Educational Psychology: Developing Learners

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DEVELOPING LEARNERS
JEANNE ELLIS ORMROD
Professor Emerita, University of Northern Colorado

EIGHTH EDITION

ISBN 1-256-96292-9

Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City São Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Vice President and Editorial Director: Jeffery W. Johnston Vice President and Publisher: Kevin Davis Editorial Assistant: Lauren Carlson Development Editor: Christina Robb Vice President, Director of Marketing: Margaret Waples Marketing Manager: Joanna Sabella Senior Managing Editor: Pamela D. Bennett Project Manager: Kerry Rubadue Senior Operations Supervisor: Matthew Ottenweller

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. Educational psychology : developing learners / Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. — Eighth edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-297442-4 ISBN-10: 0-13-297442-8 1. Educational psychology. 2. Teaching. 3. Learning. 4. Classroom management. I. Title. LB1051.O66 2014 370.15—dc23 2012040629

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 10: 0‐13‐297442‐8 ISBN 13: 978‐0‐13‐297442‐4

ISBN 1-256-96292-9

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

To Olivia whose curiosity and good humor are daily reminders of the importance of education and the joy of life

ISBN 1-256-96292-9 Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

About the Author
JEANNE ELLIS ORMROD received her A.B. in psychology from Brown University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in educational psychology from The Pennsylvania State University. She earned licensure in school psychology through postdoctoral work at Temple University and the University of Colorado at Boulder and has worked as a middle school geography teacher and school psychologist. She was Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Northern Colorado until 1998, when she moved east to return to her native New England. She has published numerous research articles on cognition and memory, cognitive development, and giftedness but is probably best known for this book and four others: Human Learning (currently in its sixth edition); Essentials of Educational Psychology (currently in its third edition); Child Development and Education (co‐authored with Teresa McDevitt, currently in its fifth edition); and Practical Research (co‐authored with Paul Leedy, currently in its tenth edition). She has also recently published a non‐textbook for a broad audience: Our Minds, Our Memories: Enhancing Thinking and Learning at All Ages. With her three children now grown and out on their own, she lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Richard.

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Preface
New to This Edition
This eighth edition of Educational Psychology: Developing Learners retains features that have made it so popular with both instructors and students—for example, its engaging writing style and emphasis on classroom applications—but has significantly increased coverage in three areas: Social, cultural, and academic contexts of learning: Users of previous editions will notice a new Chapter 8, “Learning and Cognition in Context,” which draws heavily from contemporary contextual theories as it describes the multiple contexts (e.g., immediate physical and social environment, culture and society) that directly and/or indirectly affect classroom learning and achievement. This new chapter also includes a section on academic content domains as specific contexts in which thinking and learning may be uniquely situated. Neuropsychology and brain development and its relevance to classroom practice: Findings from research are updated in numerous places throughout the book, but this increased emphasis is most obvious in the addition of five new “Applying Brain Research” boxes in Chapters 2, 3, 6, 10, and 11. Technological innovations and their classroom applications: Recent innovations in technology are included in many chapters but are especially apparent in the sections “Technology and Peer Relationships” (Chapter 3); “Technological Innovations,” including a subsection on fostering students’ technological literacy (Chapter 8); “Creating a Class Website to Share Goals and Facilitate Communication throughout the School Year,” “Using Instructional Websites,” “Using Technology to Individualize Instruction,” “Using Computer Simulations and Games,” “Conducting Technology‐Based Collaborative Learning Activities” (all in Chapter 12); and “Using Digital Technologies in Classroom Assessments” (Chapter 14).
Provide ongoing intellectual stimulation. Encourage physical exercise. is enhancement of the functioning of the central executive—that

Encourage students to get plenty of sleep.

consolidate,

, has also been updated and expanded, with many new illustrative videos plus several Simulation exercises related to classroom management. I’m probably most excited about the fact that the book itself is now available not only in paper but also in an electronic form that can be read on various electronic devices. Electronic versions of the book will enable readers to connect directly to illustrative videos and other supportive pedagogical aids in . Chapter 7 into Chapter 6, now called “Learning, Cognition, and Memory” but also moved some of it into the new Chapter 8. Meanwhile, the “old” Chapter 8, “Complex Cognitive Processes,” is now Chapter 7. Throughout the book, I have, as always, updated the content to reflect advances in theory, research, and classroom practices. Especially noteworthy additions and changes to this edition include the following: Every chapter: All chapters are now written to stand alone and so can be read in whatever order an instructor prefers; cross‐references to other chapters appear in margin notes rather than within the running text. Each chapter now begins with four to six Learning Outcomes that are revisited in a final “What Have You Learned?” summary section. Also, the “Developmental Trends” tables that appear in most chapters now have an “Example” column to

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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Preface Chapter 1: New opening case study illustrating action research; revisions to the OOPS test items to reflect common misconceptions about the brain and technology; new discussions of quasi‐experimental and mixed‐methods research; an additional study‐strategy recommendation that I’m hoping will encourage occasional conceptual change in my readers. Chapter 2: Expansion of section on Bronfenbrenner’s theory to include the idea of the environment as a dynamic system; new “Applying Brain Research” feature “Taking Developmental Changes in the Brain into Account”; expansion of the section on Vygotsky’s theory to include the concept of appropriation; new section contrasting Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories. Chapter 3: New discussions of effortful control, mirror neurons, and cheating; new “Applying Brain Research” feature “Understanding and Addressing Adolescent Risk Taking”; new “Experiencing Firsthand” exercise on bullying. Chapter 4: New discussion of verbal assertiveness in the section on cultural and ethnic differences; new “Experience with Technology” subsection in the section on gender differences; additional recommendations for creating a culturally inclusive classroom and addressing students’ stereotypes and prejudices. Chapter 5: New sections on “Developmental Views of Intelligence” and “Intelligence and the Brain”; increased focus on assistive technologies for students with disabilities; new recommendation regarding addressing gifted students’ emotional needs. Chapter 6: Inclusion of the section on misconceptions and conceptual change that was in the “old” Chapter 7; addition of contextual theories to Table 6.1; new discussion of cognitive load as a key term. Chapter 7 (Chapter 8 in the seventh edition): Section on problem solving reorganized around a general model of problem solving; new discussion of metacognitive processes in creativity. Chapter 8 (new chapter): Explicit focus on the various broad contexts that both shape and situate learning and cognition; new section on assumptions of contextual theories (including situated learning, distributed cognition, social construction, and sociocultural theory as key terms), with a new “Principles/Assumptions” table; sections on the important roles of social interactions with both more experienced individuals and equal‐ability peers, as well as a section on communities of learners (all adapted from the “old” Chapter 7); new section on cultures as contexts, including discussions of worldviews and communities of practice; new section on society and technology as contexts, including authentic activities (moved from the “old” Chapter 7) and technological innovations; new section on content domains (literacy, math, science, social studies) as contexts, with a new “Developmental Trends” table on reading development. Chapter 9: Inclusion of operant conditioning as a key term (it was replaced with the broader term instrumental conditioning in the seventh edition), with a discussion of how operant conditioning is essentially the “reinforcement” half of instrumental conditioning; new discussion of schoolwide positive behavior support. Chapter 10: Broadened definition of modeling to include verbal instructions (in keeping with Bandura’s use of the term); addition of outcome expectations and coping model as key terms; addition of a learner’s current emotional state as a factor influencing self‐efficacy; broadened view of co‐regulated learning to include collaboration with peers; new “Applying Brain Research” feature “Understanding and Accommodating Individual Differences in Self‐Regulation”; new recommendations and examples added to both “Into the Classroom” features. Chapter 11: Revamped introductory section to include three general principles of motivation; new “Contextual Theories” row in Table 11.1 to replace and subsume the “Sociocultural Theories” row of the seventh edition; additions of doing‐just‐enough goals, long‐term life goals, and boredom as important factors in motivation and/or affect; revision of “TARGET” mnemonic to seven “TARGETS” principles (including “social support”). Chapter 12: Reorganization of the chapter, now with a “General Principles” section at the beginning and later discussions of instructional strategies divided into “Teacher‐Directed” and “Learner‐Directed” sections; new figure illustrating the general nature of backward design (Figure 12.2); new discussions of the Common Core standards, Wiggins and Mction (e.g., class discussion boards and chat rooms, educational video games).

ISBN 1-256-96292-9

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Preface Chapter 13: Discussion of arranging a classroom to monitor and support students’ use of individual laptops or computer tablets; discussion of schoolwide positive behavior support ditional mechanism for communicating with parents (appropriate only when parents have knowledge of and access to the Internet, of course). Chapter 14: Reorganization of the chapter to give more prominence and visibility to formative assessment and use of rubrics (the terms formative evaluation and summative evaluation now changed to formative assessment and summative assessment to be in keeping with current usage); addition of response to intervention and curriculum‐based measurement as key terms; new “Comments” column added to Table 14.2 to address considerations regarding formative versus summative assessments (contemporary literature on formative assessment hasn’t focused much on RSVP characteristics, so much of this column is my own perspective on the topic); new section on “Using Digital Technologies in Classroom Assessments.” Chapter 15: New discussions of normal curve equivalent (NCE) scores and the issue of addressing late and missing assignments in determination of final grades; updated discussions

vii

My Rationale for the Book
As teachers, we play critical roles in the lives of children and adolescents. Some of us help them learn to read and write. Some of us help them understand their physical and social worlds through explorations of science, mathematics, geography, history, or literature. Some of us help them express themselves through physical movement, the visual arts, or music. But regardless of the subject matter we teach, we help the generation that follows us to become knowledgeable, self‐ confident, and productive citizens. In my mind, teaching is the most rewarding profession we could possibly choose. Yet it’s often a challenging profession as well. Students don’t always come to us ready or eager to learn classroom subject matter. How can we help them develop the knowledge and skills they need to become productive adults? What strategies can we use to motivate them? What tasks and instructional materials are appropriate for children at different developmental levels? Over the years, researchers and practitioners have worked together to answer such questions. We’re in the fortunate position of being able to benefit from the many insights that such experts offer. How children and adolescents learn and think, how they change as they grow and develop, why they do the things they do, how they’re often very different from one another—our understanding of all these things has innumerable implications for classroom practice and, ultimately, for the lives of young people. I’ve written this textbook in much the same way that I’ve taught my college classes. Because I want the field of educational psychology to captivate you the way it has captivated me, I’ve tried to make the book interesting, meaningful, and thought‐provoking as well as informative. I have a definite philosophy about how future teachers can best learn and apply educational psychology, and this philosophy has guided me as I’ve written all eight editions of the book. In particular, I believe that human learners of all ages actively construct their own understandings of what they read in textbooks—an idea reflected in the puzzle‐piece motif you’ll see throughout the book.

Helping My Readers Learn and Apply Educational Psychology
You can gain much more from your study of educational psychology when you:
ISBN 1-256-96292-9 Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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Preface I’ve incorporated numerous features into the book to help you do all these things. I hope that you’ll learn a great deal from what educational psychology has to offer, not only about the students you may be teaching but also about yourself—a human being who continues to learn and develop even as an adult.

PRINCIPLES/ASSUMPTIONS
Basic Assumptions of Cognitive Psychology and Their Educational Implications
ASSUMPTION
Influence of cognitive processes

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION

EXAMPLE mammal, ask

Behavior as a reflection of cognitive processes

Selectivity about what is learned things for them to learn. Also help them

FOCUSING ON CORE CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
Scarlet Letter,

Construction of meanings and understandings

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Are the three drawings shown here different rotations of the same object, or do they represent two or more different objects?

Rather than superficially explore every aspect of educational psychology, this book zeroes in on fundamental concepts and principles that have broad applicability to classroom practice. Throughout the book, core concepts appear in boldfaced blue font. Core principles are clearly identified in sections labeled “Basic Principles” or “Basic Assumptions” and then often summarized in “Principles/Assumptions” tables. Each table includes educational implications and concrete examples.

The

Object A

Object B

Object C

SEEING CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES IN ACTION IN YOUR OWN LEARNING
A central goal of this book has always been to help my readers discover more about themselves as thinkers and learners. Thus I include “Experiencing Firsthand” exercises throughout the book—exercises that illustrate such diverse concepts as constructive processes, working memory, sense of self, social cognition, ethnic stereotyping, and confidentiality in assessment. All of these exercises are designed to do exactly what their name implies: help my readers observe principles of educational psychology in themselves.

FIGURE 6.7 This drawing by 9‐year‐old Trisha effectively illustrates the water cycle.

UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN’S AND ADOLESCENTS’ LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR
Throughout the book I continually urge my readers to look closely at and try to make sense of what children and adolescents do and say. Each chapter begins with a “Case Study” that situates chapter content in a real-life scenario. I also make frequent use of real artifacts from children’s journals and school assignments to illustrate concepts and principles in action. Examining Developmental Trends Unique to this book is a focus on children’s development in almost every chapter. For example, Chapters 2 through 4 and 6 through summarize age-typical characteristics at four grade levels offer suggested classroom strategies for each level.

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Typical Long‐Term Memory Storage Processes at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES

experiences. W

material.

to herself a couple of times

school.

K–2

effort.

Into the Classroom
Conducting Authentic Activities
Simplify the task sufficiently to be appropriate for students’ age levels and cognitive abilities.
At a school in Seattle, Washington, students in kindergarten and the first and second grades work cooperatively with researchers to monitor dog “poop” along a nature trail in an important watershed area. Once every two months, the students and several adult volunteers count and map the various dog deposits they find on the trail and within seven feet to either side. Midway through the school near the trail and continue their bimonthly monitoring in order to determine whether the dispensers and bags have any effect. Not only do the students gain an awareness of the harmful effects of pollution on natural resources, but they also gain confidence in their ability to have a positive impact on the health of their local environment. at the local grocery store. Using the list, the food pyramid, and a budget of $30, students must plan a healthful breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a family of four for one day.

APPLYING CORE IDEAS OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY TO CLASSROOM PRACTICE
Encourage students to experiment with new ideas and strategies. and animals indigenous to their area. The students work in groups of two or three to create informational displays about several species for the city museum. Their teacher helps each group brainstorm ideas about how it might effectively portray a particular plant or animal for the general public.

Choose a task that requires students to integrate and apply what they’ve learned in two or more subject areas. various printed materials (announcements, programs, banners, etc.) for activities and performances throughout their school. Students interview for various jobs in the company, make sales calls to solicit business from other classes, design customer order forms, edit and proofread their work, and conduct customer satisfaction surveys.

Communicate high expectations for students’ performance but provide enough scaffolding to ensure students’ success.
All 92 eighth graders at a middle school are required to contribute in are members of the cast, whereas others are involved in scenery construction, costume design, or lighting. Faculty members supervise each aspect of the project and provide guidance and assistance as needed, but the students are largely responsible for the quality of the production. As students from different social groups work with one another, social barriers and ill feelings between popular and unpopular students begin to break down. By opening night the class has acquired a sense of cohesiveness and overall class spirit

C

i

t th t th

i

i

l b

t

Throughout this text, psychological concepts and principles are consistently applied to classroom practice. I also provide “Into the Classroom” and “Creating a Productive Classroom Environment” boxes that suggest and illustrate strategies related to particular areas of concern for teachers. This book is consistently praised for its emphasis on application, application, application. Throughout the book I identify suggested strategies—within the text, in tables, and in the margins—with apple icons that look like this:

ISBN 1-256-96292-9

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Preface Helping You Prepare for Licensure All chapters end with “Practice for Your Licensure Exam” exercises designed to resemble the kinds of case-study questions that appear on many teacher licensure tests. Students can complete these exercises on . Building Your Teaching Skills At the end of each chapter, readers can apply chapter content and build their teaching to complete scafskills by going to the new folded exercises.

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Practice for Your Licensure Exam
Cooperative Learning Project
One Monday morning Ms. Mihara begins the unit “Customs in Other Lands” in her fourth-grade class. She asks students to choose two or three students with whom they would like to work to study a particular country. After the students have assembled into six small groups, she assigns each group a country: Australia, Colombia, Ireland, Greece, Japan, or South Africa. She tells the students, “Today we’ll go to the school library, where your group can find information on the customs of your country and check out materials you think will be useful. Every day over the next two weeks you’ll have time to work with your group. A week from Friday, each group will give an oral report to the class.” During the next few class sessions, Ms. Mihara runs into many more problems than she anticipated. She realizes that the high achievers have gotten together to form two of the groups, and many socially oriented, “popular” students have flocked to two others. The remaining two groups are comprised of whichever students were left over. Some groups get to work immediately on their task, others spend their group time joking and sharing gossip, and still others are neither academically nor socially productive. As the unit progresses, Ms. Mihara hears more and more complaints from students about their task: “Janet and I are doing all the work; Karen and Mary Kay aren’t helping at all,” “Eugene thinks he can boss the rest of us around because we’re studying Ireland and he’s Irish,” “We’re spending all this time but just can’t seem to get anywhere!” And the group reports at the end of the unit differ markedly in quality: Some are carefully planned and informative, whereas others are disorganized and have little substance. “So much for this cooperative learning stuff,” Ms. Mihara mumbles to herself. “If I want students to learn something, I’ll just have to teach it to them myself.”

Classroom applications are by no means limited to the book itself! , a valuable online resource that includes media and other materials to help instructors bring educational psychology to life and to help students come to a deep and applied understanding of this content, can be found at www.myeducationlab.com. I alert you to many of its resources in margin notes, as follows:
Knowledge about fishing enhances children’s ability to separate and control variables in a fishing problem. Contrast 10‐year‐old Kent (an experienced fisherman) with 14‐year‐old Alicia (who has never fished) in “Cognitive Development: Middle Childhood” Adolescence.”

management issues , where they can In addition, at the end of each chapter, readers are directed to self-assess their knowledge of chapter concepts by taking a pretest, extend their knowledge by completing one or more scaffolded exercises, and apply what they’ve learned in a new case study by completing the “Practice for Your Licensure Exam” exercise. In Preparing Teachers for a Changing World, Linda Darling-Hammond and her colleagues point out that grounding teacher education in real classrooms—among real teachers and students and among actual examples of students’ and teachers’ work—is an important, and perhaps even an essential, part of training teachers for the complexities of teaching in today’s classrooms. is an online learning solution that provides contextualized interactive exercises, simulations, and other resources designed to help readers develop the knowledge and skills that are built around essenteachers need. All of the activities and exercises in tial learning outcomes for teachers and are mapped to professional teaching standards. Utilizing classroom video, authentic student and teacher artifacts, case studies, and other resources and offer readers a unique and assessments, the scaffolded learning experiences in valuable education tool. For each topic covered in the course, readers will find most or all of the following features and resources. Advanced Data and Performance Reporting Aligned to National Standards Advanced data and performance reporting helps educators quickly identify gaps in student learning and gauge and address individual and classroom performance. Educators easily see the connection between coursework, concept mastery, and national teaching standards with highly visual views of performance reports. Data and assessments align directly to national teaching standards, including InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education Standards, and National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and support reporting for state and accreditation requirements. Assignments and Activities Designed to enhance understanding of concepts covered in class, these assignable exercises show concepts in action (through videos, cases, and/or student and teacher artifacts). They help readers deepen content knowledge and synthesize and apply concepts and strategies read about in the book. For example, “Understanding Research” exercises (just one possible type of “Assignments and Activities” exercise) provide summaries of real research articles and present questions for readers to respond to that help them apply research-based information to educational psychology and classroom practice. (Correct answers for these assignments are available to the instructor only.)

Classroom rules are more likely to be effective when students are involved in creating and evaluating them. Explore effective strategies in the simulation “Creating Classroom Behavioral Expectations.”

perspectives of learning in a

ISBN 1-256-96292-9

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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Preface Building Teaching Skills and Dispositions These learning units help readers practice and strengthen skills that are essential to effective teaching. After presenting the steps involved in a core teaching process, readers are given an opportunity to practice applying this skill via videos, student and teacher artifacts, and/or case studies of authentic classrooms. Providing multiple opportunities to practice a single teaching concept, each activity encourages a deeper understanding and application of concepts, as well as the use of critical thinking skills. After practice, students take a quiz that is reported to the instructor gradebook and performance reporting features of . IRIS Center Resources The IRIS Center at Vanderbilt University (http://iris.peabody .vanderbilt.edu), funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), develops training-enhancement materials for preservice and practicing teachers. The Center works with experts from across the country to create challenge-based interactive modules, case study units, and podcasts that provide research-validated course information about working with students in inclusive settings. In your we have integrated this content where appropriate. Simulations in Classroom Management One of the most difficult challenges facing teachers today is how to balance classroom instruction with classroom management. These interactive cases focus on the classroom management issues teachers most frequently encounter on a daily basis. Each simulation presents a challenge scenario at the beginning and then offers a series of choices to solve each challenge. Along the way, readers receive mentor feedback on their choices and have the opportunity to make better choices if necessary. After completing each simulation, readers will have a clear understanding of how to address these common classroom management issues and will be better equipped to handle them in the classroom. is easy to use and integrate into both assignments and courses. Download the correlation guide (see the “Ancillary Materials” section of this preface) which connects chapter sections with appropriate assignable exercises on . Additional Course Resources Lesson Plan Builder is an effective and easy-to-use tool that readers can use to create, update, and share quality lesson plans. The software also makes it easy to integrate state content standards into any lesson plan. exam by giving them access to state test requirements, overviews of what tests cover, and sample test items. The Certification and Licensure section includes the following: State Certification Test Requirements: Here, you can click on a state and will then be taken to a list of state certification tests. Licensure Exams you need to take in order to find:

National Evaluation Series™ by Pearson: Here, readers can see the tests in the NES, learn what is covered on each exam, and access sample test items with descriptions and rationales of correct answers. Readers can also purchase interactive online tutorials developed by Pearson Evaluation Systems and the Pearson Teacher Education and Development group. ETS Online Praxis Tutorials: Here, readers can purchase interactive online tutorials developed by ETS and by the Pearson Teacher Education and Development group. Tutorials are available for the Praxis I exams and for select Praxis II exams.
ISBN 1-256-96292-9

conBook-Specific Resources The “Book-Specific Resources” section of tains useful materials organized by book chapter rather than by topic. The “Book-Specific Resources” section offers the following resources:

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Preface Study Plan A Study Plan offers readers a chance to assess their current level of content mastery, receive individualized study material to help bolster it, and take another assessment to confirm improvement. It consists of the following components: Chapter Learning Outcomes give readers targets to shoot for as they read and study. Pretests allow readers to assess mastery of the content. These assessments are mapped to chapter “Learning Outcomes.” Not only do these pretests provide overall scores for each Learning Outcome but they also explain why responses to particular items are correct or incorrect. After readers have completed this pretest, they are given a report showing which Learning Outcomes they appear to have troubles with. Review, Practice, and Enrichment provides an individualized set of study materials to work with to develop mastery of certain “Learning Outcomes.” This consists of excerpts of chapter material to reread and activities to complete based on media assets (video, simulations, cases, etc.) or vignettes that help scaffold and develop content knowledge. If readers wish, they may access the Review, Practice, and Enrichment material relevant to a Learning Outcome, even if they have mastered that outcome as demonstrated in the pretest report. Posttests present unique questions to assess the same important concepts as the items in the pretest. Readers receive results on this assessment as well and can see if their level of mastery has changed. Other book-specific resources include: Flashcards help readers review the core concepts and principles within each chapter. Focus Questions help guide the reading of chapter content. Common Beliefs and Misconceptions About Educational Psychology help alert readers to typical misunderstandings in educational psychology classes. Video Examples, referenced by margin notes in every chapter, provide concrete illustrations of various concepts and principles illustrated in each chapter. Supplementary Readings related to chapter concepts give readers an opportunity to explore certain topics in more depth—for example, the ecological systems perspective of child development (Chapter 2), the evolution of learning theories (Chapter 6), and programmed instruction and computer-assisted instruction (Chapter 12). Practice for Your Licensure Exam” exercise resembles the kinds of questions that appear on many teacher licensure tests. The same chapter-ending exercise is also located on . Once on , readers can complete the exercise while receiving hints that scaffold their efforts to make correct responses. Readers can also compare their responses to the expert feedback provided. Visit www.myeducationlab.com for a demonstration of this exciting new online teaching resource.

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CUSTOMIZING YOUR TEXTBOOK
It is now possible for instructors to customize textbooks by selecting portions of this book and perhaps combining them with portions of other Pearson Education books. Instructors should contact their local Pearson sales representative for information on how to customize their textbook.

Ancillary Materials
SUPPORT MATERIALS FOR INSTRUCTORS
The following resources are available for instructors to download on www.pearsonhighered.com/ educators. Instructors can enter the author or title of this book, select this particular edition of the book, and then click on the “Resources” tab to log in and download textbook supplements.
ISBN 1-256-96292-9

Instructor’s Resource Manual (0-13-297783-4) An Instructor’s Resource Manual includes suggestions for learning activities, additional “Experiencing Firsthand” exercises, supplementary lectures, case study analyses, discussion topics, group activities, and additional media resources.

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Preface PowerPoint) Slides (0-13-297784-2 The PowerPoint) slides include key concept summarizations, diagrams, and other graphic aids to enhance learning. They are designed to help students understand, organize, and remember core concepts and theories. Test Bank (0-13-297793-1) I’ve personally written many of the test questions in the Test Bank that accompanies the book; Test Bank co-author Karen Zabrucky added new ones to reflect the many updates to this eighth edition. Some items (lower-level questions) simply ask students to identify or explain concepts and principles they have learned. But many others (higher-level questions) ask students to apply those same concepts and principles to specific classroom situations—that is, to actual student behaviors and teaching strategies. Ultimately, it is these higherlevel questions that assess students’ ability to use principles of educational psychology in their own teaching practice. TestGen (0-13-297792-3) TestGen is a powerful test generator available exclusively from Pearson Education publishers. You install TestGen on your personal computer (Windows or Macintosh) and create your own tests for classroom testing and for other specialized delivery options, such as over a local area network or on the web. A test bank, which is also called a Test Item File (TIF), typically contains a large set of test items, organized by chapter and ready for your use in creating a test, based on the associated textbook material. Assessments—including equations, graphs, and scientific notation—may be created for both print or testing online. The tests can be downloaded in the following formats: TestGen Testbank file—PC TestGen Testbank file—MAC TestGen Testbank—Blackboard CE/Vista (WebCT) TIF Angel Test Bank (zip) D2L Test Bank (zip) Moodle Test Bank Sakai Test Bank (zip) Correlation Guide (0-13-296512-7) This guide connects chapter sec. tions with appropriate assignable exercises on

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR STUDENTS
Case Studies: Applying Educational Psychology (2nd ed.) Many instructors use Ormrod and McGuire’s Case Studies cludes 48 real cases involving students and classrooms ranging from preschool to high school. It illustrates concepts and principles in many areas of educational psychology, including child and adolescent development, learning and cognition, motivation, classroom management, instructional practices, and assessment. Artifact Case Studies: Interpreting Children’s Work and Teachers’ Classroom Strategies Another possible supplement to the book is my Artifact Case Studies book (0-13114671-8). The artifact cases in this supplement offer work samples and instructional materials that cover a broad range of topics, including literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, and art. Every artifact case includes background information and questions to consider as readers examine the artifact. Instructors should contact their local Pearson sales representative to order a copy of this book. Simulations in Educational Psychology and Research (version 2.1) This CD-ROM (0-13-113717-4) features five interactive psychological/educational experiments, along with exercises and readings that can help students explore the research components and procedures connected to the experiments. Qualitative and quantitative designs are included. Instructors should contact their local Pearson sales representative to order a copy of these simulations.

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Preface

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Acknowledgments
Although I’m listed as the sole author of this textbook, I’ve been fortunate to have had a great deal of help in writing it. First and foremost, this book wouldn’t be what it is today without a longterm partnership with my editor, Kevin Davis. Kevin first came on board as developmental editor Pearson, has continued to stand by my side through several promotions. Kevin hasn’t penned the words, but his influence permeates every page, and with each new edition he has insisted that I stretch my knowledge and skills in ways I never imagined and didn’t think were possible. I thank Kevin for his inspiration, guidance, friendship, and undying dedication to the quality of teacher education. Paul Smith took over Kevin’s role as editor for the seventh edition to help make this book the very best that it could be. I’m deeply appreciative of Paul’s professional advice, emotional support, and indefatigable sense of humor. I continue to be indebted to Christie Robb, developmental editor, for the seventh and eighth editions. Christie has always “been there” for me, generously dropping what she’s doing at a moment’s notice to provide counsel or assistance. She’s kept me on course—no doubt about it—whenever I’ve gone astray from my mission, and her guidance about both the big picture and many, many nitty-gritty details have been invariably on target. Four previous developmental editors have left footprints on the book as well. Linda Peterson helped shape many of the book’s pedagogical features in the first and second editions. Linda Bishop and Julie Peters brought fresh perspectives and creative ideas to the third and fourth editions, respectively, as did Autumn Benson for the fifth and sixth editions. All of these women kept me upbeat and on-task throughout my arduous, year-long writing efforts. Fortunately, I can continue to work with Autumn in her role as Senior Media Producer. For this eighth edition of the book, people at the production end of things have gone far beyond the call of duty. Turning a lengthy textbook manuscript into an actual book is a complex endeavor under any circumstances, but the task of creating an e-book as well as a paper book has presented challenges beyond any that we all could have imagined. Kerry Rubadue ably and patiently coordinated the production effort at Pearson’s end. Kay Banning was, as always, delightfully compulsive in creating the indexes. But most importantly, I must thank Lynda Griffiths, who painstakingly copyedited my words, double-checked every reference (possibly the world’s most thankless job), and then steered the manuscript through several rounds of page proofs until the layout was logically and pedagogically sound. Amazingly, Lynda kept her good humor throughout the whole process—even during eleventh-hour crises—and yet also found time to “oooh” and “aaah” in response to the many pictures of Olivia I sent her way. And, of course, I must thank Joanna Sabella and her colleagues in Pearson’s marketing department, who have always been skillful in getting out the word about a new edition. Without their help, my books wouldn’t have much of an impact on the field of educational psychology—a field about which I’m deeply passionate. In addition to the folks at Pearson Education and Jouve, several colleagues across the country have provided assistance with various ancillary materials. Karen Zabrucky at Georgia State has graciously taken on the task of updating the test bank to be in line with this new edition. Audrey Ambrosino, also at George State, is updating the instructor’s resource manual, PowerPoint) slides, and correlation guide for the book. Joanne Rojas at the University of Kentucky has lended . Gail her expertise to the Book-Specific Resources and Study Plans sections of Gottfried and several people at the University of Nebraska’s Center for Instructional Innovation— especially Roger Bruning, Christy A. Horn, Katherine Smith, and Jeremy J. Sydik—have created . Vern Jones of Lewis and Clark College many of the interactive features now on wrote the engaging new interactive simulations related to classroom management. To all these individuals, I must say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” In this multimedia age, writing any textbook and its accompanying materials must truly be a team effort. Many other colleagues have strengthened the book itself by reviewing one or more of its previous versions. Reviewers for the first seven editions were Jane Abraham, Virginia Tech University; Joyce Alexander, Indiana University; Eric Anderman, University of Kentucky; Linda M. Anderson, Michigan State University; Margaret D. Anderson, SUNY–Cortland; J. C. Bar-

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Preface ton, Tennessee Technical University; Timothy A. Bender, Southwest Missouri State University; Stephen L. Benton, Kansas State University; Kathryn J. Biacindo, California State University– Fresno; Barbara Bishop, Eastern New Mexico University; Karen L. Block, University of Pittsburgh; Phyllis Blumenfeld, University of Michigan; Robert Braswell, Winthrop College; Kathy Brown, University of Central Oklahoma; Randy L. Brown, University of Central Oklahoma; Kay S. Bull, Oklahoma State University; Margaret W. Cohen, University of Missouri–St. Louis; Theodore Coladarci, University of Maine; Sharon Cordell, Roane State Community College; Roberta Corrigan, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Richard D. Craig, Towson State University; José Cruz, Jr., The Ohio State University; Peggy Dettmer, Kansas State University; Joan Dixon, Gonzaga University; Leland K. Doebler, University of Montevallo; Catherine Emilhovich, SUNY–Buffalo; Joanne B. Engel, Oregon State University; Kathy Farber, Bowling Green State University; William R. Fisk, Clemson University; Victoria Fleming, Miami University of Ohio; M. Arthur Garmon, Western Michigan University; Roberta J. Garza, Pan American University–Brownsville; Mary Gauvain, University of California–Riverside; Cheryl Greenberg, University of North Carolina–Greensboro; Richard Hamilton, University of Houston; Jennifer Mistretta Hampston, Youngstown State University; Arthur Hernandez, University of Texas–San Antonio; Heather Higgins, University of North Carolina–Greensboro; Frederick C. Howe, Buffalo State College; Peggy Hsieh, University of Texas–San Antonio; Dinah Jackson, University of Northern Colorado; Janina M. Jolley, Clarion University of Pennsylvania; Caroline Kaczala, Cleveland State University; CarolAnne M. Kardash, University of Missouri–Columbia; Pamela Kidder-Ashley, Appalachian State University; Kenneth Kiewra, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Nancy F. Knapp, University of Georgia; Mary Lou Koran, University of Florida; Randy Lennon, University of Northern Colorado; Susan C. Losh, Florida State University; Pamela Manners, Troy State University; Hermine H. Marshall, San Francisco State University; Teresa McDevitt, University of Northern Colorado; Sharon McNeely, Northeastern Illinois University; Michael Meloth, University of Colorado–Boulder; Kelly S. Mix, Michigan State University; Bruce P. Mortenson, Louisiana State University; Janet Moursund, University of Oregon; P. Karen Murphy, The Pennsylvania State University; Gary A. Negin, California State University; Joe Olmi, The University of Southern Mississippi; Helena Osana, Concordia University; James Persinger, Emporia State University; Judy Pierce, Western Kentucky University; James R. Pullen, Central Missouri State University; Gary F. Render, University of Wyoming; Robert S. Ristow, Western Illinois University; Jeff Sandoz, University of Louisiana—Lafayette; Rolando Santos, California State University–Los Angeles; Gregg Schraw, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Dale H. Schunk, University of North Carolina–Greensboro; Mark Seng, University of Texas; Glenn E. Snelbecker, Temple University; Johnna Shapiro, University of California–Davis; Kenneth Springer, Southern Methodist University; Harry L. Steger, Boise State University; Bruce Torff, Hofstra University; Ann Turnbull, University of Kansas; Julianne C. Turner, University of Notre Dame; Enedina Vazquez, New Mexico State University; Alice A. Walker, SUNY–Cortland; Mary Wellman, Rhode Island College; Jane A. Wolfle, Bowling Green State University; and Karen Zabrucky, Georgia State University. Coming on board for the eighth edition were these reviewers, who offered many helpful suggestions now reflected in the book: Cindy Ballantyne, Northern Arizona University; Angela Bloomquist, California University of Pennsylvania; Gregory Braswell, Illinois State University; David Yun Dai, SUNY–University at Albany; Kellah Edens, University of South Carolina; Sister Nancy Gilchriest, St. Joseph’s College; Nathan Gonyea, SUNY–Oneonta; Ken Hay, Indiana University; Howard Lloyd, University of Kentucky; Traci Van Prooyen, Heartland Community College; Courtney Vorell, Minnesota School of Business; and Ya-Shu Yang, University of Nebraska– Lincoln. Some of my own students and teacher interns—especially Jenny Bressler, Kathryn Broadhead, Ryan Francoeur, Gerry Holly, Shelly Lamb, Michele Minichiello, Kim Sandman, Melissa Tillman, Nick Valente, and Brian Zottoli—have agreed to let me use their interviews, essays, and experiences as examples. Teachers and administrators at schools both home and abroad (including two of my own children, now teachers themselves) have allowed me to share their strategies with my readers; I thank Liz Birnam, Berneen Bratt, Don Burger, Tom Carroll, Barbara Dee, Jackie Filion, Tina Ormrod Fox, Sarah Gagnon, Dinah Jackson, Sheila Johnson, Don Lafferty, Carol Lincoln, Gary MacDonald, Sharon McManus, Linda Mengers, Mark Nichols, Susan O’Byrne, Jeff Ormrod, Ann Reilly, and Gwen Ross.

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Preface Many young people, too, deserve thanks for letting me use their work. In particular, I acknowledge the contributions of the following present and former students: Andrew and Katie Belcher; Noah and Shea Davis; Zachary Derr; Amaryth, Andrew, and Anthony Gass; Ben and Darcy Geraud; Dana Gogolin; Colin Hedges; Erin Islo; Charlotte Jeppsen; Laura Linton; Michael McShane; Frederik Meissner; Meghan Milligan; Alex, Jeff, and Tina Ormrod; Patrick Paddock; Isabelle Peters; Ian Rhoads; David and Laura Riordan; Corey and Trisha Ross; Ashton and Haley Russo; Alex and Connor Sheehan; Matt and Melinda Shump; Andrew Teplitz; Emma Thompson; Grace Tober; Grant Valentine; and Geoff Wuehrmann. Last but certainly not least, I must thank my husband and children, who have for many years forgiven my countless hours spent either buried in my books and journals or else glued to my computer. Without their continuing support and understanding of what has, for me, become an enduring passion, this book would never have seen the light of day. J. E. O.

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Brief Contents
1
PA RT I
Teaching and Educational Psychology 2

DE V E L O P M E NT AN D D IVE R SIT Y
Cognitive and Linguistic Development 18 Personal and Social Development 54 Group Differences 90 Individual Differences and Special Educational Needs 118

2 3 4 5
PA RT I I

L E A R N I N G A ND M OT IVAT ION
Learning, Cognition, and Memory 154 Complex Cognitive Processes 194 Learning and Cognition in Context 226 Behaviorist Views of Learning 264 Social Cognitive Views of Learning 298 Motivation and Affect 332

6 7 8 9 10 11
PA RT I I I

C L A S S R O O M ST RAT E G IES
Instructional Strategies 380 Creating a Productive Learning Environment 422 Classroom Assessment Strategies 460 Summarizing Students’ Achievement and Abilities 504
Describing Associations with Correlation Coefficients A-1 Determining Reliability and Predictive Validity B-1
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12 13 14 15
Appendix A: Appendix B: Appendix C: xvi Matching Book and Learning and Teaching Tests C-1

Content to the Praxis® Principles of

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Contents
Special Topics xxiii

Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development 36 Vygotsky’s Basic Assumptions 37 Critiquing Vygotsky’s Theory 40 Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Vygotsky’s Theory 40 Contemporary Extensions and Applications of Vygotsky’s Theory 41 Contrasting Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories 44 Language Development 45 Theoretical Issues Regarding Language Development 45 Diversity in Language Development 47 Second‐Language Learning and English Language Learners 48 What Have You Learned? 51 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Stones Lesson 52

1

Teaching and Educational Psychology 2

Case Study: The “No D” Policy 3 Teaching as Evidence‐Based Practice 4 Understanding and Interpreting Research Findings 6 Quantitative Research 6 Qualitative Research 8 Interpreting Research Results: A Cautionary Note 10 From Research to Practice: The Importance of Theories 11 Collecting Data and Drawing Conclusions about Your Own Students 11 Assessing Students’ Achievements and Behaviors 12 Conducting Action Research 12 Developing as a Teacher 13 Strategies for Studying and Learning Effectively 14 What Have You Learned? 15 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: New Software 16

3

Personal and Social Development 54
Temperament 56

Case Study: Hidden Treasure 55 Personality Development 55 Environmental Influences on Personality Development 56 The “Big Five” Personality Traits 59 Temperament, Personality, and Goodness of Fit 60 Development of a Sense of Self 60 Factors Influencing Sense of Self 61 Developmental Changes in Sense of Self 62 Diversity in Sense of Self 65 Development of Peer Relationships and Interpersonal Understandings 67 Roles of Peers in Children’s Development 67 Characteristics of Peer Relationships 68 Social Cognition 71 Aggression 73 Technology and Peer Relationships 75 Diversity in Peer Relationships and Social Cognition 76 Promoting Healthy Peer Relationships 76 Moral and Prosocial Development 79 Developmental Trends in Morality and Prosocial Behavior 79 Factors Influencing Moral and Prosocial Development 83 Diversity in Moral and Prosocial Development 84 Encouraging Moral and Prosocial Development in the Classroom 85

PA RT I

DEVEL OP ME N T A ND D IVE R SITY

2

Cognitive and Linguistic Development 18
The Multiple Layers of Environmental Influence: Bronfenbrenner’s Theory 21

Cases Study: Apple Tarts 19 General Principles of Human Development 20

Role of the Brain in Learning and Development 22 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development 25 Piaget’s Basic Assumptions 26 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development 29 Critiquing Piaget’s Theory 33
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Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Piaget’s Theory 33 Contemporary Extensions and Applications of Piaget’s Theory 34

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Contents
Students with Social or Behavioral Problems 140 Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 140 Autism Spectrum Disorders 142 General Recommendations 143 Students with General Delays in Cognitive and Social Functioning 144 Intellectual Disabilities 144 Students with Physical or Sensory Challenges 146 Physical and Health Impairments 146 Visual Impairments 146 Hearing Loss 147 General Recommendations 148 Students with Advanced Cognitive Development 149 Giftedness 149 Considering Diversity When Identifying and Addressing Special Needs 150 General Recommendations for Working with Students Who Have Special Needs 151 What Have You Learned? 152 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Quiet Amy 153

What Have You Learned? 87 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: The Scarlet Letter 88

4

Group Differences 90
Navigating Different Cultures at Home and at School 93 Examples of Cultural and Ethnic Diversity 94 Creating a Culturally Inclusive Classroom Environment 99

Case Study: Why Jack Wasn’t in School 91 Cultural and Ethnic Differences 92

Gender Differences 103 Research Findings Regarding Gender Differences 103 Origins of Gender Differences 106 Making Appropriate Accommodations for Gender Differences 108 Socioeconomic Differences 109 Challenges Associated with Poverty 110 Fostering Resilience 112 Working with Homeless Students 113 Students at Risk 113 Characteristics of Students at Risk 113 Why Students Drop Out 114 Supporting Students at Risk 114 What Have You Learned? 116 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: The Active and the Passive 116

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5

Individual Differences and Special Educational Needs 118
Theoretical Perspectives of Intelligence 120 Measuring Intelligence 124 Nature and Nurture in the Development of Intelligence 125 Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Intelligence 126 Being Smart about Intelligence and IQ Scores 127

LEARNING AND M O T I VAT I O N

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Case Study: Tim 119 Intelligence 119

Learning, Cognition, and Memory 154

Case Study: Bones 155 Basic Assumptions of Cognitive Psychology 156 A Model of Human Memory 159 The Nature of the Sensory Register 161 Moving Information to Working Memory: The Role of Attention 161 The Nature of Working (Short‐Term) Memory 162 Moving Information to Long‐Term Memory: Connecting New Information with Prior Knowledge 163 The Nature of Long‐Term Memory 164 Learning, Memory, and the Brain 164 Critiquing the Three‐Component Model 165 Long‐Term Memory Storage 166 How Knowledge Can Be Organized 166 How Declarative Knowledge Is Learned 169
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Cognitive Styles and Dispositions 128 Educating Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms 130 Public Law 94‐142: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 131 Potential Benefits and Drawbacks of Inclusion 132 Identifying Students’ Special Needs: Response to Intervention and People‐First Language 133 Students with Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties 134 Learning Disabilities 135 Attention‐Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 137 Speech and Communication Disorders 138 General Recommendations 139

How Procedural Knowledge Is Learned 173 Roles of Prior Knowledge and Working Memory in Long‐Term Memory Storage 175

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Contents
Encouraging a Meaningful Learning Set and Conceptual Understanding 177 Using Mnemonics in the Absence of Relevant Prior Knowledge 177 When Knowledge Construction Goes Awray: Addressing Learners’ Misconceptions 179 Obstacles to Conceptual Change 181 Promoting Conceptual Change 181 Long‐Term Memory Retrieval 183 Factors Affecting Retrieval 184 Why Learners Sometimes Forget 187 Diversity in Cognitive Processes 189 Facilitating Cognitive Processing in Students with Special Needs 190 What Have You Learned? 192 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Vision Unit 193 Social Interactions as Contexts 230 Interactions with More Advanced Individuals 230 Interactions with Peers 231 Creating a Community of Learners 232 Cultures as Contexts 234 Schemas, Scripts, and Worldviews as Aspects of Culture 234 Communities of Practice as Aspects of Culture 236 Society and Technology as Contexts 237 Authentic Activities 238 Technological Innovations 239 Academic Content Domains as Contexts 242 Literacy 243 Mathematics 251 Science 253 Social Studies 256 Taking Student Diversity into Account 260 What Have You Learned? 262

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Complex Cognitive Processes 194
Effective Learning Strategies 196 Factors Affecting Strategy Use 201 Diversity, Disabilities, and Exceptional Abilities in Metacognition 204

Practice for Your Licensure Exam: The Birth of a Nation 263

Case Study: Taking Over 195 Metacognition and Learning Strategies 196

9

Behaviorist Views of Learning 264

Case Study: The Attention Getter 265 Basic Assumptions of Behaviorism 265 Building on Existing Stimulus–Response Associations: Classical Conditioning 267 Classical Conditioning of Involuntary Emotional Responses 268 Common Phenomena in Classical Conditioning 269 Addressing Counterproductive Emotional Responses 270 Learning from Consequences: Instrumental Conditioning 270 Contrasting Classical Conditioning and Instrumental Conditioning 271 The Various Forms That Reinforcement Can Take 271 The Various Forms That Punishment Can Take 277 Strategies for Encouraging Productive Behaviors 280 Using Reinforcement Effectively 280 Shaping New Behaviors 284 Bringing Antecedent Stimuli and Responses into the Picture 285 Strategies for Discouraging Undesirable Behaviors 287 Creating Conditions for Extinction 287 Cueing Inappropriate Behaviors 287 Reinforcing Incompatible Behaviors 287 Using Punishment When Necessary 288 Addressing Especially Difficult Classroom Behaviors 290 Applied Behavior Analysis 290 Functional Analysis and Positive Behavior Support 290

