friend has texted me back; and then I’m even more stressed out than I was before I started.  However, when I am reading (an activity I enjoy), I can sit and read, with my mind only focused on the material (especially if it’s a good book!), for hours. 

Attention is an issue for all kids in the classroom, and often teachers wonder why students in their classroom have trouble paying attention.  There are so many books, resources, websites, etc., that target the attention spans of children in the classroom; there are even books for children.  Julia Cook’s It’s Hard To Be A Verb! is a children’s book about a little boy, Louis, who has trouble paying attention.  He says, “My knees start itching.  My toes start twitching.  My skin gets jumpy.  Others get grumpy.  When it comes to siting still, its just not my deal” (Cook, p. 2).  Louis says he is always doing something, but most of the time he isn’t doing the “something” he should be.  This happens to most kids in classroom, and it is important to teach kids and teachers strategies for attention.

Chapter 14: Apperception

            James’ chapter on apperception first talks about what apperception is (“the act of taking a thing into the mind” (James, p. 77)), and then talks about how he thinks we process information, including connections through past experiences and how we associate new and old information together.  James also talks about the law of economy, a part of apperception that says when we learn new things, we try as hard as possible to assimilate them into our knowledge so that we don’t feel distress about not knowing; the rest of the chapter continues to discuss apperception and what it looks like for humans. 

            I think James is right when he suggests a good way we learn is by connecting to past experiences, because in my own experiences, connecting to things I already know when learning new concepts has been effective.  The reason I became a school psychologist happens to be in large part due to my mother’s work as a special education teacher.  Through her narrations of her experiences, I became passionate about helping children who struggle in school, and was able to start making connections as soon as I began learning about students with disabilities and how to help them.

            James talks about assimilation also in chapter 14.  A funny story (and also a connection outside my experiences) my aunt loves to tell- when my cousin was just beginning to talk, a snake got in the house.  My cousin did not know what it was, but because her mom was freaking out, she began to, also, and learned through her mom’s words that it was, “a nake!”.  So for about a month or two after, every long, straight or coiled thing, my cousin thought was a “nake”.  The garden hose, a piece of rope, vines- you name it, and she would immediately start getting visibly stressed until someone told her what it actually was.

Activity 4.1: Input, Sensory Registers, and Pinker

           The information processing theory states that learners actively select the most relevant information, organize it so that it makes sense, and integrate it with appropriate existing knowledge through our sensory registers in order for meaningful learning to occur.  Pinker talks this complex process in depth in our assigned chapter, especially the way that our previous experiences affect the way we perceive information.

We must be active learners according to this theory.  This is important for the classroom, because there are so many things that can interfere with learning, be it outward (i.e., people walking in and out of the classroom) or inward (i.e., a sensory processing difficulty).  Most people don’t ever think about how many things can impede learning, even teachers, which can often lead to problems for the teacher, the learner, and the entire class.  So many factors can influence our sensory registers, including attention, perception, sensory limitations, meaningfulness, the psychological environment, and the duration and intensity of instruction or experiences, to name a few.  The implications of how these factors influence our learning are important for teachers and educators in general, as they can give explanations as to why children may be having difficulties. 

Activity 3.5: Group Activity: Theories into Practice: TED Talk Analysis

          I, B. F. Skinner, watched a 20-minute segment of Video 2, Writing Variable Expressions, 8^th grade.  This lesson is a perfect example of shaping.  The teacher begins with the most basic principle, the definition of a variable, and reinforces student answers and comments as she moves through the material, going from the aforementioned to the definition of a variable expression, how to evaluate a variable expression, and on until she reaches evaluating variable expression with more than one operation.  The children in the class have been conditioned to quietly take notes, I’m sure through reinforcement, sit in their seats, and raise their hand to answer/ask questions.  The students are always reinforced, either positively or negatively, for asking questions/providing answers, whether it is the teacher is saying, “Yes, you are correct,” or providing feedback and answers to questions.