Transfer 206 Factors Affecting Transfer 207 Problem Solving 210 Problem Encoding 211 Problem‐Solving Strategies: Algorithms and Heuristics 213 Working Memory and Problem Solving 214 Metacognition in Problem Solving 214 Using Computer Technology to Teach Problem‐Solving Skills 215 Creativity 216 Fostering Creativity 217 Critical Thinking 219 Fostering Critical Thinking 221 Diversity in Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Other Complex Cognitive Processes 222 Accommodating Students with Special Needs 223 What Have You Learned? 223 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Interview with Charlie 225

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Learning and Cognition in Context 226

Case Study: It’s All in How You Look at Things 227 Basic Assumptions of Contextual Theories 228

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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Contents
Teacher Attributions and Expectations 360 Diversity in Cognitive and Sociocultural Factors Affecting Motivation 364 A TARGETS Mnemonic for Remembering Motivational Strategies 366 Affect and Its Effects 366 How Affect and Motivation Are Interrelated 366 How Affect Is Related to Learning and Cognition 370 Anxiety in the Classroom 370 Diversity in Affect 375 What Have You Learned? 377 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: When “Perfect” Isn’t Good Enough 378

Diversity in Student Behaviors and Reactions to Consequences 292 Accommodating Students with Special Needs 293 Strengths and Potential Limitations of Behaviorist Approaches 293 What Have You Learned? 295 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Hostile Helen 296

10

Social Cognitive Views of Learning 298

Case Study: Parlez‐vous Français? 299 Basic Assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory 299 The Social Cognitive View of Reinforcement and Punishment 301 Modeling 304 Behaviors and Skills That Can Be Learned through Modeling 304 Characteristics of Effective Models 306 Essential Conditions for Successful Modeling 307 Self‐Efficacy 308 How Self‐Efficacy Affects Behavior and Cognition 310 Factors in the Development of Self‐Efficacy 311 Teacher Self‐Efficacy 313 Self‐Regulation 314 Self‐Regulated Behavior 315 Self‐Regulated Learning 320 Self‐Regulated Problem Solving 322 Diversity in Self‐Regulation 323 Revisiting Reciprocal Causation 325 Comparing Theoretical Perspectives of Learning 328 What Have You Learned? 329 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Teacher’s Lament 330

PA RT III

CLASSROOM S T R AT E GI E S

12

Instructional Strategies 380

Case Study: Oregon Trail 381 General Principles That Can Guide Instruction 382 Planning for Instruction 385 Identifying the Goals of Instruction 385 Conducting a Task Analysis 388 Developing a Lesson Plan 390 Creating a Class Website to Share Goals and Facilitate Communication throughout the School Year 391 Teacher‐Directed Instructional Strategies 391 Presenting New Material through Traditional Expository Methods: Lectures and Textbooks 392 Asking Questions and Giving Feedback 392 Providing Practice through In‐Class Assignments 394 Giving Homework 395 Conducting Direct Instruction 396 Promoting Mastery 397 Using Instructional Websites 399 Using Technology to Individualize Instruction 400 Learner‐Directed Instructional Strategies 401 Stimulating and Guiding Class Discussions 401 Conducting Reciprocal Teaching Sessions 403 Conducting Discovery and Inquiry Activities 405 Using Computer Simulations and Games 407 Conducting Cooperative Learning Activities 408 Structuring Peer Tutoring Sessions 412 Conducting Technology‐Based Collaborative Learning Activities 414
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Motivation and Affect 332

Case Study: Passing Algebra 333 The Nature of Motivation 334 Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Motivation 336 Basic Human Needs 337 Arousal 337 Competence and Self‐Worth 338 Self‐Determination 339 Relatedness 342 Universality and Diversity in Basic Needs 343 A Possible Hierarchy of Needs: Maslow’s Theory 344 Cognitive and Sociocultural Factors in Motivation 345 Interests 345 Expectancies and Values 347 Goals 349 Attributions 355

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Contents
Taking Instructional Goals and Student Diversity into Account 415 Considering Group Differences 417 Accommodating Students with Special Needs 417 What Have You Learned? 419 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Cooperative Learning Project 420 Evaluating the Quality of Instruction 465 Diagnosing Learning and Performance Problems 465 Promoting Learning 466

xxi

Enhancing Learning through Formative Assessments and Other Assessment Practices 468 Including Students in the Assessment Process 470 Important Qualities of Good Assessments 471 Reliability 471 Standardization 473 Validity 473 Practicality 478 Assessing Learning and Performance Both Informally and Formally 479 Informally Observing Students’ Behaviors 479 Using Paper–Pencil Assessments 481 Using Performance Assessments 489 Additional Considerations in Formal Assessment 494 Using Digital Technologies in Classroom Assessments 498 Taking Student Diversity into Account in Classroom Assessments 500 Accommodating Group Differences 500 Accommodating Students with Special Needs 500 What Have You Learned? 502 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Pick and Choose 503

13

Creating a Productive Learning Environment 422

Case Study: A Contagious Situation 423 Creating a Setting Conducive to Learning 423 Arranging the Classroom 425 Establishing and Maintaining Productive Teacher–Student Relationships 426 Creating an Effective Psychological Climate 428 Setting Limits 430 Planning Activities That Keep Students on Task 433 Monitoring What Students Are Doing 435 Modifying Instructional Strategies 436 Taking Developmental Differences into Account 436 Taking Individual and Group Differences into Account 436 Expanding the Sense of Community Beyond the Classroom 439 Working with Other Faculty Members 439 Working with the Community at Large 441 Working with Parents 441 Dealing with Misbehaviors 446 Ignoring Certain Behaviors 446 Cueing Students 447 Discussing Problems Privately with Students 447 Teaching Self‐Regulation Skills 449 Conferring with Parents 449 Conducting Planned, Systematic Interventions 451 Taking Students’ Cultural Backgrounds into Account 452 Addressing Aggression and Violence at School 454 A Three‐Level Approach 455 Addressing Gang‐Related Problems 456 What Have You Learned? 458 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: The Good Buddy 459

15

Summarizing Students’ Achievement and Abilities 504

Case Study: B in History 505 Summarizing the Results of a Single Assessment 505 Raw Scores 506 Criterion‐Referenced Scores 506 Norm‐Referenced Scores 506 Using Criterion‐Referenced versus Norm‐Referenced Scores in the Classroom 511 Determining Final Class Grades 512 Considering—Or Not Considering—Other Factors in Grading 515 Including Students in the Grading Process 516 Using Portfolios 516 Types and Purposes of Portfolios 517 Benefits and Limitations of Portfolios 518 Helping Students Construct Portfolios 519 Standardized Tests 519 Types of Standardized Tests 519 Individual versus Group Administration of Standardized Tests 522 Guidelines for Choosing and Using Standardized Tests 523 Interpreting Standardized Test Scores 524

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Classroom Assessment Strategies 460

Case Study: The Math Test 461 The Many Forms and Purposes of Assessment 462 Guiding Instructional Decision Making 464 Determining What Students Have Learned from Instruction 464

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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Contents
Communicating Assessment Results to Students and Parents 537 What Have You Learned? 539 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Can Johnny Read 540
Appendix A: Describing Associations with Correlation Coefficients A-1 Appendix B: Determining Reliability and Predictive Validity B-1 Content to the Appendix C: Matching Book and Praxis® Principles of Learning and Teaching Tests C-1 Glossary G-1 References R-1 Name Index N-1 Subject Index S-1

High‐Stakes Testing and Accountability 527 The U.S. No Child Left Behind Act 528 Problems with High‐Stakes Testing 529 Productive Steps Forward in High‐Stakes Testing 530 Taking Student Diversity into Account 531 Cultural Bias in Test Content 532 Cultural and Ethnic Differences 533 Language Differences and English Language Learners 533 Accommodating Students with Special Needs 534 Confidentiality and Communication about Assessment Results 535

ISBN 1-256-96292-9 Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Special Topics
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
Ormrod’s Own Psychological Survey (OOPS test, Items 1 and 3) 4 Case Study: Apple Tarts 19 General Principles of Human Development 20 The Multiple Layers of Environmental Influence: Bronfenbrenner’s Theory 21 Role of the Brain in Learning and Development 22 Applying Brain Research: Taking Developmental Changes in the Brain into Account 25 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development 25 Piaget’s Basic Assumptions 26 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development 29 Table 2.1 Compare/Contrast: Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development 29 Critiquing Piaget’s Theory 33 Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Piaget’s Theory 33 Contemporary Extensions and Applications of Piaget’s Theory 34 Into the Classroom: Applying Piaget’s Theory 35 Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development 36 Vygotsky’s Basic Assumptions 37 Critiquing Vygotsky’s Theory 40 Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Vygotsky’s Theory 40 Contemporary Extensions and Applications of Vygotsky’s Theory 41 Into the Classroom: Applying Vygotsky’s Theory 41 Contrasting Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories 44 Language Development 45 Theoretical Issues Regarding Language Development 45 Developmental Trends: Examples of Linguistic Characteristics and Abilities at Different Grade Levels 46 Diversity in Language Development 47 Second‐Language Learning and English Language Learners 48 Into the Classroom: Working with English Language Learners 50 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Stones Lesson 52 Case Study: Hidden Treasure 55 Personality Development 55
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Creating a Productive Classroom Environment: Accommodating Students’ Diverse Temperaments and Personality Traits 59 Temperament, Personality, and Goodness of Fit 60 Development of a Sense of Self 60 Factors Influencing Sense of Self 61 Developmental Changes in Sense of Self 62 Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development 62 Applying Brain Research: Understanding and Addressing Adolescent Risk Taking 64 Diversity in Sense of Self 65 Developmental Trends: Sense of Self at Different Grade Levels 66 Development of Peer Relationships and Interpersonal Understandings 67 Roles of Peers in Children’s Development 67 Characteristics of Peer Relationships 68 Social Cognition 71 Aggression 73 Technology and Peer Relationships 75 Diversity in Peer Relationships and Social Cognition 76 Promoting Healthy Peer Relationships 76 Creating a Productive Classroom Environment: Encouraging Positive Interactions among Diverse Individuals and Groups 77 Moral and Prosocial Development 79 Developmental Trends in Morality and Prosocial Behavior 79 Table 3.2 Developmental Trends: Moral Reasoning and Prosocial Behavior at Different Grade Levels 80 Table 3.3 Compare/Contrast: Kohlberg’s Three Levels and Six Stages of Moral Reasoning 82 Factors Influencing Moral and Prosocial Behavior 83 Diversity in Moral and Prosocial Development 84 Encouraging Moral and Prosocial Development in the Classroom 85 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: The Scarlet Letter 88 Origins of Gender Differences 106 Table 4.1 Developmental Trends: Gender‐Related Characteristics at Different Grade Levels 107 Developmental Views of Intelligence 123 Nature and Nurture in the Development of Intelligence 125 Developmental Trends in Storage Processes for Declarative Information 173 Table 6.4 Developmental Trends: Typical Long‐Term Memory Storage Processes at Different Grade Levels 174 Table 7.1 Developmental Trends: Metacognition at Different Grade Levels 197

Temperament 56 Environmental Influences on Personality Development 56 The “Big Five” Personality Traits 59

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Special Topics
Autism Spectrum Disorders 142 Learning, Memory, and the Brain 164 Applying Brain Research: Enhancing Students’ Brain Functioning 165 Basic Assumptions of Contextual Theories 228 Applying Brain Research: Understanding and Accommodating Individual Differences in Self‐Regulation 324 Applying Brain Research: Understanding How and Why Emotions Influence Learning 369

Table 7.2 Students in Inclusive Settings: Promoting Metacognitive Development in Students with Special Educational Needs 205 Table 8.3 Developmental Trends: Typical Reading Skills at Different Grade Levels 246 Looking at Reinforcement from a Developmental Perspective 275 Table 9.2 Developmental Trends: Effective Reinforcers at Different Grade Levels 276 Factors in the Development of Self‐Efficacy 311 Table 10.2 Developmental Trends: Self‐Regulation at Different Grade Levels 316 Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Motivation 336 Expectancies and Values 347 Internalizing Values of One’s Social and Cultural Groups 348 Developmental Trends in Achievement Goals 350 Long‐Term Life Goals 353 Developmental Trends in Attributions 357 Mastery Orientation versus Learned Helplessness 358 Table 11.3 Developmental Trends: Motivation at Different Grade Levels 359 A Multiple Whammy: Making the Transition to a Secondary School Format 372 Table 11.6 Developmental Trends: Affect at Different Grade Levels 373 Into the Classroom: Easing the Transition to Middle and Secondary School 375 Table 12.1 Developmental Trends: Examples of How You Might Align Classroom Goals, Objectives, and Instructional Strategies with State Standards at Different Grade Levels 386 Taking Developmental Differences into Account 436 Table 13.1 Developmental Trends: Effective Classroom Management at Different Grade Levels 437 Table 14.1 Developmental Trends: Examples of How You Might Align Classroom Assessments with State Standards and Classroom Goals, Objectives, and Instruction at Different Grade Levels 474 Table 15.3 Developmental Trends: Characteristics Affecting Standardized Test Performance at Different Grade Levels 525

CULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES
The Multiple Layers of Environmental Influence: Bronfenbrenner’s Theory 21 Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Piaget’s Theory 33 Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Vygotsky’s Theory 40 Diversity in Language Development 47 Second‐Language Learning and English Language Learners 48 Into the Classroom: Working with English Language Learners 50 Case Study: Hidden Treasure 55 Cultural Expectations and Socialization 58 Diversity in Sense of Self 65 Diversity in Peer Relationships and Social Cognition 76 Creating a Productive Classroom Environment: Encouraging Positive Interactions among Diverse Individuals and Groups 77 Diversity in Moral and Prosocial Development 84 Case Study: Why Jack Wasn’t in School 91 Cultural and Ethnic Differences 92 Navigating Different Cultures at Home and at School 93 Examples of Cultural and Ethnic Diversity 94 Creating a Culturally Inclusive Classroom Environment 99 Into the Classroom: Addressing Students’ Stereotypes and Prejudices 102 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: The Active and the Passive 116 Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Intelligence 126 Being Smart about Intelligence and IQ Scores 127 Considering Diversity When Identifying and Addressing Special Needs 150 Diversity In Cognitive Processes 189 Diversity, Disabilities, and Exceptional Abilities in Metacognition 204 Diversity In Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Other Complex Thinking Processes 222 Case Study: It’s All in How You Look at Things 227
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THE BRAIN IN LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Ormrod’s Own Psychological Survey (OOPS test, Item 2) 3 Role of the Brain In Learning and Development 22 Applying Brain Research: Taking Developmental Changes in the Brain into Account 25 Applying Brain Research: Understanding and Addressing Adolescent Risk Taking 64 Challenges Associated with Poverty 110 Intelligence and the Brain 126

Cultures as Contexts 234 Schemas, Scripts, and Worldviews as Aspects of Culture 234 Communities of Practice as Aspects of Culture 236 Diversity in Student Behaviors and Reactions to Consequences 292

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Special Topics
Diversity in Self‐Regulation 323 Universality and Diversity in Basic Needs 343 Internalizing Values of One’s Social and Cultural Groups 348 Diversity in Cognitive and Sociocultural Factors Affecting Motivation 364 Diversity in Affect 375 Considering Group Differences 417 Taking Individual and Group Differences into Account 436 Working with the Community at Large 441 Getting Parents Involved in School Activities 444 Considering Cultural Differences When Working with Parents 445 Taking Students’ Cultural Backgrounds into Account 452 Teaching Testwiseness 494 Keeping Test Anxiety in Check 495 Accommodating Group Differences 500 Cultural Bias in Test Content 532 Cultural and Ethnic Differences 533 Language Differences and English Language Learners 533 A Multiple Whammy: Making the Transition to a Secondary School Format 327 Diversity in Affect 375 Socioeconomic Differences (in affect) 376 Considering Group Differences 417 Taking Individual and Group Differences into Account 436 Socioeconomic Differences (implications for classroom management) 439 Encouraging Reluctant Parents 444 Conducting Planned, Systematic Interventions 451 Addressing Aggression and Violence at School 454 A Three‐Level Approach 455 Addressing Gang‐Related Problems 456 Early Warning Signs of Possible Violent Behavior 457 Addressing Gang‐Related Problems 456 RSVP Characteristics of Informal Assessments (see section on validity) 480 Problems with High‐Stakes Testing 527

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STUDENTS AT RISK
Gangs 69 Popularity and Social Isolation 70 Aggression 73 Socioeconomic Differences 109 Challenges Associated with Poverty 110 Fostering Resilience 112 Working with Homeless Students 113 Students at Risk 113 Characteristics of Students at Risk 113 Why Students Drop Out 114 Supporting Students at Risk 114 Into the Classroom: Engaging Students at Risk in the Academic Curriculum 115 Learning Disabilities 135 Attention‐Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 137 Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 140 Considering Diversity When Identifying and Addressing Special Needs 150 Case Study: The Attention Getter 265 Addressing Especially Difficult Classroom Behaviors 290 Functional Analysis and Positive Behavior Support 290 Practice for Your Licensure Exam: Hostile Helen 296 Promoting Self‐Regulation in Students at Risk 323 Revisiting Reciprocal Causation 326
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TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS
Ormrod’s Own Psychological Survey (OOPS test, Item 7) 3 Technology and Peer Relationships 75 Experience with Technology (gender differences) 105 Adapting Instruction (for students with ADHD) 138 Adapting Instruction (for students with speech and communication disorders) 139 Adapting Instruction (for students with visual impairments) 147 Adapting Instruction (for students with hearing loss) 148 General Recommendations (for students with physical or sensory challenges) 148 General Recommendations for Working with Students Who Have Special Needs 151 Using Computer Technology to Teach Problem‐Solving Skills 215 Technological Innovations 239 Technology in Learning and Instruction 240 Technological Literacy 250 Creating a Class Website to Share Goals and Facilitate Communication throughout the School Year 391 Providing Practice through In‐Class Assignments (see discussion of computer tools) 394 Using Instructional Websites 399 Using Technology to Individualize Instruction 400 Using Computer Simulations and Games 407 Conducting Technology‐Based Collaborative Learning Activities 414 Class Websites 443 Using Digital Technologies in Classroom Assessments 498 Individual versus Group Administration of Standardized Tests 522

Compare/Contrast: Mutual Influences (Reciprocal Causation) among Environment, Behavior, and Person 327 Diversity in Cognitive and Sociocultural Factors Affecting Motivation 364 Socioeconomic Differences (in motivation) 365

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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Teaching and Educational Psychology

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
1.1: 1.2: 1.3: Explain the importance of research in classroom decision making. Draw appropriate conclusions from different types of research studies. Describe several strategies for collecting information about your own students. 1.4: 1.5: Plan long‐term strategies for gaining expertise as a teacher. Use effective strategies when you read and study.

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

CA S E S T U DY: T HE “ NO D ” P OL I C Y
Anne Smith is a ninth‐grade English teacher with 10 years of teaching experience, and by all accounts she is an excellent teacher. Even so, in previous years many of her students haven’t invested much time or energy in their writing assignments and seemingly haven’t been bothered by the Cs and Ds they’ve eventually earned in her classes. In an effort to more fully engage this year’s students in their schoolwork, Ms. Smith begins fall semester by initiating two new policies. First, to pass her course, students must earn at least a C; she won’t give anyone a final grade of D. Second, students will have multiple opportunities to revise and resubmit assignments; she’ll give whatever feedback students need— and, if necessary, one‐on‐one instruction—to help them improve their work. She solicits students’ questions and concerns about the new policies, gains their agreement to “try something new,” and engages them in a discussion of specific, concrete characteristics of A‐quality, B‐quality, and C‐quality work. Then, as the semester progresses, she regularly administers brief surveys to get students’ feedback about her innovations, asking such questions as “How is the ‘no D’ working for you?” “Do you think your grade is an accurate reflection of your learning?” and “Any suggestions?” Students’ responses on the surveys are overwhelmingly positive. Students mention noticeable improvements in the quality of their writing and increasingly report that they believe themselves to be in control of both their learning and their grades. Furthermore, they begin to see their teacher in a new light—“as one who will help them achieve their best work, not as one who just gives out grades . . . as a coach encouraging them along the long race of learning.” Final course grades also confirm the value of the new policies: A much higher percentage of students earn grades of C or better than has been true in past years. (Action research project described in A. K. Smith, 2009.)

they also work hard to help students master the information and skills. In the case study just presented, what various strategies does Ms. Smith use to foster her students’ writing development?

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Teaching other people—especially teaching the generation that will follow you into the adult world—can be one of the most rewarding professions on the planet. It can also be a very challenging profession. Certainly effective teaching involves presenting a topic or skill in such a way that students can understand and master it. Yet it involves many other things as well. For instance, teachers must motivate students to want to learn the subject matter, must help students recognize what true mastery involves, and—in order to appropriately individualize instruction—must assess where each student currently is in his or her learning and development. And, in general, effective teachers create an environment in which students believe that if they work hard and have reasonable support, they can achieve at high levels. In the opening case study, Anne Smith does all of these things. Mastering the multifaceted nature of teaching takes time and practice, of course. But it also takes knowledge about human learning and motivation, developmental trends, individual and group differences, and effective classroom practices. Such topics are the domain of educational psychology. This book will help you understand children and adolescents—how they learn and develop, how they’re likely to be similar to but also different from one another, what topics and activities are apt to engage them in the classroom, and so on. It will also give you a toolbox of strategies for planning and carrying out instruction, creating an environment that keeps students motivated and on task, and assessing students’ progress and achievement.

educational psychology
Academic discipline that (1) systematically studies the nature of learning, child development, motivation, and related topics and (2) applies its research findings to the identification and development of effective classroom practices.

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER

CHA PTER O U TL I N E
Teaching as Evidence‐Based Practice Understanding and Interpreting Research Findings
Quantitative Research Qualitative Research Interpreting Research Results: A Cautionary Note From Research to Practice: The Importance of Theories

Teaching as Evidence‐Based Practice
You yourself have been a student for many years now, and in the process you’ve undoubtedly learned a great deal about how children change over time and about how teachers can foster their learning and development. But exactly how much do you know? To help you find out, I’ve developed a short pretest, Ormrod’s Own Psychological Survey (OOPS).

Collecting Data and Drawing Conclusions about Your Own Students
Assessing Students’ Achievements and Behaviors Conducting Action Research

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND ORMROD’S OWN PSYCHOLOGICAL SURVEY
Decide whether each of the following statements is true or false. True/False ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ 1. Children most effectively acquire new knowledge and skills in the first three years of life. 2. Some children are predominantly left‐brain thinkers, whereas others are predominantly right‐brain thinkers. 3. Children’s personalities are largely the result of their home environments. 4. The best way to learn and remember a new fact is to repeat it over and over. 5. Students often misjudge how much they know about a topic. 6. Anxiety sometimes helps students learn and perform more successfully in the classroom. 7. Playing video games interferes with children’s cognitive development. 8. The ways in which teachers assess students’ learning influence what and how students actually learn.

Developing as a Teacher Strategies for Studying and Learning Effectively

Now let’s see how well you did on the OOPS. Following are the answers, along with an explanation for each one. 1. Children most effectively acquire new knowledge and skills in the first three years of life. FALSE. As brain researchers have discovered, neurons in the human brain spontaneously generate many new interconnections (synapses) in the first two or three years of life. Then, beginning in the preschool years, synapses that aren’t used gradually begin to disintegrate—a process known as synaptic pruning. Some educators have interpreted these developmental processes as an indication that the first three years of life are the most important ones for learning new skills, but nothing could be further from the truth! Synaptic pruning plays a beneficial role in children’s cognitive development, in part by eliminating unproductive and counterproductive responses and thereby making thinking and behavior more efficient. Furthermore, the human brain continues to develop in important ways throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, enabling the acquisition of increasingly sophisticated thought processes—and therefore it enables increasingly effective learning—with age (Haier, 2001; Luna & Sweeney, 2004; Steinberg, 2009). 2. Some children are predominantly left‐brain thinkers, whereas others are predominantly right‐brain thinkers. FALSE. With the development of new medical technologies in recent years, researchers have learned a great deal about how the human brain works and which parts of it specialize in which aspects of human thinking. The two halves, or hemispheres, of the brain do seem to have somewhat

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Teaching as Evidence‐Based Practice different specialties, but they continually communicate and collaborate in tackling even the simplest of daily tasks. Practically speaking, there is no such thing as left‐brain or right‐brain thinking (Bressler, 2002; M. I. Posner & Rothbart, 2007). 3. Children’s personalities are largely the result of their home environments. FALSE. Certainly children’s home environments mold their behaviors to some extent. But heredity also has a significant impact. From Day 1, infants are noticeably different in the extent to which they’re calm or fussy, shy or outgoing, fearful or adventurous, and so on. Such differences in temperament appear to have their roots in biology and genetics, and they persist throughout the childhood years and into adulthood (Kagan & Snidman, 2007; Keogh, 2003; Rothbart, 2011). 4. The best way to learn and remember a new fact is to repeat it over and over. FALSE. Although repeating information numerous times is better than doing nothing at all, repetition of specific facts is a relatively ineffective way to learn. Students learn information more easily and remember it longer when they relate it to things they already know. One especially effective strategy is elaboration: using prior knowledge to expand or embellish on a new idea in some way, perhaps by drawing inferences from a historical fact, identifying new examples of a scientific concept, or thinking of situations in which a mathematical procedure might be helpful (J. R. Anderson, 2005; Graesser & Bower, 1990). 5. Students often misjudge how much they know about a topic. TRUE. Contrary to popular opinion, students are usually not the best judges of what they do and don’t know. For example, many students think that if they’ve spent a long time studying a textbook chapter, they must know its contents very well. Yet if they’ve spent most of their study time inefficiently—perhaps by “reading” while thinking about something else altogether or by mindlessly copying definitions— they may know far less than they think they do (N. J. Stone, 2000; Thiede, Griffin, Wiley, & Redford, 2009). 6. Anxiety sometimes helps students learn and perform more successfully in the classroom. TRUE. Many people think that anxiety is always a bad thing. In fact, a little bit of anxiety can actually improve learning and performance, especially when students perceive a task to be something they can accomplish with reasonable effort. For instance, a small, manageable amount of anxiety can spur students to complete their work carefully and to study for tests (Cassady, 2010b; N. E. Perry, Turner, & Meyer, 2006; Shipman & Shipman, 1985). 7. Playing video games interferes with children’s cognitive development. FALSE—or more accurately, NOT NECESSARILY. A great deal of time spent playing video games instead of reading, doing homework, and engaging in other school‐related activities can definitely interfere with children’s long‐term academic success. But some video games can be powerful tools for promoting important cognitive abilities and life skills. For example, practice in using a joystick to quickly move people or animals on a computer screen can significantly enhance young children’s ability to focus and maintain their attention—an ability that then transfers to many other situations and tasks (M. I. Posner & Rothbart, 2007). And increasingly, educational technologists have been designing highly motivating video games that simulate real‐world problems and foster complex problem‐solving skills (e.g., Barab, Gresalfi, & Ingram‐Goble, 2010; Gee, 2010). 8. The ways in which teachers assess students’ learning influence what and how students actually learn. TRUE. What and how students learn depend, in part, on how they expect their learning to be assessed. For example, students typically spend more time studying the things they think will be on a test than the things they think the test won’t cover, and they’re more likely to pull class material into an integrated, meaningful whole if they expect assessment activities to require such integration (N. Frederiksen, 1984b; Lundeberg & Fox, 1991). We see this principle in action in the opening case study: Anne Smith’s “No D” and multiple‐submission policies encourage students to seek feedback about their work, benefit from their mistakes, and enhance their writing skills. How many of the OOPS items did you answer correctly? Did some of the false items seem convincing enough that you marked them true? Did one or more of the true items contradict certain beliefs you had? If either of these was the case, you’re hardly alone. College students often agree with statements that seem obvious but are, in fact, completely wrong (Gage, 1991; Lennon, Ormrod, Burger, & Warren, 1990).

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The brain’s structure, functioning, and development are discussed in Chapter 2 and in Applying Brain Research features throughout the book.

Chapter 3 discusses temperament and personality development.

Chapter 6 discusses elaboration and its implications for instructional practice.

Chapter 7 describes this illusion of knowing in more detail.

Chapter 11 explores anxiety’s effects in different situations.

Chapter 3 describes potential adverse effects of violent video games on children’s aggression. Chapter 12 explores potential benefits of appropriately designed video games.

Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 explore numerous ways in which assessment practices affect students’ learning.

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elaboration Cognitive process in which learners embellish on new information based on what they already know.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER It’s easy to be persuaded by common sense and assume that what seems logical must be true. Yet common sense and logic don’t always give us the real scoop about how people actually learn and develop, nor do they always give us accurate information about how best to help students succeed in the classroom. Instead, our knowledge about learning and instruction must come from a more objective source of information—that is, from systematic research. As professionals, teachers are decision makers who must choose among many, many possible strategies for helping students learn and develop. Certainly teaching is an art to some degree: Effective teachers are creative and innovative, and they add many imaginative touches to enhance the things they do in the classroom. But that art must be based on a firm foundation of research findings both about how human beings learn and about how teachers can help them learn effectively; in other words, it must be based on the science of learning and the science of instruction. Ultimately, good teaching involves evidence‐based practices—the use of instructional methods and other classroom strategies that research has consistently shown to bring about significant gains in students’ development and academic achievement.

Effective teachers are passionate about what they do. Watch the many “Why I Teach” videos in .

Understanding and Interpreting Research Findings
Historically, most research related to learning, development, and educational practice has been quantitative research; that is, it has involved collecting data that either take the form of numbers or can easily be converted into numbers. These numbers are tabulated and usually statistically analyzed to determine underlying trends and other patterns in the data. For example, we’re apt to get quantitative information from students’ performance on achievement tests, students’ responses to rating‐scale questionnaires, and school district records of students’ attendance and dropout rates. In recent years, educational researchers have also made considerable use of qualitative research, in which they examine complex phenomena that can’t easily be reduced to numerical values. For example, a qualitative research study might involve lengthy interviews in which students describe their hopes for the future, a detailed case study of interpersonal relationships within a tight‐knit clique of teenage girls, or in‐depth observations of particular teachers who create distinctly different psychological “climates” in their classrooms. To a considerable degree, the research study described at the beginning of the chapter is a quantitative one: Anne Smith tabulates students’ responses to various survey questions and computes the percentages of various final class grades. But when she collects the completed surveys, she also looks closely at students’ specific comments and suggestions—qualitative information. Not all research on learning and instruction is good research, of course. Furthermore, people sometimes draw inappropriate conclusions from even the best of research studies. It’s important, therefore, that teachers understand what various kinds of research studies can and cannot tell us about learning and instruction.

evidence‐based practice
Instructional method or other classroom strategy that research has consistently shown to bring about significant gains in students’ development and/or academic achievement.

quantitative research Research yielding information that is inherently numerical in nature or can easily be reduced to numbers. qualitative research Research yielding information that cannot easily be reduced to numbers; typically involves an in‐depth examination of a complex phenomenon. descriptive study Research study that enables researchers to draw conclusions about the current state of affairs regarding an issue but not about correlation or cause–and–effect relationships. correlational study Research study that explores possible associations among two or more variables. correlation Extent to which two variables are associated, such that when one variable increases, the other either increases or decreases somewhat predictably.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative research studies vary widely in nature, but you might think of them as falling into four general categories: descriptive, correlational, experimental, and quasi‐experimental. These categories yield different kinds of information and warrant different kinds of conclusions. DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES A descriptive study does exactly what its name implies: It describes a situation. Descriptive studies might give us information about the characteristics of students, teachers, or schools. They might also provide information about how often certain events or behaviors occur. In general, descriptive studies enable us to draw conclusions about the way things are—the current state of affairs. CORRELATIONAL STUDIES A correlational study explores possible associations among two or more variables. For instance, it might tell us how closely various human characteristics are associated with one another, or it might give us information about the consistency with which certain human behaviors occur in conjunction with certain environmental conditions. In general, correlational studies enable us to draw conclusions about correlation: the extent to which two characteristics or phenomena

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Understanding and Interpreting Research Findings tend to be found together or to change together. Two variables are correlated when one tends to increase as the other increases (a positive correlation) or when one tends to decrease as the other increases (a negative correlation). Correlations are often described numerically with a statistic known as a correlation coefficient. Sometimes correlational studies involve comparing two or more groups that differ with respect to a particular characteristic, such as age, gender, or background.1 For example, a correlational study might compare the average achievement test scores of boys and girls, or it might investigate whether young children who have had considerable exposure to reading materials at home learn to read more quickly at school than children without such exposure. Any correlation between two variables allows us to make predictions about one variable if we know the status of the other. For example, if we find that 15‐year‐olds are more capable of abstract thought than 10‐year‐olds—in other words, if age and abstract thinking ability are correlated—we can predict that high school students will benefit more from an abstract discussion of democratic government than fourth graders will. And if we find that children learn to read more easily if they’ve had many previous experiences with books at home, we might take proactive steps to enhance the early literacy skills of children without such experiences. In general, although correlational studies demonstrate that an association exists, they can never tell us for certain why it exists. They don’t tell us what specific factors—previous experiences, personality, motivation, or perhaps other things we haven’t thought of—are the cause of the association we see. In other words, correlation does not necessarily indicate causation. EXPERIMENTAL AND QUASI‐EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES Descriptive and correlational studies describe things as they exist or have previously existed naturally in the environment. In contrast, an experimental study is a study in which the researcher intentionally changes, or manipulates, one or more aspects of the environment (called independent variables) and then measures the effects of such changes on something else. In educational research the “something else” being affected (called the dependent variable) is often some aspect of student behavior—perhaps end‐of‐semester grades, persistence in trying to solve difficult math problems, or ability to interact appropriately with peers. In a good experiment a researcher separates and controls variables, testing the possible effects of one independent variable while holding all other potentially influential variables constant. Some experimental studies involve giving a single group of individuals two or more distinct treatments and comparing the specific effects of each treatment. Other experimental studies involve two or more groups that are treated differently. The following are examples. to two different groups of students. (Instructional method is the independent variable.) The researcher then assesses the students’ reading ability (the dependent variable) and compares the average performances of the two groups. woodworking skills. (Amount of practice is the independent variable.) The researcher subsequently scores the quality of each student’s woodworking project (the dependent variable) and compares the average quality scores of the three groups. improve their study skills. The researcher gives another group either no instruction or, better still, instruction in subject matter unrelated to study skills. (Presence or absence of instruction in study skills is the independent variable.) The researcher later assesses the students’ study skills and obtains their grade point averages (two dependent variables) to see whether the program had an effect. Each of these examples includes one or more treatment groups, which are recipients of a planned intervention. The third example also includes a control group, which receives either no intervention or a placebo intervention that is unlikely to affect the dependent variable(s) in question.
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Correlation coefficients are described in Appendix A.

experimental study Research study that involves both (1) the manipulation of one variable to determine its possible effect on another variable and (2) control of additional variables that might potentially have an impact on the outcome; allows conclusions about cause–and–effect relationships. treatment group Group of people in a research study who are given a particular experimental intervention (e.g., a particular method of instruction). control group Group of people in a research study who are given either no intervention or a placebo treatment that is unlikely to have an effect on the dependent variable.

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Such group‐comparison studies are sometimes called causal‐comparative studies. However, as B. Johnson (2001) has pointed out, this label may mislead us to believe that such studies reveal cause–and–effect relationships, when in fact they do not.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER In many experimental studies, participants are assigned to groups randomly—for instance, by drawing names out of a hat. Such random assignment is apt to yield groups that are, on average, roughly equivalent on other variables (e.g., ability levels, personality characteristics, motivation) that might affect the dependent variable. Random assignment to groups isn’t always possible or practical, however, especially in research studies conducted in actual schools and classrooms. For example, when studying the potential benefits of a new teaching technique or therapeutic intervention, a researcher may not be able to completely control which students receive the experimental treatment and which do not, or a particular treatment or intervention may have important benefits for all students. In such situations, researchers often conduct a quasi‐experimental study, in which they take into account but do not complete control other influential factors. The following are examples. identifies a comparable high school without such a program to serve as a control group. The researcher obtains achievement test data for students at both schools both before and after the program’s implementation. Ideally, the average test scores for the two high schools will be the same before the program begins but different after its implementation. (Such an approach is known as a pretest–posttest study.) the playground. The researchers present the instructional intervention to first graders one week, second graders the following week, and kindergartners and third graders the week after that. The researchers monitor students’ playground behavior before, during, and after the intervention to determine whether each grade‐level group’s risky playground behavior decreases immediately after its intervention. (Such an approach is known as a multiple‐baselines study; study described is by Heck, Collins, & Peterson, 2001.) When researchers conduct such quasi‐experimental studies, they don’t control for all potentially influential variables and so can’t completely rule out alternative explanations for the results they obtain. For instance, in the after‐school homework program example, possibly the school getting the new homework program—but only that school—has simultaneously begun to use more effective instructional methods, and those methods are the reason for any increase in achievement scores. And in the playground safety example, perhaps certain other things coincidentally happened in the four classrooms during their respective safety‐instructions weeks, and those things were the true cause of children’s behavior improvement. When carefully designed and conducted, experimental studies and, to a lesser degree, quasi‐experimental studies enable us to draw conclusions about causation—about why behaviors occur. Yet for practical or ethical reasons, many important questions in education don’t easily lend themselves to experimental manipulation and tight control of other potentially influential variables. For instance, although we might reasonably hypothesize that children can better master difficult math concepts if they receive individual tutoring, most public school systems can’t afford such a luxury, and it would be unfair to provide tutoring for some students and deny it to a control group of other, equally needy students. And, of course, it would be highly unethical to study the effects of aggression by intentionally placing some children in a violent environment. Some important educational questions, then, can be addressed only with descriptive or correlational studies, even though such studies can’t help us pin down precise cause–and–effect relationships. Columns 2, 3, and 4 of Table 1.1 contrast descriptive, correlational, and experimental and quasi‐experimental studies and give examples of the kinds of questions each type of study might address.

quasi‐experimental study Research study that involves the manipulation of one variable to determine its possible effect on another variable, but without total control of additional variables that might have an impact on the outcome.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Rather than address questions related to quantity—questions regarding how much, how many, or how frequently—researchers sometimes want to look in depth at the nature of certain characteristics or behaviors. Imagine, for example, that a researcher wants to find out what kinds of study strategies high‐achieving students tend to use. One approach would be simply to ask the students questions such as “What things do you do to help you remember what you read in your textbooks?” and “How do you prepare for tests in your classes?” Students’ responses to such open‐ended questions are apt to go in many different directions, sometimes focusing on various

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Understanding and Interpreting Research Findings

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TABLE 1.1
Descriptive Studies
General Nature and Purposes state of affairs regarding a real‐world issue or problem.

C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH STUDIES Correlational Studies characteristics, behaviors, and/ or environmental conditions. variable, given knowledge of the degree or quantity of another variable. experimental manipulations are unethical or impossible.

Experimental and Quasi‐Experimental Studies
(independent) variable in order to observe its possible effect on another (dependent) variable. tions for observed outcomes (especially in carefully controlled experimental studies). and–effect relationships. alternative explanations for observed outcomes (especially true for quasi‐experimental studies). laboratory conditions that don’t resemble real‐life learning environments (true for many tightly controlled experimental studies).

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH STUDIES multifaceted nature of human behavior, especially in real‐world social settings.

Limitations (1) predictions about one variable based on another variable or (2) conclusions about cause–and–effect relationships. cause–and–effect relationships.

dictions or conclusions about cause–and–effect relationships.

Examples of Questions That Might Be Addressed

gender stereotypes in popular children’s literature? sive behaviors occur in schools, and with what frequencies?

spellers?

produces greater gains in reading comprehension?

achieving students say they do “in their heads” when they read and study their textbooks? characterize high schools in which members of various adolescent gangs interact congenially and respectfully? ers’ instructional practices change when their jobs and salaries depend on their students’ scores on statewide or national achievement tests?

aggressive at school if they often see violence at home or in their neighborhoods?

in reducing aggressive behavior—reinforcing appropriate behavior, punishing aggressive behavior, or a combination of both?

students performed on a recent national achievement test?

class grades correlated with their scores on achievement tests?

multiple choice vs. essay tests) encourage students to study in different ways?

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behaviors (e.g., taking notes, working on practice problems) and at other times focusing on various mental processes (e.g., trying to make sense of a passage, generating new examples of concepts). Although it might be possible to categorize students’ responses and count those falling into each category (thereby obtaining some quantitative data), the researcher may also want to preserve the multifaceted qualities of students’ responses by reporting lengthy excerpts from the interviews. Qualitative research is often used to explore the complex nature of human behavior in social settings—perhaps in particular social groups, classrooms, schools, or cultures. For instance, in‐depth qualitative studies have contributed in important ways to our knowledge of school characteristics that affect the academic and social success of students from diverse backgrounds (e.g., Hemmings, 2004; Ladson‐Billings, 1995b; Ogbu, 2003). The right‐most column of Table 1.1 presents examples of questions that might best be answered by qualitative research. Ultimately, you shouldn’t think of quantitative and qualitative research as an either‐or situation. Like Anne Smith in the opening case study, many educational researchers effectively combine elements of both quantitative and qualitative research in what is known as a

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER mixed‐methods study. For example, in a study described in the American Educational Research Journal in 1999, researchers Melissa Roderick and Eric Camburn tracked more than 27,000 students’ academic progress as they made the transition from small elementary or middle schools to much larger high schools in the Chicago public school system. Many students showed a sharp decline in academic achievement in ninth grade, their first year of high school. More than 40% of first‐semester ninth graders (males especially) failed at least one course, and students who achieved at low levels early in their high school career were more likely to drop out before graduation. Such troubling findings are examples of quantitative data, but the researchers also obtained qualitative information that can help us understand the data. For instance, they described a student named Anna, who had done well in her neighborhood K–8 school and seemingly had the basic skills she needed to successfully tackle a high school curriculum. Unfortunately, Anna was overwhelmed by the new demands that her ninth‐grade classes placed on her, and her first‐semester final grades included several Ds and an F. In an interview with one of the researchers, she gave the following explanation:

mixed‐methods study Research study that includes elements of both quantitative and qualitative research.

[In geography, the teacher] said the reason why I got a lower grade is ’cause I missed one assignment and I had to do a report, and I forgot that one. [In English,] I got a C . . . ’cause we were supposed to keep a journal, and I keep on forgetting it ’cause I don’t have a locker. Well I do, but my locker partner she lets her cousins use it, and I lost my two books there. . . . I would forget to buy a notebook, and then I would have them on separate pieces of paper, and I would lose them. [And, in biology,] the reason I failed was because I lost my folder . . . it had everything I needed, and I had to do it again, and, by the time I had to turn in the new folder, I did, but he said it was too late . . . . (Roderick & Camburn, 1999, p. 305)

Additionally, the interview revealed Anna’s perception of most school faculty members as being uncaring, inattentive to students’ difficulties, and inflexible in evaluating students’ achievement. If Anna’s behaviors, experiences, and perceptions are common ones—and apparently they are—they point to the need for greater faculty support as students make the transition from a close‐knit elementary or K–8 school to a more impersonal high school environment. This support might not only be emotional but also academic—for instance, including instruction and guidance in organizational skills and effective study habits. We must be careful in drawing such inferences, however. Qualitative data are essentially descriptive in nature. Just as is true for a descriptive quantitative study, a qualitative study tells us how things are rather than what causes what. Any hypotheses about cause–and–effect relationships are only that—hypotheses—that ideally should be tested with experimental, quantitative studies.

INTERPRETING RESEARCH RESULTS: A CAUTIONARY NOTE
Whenever we look at the results of a research study, we can determine that a particular condition or intervention has led to a particular outcome—that is, there is a cause–and–effect relationship between the two—only if we’ve eliminated all other possible explanations for the results we’ve observed. As an example, imagine that Hometown School District wants to find out which of two reading programs, Reading Is Great (RIG) or Reading and You (RAY), leads to better reading in third grade. The district asks each of its third‐grade teachers to choose one of these two reading programs and use it throughout the school year. The district then compares the end‐of‐year achievement test scores of students in the RIG and RAY classrooms and finds that RIG students have substantially higher reading comprehension scores than RAY students. We might quickly jump to the conclusion that RIG promotes better reading comprehension than RAY—in other words, that a cause–and–effect relationship exists between the instructional method and reading comprehension. But is this really so? Not necessarily. The fact is, the school district hasn’t eliminated all other possible explanations for the difference in students’ reading comprehension scores. Remember, the third‐grade teachers personally selected the instructional program they used. Were the teachers who chose RIG different in some way from those who chose RAY? For instance, were RIG teachers more open‐minded and enthusiastic about using innovative methods, did they have higher expectations for their students, or did they devote more class time to reading? Or, perhaps, did the RIG teachers have students who were, on average, better readers to begin with? If the RIG and RAY

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Collecting Data and Drawing Conclusions about Your Own Students classrooms were different from each other in any of these ways—or perhaps different in some other way we haven’t thought of—then the district hasn’t eliminated alternative explanations for why the RIG students have acquired better reading skills than the RAY students. A better way to study the causal influence of a reading program on reading comprehension would be to randomly assign third‐grade classes to the RIG and RAY programs, thereby making the two groups similar (on average) in terms of student abilities and teacher characteristics. Be careful that you don’t jump too quickly to conclusions about what factors are affecting students’ learning, development, and behavior in particular research studies. Scrutinize research reports carefully, always with these questions in mind: Have the researchers separated and controlled variables that might have an influence on the outcome? Have they ruled out other possible explanations for their results? Only when the answers to these questions are undeniably yes and yes should you draw a conclusion about a cause–and–effect relationship.

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Draw conclusions about cause– and–effect relationships only when other possible explanations for an outcome have been eliminated.

FROM RESEARCH TO PRACTICE: THE IMPORTANCE OF THEORIES
Some research studies have obvious, direct implications for educational practice. Other studies contribute to educational practice indirectly through the theories that researchers develop to integrate and explain their findings. In these theories, researchers typically speculate about the underlying (and often unobservable) mechanisms involved in thinking, learning, development, motivation, or some other aspect of human functioning. By giving us ideas about such underlying mechanisms, theories can ultimately help us create learning environments that facilitate students’ learning and achievement to the greatest extent possible. Let’s take an example. One prominent theory of how people learn—information processing theory—proposes that attention is an essential ingredient in the learning process. More specifically, if a learner pays attention to new information, the information moves from the first component of the human memory system (the sensory register) to the second component (working memory). If the learner doesn’t pay attention, the information disappears from the memory system; in the words of a common expression, the information “goes in one ear and out the other.” The importance of attention in information processing theory suggests that strategies that capture and maintain students’ attention—perhaps presenting interesting reading materials or intriguing real‐world problems—are apt to enhance students’ learning and achievement. Psychological theories are rarely, if ever, set in stone. Instead, they’re continually expanded and modified as additional data come to light, and in some cases one theory may be abandoned in favor of another that better explains a particular phenomenon. Furthermore, different theories focus on different aspects of human functioning, and psychologists haven’t yet pulled them together into a single mega‐theory that adequately accounts for all the diverse phenomena and experiences that comprise human existence. Although current theories related to thinking, learning, development, motivation, and behavior will inevitably change in the future, they can be quite useful even in their unfinished forms. They help us integrate thousands of research studies into concise understandings of how children typically learn and develop, and they enable us to draw inferences and make predictions about how students are apt to perform and achieve in particular classroom situations. In general, theories help us to both explain and predict human behavior, thereby giving us numerous ideas about how best to promote students’ academic and social success at school.

Chapter 6 describes information processing theory in depth.

Collecting Data and Drawing Conclusions about Your Own Students
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Certainly the collection and interpretation of data aren’t restricted only to highly trained researchers who work in universities and research laboratories. In fact, practicing teachers continually collect and interpret data about their own students through formal and informal assessments of students’ written work and classroom behaviors. Furthermore, many teachers plan and conduct their own research to help them better understand their students and schools—a process known as action research.

theory Integrated set of concepts and principles developed to explain a particular phenomenon.

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 1.1 Seven‐year‐old Justin’s story “The Pet Who Came to Dinner”

ASSESSING STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENTS AND BEHAVIORS

Use assessment results to form hypotheses—but not to draw hard‐and‐fast conclusions— about students’ current characteristics and abilities and about effective instructional strategies.

Most teachers regularly assess what their students know and can do, perhaps through assignments, projects, oral presentations, and quizzes. But effective teachers don’t limit themselves only to such formal, planned evaluations. They continually observe their students in a variety of contexts—not only in the classroom but also in the hallways and cafeteria, on the playground, during parent–teacher conferences, and so on—for clues about what students might be thinking, believing, feeling, and learning. Students’ comments, questions, body language, work habits, and interactions with friends and classmates can provide valuable insights into their learning, development, and motivation. To get your feet wet in the process of assessment, read 7‐year‐old Justin’s short story “The Pet Who Came to Dinner,” presented in Figure 1.1. As you read it, consider what you might conclude about Justin’s progress in writing. Consider, too, what inferences you might make about Justin’s family and home life. As you can see, Justin has learned how to spell some words (e.g., dinner, came) but not others (e.g., he spells once as “owans” and started as “stor did”). Overall, he knows which alphabet letters represent which sounds in speech, but he sometimes reverses the letter d so that it looks like a b, and he occasionally leaves out sounds in his word spellings (e.g., his spelling of drink begins with b and omits the n sound). Justin has made some progress in common spelling patterns (e.g., the ‐ing suffix for verbs) and in the use of periods and apostrophes. He has learned to tell a simple story, but he does so merely by listing a series of seemingly unrelated events, and he hasn’t yet learned that the title of a story should appear in a line by itself, centered at the top of the page. Justin’s story offers a few hints about home life as well. For instance, it appears that Justin lives with two parents, and he talks about the pet reading the newspaper (“nuwspapr”), suggesting that reading is a familiar activity in the home. Are such inferences about Justin accurate? Not necessarily. The conclusions we reach about our students are— like the theories that researchers formulate about learning and development—only reasonable guesses based on the evidence at hand. We must think of such conclusions as tentative hypotheses to be tested further, rather than as indisputable facts.

CONDUCTING ACTION RESEARCH
Like Anne Smith in the opening case study, teachers sometimes have questions that existing research findings don’t fully answer. In action research, teachers conduct systematic studies of issues and problems in their own schools, with the goal of seeking more effective strategies in working with students. For instance, an action research project might involve examining the effectiveness of a new teaching technique, seeking students’ opinions on a controversial school policy, or ascertaining reasons why many students rarely complete homework assignments. Any action research study typically involves the following steps (Mills, 2011): 1. Identify an area of focus. The teacher–researcher begins with a problem and gathers preliminary information that might shed light on the problem, perhaps by reading relevant books or journal articles, surfing the Internet, or discussing the issue with colleagues or students. The teacher–researcher then identifies one or more specific questions to address and develops a research plan (data collection techniques, necessary resources, schedule, etc.) for answering those questions. At this point, the teacher also seeks permission from school administrators and any other appropriate authorities to conduct the study. Depending on the nature of the study, parents’ permission may be necessary as well. 2. Collect data. The teacher–researcher collects data relevant to the research questions. Such data might, for example, be obtained from questionnaires, interviews, achievement tests, students’ journals or portfolios, existing school records (e.g., attendance patterns, school suspension rates), observations, or any combination of these. 3. Analyze and interpret the data. The teacher–researcher looks for patterns in the data. Sometimes the analysis involves computing particular statistics (e.g., percentages, averages,

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action research Research conducted by teachers and other school personnel to address issues and problems in their own schools or classrooms.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Developing as a Teacher correlation coefficients)—this would be a quantitative study. At other times, the analysis involves an in‐depth, nonnumerical inspection of the data—this would be a qualitative study. In either case, the teacher–researcher relates the findings to the original research questions. 4. Develop an action plan. The final step distinguishes action research from the more traditional research studies described earlier in the chapter. In particular, the teacher–researcher uses the information collected to take action—for instance, to change instructional strategies, school policies, or the classroom environment. Many colleges and universities now offer courses in action research. You can also find inexpensive paperback books on the topic (e.g., Cochran‐Smith & Lytle, 1993; Craig, 2009; Mills, 2011; A. P. Johnson, 2012). pedagogical content knowledge

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Knowledge about effective methods of teaching a specific topic or content area.

Developing as a Teacher
As a beginning teacher, you may initially find your role a bit overwhelming. Virtually any classroom will be one of nonstop action requiring you to be constantly attentive and on your toes, and there will always be a great deal to think about. If you are currently enrolled in a teacher education program, you should think of your program as a very good start on the road to becoming a skillful teacher (Bransford, Darling‐ Hammond, & LePage, 2005; Brouwer & Korthagen, 2005). However, it is only a start. Developing true expertise in any profession, including teaching, takes many years of experience to acquire, but even a single year of teaching experience can make a significant difference (Berliner, 2001; Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007; Henry, Bastian, & Fortner, 2011). So be patient with yourself, and recognize that occasionally feeling a bit unsure and making mistakes is par for the course. As you gain experience, you’ll gradually become able to make decisions about routine situations and problems quickly and efficiently, giving you the time and energy to think creatively and flexibly about how best to teach classroom subject matter (Borko & Putnam, 1996; Bransford, Derry, Berliner, & Hammerness, 2005; Feldon, 2007). Conducting action research is, of course, one effective way of developing your knowledge and skills as a teacher. But in addition, I offer the following strategies—all of them based on research on teacher effectiveness. Keep up to date on research findings and innovations in education. Additional university coursework and in‐service training sessions at your school are two good ways to increase your teaching effectiveness (Desimone, 2009; Hattie, 2009; McDonald, Robles‐Piña, & Polnick, 2011). In addition, effective teachers typically subscribe to one or more professional journals, and as time allows, they occasionally attend professional conferences in their area. Learn as much as you can about the subject matter you teach. When we look at effective teachers—for example, those who are flexible in their approaches to instruction, help students develop a thorough understanding of classroom topics, and convey obvious enthusiasm for whatever they’re teaching—we typically find teachers who know their subject matter extremely well (Borko & Putnam, 1996; Cochran & Jones, 1998; H. C. Hill et al., 2008). Learn as much as you can about specific strategies for teaching your particular subject matter. In addition to knowing general teaching strategies, it’s helpful to acquire strategies specific to the topic you’re teaching—strategies that are collectively known as pedagogical content knowledge. Effective teachers typically have a large number of strategies for teaching particular topics and skills. Furthermore, they can usually anticipate—and so can also address—the difficulties students will have and the kinds of errors students will make in the process of mastering a skill or body of knowledge (Baumert et al., 2010; Borko & Putnam, 1996; Krauss et al., 2008; L. S. Shulman, 1986). Learn as much as you can about the culture(s) of the community in which you are working. Students are more likely to do well in school when the school curriculum and classroom environment take the students’ cultural backgrounds into account (Brayboy & Searle, 2007; Moje & Hinchman, 2004; Tyler et al., 2008). Reading about various cultures can be helpful, of course. But ideally, you can best inform yourself about students’ cultural beliefs and practices if you participate in local community activities and converse regularly with community members (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; McIntyre, 2010).

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You can find discussions of cultural differences in many chapters of this book, and especially in Chapter 4.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER Continually reflect on and critically examine your assumptions, inferences, and teaching practices. In the opening case study, Anne Smith reflects on her students’ performance in previous years and then institutes new assessment policies that she thinks might be more motivating and productive. Like Ms. Smith, effective teachers engage in reflective teaching: They continually examine and critique their assumptions, inferences, and instructional practices, and they regularly adjust their beliefs and strategies in the face of new evidence (Hammerness, Darling‐ Hammond, & Bransford, 2005; T. Hogan, Rabinowitz, & Craven, 2003; Larrivee, 2006). Communicate and collaborate with colleagues. Effective teachers rarely work in isolation. Instead, they frequently communicate with colleagues in their own school district, across the nation, and, often, in other countries. Furthermore, they regularly coordinate their efforts to enhance students’ learning and personal well‐being at a schoolwide level (Bransford, Darling‐Hammond, et al., 2005; Raudenbush, 2009). Teacher lounges, e‐mail, Internet websites, and blogs—all of these can potentially offer ideas for lesson plans and instructional activities on a wide range of topics. One helpful resource is www.tappedin.org, an online community of educators from around the world. You should also look at the websites of professional organizations related to your field; websites for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (www.nctm. org) and the National Council for the Social Studies (www.socialstudies.org) are just two of the many possibilities. Keep in mind, too, that even the most masterful of teachers had to begin their teaching careers as novices, and they probably entered their first classroom with the same concerns and uncertainties that you may initially have. Most experienced teachers are happy to offer you advice and support during challenging times. In fact, they’re apt to be flattered that you’re asking them! Believe that you can make a difference in students’ lives. In general, human beings achieve at higher levels in their endeavors when they have high self‐efficacy—that is, when they believe they are capable of executing certain behaviors or reaching certain goals. Students are more likely to try to learn something if they believe they can learn it—in other words, if they have high self‐efficacy. But as a teacher, you, too, must have high self‐efficacy. Believing that you can be a good teacher will give you confidence to try new strategies and help you persist in the face of occasional setbacks. Students who achieve at high levels are apt to be those whose teachers have confidence that, as teachers, they can make a genuine difference as they work both individually in their classrooms and collectively with their colleagues (J. A. Langer, 2000; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2008; Tschannen‐Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998). Ultimately, what teachers do in the classroom matters for students, not only in the short term but for years to come (Hattie, 2009; Konstantopoulos & Chung, 2011).

reflective teaching Regular, ongoing examination and critique of one’s assumptions and instructional strategies, and revision of them as necessary to enhance students’ learning and development. self‐efficacy Belief that one is capable of executing certain behaviors or reaching certain goals.

Chapter 10 discusses the nature and effects of self‐efficacy.

Strategies for Studying and Learning Effectively
You’ll learn much more about effective learning and study strategies in upcoming chapters, especially in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7.

As you learn more about educational psychology—and especially as you learn about the nature of human thinking and learning—you’ll gain many insights into how you can help students more effectively master classroom subject matter. I hope you’ll also gain insights into how you yourself can better learn and remember course material. For now, I suggest five general strategies. Relate what you read to your existing knowledge and prior experiences. For example, connect new concepts and principles with memorable childhood events, previous coursework, or your general knowledge about human beings and their behavior. In general, people learn and remember things more easily and effectively when they engage in meaningful learning—that is, when they connect new information and ideas to things they’ve previously learned. Actively consider how some new information might contradict your existing beliefs. As the earlier OOPS test may have shown you, some of what you currently “know” and believe may be sort‐of‐but‐not‐quite accurate or even out‐and‐out inaccurate. People’s existing beliefs can occasionally wreak havoc with new learning. For example, many students in teacher education classes reject research findings that appear to be inconsistent with their personal beliefs and experiences (Darling‐Hammond, 2006; Gregoire, 2003; Richardson, 2003).

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Strategies for Studying and Learning Effectively As you read about and study educational psychology, then, think about how some ideas and research findings might actually contradict and discredit your prior “knowledge.” When you encounter puzzling or seemingly “wrong” ideas and findings, I hope you’ll keep an open mind and, in particular, consider how and why they might have some validity and worth. Ideally, effective learners undergo conceptual change: They revise their existing notions to accommodate new and discrepant information. Tie abstract concepts and principles to concrete examples. Children become increasingly able to think about abstract ideas as they get older, but people of all ages can more readily understand and remember abstract information when they tie it to concrete objects and events. Short examples and lengthier case studies that involve real children and teachers, videos that depict classrooms in action, Experiencing Firsthand exercises such as my OOPS test—all of these can enhance your understanding and memory of new concepts and help you recognize them when you see them in your own work with children and adolescents. Elaborate on what you read, going beyond it and adding to it. Earlier in the chapter I mentioned that the process of elaboration—using prior knowledge to embellish on new information— enhances learning and memory of the information. So try to think beyond the information you read. Draw inferences from the ideas presented. Generate new examples of concepts. Identify your own educational applications of various principles of learning, development, and motivation. Periodically check yourself to make sure you remember and understand what you have read. There are times when even the most diligent students don’t concentrate on what they’re reading— when they’re actually thinking about something else as their eyes go down the page. So stop once in a while (perhaps once every two or three pages) to make sure you have really learned and understood the things you’ve been reading. Try to summarize the material. Ask yourself questions about it. Make sure everything makes sense to you. Tackle the “Practice for Your Licensure Exam” exercises that appear at the end of each chapter. Check your mastery of various concepts by doing . activities and taking quizzes in When all is said and done, your goal in studying educational psychology isn’t to memorize enough facts that you can get good grades on tests and quizzes. Instead, your goal is to become the best teacher—and also the best learner—you can possibly be. As you look forward to your entry into the teaching profession, I urge you to be confident that with time, practice, a solid understanding of how children and adolescents learn and develop, a large toolkit of instructional strategies, and every student’s best interests at heart, you can truly make a significant difference in young people’s lives.

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Chapter 6 explores meaningful learning and conceptual change in greater depth.

Chapter 2 discusses the development of abstract thinking and other significant cognitive advancements during the school years.

For additional strategies, read “Study Tips.”

1 What Have You Learned?
The beginning of the chapter lists five learning outcomes—five general things you should accomplish—while reading and studying this chapter. Let’s return now to these outcomes and identify key points related to each one. ■ 1.1: Explain the importance of research in classroom decision making. As teachers, we must make countless daily decisions about how to interact with, instruct, and guide students in our classrooms. Although we can sometimes use simple common sense in making these decisions, such “sense” may occasionally lead us to draw unwarranted, even inaccurate, conclusions. We are most likely to make good decisions—those that maximize students’ learning and development over the long run—when we base them on contemporary research findings and on theoretical syntheses of those findings.
Evaluate your knowledge related to this learning outcome in .

■ 1.2: Draw appropriate conclusions from different types of research studies. Knowledge of findings from both quantitative and qualitative research can greatly enhance our teaching effectiveness, but different kinds of studies are appropriate for different kinds of issues and conclusions. Qualitative studies and descriptive quantitative studies can yield a great deal of information about how things are at the present time. Correlational quantitative studies enable conclusions about what variables are associated with what other variables. But only carefully controlled experimental studies—and, to a lesser extent, quasi‐experimental studies—yield dependable conclusions about what causes what.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

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■ 1.3: Describe several strategies for collecting information about your own students. To be effective teachers, we must

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CHAPTER colleagues and community members, and, of course, our own action research.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

regularly collect data about our students, sometimes by giving them preplanned assignments or quizzes and sometimes by observing them “on the fly” as they act and interact in class, on the playground, and elsewhere. In addition, we may often find it helpful to conduct action research in order to address questions about our own particular students or about local issues and concerns.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 1.4: Plan long‐term strategies for gaining expertise as a teacher. Truly effective teachers are also life‐long learners. To maximize our development as teachers, we must think critically and reflectively about our assumptions, beliefs, and classroom strategies. We must also continue to modify what we think and do as we acquire new information related to our profession. Such information can come from a variety of sources, including formal coursework, in‐service training sessions, professional journals and conferences, Internet websites, consultation with

■ 1.5: Use effective strategies when you read and study. Successful learning is active, strategic learning. A few simple strategies can greatly enhance your learning and memory of what you read and study. In particular, I urge you to (1) connect new concepts and principles to things you already know; (2) reconsider your existing beliefs when new information potentially discredits them; (3) tie abstract ideas to concrete examples; (4) embellish (elaborate) on the concepts and principles you learn, perhaps by drawing inferences or thinking of potential applications; and (5) regularly check yourself to make sure you understand and can remember what you’ve read—for instance, by summarizing it or asking yourself questions about it.
Evaluate your knowledge related to this learning outcome in .

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
New Software
High school math teacher Mr. Gualtieri begins his class one Monday with an important announcement: “Our school has just purchased a new instructional software program for the school’s computer lab. This program, called Problem‐Excel, will give you practice in applying the mathematical concepts and procedures we’ll be studying this year. I strongly encourage you to stay after school once or twice a week to get extra practice with the software whenever you’re having trouble with the assignments I give you.” Mr. Gualtieri is firmly convinced that the new instructional software will help his students better understand and apply mathematics. To test his hypothesis, he keeps a record of which students report to the computer lab after school and which students do not. He then looks at how well the two groups of students perform on his next classroom test. Much to his surprise, he discovers that, on average, the students who have stayed after school to use the computer software have earned lower scores than those who have not used the software. “How can this be?” he puzzles. “Is the computer software actually doing more harm than good?”
1. Constructed‐response question:

A. Explain why Mr. Gualtieri cannot draw a conclusion about a cause–and–effect relationship from the evidence he has. Base your response on principles of educational research. B. Identify another plausible explanation for the results Mr. Gualtieri has obtained.
2. Multiple‐choice question:

Which one of the following results would provide the most convincing evidence that the Problem‐Excel software enhances students’ mathematics achievement? a. Ten high schools in New York City purchase Problem‐ Excel and make it available to their students. Students at these high schools get higher mathematics achievement test scores than students at ten other high schools that have not purchased the software. b. A high school purchases Problem‐Excel, but only four of the eight math teachers at the school decide to have their students use it. The students of these four teachers score at higher levels on a mathematics achievement test than the students of the other four teachers. c. All tenth graders at a large high school take a mathematics achievement test in September. At some point during the next two months, each student spends 20 hours working with Problem‐Excel. The students all take the same math achievement test again in December and, on

Mr. Gualtieri wonders whether the computer software is actually hurting, rather than helping, his students. Assume that the software has been carefully designed by an experienced educator. Assume, too, that Mr. Gualtieri’s classroom test is a good measure of how well his students have learned the material they’ve been studying.

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Strategies for Studying and Learning Effectively average, get substantially higher scores than they did in September. d. Students at a high school are randomly assigned to two groups. One group works with Problem‐Excel, and the other group works with a software program called

17

Write‐Away, designed to teach better writing skills. The Problem‐Excel group scores higher than the Write‐ Away group on a subsequent mathematics achievement test.

PRAXIS Go to Appendix C, “Matching Book and to the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching Tests,” to discover sections of this chapter that may be especially applicable to the Praxis tests.

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2

Cognitive and Linguistic Development

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
2.1: Describe four principles portraying the general nature of child development and the roles of both heredity and environment in guiding it. Explain how the brain and its development influence children’s learning and thinking. Apply Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to classroom practice. 2.4: 2.5: Apply Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development to classroom practice. Describe developmental changes in language during the school years, and explain how you might adapt instruction to children with diverse language abilities and needs.

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2.2: 2.3:

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CA S E S T U DY: A P P L E TA RT S
Ms. Lombard’s fourth‐grade class has learned how to add and subtract fractions but has not yet studied how to divide by fractions. Nevertheless, students are working in small groups to tackle the following problem, which requires dividing 20 by 3/4: Mom makes small apple tarts, using three‐quarters of an apple for each small tart. She has 20 apples. How many small apple tarts can she make? (J. Hiebert et al., 1997, p. 118) One group has already agreed that Mom can use three‐fourths of each apple to make 20 tarts, with one‐fourth of each apple being left to make additional tarts. Liz: So you’ve got twenty quarters left. Jeanette: Yes, . . . and twenty quarters is equal to five apples, . . . so five apples divided by— Liz: Six, seven, eight. Jeanette: But three‐quarters equals three. Kerri: But she can’t make only three apple tarts! Jeanette: No, you’ve still got twenty. Liz: But you’ve got twenty quarters, if you’ve got twenty quarters you might be right. Jeanette: I’ll show you. Liz: No, I’ve drawn them all here. Kerri: How many quarters have you got? Twenty? Liz: Yes, one quarter makes five apples and out of five apples she can make five tarts which will make that twenty‐five tarts and then she will have, wait, one, two, three, four, five quarters, she’ll have one, two, three, four, five quarters. . . . (J. Hiebert et al., 1997, p. 121) Eventually the group arrives at the correct answer: Mom can make 26 tarts and will have half an apple left over.

students? Why or why not?

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As you undoubtedly know from your own experiences as a student, fractions are more difficult to understand and work with than are whole numbers. But Liz, Jeanette, and Kerri rise to the challenge of the apple‐tarts problem and, in the process, possibly acquire new mathematical understandings and problem‐solving skills. In other words, the task is developmentally appropriate for them. Classroom instruction must take into account the physical, cognitive, personal, and social characteristics and abilities that students at a particular age are likely to have. In this chapter we’ll look at general principles of development and then zero in on children’s cognitive development— that is, developmental changes in thinking, reasoning, and language. As we look at these topics in the pages ahead, we’ll be better able to answer the preceding questions about Ms. Lombard’s apple‐tarts activity.

cognitive development
Development of increasingly sophisticated thinking, reasoning, and language with age.

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CHAPTER

CH A PTER O U TL I N E
General Principles of Human Development
The Multiple Layers of Environmental Influence: Bronfenbrenner’s Theory

General Principles of Human Development
Four general principles characterize children’s physical, cognitive, personal, and social development: The sequence of development is somewhat predictable. Researchers have observed many universals in development; that is, they’ve seen similar patterns in how children change over time despite considerable differences in the environments in which the children grow up. Some of this universality is marked by the acquisition of developmental milestones—new, developmentally more advanced behaviors—in predictable sequences. For example, children typically become capable of using fractions in mathematical problem solving only after they have mastered counting and the use of whole numbers. Children develop at different rates. Not all children reach particular milestones at the same age: Some reach them earlier, some later. Accordingly, we are apt to see considerable diversity in students’ developmental accomplishments at any single grade level. As teachers, we should never jump to conclusions about what individual students can and cannot do based on age alone. For example, although Ms. Lombard’s apple‐tarts problem appears to be developmentally appropriate for some of her students, it might be too advanced for others. Development is often marked by periods of relatively rapid growth (spurts) between periods of slower growth (plateaus). Development doesn’t necessarily proceed at a constant rate. For example, toddlers may speak with a limited vocabulary and one‐word “sentences” for several months, yet sometime around their second birthday their vocabulary expands rapidly and their sentences become longer and longer within just a few weeks. And, of course, after seemingly stalling out height‐wise, many young adolescents undergo an adolescent growth spurt, shooting up several inches within a year or so. Occasionally children even take a temporary step backward, apparently because they’re in the process of overhauling a particular physical or cognitive skill and are about to make a major leap forward (Gershkoff‐Stowe & Thelen, 2004; Morra, Gobbo, Marini, & Sheese, 2008). Some developmental theorists use such patterns of uneven growth and change as evidence of qualitatively distinct periods, or stages, in development. Heredity and environment interact in their effects on development. Virtually all aspects of development are influenced either directly or indirectly by a child’s genetic makeup. For example, soon after birth children begin to show genetic inclinations, or temperaments, that predispose them to respond to physical and social events in certain ways—perhaps to be calm or irritable, outgoing or shy, cheerful or fearful. Not all inherited characteristics appear so early, however. Heredity continues to guide a child’s growth through the process of maturation, a gradual, genetically controlled progression of physical advancements as the child develops. For example, motor skills such as walking, running, and jumping develop primarily as a result of neurological development, increased strength, and increased muscular control— changes that are largely determined by inherited biological “instructions.” Yet environmental factors also make substantial contributions to development. For example, although height and body build are primarily inherited characteristics, good nutrition and regular physical exercise also make a difference. And although children’s behaviors are partly the result of inherited temperaments, the ways in which their environment encourages them to behave are just as influential, sometimes even more so. Historically, many researchers have sought to determine the degree to which various human characteristics are the result of heredity versus environment—a question often referred to as nature versus nurture. But increasingly psychologists

Role of the Brain in Learning and Development Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Piaget’s Basic Assumptions Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Critiquing Piaget’s Theory Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Piaget’s Theory Contemporary Extensions and Applications of Piaget’s Theory

Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Vygotsky’s Basic Assumptions Critiquing Vygotsky’s Theory Considering Diversity from the Perspective of Vygotsky’s Theory Contemporary Extensions and Applications of Vygotsky’s Theory Contrasting Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories

Language Development
Theoretical Issues Regarding Language Development Diversity in Language Development Second‐Language Learning and English Language Learners

Keep in mind that students of any single age show considerable diversity in what they can and cannot do.

Chapter 3 examines temperamental differences in greater depth.

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General Principles of Human Development have come to realize that heredity and environment interact in ways we can probably never disentangle (e.g., Belsky, Bakermans‐Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 2007; Scarr & McCartney, 1983; J. P. Spencer et al., 2009). First and foremost, genes need environmental support in order to do their work. For instance, a child with “tall” genes can grow tall only if good nutrition supports such growth. Furthermore, some genetically driven maturational processes seem to be characterized by sensitive periods, limited time periods during which certain environmental conditions are especially important for normal development (we’ll see examples in the upcoming sections on the brain and language development). In addition, children’s inherited characteristics may lead other people to treat them in particular ways. For instance, a physically attractive child will be accepted more readily by peers than a less attractive one, and a temperamentally hyperactive child may be disciplined more harshly than a quieter one. Finally, children can choose their environments to some extent, especially as they get older, and they’re apt to seek out situations that match their inherited temperaments and abilities. The last point in the preceding paragraph is important enough to repeat: Children can choose their environments to some extent. Children are hardly passive recipients of their environmental legacies. Instead, they actively and intentionally think about and act on their environments, and in doing so they alter their environments—and the effects of those environments—in significant ways (Mareschal et al., 2007; Nettles, Caughy, & O’Campo, 2008; Nuemi, 2008).

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universals Similar patterns in how children change and progress over time regardless of their specific environment. developmental milestone
Appearance of a new, more advanced behavior that indicates significant progress in a child’s development.

maturation Occurrence of genetically controlled physical advancements as a child develops.

sensitive period Age range during which a certain aspect of a child’s development is especially susceptible to environmental conditions (you may sometimes see the term critical period). culture Behaviors and belief systems of a long‐standing social group.

THE MULTIPLE LAYERS OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE: BRONFENBRENNER’S THEORY
As we consider the various ways in which the environment might influence children’s development, we must be careful that we don’t limit our thinking only to children’s immediate surroundings. In fact, as the developmental theorist Urie Bronfenbrenner pointed out, any large society encompasses various “layers” of environment that all have significant impacts on children’s development (Bronfenbrenner, 1989, 2005; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998). The most basic level for most children is the family, which can potentially support development in a number of ways—for instance, by providing good nutrition, encouraging physical exercise, helping with homework, and giving guidance during challenging tasks. Surrounding the family is another layer, the neighborhood and community, which can offer additional support, definitely through its schools (in industrialized societies, at least) and perhaps also through preschools, after‐school homework assistance programs, libraries, museums, zoos, and internships in local businesses. At a still broader level, the state (or province) and country in which children reside influence development through legislation that governs school policy, tax dollars that flow back to local schools, agencies and professional groups that offer information and training in new teaching strategies, and so on. Figure 2.1 illustrates the kinds of environmental influences that the different layers might involve. Permeating and impacting all of these layers is a child’s culture—the behaviors and belief systems that characterize one or more long‐standing social groups of which the child is a member. Culture is pervasive in many aspects of a child’s home environment—for instance, in the behaviors family members encourage, the disciplinary practices parents use, the books children have access to, the television shows they watch, and so on. Culture influences the broader environmental levels as well—for instance, by offering certain outlets for leisure time (e.g., basketball courts, Cinco de Mayo festivals) and by advocating or discouraging certain activities (e.g., seeking a college degree, playing video games). Ultimately, culture is an inside‐the‐head thing as well as an out‐there‐in‐the‐world thing: It provides an overall framework by which a child comes to determine what things are normal and abnormal, true and not true, rational and irrational, good and bad (M. Cole, 2006; Shweder et al., 1998). The various environmental layers interact with one another and with children’s existing characteristics in their influences on children’s development; in the process, they also change one another. For example, a temperamentally hyperactive child might initially elicit stringent disciplinary actions at school (the neighborhood/community layer), but concerned parents (the family layer) might seek out teachers and suggest alternative strategies that effectively channel the child’s behavior into productive activities. And government agencies (the state/ province/country layer) might provide websites that help both parents and teachers better

development in “Physical Development Across Childhood and Adolescence.”

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ecological systems perspectives in “Ecological Systems Perspectives of Child Development.”

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 2.1 Various layers of environmental influences
CULTURAL BEHAVIORS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

STATE/PROVINCE, COUNTRY, AND BEYOND

NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITY

FAMILY Parenting practices Relationships with siblings and grandparents Nutrition and medical care Educational activities (e.g., bedtime reading, access to computer technology)

Neighborhood resources (e.g., playgrounds, helpful neighbors) Safe or unsafe physical conditions (e.g., pollution, gang activity) Preschools, schools, and after-school programs Diverse learning opportunities (e.g., libraries, museums)

Agencies, professional groups, and Internet websites offering guidance to teachers and families Government-mandated programs Tax dollars flowing back to local communities

foster children’s cognitive development. In general, children’s environments are dynamic systems encompassing mutually influencing variables that are in constant flux (C. D. Lee, 2010; Thelen & Smith, 1998).

Role of the Brain in Learning and Development
One key player in children’s development is, of course, the brain. The human brain is an incredibly complicated organ that includes several trillion cells. About one hundred billion of them are nerve cells, or neurons, that are microscopic in size and interconnected in innumerable ways. Some neurons receive information from the rest of the body, others synthesize and interpret that information, and still others send messages that tell the body how to respond to its present circumstances. Accompanying neurons are perhaps one to five trillion glial cells, which serve a variety of specialized functions that enhance the functioning of neurons or in other ways keep the brain going. Like all cells in living creatures, every neuron has a cell body, which contains its nucleus and is responsible for its general well‐being (see Figure 2.2). But in addition, a neuron has numerous branchlike structures, called dendrites, that receive messages from other neurons. A neuron also

neuron Cell in the brain or another part of the nervous system that transmits information to other cells. glial cell Cell in the brain that supports neurons or general brain functioning.

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FIGURE 2.2 Neurons and their interconnections

Dendrites

Axon Synapse on cell body

Myelin sheath

Cell body

Terminal button

Synapse on dendrite

has an axon, a long, armlike structure that transmits information on to still other neurons. The axon may branch out many times, and the ends of its branches have terminal buttons that contain certain chemical substances (more about these substances in a moment). For some (but not all) neurons, much of the axon has a white, fatty coating called a myelin sheath. When a neuron’s dendrites are stimulated by other neurons (either those in the brain or those extending from other parts of the body), the dendrites become electrically charged. If the total charge reaches a certain level, the neuron fires, sending an electrical impulse along its axon to the terminal buttons. If the axon has a myelin sheath, the impulse travels quite rapidly because it leaps from one gap in the myelin to the next, almost as if it were playing leap frog. If the axon doesn’t have a myelin sheath, the impulse travels more slowly. Curiously, neurons don’t actually touch one another. Instead, they send chemical messages to their neighbors across tiny spaces known as synapses. When an electrical impulse moves along a neuron’s axon, it signals the terminal buttons to release chemicals known as neurotransmitters that travel across the synapses and stimulate neighboring neurons. Any single neuron may have synaptic connections with hundreds or even thousands of other neurons (Goodman & Tessier‐Lavigne, 1997; Lichtman, 2001). With these basics in mind, let’s consider four key points about the brain and its role in cognitive development: Different parts of the brain have different specialties, but they all work closely with one another. Brain structures in the lower and middle parts of the brain specialize in essential physiological processes (e.g., breathing), habitual body movements (e.g., riding a bicycle), and basic perceptual skills (e.g., diverting attention to potentially life‐threatening stimuli). Complex, conscious thinking takes place primarily in the cortex, which rests on the top and sides of the brain like a thick, lumpy toupee (see Figure 2.3). The portion of the cortex located near the forehead, known as the prefrontal cortex, is largely responsible for a wide variety of very human activities, including sustained attention, planning, reasoning, decision making, coordination of complex activities, and inhibition of nonproductive thoughts and behaviors. Other areas of the cortex are actively involved in interpreting visual and auditory information, identifying the spatial characteristics of objects and events, and retaining general knowledge about the world. To some degree, the left and right halves of the cortex—its two hemispheres—also have somewhat distinct specialties. For most people, the left hemisphere takes primary responsibility for language and logical thinking, whereas the right hemisphere is more dominant in visual and spatial tasks (Byrnes, 2001; Ornstein, 1997; Siegel, 2012). Yet contrary to a popular belief, people rarely, if ever, think exclusively in one hemisphere. There’s no such thing as “left‐brain” or “right‐ brain” thinking: The two hemispheres constantly collaborate in day‐to‐day tasks. In fact, learning

synapse Junction between two neurons that allows transmission of messages from one to the other. neurotransmitter Chemical substance through which one neuron sends a message to another. cortex Upper part of the brain; site of complex, conscious thinking processes.

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CHAPTER or thinking about virtually anything, even a fairly simple idea, tends to be distributed across many parts of the brain (Bressler, 2002; Gonsalves & Cohen, 2010; Haxby et al., 2001). Most learning probably involves changes in neurons and synapses. In many instances, learning involves strengthening existing synapses or forming new ones. Sometimes, however, making progress actually involves eliminating synapses. Effective learning requires not only that people think and do certain things but also that they not think and do other things—in other words, that they inhibit tendencies to think or behave in particular ways (Bruer & Greenough, 2001;Lichtman, 2001; Merzenich, 2001). Developmental changes in the brain enable increasingly complex and efficient thought. Neurons begin to form synapses long before a child is born. But shortly after birth the rate of synapse formation increases dramatically. Neurons sprout new dendrites in many directions, and so they come into contact with many of their neighbors, especially in the first two or three years of life. Much of this early synaptogenesis appears to be driven primarily by genetic programming rather than by learning experiences. Thanks to synaptogenesis, children in the elementary grades have many more synapses than adults do (Bruer, 1999; C. A. Nelson, Thomas, & de Haan, 2006). As children encounter different stimuli and experiences in their daily lives, some synapses come in quite handy and are used repeatedly. Others are largely useless, and these gradually fade away through a process known as synaptic pruning, a process that continues throughout the elementary and secondary school years and into adulthood. Synaptic pruning is a good thing—not a bad one—because it eliminates “nuisance” synapses that are inconsistent with typical environmental events and appropriate responses. Synaptic pruning, then, may be Mother Nature’s way of making the brain more efficient (Bruer & Greenough, 2001; Huttenlocher & Dabholkar, 1997; Spear, 2007). Meanwhile, children and adults alike continue to form new synapses in response to their experiences (R. D. Brown & Bjorklund, 1998; Bruer, 1999; O’Boyle & Gill, 1998; Silveri et al., 2006). Another important developmental process in the brain is myelination. When neurons first develop, their axons have no myelin sheath. As they acquire this myelin over time, they fire much more quickly, greatly enhancing the brain’s overall efficiency. Myelination continues throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, especially in the cortex (Lenroot & Giedd, 2007; Merzenich, 2001; Paus et al., 1999). In addition, the onset of puberty is marked by significant changes in hormone levels, which affect the continuing maturation of brain structures and possibly also affect the production and effectiveness of neurotransmitters (Kolb, Gibb, & Robinson, 2003; Shen et al., 2010; E. F. Walker, 2002). Such changes can have an impact on adolescents’ functioning in a variety of areas, including attention, planning, and impulse control. To some degree, adolescents’ abilities to learn and respond appropriately may temporarily decrease until brain functioning restabilizes (McGivern, Andersen, Byrd, Mutter, & Reilly, 2002; Shen et al., 2010; Steinberg, 2009).

FIGURE 2.3 Cortex of the human brain
Prefrontal cortex

synaptogenesis Universal process in early brain development in which many new synapses form spontaneously.

synaptic pruning Universal process in brain development in which many previously formed synapses wither away. myelination Growth of a fatty sheath
(myelin) around the axons of neurons, enabling faster transmission of electrical impulses.

plasticity Ability to reorganize in order to adapt to changing circumstances; term often used in describing the human brain.

The brain remains adaptable throughout life. Some aspects of cognitive development appear to have sensitive periods in which certain kinds of environmental stimulation are crucial. For example, if infants don’t have normal exposure to patterns of light (e.g., if congenital cataracts make them functionally blind), they may soon lose the ability to see normally, and if children don’t hear spoken language until age 5, they may never acquire the language’s subtle grammatical complexities (Bruer, 1999; M. S. C. Thomas & Johnson, 2008). But seeing patterned light and hearing spoken language are normal experiences, not exceptional ones. There is no evidence to indicate that sensitive periods exist for traditional academic subjects such as reading and mathematics. From a physiological standpoint, the brain’s ability to reorganize itself in order to adapt to changing circumstances—that is, its plasticity—persists throughout the life span (Kolb et al., 2003; C. A. Nelson et al., 2006). The early years are important for development, to be sure, but so are the later years. For most topics and skills, there isn’t a single “best” or “only” time to learn (Bruer, 1999; Byrnes & Fox, 1998; Geary, 1998, 2008). The human brain never goes into lockdown mode.

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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

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Applying Brain Research
Taking Developmental Changes in the Brain into Account
Be careful—many recently published books and articles about “using brain research” and “brain‐based learning” either misrepresent or misapply researchers’ findings about brain development. The following three recommendations are consistent with current knowledge about the brain and how it changes with age. Provide reasonable stimulation for young children; don’t overload them with new information and activities for fear of their “losing synapses.” Some well‐meaning educators have proposed that the proliferation of new synapses in the preschool and early elementary years points to a sensitive period in brain development. Accordingly, they urge us to maximize children’s educational experiences— providing reading instruction, violin lessons, art classes, and so on— during this time period. Before you, too, jump to such a conclusion, consider this point: Although adequate nutrition and everyday forms of stimulation are critical for normal brain development, there is no evidence that jam‐packed, information‐ and skills‐intensive experiences in the early years enhance brain power over the long run (Bruer, 1999; R. A. Thompson & Nelson, 2001). Keep in mind that adolescents’ brains have not yet fully matured. Synaptic pruning and myelination—two developmental processes that enhance the brain’s efficiency—continue throughout adolescence and beyond. Adolescents’ brains are not adult brains, especially in the prefrontal cortex—that part of the brain that controls sustained attention, planning, reasoning, impulse control, and other abilities so important for independent learning and responsible behavior (Steinberg, 2009). Thus, many middle school and high school students need considerable structure and guidance in order to get and keep them on the road to academic success. Be optimistic that students of all ages can acquire a wide variety of new topics and skills. For some content areas—for instance, in music and foreign languages—instruction in the preschool or early elementary years appears to mold the brain somewhat differently P. K. Kuhl et al., 2005). Furthermore, children of differing ages have differing levels of prior knowledge and experience on which to draw as they work to acquire new information and skills. Ultimately, we must keep in mind the plasticity of the human brain: With reasonable effort, practice, and support, human learners of any age can master a great many things.

As researchers gradually pin down how the brain works and develops, they’re also beginning to get clues about how we can best foster children’s and adolescents’ cognitive development; three research‐based recommendations are presented in the Applying Brain Research feature “Taking Developmental Changes in the Brain into Account.” Even so, current knowledge of brain physiology doesn’t yield many specifics about how best to foster students’ learning and cognitive development (Byrnes, 2007; G. A. Miller, 2010; Varma, McCandliss, & Schwartz, 2008). By and large, if we want to understand the nature of human learning and cognitive development, we must look primarily at what psychologists, rather than neurologists, have discovered. Two early theories—those of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky—have been especially influential in molding contemporary views of how children learn and develop.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Do you think of yourself as a logical person? Just how logical are you? Try your logical reasoning abilities in the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Take a moment to solve the following three problems: 1. In the margin are 12 wooden beads, 10 brown ones and 2 white ones. Are there more brown beads or more wooden beads? 2. If all children are human beings, And if all human beings are living creatures, Then must all children be living creatures? 3. If all children are basketballs, And if all basketballs are jellybeans, Then must all children be jellybeans?

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CHAPTER You undoubtedly found the first problem quite easy; there are, of course, more wooden beads than brown beads. You may have found the second problem more difficult but probably concluded fairly quickly that, yes, all children must be living creatures. The third problem is a bit tricky: It follows the same line of reasoning as the second, but the logical conclusion—all children must be jellybeans—contradicts what is true in reality. In the early 1920s Swiss biologist Jean Piaget began studying children’s responses to problems of this nature. He used an approach he called the clinical method, in which an adult presents a task or problem and asks a child a series of questions about it, tailoring later questions to the child’s responses to previous ones. For example, let’s look at what happened when a researcher in Piaget’s laboratory presented the wooden beads problem to a 6‐year‐old, whom we’ll call Brian:1 Adult: Brian: Adult: Brian: Adult: Brian: Are there more wooden beads or more brown beads? More brown ones, because there are two white ones. Are the white ones made of wood? Yes. And the brown ones? Yes.

clinical method Procedure in which an adult presents a task or problem and asks a child a series of questions about it, tailoring later questions to the child’s responses to previous ones. class inclusion Recognition that an object simultaneously belongs to a particular category and to one of its subcategories.

Adult: Then are there more brown ones or more wooden ones? Brian: More brown ones. (Piaget, 1952a, pp. 163–164) During further questioning, Brian continues to assert that the brown beads outnumber the wooden beads. In an effort to help him see otherwise, the adult asks him to draw two necklaces, one made of the brown beads and another made of the wooden beads. Brian draws a series of black rings for the brown‐beads necklace; he draws a series of black rings plus two white rings for the wooden‐beads necklace. Adult: Good. Now which will be longer, the one with the brown beads or the one with the wooden beads? Brian: The one with the brown beads. (Piaget, 1952a, p. 164) Piaget suggested that young children such as Brian have trouble with class inclusion tasks in which they must think of an object as simultaneously belonging to a category and to one of its subcategories—in this case, thinking of a bead as being both wooden and brown at the same time. Piaget found that many 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds have difficulty with class inclusion tasks such as the beads problem but that 7‐ and 8‐year‐olds almost always respond to such tasks correctly. He found, too, that 10‐year‐olds have an easier time with logic problems that involve real‐world phenomena (such as categories and subcategories of living creatures) than with problems involving hypothetical and contrary‐to‐fact ideas (such as jellybean children), whereas adolescents can effectively deal with both kinds of problems. Through a wide variety of thought‐provoking questions and tasks, Piaget and his research colleagues discovered a great deal about what and how children think about the world around them (e.g., Inhelder & Piaget, 1958; Piaget, 1929, 1952b, 1959, 1970, 1980). Piaget integrated his findings into a theory of cognitive development that has made major contributions to contemporary understandings of children’s learning and development.

PIAGET’S BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
Young children are naturally curious about objects in their environment. For example, watch 2‐year‐old Maddie in “Cognitive Development: Early Childhood.”

Piaget introduced a number of ideas and concepts to describe and explain the changes in logical thinking he observed in children and adolescents: Children are active and motivated learners. Piaget believed that children are naturally curious about their world and actively seek out information to help them make sense of it. They continually experiment with the objects they encounter, manipulating them and observing the effects of their actions.
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Piaget used abbreviations to identify specific children in his studies. In this case he used the letters BRI, but I've given the child a name to allow for easier discussion.

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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Children construct rather than absorb knowledge. In their day‐to‐day experiences, children don’t just passively soak up a collection of isolated facts. Instead, they pull their experiences together into an integrated view of how the world operates. For example, by observing that objects always fall down (never up) when released, children begin to construct a basic understanding of gravity. As they interact with family pets, visit farms and zoos, and look at picture books, they develop more complex understandings of animals. Because Piaget proposed that children construct their own beliefs and understandings from their experiences, his theory is sometimes called a constructivist theory or, more generally, constructivism. In Piaget’s terminology, the things children do and know are organized as schemes—groups of similar actions or thoughts that are used repeatedly in response to the environment. Initially, children’s schemes are largely behavioral in nature, but over time they become increasingly mental and, eventually, abstract. For example, an infant may have a putting‐things‐in‐mouth scheme that she applies to a variety of objects, including her thumb, cookies, and toys. A 7‐year‐old may have a scheme for identifying snakes that includes their long, thin bodies, lack of legs, and slithery nature. A 13‐year‐old may have a scheme for what constitutes fashion, allowing him to classify his peers as being either very cool or “total losers.” Over time, children’s schemes are modified with experience, and many become integrated with one another. For instance, children begin to take hierarchical interrelationships into account: They learn that poodles and cocker spaniels are both dogs, that dogs and cats are both animals, and so on. A progressively more organized body of knowledge and thought processes allows children to think in increasingly complex and logical ways. Children continually learn new things through two complementary processes: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation entails dealing with an object or event in a way that’s consistent with an existing scheme. For example, an infant may assimilate a new teddy bear into her putting‐ things‐in‐mouth scheme. A 7‐year‐old may quickly identify a new slithery creature in the garden as a snake. A 13‐year‐old may readily label a classmate’s clothing as being either quite fashionable or “soooo yesterday.” But sometimes children can’t easily interpret and respond to a new object or event using existing schemes. In these situations one of two forms of accommodation occurs: Children either (1) modify an existing scheme to account for the new object or event or (2) form a new scheme to deal with it. For example, an infant may have to open her mouth wider than usual to accommodate a teddy bear’s fat paw. A 13‐year‐old may have to revise his existing scheme of fashion according to changes in what’s hot and what’s not. A 7‐year‐old who encounters a long, slithery creature with four legs can’t apply the snake scheme (snakes don’t have legs) and thus, after some research, may acquire a new scheme—salamander. Assimilation and accommodation typically work hand in hand as children develop their knowledge and understanding of the world. Children interpret each new event within the context of their existing knowledge (assimilation) but at the same time may modify their knowledge as a result of the new event (accommodation). Accommodation rarely happens without assimilation: Children can benefit from, or accommodate to, new experiences only when they can relate those experiences to their current knowledge and beliefs. Interactions with one’s physical and social environments are essential for cognitive development. According to Piaget, active experimentation with the physical world is critical for cognitive growth. By exploring and manipulating physical objects—fiddling with sand and water, playing games with balls and bats, and the like—children learn the nature of such characteristics as volume and weight, discover principles related to force and gravity, and so on. In Piaget’s view, interaction with other people is equally important. Frequent social interactions—both pleasant (e.g., conversations) and unpleasant (e.g., conflicts about sharing and fair play)—help young children come to realize that different people see things differently and that their own view of the world isn’t necessarily completely accurate or logical. As children get older, discussions and disagreements about complex issues and problems—for instance, the apple‐tarts problem in the opening case study—help them recognize and reexamine inconsistencies in their reasoning. The process of equilibration promotes progression toward increasingly complex thought. Piaget suggested that children are often in a state of equilibrium: They can comfortably interpret and

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constructivism Theoretical perspective proposing that learners actively construct (rather than passively absorb) knowledge from their experiences. scheme Organized group of similar actions or thoughts that are used repeatedly in response to the environment. assimilation Process of dealing with an object or event in a way that is consistent with an existing scheme.

accommodation Process of dealing with a new object or event by either modifying an existing scheme or forming a new one.

equilibrium State of being able to address new events with existing schemes.

When introducing a new concept or procedure, show students how it relates to something they already know.

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CHAPTER

Ta-daa!!

An event that contradicts what we currently know and believe about the world creates disequilibrium—a feeling of discomfort that motivates us to try to resolve the contradiction in some way.

Present puzzling phenomena that students cannot easily explain using their existing understandings.

respond to new events using existing schemes. But as children grow older and expand their horizons, they sometimes encounter situations for which their current knowledge and skills are inadequate. Such situations create disequilibrium, a sort of mental discomfort that spurs them to try to make sense of what they’re observing. By replacing, reorganizing, or better integrating certain schemes (i.e., through accommodation), children can better understand and address previously puzzling events. The process of moving from equilibrium to disequilibrium and back to equilibrium again is known as equilibration. In Piaget’s view, equilibration and children’s intrinsic desire to achieve equilibrium promote the development of more complex levels of thought and knowledge. As an example, let’s return to Brian’s responses to the beads problem. Recall that the adult asks Brian to draw two necklaces, one made with the brown beads and one made with the wooden beads. The adult hopes that after Brian draws a brown‐and‐white necklace that is longer than an all‐brown necklace, he will notice that his drawings are inconsistent with his statement that there are more brown beads. The inconsistency might lead Brian to experience disequilibrium, perhaps to the point where he would revise his conclusion. In this case, however, Brian is apparently oblivious to the inconsistency, remains in equilibrium, and thus has no need to revise his thinking. In part as a result of maturational changes in the brain, children think in qualitatively different ways at different ages. Long before researchers knew much about how the brain changes with age, Piaget speculated that it does change in significant ways and that such changes enable more complex thought processes. He suggested that major neurological changes take place when children are about 2 years old, again when they’re 6 or 7, and yet again around puberty. Changes at each of these times allow new abilities to emerge, such that children progress through a sequence of stages that reflect increasingly sophisticated thought. As we’ve seen, the brain does, in fact, continue to develop throughout childhood and adolescence, but whether such changes are specifically related to the cognitive changes Piaget described is still an open question.

disequilibrium State of being unable to address new events with existing schemes; typically accompanied by some mental discomfort.

equilibration Movement from equilibrium to disequilibrium and back to equilibrium, a process that promotes development of more complex thought and understandings.

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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

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PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piaget proposed that as a result of brain maturation, innumerable experiences, and children’s natural desire to make sense of and adapt to their world, cognitive development proceeds through four distinct stages (e.g., Piaget, 1971). Abilities at any one stage are constructed out of the accomplishments of any preceding stages. Thus, the four stages are hierarchical—each one provides a foundation for any subsequent stages—and so children progress through them in a particular order. Table 2.1 summarizes these stages and presents examples of abilities acquired during each one. As you look at the table, keep in mind that many children are apt to be in transition from one stage to the next, displaying characteristics of two adjacent stages at the same time. Furthermore, as children gain abilities associated with more advanced stages, they don’t necessarily leave behind the characteristics they acquired in previous stages. The preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations stages all occur during the school years, and so we’ll look at these three stages more closely.

sensorimotor stage Piaget’s first stage of cognitive development, in which schemes are based largely on behaviors and perceptions.

C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
STAGE
Sensorimotor

AGE OF ONSET
Begins at birth

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Schemes are based largely on behaviors and perceptions. Especially in the early part of this stage, children cannot think about things that are not immediately in front of them, and so they focus on what they are doing and seeing at the moment. Thanks in part to their rapidly developing symbolic thinking abilities, children can now think and talk about things beyond their immediate experience. However, they do not yet reason in logical, adultlike ways. Adultlike logic appears but is limited to reasoning about concrete, real‐life situations.

EXAMPLES OF ABILITIES ACQUIRED
Trial‐and‐error experimentation with physical objects: Exploration and manipulation of objects to determine their properties Object permanence: Realization that objects continue to exist even when removed from view Symbolic thought: Representation of physical objects and events as mental entities (symbols)

Preoperational

Emerges at about age 2

Language: Rapid expansion of vocabulary and grammatical structures Extensive pretend play: Enactment of imaginary scenarios with plots and assigned roles (e.g., mommy, doctor, Superman) Intuitive thought: Some logical thinking (especially after age 4), but based primarily on hunches and intuition rather than on conscious awareness of logical principles Distinction between one’s own and others’ perspectives: Recognition that one’s own thoughts and feelings may be different from those of others and do not necessarily reflect reality Class inclusion: Ability to classify objects as belonging to two or more categories simultaneously Conservation: Realization that amount stays the same if nothing is added or taken away, regardless of alterations in shape or arrangement Logical reasoning about abstract, hypothetical, and contrary‐to‐fact ideas: Ability to draw logical deductions about situations that have no basis in physical reality Proportional reasoning: Conceptual understanding of fractions, percentages, decimals, and ratios Formulation of multiple hypotheses: Ability to identify two or more competing hypotheses about possible cause–and–effect relationships Separation and control of variables: Ability to test hypotheses by manipulating one variable while holding other relevant variables constant Idealism: Ability to envision alternatives to current social and political practices, sometimes with little regard for what is realistically possible under existing circumstances

Concrete Operations

Emerges at about age 6 or 7

Formal Operations

Emerges at about age 11 or 12

are applied to abstract ideas as well as to concrete objects and situations. Many capabilities essential for advanced reasoning in science and mathematics appear.

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CHAPTER PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (AGE 2 UNTIL AGE 6 OR 7) In the early part of the preoperational stage, children’s language skills virtually explode, and the many words in their rapidly increasing vocabularies serve as symbols that enable them to mentally represent and think about a wide variety of objects and events. However, preoperational thought has some definite limitations, especially when compared to the concrete operational thinking that emerges later. For example, Piaget described young children as exhibiting preoperational egocentrism, an inability to view situations from another person’s perspective. Thus, preschoolers may play games together without checking to be sure they’re all playing by the same rules, and they may tell stories in which they leave out details that are critical for listeners’ understanding. Young children’s thinking also tends to be somewhat illogical at times, at least from an adult’s point of view. We’ve already seen how young children have difficulty with class inclusion problems (recall Brian’s insistence that the brown beads outnumber the wooden ones). In addition, they’re apt to have trouble with conservation: They fail to realize that if nothing is added or taken away, the amount of one or more substances or objects must stay the same regardless of changes in shape or arrangement. As illustrations, consider what happens when we present two conservation tasks to 5‐year‐old Nathan:

FIGURE 2.4 Do Glasses A and C contain the same amount of water?

Conservation of liquid: We show Nathan the three glasses in Figure 2.4. We ask him whether Glasses A and B contain the same amount of water, and he replies confidently that they do. We then pour the water from Glass B into Glass C and ask him whether A and C have the same amount. Nathan replies, “No, that glass [pointing to Glass A] has more because it’s taller.” Conservation of number: We next show Nathan two rows of seven pennies each, like so:

A

B Before

C

Nathan counts the pennies in each row and agrees that the two rows have the same amount. We spread the second row out, and the pennies now look like this:

A

B After

C

When we ask Nathan whether the two rows still have the same number, he replies, “No, this one [pointing to the bottom row] has more because it’s longer.” As children approach the later part of the preoperational stage, perhaps at around age 4 or 5, they show early signs of adultlike logic. For example, they sometimes draw correct conclusions about class inclusion and conservation problems. But they base their reasoning on hunches and intuition rather than on any conscious awareness of underlying logical principles, and thus they can’t yet explain why their conclusions are correct.

preoperational stage Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, in which children can think about objects and events beyond their immediate view but do not yet reason in logical, adultlike ways. preoperational egocentrism Inability of children in Piaget’s preoperational stage to view situations from another person’s perspective. conservation Recognition that if nothing is added or taken away, amount stays the same regardless of alterations in shape or arrangement.

concrete operations stage Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development, in which adultlike logic appears but is limited to concrete reality.

CONCRETE OPERATIONS STAGE (AGE 6 OR 7 UNTIL AGE 11 OR 12) Piaget proposed that as children enter the concrete operations stage, their thought processes become organized into larger systems of mental processes—operations—that allow them to think more logically than they have previously. They now realize that their own perspectives and feelings aren’t necessarily shared by others and may reflect personal opinions rather than reality. They also exhibit such logical reasoning abilities as class inclusion and conservation. For example, they should readily conclude, as you presumably did in an earlier Experiencing Firsthand exercise, that in a group of brown and white wooden beads, there obviously must be more wooden beads than brown ones. Children continue to refine their newly acquired logical thinking capabilities for several years. For instance, some forms of conservation, such as conservation of liquid and conservation of number, appear at age 6 or 7, whereas other forms emerge later. Consider the problem in Figure 2.5. Using a balance scale, an adult shows a child that two balls of clay have the same weight. One ball is removed from the scale and smashed into a pancake shape. Does the pancake weigh the same as the unsmashed ball, or are the weights different? Children typically don’t achieve conservation of weight—they don’t realize that the flattened pancake weighs the same as the round ball it was earlier—until about age 9 (Morra et al., 2008).

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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development formal operations stage

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FIGURE 2.5 Conservation of weight: Ball A and Ball B initially weigh the same. When Ball B is flattened into a pancake shape, how does its weight now compare with that of Ball A?

Piaget’s fourth and final stage of cognitive development, in which logical reasoning processes are applied to abstract ideas as well as to concrete objects.

A Before

B

A After

B

Although students displaying concrete operational thought show many signs of logical thinking, their cognitive development isn’t yet complete. For example, they have trouble understanding abstract ideas, and they may struggle with problems involving fractions and other proportions, as Liz, Jeanette, and Kerri do in the opening case study. FORMAL OPERATIONS STAGE (AGE 11 OR 12 THROUGH ADULTHOOD) Once children acquire abilities characterizing the formal operations stage, they can think about concepts that have little or no basis in concrete reality. Furthermore, they recognize that what is logically valid is different from what is true in the real world. For example, recall the earlier children‐basketballs‐jellybeans problem: If all children are basketballs and if all basketballs are jellybeans, then formal operational thinkers can logically conclude that all children must be jellybeans, even though in the real world children aren’t jellybeans. From Piaget’s perspective, students’ capabilities in mathematics are likely to improve when formal operational thinking develops. Abstract problems, such as mathematical word problems, should become easier to solve. And students should become capable of understanding such concepts as negative number, pi (p), and infinity. For instance, they should now comprehend how temperature can be below zero and how two parallel lines will never touch even if they go on forever. In addition, because students can now understand proportions (see Table 2.1), they can more easily use fractions, decimals, and ratios when solving problems. Scientific reasoning is also likely to improve when students are capable of formal operational thought. Three of the formal operational abilities listed in Table 2.1—reasoning logically about hypothetical ideas, formulating multiple hypotheses, and separating and controlling variables—together allow many adolescents to use the scientific method, in which they test several possible explanations for an observed phenomenon in a systematic manner. As an example, consider the pendulum problem in the following exercise.

Children in Piaget’s concrete operations stage exhibit conservation in their reasoning. For example, listen to 10‐year‐old Kent in “Cognitive Development: Middle Childhood.”

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
In the absence of other forces, an object suspended by a rope or string—a pendulum—swings at a constant rate. (A yo‐yo and a playground swing are two everyday examples.) Some pendulums swing back and forth rather slowly; others move more quickly. What characteristics of a pendulum determine how quickly it swings? Write down at least three hypotheses about the variable(s) that might affect a pendulum’s oscillation rate. Now gather several small objects of varying weights (e.g., a paperclip, a house key, a heavy bolt) and a piece of string. Tie one of the objects to one end of the string, and set your pendulum in motion. Conduct one or more experiments to test each of your hypotheses. What can you conclude? What variable or variables affect the rate with which a pendulum swings?

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CHAPTER What hypotheses did you generate? Four common ones involve weight of the object, length of the string, force with which the object is pushed, and height from which the object is released. Did you test each of your hypotheses in a systematic fashion? That is, did you separate and control variables, testing one at a time while holding all others constant? For example, if you were testing the hypothesis that weight makes a difference, you might have tried objects of different weights while keeping constant the length of the string, the force with which you pushed each object, and the height from which you released or pushed each one. Similarly, if you hypothesized that length was a critical factor, you might have varied the string length while continuing to use the same object and setting the pendulum in motion in a consistent manner. If you carefully separated and controlled each variable, you should have come to the correct conclusion: Only length affects a pendulum’s oscillation rate. An additional outcome of abstract and hypothetical thinking is the ability to envision how the world might be different from the way it actually is (e.g., see Figure 2.6). In some cases adolescents envision a world that is better than the one they live in, and they exhibit considerable concern and idealism about social and political issues. Some secondary school students devote a great deal of energy to local or global problems, such as water pollution and animal rights. However, they may offer recommendations for change that seem logical but aren’t practical in today’s world. For example, a teenager might argue that racism could disappear overnight if people would just begin to “love one another” or that a nation should eliminate its armed forces and weaponry as a way of moving toward world peace. Piaget proposed that adolescent idealism reflects formal operational egocentrism, an inability to separate one’s own logical abstractions from the perspectives of others and from practical considerations. Only through experience do adolescents eventually begin to temper their optimism with some realism about what is possible in a given time frame and with limited resources.

According to Piaget, students gradually acquire formal reasoning abilities as they progress through adolescence. Observe seventh graders’ difficulty in separating and controlling variables in “Designing Experiments.”

Encourage adolescents to discuss their visions for a better world, but point out instances when their ideals are unrealistic.

FIGURE 2.6 In this excerpt from a comic book he has created, 12‐year‐ old Zach shows an ability to think about contrary‐to‐fact ideas, such as an army of noses (led by Napoleon Nose), a time‐warp trap, and villain Dark Fang’s evil new weapon.

formal operational egocentrism
Inability of adolescents in Piaget’s formal operations stage to separate their own abstract logic from the perspectives of others and from practical considerations.
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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

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CRITIQUING PIAGET’S THEORY
Perhaps Piaget’s greatest contribution to our understanding of cognitive development was the nature of the questions he asked and tried to answer about how children think and reason. In addition, some of his key ideas—for instance, that children construct their own knowledge about the world, that they must relate new experiences to what they already know, and that encountering puzzling phenomena can sometimes spur them to revise their understandings—have stood the test of time. Piaget’s descriptions of processes that propel development—especially assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration—can be frustratingly vague, however (M. Chapman, 1988; diSessa, 2006; Klahr, 2001). And interaction with one’s physical environment, although certainly valuable, may be less critical than Piaget believed. For instance, children with significant physical disabilities, who cannot actively experiment with physical objects, learn a great deal about the world simply by observing what happens around them (Bebko, Burke, Craven, & Sarlo, 1992; Brainerd, 2003). A SECOND LOOK AT PIAGET’S STAGES Piaget’s proposal that cognitive development progresses in stages has sparked a great deal of follow‐up research. In general, this research supports Piaget’s proposed sequence in which different abilities emerge but not necessarily the ages at which they emerge. Piaget probably underestimated the thinking capabilities of preschoolers and elementary school students. For example, under some circumstances preschoolers are capable of class inclusion and conservation, and they have some ability to comprehend abstract and contrary‐to‐fact ideas (S. R. Beck, Robinson, Carroll, & Apperly, 2006; Goswami & Pauen, 2005; McNeil & Uttal, 2009; Rosser, 1994). Many first and second graders can understand and use simple proportions (e.g., 1/2, 1/3, 1/4) if they can relate the proportions to everyday objects and situations (Empson, 1999; Van Dooren, De Bock, Hessels, Janssens, & Verschaffel, 2005). And some older elementary school children can separate and control variables if a task is simplified in some way (Lorch et al., 2010; Metz, 1995; Ruffman, Perner, Olson, & Doherty, 1993). Yet Piaget seems to have overestimated what adolescents can do. Formal operational thinking processes emerge more gradually than he suggested, and even high school students and adults don’t necessarily use them regularly (Flieller, 1999; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006; Morra et al., 2008; Tourniaire & Pulos, 1985). Furthermore, students may demonstrate formal operational thought in one content domain while thinking concretely in another (Lovell, 1979; Tamburrini, 1982). Explicit training and other structured experiences can sometimes help children acquire reasoning abilities sooner than Piaget thought was possible (Brainerd, 2003; Kuhn, 2006). For instance, children as young as age 4 or 5 begin to show conservation after having experience with conservation tasks, especially if they can actively manipulate the task materials and discuss their reasoning with someone who already exhibits conservation (Halford & Andrews, 2006; Siegler & Chen, 2008; Siegler & Lin, 2010). Similarly, instruction with concrete manipulatives can help children grasp the nature of proportions (Fujimura, 2001; Sarama & Clements, 2009). Children ages 10 and 11 can more easily solve logical problems involving hypothetical ideas if they’re taught relevant problem‐solving strategies, and they become increasingly able to separate and control variables when they have numerous experiences that require them to do so (Kuhn & Pease, 2008; S. Lee, 1985; Lorch et al., 2010; Schauble, 1990). In light of all the evidence, does it still make sense to talk about discrete stages of cognitive development? As we’ll see shortly, a few theorists have offered stage‐based theories that may more adequately account for current findings about children’s logical thinking in specific skill areas or content domains. But most theorists now believe that cognitive development can more accurately be described in terms of gradual trends rather than discrete stages. They also suggest—and Piaget himself acknowledged—that the four stages better describe how children and adolescents can think, rather than how they always do think, at any particular age (Flavell, 1994; Halford & Andrews, 2006; Klaczynski, 2001; Tanner & Inhelder, 1960).

Expect that even high school students will sometimes have difficulty with abstract subject matter.

Providing manipulatives often helps fourth graders understand fractions. Observe a fourth‐grade teacher use this approach in “Manipulative Strategies.

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CONSIDERING DIVERSITY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PIAGET’S THEORY
As a researcher working in Switzerland, Piaget conducted his studies with a particular population: Swiss children. However, the course of cognitive development appears to vary somewhat from one cultural group to another, probably because different cultures provide somewhat

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 2.7 What are some possible reasons that Herb is catching more fish than the others?

different experiences (Maynard & Greenfield, 2003; Morra et al., 2008). For example, Mexican children whose families make pottery for a living acquire Herb conservation skills earlier than their peers in other Susan Mexican families—presumably because making pottery requires children to make frequent judgments about needed quantities of clay regardless of its shape (Price‐Williams, Gordon, & Ramirez, 1969). In other cultures, especially in some in which children don’t attend school, conservation and other concrete operaPat tional abilities may appear several years later than they Bill do in Western societies (Artman & Cahan, 1993; Fahrmeier, 1978). Formal operational reasoning skills—for example, reasoning about hypothetical ideas and separating and controlling variables—also vary from culture to culture (Flieller, 1999; Norenzayan, Choi, & Peng, 2007; Rogoff, 2003). Mainstream Western culture actively nurtures these skills through formal instruction in such academic content domains as science, mathematics, literature, and Source: Based on image created by Steven Pulos. Adapted with permission. social studies. In some other cultures, however, such skills may have little relevance to people’s daily lives (M. Cole, 1990; J. G. Miller, 1997; Norenzayan et al., 2007). Even within a single cultural group, logical reasoning abilities vary considerably from one individual to another, in part as a result of differences in background knowledge about particular topics. For instance, adolescents (adults, too) often apply formal operational thought to topics about which they know a great deal yet think concretely about topics with which they’re unfamiliar (Girotto & Light, 1993; M. C. Linn, Clement, Pulos, & Sullivan, 1989; Schliemann & Carraher, 1993). For example, in a study by Pulos and Linn (1981), 13‐year‐olds were shown a picture similar to the one in Figure 2.7 and told, “These four children go fishing every week, and one child, Herb, always catches the most fish. The other children wonder why.” If you look at the picture, you can see that Herb differs from the other children in several ways, including his location, the bait he uses, and the length of his fishing rod. Students who had fished a great deal more effectively separated and controlled variables for this situation than they did for the pendulum problem presented earlier, whereas the reverse was true for students with little or no experience fishing.

Knowledge about fishing enhances children’s ability to separate and control variables in a fishing problem. Contrast 10‐year‐old Kent (an experienced fisherman) with 14‐year‐old Alicia (who has never fished) in “Cognitive Development: Middle Childhood” Adolescence.”

CONTEMPORARY EXTENSIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF PIAGET’S THEORY
Despite its shortcomings, Piaget’s theory has had considerable influence on present‐day thinking about cognitive development and classroom practice. A few contemporary neo‐Piagetian theories integrate elements of Piaget’s theory with current theories of thinking and learning. Furthermore, educators have found many of Piaget’s ideas quite useful in instructional settings. We’ll examine three of his ideas—his clinical method, his emphasis on the importance of hands‐on experiences, and his concept of disequilibrium—in upcoming sections. The Into the Classroom feature “Applying Piaget’s Theory” offers additional suggestions for translating Piaget’s ideas into classroom practice. NEO‐PIAGETIAN THEORIES Neo‐Piagetian theories echo Piaget’s belief that cognitive development depends somewhat on brain maturation. For instance, some neo‐Piagetian theorists suggest that a component of the human memory system known as working memory is especially important for cognitive development. In particular, working memory is a brain‐based mechanism that enables people to temporarily hold and think about a small amount of new information. Children’s working memory capacity increases with age, and thus their ability to think about several things simultaneously increases as well (Case & Mueller, 2001; Fischer & Bidell, 2006; Lautrey, 1993).

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Chapter 6 looks more closely at the nature of working memory.

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Into the Classroom
Applying Piaget’s Theory
Use Piaget’s stages as a rough guide to what students at different grade levels can do, but don’t take them too literally.
Knowing from both research and her own experience that 6‐ and 7‐year‐olds can understand simple proportions in familiar situations, a first‐grade teacher asks her students to tackle this problem: “Two children want to share five cupcakes so that each child gets the same amount. Show how much each child can have.” When some of the students decide that each child can have two cupcakes, she points to the fifth cupcake and says, “They want to share this one too. How can they do that?”

Ask students to explain their reasoning about physical phenomena, and challenge illogical explanations.
When learning about pendulums, cooperative groups in a middle school science class conduct experiments with three variables (weight, length, and height from which the pendulum is dropped) to see which variable or variables determine the rate at which a pendulum swings. After a student in one group asserts that weight affects the oscillation rate, her teacher asks a series of questions that eventually lead the student’s group to realize it has simultaneously varied both weight and length in its experiments. (Observe this example in “Designing Experiments.”)

When young children show signs of egocentric thinking, express confusion or explain that others think differently.
A kindergartner asks, “What’s this?” about an object that is out of the teacher’s view. The teacher responds, “What’s what? I can’t see the object you’re looking at.”

Relate abstract and hypothetical ideas to concrete objects and observable events.
To help students understand that even seemingly weightless substances such as air have mass and weight, an eighth‐grade teacher blows up a balloon and places it on one side of a balance scale. She then places an uninflated balloon on the other side of the scale. The inflated balloon tips the scale downward, showing that it weighs more than the uninflated one.
Sources: Empson, 1999, p. 295 (cupcake example); C. L. Smith, 2007 (balloon example).

Draw on adolescents’ idealism to engage them in public service projects and other charitable endeavors.
In a unit on Africa, several students in a ninth‐grade social studies class express their horror about the extreme poverty in which some Africans live. The teacher mentions that a friend is traveling to Rwanda the following month and wants to take several large suitcases full of used children’s clothing to give to an especially poor Rwandan village. Over the next few days the students ask their parents and neighbors for donations and gather many usable items for the teacher’s friend to take.

Neo‐Piagetian theorists reject Piaget’s notion that a single series of stages characterizes children’s overall cognitive development. However, they speculate that cognitive development in specific content domains—for instance, in understanding numbers or spatial relationships— often has a stagelike nature (e.g., Case, 1985; Case & Okamoto, 1996; Fischer & Immordino‐ Yang, 2002). Children’s entry into a particular stage is marked by the acquisition of new abilities, which children practice and gradually master over time. Eventually, they integrate these abilities into more complex structures that mark their transition into a subsequent stage. Thus, as is true in Piaget’s theory, the stages are hierarchical, with each one being constructed out of abilities acquired in the preceding stage. Even in a particular subject area, however, cognitive development isn’t necessarily a single series of stages through which children progress as if they were climbing rungs on a ladder. In some cases development might be better characterized as progression along “multiple strands” of skills that occasionally interconnect, consolidate, or separate in a weblike fashion (Fischer & Daley, 2007; Fischer & Immordino‐Yang, 2002). From this perspective, children may acquire more advanced levels of competence in a particular area through any one of several pathways. For instance, as they become increasingly proficient in reading, children may gradually develop their word decoding skills, their comprehension skills, and so on, and they draw on all of these skills when reading a book. However, the rate at which each of the skills is mastered varies from one child to the next.
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PIAGET’S CLINICAL METHOD AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL Earlier in the chapter I described Piaget’s clinical method, in which an adult probes children’s thoughts about a particular task or problem through a sequence of individually tailored questions

neo‐Piagetian theory Theoretical perspective that combines elements of Piaget’s theory with more contemporary research and theories and suggests that development in specific content domains is often stagelike in nature.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER (recall the dialogue with Brian about the wooden beads). By presenting a variety of Piagetian tasks involving either concrete or formal operational thinking skills (e.g., conservation or separation and control of variables) and asking students to explain what they’re thinking, we can gain valuable insights into their logical reasoning abilities (e.g., diSessa, 2007). We need not stick to traditional Piagetian reasoning tasks, however. To illustrate, a teacher might present various kinds of maps (e.g., a road map of Pennsylvania, an aerial map of Chicago, a three‐dimensional relief map of a mountainous area) and ask students to interpret what they see. Children in the early elementary grades are apt to interpret maps very concretely, perhaps thinking that lines separating states and countries are actually painted on the earth or that an airport symbolized by a small airplane has only one plane. They might also have difficulty with the scale of a map, perhaps thinking that a line can’t be a road because “it’s not fat enough for two cars to go on” or that a mountain depicted by a bump on a relief map isn’t really a mountain because “it’s not high enough” (Liben & Downs, 1989; Liben & Myers, 2007, p. 202). Understanding the concept of scale in a map requires proportional reasoning—an ability that doesn’t fully emerge until after puberty—and thus it’s hardly surprising that young children will be confused by it. HANDS‐ON EXPERIENCES Piaget suggested that exploration of the physical environment should be largely a child‐initiated and child‐directed effort. Young children can certainly learn a great deal from their informal interactions with sand, water, and other natural substances (Hutt, Tyler, Hutt, & Christopherson, 1989). And in the elementary and secondary school grades, opportunities to manipulate physical objects—or their virtual equivalents on a computer screen—can enhance students’ understanding of basic mathematical and scientific concepts (M. C. Brown, McNeil, & Glenberg, 2009; Lorch et al., 2010; Sarama & Clements, 2009; Sherman & Bisanz, 2009). Researchers are finding, however, that hands‐on experiences are typically more effective when combined with instruction that helps students draw appropriate conclusions from what they observe (Fujimura, 2001; Hardy, Jonen, Möller, & Stern, 2006; R. E. Mayer, 2004). In the absence of teacher guidance and directive questions, students may draw inferences based solely on what they see and feel—for instance, erroneously concluding that a very small piece of Styrofoam must have no weight whatsoever (M. C. Brown et al., 2009; C. L. Smith, 2007). And, of course, they may fail to separate and control variables in their experimentation (Lorch et al., 2010). CREATING DISEQUILIBRIUM: THE VALUE OF SOCIOCOGNITIVE CONFLICT In the opening case study, the girls argue about various ways to solve a problem involving the use of a fraction (3/4) in making apple tarts. When Jeanette offers a seemingly nonproductive idea (“But three‐quarters equals three”), Kerri points out her illogical thinking (“But she can’t make only three apple tarts!”). As noted earlier, interaction with peers helps children realize that others often view the world differently than they do and that their own ideas aren’t always completely logical or accurate. Furthermore, interactions with age‐mates that involve wrestling with contradictory viewpoints—interactions that involve sociocognitive conflict—create disequilibrium that may spur children to reevaluate and possibly revise their current understandings. Whereas children may accept an adult’s ideas without argument, some may be quite willing to disagree with and challenge the ideas of their peers (D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 2009b; Lampert, Rittenhouse, & Crumbaugh, 1996; M. C. Linn, 2008). Ultimately, social interaction—not only with peers but also with adults—is probably even more important for children’s cognitive development than Piaget realized. Lev Vygotsky’s theory, which we turn to now, describes additional ways in which interactions with fellow human beings promote cognitive growth.

sociocognitive conflict Situation in which one encounters and has to wrestle with ideas and viewpoints inconsistent with one’s own.

Probe students’ reasoning about various logical thinking tasks and problems.

Combine hands‐on experiences with age‐appropriate instruction that enables students to draw appropriate conclusions from their observations.

Hands‐on experiences can be quite valuable in helping students understand the nature of the physical world. Watch an effective second‐grade lesson in “Investigating Particles: Part 1.”

Have students wrestle with complex issues and problems in small groups, where they can hear opinions and arguments that might conflict with their own ways of thinking. Monitor such interactions to be sure that they are mutually respectful and socially appropriate.

Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development
In Piaget’s view, children are largely in control of their own cognitive development; for example, they initiate interactions with objects in their environment and develop self‐constructed understandings of what they observe. In contrast, an early Russian developmentalist, Lev Vygotsky, believed that the adults in any society foster children’s cognitive development in an intentional and somewhat systematic manner. Because Vygotsky emphasized the importance of adult instruction and guidance for promoting cognitive development—and more generally because
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Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development he emphasized the influence of social and cultural factors on children’s cognitive growth—his perspective is known as a sociocultural theory. Vygotsky and his students conducted numerous studies of children’s thinking from the 1920s until Vygotsky’s early death from tuberculosis in 1934. Rather than determine the kinds of tasks children could successfully perform on their own (as Piaget did), Vygotsky often examined the kinds of tasks children could complete only with adult assistance. For example, he described two hypothetical children who could, without help, do things that a typical 8‐year‐old might be able to do. He would give each of the children progressively more difficult tasks and offer some help, perhaps asking a leading question or suggesting a reasonable first step. With such assistance, both children could almost invariably tackle more difficult tasks than they could handle on their own. However, the range of tasks that the two children could complete with assistance might be quite different, with one child stretching his or her abilities to succeed at typical 12‐year‐old‐level tasks and the other succeeding only with typical 9‐year‐old‐level tasks (Vygotsky, 1934/1986, p. 187). Western psychologists were largely unfamiliar with Vygotsky’s work until the last few decades of the twentieth century, when his major writings were translated from Russian into English (e.g., Vygotsky, 1978, 1934/1986, 1997). Although Vygotsky never had the chance to develop his theory fully, his views are clearly evident in many contemporary theorists’ discussions of learning and development. In fact, Piaget’s influence has been on the wane in recent years (Bjorklund, 1997), whereas Vygotsky’s influence has become increasingly prominent. sociocultural theory Theoretical

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perspective emphasizing the importance of society and culture in promoting learning and development.

cognitive tool Concept, symbol, strategy, procedure, or other culturally constructed mechanism that helps people think about and respond to situations more effectively.

VYGOTSKY’S BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
Vygotsky acknowledged that biological factors (e.g., brain maturation) play a role in cognitive development. Children bring certain characteristics and dispositions to the situations they encounter, and their responses vary accordingly. Furthermore, children’s behaviors, which are influenced in part by inherited traits, affect the particular experiences children have (Vygotsky, 1997). However, Vygotsky’s primary focus was on the role of children’s social and cultural environments in fostering cognitive growth—and especially in fostering those complex mental abilities that are unique to human beings as a species. Following are central ideas and concepts in Vygotsky’s theory. Through both informal conversations and formal schooling, adults convey to children the ways in which their culture interprets and responds to the world. Vygotsky proposed that as adults interact with children, they share the meanings they attach to objects, events, and, more generally, human experience. In the process they transform, or mediate, the situations children encounter. Meanings are conveyed through a variety of mechanisms, including language (spoken words, writing, etc.), mathematical symbols, art, music, and so on. Informal conversations are one common mechanism through which adults pass along culturally relevant ways of interpreting situations. But even more important is formal education, through which teachers systematically impart the ideas, concepts, and terminology used in various academic disciplines (Vygotsky, 1934/1986). Although Vygotsky, like Piaget, saw value in allowing children to make some discoveries themselves, he also saw value in having adults pass along the discoveries of previous generations (Vygotsky, 1934/1986). Every culture passes along physical and cognitive tools that make daily living more productive and efficient. Not only do adults teach children specific ways of interpreting experience but they also pass along specific tools that can help children tackle the various tasks and problems they’re apt to face. Some tools, such as scissors, sewing machines, and computers, are physical objects. Others, such as writing systems, maps, and spreadsheets, are partly physical and partly symbolic. Still others, such as the concept of fraction and the process of division (recall the opening case study involving fractions of apples), may have little physical basis at all. In Vygotsky’s view, acquiring tools that are at least partly symbolic or mental in nature—cognitive tools—greatly enhances growing children’s thinking and functioning.
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Show students how various academic disciplines conceptualize the world.

Thought and language become increasingly interdependent in the first few years of life. One very important cognitive tool is language. For us as adults, thought and language are closely interconnected. We often think by using specific words that our language provides. For example, when

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CHAPTER we think about household pets, our thoughts contain such words as dog and cat. In addition, we usually express our thoughts when we converse with others. In other words, we “speak our minds.” Vygotsky proposed that thought and language are separate functions for infants and young toddlers. In these early years, thinking occurs independently of language, and when language appears, it’s first used primarily as a means of communication rather than as a mechanism of thought. But sometime around age 2, thought and language become intertwined: Children begin to express their thoughts when they speak, and they begin to think in words. When thought and language first merge, children often talk to themselves, a phenomenon known as self‐talk (you may also see the term private speech). Vygotsky suggested that self‐talk serves an important function in cognitive development. By talking to themselves, children learn to guide and direct their own behaviors through difficult tasks and complex maneuvers in much the same way that adults have previously guided them. Self‐talk eventually evolves into inner speech, in which children talk to themselves mentally rather than aloud. They continue to direct themselves verbally through tasks and activities, but others can no longer see and hear them do it (Vygotsky, 1934/1986). In other words, both self‐talk and inner speech help children engage in self‐regulation. Complex mental processes begin as social activities and gradually evolve into internal mental activities that children can use independently. Vygotsky proposed that many complex thought processes have their roots in social interactions. As children discuss objects, events, tasks, and problems with adults and other knowledgeable individuals, they gradually incorporate into their own thinking the ways in which the people around them talk about and interpret the world, and they begin to use the words, concepts, symbols, and strategies—in essence, the cognitive tools—that are commonly used in their culture. The process through which social activities evolve into internal mental activities is called internalization. The progression from self‐talk to inner speech just described illustrates this process: Over time, children gradually internalize adults’ directions so that they are eventually giving themselves the directions. Not all mental processes emerge as children interact with adults; some instead develop as children interact with peers. For example, children frequently argue with one another about a variety of matters—how best to carry out an activity, what games to play, who did what to whom, and so on. According to Vygotsky, having arguments helps children discover that there are often several ways to view the same situation. Eventually, he suggested, children internalize the arguing process, developing the ability to look at a situation from a variety of angles on their own.

Chapter 10 more fully describes the nature and development of self‐regulation.

Clocks are human‐made tools—partly physical and partly symbolic—that enhance our daily functioning both as individuals and as a society. In this excerpt from his “My Day” book, 6‐year‐old David practices using and interpreting analog clocks.

Children appropriate their culture’s tools in their own idiosyncratic manner. Children don’t necessarily internalize exactly what they see and hear in a social context. Rather, they often transform ideas, strategies, and other cognitive tools to suit their own needs and purposes—thus, Vygotsky’s theory has a constructivist element to it. The term appropriation is often used to refer to this process of internalizing but also adapting the ideas and strategies of one’s culture for one’s own use. Children can accomplish more difficult tasks when assisted by more advanced and competent individuals. Vygotsky distinguished between two kinds of abilities that characterize children’s skills at any particular point in development. A child’s actual developmental level is the upper limit of tasks that he or she can perform independently, without help from anyone else. A child’s level of potential development is the upper limit of tasks that he or she can perform with the assistance of a more competent individual. To get a true sense of children’s cognitive development, Vygotsky suggested, we should assess their capabilities not only when performing alone but also when performing with assistance—a strategy that contemporary educators call dynamic assessment.

Give students any guidance they need to successfully accomplish difficult tasks.

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Chapter 14 provides more details about dynamic assessment.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development As mentioned earlier, Vygotsky found that children can typically do more difficult things in collaboration with adults than they can do on their own. For example, they can play more difficult piano pieces when an adult helps them locate some of the notes on the keyboard or provides suggestions about which fingers to use where. They can solve more difficult math problems when their teacher helps them identify critical problem components and potentially fruitful problem‐solving strategies. And they can often read more complex prose in a reading group at school than they’re likely to read independently at home. Challenging tasks promote maximum cognitive growth. The range of tasks that children cannot yet perform independently but can perform with the help and guidance of others is, in Vygotsky’s terminology, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (see Figure 2.8). A child’s zone of proximal development includes learning and problem‐solving abilities that are just beginning to emerge and develop. Vygotsky proposed that children learn very little from performing tasks they can already do independently. Instead, they develop primarily by attempting tasks they can accomplish only with assistance and support—that is, when they attempt tasks within their zone of proximal development. In a nutshell, it’s the challenges in life, not the easy successes, that promote cognitive development. But whereas challenging tasks are beneficial, impossible tasks, which children can’t do even with considerable structure and guidance, are of no benefit whatsoever (Vygotsky, 1987). A child’s ZPD therefore sets an upper limit on what he or she is cognitively capable of learning. As teachers, then, we should assign some tasks that students can accomplish successfully only with other people’s support. In some instances this support must come from more skilled individuals, such as adults or older students. In other situations, students of equal ability can work together to jointly accomplish difficult assignments—such as the apple‐tarts problem in the opening case study—with each student bringing unique strengths to contribute to the overall effort. Regardless of the nature of the support we provide, we must remember that every student’s ZPD will change over time. As some tasks are mastered, other, more complex ones will appear on the horizon to take their place. In addition, students’ ZPDs may vary considerably in “width.” Some students may, with assistance, be able to stretch several years above their actual (independent) developmental level, whereas others may be able to handle tasks that are only slightly more difficult than what they can currently do on their own. In some instances, students with different zones of proximal development will need individualized tasks and assignments so that they all have challenges that optimally promote their personal cognitive growth. Play allows children to stretch themselves cognitively. As a young child, my son Jeff often played restaurant with his friend Scott. In a corner of our basement, the boys created a restaurant “kitchen” with a toy sink and stove and stocked it with plastic dishes, cooking utensils, and “food” items. They created a separate dining area with child‐sized tables and chairs and made menus for their customers. On one occasion they invited both sets of parents to “dine” at the restaurant,

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self‐talk Process of talking to oneself as a way of guiding oneself through a task.

inner speech Process of talking to and guiding oneself mentally rather than aloud.

internalization Process through which a learner gradually incorporates socially based activities into his or her internal cognitive processes. appropriation Process of internalizing but also adapting the cognitive tools of one’s culture for one’s own use. actual developmental level Upper limit of tasks that a learner can successfully perform independently. level of potential development
Upper limit of tasks that a learner can successfully perform with the assistance of a more competent individual.

zone of proximal development (ZPD) Range of tasks that a learner can perform with the help and guidance of others but cannot yet perform independently.

FIGURE 2.8 In Vygotsky’s view, tasks in a child’s zone of proximal development promote maximal learning and cognitive growth.
Actual developmental level Level of potential development

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT Tasks that a child can successfully accomplish without assistance
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Tasks that a child can accomplish only with some assistance and support

Tasks that a child cannot accomplish even with considerable assistance and support

Increasing task difficulty

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CHAPTER
Give students time to explore new activities and roles through play.

taking our orders, serving us our food, and eventually giving us our bills. (Fortunately, they seemed content with the few pennies we paid them for our meals.) In their restaurant play, the two boys took on several adult roles (restaurant manager, waiter, cook) and practiced a variety of adultlike behaviors. In real life such a scenario would, of course, be impossible: Very few young children have the many skills necessary to run a restaurant. Yet the element of make‐believe brought restaurant management within the boys’ reach. In Vygotsky’s words, “In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself ” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 102). Furthermore, as children play, their behaviors must conform to certain standards or expectations. In the early elementary school years, children often act in accordance with how a father, teacher, or waiter would behave. In the organized group games and sports that come later, children must follow specific sets of rules. By adhering to such restrictions on their behavior, children learn to plan ahead, to think before they act, and to engage in self‐restraint—skills critical for successful participation in the adult world (also see Coplan & Arbeau, 2009; A. Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, & Munro, 2007; Pellegrini, 2009).

In Vygotsky’s view, children are more likely to make cognitive advancements when they work on tasks for which they need some support and assistance— that is, when they work within their zone of proximal development. See an example in “Zone of Proximal Development: Cognitive.”

CRITIQUING VYGOTSKY’S THEORY
Vygotsky focused more on the processes through which children develop than on the characteristics that children of particular ages are likely to exhibit. He described stages of development but portrayed them in only the most general terms (e.g., see Vygotsky, 1997, pp. 214–216). In addition, Vygotsky’s descriptions of developmental processes were often vague and speculative (Gauvain, 2001; Haenan, 1996; Moran & John‐Steiner, 2003). For such reasons, Vygotsky’s theory has been more difficult for researchers to test and either verify or disprove than has the case for Piaget’s theory. Nevertheless, contemporary theorists and educators have found Vygotsky’s ideas insightful and helpful. Most significantly, his theory points out the many ways in which culture influences cognitive development. A society’s culture ensures that each new generation benefits from the accumulating wisdom of preceding generations. Any culture guides children in certain directions by encouraging them to pay attention to particular stimuli (and not to others) and to engage in particular activities (and not in others). In addition, it provides a lens through which children come to view and interpret their experiences in culturally appropriate ways. We see obvious effects of culture in many of children’s everyday activities—in the books they read, the roles they enact in pretend play, the extracurricular activities they pursue—but we must remember that culture permeates their unobservable thinking processes as well. Furthermore, some research has supported Vygotsky’s views regarding the progression and role of self‐talk and inner speech. The frequency of children’s audible self‐talk decreases during the preschool and early elementary years, but this decrease is at first accompanied by an increase in whispered mumbling and silent lip movements, presumably reflecting a transition to inner speech (Bivens & Berk, 1990; Winsler & Naglieri, 2003). Self‐talk increases when children are performing more challenging tasks, at which they must exert considerable effort to be successful (Berk, 1994; Schimmoeller, 1998). As you undoubtedly know from your own experience, even adults occasionally talk to themselves when they face new challenges!

CONSIDERING DIVERSITY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF VYGOTSKY’S THEORY
Vygotsky’s theory leads us to expect greater diversity among children, at least in cognitive development, than Piaget’s theory does. As we’ve seen, children in any single age‐group are likely to have different zones of proximal development: Tasks that are easy for some children may be quite challenging or virtually impossible for others. In addition, to the extent that specific cultural groups pass along unique concepts, ideas, and beliefs, children from different cultural backgrounds will acquire somewhat different knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking. For instance, children are more likely to acquire map‐reading skills if they regularly encounter maps (e.g., of roads, subway systems, and shopping malls) in their community and family life (Liben & Myers, 2007). And children are more apt to have a keen sense of time if cultural activities are tightly regulated by clocks and calendars (K. Nelson, 1996).

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Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development

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CONTEMPORARY EXTENSIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF VYGOTSKY’S THEORY
The Into the Classroom feature “Applying Vygotsky’s Theory” presents concrete examples of how teachers might make use of Vygotsky’s ideas. In the upcoming sections, we’ll consider several ways in which contemporary theorists and educators have built on the foundation that Vygotsky laid. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING Contemporary psychologists have elaborated on Vygotsky’s proposal that adults help children attach meaning to the objects and events around them. Often an adult will help a child make sense of the world through a joint discussion of a phenomenon or event they are both experiencing (Feuerstein, Feuerstein, & Falik, 2010; P. K. Murphy, Wilkinson, & Soter, 2011). Such an interaction, sometimes called a mediated learning experience, encourages the child to think about the phenomenon or event in particular ways—to attach labels to it, recognize principles that underlie it, draw certain conclusions from it, and so on. As an example, consider the following exchange, in which a 5‐year‐old boy and his mother are talking about a prehistoric animal exhibit at a natural history museum. Boy: Cool. Wow, look. Look giant teeth. Mom, look at his giant teeth. Mom: He looks like a saber tooth. Do you think he eats meat or plants? Boy: Mom, look at his giant little tooth, look at his teeth in his mouth, so big. Mom: He looks like a saber tooth, doesn’t he. Do you think he eats plants or meat?

mediated learning experience
Discussion between an adult and a child in which the adult helps the child make sense of an event they are mutually experiencing.

Into the Classroom
Applying Vygotsky’s Theory
Provide cognitive tools that students can use in thinking about and tackling new tasks.
A high school chemistry teacher places two equal‐size inflated balloons into two beakers of water, one heated to 25°C and the other heated to 50°C. The students all agree that the balloon placed in the warmer water expands more. “How much more did the law to figure it out.”

gradually withdraw the support as they become more proficient.
An elementary physical education teacher begins a lesson on tumbling by demonstrating forward and backward rolls in slow motion and physically guiding her students through the correct movements. As the students become more skillful, the teacher stands back from the mat and gives verbal feedback about how to improve.

Encourage students to talk themselves through difficult tasks.
As his students work on complex mathematical equations such as this one, x= 2(4*9)2 +3 6

Have students work in small groups to accomplish complex, multifaceted tasks.
A middle school art teacher asks his students to work in groups of four or five to design large murals that depict various ecosystems— rainforest, desert, grassland, tundra, and so on—and the kinds of plant and animal species that live in each one. The groups then paint their murals on the walls of the school corridors.

a junior high school mathematics teacher gives students a mnemonic (Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally) they might repeat to themselves to help them remember the order in which they should perform various operations (parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division, addition and subtraction).

Engage students in adult activities that are common in their culture.
A high school publishes a monthly school newspaper with news articles, editorials, cartoons, announcements of upcoming events, advertisements for local businesses, and classified ads. Students assume various roles, including reporters, cartoonists, editors, proofreaders, photocopiers, marketers, and distributors.

Present some tasks that students can perform successfully only with assistance.
When a fifth‐grade teacher assigns students their first research paper, he breaks the process into several discrete steps and provides a great deal of structure and guidance.
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Give young children time to practice adult roles and behaviors through play.
A kindergarten teacher equips his classroom with many household items (dress‐up clothes, cooking utensils, a toy telephone, etc.) so that students can play house during free‐play time.

Provide sufficient support, or scaffolding, to enable students to perform challenging tasks successfully;

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CHAPTER Boy: Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. (referring to sharp tooth) Mom: Do you think he eats plants or meat? Boy: Meat. Mom: How come? Boy: Because he has sharp teeth. (growling noises) (Ash, 2002, p. 378) Even without Mom’s assistance, the boy would learn something about saber tooth tigers from his museum visit. Yet Mom helps him make better sense of what he’s seeing than he might do on his own—for instance by using the label saber tooth and connecting tooth characteristics to eating preferences. Notice Mom’s persistence regarding the tooth–food connection: She continues to ask questions about meat versus plants until the boy finally infers, correctly, that the tigers must have been meat eaters. In addition to co‐constructing meanings with adults, children and adolescents often talk among themselves to make sense of their experiences. School provides an ideal setting in which young people can toss around ideas and perhaps reach consensus about how best to interpret and understand a complex issue or problem—perhaps about a challenging math problem involving apple tarts, perhaps about troubling interpersonal dynamics with peers, or perhaps about moral dilemmas with no easy right and wrong answers. Interacting with adults and interacting with peers possibly play somewhat different roles in children’s development. Adults usually have more experience and expertise than age‐mates do, and they tend to be more skillful teachers. Accordingly, adults are often the partners of choice when children are trying to master complex new tasks and procedures (Gauvain, 2001; Radziszewska & Rogoff, 1988). Working with peers has a different set of advantages. First, as mentioned in the earlier discussion of Piaget’s theory, children who hear age‐mates express perspectives quite different from their own may experience sociocognitive conflict that motivates them to overhaul their own understandings. Second, as Vygotsky suggested, peer interactions provide a social context in which children practice and eventually internalize complex cognitive processes, such as effective reading comprehension and argumentation skills (Andriessen, 2006; Chinn, Anderson, & Waggoner, 2001; P. K. Murphy et al., 2011). A third benefit is that children learn valuable social behaviors—including how to plan a joint enterprise and how to coordinate differing roles—when they work on cognitive tasks with their peers (Gauvain, 2001). SCAFFOLDING Recall Vygotsky’s suggestion that children are most likely to benefit from tasks and activities they can successfully accomplish only with the assistance and support of more competent individuals—that is, tasks within their zone of proximal development. Contemporary theorists have identified a variety of techniques—collectively known as scaffolding—that can help students accomplish challenging tasks in instructional contexts. The following are examples. Help students develop a plan for dealing with a complex new task. Demonstrate proper performance in a manner that students can easily imitate. Divide a multifaceted task into several smaller, simpler tasks. Give specific guidelines for accomplishing the task (e.g., see Figure 2.9). Ask questions that encourage students to think about the task in productive ways. Provide a calculator, computer software (word processing program, spreadsheet, etc.), or other technology that makes some aspects of the task easier. Remind students of what their goals are in performing the task (e.g., what a problem solution should look like). Give frequent feedback about how students are progressing. (A. Collins, 2006; Hmelo‐ Silver, 2006; Lajoie & Derry, 1993; Lodewyk & Winne, 2005; P. F. Merrill et al., 1996; Rogoff, 1990; Rosenshine & Meister, 1992; D. Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976) Depending on their particular knowledge and ability levels, different students in any single grade may need different kinds of scaffolding to support their success in a task. As students become more adept at performing a task, scaffolding is ideally modified to nurture newly emerging skills. And over time the scaffolding is gradually phased out—a process known as fading— until students can complete the task entirely on their own.
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scaffolding Support mechanism that helps a learner successfully perform a challenging task (i.e., a task within the learner’s zone of proximal development).

Teacher scaffolding can take a variety of forms. For example, watch “Salamander Investigation.”

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Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development guided participation A child’s

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FIGURE 2.9 High school language arts teacher Jeff Ormrod uses this checklist to scaffold ninth graders’ efforts to write a five‐paragraph essay. Essay Checklist
Use the following checklist each time you write an essay to make sure that you have completed the steps and have every part you need. Introduction

performance of a real‐world adult activity, facilitated by developmentally appropriate adult support.

apprenticeship Mentorship in which a novice works intensively with an expert to learn how to perform complex new skills. cognitive apprenticeship Mentorship in which a teacher and a student work together on a challenging task and the teacher provides guidance in how to think about the task.

Main Body Paragraphs

Conclusion

Source: Excerpt by Jeffrey Ormrod. Copyright © by Jeffrey Ormrod. Reprinted with permission of the author.

GUIDED PARTICIPATION IN ADULT ACTIVITIES When you were a young child, did you sometimes help a parent or older sibling bake pastries in the kitchen? Did the cook let you pour, measure, and mix ingredients when you were old enough to do so? Did the cook also give you directions or suggestions as you performed these tasks? Virtually all cultures allow children—and in fact usually require them—to be involved in adult activities to some degree. Children’s early experiences often occur at the fringe of an activity, and their involvement is mediated, scaffolded, and supervised through what is sometimes called guided participation (Rogoff, 2003). From a Vygotskian perspective, gradual entry into adult activities enables children to engage in behaviors and thinking skills within their zone of proximal development. It also helps children tie newly acquired skills and thinking abilities to the specific contexts in which they’re likely to be useful later on. As children acquire greater competence, they gradually take a more central role in a particular activity until, eventually, they’re full‐fledged participants (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Rogoff et al., 2007). Adultlike activities can take many forms in the classroom. For instance, we might ask students to conduct laboratory experiments, write letters to government officials, or search the Internet for specific information, while always providing the support students need to accomplish such tasks successfully. As we engage students in these activities, we might also use some of the language that adults frequently use in such contexts. For example, when students conduct scientific experiments, we should use such words as hypothesis, evidence, and theory as we help them evaluate their procedures and results (Perkins, 1992). APPRENTICESHIPS An especially intensive form of guided participation is an apprenticeship, in which a novice works with an expert mentor for a lengthy period to learn how to perform complex tasks within a particular domain. The expert provides considerable structure and guidance throughout the process, gradually removing scaffolding and giving the novice more independence and responsibility as competence increases (A. Collins, 2006; Rogoff, 1990, 1991). Many cultures use apprenticeships as a means of gradually introducing children to particular skills and trades in the adult community—perhaps weaving, tailoring, or playing a musical instrument (D. J. Elliott, 1995; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Rogoff, 1990). In an apprenticeship a student often learns not only how to perform a task but also how to think about the task—a situation known as a cognitive apprenticeship (J. S. Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; A. Collins, 2006; Dennen & Burner, 2008). For instance, a student and a teacher

Have students apply new skills in adultlike activities.

In classroom settings, adultlike, real‐world activities are often called authentic activities, discussed in Chapter 8.

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CHAPTER might work together to accomplish a challenging task or solve a difficult problem—perhaps collecting data samples in biology fieldwork, solving a mathematical brainteaser, or translating a difficult passage from German to English. In the process of talking about various aspects of the task or problem, the teacher and the student together analyze the situation and develop the best approach to take, and the teacher models effective ways of thinking about and mentally processing the situation. Apprenticeships differ widely from one context to another, but they typically have some or all of these features (A. Collins, 2006; A. Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989): Modeling: The mentor carries out the task, simultaneously thinking aloud about the process, while the learner observes and listens. Coaching: As the learner performs the task, the mentor gives frequent suggestions, hints, and feedback. Scaffolding: The mentor provides various forms of support for the learner, perhaps by simplifying the task, breaking it into smaller and more manageable components, or providing less complicated equipment. Articulation: The learner explains what he or she is doing and why, allowing the mentor to examine the student’s knowledge, reasoning, and problem‐solving strategies. Reflection: The mentor asks the learner to compare his or her performance with that of experts, or perhaps with an ideal model of how the task should be done. Increasing complexity and diversity of tasks: As the learner gains greater proficiency, the mentor presents more complex, challenging, and varied tasks to complete. Exploration: The mentor encourages the learner to frame questions and problems on his or her own, and in doing so to expand and refine acquired skills. Because apprenticeships are clearly labor intensive, their use in the classroom isn’t always practical or logistically feasible (De Corte, Greer, & Verschaffel, 1996). Even so, we can certainly use elements of an apprenticeship to help students develop more complex skills. For example, we might help students think about writing tasks in the same ways that expert writers do by giving them such prompts as “To liven this up, I’ll . . .” and “I can tie this together by . . . .” Such prompts provide the same sort of scaffolding that an expert writer might provide, and they help students develop more sophisticated writing strategies (S. L. Benton, 1997; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1985; Wong, Hoskyn, Jai, Ellis, & Watson, 2008).

Give prompts that get students thinking about a complex task as an expert might.

CONTRASTING PIAGET’S AND VYGOTSKY’S THEORIES
Both Piaget and Vygotsky have had a profound influence on contemporary views of learning, thinking, and cognitive development. If we look beyond their differing terminologies, we can see some common themes in the two perspectives. First, both theorists suggested that children acquire increasingly complex thinking processes with age and experience. Second, both argued for the importance of challenge, perhaps in the form of puzzling new information (Piaget’s disequilibrium) or perhaps in the form of tasks that can be completed only with assistance (Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development). And third, at any given point in development children are cognitively ready for some experiences but not for others. In Piaget’s view, a child can accommodate to new objects and events only when the child can, to some degree, also assimilate them into existing schemes—that is, there must be some overlap between the “new” and the “old.” From Vygotsky’s perspective, some challenging new tasks may fall within a child’s ZPD—and thus be accomplishable with guidance and support—but other tasks are likely to be out of reach for the time being. Nevertheless, Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories differ in significant ways. For one thing, Piaget maintained that children’s cognitive development is largely the result of their own efforts— their informal experiments with physical objects, their attempts to restore equilibrium in the face of puzzling events, and so on. In contrast, Vygotsky placed considerable emphasis on the role of adults and other more advanced individuals, who can mediate new experiences and provide needed support during challenging activities. The difference, then, is one of self‐exploration and discovery (Piaget) versus guided exploration and instruction (Vygotsky). A second key difference lies in the potential influence of the culture in which children grow up. Piaget recognized that cultural differences might have an impact, but he didn’t systematically explore them in children’s thinking processes. In Vygotsky’s theory, however, culture is of paramount importance in molding the specific thinking skills children acquire—a perspective

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45 that Bronfenbrenner echoed in describing the multiple layers of environmental influence on children’s development. Increasingly, contemporary researchers have come to the same conclusion: Children’s cultural environments can have a huge influence on what children learn and how they develop. Finally, the two theorists offer differing perspectives on how language enters into the picture. For Piaget, language certainly enhances cognitive development: It provides many labels (symbols) that help children mentally represent their world, and it’s the primary means through which children gain knowledge of other people’s diverse perspectives on various situations and topics. For Vygotsky, on the other hand, language is absolutely essential for cognitive growth. Children’s thought processes are internalized versions of social interactions that are largely verbal in nature. Furthermore, in their conversations with adults, children learn the meanings their culture ascribes to particular events and gradually begin to interpret the world in culture‐specific ways. In addition, through two language‐based phenomena—self‐talk and inner speech—children begin to guide their own behaviors in ways that others have previously guided them. With such benefits in mind, many contemporary theorists share Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s belief that acquiring language is an important—perhaps the most important—factor in cognitive development (e.g., Pinker, 2007; Premack, 2004; Spelke, 2003). We can better understand cognitive development, then, when we also know something about language development.
Chapter 4 describes a variety of cultural and ethnic differences that can shape children’s behaviors and development.

Language Development
Acquiring the language of one’s culture is an extremely complex and challenging undertaking. To understand and use a language effectively, children must master four basic components of the language. First, they must master their language’s phonology: They must know how words sound and be able to produce the sequence of sounds that make up any given word. Second, they must master semantics, the meanings of many thousands of words. Third, they must have a good command of syntax, knowing how words can legitimately be combined to form understandable phrases and sentences. And finally, children must master the pragmatics of their language—the social conventions and speaking strategies that enable effective communication with others. Mastering these four components of language is a remarkable achievement for any child, yet before they reach kindergarten, most children have acquired sufficient proficiency in language to carry on productive conversations with the people around them. Their language development continues throughout childhood and adolescence, in part as a result of informal social interactions and in part as a result of formal instruction (see Table 2.2). Some aspects of language development during the school years reflect an increasing ability to think abstractly about the world. For example, abstract thought enables children to reflect, deliberately and consciously, on the general nature and functions of language—an acquisition known as metalinguistic awareness (Owens, 2008; Yaden & Templeton, 1986). With such awareness comes an ability to recognize the figurative nature of words—the nonliteral meanings of proverbs, the symbolism in poems and literature, and so on. At the same time, children’s ever‐expanding language capabilities probably also help them think abstractly (K. Nelson, 1996; Pinker, 2007).

THEORETICAL ISSUES REGARDING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

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Without a doubt children’s immediate environments play a significant role in their language development. The richer the language that children hear—that is, the greater the variety of words and the greater the complexity of syntactic structures to which other people expose them—the faster their vocabulary develops (Hoff, 2003; Raikes et al., 2006; Risley & Hart, 2006). Yet children don’t simply absorb the language spoken around them. Instead, they appear to use what they hear to construct their own understanding of the language, including knowledge about what words mean, rules governing how words can be combined into meaningful sentences, and so on (Cairns, 1996; Cromer, 1987; Karmiloff‐Smith, 1993). Thus, we see in language development some of the knowledge construction of which Piaget spoke.

Children in the early and middle elementary grades have only limited ability to make sense of figurative language. Here, 8‐year‐old Jeff takes a common expression at face value, rather than recognizing its underlying meaning: that someone has ordered more food than can possibly be eaten.

metalinguistic awareness Ability to think consciously about the nature and functions of language.

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CHAPTER

Examples of Linguistic Characteristics and Abilities at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS age 6; understandings of some words only partially correct (e.g., use of the word animal may be restricted largely to 4‐legged mammals) sentences (e.g., those with multiple clauses) “good listener” (e.g., just sitting quietly) and requests (e.g., not realizing that “Goodness, this class is noisy” means “Be quiet”) orally and in writing pronouncing r, th, dr, sl, and str (‐s, ‐ed, ‐er) with irregular words (sheeps, goed, gooder) taking turns, answering questions) adults (for many students from Asian and Mexican American backgrounds) Students in a third‐grade class love corny jokes and riddles that involve a play on words. For example, many are amused by “Why did the cookie go to the doctor?” (“He felt crumby”) and “Why couldn’t the sailors play cards?” (“Because the captain was standing on the deck”). Teach irregular word forms (e.g., the past tense of ring is rang, the past tense of bring is brought). Consult with a speech‐language specialist if articulation problems persist in the upper elementary grades. Use group discussions as a way to explore academic subject matter. Have students create short stories that they present orally or in writing. Encourage jokes and rhymes that capitalize on double meanings and homonyms (i.e., sound‐alike words). Assign reading materials that introduce new vocabulary. Introduce some of the terminology used by experts in various content areas (e.g., simile in language arts, molecule in science). Conduct structured debates to explore controversial issues. Ask students to consider the underlying meanings of common proverbs. Explore the nature of words and language as entities in and of themselves. Frequently ask students to write about topics; provide guidance about effective writing and frequent feedback about what students have written. (continued)

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
EXAMPLE
When two police officers visit a first‐grade class to talk about how to go to and from school safely each day, the students listen quietly and respectfully. After the visit, however, the students can recall very little about what the officers have told them.

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Read age‐appropriate storybooks as a way of enhancing vocabulary. Give corrective feedback when students’ use of words indicates inaccurate understanding. Work on listening skills (e.g., sitting quietly, paying attention, trying to understand and remember). Ask follow‐up questions to make sure students accurately understand important messages. Ask students to construct narratives about recent events (e.g., “Tell me about your camping trip last weekend”).

K–2

forms one’s language (by age 9) topics prior knowledge into account during explanations cause–and–effect relationships

3-5

rhymes, word games) Students in a sixth‐ grade class write better persuasive essays when their teacher gives them explicit guidance about elements to include, including (1) an introductory statement expressing one’s opinion, (2) supporting evidence for that opinion, (3) reasons why other people might disagree, and (4) explanations of why those reasons are invalid.

12 used in various academic disciplines conversations about abstract topics interpretations; comprehension of simple proverbs and increasing ability to detect sarcasm that is, increasing ability to reflect on the underlying nature of language (nonfiction) writing, especially with teacher scaffolding

6-8

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47 Continued) related to particular academic disciplines result of formal instruction language (e.g., metaphors, proverbs, hyperbole) writing, especially with experience and constructive feedback When a ninth‐grade class reads Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” most students realize that the poem is only superficially about choosing one of two paths through the woods—that at a deeper level it’s about choosing among various paths in life. Consistently use the terminology associated with various academic disciplines. Distinguish between similar abstract words (e.g., weather vs. climate, velocity vs. acceleration). Explore complex syntactic structures (e.g., multiple embedded clauses). Consider the underlying meanings and messages in poetry and fiction. When students have a native dialect other than Standard English, encourage them to use it in informal conversations and creative writing; encourage Standard English for more formal situations.

9-12

Sources: Adger, Wolfram, & Christian, 2007; Byrnes, 1996; Capelli, Nakagawa, & Madden, 1990; S. Carey, 1978, 1985; Ferretti, MacArthur, & Dowdy, 2000; C. A. Grant & Gomez, 2001; K. R. Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006; K. R. Harris, Santangelo, & Graham, 2010; Karmiloff‐Smith, 1979; Maratsos, 1998; T. M McDevitt & Ford, 1987; T. M. McDevitt, Spivey, Sheehan, Lennon, & Story, 1990; Nippold, 1988; O’Grady, 1997; Owens, 2008; Reich, 1986; Stanovich, 2000; Thelen & Smith, 1998.

Most developmental theorists agree that heredity is also involved in language development to some degree. Human beings have the capacity to acquire a far more complex language than any other species on the planet. Exactly what human beings inherit that enables them to learn language is a matter of considerable controversy, however. At a minimum, infants inherit a few key predispositions—for instance, a preference for human voices over other sounds and an ability to hear very subtle differences among speech sounds—that make language learning possible (DeCasper & Fifer, 1980; Jusczyk, 1995; P. K. Kuhl, 2004; J. L. Locke, 1993). In addition, some theorists believe that part of our genetic heritage is a language acquisition device, a language‐specific learning mechanism that enables infants and toddlers to acquire many intricacies of language in an amazingly short amount of time (Chomsky, 1972, 2006; M. Gopnik, 1997; Karmiloff‐ Smith, 1993). Other theorists believe instead that children learn language in much the same way they learn other things about their environment and culture: through detecting and making use of regular patterns of input from their social environment (Gentner & Namy, 2006; Pelucchi, Hay, & Saffran, 2009; Saffran, 2003). Research evidence does point to a language‐specific developmental mechanism for at least some aspects of language learning (Flavell, Miller, & Miller, 2002; Maratsos, 1998; Siegler & Alibali, 2005; Trout, 2003). Children of all cultures learn language very quickly and acquire complex syntactic structures even when those structures aren’t necessary for effective communication. In addition, brain research reveals that certain parts of the left hemisphere seem to be biologically predisposed to specialize in either understanding or producing speech (Aitchison, 1996; J. L. Locke, 1993). Additional evidence for heredity’s influence comes from research findings suggesting that there may be sensitive periods in some aspects of language development (Bortfeld & Whitehurst, 2001; Bruer, 1999; J. L. Locke, 1993). Children who have little or no exposure to any language in the early years often have trouble acquiring language later on, even with intensive language instruction (Curtiss, 1977; Newport, 1990). Furthermore, when learning a second language, people have an easier time mastering pronunciation and various verb tenses if they’re immersed in the language during childhood or early adolescence (Bialystok, 1994; Bortfeld & Whitehurst, 2001; Bruer, 1999; M. S. C. Thomas & Johnson, 2008). Such sensitive periods may reflect biologically built‐in time frames for learning language. Alternatively, perhaps what appear to be predetermined “best” times for learning particular aspects of language are simply the result of the brain’s tendency to adapt fairly quickly to whatever form its early auditory environment takes (P. K. Kuhl, 2004; P. K. Kuhl, Conboy, Padden, Nelson, & Pruitt, 2005). specific language impairment
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DIVERSITY IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Some diversity in language development seems to be the result of biology. For instance, children with a specific language impairment develop normally in all respects except for language. These children have difficulty perceiving and mentally processing particular aspects of spoken

Disability characterized by abnormalities in the production or comprehension of spoken language, to the point that special educational services are required.

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CHAPTER language—perhaps the quality, pitch, duration, or intensity of specific sounds in speech. Often, although not always, the source of the impairment can be traced to heredity or a specific brain abnormality (Bishop, 2006; Bishop, McDonald, Bird, & Hayiou‐Thomas, 2009; Corriveau, Pasquini, & Goswami, 2007; Spinath, Price, Dale, & Plomin, 2004). Cultural factors play a role in linguistic diversity as well. For example, different cultural groups may nurture different dialects—distinct forms of English that characterize particular ethnicities or geographic regions—and different social conventions for human conversation (i.e., different pragmatic skills) (Adger, Wolfram, & Christian, 2007; Kitayama & Cohen, 2007; Tyler et al., 2008). Occasionally a cultural or ethnic group specifically nurtures certain aspects of language development. For example, many inner‐city African American communities make heavy use of figurative language—such as similes, metaphors, and hyperbole (intentional exaggeration)—in their day‐to‐day conversations, jokes, and stories (C. D. Lee, 2005; H. L. Smith, 1998; Smitherman, 2007). The following anecdote illustrates this point:
I once asked my mother, upon her arrival from church, “Mom, was it a good sermon?” To which she replied, “Son, by the time the minister finished preaching, the men were crying and the women had passed out on the floor.” (H. L. Smith, 1998, p. 202)

phonological awareness Ability to hear the distinct sounds that comprise spoken words.

Chapter 4 looks more closely at the nature and implications of children’s dialects.

With such a rich oral tradition, it isn’t surprising that many inner‐city African American youth are especially advanced in their use and understanding of figurative language (Ortony, Turner, & Larson‐Shapiro, 1985; H. L. Smith, 1998; Smitherman, 2007).

SECOND‐LANGUAGE LEARNING AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
As mentioned earlier, exposure to a second language in childhood or early adolescence may be especially important for acquiring flawless pronunciation and certain aspects of syntax. Early exposure to a second language seems to be most advantageous if the second language is very different from the first. For example, a native English speaker benefits more from an early start in Japanese or Arabic than from an early start in, say, Spanish or German (Bialystok, 1994; Strozer, 1994). Aside from such caveats, there appears to be no definitive “best” time to begin studying a second language (e.g., P. K. Kuhl et al., 2005; G. Stevens, 2004). Although there may be no hard‐and‐fast sensitive period for learning a second language, beginning second‐language instruction in the early years has definite advantages. For one thing, it appears that learning a second language facilitates achievement in such other academic areas as reading, vocabulary, and grammar (Diaz, 1983; Reich, 1986). Instruction in a foreign language also sensitizes young children to the international and multicultural nature of the world. Students who learn a second language during the elementary school years express more positive attitudes toward people who speak that language and are more likely to enroll in foreign language classes in high school (Reich, 1986). BILINGUALISM At least half of the world’s children are bilingual; that is, they speak at least two languages fluently (Hoff‐Ginsberg, 1997). Although children who grow up in bilingual environments may initially have more limited vocabularies in each language, research reveals clear long‐term advantages of bilingualism. Bilingual children appear to have a head start in their development of metalinguistic awareness (Bialystok, 2001; Adesope, Lavin, Thompson, & Ungerleider, 2010). For instance, in the early elementary grades, bilingual children have greater phonological awareness—awareness of the individual sounds, or phonemes, that make up spoken words—and this awareness can get them off to an especially good start in learning to read (X. Chen et al., 2004; Rayner, Foorman, Perfetti, Pesetsky, & Seidenberg, 2001). Furthermore, when children are truly fluent in both languages, they tend to perform better on tasks requiring focused attention and on tasks requiring flexible, creative thinking (Adesope et al., 2010; Bialystok, Craik, Green, & Gollan, 2009). Their superior performance on such tasks may be partly the result of enhanced development in certain areas of the brain (Espinosa, 2008; Mechelli et al., 2004). Being bilingual can have cultural and social advantages as well. In any English‐speaking country, mastery of spoken and written English is, of course, essential for long‐term educational

Encourage students of all ages to learn one or more foreign languages.

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49 and professional success. But when a resident of that country belongs to a cultural group that speaks a different language, maintaining social relationships within the culture requires knowledge of its language (McBrien, 2005b). For instance, in many Native American groups, the ancestral language is important for communicating oral history and cultural heritage and for conducting local business (McCarty & Watahomigie, 1998). And Puerto Rican children in the United States often speak Spanish at home as a way of showing respect to their elders (Torres‐Guzmán, 1998). Finally, at school, when different students in a single classroom each speak only one of two different languages (perhaps some speaking only English and others speaking only Spanish), teaching students both languages increases student interaction and cross‐cultural understanding (A. Doyle, 1982; Padilla, 2006). TEACHING A SECOND LANGUAGE Most children in Western, English‐speaking countries are exposed to only one language before they reach school age. That single language may or may not be English. School‐age children who are fluent in their native language but not in English are often referred to as English language learners (ELLs). To the extent that elementary and secondary school students have limited knowledge of English, they’re apt to have trouble with schoolwork in an English‐based classroom (Kieffer, 2008; Padilla, 2006; Slavin & Cheung, 2005; Valdés, Bunch, Snow, & Lee, 2005). Just as very young children typically learn their native language through informal daily exposure, so, too, can they learn two languages simultaneously if they have frequent, ongoing exposure to both languages. However, when children begin to learn a second language at an older age, perhaps in the elementary grades or even later, they often learn it more quickly if their language‐learning experiences are fairly structured (Strozer, 1994). Yet teaching a second language for one 45‐minute period a day—as is typically done in high schools—hardly promotes mastery. Two more intensive approaches, immersion and bilingual education, can be quite effective, with each being useful in somewhat different situations. To keep our discussion simple, let’s assume that students are living in an English‐speaking country. If these students are native English speakers, total immersion in the second language—hearing and speaking it almost exclusively in the classroom during the school day—appears to be the more effective approach. A variation of this approach is a dual‐immersion program, in which some topics are taught exclusively in English and others are taught exclusively in the second language. For native English speakers living in an English‐speaking country, immersion in the second language for part or all of the school day helps students acquire proficiency in the language fairly quickly, and any adverse effects on achievement in other academic areas appear to be short lived (Bialystok et al., 2009; Collier, 1992; Genesee, 1985; Padilla, 2006). In contrast, English language learners living in an English‐speaking country typically fare better in bilingual education, in which they receive intensive instruction in English while studying other academic subject areas in their native language. Not only is their academic achievement at least as good or better in bilingual education but they also have greater self‐esteem and better attitudes toward school (Garcia & Jensen, 2009; Marsh, Hau, & Kong, 2002; Tong, Lara‐ Alecio, Irby, Mathes, & Kwok, 2008; Wright, Taylor, & Macarthur, 2000). The optimal bilingual education program proceeds through a gradual phase‐in of English in instruction, perhaps in a sequence such as the following: 1. Students join native English‐speakers for classes in subject areas that don’t depend too heavily on language skills (e.g., art, music, physical education). They study other subject areas in their native language and also begin classes in English as a second language (ESL). 2. After students have acquired some English proficiency, instruction in English begins for one or two additional subject areas (perhaps math and science). 3. When it’s clear that students can learn successfully in English in the subject areas identified in Step 2, they join their English‐speaking classmates in regular classes in these subjects. 4. Eventually students are sufficiently proficient in English to join the mainstream in all subject areas, and they may no longer require their ESL classes (Krashen, 1996; Padilla, 2006; Valdés et al., 2005). Ideally, the transition from instruction in a student’s native language to instruction in English occurs very gradually over a period of several years. Simple knowledge of basic conversational
English language learner (ELL)
School‐age child who is not fully fluent in English because of limited exposure to English prior to enrollment in an English‐speaking school.

immersion Second‐language instruction in which students hear and speak that language almost exclusively in the classroom.

bilingual education Second‐ language instruction in which students are instructed in academic subject areas in their native language while simultaneously being taught to speak and write in the second language.

To maximize second‐language learning for native English speakers who live in an English‐ speaking country, completely immerse them in the second language for part or all of the school day.

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CHAPTER English—knowledge collectively known as basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS)— isn’t enough for academic success in an English‐only curriculum. Ultimately, students must have sufficient mastery of English vocabulary and syntax that they can easily understand and learn from English‐based textbooks and lectures; in other words, they must have cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). Such mastery of English takes considerable time to achieve—often five to seven years (Carhill, Suárez‐Orozco, & Páez, 2008; Cummins, 1981, 1984, 2000, 2008; Padilla, 2006). Why is immersion better for some students whereas bilingual education is better for others? As we’ve learned, language is an important foundation for cognitive development: It provides symbols for mentally representing the world, enables children to exchange ideas with others, helps them internalize sophisticated cognitive strategies, and so on. Students in an English‐speaking country who are immersed in a different language at school still have many opportunities— at home, with their friends, and in the local community—to continue using and developing their English. In contrast, nonnative English speakers may have few opportunities outside their homes to use their native language. If they’re taught exclusively in English, they may very well

basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) Proficiency in English sufficient for day‐to‐day conversation with English speakers but not sufficient for academic success in an English‐only curriculum.

cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) Mastery of
English vocabulary and syntax sufficient for English language learners to achieve academic success in an English‐only curriculum.

Into the Classroom

Teach early reading skills in students’ native languages.
When working with students whose families recently immigrated from Mexico, a first‐grade teacher teaches basic letter–sound relationships and word decoding skills in Spanish (e.g., showing how the printed word dos, meaning “two,” can be broken up into the sounds “duh,” “oh,” and “sss”).

During small‐group learning activities, encourage same‐language students to communicate with one another in their native language.
When a high school science teacher breaks students into cooperative groups to study the effects of weight, length, and amount of push on a pendulum’s oscillation rate, she puts three native Chinese speakers in a single group. She suggests that they can talk in either English or Chinese as they do their experiments.

If you don’t speak a student’s native language yourself, recruit and train parents, community volunteers, or other students to assist in providing instruction in that language.
A boy in a kindergarten class has grown up speaking a language spoken in some Asian immigrant communities in the United States. His teacher recruits a fourth grader who can read an English picture book to the boy and translate it. At one point the teacher points to a lily pad on a page of the book and asks the fourth grader to describe a lily pad in the boy’s language, as he has never seen lily pads in his own neighborhood.

Encourage—but don’t force—students to contribute to class discussions in English; be understanding of students who are initially reluctant to participate.
A high school social studies teacher often breaks his class into small groups to discuss controversial social and political issues. He intentionally places two recent immigrants with peers who are likely to be supportive as these English language learners struggle in their efforts to communicate.

Use bilingual software.
Conducting a quick Google search using the key terms bilingual, educational, and software, a teacher finds many educational software programs with both English and Spanish options, including some free programs he can easily download to his classroom’s computers.

Have students work in pairs to make sense of textbook material.
As two middle school students read a section of their geography textbook, one reads aloud while the other listens and takes notes. They frequently stop to talk about what they’ve just read or to switch roles.

When using English to communicate, speak more slowly than you might otherwise, and clearly enunciate each word.
A third‐grade teacher is careful that he always says “going to” rather than “gonna” and “want to” rather than “wanna.”

Have students read, write, and report about their native countries; also have them create art that depicts aspects of their countries and cultures.
A middle school social studies teacher has students conduct research on a country from which they or their ancestors emigrated. The students create posters to display what they’ve learned, and they proudly talk about their posters at a class‐ sponsored International Day that students from other classes attend.

Use visual aids to supplement verbal explanations.
A high school history teacher uses photographs she has downloaded from the Internet to illustrate her verbal description of ancient Egypt. She also gives students a one‐page outline that identifies the main ideas in her lesson.

Sources: Strategies are based on research and recommendations by Carhill et al., 2008; Comeau, Cormier, Grandmaison, & Lacroix, 1999; Duff, 2001; Egbert, 2009; Espinosa, 2007; García, 1995; Herrell & Jordan, 2004; Igoa, 1995, 2007; Janzen, 2008; Krashen, 1996; McClelland, 2001; McClelland, Fiez, & McCandliss, 2002; Padilla, 2006; Slavin & Cheung, 2005; Solórzano, 2008; Tong et al., 2008; Valdés et al., 2005; Walshaw & Anthony, 2008.

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51 lose proficiency in their native language before developing adequate proficiency in English—a phenomenon known as subtractive bilingualism—and their cognitive development suffers as a result. Because bilingual education is designed to foster growth in both English and a child’s native language, it’s apt to promote cognitive development as well as English proficiency (Pérez, 1998; Tse, 2001; Winsler, Díaz, Espinosa, & Rodriguez, 1999). We must remember that students’ native languages are very much a part of their sense of identity—their sense of who they are as people (Nieto, 1995; Tatum, 1997). A high school student named Marisol made the point this way:
I’m proud of [being Puerto Rican]. I guess I speak Spanish whenever I can. . . . I used to have a lot of problems with one of my teachers ’cause she didn’t want us to talk Spanish in class and I thought that was like an insult to us, you know? (Nieto, 1995, p. 127) subtractive bilingualism
Phenomenon in which immersion in a new‐language environment leads to deficits in a child’s native language. Remember that English language learners fare better when they study other school subjects in their native language.

Incorporating children’s cultural backgrounds as well as their native language into the classroom curriculum can further promote their academic success (Igoa, 1995, 2007; U.S. Department of Education, 1993). The strategies in the Into the Classroom feature “Working with English Language Learners” take language, sense of identity, and culture into account.

2 What Have You Learned?
As a way of summing up our discussion of development in this chapter, we now return to the learning outcomes identified at the beginning of the chapter. ■ 2.1: Describe four principles portraying the general nature of child development and the roles of both heredity and environment in guiding it. Children develop skills and abilities in a somewhat predictable sequence, but they don’t all develop at the same rate, and their development in any particular domain is apt to show occasional spurts within periods of slower growth. To some degree, children’s developing physical, cognitive, personal, and social characteristics depend on maturation—that is, on a genetically driven unfolding of physiological advancements. But equally critical is an environment that nurtures and supports the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. As developmental theorist Urie Bronfenbrenner has pointed out, children grow up within several layers of environmental influence, including their immediate families, their neighborhoods and communities, and the larger state (or province) and country in which they reside; each of these layers reflects the particular practices and beliefs of one or more cultural groups. At the same time, children also change their environment—and thus also change how their environment affects them—in part by eliciting certain kinds of behaviors from others and in part by choosing among the various opportunities and activities that come their way.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

human activities. The brain has considerable plasticity—that is, it can learn a great many new things at virtually any age. As teachers, we should be optimistic that students can acquire a wide variety of knowledge and skills in both the elementary and secondary grades. Yet we must keep in mind that even at the high school level, many students’ brains haven’t sufficiently matured to support planning, reasoning, impulse control, and other abilities important for independent learning and responsible behavior.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

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■ 2.2: Explain how the brain and its development influence children’s learning and thinking. The human brain changes in significant ways throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, in part as a result of environmental experiences and in part as a result of such genetically driven processes as synaptogenesis, synaptic pruning, and myelination. Although different parts of the brain have different specialties, they are closely interconnected and all work together to support complex

■ 2.3: Apply Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to classroom practice. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget proposed that children are intrinsically motivated to make sense of their world and self‐construct increasingly complex understandings of it through the two complementary processes of assimilation and accommodation. His four stages of cognitive development give us a rough idea of when various logical thinking capabilities are likely to emerge; however, most contemporary developmental theorists believe that children’s developmental progress can probably be better characterized as gradual trends that depend at least partly on experience. Piaget’s theory has numerous implications for classroom practice. For example, his clinical method offers a way of exploring children’s reasoning processes in depth. His proposal that abstract thinking doesn’t appear until adolescence encourages us to make heavy use of concrete, hands‐on experiences in the elementary and middle school grades. And his concept of disequilibrium suggests that by challenging students’ illogical reasoning, we can sometimes spur them to revise incomplete understandings and think in more sophisticated ways.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

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CHAPTER ■ 2.5: Describe developmental changes in language during the school years, and explain how you might adapt instruction to children with diverse language abilities and needs. Although most children have considerable proficiency in their native language by the time they reach kindergarten, their language development continues throughout the school years. For example, in addition to acquiring an ever‐expanding vocabulary, children become increasingly able to listen effectively, conduct sustained conversations about particular topics, and comprehend the underlying meanings of figurative speech. Both hereditary and environmental factors contribute to language development. One important environmental variable is, of course, the particular language—or languages—that children speak at home and in their communities. Researchers have identified many advantages to knowing two more languages, including more advanced metalinguistic awareness, more creative thinking, and greater cross‐cultural understanding. Different approaches to promoting bilingualism are recommended in different situations. In an English‐speaking community, native English speakers can gain fluency in a second language through complete or partial immersion in that language at school, but students who speak a language other than English at home typically achieve at higher levels in bilingual education programs.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 2.4: Apply Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development to classroom practice. In contrast to Piaget, who portrayed children as being largely in control of their own cognitive development, Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky proposed that children’s cognitive development is a very social enterprise. In particular, adults and other more advanced individuals communicate the meanings their culture assigns to objects and events, pass along physical and cognitive tools that make everyday tasks and problems easier, and assist children with tasks in their zone of proximal development. In Vygotsky’s view, social activities are often precursors to and form the basis for complex mental processes: Children initially use new skills in the course of interacting with adults or peers and slowly internalize and adapt these skills for their own, independent use. Vygotsky’s theory suggests that, as teachers, we should help students make sense of their experiences (e.g., by tying their observations to particular scientific concepts and principles), assign activities that require them to stretch their existing abilities, scaffold their efforts on challenging new tasks, have them work in small groups to tackle multifaceted issues and problems, and meaningfully engage them in adultlike activities.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
Stones Lesson
Ms. Hennessey is conducting a demonstration in her first‐grade class. She shows the children a large glass tank filled with water. She also shows them two stones. One stone, a piece of granite, is fairly small (about 2 cm in diameter). The other stone, a piece of pumice (i.e., cooled volcanic lava), is much larger (about 10 cm in diameter). Because Ms. Hennessey does not allow the children to touch or hold the stones, they have no way of knowing that the piece of pumice, which has many small air pockets in it, is much lighter than the piece of granite. The demonstration proceeds as follows: Ms. H.: Would anyone like to predict what he or she thinks will happen to these stones? Yes, Brianna. Brianna: I think the . . . both stones will sink because I know stones sink. I’ve seen lots of stones sink and every time I throw a rock into the water, like it always sinks, yeah, it always does. Ms. H.: You look like you want to say something else. Brianna: Yeah the water can’t hold up rocks like it holds up boats and I know they’ll sink. Ms. H.: You sound so sure, let me try another object. Brianna: No you gotta throw it in, you gotta test my idea first. [Ms. H. places the smaller stone in the tank; it sinks.] See, I told you I knew it would sink. [Ms. H. puts the larger, pumice stone down and picks up another object.] No you’ve gotta test the big one too because if the little one sunk the big one’s gotta sunk. [Ms. H. places the pumice stone in the tank; it floats.] No! No! That’s not right! That doesn’t go with my mind [Brianna grabs hold of her head]; it just doesn’t go with my mind.*
1. Constructed‐response question:

Brianna is noticeably surprised, maybe even a little upset, when she sees the pumice stone float. A. Use one or more concepts from Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to explain why Brianna reacts as strongly as she does to the floating pumice. B. Again drawing on Piaget’s theory, explain why Ms. Hennessey intentionally presents a phenomenon that will surprise the children.

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*Excerpt from “Students’ Reflective Thoughts About Science Content: A Relationship to Conceptual Change Learning” by M. Gertrude Hennessey and M.E. Beeth, April 1993, paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta, GA. Copyright © 1993 by Gertrude Hennessey and M. E. Beeth. Reprinted with permission.

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2. Multiple‐choice question:

Imagine that you perform the same demonstration with high school students rather than first graders. If you were to follow Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development, which one of the following approaches would you take in helping the students understand the floating pumice? a. Before performing the demonstration, ask students to draw a picture of the tank and two stones.

b. Drop several light objects (e.g., a feather, a piece of paper, a small sponge) into the tank before dropping either stone into it. c. Teach the concept of density, and explain that an object’s average density relative to water determines whether it floats or sinks. d. Praise students who correctly predict that the larger stone will float, even if they initially give an incorrect explanation about why it will float.

PRAXIS

Go to Appendix C, “Matching Book and tions of this chapter that may be especially applicable to the Praxis tests.

,” to discover sec-

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3

Personal and Social Development

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
3.1: Describe the nature and origins of children’s temperaments and personality characteristics, and explain how you might adapt your classroom practices to students’ diverse personalities. Explain how students’ sense of self is apt to influence their behavior and how you can help students develop healthy self‐perceptions. 3.3: Apply your knowledge of peer relationships and social cognition in promoting productive social skills and addressing student aggression. Describe typical advancements in moral and prosocial development over the course of childhood and adolescence, and identify strategies for promoting moral and prosocial development in the classroom.

3.4:

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3.2:

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CA S E S T U DY: HID D E N T R E A S U RE
Six‐year‐old Lupita has spent most of her life in Mexico with her grandmother, but she has recently joined her migrant‐worker parents in the United States and is now a quiet, well‐behaved student in Ms. Padilla’s kindergarten class. Ms. Padilla rarely calls on her because of her apparent lack of academic skills and is thinking about holding her back for a second year of kindergarten. Yet a researcher’s video camera captures a side of Lupita that her teacher hasn’t noticed. On one occasion Lupita is quick to finish her Spanish assignment and starts to work on a puzzle during her free time. A classmate approaches, and he and Lupita begin playing with a box of toys. A teacher aide asks the boy whether he has finished his Spanish assignment, implying that he should return to complete it, but the boy doesn’t understand the aide’s subtle message. Lupita gently persuades the boy to go finish his schoolwork and then returns to her puzzle. Two classmates having trouble with their own puzzles request Lupita’s assistance, and she competently and patiently shows them how to work cooperatively to assemble the pieces. Ms. Padilla is amazed when she views the videotape. She readily admits, “I had written her off—her and three others. They had met my expectations, and I just wasn’t looking for anything else.” Ms. Padilla and her aides begin working closely with Lupita on academic skills and often allow her to take a leadership role in group activities. At the end of the school year, Lupita earns achievement test scores indicating exceptional competence in language skills and mathematics, and she is promoted to first grade. (Based on case described by Carrasco, 1981)

Lupita’s behaviors during free time reveal a conscientious, socially astute child with strong teaching and leadership skills. However, perhaps because of Lupita’s quiet, restrained nature—or perhaps because of her family background—Ms. Padilla initially concludes that Lupita hasn’t mastered the knowledge and skills she’ll need in first grade. If the researcher’s videotape hadn’t captured Lupita’s social skills and proficiency and persistence with puzzles, Lupita might very well have remained on the sidelines throughout much of the school year, getting little assistance on academic skills and few opportunities to capitalize on her many positive personal qualities. Thus, Ms. Padilla’s low expectations for Lupita may have ensured that Lupita wouldn’t gain the knowledge and skills she would need in first grade—a self‐fulfilling prophecy. School isn’t just a place for acquiring cognitive and linguistic skills. It’s also a place for personal development, whereby children and adolescents build on and possibly modify their distinctive patterns of behavior (i.e., their personalities) and gain an increasing understanding of who they are as individuals. Furthermore, the very social nature of school makes it an ideal context for social development, in which young people come to better understand their fellow human beings, develop productive social skills and interpersonal relationships, and gradually internalize their society’s standards for behavior.

personal development
Development, with age, of distinctive behavioral styles and increasingly complex self‐understandings.

social development
Development, with age, of increasingly sophisticated understandings of other people and of society as a whole, as well as increasingly effective interpersonal skills and more internalized standards for behavior.

Personality Development
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Long before children begin school, they show noticeable differences in personality. That is, they show some consistency in their behaviors and thought patterns in a wide variety of situations. For instance, whereas Lupita tends to be quiet and well behaved in class, some of her peers are probably noisy and rambunctious. And whereas Lupita is conscientious about completing her work,

personality Characteristic ways in which an individual behaves and thinks in a wide range of circumstances.

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CHAPTER at least one of her classmates—and probably several others—are easily distracted and must be prodded to stay on task. Children’s personalities are the result of both heredity—especially in the form of inherited temperaments—and environmental factors. As you will see, heredity and environment often interact in their influences.

CHA PTER O U TL I NE
Personality Development
Temperament Environmental Influences on Personality Development The “Big Five” Personality Traits Temperament, Personality, and Goodness of Fit

TEMPERAMENT
A child’s temperament is his or her general tendency to respond to and deal with environmental stimuli and events in particular ways. Children seem to have distinct temperaments almost from birth. Researchers have identified many temperamental styles that emerge early in life and are relatively enduring, including general activity level, adaptability, self‐control, persistence, adventurousness, outgoingness, shyness, fearfulness, irritability, and distractibility. Most psychologists agree that such temperamental differences are biologically based and have genetic origins, and to some degree the differences persist into adolescence and adulthood (Caspi & Silva, 1995; Keogh, 2003; Rothbart, 2011; A. Thomas & Chess, 1977). By influencing children’s behaviors, inherited temperaments also influence the specific environmental circumstances they experience and so indirectly affect other aspects of personal and social development (N. A. Fox, Henderson, Rubin, Calkins, & Schmidt, 2001; Rothbart, 2011; Strelau, 2008). For example, children who are energetic and adventuresome seek out a wider variety of experiences than those who are quiet and restrained. And children who are naturally vivacious and outgoing typically have more opportunities to learn social skills and establish rewarding interpersonal relationships than do children who are subdued and shy. Furthermore, many temperamental characteristics affect how students engage in and respond to classroom activities and thus indirectly affect their academic achievement (Keogh, 2003; Rothbart, 2011; Saudino & Plomin, 2007). For instance, students are more likely to achieve at high levels if they are persistent, reasonably (but not overly) energetic, and able to ignore minor distractions. They can also achieve greater academic success if their behaviors lead to friendly, productive relationships with teachers and peers—people who can bolster their self‐confidence and support their efforts to learn. Underlying some of their academic and social success is an aspect of temperament known as effortful control—their general ability to inhibit immediate impulses in order to think and act productively (Rothbart, 2011; Valiente, Lemery‐Chalfant, & Swanson, 2010).

Development of a Sense of Self
Factors Influencing Sense of Self Developmental Changes in Sense of Self Diversity in Sense of Self

Development of Peer Relationships and Interpersonal Understandings
Roles of Peers in Children’s Development Characteristics of Peer Relationships Social Cognition Aggression Technology and Peer Relationships Diversity in Peer Relationships and Social Cognition Promoting Healthy Peer Relationships

Moral and Prosocial Development
Developmental Trends in Morality and Prosocial Behavior Factors Influencing Moral and Prosocial Development Diversity in Moral and Prosocial Development Encouraging Moral and Prosocial Development in the Classroom

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Genetic differences in temperament are only predispositions to behave in certain ways, and environmental conditions and experiences point different children with the same predispositions in somewhat different directions. Two key environmental factors influencing personality development are family dynamics and cultural expectations for behavior. FAMILY DYNAMICS Many parents and other family caregivers (e.g., grandparents, older siblings) lovingly interact with a new infant and consistently and dependably provide for the infant’s physical and psychological needs. When they do such things, a strong, affectionate caregiver–child bond known as attachment typically forms (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). Infants who become closely attached to parents or other caregivers early in life are apt to develop into amiable, independent, self‐confident children and adolescents who adjust easily to new classroom environments, establish productive relationships with teachers and peers, and have an inner conscience that guides their behavior. In contrast, children who don’t become closely attached to a parent or some other individual early in life can be immature, dependent, unpopular, and prone to disruptive

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Personality Development and aggressive behaviors later on (J. P. Allen, Porter, McFarland, McElhaney, & Marsh, 2007; Kochanska, Aksan, Knaack, & Rhines, 2004; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2005; S. Shulman, Elicker, & Sroufe, 1994; Sroufe, Carlson, & Shulman, 1993). In addition to forming emotional attachments with children, parents and other family caregivers adopt fairly consistent parenting styles they use in raising the children. In mainstream Western culture, the ideal situation seems to be authoritative parenting, which combines affection and respect for children with reasonable restrictions on behavior. Authoritative parents provide a loving and supportive home, hold high expectations and standards for performance, explain why behaviors are or are not acceptable, enforce household rules consistently, include children in decision making, and provide age‐appropriate opportunities for autonomy. Children from authoritative homes tend to be happy, energetic, self‐confident, and likeable. They make friends easily and show self‐control and concern for the rights and needs of others. Children of authoritative parents appear well adjusted, in part, because their behavior fits well with the values espoused by mainstream Western culture. They listen respectfully to others, follow reasonable rules for behavior, work well independently, and strive for academic achievement (Barber, Stolz, & Olsen, 2005; Baumrind, 1989, 1991; Bradley, 2010; M. R. Gray & Steinberg, 1999; J. M. T. Walker & Hoover‐Dempsey, 2006). Given such benefits, authoritative parenting provides a good model for how we, as teachers, should generally conduct our classrooms. Authoritative parenting isn’t universally “best,” however. Certain other parenting styles may be better suited to particular cultures and environments. For instance, in authoritarian parenting, parents expect complete and immediate compliance; they neither negotiate expectations nor provide reasons for their requests. In many Asian American and Hispanic families, high demands for obedience are made within the context of close, supportive parent–child relationships. Underlying the message of control is a more important message: “I love you and want you to do well, but it’s equally important that you act for the good of the family and community” (X. Chen & Wang, 2010; Halgunseth, Ispa, & Rudy, 2006; Rothbaum & Trommsdorff, 2007). Authoritarian parenting is also more common in impoverished economic environments. When families live in low‐income, inner‐city neighborhoods where danger potentially lurks around every corner, parents may better serve their children by being strict and directive about activities (Hale‐Benson, 1986; McLoyd, 1998). Some degree of parental guidance and discipline seems to be important for optimal personal and social development. Parents who are overly permissive—for instance, those who let their children come and go as they please and impose few consequences for inappropriate actions—tend to have children who are immature and impulsive, do poorly in school, and act aggressively with peers (Aunola & Nurmi, 2005; Joussemet et al., 2008; Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg, & Dornbusch, 1991). Yet we must take care not to point accusatory fingers or in other ways be judgmental about how parents are bringing up their children. Some parents may have learned ineffective parenting strategies from their own parents. Others may have challenges in their lives—perhaps mental illness, marital conflict, or serious financial problems—that hamper their ability to nurture and support their children. It’s important to note, too, that most research on parenting involves correlational studies that reveal associations between parents’ behaviors and children’s characteristics but don’t necessarily demonstrate cause–and–effect relationships. A few experimental studies have documented that specific parenting styles probably do influence children’s personalities to some degree (Bakermans‐Kranenburg, van IJzendoorn, Pijlman, Mesman, & Juffer, 2008; W. A. Collins, Maccoby, Steinberg, Hetherington, & Bornstein, 2000). In other cases, however, parents’ disciplinary strategies seem to be the result, rather than the cause, of how children behave. For instance, temperamentally lively or adventuresome children typically require more parental control than quieter, restrained ones (J. R. Harris, 1998; Rothbart, 2011; Stice & Barrera, 1995). As teachers, we can certainly serve as sources of information about effective disciplinary strategies. But we should keep in mind that parenting styles have, at most, only a moderate influence on children’s personalities. Many children and adolescents thrive despite their caregivers’ diverse parenting styles, provided that those caregivers aren’t severely neglectful or abusive. Children with certain temperaments—for instance, those who tend to be adaptable, self‐disciplined, and outgoing—seem to be especially resilient in the face of difficult family

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temperament Genetic predisposition to respond in particular ways to one’s physical and social environments. effortful control One’s general ability to inhibit immediate impulses in order to think and act productively; believed to be a distinct aspect of temperament that has a biological basis in the brain. attachment bond formed between a child and a caregiver.

authoritative parenting Parenting style characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making. authoritarian parenting Parenting style characterized by rigid rules and expectations for behavior that children are asked to obey without question.

Adopt a generally authoritative style in the classroom.

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effective parenting strategies, perhaps through newsletters or parent discussion groups.

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CHAPTER circumstances (Bates & Pettit, 2007; Belsky & Pluess, 2009; D. Hart, Atkins, & Fegley, 2003; Rothbart, 2011). Child maltreatment In a few unfortunate instances, parents’ behaviors toward their children constitute child maltreatment. In some cases, parents neglect children: They fail to provide nutritious meals, adequate clothing, and other basic necessities of life. In other cases, parents or other family members abuse children physically, sexually, or emotionally. Possible indicators of neglect or abuse are chronic hunger, lack of warm clothing in cold weather, untreated medical needs, frequent or serious physical injuries (e.g., bruises, burns, broken bones), and exceptional knowledge about sexual matters. Parental neglect and abuse can have significant adverse effects on children’s personal and social development. On average, children who have been routinely neglected or abused have low self‐esteem, poorly developed social skills, and low school achievement. Many are angry, aggressive, and defiant. Others can be depressed, anxious, socially withdrawn, and possibly suicidal (Crosson‐Tower, 2010; J. Kim & Cicchetti, 2006; Maughan & Cicchetti, 2002; R. A. Thompson & Wyatt, 1999). Teachers are both morally and legally obligated to report any cases of suspected child abuse or neglect to the proper authorities (e.g., the school principal or child protective services). Two helpful resources are the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1‐800‐4‐A‐CHILD (1‐800‐422‐4453) and the website for Childhelp at www.childhelp.org. CULTURAL EXPECTATIONS AND SOCIALIZATION As we’ve seen, various cultural groups influence children’s personalities indirectly through the parenting styles they encourage. Culture also has a more direct influence on children’s personal and social development through a process known as socialization. That is, members of a cultural group work hard to help growing children adopt the behaviors and beliefs that the group holds dear. Children typically learn their earliest lessons about their culture’s standards and expectations for behavior from parents and other family members, who teach them simple manners (e.g., saying please and thank you), encourage them to do well in school, and so on (W.‐B. Chen & Gregory, 2008; Eccles, 2007). Once children reach school age, teachers become equally important socialization agents. For example, in mainstream Western society, teachers typically expect and encourage such behaviors as showing respect for authority figures, following rules and directions, controlling impulses, working independently, and asking for help when it’s needed (Manning & Baruth, 2009; Wentzel & Looney, 2007). Cultures around the globe encourage many of these behaviors, but they don’t necessarily endorse all of them. For instance, many children of Mexican heritage are more accustomed to observing events quietly and unobtrusively—as Lupita does in the opening case study—than to asking adults for explanations and help (Correa‐Chávez, Rogoff, & Mejía Arauz, 2005; Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003). Researchers have observed other cultural differences in socialization practices as well. For instance, European American families often encourage assertiveness and independence, but families from many other countries (e.g., Mexico, China, India) are more likely to encourage restraint, obedience, and deference to elders (Goodnow, 1992; Joshi & MacLean, 1994; Morelli & Rothbaum, 2007). And whereas many American children are encouraged to be outgoing and emotionally expressive, children in many Asian cultures are encouraged to be shy and emotionally reserved (X. Chen, Chung, & Hsiao, 2009; Huntsinger & Jose, 2006; Morelli & Rothbaum, 2007). However, considerable diversity exists within any culture, with different parents, teachers, and other adults encouraging somewhat different behaviors and beliefs. When behaviors expected of students at school differ from those expected at home or when belief systems presented by teachers are inconsistent with those of children’s parents, children may initially experience some culture shock. At a minimum, these children are apt to be confused and distracted, at least in the first few days or weeks of school. Some children with less adaptable or more irritable temperaments may even become angry or resistant (Rothbart, 2011; Ward, Bochner, & Furnham, 2001). As teachers, we must certainly encourage behaviors essential for students’ long‐term success, such as obeying rules, following instructions, and working independently. At the same time, students will need our guidance, support, and patience when our expectations differ from those of their family or cultural group.

child maltreatment Consistent neglect or abuse of a child that jeopardizes the child’s physical and psychological well‐being.

socialization Process of molding a child’s behavior and beliefs to be appropriate for his or her cultural group.

culture shock when a student encounters a new environment with behavioral expectations very different from those previously learned. Chapter 5 describes possible warning signs that a student is contemplating suicide.

Report suspected cases of child maltreatment immediately.

Chapter 4 examines cultural differences such as these in greater depth.

Teach students behaviors they will need for long‐term success in Western society, but be patient when such behaviors are very different from those learned at home.

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Personality Development

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THE “BIG FIVE” PERSONALITY TRAITS
As children grow older, the many interactions among their inherited temperaments and environmental circumstances lead to unique and somewhat stable personality profiles. Research with both children and adults has yielded five general personality traits that are relatively independent of one another and appear to involve somewhat different areas of the brain. You can remember them using the mnemonic OCEAN: Openness: The extent to which one is curious about the world and receptive to new experiences and ideas Conscientiousness: The extent to which one is careful, organized, self‐disciplined, and likely to follow through on plans and commitments Extraversion: The extent to which one is socially outgoing and seeks excitement Agreeableness: The extent to which one is pleasant, kind, and cooperative in social situations Neuroticism: The extent to which one is prone to negative emotions (e.g., anxiety, anger, depression) (Caspi, 1998; DeYoung et al., 2010; G. Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2006; Saarni, Campos, Camras, & Witherington, 2006) Such traits lead to some consistency—but not total consistency—in children’s behaviors across situations (Hampson, 2008; Mendoza‐Denton & Mischel, 2007). Variability is particularly common when circumstances change considerably. For instance, a student might be very outgoing and sociable with his close friends but shy and withdrawn with people he doesn’t know very well. And a student is more likely to be conscientious about completing homework if she is given some guidance about how to organize her assignments in a “to‐do” list (Belfiore & Hornyak, 1998).
Remember that despite some consistency in students’ personalities, their behaviors are likely to vary somewhat in different contexts.

Creating a Productive Classroom Environment

Minimize down time for students with high energy levels.
As a way of letting a chronically restless third grader release pent‐up energy throughout the school day, his teacher gives him small chores to do (e.g., erasing the board, sharpening pencils, cleaning art supplies) and shows him how to complete the chores quietly so as not to disturb his classmates.

When students have trouble adapting to new circumstances, give them advance notice of unusual activities and provide extra structure and reassurance.
A kindergarten teacher has discovered that two children in his class do well when the school day is orderly and predictable but often become anxious or upset when the class departs from its usual routine. To prepare the children for a field trip to the fire station on Friday, the teacher begins to talk about the trip at the beginning of the week, explaining what the class will do and see during the visit. He also recruits the father of one of the anxiety‐prone children to serve as a parent assistant that day.

Provide numerous opportunities for highly sociable students to interact with classmates.
In a unit on colonial America, a fifth‐grade teacher assigns a project in which students must depict a typical colonial village in some way (e.g., by writing a research paper, drawing a map on poster board, or creating a miniature three‐dimensional model). The students can choose to work on the project alone or with one or two classmates, with the stipulation that students who work with peers must undertake more complex projects than students who work alone.

If students seem overwhelmed by noisy or chaotic situations, find or create a more calm and peaceful environment for them. unsettling. Their math teacher offers her classroom as a place where they can occasionally eat instead. On some days she eats with them. At other times she sits at her desk and grades papers, but the students know she will gladly stop to talk if they have a question or concern.

Be especially warm and attentive with very shy students.
A ninth‐grade teacher has a new student join one of his classes midway through the school year. The student comes to class alone each day and doesn’t join in conversations with peers before or after class. When the teacher sees her eating lunch by herself in the cafeteria one day, he sits beside her and engages her in conversation about her previous school and community. The following day in class, he assigns a small‐group, cooperative learning project that students will work on periodically over the next two weeks. He forms cooperative groups of three or four students each, making sure to place the new girl with two students whom he knows will be friendly and helpful to her.

Teach self‐control strategies to students who act impulsively.
A high school student often shouts out comments and opinions in her history class. One day the student’s teacher takes her aside after school and gently explains that her lack of restraint is interfering with classmates’ ability to participate in discussions. To sensitize the student to the extent of the problem, the teacher asks her to keep a daily tally of how many times she talks without first raising her hand. A week later the two meet again, and the teacher suggests a self‐talk strategy that can help the student participate actively without dominating a discussion.

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Sources: Some strategies based on suggestions by Keogh (2003).

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CHAPTER

TEMPERAMENT, PERSONALITY, AND GOODNESS OF FIT
On average, students who are conscientious about their work and open to new experiences achieve at higher levels at school (Hattie, 2009; M. C. O’Connor & Paunonen, 2007). Yet there is no single best temperament or personality that maximizes students’ adjustment and achievement in the classroom. Instead, children are more likely to succeed at school when there is a goodness of fit, rather than a mismatch, between their natural inclinations and typical behaviors, on the one hand, and classroom activities and expectations, on the other (A. Thomas & Chess, 1977). For example, when teachers want students to participate actively in whole‐class discussions, highly energetic, outgoing children are apt to shine, but quieter students (like Lupita) might feel anxious or intimidated. When teachers require a lot of independent seatwork, quieter children often do well, but some energetic children may be viewed as disruptive (Keogh, 2003; Rothbart, 2011). As teachers, we must keep in mind that students’ distinctive ways of behaving in the classroom—their energy levels, sociability, impulsiveness, and so on—aren’t entirely within their control. The Creating a Productive Classroom Environment feature “Accommodating Students’ Diverse Temperaments and Personality Traits” offers several suggestions for adapting instruction and classroom management strategies to accommodate students’ individual behavioral styles.

Even when all students are productively engaged in a classroom activity, they show temperamental differences in such traits as general energy level and outgoingness. For example, observe the diverse student temperaments in “Water Wheels Activity.”

Development of a Sense of Self
With their increasing capacity for symbolic thinking and (eventually) abstract reasoning, growing children begin to draw conclusions about who they are as people. As an example, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
List at least 10 adjectives or phrases that describe you as a person. How did you describe yourself? Are you smart? Friendly? Open‐minded? Physically attractive? Moody? Your answers provide a window into a key component of your personality known as sense of self—your perceptions, beliefs, judgments, and feelings about who you are as a person. Many psychologists distinguish between two aspects of the sense of self: self‐concept—assessments of one’s own characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses—and self‐esteem—judgments and feelings about one’s own value and worth. These two aspects closely overlap, however, and thus the two terms are often used interchangeably (Bracken, 2009; Byrne, 2002; McInerney, Marsh, & Craven, 2008). In overall self‐assessments, young children tend to make distinctions between two general domains: how competent they are at day‐to‐day tasks (including schoolwork) and how well they are liked by family and friends. As they grow older, children make finer and finer distinctions— for instance, they realize that they may be more or less competent or “good” in various academic subjects, athletic activities, peer relationships, and physical attractiveness (Davis‐Kean & Sandler, 2001; Harter, 1999; Yun, Farran, Lipsey, & Bilbrey, 2010). Each of these domains may have a greater or lesser influence on students’ overall sense of self. For some, academic achievement may be the overriding factor, whereas for others, physical attractiveness or popularity with peers may be more important (Crocker & Knight, 2005; D. Hart, 1988; Harter, 1999). Children and adolescents tend to behave in ways that mirror their beliefs about themselves (M. S. Caldwell, Rudolph, Troop‐Gordon, & Kim, 2004; Marsh & O’Mara, 2008; Valentine, DuBois, & Cooper, 2004). For instance, if they see themselves as good students, they’re more likely to pay attention, follow directions, persist at difficult problems, and enroll in challenging courses. If they see themselves as friendly and socially desirable, they’re more likely to seek the company of their classmates and perhaps run for student council. If they see themselves as physically competent, they’ll more eagerly pursue extracurricular athletics. Students’ beliefs about themselves are, like their beliefs about the world around them, largely self‐constructed. Accordingly, their self‐assessments may or may not be accurate. When students evaluate themselves fairly accurately, they’re in a good position to choose age‐appropriate tasks and activities (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003; Harter, 1999). A slightly inflated self‐ assessment can be beneficial as well, because it encourages students to work toward challenging yet

goodness of fit classroom conditions and expectations are compatible with students’ temperaments and personality characteristics.

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sense of self Perceptions, beliefs, judgments, and feelings about oneself as a person; includes self‐concept and self‐esteem.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

61 potentially reachable goals (Bjorklund & Green, 1992; Pajares, 2009). However, a sense of self that is too inflated can give some students an unwarranted sense of superiority over classmates and lead them to bully or in other ways act aggressively toward peers (Baumeister et al., 2003; Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996; Menon et al., 2007). And as you might guess, students who significantly underestimate their abilities are apt to avoid the many challenges that would enhance their cognitive and social growth (Schunk & Pajares, 2004; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009). self‐efficacy of executing certain behaviors or achieving certain goals.

FACTORS INFLUENCING SENSE OF SELF
Students often gain initial insights about their general competence in a certain domain from their own successes and failures in that domain (Marsh, Gerlach, Trautwein, Lüdtke, & Brettschneider, 2007; Marsh & O’Mara, 2008). For instance, they may discover that they can easily solve—or consistently struggle with—simple math problems. Or they may find that they can run faster—or more slowly—than most of their peers. Through such experiences, students acquire a sense of self‐efficacy about the degree to which they can succeed in certain activities and accomplish certain goals. Over time, students’ specific self‐efficacies for various tasks and activities contribute to their more general sense of self (Bong & Skaalvik, 2003; McInerney et al., 2008). Unfortunately, an interplay between self‐perceptions and behaviors can create a vicious cycle: A poor sense of self leads to less productive behaviors, which leads to fewer successes, which perpetuates the poor sense of self. However, simply telling students that they’re good or smart or in some other way “special” is unlikely to break the cycle (Crocker & Knight, 2005; McMillan, Singh, & Simonetta, 1994; Pajares, 2009). Instead, we must make sure that students have many opportunities to improve and eventually succeed at academic, social, and physical tasks—not obviously easy tasks (which presumably anyone could do) but challenging ones that reflect a genuine sense of accomplishment. When we present such challenges, we must, of course, be sure that students have the prerequisite knowledge and age‐appropriate scaffolding to facilitate their success (Bouchey & Harter, 2005; Dunning, Heath, & Suls, 2004; Leary, 1999). Yet students’ personal successes and failures aren’t the only things affecting their sense of self. A second important factor is their social context—and more specifically, other people’s behaviors— which influences students’ self‐perceptions in at least two ways. For one thing, how students evaluate themselves depends to some extent on how their own performance compares to that of their peers. For example, students who see themselves achieving at higher levels than classmates are apt to develop a more positive sense of self than those who consistently find themselves falling short (R. Butler, 2008; Dijkstra, Kuyper, van der Werf, Buunk, & van der Zee, 2008; Trautwein, Gerlach, & Lüdtke, 2008). Thus, peer comparisons can dampen high‐ability students’ sense of self when they attend classes made up largely of students with similarly high ability (Köller, Zeinz, & Trautwein, 2008; Seaton, Marsh, & Craven, 2010). In addition, students’ self‐perceptions are affected by how others behave toward them. Peers often communicate information about children’s social and athletic competence, perhaps by seeking out a child’s companionship or ridiculing a child in front of others (M. S. Caldwell et al., 2004; Crosnoe, 2011; Rudolph, Caldwell, & Conley, 2005). Adults, too, influence children’s sense of self, in part by the kinds of expectations they hold for children’s performance and in part by drawing attention to various things children do well or poorly (M. J. Harris & Rosenthal, 1985; O’Mara, Marsh, Craven, & Debus, 2006; Pajares, 2009). As teachers, we should, of course, communicate realistically high expectations for achievement and give positive feedback about the specific things students do well. And when we find that we must give students negative feedback—and occasionally we must—we should do so while also communicating respect and affection for them as human beings. For instance, we might point out that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process, and we should offer concrete suggestions about how to improve. A third general factor that can impact students’ sense of self is membership in a successful group (Harter, 1999; Thorkildsen, Golant, & Cambray‐Engstrom, 2008; Wigfield, Eccles, & Pintrich, 1996). If you think back to your own school years, perhaps you can recall taking pride in something your entire class accomplished or feeling good about a community service project completed through an extracurricular club. School groups aren’t the only groups affecting students’ sense of self. For instance, some cultures encourage children to take pride in the accomplishments of their families as well as—or perhaps instead of—their own accomplishments (Banks & Banks, 1995; P. M. Cole & Tan, 2007). And as we’ll see a bit later in the chapter, students’ membership in certain ethnic groups can also be a source of pride.

Enhance students’ sense of self by supporting their efforts to meet new challenges.

Minimize competitive situations in which students might compare themselves unfavorably with peers.

Chapter 11 describes more specific effects of teacher expectations.

Point out things that students do well, and present any negative feedback within the context of overall positive regard.

Get students actively involved in successful group activities.

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CHAPTER

DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN SENSE OF SELF
We’ve already seen one way in which self‐perceptions change with age: Children increasingly differentiate among the many aspects of who they are as people—academic aspects, physical aspects, social aspects, and so on. But children’s and adolescents’ beliefs and feelings about themselves change in other ways as well. Figure 3.1 presents Erik Erikson’s early theory of how people’s personalities and sense of self might continue to evolve throughout the life span. In the following sections, we’ll look at what more contemporary researchers have learned about developmental changes in children’s and adolescents’ sense of self.

FIGURE 3.1 Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development
Overview of Erikson’s Stages Erik Erikson (1963, 1972) proposed that people proceed through eight distinct stages over the course of their lives. Each stage presents a unique developmental task, and how a person addresses it influences her or his general mental health and progress through later stages. Trust versus mistrust (infancy). According to Erikson, the major developmental task in infancy is to learn whether other people, especially primary caregivers, regularly satisfy basic needs. If caregivers are consistent sources of food and comfort, an infant learns trust—that others are dependable and reliable. If caregivers are neglectful or abusive, the infant learns mistrust—that the world is an undependable, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous place. Autonomy versus shame and doubt (toddler years). As toddlers gain increasing muscular control, they begin to satisfy some of their own needs—for example, by feeding and dressing themselves. If caregivers encourage self‐sufficient behavior, toddlers develop a sense of autonomy—a sense of being able to handle many problems contrast, restrict or ridicule early attempts at self‐sufficiency, children may instead develop shame and doubt about their abilities. Initiative versus guilt (preschool years). With their growing independence, preschoolers have many choices about the activities they pursue. If parents and preschool teachers encourage and support children’s efforts while also helping them make realistic and appropriate choices, children develop initiative—independence in the pursuit of independent activities or else dismiss them as silly and bothersome, children develop guilt about their needs and desires. Industry versus inferiority (elementary school years). Elementary school provides many opportunities for children to achieve the recognition of teachers, parents, and peers by producing things— drawing pictures, writing short stories, and so on. If children are encouraged to make and do things and then praised for their accomplishments, they begin to demonstrate industry by being diligent, persevering at tasks until completed, and putting work before pleasure. If they are instead punished for their efforts or if they find they are incapable of meeting others’ expectations, they develop a sense of inferiority about their capabilities. Identity versus role confusion (adolescence). Adolescents begin to ponder the roles they might play in the adult world. Initially, they’re apt to experience some role confusion—mixed ideas and feelings about the specific ways in which they will fit into society—and may experiment with a variety of behaviors and activities (e.g., tinkering with cars, babysitting for neighbors, affiliating with certain religious groups). Erikson proposed that eventually most adolescents achieve a sense of identity regarding who they are and where their lives are headed. Intimacy versus isolation (young adulthood). Once young people have established their identities, they’re ready to make long‐term social commitments. Many become capable of intimacy, forming one or more reciprocal relationships that involve compromise and self‐sacrifice. People who can’t form intimate relationships—perhaps because they have trouble putting aside their own needs—develop a sense of isolation. Generativity versus stagnation (middle age). During middle age the primary developmental task is one of contributing to society and helping to guide future generations. When a person makes a contribution during this period, he or she feels a sense of generativity—a sense of productivity and accomplishment. In contrast, a person who is self‐centered and unable or unwilling to help society move forward develops a feeling of stagnation—a dissatisfaction with his or her relative lack of productivity. Integrity versus despair (retirement years). As people reach retirement, they look back on their lives and accomplishments. They develop feelings of contentment and integrity if they believe that they have led a happy, productive life. Conversely, they may develop a sense of despair if they look back on a life of disappointments and unachieved goals. Critiquing Erikson’s Theory Erikson’s theory reminds us that development is a life‐long process: Children and adults alike have new things to learn and new challenges to meet. At the same time, his theory has shortcomings. First, Erikson drew his ideas largely from personal anecdotes rather primarily on work with men; for many women, a focus on intimacy emerges either before or in conjunction with a focus on identity (Josselson, 1988). And third, Erikson didn’t take into account the important role that culture plays in development. Many cultures intentionally discourage autonomy, initiative, and self‐assertiveness in young children, sometimes as a way of protecting children from the very real dangers of their environments (X. Chen et al., 2009; Harwood, Miller, & Irizarry, 1995; G. J. Powell, 1983). As teachers, we should keep in mind that the age ranges for accomplishing Erikson’s eight developmental tasks are probably broader than Erikson proposed. For instance, most people probably don’t achieve a sense of identity as early or as easily as Erikson suggested the first five stages have implications for us as teachers, who must work hard to do the following: Help students overcome early difficulties with trust, autonomy, or initiative—in particular, by being reliable sources of affection and support (trust) and by giving students age‐appropriate opportunities to work independently (autonomy) and undertake self‐chosen activities (initiative). Promote a sense of industry by engaging students in meaningful tasks and completing worthwhile projects.
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Help adolescents in their search for identity by providing opportunities to explore various roles they might play in adult society.

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Childhood Elementary school children tend to think of themselves in terms of concrete, easily observable characteristics and behaviors—their age, sex, favorite activities, and so on (D. Hart, 1988; Harter, 1983). In racially and culturally diverse communities, where different skin colors, languages, and customs are obvious, children may also classify themselves as belonging to one or another racial or ethnic group (Phinney, 1990; Sheets, 1999). For instance, although my daughter Tina was raised in a European American family, her genetic heritage is Native American and Hispanic. In a self‐portrait she drew in second grade (see Figure 3.2), she was clearly aware that her hair and skin tone were darker than those of most of her classmates. Most young children have a generally positive sense of self. Sometimes they believe they’re more capable than they really are and that they can easily overcome initial failures (R. Butler, 2008; Lockhart, Chang, & Story, 2002; Robins & Trzesniewski, 2005). As children have more opportunities to compare themselves with peers during the elementary grades and as they become cognitively more able to make such comparisons, their self‐assessments become increasingly realistic (R. Butler, 2008; J. W. Chapman, Tunmer, & Prochnow, 2000; Davis‐Kean et al., 2008). They also begin to pull together their many self‐observations into generalizations about the kinds of people they are—perhaps friendly, good at sports, smart, or dumb—and such generalizations lead to the development of increasingly stable self‐concepts (D. A. Cole et al., 2001; Harter, 1999). Early adolescence As students reach adolescence and gain greater capability for abstract thought, they increasingly think of themselves in terms of general, fairly stable traits. Consider my daughter Tina’s self‐description in sixth grade: I’m cool. I’m awesome. I’m way cool. I’m 12. I’m boy crazy. I go to Brentwood Middle School. I’m popular with my fans. I play viola. My best friend is Lindsay. I have a gerbil named Taj. I’m adopted. I’m beautiful. Although Tina listed a few concrete features, she had clearly developed a fairly abstract self‐ perception. Her focus on coolness, popularity, and beauty, rather than on intelligence or academic achievement (or, I might add, modesty), is fairly typical: Social acceptance and physical appearance are far more important to many young adolescents than academic competence (D. Hart, 1988; Harter, 1999). Students’ self‐concepts and self‐esteem often drop as they make the transition from elementary school to middle school or junior high, with the drop being more pronounced for girls (D. A. Cole et al., 2001; Harter, 1999; Robins & Trzesniewski, 2005). The physiological changes accompanying puberty may be a factor: Many boys and girls think of themselves as being somewhat less attractive once they reach adolescence (S. Moore & Rosenthal, 2006; Stice, 2003). Changes in the school environment—including disrupted friendships, more superficial teacher–student relationships, and more rigorous academic standards—probably also have a negative impact. Also with early adolescence come two new phenomena with implications for sense of self. First, students become more cognitively able to reflect on how others might see them (Harter, 1999). They may initially go to extremes, thinking that in any social situation everyone else’s attention is focused squarely on them—a phenomenon known as the imaginary audience (Elkind, 1981; Lapsley, 1993; R. M. Ryan & Kuczkowski, 1994). Because they believe themselves to be the center of attention, young teenagers (especially girls) are often preoccupied with their physical appearance and can be quite self‐critical. A second noteworthy phenomenon in early adolescence is emergence of the personal fable: Young teenagers often believe they are completely unlike anyone else (Elkind, 1981; Lapsley, 1993). For instance, they may think that no one else—and certainly not parents and teachers— has ever experienced the intensity of emotions they feel about thwarted goals or unhappy love affairs. Furthermore, some have a sense of invulnerability and immortality, believing themselves immune to the normal dangers of life. Thus they may take foolish risks, such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol, having unprotected sexual intercourse, and driving at high speeds (DeRidder, 1993; Dodge et al., 2009; Jacobs & Klaczynski, 2002; Nell, 2002). It’s important to note, however, that adolescents are apt to take risks even when they don’t believe themselves to be invulnerable, for reasons you can discover in the Applying Brain Research feature “Understanding and Addressing Adolescent Risk Taking.” FIGURE 3.2 As early as the primary grades, students in racially diverse communities have some awareness of their membership in a particular racial group. Notice how 7‐year‐old Tina portrays herself as having darker hair and skin than the classmates behind her.

Remember that a student’s sense of self becomes increasingly stable with age. In the upper elementary and secondary grades, then, enhancing a student’s low self‐esteem may take time and persistence.

imaginary audience is the center of attention in any social situation.

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personal fable completely unlike anyone else and so cannot be understood by others.

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER

The human brain continues to mature in important ways throughout adolescence and early adulthood. With puberty come significant changes in brain regions that play a role in pleasure seeking, potentially heightening the desire for enjoyable activities and immediate rewards. Only later, perhaps in the late teens or early twenties, do regions of the prefrontal cortex that support rational decision making and self‐restraint fully mature 2009). Furthermore, young people show significant individual differences in brain activity levels in these important regions—differences that are correlated with their predisposition to seek out exciting but potentially dangerous activities, on the one hand, or to be cautious and prudent, on For such reasons, many adolescents have trouble planning ahead

With such research findings in mind, I offer two recommendations. Channel adolescents’ risk‐taking tendencies into safe activities. Many adolescents enjoy trying things that are new, different, and perhaps a bit risky; such activities are reasonable if appropriate safeguards are in place. Team sports provide one outlet for both risk taking and social camaraderie. Preplanned, organized activities during traditionally high‐risk periods are also beneficial; for example, many high schools offer all‐night after‐prom parties to keep students sober and safe when they might otherwise be drinking and driving. Provide avenues through which students can safely and productively gain status with their peers. engage in risky behaviors—drinking, drug use, sexual intercourse, and the like—in an attempt to project an adultlike image, to be

choices based on emotions (“This will be fun”) rather than on logic (“There’s a high probability of a bad outcome”) (Cleveland, Gibbons, 2007). Thus, adolescent risk taking is most common in social contexts, where having fun is typically a high priority and it’s easy to get swept away by what peers are doing or suggesting.

show one’s coolness and withitness, some of which we can facilitate at school. Gaining competence and prominence in rock music, student government, and community service are just a few of the many possibilities.

Late adolescence The majority of older adolescents recover sufficiently from the double whammy of puberty and a changing school social environment to enjoy positive self‐concepts and overall mental health (Harter, 1999; S. I. Powers, Hauser, & Kilner, 1989). The imaginary audience and personal fable phenomena slowly decline, although remnants remain throughout the high school years. Older teenagers increasingly reflect on their own characteristics and abilities and begin to struggle with seeming inconsistencies in their self‐perceptions, as one ninth grader explained:
I really don’t understand how I can switch so fast from being cheerful with my friends, then coming home and feeling anxious, and then getting frustrated and sarcastic with my parents. Which one is the real me? (Harter, 1999, p. 67)

identity of who one is and what things are important to accomplish in life.

Eventually, perhaps around eleventh grade, most students integrate their various self‐perceptions into a complex, multifaceted sense of self that reconciles apparent contradictions—for instance, recognizing that their inconsistent behaviors on different occasions mean they are “flexible” (Harter, 1999). As older adolescents pull the numerous parts of themselves together, many of them begin to form a general sense of identity: a self‐constructed definition of who they are, what things they find important, and what goals they want to accomplish in life. In their ongoing search for a long‐ term identity, adolescents may initially take on temporary identities, aligning themselves with a particular peer group, insisting on a certain mode of dress, or continually changing their photo and self‐description on Facebook (Alemán & Vartman, 2009; Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009; Seaton, Scottham, & Sellers, 2006). Adolescents may also have somewhat different identities in different contexts, depending on the traditional roles they have played in each context (Eccles, 2009; Greeno, 2006). For example, a student might be a “loser” at school but a “star” in an out‐of‐school activity or a “leader” in a neighborhood gang. Erik Erikson proposed that most people achieve an overall sense of identity by the end of adolescence (see Figure 3.1). In contrast, many contemporary developmental theorists believe that identity formation continues to be a work‐in‐progress well into adulthood (e.g., Bandura, 2008;

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

65
Eccles, 2009; Kaplan & Flum, 2009). Marcia (1980, 1991) has described four distinct patterns of behavior that may characterize the status of a young person’s search for identity: Identity diffusion. The individual has made no commitment to a particular career path or ideological belief system. Some haphazard experimentation with particular roles or beliefs may have taken place, but the individual hasn’t yet embarked on a serious exploration of issues related to self‐definition. Foreclosure. The individual has made a firm commitment to an occupation, a particular set of beliefs, or both. The choices have been based largely on what others (especially parents) have prescribed, without an earnest exploration of other possibilities. Moratorium. The individual has no strong commitment to a particular career or set of beliefs but is actively exploring and considering a variety of professions and ideologies. In essence, the individual is undergoing an identity crisis. Identity achievement. After going through a period of moratorium, the individual has emerged with a clear choice of occupation, a commitment to particular political or religious beliefs, or both. For most young people, the ideal situation seems to be to proceed through a period of moratorium— an exploration that may continue into adulthood—and to eventually settle on a clear identity (Berzonsky & Kuk, 2000; Marcia, 1988; Seaton et al., 2006). Table 3.1 presents developmental changes in children’s and adolescents’ sense of self and offers suggestions for how we, as teachers, can enhance their self‐perceptions at different grade levels. ethnic identity Awareness of one’s membership in a particular ethnic or cultural group, and willingness to adopt behaviors characteristic of the group.

DIVERSITY IN SENSE OF SELF
As you undoubtedly know from your own experiences, students differ considerably in their self‐esteem and overall sense of self. Sometimes such differences are indirectly the result of biology. For instance, students who are physically attractive tend to have more positive self‐concepts than students with less appealing physical features (Harter, Whitesell, & Junkin, 1998). And on average, students with cognitive, social, or physical disabilities have lower self‐esteem than their classmates (T. Bryan, 1991; Marsh & Craven, 1997; Martinez & Huberty, 2010). Gender differences Some researchers find gender differences in overall self‐esteem, with boys rating themselves more highly than girls, especially in adolescence. Many students’ self‐perceptions tend to be consistent with stereotypes about what males and females are supposedly “good at.” For instance, even when actual ability levels are the same, boys tend to rate themselves more highly in math and sports, and girls tend to rate themselves more highly in language and literacy (Bracken, 2009; D. A. Cole et al., 2001; Herbert & Stipek, 2005; Joët, Usher, & Bressoux, 2011). Cultural and ethnic differences In many Native American communities and many Middle Eastern and Far Eastern countries, children and adolescents see their group membership and connections with other individuals as central parts of who they are as human beings (Kağitçibaşi, 2007; M. Ross & Wang, 2010; Whitesell, Mitchell, Kaufman, Spicer, & the Voices of Indian Teens Project Team, 2006). In addition, many young people have a strong ethnic identity: They’re both aware and proud of their ethnic group and willingly adopt some of the group’s behaviors. Occasionally, students’ ethnic identities can lead them to reject mainstream Western values. In some ethnic minority groups, peers may accuse high‐achieving students of “acting white,” a label that essentially means “You’re not one of us” (Bergin & Cooks, 2008; Cross, Strauss, & Fhagen‐ Smith, 1999; Ogbu, 2008a). For the most part, however, students with a strong and positive ethnic identity do well in school both academically and socially (Altschul, Oyserman, & Bybee, 2006; Smokowski, Buchanan, & Bacalleo, 2009; M. B. Spencer, Noll, Stoltzfus, & Harpalani, 2001). Furthermore, pride in one’s ethnic heritage and high academic achievement can serve as an emotional buffer against other people’s prejudicial insults and discrimination (L. Allen & Aber, 2006; P. J. Cook & Ludwig, 2008; DuBois, Burk‐Braxton, Swenson, Tevendale, & Hardesty, 2002). Consider this statement by Eva, an African American high school student, as an example:
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Encourage students to take pride in their cultural heritage.

I’m proud to be black and everything. But, um, I’m aware of, you know, racist acts and racist things that are happening in the world, but I use that as no excuse, you know. I feel as though I can succeed. . . . I just know that I’m not gonna let [racism] stop me. (Way, 1998, p. 257)

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CHAPTER

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Sense of Self at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS concrete, easily observable characteristics and chances of future success, especially in domains in which one has little or no prior experience

EXAMPLE
When 6‐year‐old Jeff is asked to describe himself, he says, “I like animals. I like making things. I do good in school. hair, light skin.” He mentions nothing about his shyness, sense of humor, and ability to work and play independently— characteristics that would require considerable self‐ reflection and abstract thought to identify. grade at his neighborhood middle school, his class work rapidly deteriorates, despite individualized instruction in reading and spelling. At home one day, his mother finds him curled in a ball under his desk, crying and saying, “I can’t do this anymore!” Alarmed, she takes him to a series of specialists, who diagnose eventually find a school that provides considerable structure and scaffolding for students with learning disabilities. improvement in virtually every area of the curriculum, and his self‐esteem skyrockets. Meghan describes a recent event in her eighth‐grade algebra class: “I had to cough but I knew if I did everyone would stare at me and think I I held my breath until I turned red and tears ran down my face and finally I coughed anyway and everyone really noticed then. It was horrible.” revises her profile on Facebook, editing her interests and favorites, the “About Me” section, and so on. And she regularly changes the photo that appears at the top of her

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Encourage students to stretch their abilities by tackling the challenging tasks they think they can accomplish. Provide sufficient scaffolding to make success possible in various domains. Praise students for the things they do well; be specific about the behaviors you’re praising.

K–2 differentiation among particular strengths and weaknesses and shame with various self‐perceptions

Focus students’ attention on their improvement over time. Encourage pride in individual and group achievements, but be aware that students from some ethnic groups may prefer that recognition be given only for group achievements. Provide opportunities for students to look at one another’s work only when everyone has something to be proud of.

3-5

the transition to middle or junior high school (especially for girls) perceptions and judgments of oneself (imaginary audience) sometimes accompanied by risk taking and a sense of invulnerability to normal dangers (personal fable) identity; experimentation with a variety of possible identities perceptions into an overall, multifaceted sense of self

After students make the transition to middle school or junior high, be especially supportive and optimistic about their abilities and potential for success. Minimize opportunities for students to compare their own performance unfavorably with that of others. self‐consciousness; give them strategies for presenting themselves well to others. Give students opportunities to examine and try out a variety of adultlike roles. Encourage students to explore and take pride in their cultural and ethnic heritages. When discussing the potential consequences of risky behaviors, present the facts but don’t make students so anxious or upset that they can’t effectively learn and remember the information (e.g., avoid scare tactics).

6-8

(especially for boys) more sullen one; an early photo shows her in her basketball uniform, but a later one shows her in a skimpy party dress.

9-12

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Sources: Bracken, 2009; R. Butler, 2008; Davis‐Kean et al., 2008; Dweck, 2000; Elkind, 1981; Figner & Weber, 2011; Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009; Harter, 1999; Lockhart et al., 2002; Marcia, 1980, 1991; T. M. McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007 (Kellen example); Nell, 2002; Nuemi, 2008; O’Mara et al., 2006; Orenstein, 1994, p. 47 (Meghan example); Pajares, 2009; Robins & Trzesniewski, 2005; Seaton et al., 2006; Spear, 2007; Tatum, 1997; Whitesell et al., 2006.

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Not all students from minority groups affiliate strongly with their cultural and ethnic groups. Some students—especially those with multiple racial or cultural heritages—fluctuate in the strength of their ethnic identity depending on the context and situation (Hitlin, Brown, & Elder, 2006; Y.‐Y. Hong, Wan, No, & Chiu, 2007; Yip & Fuligni, 2002). In addition, older adolescents may experiment with varying forms of an ethnic identity. Some teens, for instance, may initially adopt a fairly intense, inflexible, and perhaps hostile ethnic identify before eventually retreating to a more relaxed, open‐minded, and productive one (Cross et al., 1999; Nasir, McLaughlin, & Jones, 2009; Seaton et al., 2006).

Development of Peer Relationships and Interpersonal Understandings
For many students, interacting with and gaining the acceptance of peers—in some way fitting in—are more important than classroom learning and achievement (Crosnoe, 2011; Dowson & McInerney, 2001; LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010). Yet social success and academic success aren’t an either‐or situation. In fact, students who enjoy good relationships with their peers at school are more likely to achieve at high levels (Gest, Domitrovich, & Welsh, 2005; Patrick, Anderman, & Ryan, 2002; Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005).
For many students, relationships with peers are a high priority. For example, listen to 15‐year‐old Greg in

ROLES OF PEERS IN CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT

FIGURE 3.3 In this writing sample, Peer relationships, especially friendships, serve at least three unique functions in children’s 7‐year‐old Andrew describes the and adolescents’ personal and social development. For one thing, they provide an arena for many benefits of having friends. learning and practicing a variety of social skills, including cooperation, negotiation, emotional control, and conflict resolution (J. P. Allen & Antonishak, 2008; Coplan & Arbeau, 2009; Larson & Brown, 2007). In addition, peers provide companionship, safety, and emotional support, as illustrated in Figure 3.3. They become a group with whom to eat lunch, a safe haven from playground bullies, and shoulders to cry on in times of trouble or confusion (Jordan, 2006; Laursen, Bukowski, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2007; Wentzel, 2009). Many adolescents (especially girls) reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings to their friends (Levitt, Guacci‐Franco, & Levitt, 1993; Patrick et al., 2002; A. J. Rose, 2002). Friends often understand a teenager’s perspectives—the preoccupation with physical appearance, concerns about the opposite sex, and so on—when others are seemingly clueless. Peers play a third important role in personal and social development as well: They serve as socialization agents that help to mold children’s behaviors and beliefs (B. B. Brown, Bakken, Ameringer, & Mahon, 2008; A. M. Ryan, 2000). For example, they define options for leisure time—perhaps getting together to study or, instead, to drink a few beers. They serve as role models and provide standards for acceptable behavior, showing what’s possible, what’s admirable, what’s cool. And they sanction one another for stepping beyond acceptable bounds, perhaps through ridicule, gossip, or ostracism. Such peer pressure has its greatest effects during early adolescence, with teenagers who have weak emotional bonds to their families being especially susceptible (Berndt, Laychak, & Park, 1990; Erwin, 1993; Urdan & Maehr, 1995). THE REAL SCOOP ON PEER PRESSURE A common misconception is that peer pressure is invariably a bad thing. In fact, it’s a mixed bag. Many peers encourage such desirable qualities as working hard in school, treating people kindly, and engaging in community service. Others, however, encourage cutting class, engaging in aggression, consuming alcohol or drugs, or in other ways behaving unproductively (Mayeux, Houser, & Dyches, 2011; Prinstein & Dodge, 2008; Spinrad & Eisenberg, 2009; E. N. Walker, 2006; Wentzel & Looney, 2007). Although peer pressure certainly is a factor affecting development, its overall influence on children’s behaviors has probably been overrated. Most children acquire a strong set of values and behavioral standards from their families, and they don’t necessarily abandon these values and standards in the company of peers (B. B. Brown, 1990; W. A. Collins et al., 2000; Galambos, Barker, & Almeida, 2003). Furthermore, they tend to choose friends who are similar to themselves in academic achievement, leisure‐time activities, and long‐term goals (Kindermann, 2007; Prinstein & Dodge, 2008; A. M. Ryan, 2001).

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peer pressure Phenomenon whereby age‐mates encourage some behaviors and discourage others.

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CHAPTER Much of the pressure to conform to others’ standards and expectations actually comes from within rather than from outside. In particular, most children and adolescents engage in self‐socialization, putting pressure on themselves to adopt the behaviors they think others will find acceptable (B. B. Brown, 1990; Bukowski, Velasquez, & Brendgen, 2008; Crosnoe, 2011; Juvonen, 2006). For instance, many young adolescents are quite concerned about adhering to self‐construed social norms, to the point of imitating peers’ choices in dress, slang, and other behaviors. In some cases, they may lead double lives that enable them to attain academic success while maintaining peer acceptance (Grimes, 2002; Hemmings, 2004; Juvonen, 2006; Mac Iver, Reuman, & Main, 1995). For example, although they attend class and faithfully do homework, they may feign disinterest in scholarly activities, disrupt class with jokes or goofy behaviors, and express surprise at receiving high grades. In addition, they may act tough when they’re in public, saving their softer sides for more private circumstances, as one sixth grader’s reflection reveals:

Young adolescents often work hard to look cool in the eyes of their peers, as this drawing by 11‐year‐old Marci illustrates.

You’d still have to have your bad attitude. You have to act—it’s just like a movie. You have to act. And then at home you’re a regular kind of guy, you don’t act mean or nothing. But when you’re around your friends you have to be sharp and stuff like that, like push everybody around. (Juvonen & Cadigan, 2002, p. 282)
Help students look good in the eyes of their peers.

As teachers, we can help students maintain a good public image in a variety of ways. For instance, we can help them acquire skills for presenting themselves in a favorable light— public‐speaking techniques, personal hygiene strategies, and so on. We can assign small‐group projects in which every student has a unique talent to contribute. And when valued classmates ridicule academic achievement, we can allow students to demonstrate their accomplishments privately (e.g., through written assignments or one‐on‐one conversations) instead of in front of classmates.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PEER RELATIONSHIPS
Some peers are, of course, more influential than others. In this section we look at a variety of peer relationships and then consider the effects of popularity and social isolation. FRIENDSHIPS Close friends find activities that are mutually meaningful and enjoyable, and over time they acquire a common set of experiences that enable them to share certain perspectives on life (Gottman, 1986; Suttles, 1970). Because friends typically have an emotional investment in their relationship, they work hard to look at situations from one another’s point of view and to resolve disputes that threaten to separate them. As a result, they develop increased perspective‐taking and conflict resolution skills. Close friendships also foster self‐esteem and a general sense of well‐being (Basinger, Gibbs, & Fuller, 1995; Berndt, 1992; Bukowski, Motzoi, & Meyer, 2009; Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995). LARGER SOCIAL GROUPS With age and experience, many students form larger social groups that frequently get together. In early adolescence, cliques—moderately stable friendship groups of perhaps three to ten individuals—provide the setting for most voluntary social interactions. Clique boundaries tend to be fairly rigid and exclusive—some people are “in,” others are “out”—and memberships in various cliques often affect students’ social status (B. B. Brown, 2011; Crockett, Losoff, & Peterson, 1984; Goodwin, 2006; Kindermann, McCollam, & Gibson, 1996). Crowds are considerably larger than cliques and don’t have the tight‐knit cohesiveness and carefully drawn boundaries of cliques. Their members tend to share certain characteristics and behaviors (e.g., “brains” study a lot, “jocks” are active in sports), attitudes about academic achievement, and (occasionally) ethnic background (B. B. Brown, 2011; Steinberg, 1996). Crowd membership may or may not be a voluntary thing; for instance, membership in a so‐called “popular”

As children get older, their friendships increasingly involve emotional attachments as well as sources of recreation. Observe this developmental trend in “Friendships.”

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Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

69 crowd is apt to be based as much on a student’s reputation as on his or her actual efforts to affiliate with certain peers (B. B. Brown et al., 2008; Juvonen & Galván, 2008). Occasionally a crowd takes the form of a subculture, a group that resists a powerful dominant culture by adopting a significantly different lifestyle (J. S. Epstein, 1998). Some subcultures are relatively benign; for example, the baggy‐pants skaters with whom my son Alex affiliated spent much of their free time riding skateboards and addressing everyone as “dude.” Other subcultures are worrisome, such as those that endorse racist and anti‐Semitic behaviors (e.g., skinheads) and those that practice Satanic worship and rituals. Adolescents are more likely to affiliate with troublesome subcultures when they feel alienated from the dominant culture—perhaps that of their school or that of society more generally—and want to distinguish themselves from it in some way (Crosnoe, 2011; J. R. Harris, 1998). In the upper high school grades, a greater capacity for abstract thought allows many adolescents to think of other people more as unique individuals and less as members of stereotypical categories. They may also discover characteristics they have in common with peers from diverse backgrounds. Perhaps as a result of such changes, ties to specific social groups tend to dissipate, hostilities between groups soften, and students become more flexible in their friendship choices (B. B. Brown, Eicher, & Petrie, 1986; Gavin & Fuhrman, 1989; Shrum & Cheek, 1987). GANGS A gang is a cohesive social group characterized by initiation rites, distinctive colors and symbols, “ownership” of a specific territory, and feuds with one or more rival groups. Typically, gangs are governed by strict rules for behavior and stiff penalties for violations. Adolescents (and sometimes younger children as well) affiliate with gangs for a variety of reasons. Some do so as a way of demonstrating loyalty to their family, friends, or neighborhood. Some seek the status and prestige that gang membership brings. Some have poor academic records and perceive gang activity as an alternative means of gaining recognition for accomplishments. Many members of gangs have troubled relationships with their families or have been consistently rejected by peers, and so they turn to gangs to get the emotional support they can find nowhere else (Dishion, Piehler, & Myers, 2008; Kodluboy, 2004; Petersen, 2004; Simons, Whitbeck, Conger, & Conger, 1991). As teachers, we can definitely make a difference in the lives of any gang members in our classes (S. G. Freedman, 1990; Parks, 1995). We must, first and foremost, show these students that we truly care about them and their well‐being. For instance, we can be willing listeners in times of trouble and can provide the support that gang members need to achieve both academic and social success. We must also have some knowledge of students’ backgrounds—their cultural values, economic circumstances, and so on—so that we can better understand the issues with which they may be dealing. And we must certainly work cooperatively and proactively with our colleagues to minimize violent gang activity at school. ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS As early as the primary grades, children talk of having boyfriends or girlfriends, and the opposite sex is a subject of interest throughout the elementary school years. With the onset of adolescence, the biological changes of puberty bring on new and sometimes unsettling feelings and sexual desires. Not surprisingly, then, romance is a frequent topic of conversation in the middle and high school grades. Middle school students’ romances tend to exist more in their minds than in reality; for instance, two students might be identified as “going out” even if they never actually date. Young adolescents’ romantic thoughts may also involve crushes on people who are out of reach—perhaps favorite teachers or movie stars (B. B. Brown, 1999; Eckert, 1989; B. C. Miller & Benson, 1999). Eventually many adolescents begin to date, especially if their friends are dating. Early choices in dating partners are often based on physical attractiveness or social status, and dates may involve only limited and superficial interaction (B. B. Brown, 2011; Furman, Brown, & Feiring, 1999; Pellegrini, 2002). As adolescents move into the high school grades, some form more intense, affectionate, and long‐term relationships with members of the opposite sex, and these relationships often (but by no means always) lead to sexual intimacy (J. Connolly & Goldberg, 1999; Furman & Collins, 2009). The age of first sexual intercourse has decreased steadily over the last few decades; in the United States in recent years, fewer than half of 18‐year‐olds have remained virgins (S. Moore & Rosenthal, 2006). self‐socialization Tendency to integrate personal observations and others’ input into self‐constructed standards for behavior and to choose actions consistent with those standards. clique Moderately stable friendship group of perhaps three to ten members. crowd that shares certain common interests and behaviors.

subculture Group that resists the ways of the dominant culture and adopts its own norms for behavior.

gang Cohesive social group characterized by initiation rites, distinctive colors and symbols, territorial orientation, and feuds with rival groups.

Provide the academic, social, and emotional support that gang members need to be successful at school.

Chapter 13 offers specific strategies for minimizing—and ideally eliminating— gang‐related aggression and violence at school.

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For many children, thoughts of romance emerge early, as 5‐year‐ old Isabelle’s artwork illustrates.

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CHAPTER From a developmental standpoint, romantic relationships have definite benefits: They can address young people’s needs for companionship, affection, and security, and they provide an opportunity to experiment with new social skills and interpersonal behaviors (Davila, 2008; Furman & Simon, 2008; B. C. Miller & Benson, 1999). At the same time, romance can wreak havoc with adolescents’ emotions. Adolescents have more extreme mood swings than younger children or adults, and for many this instability may be partly due to the excitement and frustration of being romantically involved or not involved (Davila, 2008; Furman & Collins, 2009; Larson, Clore, & Wood, 1999). As students reach high school (occasionally earlier), a significant minority of them find themselves attracted to their own sex either instead of or in addition to the opposite sex. Adolescence can be a particularly confusing time for gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals. Some struggle to make sense of their sexual orientation and may experience considerable depression. Yet many others enjoy good mental health, especially if their home and school environments communicate acceptance of diverse sexual orientations (Espelage, Aragon, Birkett, & Koenig, 2008; J. P. Robinson & Espelage, 2011; Savin‐Williams, 2008). The extent to which we, as teachers, talk about sexuality with our students must be dictated, in part, by the policies of the school and the values of the community in which we work. At the same time, especially if we’re teaching at the middle school or high school level, we must be aware that romantic and sexual relationships, whether real or imagined, are a considerable source of excitement, frustration, confusion, and distraction for students, and we must lend a sympathetic ear and an open mind to those students who seek our counsel and support. POPULARITY AND SOCIAL ISOLATION When my daughter Tina was in junior high school, she sometimes told me, “No one likes the popular kids.” As self‐contradictory as Tina’s remark might seem, it’s consistent with research findings. When students are asked to identify their most “popular” classmates, they identify peers who have dominant social status at school (perhaps those who belong to a prestigious social group) but in many cases are aggressive or snobby (Cillessen, Schwartz, & Mayeux, 2011; W. E. Ellis & Zarbatany, 2007). Truly popular students—those whom many classmates select as people they’d like to do things with—may or may not hold high‐status positions, but they’re kind and socially skillful, as Lupita is in the opening case study. They also tend to show genuine concern for others—for instance, by sharing, cooperating, and empathizing with peers (Asher & McDonald, 2009; Cillessen & Rose, 2005; Mayeux et al., 2011). In contrast to popular students, rejected students are those whom classmates select as being the least preferred social companions. Students with few social skills—for example, those who are impulsive or aggressive—typically experience peer rejection (Bukowski, Brendgen, & Vitaro, 2007; S. Pedersen, Vitaro, Barker, & Borge, 2007; Pellegrini, Bartini, & Brooks, 1999). Students who are noticeably overweight and those who appear to be gay or lesbian are also frequent targets of ridicule, harassment, and rejection (Swearer, Espelage, Vaillancourt, & Hymel, 2010). When students experience consistent peer rejection over a lengthy period, they may withdraw either physically or mentally from classroom activities, or they may engage in inappropriate attention‐getting behaviors; in either case, their academic achievement suffers as a result (Bellmore, 2011; Ladd, Herald‐Brown, & Reiser, 2008; Snyder et al., 2008). A third group, controversial students, are a mixed bag, in that some peers really like them and others really dislike them. These students can, like rejected students, be quite aggressive, but they also have good social skills that make them popular with at least some of their peers (Asher & McDonald, 2009; Mayeux et al., 2011; D. Schwartz & Gorman, 2011). Researchers have described a fourth category as well. Neglected students are those whom peers rarely choose as someone they would either most like or least like to do something with (Asher & Renshaw, 1981). Some neglected students prefer to be alone, others are quite shy or don’t know how to go about initiating interaction, and still others are content with having only one or two close friends (Gazelle & Ladd, 2003; Guay, Boivin, & Hodges, 1999; McElhaney, Antonishak, & Allen, 2008). For some students, neglected status is a relatively temporary situation. Others are totally friendless for extended periods—for instance, this is often the case for recent immigrants and for students with disabilities—and these students are at increased risk for depression (Gazelle & Ladd, 2003; Igoa, 2007; Yuker, 1988).

Offer emotional support when valued romantic relationships fizzle or don’t materialize.

In this self‐portrait, 10‐year‐old Sarah characterizes herself as a nerd (“neard”)—that is, as someone who isn’t as “cool” as she might be within her peer group.

popular student peers like and perceive to be kind and trustworthy.

rejected student many peers identify as being an undesirable social partner.

controversial student some peers strongly like and other peers strongly dislike.

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neglected student whom most peers have no strong feelings, either positive or negative.

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Especially in the middle school and high school grades, most students are well aware of which peers do and don’t have high social status. Some students put considerable pressure on themselves to gain or maintain membership in an allegedly “popular” group, occasionally casting old friends aside and engaging in socially hurtful behaviors in an effort to gain the admiration of prestigious peers. Not all of these students successfully climb to the top of the social hierarchy, of course, and their failure to do so can leave them feeling isolated, depressed, and uninterested in school achievement (Cillessen et al., 2011; Crosnoe, 2011). As teachers, we can help offset the hard feelings that peer rejection or neglect may engender by being particularly warm and attentive to socially isolated students (Crosnoe, 2011; Wentzel, 1999). In fact, when we show that we like particular students, their classmates are more likely to accept and act positively toward them as well (Chang, 2003; Chang et al., 2004). We can also assist with interpersonal skills. Because of their social isolation, rejected and neglected students have fewer opportunities to develop the social skills that many of them desperately need (Coie & Cillessen, 1993; McElhaney et al., 2008).

Model positive feelings and behaviors toward rejected and neglected students, and help these students acquire good social skills.

SOCIAL COGNITION
To be effective in interpersonal relationships, students must engage in social cognition: They must consider how people around them are likely to think about, behave in, and react to various situations. Those who think regularly about other people’s thoughts and feelings tend to be socially skillful and make friends easily (Bosacki, 2000; P. L. Harris, 2006; Izard et al., 2001). Some psychologists propose that social cognition is a distinct human ability—which they call emotional intelligence—whereas others believe that it is simply an integral part of people’s general intellectual and social functioning (J. D. Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2008; Waterhouse, 2006; Zeidner, Roberts, & Matthews, 2002). PERSPECTIVE TAKING One important element of social cognition is perspective taking, looking at the world from other people’s viewpoints. The following situation provides an example.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Consider this scenario:
Kenny and Mark are co‐captains of the soccer team. They have one person left to choose for the team. Without saying anything, Mark winks at Kenny and looks at Tom, who is one of the remaining children left to be chosen for the team. Mark looks back at Kenny and smiles. Kenny nods and chooses Tom to be on their team. Tom sees Mark and Kenny winking and smiling at each other. Tom, who is usually one of the last to be picked for team sports, wonders why Kenny wants him to be on his team. . . .

know this? . . .

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To answer these questions, you must look at the situation from the perspectives of the three children involved. For instance, if you put yourself in Tom’s shoes, you might suspect that he has mixed feelings. If he enjoys soccer, he may be happy to have a chance to play, but he may also be wondering whether the other boys’ nonverbal signals indicate a malicious intention to make him look foolish on the soccer field. And, of course, Tom may feel embarrassed or demoralized at consistently being one of the last children picked for a team. (Accordingly, asking some students to select classmates for team games is generally not recommended.) Recent brain research indicates that, to some degree, human beings may be “prewired” to look at situations from other people’s perspectives as well as their own. In particular, certain

social cognition Process of thinking about how other people are likely to think, act, and react. perspective taking Ability to look at a situation from someone else’s viewpoint.

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CHAPTER neurons in the brain, known as mirror neurons, fire either when a person is performing a particular behavior or when the person watches someone else perform that behavior. Some of these mirror neurons are involved both in feeling certain emotions—perhaps disgust or anguish—and in observing such emotions in others’ facial expressions (Gallese, Gernsbacher, Heyes, Hickok, & Iacoboni, 2011; Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2008). Yet truly effective perspective taking also involves active, conscious thinking and learning about human beings’ general mental and psychological states. As children grow older, most develop and increasingly refine a theory of mind—a self‐constructed understanding of their own and others’ thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and motives. The development of a theory of mind appears to involve the prefrontal cortex of the brain—a part of the brain that continues to mature over the course of childhood and adolescence (Liu, Sabbagh, Gehring, & Wellman, 2009; Steinberg, 2009). Probably as a result of both experience and brain maturation, children gain an increasingly complex understanding of human thought processes and feelings as they grow older, enabling them to become increasingly effective in interacting with others (Flavell, 2000; A. Gopnik & Meltzoff, 1997; Wellman & Gelman, 1998). Childhood Consistent with what we know about cognitive development, young children tend to focus on other people’s concrete, observable characteristics and behaviors (e.g., look once again at Andrew’s essay in Figure 3.3). However, they do have some awareness of other people’s inner worlds. As early as age 4 or 5, they realize that what they know may be different from what other people know (Wellman, Cross, & Watson, 2001; Wimmer & Perner, 1983). They also have some ability to make inferences about other people’s mental and emotional states—for instance, to deduce that people who behave in certain ways have certain intentions or feelings (P. L. Harris, 2006; Schult, 2002; Wellman, Phillips, & Rodriguez, 2000). As children progress through the elementary grades, they also begin to understand that people’s actions don’t always reflect their thoughts and feelings—for instance, that someone who appears to be happy may actually feel sad (Flavell, Miller, & Miller, 2002; Gnepp, 1989; Selman, 1980). Early adolescence Most young adolescents realize that people can have mixed feelings about events and other individuals (Donaldson & Westerman, 1986; Flavell & Miller, 1998; Harter & Whitesell, 1989). And courtesy of their expanding cognitive abilities, memory capacity, and social awareness, young adolescents become capable of recursive thinking (Oppenheimer, 1986; Perner & Wimmer, 1985). That is, they can think about what other people might be thinking about them and eventually can reflect on other people’s thoughts about them through multiple iterations (e.g., “You think that I think that you think . . .”). This isn’t to say that adolescents (or adults, for that matter) always use this capacity, however. Consistent with our earlier discussion of the imaginary audience, focusing primarily about one’s own perspective is a common phenomenon in the early adolescent years (Tsethlikai & Greenhoot, 2006; Tsethlikai, Guthrie‐Fulbright, & Loera, 2007). Late adolescence In the high school years, teenagers can draw on a rich body of knowledge derived from numerous social experiences. Consequently, they become ever more skillful at drawing inferences about people’s psychological characteristics, intentions, and needs (Eisenberg, Carlo, Murphy, & Van Court, 1995; Paget, Kritt, & Bergemann, 1984). In addition, they’re more attuned to the complex dynamics that influence behavior—not only thoughts, feelings, and present circumstances but also past experiences (C. A. Flanagan & Tucker, 1999; Selman, 1980). What we see emerging in the high school years, then, is a budding psychologist: an individual who can be quite astute in deciphering and explaining the motives and actions of others. Promoting perspective taking Virtually any classroom offers many opportunities for perspective taking. One strategy is to talk frequently about people’s thoughts, feelings, and motives (Ruffman, Slade, & Crowe, 2002; Wittmer & Honig, 1994; Woolfe, Want, & Siegal, 2002). In the process, we must, of course, use age‐appropriate language. With first graders we might use such words as think, want, and sadness. With fifth graders we might talk about misunderstanding, frustration, and mixed feelings. Most high school students have the cognitive and social reasoning capabilities to understand fairly abstract and complex psychological terms, such as being passive‐ aggressive and having an inner moral compass.

mirror neuron that fires either when a person is performing a particular behavior or when the person sees someone else perform the behavior.

theory of mind understanding of one’s own and other people’s mental and psychological states (thoughts, feelings, etc.).

recursive thinking Thinking about what other people may be thinking about oneself, possibly through multiple iterations.

When students seem focused only on their own points of view, encourage them to consider why others might reasonably think and behave as they do.

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sophisticated with age. For example, listen to children of various ages in “Emotions.”

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Another important strategy is to take advantage of situations in which people have diverse perspectives and beliefs about a situation. For example, in times of disagreement or conflict, students and teachers alike benefit from putting themselves in the other party’s shoes (Adalbjarnardottir & Selman, 1997; Gehlbach, Brinkworth, & Harris, 2011). And when two or more students clash in the classroom or elsewhere on school grounds, an effective approach is peer mediation, in which specially trained peers elicit their differing points of view and help them reach an equitable solution (Deutsch, 1993; D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 1996, 2006). Opportunities for perspective taking also arise in lessons about academic subject matter. For example, in discussions of current events, teachers might have different students—or, using the Internet, different classrooms—take different countries’ perspectives as they explore significant world problems, such as climate change or arms control (Gehlbach et al., 2008). SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING Children and adolescents have a lot to think about when they consider what other people are thinking, feeling, and doing. The mental processes involved in understanding and responding to social events are collectively known as social information processing (e.g., Burgess, Wojslawowicz, Rubin, Rose‐Krasnor, & Booth‐LaForce, 2006; Fontaine, Yang, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 2008; E. R. Smith & Semin, 2007). Among other things, social information processing involves paying attention to certain behaviors in a social situation and trying to interpret and make sense of those behaviors. For example, when students interact with classmates, they might focus on certain remarks, facial expressions, and body language and try to figure out what a classmate really means by, say, a thoughtless comment or sheepish grin. Students also consider one or more goals they hope to achieve during an interaction—perhaps preserving a friendship, on the one hand, or teaching somebody a “lesson,” on the other. Then, taking into account both their interpretations and their goals, students draw on their previous knowledge and experiences to identify a number of possible responses and choose what is, in their eyes, a productive course of action. As we’ll see in the next section, an understanding of social information processing is especially helpful in explaining why some students are unusually aggressive toward their peers.
Frequently ask students to reflect on other people’s thoughts, feelings, and motives.

Chapter 10 describes peer mediation in more detail.

Chapter 6 discusses information processing theory, on which this concept of social information processing is based.

AGGRESSION
Aggressive behavior is an action intentionally taken to hurt another person either physically or psychologically. It sometimes involves physical aggression, an action that can potentially cause bodily injury (e.g., hitting, shoving). In other cases it involves psychological aggression, an action intended to cause mental anguish or reduce self‐esteem. One form of psychological aggression is relational aggression, an action that can adversely affect friendships and other interpersonal relationships (e.g., ostracizing a peer, spreading unkind rumors). As a general rule, aggression declines over the course of childhood and adolescence, but it increases for a short time after students make the transition from elementary school to middle school or junior high (Pellegrini, 2002). Researchers have identified two distinct groups of aggressive students (Crick & Dodge, 1996; Poulin & Boivin, 1999; Vitaro, Gendreau, Tremblay, & Oligny, 1998). Those who engage in proactive aggression deliberately initiate aggressive behaviors as a means of obtaining desired goals. Those who engage in reactive aggression act aggressively primarily in response to frustration or provocation. Of the two groups, students who exhibit proactive aggression are more likely to have trouble maintaining productive friendships (Hanish, Kochenderfer‐Ladd, Fabes, Martin, & Denning, 2004; Poulin & Boivin, 1999). Those who direct considerable aggression toward particular peers—whether it be physical or psychological aggression—are known as bullies. Students who are immature, anxious, and socially isolated are frequent victims of bullies, as are students with nontraditional sexual orientations and students with disabilities (Hamovitch, 2007; J. P. Robinson & Espelage, 2011; M. W. Watson, Andreas, Fischer, & Smith, 2005). Some children and adolescents are genetically more predisposed to aggression than their peers, and others may exhibit heightened aggression as a result of neurological abnormalities (Brendgen et al., 2008; Raine, 2008; van Goozen, Fairchild, & Harold, 2008). But environmental factors can foster aggressive behavior as well. Many aggressive students live in dysfunctional conditions at home, perhaps including frequent conflicts and displays of anger, harsh punishment or child maltreatment, and a general lack of affection and appropriate social behavior (Christenson, 2004; Maikovich, Jaffee, Odgers, & Gallop, 2008; Pettit, 2004). In addition, regular exposure to violence

social information processing
Mental processes involved in making sense of and responding to social events.

aggressive behavior Action intentionally taken to hurt another either physically or psychologically. physical aggression Action that can potentially cause bodily injury. psychological aggression Action intended to cause mental anguish or reduce self‐esteem. relational aggression Action that can adversely affect interpersonal relationships; a form of psychological aggression. proactive aggression Deliberate aggression against another as a means of obtaining a desired goal. reactive aggression Aggressive response to frustration or provocation. bully Person who frequently threatens, harasses, or causes injury to particular peers.

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CHAPTER in the community or through various media (e.g., television, music, video games) seems to increase aggressive behavior in young people (C. A. Anderson et al., 2003; Greitemeyer, 2011; Guerra, Huesmann, & Spindler, 2003; Huesmann, Moise‐Titus, Podolski, & Eron, 2003). It’s important to note that many children and adolescents who are routinely exposed to violence at home or elsewhere are not especially aggressive (Margolin & Gordis, 2004; M. J. Pearce, Jones, Schwab‐Stone, & Ruchkin, 2003). Certain cognitive and motivational factors seem to underlie aggressive behavior, including the following: Poor perspective‐taking ability. Students who are highly aggressive tend to have limited ability to look at situations from other people’s perspectives or to empathize with their victims (Coie & Dodge, 1998; Damon & Hart, 1988; Marcus, 1980). Misinterpretation of social cues. Students who are aggressive toward peers tend to interpret others’ behaviors as reflecting hostile intentions, especially when those behaviors have ambiguous meanings. This hostile attributional bias is especially prevalent in children who are prone to reactive aggression (Bukowski et al., 2007; Crick, Grotpeter, & Bigbee, 2002; Dodge et al., 2003). Prevalence of self‐serving goals. For most students, establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships is a high priority. For aggressive students, however, achieving more self‐serving goals—perhaps maintaining an inflated self‐image, seeking revenge, or gaining power and dominance—often takes precedence (Baumeister et al., 1996; Cillessen & Rose, 2005; Menon et al., 2007; Pellegrini, Roseth, Van Ryzin, & Solberg, 2011). Ineffective social problem‐solving strategies. Aggressive students often have little knowledge of how to persuade, negotiate, or compromise. Instead, they’re apt to resort to hitting, shoving, barging into play activities, and other ineffective strategies (Neel, Jenkins, & Meadows, 1990; D. Schwartz et al., 1998; Troop‐Gordon & Asher, 2005). Belief in the appropriateness and effectiveness of aggression. Many aggressive students believe that violence and other forms of aggression are acceptable ways of resolving conflicts and retaliating against others’ misdeeds (Paciello, Fida, Tramontano, Lupinetti, & Caprara, 2008; M. W. Watson et al., 2005; Zelli, Dodge, Lochman, & Laird, 1999). Those who display high rates of proactive aggression are also apt to believe that aggressive action will yield positive results—for instance, that it will enhance social status at school or restore “honor” to one’s family or social group (R. P. Brown, Osterman, & Barnes, 2009; Mayeux et al., 2011; Pellegrini & Bartini, 2000). Not surprisingly, aggressive children tend to associate with one another, thereby confirming one another’s beliefs that aggression is appropriate (Crick, Murray‐Close, Marks, & Mohajeri‐Nelson, 2009; Espelage & Swearer, 2004). Both initiators and recipients of aggression often have problems later on. Unless adults actively intervene, many aggressive students (especially those who exhibit proactive aggression) show a continuing pattern of aggression and violence as they grow older, and such a pattern almost guarantees long‐term maladjustment and difficulties with peers (Dodge et al., 2003; Ladd & Troop‐Gordon, 2003; Swearer et al., 2010). Meanwhile, children who are frequent targets of bullying can become anxious and depressed—sometimes suicidal—and their classroom performance deteriorates as a result (Hoglund, 2007; Russell et al., 2011; D. Schwartz, Gorman, Nakamoto, & Toblin, 2005; Swearer et al., 2010). An entry in one high school student’s journal illustrates just how devastating bullying can be:
One day in junior high, I was getting off the school bus from a seat in the back. . . . I heard people shouting, “Hey, Fatso!” “You big buffalo!” . . . In order to leave the bus I had to walk through a long crowded aisle and face the obnoxious girls. As I stood up, the girls followed. They crowded together, and approached me as if they were ready to strike at me. . . . The girls began to kick and sock me repeatedly. . . . They continued to hurt me as if there was nothing more important to them than to see me in pain. The last few kicks were the hardest; all I wanted to do was get off the bus alive. . . . Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I was able to release myself from their torture. I got off the bus alive. Imagining that the worst had already passed, I began to walk away from the bus and the girls stuck their heads out the window and spit on me. I could not believe it! They spit on my face! . . . While I was cleaning my face with a napkin, I could still hear the girls laughing. (Freedom Writers, 1999, pp. 37–38)

hostile attributional bias Tendency to interpret others’ behaviors as reflecting hostile or aggressive intentions.

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Often the psychological aggression involved in bullying—taunts, name‐calling, blatant exclusion from social activities, and so on—is more harmful than any physical aggression that accompanies it (Doll, Song, & Siemers, 2004; Goodwin, 2006). Even innocent bystanders tend to suffer from the aggression they witness at school. For example, when they observe one classmate bullying another, their own sense of safety at school diminishes (M. J. Mayer & Furlong, 2010; Rivers, Poteat, Noret, & Ashurst, 2009). Furthermore, if they see bullying and other aggressive behaviors going unpunished, they may come to believe that such actions are perfectly acceptable (E. J. Meyer, 2009; D. T. Miller & Prentice, 1994). As teachers, we must intervene when some students victimize others, and we must keep a watchful eye for additional incidents of physical or psychological aggression down the road. Regular victims of aggression need social and emotional support from us and from their classmates. Some may also need one or more sessions with a school counselor, perhaps to address feelings of vulnerability and depression or perhaps to learn skills that will minimize future victimization incidents (Espelage & Swearer, 2004; R. S. Newman, 2008; Yeung & Leadbeater, 2007). The perpetrators of aggression require intervention as well. They must be given appropriate consequences for their actions, of course, but they should also be helped to behave more appropriately. Specific strategies should be tailored to the thoughts and motives that underlie their aggression. Such strategies as encouraging perspective taking, helping students interpret social situations more accurately, and teaching effective social problem‐solving skills are potentially useful in reducing aggression and other disruptive behaviors (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2006; Frey, Hirschstein, Edstrom, & Snell, 2009; Guerra & Slaby, 1990; Horne, Orpinas, Newman‐Carlson, & Bartolomucci, 2004; Hudley & Graham, 1993). Putting students in situations where they must explicitly help, rather than harm, others—for instance, asking them to tutor younger children—can also be beneficial (J. R. Sullivan & Conoley, 2004). Ultimately, interventions with aggressive students are most likely to be effective if schools communicate the importance of acting kindly and respectfully toward all members of the school community, teachers and students alike (Espelage & Swearer, 2004; E. J. Meyer, 2009; Parada, Craven, & Marsh, 2008; S. W. Ross & Horner, 2009). cyberbullying Engaging in psychological aggression via wireless technologies or the Internet.

and other forms of aggression, and take appropriate actions with both the victims and the perpetrators.

TECHNOLOGY AND PEER RELATIONSHIPS
With the advent of cell telephone technology, text‐messaging software, and easy access to the Internet, many students now communicate quite frequently—daily, sometimes almost hourly— with some of their peers (Crosnoe, 2011; Greenhow et al., 2009; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009). For instance, e‐mail and instant messaging (“IM‐ing”) allow quick and easy ways of asking classmates about homework assignments, making plans for weekend social activities, and seeking friends’ advice and emotional support. Networking sites (e.g., facebook.com, myspace.com) provide a means of sharing personal information (e.g., news, interests, photos) and potentially finding like‐minded age‐mates. Internet‐based chat rooms allow group discussions about virtually any topic. Judicious use of such mechanisms can enhance students’ self‐esteem, connectedness with peers, social problem solving, and general psychological well‐being (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Greenhow et al., 2009; Gross, Juvonen, & Gable, 2002; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009). Unfortunately, wireless technologies and the Internet also provide vehicles for cyberbullying—electronically transmitting hostile messages, broadcasting personally embarrassing information, or in other ways causing an individual significant psychological distress. For example, a student might upload humiliating video footage on YouTube, post humiliating (and possibly false) gossip on Facebook, or set up a website on which classmates can “vote” for their class’s “biggest loser” or “easiest slut” (Shariff, 2008; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009; Willard, 2007). Cyberbullying can be more harmful than face‐to‐face bullying, in part because the perpetrators often remain anonymous (and so can’t be confronted) and in part because highly defamatory material can spread like wildfire among a large peer group (Kowalski & Limber, 2007; Rivers, Chesney, & Coyne, 2011). To the extent that we have opportunities, then, we should talk with students about wise and socially appropriate uses of modern technology, and we must explain in no uncertain terms that cyberbullying in any form—whether it involves taunts, threats, unkind rumors, or any other material that can cause psychological harm to others—is totally unacceptable. And, of course, we must monitor students’ in‐class use of the Internet.

Teachers must intervene when students are either the perpetrators or victims of aggression. Gain practice in the

Harassed.”

Explain what cyberbullying is and why it is unacceptable.

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CHAPTER

DIVERSITY IN PEER RELATIONSHIPS AND SOCIAL COGNITION
Some students with disabilities have delays in the development of social cognition and, as a result, often have trouble in interpersonal relationships. For example, students with significant delays in their overall cognitive development (i.e., children with intellectual disabilities) typically have limited understanding of appropriate behaviors in social situations (S. Greenspan & Granfield, 1992; Leffert, Siperstein, & Millikan, 2000). Also, some students with seemingly normal cognitive abilities have specific deficits in social cognition. In a mild form of autism known as Asperger syndrome, students may show average or above‐average academic achievement but have great difficulty drawing accurate inferences from others’ behaviors and body language, apparently as a result of a brain abnormality (G. Dawson & Bernier, 2007; Hobson, 2004; Tager‐Flusberg, 2007). In addition, many students with chronic emotional and behavioral disabilities have poor perspective‐taking and social problem‐ solving abilities and thus may have few, if any, friends (Harter et al., 1998; Lind, 1994). Gender differences Gender differences have been observed in interpersonal behaviors. Boys tend to hang out in large groups, whereas girls tend to favor smaller, more intimate gatherings with close friends (Maccoby, 2002). Also, girls seem to be more astute at reading other people’s body language, and they work hard to maintain group harmony (Benenson et al., 2002; Bosacki, 2000; Rudolph et al., 2005). Furthermore, aggression tends to take different forms in boys (who are prone to physical aggression) and in girls (who are more apt to engage in relational aggression, disrupting friendships and tarnishing others’ reputations) (Card, Stucky, Sawalani, & Little, 2008; Crick et al., 2002; Pellegrini, 2011; Pellegrini & Archer, 2005). Cultural and ethnic differences Interpersonal behaviors vary from culture to culture as well. For instance, some cultural groups (e.g., some groups in northern Canada and in the South Pacific) regularly use seemingly antisocial behaviors—especially teasing and ridicule—to teach children to remain calm and handle criticism (Rogoff, 2003). In contrast, many Native Americans, many people of Hispanic heritage, and certain African American communities place particular emphasis on group harmony, and many Asian groups strongly discourage aggression. Children from these backgrounds may be especially adept at negotiation and peace making (Gardiner & Kosmitzki, 2008; Guthrie, 2001; Halgunseth et al., 2006; Rubin, Cheah, & Menzer, 2010; Witmer, 1996).

PROMOTING HEALTHY PEER RELATIONSHIPS
As teachers, we’re in an excellent position to assess how students think about and behave in social situations and to help them interact more effectively with others. Following are several strategies that research has shown to be effective. Provide numerous opportunities for social interaction and cooperation. For instance, students’ play activities—whether the fantasy play of preschoolers and kindergartners or the rule‐based games of older children and adolescents—can promote cooperation, sharing, perspective taking, and conflict resolution skills (Coplan & Arbeau, 2009; Creasey, Jarvis, & Berk, 1998; Gottman, 1986). Assignments and activities that require students to work cooperatively to achieve a common goal can foster leadership skills and a willingness to both help and get help from peers (Certo, 2011; Y. Li et al., 2007; N. M. Webb & Farivar, 1994). And activities in which students communicate with one another online—for example, by posting their ideas and questions about classroom topics on a class website—can be especially valuable for students who are shy or otherwise feel uncomfortable communicating with peers in a more public fashion (Hewitt & Scardamalia, 1998). Help students interpret social situations accurately and productively. When students consistently have trouble getting along with others, explicit training in social cognition can make a difference. In one research study (Hudley & Graham, 1993), chronically aggressive boys attended a series of training sessions in which, through role‐playing and similar activities, they practiced making inferences about other people’s intentions and identifying appropriate courses of action. They also learned strategies for reminding themselves of how to behave in various situations— for example, “When I don’t have the information to tell what he meant, I should act as if it were an accident” (p. 128). Following the training, the students were less

Extracurricular activities can promote productive peer relationships and a general “team spirit.” They can also be a source of success for students who struggle with academic tasks. Here, 7‐year‐old Daniel, who has a learning disability, expresses his love of baseball.

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77 likely to presume hostile intent or endorse aggressive retaliation in interpersonal situations than control‐group students who didn’t receive the training, and their teachers rated the trained students as less aggressive. Teach specific social skills, provide opportunities for students to practice them, and give feedback. We can teach students appropriate ways of behaving both through explicit verbal instructions and through modeling desired behaviors. Such instruction is especially effective when we also ask students to practice their newly learned social skills (perhaps through role‐ playing) and give them concrete feedback about how they’re doing (Bierman & Powers, 2009; Themann & Goldstein, 2001; S. Vaughn, 1991; Watkins & Wentzel, 2008). Promote understanding, communication, and interaction among diverse groups. Even when students have good social skills, many of them interact almost exclusively within small, close‐knit groups, and a few others remain socially isolated. For example, students often divide themselves along ethnic lines when they eat lunch and interact in the school yard. In fact, ethnic segregation increases once students reach the middle school grades. As young adolescents from ethnic minority groups begin to look closely and introspectively at issues of racism and ethnic identity, they often find it helpful to compare experiences and perspectives with other group members. Ethnic stereotypes and prejudices can also contribute to this self‐imposed segregation (B. B. Brown et al., 2008; G. L. Cohen & Garcia, 2008; Ogbu, 2008b; Tatum, 1997). Yet when students from diverse groups interact regularly—and especially when they come together as equals, work toward a common goal, and see themselves as members of the same team—they’re more likely to accept and value one another’s differences (Hodson, 2011; Oskamp, 2000; Pfeifer, Brown, & Juvonen, 2007). The Creating a Productive Classroom Environment box “Encouraging Positive Interactions among Diverse Individuals and Groups” offers several strategies for expanding students’ friendship networks. in social skills. As an example, watch

Creating a Productive Classroom Environment
Encouraging Positive Interactions among Diverse Individuals and Groups
Set up situations in which students can form cross‐group friendships.
To help her students get to know a greater number of their peers, a junior high school science teacher gives them assigned seats in her decides how students will be paired for weekly lab activities. discussion about an ongoing conflict between two rival ethnic‐group gangs in the community. “Don’t you think this family feud is stupid?”

the Montagues are like the Asian gang . . . Don’t you think it’s other?” The students immediately protest, but when she presses them to justify their thinking, they gradually begin to acknowledge the pointlessness of a long‐standing rivalry whose origins they can’t even recall.

Minimize or eliminate barriers to social interaction. classmate who is deaf.

Encourage and facilitate participation in extracurricular activities, and take steps to ensure that no single group dominates in membership or leadership in any particular activity.
When recruiting members for the scenery committee for the eighth grade’s annual class play, the committee’s teacher‐adviser encourages both “popular” and “unpopular” students to participate. know one another well must work closely and cooperatively.

Develop nondisabled students’ understanding of students with disabilities, provided that the students and their parents give permission to share what might otherwise be confidential information.
In a widely publicized case, Ryan White, a boy who had contracted against his return to his neighborhood school because parents and students thought he might infect others. After Ryan’s family moved to a different school district, school personnel actively educated casual day‐to‐day contact. Ryan’s reception at his new school was “When I walked into classrooms or the cafeteria, several kids called

As a class, discuss the undesirable consequences of intergroup hostilities.
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A high school English teacher in a low‐income, inner‐city school Romeo and Juliet to initiate a
Sources: Certo, Cauley, & Chafin, 2003; D. J. Connor & Baglieri, 2009; Dilg, 2010; Feddes, Noack, & Rutland, 2009; Feldman & Matjasko, 2005; Freedom Writers, 1999, p. 33 (Shakespeare example); Mahoney, Cairns, & Farmer, 2003; A. J. Martin & Dowson, 2009; Schofield, 1995; K. Schultz, Buck, & Niesz, 2000; Sleeter & Grant, 1999; Tatum, 1997; M. Thompson & Grace, 2001 (school play example); R. White & Cunningham, 1991, p. 149 (Ryan White example).

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CHAPTER Explain what bullying is and why it cannot be tolerated. Students and teachers alike often have misconceptions about bullying. For instance, they may think it involves only physical aggression, even though psychological aggression—for instance, name calling, sexual harassment, deliberate social exclusion, and defamatory postings on the Internet—constitutes bullying as well. Another common misconception is that the victims of bullies somehow deserve what they get, perhaps because they display immature behaviors or need to “toughen up” and learn to defend themselves. Thus many students condone bullying and act as a supportive audience for the perpetrators (Salmivalli & Peets, 2009; Swearer et al., 2010). And teachers who refuse to intervene when they see or hear about bullying and harassment indirectly communicate the message that such behaviors are acceptable (Buston & Hart, 2001; Juvonen & Galván, 2008). Earlier I urged you to be on the lookout for incidents of bullying. This is easier said than done, because many incidents of bullying occur beyond the watchful eyes of school faculty members (K. Carter & Doyle, 2006; Swearer et al., 2010). It’s important, then, that students learn about the many forms bullying can take and the truly harmful effects it can have on its victims. One simple strategy is to use the mnemonic PIC to describe what bullying involves: Purposeful behavior—“He meant to do it.” Imbalanced—“That’s not fair, he’s bigger.” Continual—“I’m afraid to enter the classroom because she’s always picking on me.” (Horne et al., 2004, pp. 298–299)
Teach students effective strategies for responding to bullies.

We can also teach students strategies to use when they’re being bullied (e.g., they might walk away or respond with a humorous come‐back) or when they observe others being victimized (e.g., they might say “Stop, you’re being disrespectful” and escort the victim from the scene) (Juvonen & Galván, 2008; S. W. Ross & Horner, 2009). Help change the reputations of formerly antisocial students. Unfortunately, students’ bad reputations often live on long after their behavior has changed for the better, and thus their classmates may continue to dislike and reject them (Bierman, Miller, & Stabb, 1987; Caprara, Dodge, Pastorelli, & Zelli, 2007; Juvonen & Weiner, 1993). So when we work to improve the behaviors of aggressive and other antisocial students, we must work to improve their reputations as well. For example, we might encourage their active involvement in extracurricular activities or place them in structured cooperative learning groups where they can use their newly developed social skills. We should also demonstrate through our words and actions that we like and appreciate them, as our attitudes are apt to be contagious (Chang, 2003; Chang et al., 2004). In one way or another we must help students discover that formerly antisocial classmates have changed and are worth getting to know better. Create a general climate of respect for others. Teachers who effectively cultivate friendships among diverse groups of students are often those who communicate a consistent message over and over: We must all respect one another as human beings. Fernando Arias, a high school vocational education teacher, has put it this way:
In our school, our philosophy is that we treat everybody the way we’d like to be treated. . . . Our school is a unique situation where we have pregnant young ladies who go to our school. We have special education children. We have the regular kids, and we have the drop‐out recovery program . . . we’re all equal. We all have an equal chance. And we have members of every gang at our school, and we hardly have any fights, and there are close to about 300 gangs in our city. We all get along. It’s one big family unit it seems like. (Turnbull, Pereira, & Blue‐Banning, 2000, p. 67)

Truly productive interpersonal relationships depend on students’ ability to respect one another’s rights and needs and to support classmates who are going through hard times. Such capabilities are aspects of students’ moral and prosocial development, a domain to which we turn now.

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Moral and Prosocial Development

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Moral and Prosocial Development
In the opening case study, Lupita helps a classmate interpret a teacher aide’s subtle message and assists two others with their puzzles. Such actions are examples of prosocial behavior, behavior aimed at benefiting others more than oneself. Prosocial behaviors—plus such traits as honesty, fairness, and concern about other people’s rights and welfare—fall into the domain of morality. By and large, students who think and behave in moral and prosocial ways gain more support from their teachers and peers and, as a result, achieve greater academic and social success over the long run (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Pastorelli, Bandura, & Zimbardo, 2000; Spinrad & Eisenberg, 2009). Morality and prosocial behavior are complex entities that appear to involve multiple parts of the brain. Certainly the mirror neurons mentioned earlier are involved, as they partially underlie people’s ability to look at situations from someone else’s perspective. But ultimately, moral and prosocial actions also have two components that involve distinctly different brain regions: emotions (e.g., affection and concern for others) and complex reasoning abilities (e.g., determining what actions are morally right and wrong) (Gallese et al., 2011; Greene, Sommerville, Nystrom, Darley, & Cohen, 2001; Moll et al., 2007; Young & Saxe, 2009).

DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN MORALITY AND PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Most children behave more morally and prosocially as they grow older. Table 3.2 describes the forms that morality and prosocial behavior are apt to take at various grade levels. Some entries in the table reflect the following developmental trends. Even very young children use internal standards to evaluate behavior. Well before their first birthday, children show that they value prosocial behavior over antisocial behavior, and by age 3 they have some understanding that behaviors causing physical or psychological harm are inappropriate (Hamlin & Wynn, 2011; Helwig, Zelazo, & Wilson, 2001). By age 4 most children understand that causing harm to another person is wrong regardless of what authority figures might tell them and regardless of what consequences certain behaviors may or may not bring (Laupa & Turiel, 1995; Smetana, 1981; Tisak, 1993). Children increasingly distinguish between moral and conventional transgressions. Virtually every culture discourages some behaviors—moral transgressions—because they cause damage or harm, violate human rights, or run counter to basic principles of equality, freedom, or justice. It discourages other behaviors—conventional transgressions—that, although not unethical, violate widely held understandings about how one should act (e.g., children shouldn’t talk back to adults or burp at meals). Conventional transgressions are usually specific to a particular culture; in contrast, many moral transgressions are universal across cultures (Nucci, 2009; Smetana, 2006; Turiel, 2002). Children’s awareness of social conventions increases throughout the elementary school years (Helwig & Jasiobedzka, 2001; Laupa & Turiel, 1995; Nucci & Nucci, 1982). But especially as children reach adolescence, they don’t always agree with adults about which behaviors constitute moral transgressions, which ones fall into the conventional domain, and which ones are simply a matter of personal choice. Hence, many adolescents resist rules they think are infringements on their personal freedoms—rules about clothing, hair style, talking in class, and so on (Nucci, 2009; Smetana, 2005). Children’s capacity to respond emotionally to others’ harm and distress increases over the school years. Within the first two or three years of life, two emotions important for moral development emerge (Kochanska, Gross, Lin, & Nichols, 2002; M. Lewis & Sullivan, 2005). First, children occasionally show guilt—a feeling of discomfort when they know they’ve inflicted damage or caused someone else pain or distress. They also feel shame: a feeling of embarrassment or humiliation when they fail to meet their own or other people’s standards for moral behavior. Both guilt and shame, although unpleasant emotions, are good signs that children are developing a sense of right and wrong and will work hard to correct their misdeeds (Eisenberg, 1995; Harter, 1999; Narváez & Rest, 1995).

On a page in her “Happiness Book,” 6‐year‐old Jaquita expresses her pleasure in behaving prosocially.

prosocial behavior toward promoting the well‐being of people other than oneself.

morality One’s general standards about right and wrong behavior. moral transgression Action that causes harm or infringes on the needs or rights of others. conventional transgression Action that violates a culture’s general expectations regarding socially appropriate behavior. guilt Feeling of discomfort about having caused someone else pain or distress. shame Feeling of embarrassment or humiliation after failing to meet certain standards for moral behavior.

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CHAPTER

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Moral Reasoning and Prosocial Behavior at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS physical or psychological harm are morally wrong that violate human rights and dignity versus those that violate social conventions cause obvious harm or damage comfort, people in distress

EXAMPLE
When Jake pushes Otis off the ladder of a playground slide, several classmates are horrified. One child shouts, “That’s wrong!” and three others rush to Otis’s side to make sure he’s not hurt.

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Make standards for behavior very clear. When students misbehave, give reasons that such behaviors are unacceptable, focusing on the harm and distress they have caused others (i.e., use induction, a strategy described later in the chapter). Encourage students to comfort others in times of distress. Model sympathetic responses; explain what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. for the age‐group; when it occurs, encourage perspective taking and prosocial behavior.

K–2

fairness seen as strict equality in how a desired commodity is divided appropriate behavior individuals who are suffering or needy meet others’ needs as well as one’s own; growing appreciation for cooperation and compromise necessarily mean equality—that some people (e.g., peers with disabilities) may need more of a desired commodity than others objective in and of itself At the suggestion of his third‐grade teacher, 8‐year‐old Jeff acts as a “special friend” to Evan, a boy with severe physical and cognitive disabilities who joins the class two or three days a week. Evan can’t speak, but Jeff gives him things to feel and manipulate and talks to him whenever class activities allow conversation. And the two boys regularly sit together at lunch. Jeff comments, “Doing things that make Evan happy make me happy, too.” After the midwinter break, conventions are arbitrary; in some cases accompanied by resistance to these rules and conventions but with a tendency to oversimplify what “helping” requires circumstances are entirely responsible for their own fate to school with several large nose rings and her hair styled into long, vertical spikes above her head. The school principal tells her that her appearance is inappropriate and insists that she go home to make herself more presentable. “I have a right to express myself however I want!” help society run smoothly duty and abiding by the rules of society as a whole rather than simply pleasing certain authority figures students propose and establish a school chapter of Amnesty International, an organization dedicated to the preservation of human rights around the world. The group invites knowledgeable guest speakers and conducts several fundraisers to help combat abusive practices against women.

Make prosocial behaviors (e.g., sharing, helping others) a high priority in the classroom. Explain how students can often meet their own needs while helping others (e.g., when asking students to be “reading buddies” for younger children, explain that doing so will help them become better readers themselves). kind, helpful) when praising altruistic behaviors.

3-5

Talk about how rules for behavior enable classrooms and other groups to run more smoothly. Involve students in group projects that will benefit their school or community. When imposing discipline for moral transgressions, accompany it with explanations about the harm that has been caused (i.e., use induction).

6-8

help those in need

Explore moral issues in social studies, science, and literature. Encourage community service as a way of engendering feelings of commitment to helping others. Ask students to reflect on their experiences through group discussions or written essays. Have students read autobiographies and other literature that depict heroic figures who have actively worked to help people in need.
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9-12

Sources: Eisenberg, 1982; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Eisenberg, Lennon, & Pasternack, 1986; Farver & Branstetter, 1994; C. A. Flanagan & Faison, 2001; Gibbs, 1995; Gummerum, Keller, Takezawa, & Mata, 2008; D. Hart & Fegley, 1995; Hastings et al., 2007; Helwig & Jasiobedzka, 2001; Helwig et al., 2001; Hoffman, 2000; Kohlberg, 1984; Krebs & Van Hesteren, 1994; Kurtines, Berman, Ittel, & Williamson, 1995; Laupa & Turiel, 1995; M. Lewis & Sullivan, 2005; Nucci, 2009; Nucci & Weber, 1995; Rothbart, 2011; Rushton, 1980; Smetana & Braeges, 1990; Spinrad & Eisenberg, 2009; Turiel, 1983, 1998; Wainryb, Brehl, & Matwin, 2005; Yates & Youniss, 1996; Yau & Smetana, 2003; Youniss & Yates, 1999; Zahn‐Waxler, Radke‐Yarrow, Wagner, & Chapman, 1992.

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Moral and Prosocial Development empathy— experiencing the same feelings as someone in unfortunate circumstances—appears in the absence of wrongdoing. Although those mirror neurons mentioned earlier may to some degree underlie human beings’ ability to empathize, this ability continues to develop throughout childhood and adolescence (Eisenberg et al., 1995; Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2008; Spinrad & Eisenberg, 2009). When empathy also evokes sympathy—whereby children not only assume another person’s feelings but also have concerns for the individual’s well‐being—it tends to spur prosocial behavior (Batson, 1991; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Malti, Gummerum, Keller, & Buchman, 2009).

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With age, reasoning about moral issues becomes increasingly abstract and flexible. To probe children’s thinking about moral issues, researchers sometimes present moral dilemmas, situations in which two or more people’s rights or needs may be at odds and for which there are no clear‐cut right or wrong responses. The scenario in the following exercise is an example.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Imagine that you’re in the ninth grade. You’re walking quickly down the school corridor on your way to your math class when you see three boys from the so‐called “popular” crowd cornering a small, socially awkward boy named Martin. The boys first make fun of Martin’s thick glasses and unfashionable clothing, then they start taunting him with names such as “fag” and “retard.” What do you do? a. You look the other way, pretending you haven’t heard anything, and hurry on to class. If you were to stop to help, the boys might taunt you as well, and that will only make the situation worse. b. You shoot Martin a sympathetic look and then head to class so that you won’t be late. Afterward, you anonymously report the incident to the principal’s office, because you know that the boys’ behaviors have violated your school’s antibullying policy. c. You stop and say, “Hey, you jerks, cut it out! Martin’s a really nice guy and doesn’t deserve your insulting labels. Come on, Martin, let’s go. We might be late for math class, so we need to hurry.” I’m hoping that, given my earlier discussions of bullying, you’ve picked Alternative c. But if you were a ninth grader, is that really what you would do? In his groundbreaking early research on moral development, Lawrence Kohlberg gave children and adults a variety of moral dilemmas and asked them both what they would do and why they would do it. Based on the hundreds of responses he obtained, Kohlberg proposed that as children grow older, they construct increasingly complex views of morality. In Kohlberg’s view, development of moral reasoning is characterized by a sequence of six stages grouped into three general levels of morality: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional (see Table 3.3). Children with preconventional morality haven’t yet adopted or internalized society’s conventions regarding what things are right and wrong but instead focus largely on external consequences that certain actions might bring to themselves, as illustrated in Alternative a in the exercise. Kohlberg’s second level, conventional morality, is characterized by general, often unquestioning obedience either to an authority figure’s dictates or to established rules and norms, even when there are no consequences for disobedience. The exercise’s Alternative b is an example: You report a violation of school rules to school authorities, but you don’t want to be late to class—that would violate another school rule—and through your actions you don’t jeopardize any good relationships you might have with the “popular” boys. In contrast to the somewhat rigid nature of conventional morality, people at Kohlberg’s third level, postconventional morality, view rules as useful but changeable mechanisms that ideally can maintain the general social order and protect human rights; rules aren’t absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question. These people live by their own abstract principles about right and wrong and may disobey rules inconsistent with these principles. Alternative c shows some evidence of postconventional reasoning: You’re more concerned about protecting Martin’s physical and psychological safety than you are about getting to class on time.

In this poem, Matt, a middle school student, shows empathy for victims of the Holocaust.

empathy Experience of sharing the same feelings as someone in unfortunate circumstances. sympathy Feeling of sorrow for another person’s distress, accompanied by concern for the person’s well‐being. moral dilemma two or more people’s rights or needs may be at odds and the morally correct action is not clear‐cut.

preconventional morality internalized standards about right and wrong; decision making based primarily on what seems best for oneself.

conventional morality acceptance of society’s conventions regarding right and wrong.

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postconventional morality Thinking in accordance with self‐constructed, abstract principles regarding right and wrong.

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CHAPTER

C OM PAR E / CONT R AS T
Kohlberg’s Three Levels and Six Stages of Moral Reasoning
LEVEL
Level I: Preconventional morality

AGE RANGE children, most elementary school students, some junior high school students, and a few high school students

STAGE
Punishment‐ avoidance and obedience Exchange of favors

NATURE OF MORAL REASONING
People make decisions based on what is best for themselves, without regard for others’ needs or feelings. They obey rules only if established by more powerful individuals; they may disobey if they aren’t likely to get caught. “Wrong” behaviors are those that will be punished. People recognize that others also have needs. They may try to satisfy others’ scratch yours”). They continue to define right and wrong primarily in terms of consequences to themselves. People make decisions based on what actions will please others, especially authority figures (e.g., teachers, popular peers). They are concerned about maintaining relationships through sharing, trust, and loyalty, and they consider other people’s perspectives and intentions when making decisions. People look to society as a whole for guidelines about right or wrong. They know that having rules is necessary for keeping society running smoothly and believe it is their duty to obey them. However, they perceive rules to be inflexible; they don’t necessarily recognize that as society’s needs change, rules should change as well. People recognize that rules represent agreements among many individuals about what is appropriate behavior. Rules are seen as useful mechanisms that maintain the general social order and protect individual rights, rather than as absolute dictates that must be obeyed simply because they are the law. People also recognize the flexibility of rules; rules that no longer serve society’s best interests can and should be changed. stage adhere to a few abstract, universal principles (e.g., equality of all people, respect for human dignity, commitment to justice) that transcend specific norms and rules. They answer to a strong inner conscience and willingly disobey laws that violate their own ethical principles.

Level II: Conventional morality

elementary school students, some junior high school students, and many high school students does not appear before high school)

good girl

Level III: Postconventional morality

Rarely seen before college

principle

Sources: Colby & Kohlberg, 1984; Colby, Kohlberg, Gibbs, & Lieberman, 1983; Kohlberg, 1976, 1984, 1986; Reimer, Paolitto, & Hersh, 1983; Snarey, 1995.

A great deal of research on the development of moral reasoning has followed on the heels of Kohlberg’s work. Some of it supports Kohlberg’s proposed sequence: Generally speaking, people seem to make advancements in the order Kohlberg proposed (Boom, Brugman, & van der Heijden, 2001; Colby & Kohlberg, 1984; Snarey, 1995; Stewart & Pascual‐Leone, 1992). Furthermore, as Kohlberg suggested, moral development emerges out of children’s own, self‐ constructed beliefs—beliefs they often revisit, revise, and ultimately improve on over time. Nevertheless, contemporary psychologists have identified several weaknesses in Kohlberg’s theory. For one thing, Kohlberg included both moral issues (e.g., causing harm) and social conventions (e.g., having rules to help society run smoothly) in his views of morality, but as we’ve seen, children distinguish between these two domains, and their views about each domain may change differently over time (Nucci, 2001, 2009). Furthermore, Kohlberg focused largely on reasoning, with little consideration of people’s moral behaviors (Gilligan & Attanucci, 1988; P. L. Hill & Roberts, 2010). Kohlberg also underestimated young children, who, as we discovered earlier, acquire some internal standards of right and wrong long before they reach school age. Finally, Kohlberg largely overlooked situational factors that youngsters take into account when deciding what’s morally right and wrong in specific contexts (more about these factors in a moment). Many contemporary developmental psychologists believe that moral reasoning involves general trends rather than distinct stages. It appears that children and adolescents gradually construct several different standards that guide their moral reasoning, including their own personal interests, consideration of other people’s needs and motives, a desire to abide by society’s rules and conventions, and, eventually, an appreciation of abstract ideals regarding human rights and society’s overall needs (Killen & Smetana, 2008; Krebs, 2008; Rest, Narvaez, Bebeau, & Thoma, 1999). With age, students increasingly apply more advanced standards, but even a fairly

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Moral and Prosocial Development primitive one—satisfying one’s own needs without regard for others—may occasionally take priority (Rest et al., 1999; Turiel, 1998). As children get older, they increasingly behave in accordance with their self‐constructed moral standards, but other factors come into play as well. To some degree, students with more advanced moral reasoning behave in more moral and prosocial ways (e.g., Blasi, 1980; P. A. Miller, Eisenberg, Fabes, & Shell, 1996; Paciello et al., 2008). However, the correlation between moral reasoning and moral behavior isn’t an especially strong one. Students’ perspective‐taking ability and emotions (shame, guilt, empathy, sympathy) also influence their decisions to behave morally or otherwise (Batson, 1991; Damon, 1988; Eisenberg, Zhou, & Koller, 2001). And although students may truly want to do the right thing, they may also be concerned about the consequences for themselves in specific situations—for instance, how much personal sacrifice will be involved and how much various actions will gain other people’s approval or respect (Batson & Thompson, 2001; Cillessen et al., 2011; Narváez & Rest, 1995; Wentzel, Filisetti, & Looney, 2007). Finally, students’ sense of self seems to be an important factor affecting their inclinations to act morally and prosocially. For one thing, students must believe they’re actually capable of helping other people—in other words, they must have high self‐efficacy about their ability to “make a difference” (Narváez & Rest, 1995). Furthermore, in adolescence, some young people begin to integrate a commitment to moral values into their overall sense of identity: They think of themselves as moral, caring individuals who make other people’s rights and well‐being a high priority (Blasi, 1995; D. Hart & Fegley, 1995; Hastings, Utendale, & Sullivan, 2007; Thorkildsen et al., 2008).

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FACTORS INFLUENCING MORAL AND PROSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
To some degree, advanced moral reasoning depends on cognitive development. In particular, it depends on the ability to think simultaneously about multiple issues (e.g., about various people’s motives and intentions in a situation) and also on the ability to comprehend such abstract ideals as justice and basic human rights. However, cognitive development doesn’t guarantee moral development. It’s quite possible to think abstractly about academic subject matter and yet reason in a self‐centered, preconventional manner (Kohlberg, 1976; Nucci, 2006, 2009; Turiel, 2002). Children’s social and cultural environments have a significant influence on their moral and prosocial development. For example, when children see adults or peers being generous and showing concern for others, they tend to do likewise (Hoffman, 2000; Rushton, 1980; Spinrad & Eisenberg, 2009). And when they watch television shows that emphasize perspective taking and prosocial actions, they’re more inclined to exhibit such behaviors themselves (Dubow, Huesmann, & Greenwood, 2007; Hearold, 1986; Rushton, 1980; Singer & Singer, 1994). Prosocial video games, too, can have a positive impact (Gentile et al., 2009; Greitemeyer, 2011). Ideally, society’s prosocial messages must be consistently conveyed through other people’s behaviors. Children do not make advancements in moral reasoning and behavior simply by hearing adults advocate certain moral values—say, through a short “character education” program (Higgins, 1995; N. Park & Peterson, 2009; Turiel, 1998). Children also tend to make gains in moral and prosocial development when adults consistently use induction, asking children to think about the harm and distress that some of their behaviors have caused others (Hoffman, 2000; Rothbart, 2011). Induction is victim centered: It helps students focus on others’ distress and recognize that they themselves have been the cause. Consistent use of induction in disciplining children, especially when accompanied by mild punishment for misbehavior—for instance, insisting that children make amends for their wrongdoings—appears to promote compliance with rules and foster the development of empathy, compassion, and altruism (G. H. Brody & Shaffer, 1982; Hoffman, 1975; Nucci, 2001; Rushton, 1980). Yet another factor that appears to promote moral and prosocial advancements is disequilibrium—in particular, encountering moral dilemmas and arguments that children can’t adequately address with their current moral standards and viewpoints. For instance, classroom discussions of controversial topics and moral issues can promote increased perspective taking

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induction Explanation of why a certain behavior is unacceptable, often with a focus on the pain or distress that someone has caused another.

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CHAPTER and a gradual transition to more advanced reasoning (DeVries & Zan, 1996; Power, Higgins, & Kohlberg, 1989; Schlaefli, Rest, & Thoma, 1985). As Kohlberg suggested, children construct (rather than absorb) their moral beliefs; disequilibrium can spur them to revise their beliefs in ways that allow them to consider increasingly complex moral issues.

DIVERSITY IN MORAL AND PROSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Some diversity in moral and prosocial development is, of course, the result of differences in children’s environments. But biology seems to be involved as well. For example, other things being equal, children who have a somewhat fearful, anxious temperament in infancy tend to show more guilt and empathy in the early elementary grades than their less anxious classmates (Rothbart, 2011). And as children grow older, the degree to which they show effortful control—an ability to inhibit selfish and other unproductive impulses—appears to be a factor in their acquisition of a moral conscience (Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Sadovsky, 2006; Kochanska, Tjebkes, & Forman, 1998; Rothbart, 2011). Genetically based disabilities, too, come into the picture. For example, certain human genes seem to give rise to the development of brain abnormalities that, in turn, predispose their owners to antisocial behavior (Raine, 2008). Gender differences Researchers have observed minor gender differences in moral and prosocial development. For instance, on average, girls are more likely than boys to feel guilt and shame—in part because they’re more willing to take personal responsibility for their misdeeds. Girls are also more likely to feel empathy for people in distress (Alessandri & Lewis, 1993; Lippa, 2002; A. J. Rose, 2002; Zahn‐Waxler & Robinson, 1995). Yet historically, researchers have disagreed about the extent to which girls and boys reason differently about situations involving moral issues. In his work with college students, Kohlberg found that males reasoned at a slightly more advanced level than females (Kohlberg & Kramer, 1969). In response, psychologist Carol Gilligan argued that Kohlberg’s stages don’t adequately describe female moral development (Gilligan, 1982, 1987; Gilligan & Attanucci, 1988). She suggested that Kohlberg’s stages reflect a justice orientation—an emphasis on fairness and equal rights—that characterizes males’ moral reasoning. In contrast, females are socialized to take a care orientation toward moral issues—that is, to focus on interpersonal relationships and take responsibility for others’ well‐being. To see how these two orientations might play out differently, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Consider the following scenario:
A group of industrious, prudent moles have spent the summer digging a burrow where they will spend the winter. A lazy, improvident porcupine who has not prepared a winter shelter approaches the moles and pleads to share their burrow. The moles take pity on the porcupine and agree to let him in. Unfortunately, the moles did not anticipate the problem the porcupine’s sharp quills would pose in close quarters. Once the porcupine has moved in, the moles are constantly being stabbed. (Meyers, 1987, p. 141, adapted from Gilligan, 1985)

What do you think the moles should do? Why? According to Gilligan, males are apt to view the problem as involving a violation of someone’s rights: The moles own the burrow and so can legitimately evict the porcupine. In contrast, females are more likely to show compassion, perhaps suggesting that the moles cover the porcupine with a blanket so that his quills won’t annoy anyone (Meyers, 1987). Gilligan raised a good point: Males and females are often socialized quite differently. Furthermore, by including compassion for other human beings as well as consideration for their rights, Gilligan broadened our conception of what morality is (L. J. Walker, 1995). But in fact, most research studies don’t find major gender differences in moral reasoning (Eisenberg, Martin, & Fabes, 1996; Nunner‐Winkler, 1984; L. J. Walker, 1991). And as Gilligan herself has acknowledged, males and females alike typically reveal concern for both justice and compassion in their reasoning (L. M. Brown, Tappan, & Gilligan, 1995; Gilligan & Attanucci, 1988; Turiel, 1998).

Chapter 4 describes many gender differences and their possible origins, including socialization practices.

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Moral and Prosocial Development Cultural and ethnic differences Virtually all cultures worldwide acknowledge the importance of both individual rights and fairness (reflecting a justice orientation) and compassion for others (reflecting a care orientation). However, different cultural groups tend to place greater emphasis on one than on the other (J. G. Miller, 2007; Snarey, 1995; Turiel, 2002). For instance, in much of North America, helping others (or not) is considered to be a voluntary choice, but in some societies (e.g., in many Asian and Arab countries) it is one’s duty to help people in need. Such a sense of duty, which is often coupled with strong ties to family and the community, can lead to considerable prosocial behavior (X. Chen et al., 2009; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Rubin, Cheah, & Menzer, 2010). Some diversity is also seen in the behaviors that cultural groups view as moral transgressions versus those they see as conventional transgressions (Nucci, 2001, 2009). For example, in mainstream Western culture, how one dresses is largely a matter of convention and personal choice. In some deeply religious groups, however, certain forms of dress (e.g., head coverings) are seen as moral imperatives. As another example, in mainstream Western culture, telling lies to avoid punishment for inappropriate behavior is considered morally wrong, but it’s a legitimate way of saving face in certain other cultures (Triandis, 1995). As teachers, then, we must remember that our students’ notions of morally appropriate and inappropriate behaviors may sometimes be quite different from our own. At the same time, of course, we must never accept behaviors that violate such basic principles as equality and respect for other people’s rights and well‐being.

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from diverse cultures may have different ideas about behaviors that are morally desirable (and in some cases mandatory) versus behaviors that are morally wrong. If necessary, explain to a student in private that some behaviors considered appropriate in his or her culture are unacceptable in your classroom because they infringe on other people’s rights and well‐being.

ENCOURAGING MORAL AND PROSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CLASSROOM
As teachers, we play an important role in helping children and adolescents acquire the beliefs, values, and behaviors critical to their effective participation in a democratic and compassionate society—a society in which everyone’s rights are respected and everyone’s needs are taken into consideration. Following are several general suggestions based on research findings. Encourage perspective taking, empathy, and prosocial behaviors. Systematic efforts to promote perspective taking, empathy, and such prosocial skills as cooperation and helping others do seem to enhance students’ moral and prosocial development (Nucci, 2009; Spinrad & Eisenberg, 2009; N. M. Webb & Palincsar, 1996). Perspective taking and empathy can and should be encouraged in the study of academic subject matter as well (Brophy, Alleman, & Knighton, 2009; Davison, 2011). For example, Figure 3.4 shows two writing samples created during history lessons about slavery in the pre‐Civil War United States. The reaction paper on the left was written by 10‐year‐old Charmaine, whose fifth‐grade class had been watching Roots, a miniseries about a young African man (Kunta Kinte) who is captured and brought to America as a slave. Charmaine acknowledges that she can’t fully grasp Kunta Kinte’s physical pain. Even so, she talks about his “pain” and “fright” and about his parents’ “hurt” at losing their firstborn son, and she is incensed by some colonists’ view of African women as little more than “beeby [baby] warmers.” The diary entries on the right were written by 14‐year‐old Craig, whose ninth‐grade history teacher asked his class to write journal entries that might capture the life of a Southern plantation owner. Notice that Craig tries to imagine someone else (a plantation owner) taking other people’s perspectives (those of slaves). Such two‐tiered perspective taking is similar to recursive thinking but in this case involves thinking “I think that you think that someone else thinks . . . .” Give reasons that some behaviors are unacceptable. Although it’s important to impose consequences for immoral and antisocial behaviors, punishment by itself often focuses children’s attention primarily on their own hurt and distress. To promote moral and prosocial development, we must accompany punishment with induction, focusing students’ attention on the hurt and distress their behaviors have caused others (Hoffman, 2000; Nucci, 2009; M. Watson, 2008). For example, we might describe how a behavior harms someone else either physically (“Having your hair pulled the way you just pulled Mai’s can really be painful”) or emotionally (“You hurt John’s feelings when you call him names like that”). We might also show students how they have caused someone else inconvenience (“Because you ruined Marie’s jacket, her parents are making her work around the house to earn the money for a new one”). Still another approach is to explain someone else’s perspective, intention, or motive (“This science project you’ve just ridiculed may not be as fancy as yours, but I know that Jacob spent many hours working on it and is quite proud of what he’s done”).

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 3.4 Two examples of perspective taking related to slavery in the pre‐Civil War United States
My Diary July 1, 1700 Dear Diary - Today was a scorcher. I could not stand it and I was not even working. The slaves looked so hot. I even felt for them. and it is affecting my tobacco. It’s too hot too early in the season. The tobacco plants are not growing quickly enough. I can only hope that it rains. Also today Robert Smith invited me to a ball at his house in two days. In 5 days I am going to have my masked ball. We mailed out the invitations two days ago. My wife, Beth, and I thought of a great idea of a masked ball. We will hire our own band. July 2, 1700 Dear Diary - It was another scorcher. I wish it would cool down. I don’t think the salves can handle it. It looked like some of them would faint. I had them drink more water. Later in the day a nice breeze came up. Then I gave them the rest of the day off. Also today we planned a trip to Richmond. . . . July 5, 1700 Dear Diary - Today we had to wake up before the sun had risen. After a breakfast of hot cakes, eggs, and sausage, we headed back home. We got there at the end of the morning. When I got back it was very, very hot. One of the slaves fainted so I gave him the rest of the day off, fearing revolt. I also gave them extra food and water. It makes me think that they are only people too. I know that this is unheard of but it really makes me think.

One behavior we must explicitly and consistently discourage is cheating in its various forms, whether it be submitting a research paper downloaded from the Internet (i.e., plagiarism), copying other students’ responses to quizzes or homework, or giving friends unfair advance notice of test questions. Sadly, students don’t always see cheating as being a violation of moral standards (L. H. Anderman, Freeman, & Mueller, 2007; Honz, Kiewra, & Yang, 2010). Perhaps they’re trying to help a friend, they say, or perhaps they see an assignment as being a waste of time or hopelessly beyond their ability levels. Not only does cheating hinder students’ classroom learning—students gain very little from copying other people’s work—but it is also dishonest and therefore immoral. Several strategies can potentially discourage cheating: Explain in clear, concrete terms what cheating is—for example, that it includes not only representing another person’s work as one’s own but also giving certain classmates an unfair advantage over others. Contrast cheating with legitimate collaboration, in which everyone learns something and the submitted work is honestly represented as a joint effort. Provide enough guidance and support that students can reasonably accomplish assigned tasks on their own. (L. H. Anderman et al., 2007; Honz et al., 2010; Lenski, Husemann, Trautwein, & Lüdtke, 2010) Expose students to numerous models of moral and prosocial behavior. Children and adolescents are more likely to exhibit moral and prosocial behavior when they see others (including their teachers!) behaving in moral rather than immoral ways. Powerful models of moral behavior can be found in literature as well—for instance, in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and in John Gunther’s Death Be Not Proud (Ellenwood & Ryan, 1991; Nucci, 2001).

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Moral and Prosocial Development Engage students in discussions of moral issues related to academic subject matter. Social and moral dilemmas often arise within the school curriculum. Consider the following questions that might emerge in discussions about academic topics: people? service learning Activity that

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promotes learning and development through contributing to the betterment of other people and the outside community.

Such dilemmas don’t always have clear‐cut right or wrong answers. As teachers, we can encourage student discussions of such issues in several ways: Create a trusting and nonthreatening classroom atmosphere in which students can express their beliefs without fear of censure or embarrassment. Help students identify all aspects of a dilemma, including the needs and perspectives of the various individuals involved. Encourage students to explore their reasons for thinking as they do—that is, to clarify and reflect on the moral principles on which they’re basing their judgments. (Reimer, Paolitto, & Hersh, 1983) Get students actively involved in community service. As we’ve seen, students are more likely to adhere to strong moral principles when they have high self‐efficacy for helping others and when they have integrated a commitment to moral ideals into their overall sense of identity. Such self‐perceptions don’t appear out of the blue, of course. Children are more likely to have high self‐efficacy for prosocial activities when they have the guidance and support they need to carry out the activities successfully. And they’re more likely to integrate moral and prosocial values into their overall sense of self when they become actively involved in service to others, ideally even before they reach puberty (Hastings et al., 2007; Nucci, 2001; Youniss & Yates, 1999). Through ongoing community service activities—sometimes collectively referred to as service learning—elementary and secondary students alike learn that they have the skills and the responsibility for helping people in dire straits and in other ways making the world a better place in which to live. In the process they also begin to think of themselves as concerned, compassionate, and moral citizens who have an obligation to help those less fortunate than themselves (J. P. Allen & Antonishak, 2008; Kahne & Sporte, 2008; Thorkildsen et al., 2008).

3 What Have You Learned?
We now return to the learning outcomes listed at the beginning of the chapter and identify key ideas related to each one. ■ 3.1: Describe the nature and origins of children’s temperaments and personality characteristics, and explain how you might adapt your classroom practices to students’ diverse personalities. Children exhibit distinct personalities—consistent ways of behaving across a wide range of situations—long before they begin school. To some degree their personalities reflect their temperaments—their genetic predispositions to be active or subdued, outgoing or shy, adventurous or fearful, and so on. Yet environmental factors affect personality as well: The quality of parent–child emotional bonds (reflecting attachment), the nature of caregivers’ parenting styles, and cultural norms and expectations all play roles in molding children’s characteristic ways of behaving. Students are most likely to thrive and succeed when there is a goodness of fit between students’ temperaments and personality traits, on the one hand, and classroom activities and assignments, on the other. For example, temperamentally quiet and self‐controlled students may do well with independent seatwork; more energetic students may be more productive during hands‐on activities; and students with poor impulse control may require greater‐than‐average guidance and supervision.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

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■ 3.2: Explain how students’ sense of self is apt to influence their behavior and how you can help students develop healthy self‐perceptions. As young people progress through childhood and adolescence, they construct and continually revise their sense of self—their perceptions, beliefs, judgments, and feelings about themselves. Children derive such self‐views not only from their own experiences (e.g., their successes and failures) but also from other people’s behaviors and from the achievements of social and ethnic groups to which they belong. As children reach adolescence, their sense of self increasingly incorporates abstract qualities and, eventually, a general sense

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CHAPTER either physical or psychological aggression toward certain peers, perhaps as a way of gaining prestige and status within their social group. As teachers, then, we may sometimes need to monitor and guide students’ interpersonal interactions; for example, we must explain that psychological bullying (e.g., posting defamatory material on the Internet) is as harmful and inappropriate as physical aggression. We should also take active steps to promote communication and interaction across individuals and groups with diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

of identity regarding who they are as people, what things they find important, and what goals they hope to accomplish. With adolescence, too, come heightened concern about other people’s opinions of oneself (the imaginary audience phenomenon) and an exaggerated belief in one’s uniqueness relative to others (the personal fable phenomenon). Perhaps as a result of the personal fable—but also as a result of incomplete brain maturation— many adolescents take foolish risks and engage in dangerous activities. As teachers, we must provide the support students need to be successful and give them feedback that engenders optimism about future accomplishments. And working either as individuals or as a team, we can offer and advocate for activities that channel teenagers’ desires for risk and social status into safe, productive behaviors.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 3.3: Apply your knowledge of peer relationships and social cognition in promoting productive social skills and addressing student aggression. Productive peer relationships (especially friendships) provide a testing ground for emerging social skills, offer emotional support in times of trouble or uncertainty, and, ideally, promote socially and culturally appropriate behaviors. In the middle school and high school years, many students become members of larger social groups (e.g., cliques, subcultures, or gangs) and form romantic relationships. Yet some students are consistently rejected or neglected by their classmates, and these students may especially need teachers’ friendship and support. Most children and adolescents actively try to make sense of their social world. With age, such social cognition becomes increasingly complex and insightful, allowing young people to interact effectively with adults and peers. But some students have trouble interpreting social cues correctly and may have few effective social skills. Furthermore, some students engage in

■ 3.4: Describe typical advancements in moral and prosocial development over the course of childhood and adolescence, and identify strategies for promoting moral and prosocial development in the classroom. As children move through the grade levels, most acquire an increasingly sophisticated sense of right and wrong. This developmental progression is the result of many things, including increasing capacities for abstract thought and empathy, an evolving appreciation for human rights and others’ welfare, and ongoing encounters with moral dilemmas and problems. Even at the high school level, however, students don’t always take the moral high road, as personal needs and self‐interests almost invariably enter into their moral decision making to some degree. As teachers, we can help students develop more advanced moral reasoning and increasingly prosocial behavior by giving them reasons why certain behaviors are unacceptable, encouraging them to recognize how others feel in various situations, exposing them to models of moral behavior, challenging their thinking with moral dilemmas, and providing opportunities for community service and other prosocial behavior.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
Observe this lesson firsthand in the video “Scarlet Letter.” Ms. Southam: The father of the baby . . . How do you know it’s Dimmesdale . . . the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale? . . . What are the clues in the text in Chapter 3? . . . Nicole? Nicole: He acts very withdrawn. He doesn’t even want to be involved with the situation. He wants the other guy to question her, because he doesn’t want to look her in the face and ask her to name him. Ms. Southam: OK. Anything else? . . . Student: The baby. Ms. Southam: What about the baby? Student: She starts to cry, and her eyes follow him. Ms. Southam: That is one of my absolutely favorite little Hawthornisms. Ms. Southam reads a paragraph about Dimmesdale and then asks students to jot down their thoughts about him. She walks around

The Scarlet Letter

Ms. Southam’s eleventh‐grade English class has been reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Set in seventeenth‐century Boston, the novel focuses largely on two characters who have been carrying on an illicit love affair: Hester Prynne, a young woman who has not seen or heard from her husband for the past two years, and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a pious and well‐respected local preacher. When Hester becomes pregnant, she is imprisoned for adultery and soon bears a child. The class is currently discussing Chapter 3, in which the governor and town leaders, including Dimmesdale, are urging Hester to name the baby’s father.

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Moral and Prosocial Development the room, monitoring what students are doing until they appear to have finished writing. Ms. Southam: What pictures do you have in your minds of this man . . . if you were directing a film of The Scarlet Letter? Mike: I don’t have a person in mind, just characteristics. About five‐foot‐ten, short, well‐groomed hair, well dressed. He looks really nervous and inexperienced. Guilty look on his face. Always nervous, shaking a lot. Ms. Southam: He’s got a guilty look on his face. His lips always trembling, always shaking. Mike: He’s very unsure about himself. Matt: Sweating really bad. Always going like this. [He shows how Dimmesdale might be wiping his forehead.] He does . . . he has his hanky . . . Ms. Southam: Actually, we don’t see him mopping his brow, but we do see him doing what? What’s the action? Do you remember? If you go to the text, he’s holding his hand over his heart, as though he’s somehow suffering some pain. Student: Wire‐framed glasses . . . I don’t know why. He’s like. . . . Mike: He’s kind of like a nerd‐type guy . . . short pants. Ms. Southam: But at the same time . . . I don’t know if it was somebody in this class or somebody in another class . . . He said, “Well, she was sure worth it.” Worth risking your immortal soul for, you know? . . . Obviously she’s sinned, but so has he, right? And if she was worth it, don’t we also have to see him as somehow having been worthy of her risking her soul for this?

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Student: Maybe he’s got a good personality . . . Ms. Southam: He apparently is, you know, a spellbinding preacher. He really can grab the crowd. Student: It’s his eyes. Yeah, the eyes. Ms. Southam: Those brown, melancholy eyes. Yeah, those brown, melancholy eyes. Absolutely.
1. Constructed‐response question:

In this classroom dialogue Ms. Southam and her students speculate about what the characters in the novel, especially Arthur Dimmesdale, might be thinking and feeling. In other words, they are engaging in social cognition. a. Identify two examples of student statements that show social cognition. b. For each example you identify, explain what it reveals about the speaker’s social cognition.
2. Multiple‐choice question:

Ms. Southam does several things that are apt to enhance students’ perspective‐taking ability. Which one of the following is the best example? a. She models enthusiasm for the novel (“That is one of my absolutely favorite little Hawthornisms”). b. She walks around the room as the students write down their thoughts about Dimmesdale. c. She points out that Dimmesdale is “holding his hand over his heart, as though he’s somehow suffering some pain.” d. She agrees with Mike’s description of Dimmesdale as having a guilty look on his face.

PRAXIS tions of this chapter that may be especially applicable to the Praxis tests.

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4

Group Differences

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
4.1: Describe frequently observed between‐group differences and within‐group variability for various cultural and ethnic groups; also describe the teacher attitudes and strategies that underlie culturally responsive teaching. Describe the nature and origins of typical gender differences in school‐age children and adolescents, and explain how you might best accommodate such differences in your classroom. 4.3: Identify challenges that students from low‐income families often face; also identify several strategies through which you can foster their resilience and help them be successful at school. Explain how you might recognize students who are at risk for academic failure and dropping out of school, and identify strategies for helping these students get on the path to academic and social success.

4.4:

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4.2:

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CA S E S T U DY: WHY JA C K WA S N ’ T I N SC H O O L
Jack was a Native American seventh grader who lived in the Navajo Nation in the American Southwest. Although he enjoyed school, worked hard in his studies, and got along well with his classmates, he had been absent from school all week. In fact, he had been absent from home as well, and his family (which didn’t have a telephone) wasn’t sure exactly where he was. Jack’s English teacher described the situation to Donna Deyhle, an educator who had known Jack for many years:
That seventh grader was away from home for 5 days, and his parents don’t care! . . . Almost one‐third of my Navajo students were absent this week. Their parents just don’t support their education. How can I teach when they are not in my classes? (Deyhle & LeCompte, 1999, p. 127)

A few days later, Jack’s sister explained why her parents had eventually begun to look for Jack:
He went to see [the film] Rambo II with friends and never came home. If he was in trouble we would know. But now the family needs him to herd sheep tomorrow. (Deyhle & LeCompte, 1999, p. 127)

It was spring—time for the family to plant crops and shear the sheep—and all family members needed to help out. Jack’s whereabouts were soon discovered, and the family stopped by Donna’s house to share the news:
Jack’s dad said, “We found him.” His mother turned in his direction and said teasingly, “Now maybe school will look easy!” Jack stayed at home for several days, helping with the irrigation of the corn field, before he decided to return to school. (Deyhle & LeCompte, 1999, p. 128)

did, concluding that “his parents don’t care” about his education? If so, how might your own cultural background have influenced your conclusion? achievement and general well‐being. What alternative explanations might account for their behaviors in this situation?

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To fully understand what transpired in Jack’s family, we need to know a couple of things about Navajo culture. First, Navajo people place high value on individual autonomy: Even children must be self‐sufficient and make their own decisions (Deyhle & LeCompte, 1999). From this perspective, good parenting doesn’t mean demanding that children do certain things or behave in certain ways; instead, Navajo parents offer suggestions and guidance, perhaps in the form of gentle teasing (“Now maybe school will look easy!”), that nudge children toward productive choices. But in addition to individual autonomy, Navajos value cooperation and interdependence, believing that community members should work together for the common good; hence Jack’s highest priority was helping his family. Such respect for both individual decision making and cooperative interdependence is seen in many other Native American communities as well (Chisholm, 1996; Manning & Baruth, 2009; Rogoff, 2003; Tyler et al., 2008). In this chapter we’ll look in depth at group differences—differences we’re apt to see on average among students of diverse cultural and ethnic groups, different genders, and different socioeconomic backgrounds. As we do so, we must keep in mind two very important points. First, a great deal of individual variability exists within any group. We’ll be examining research regarding how students of different groups behave on average, even though many students in

group differences
Consistently observed differences (on average) among diverse groups of students (e.g., students of different genders or ethnic backgrounds).

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CHAPTER

CH A PTER O U TL I N E
Cultural and Ethnic Differences
Navigating Different Cultures at Home and at School Examples of Cultural and Ethnic Diversity Creating a Culturally Inclusive Classroom Environment

FIGURE 4.1 Typical “difference” between boys and girls on tests of verbal ability
Proportion of People Getting Each Score Many People Boys’ Average Girls’ Average

Gender Differences
Research Findings Regarding Gender Differences Origins of Gender Differences Making Appropriate Accommodations for Gender Differences

Few People Low Scores Verbal Ability High Scores

Socioeconomic Differences
Challenges Associated with Poverty Fostering Resilience Working with Homeless Students

Students at Risk
Characteristics of Students at Risk Why Students Drop Out Supporting Students at Risk

Remember that despite average group differences, there is considerable variability within any group and considerable overlap between any two groups.

Chapter 11 describes and explains potential effects of teachers’ expectations on students’ achievement.

each group are not at all like those averages. Second, a great deal of overlap typically exists between two groups. Consider gender differences in verbal ability as an example. Many research studies have found girls to have slightly higher verbal ability than boys (Halpern & LaMay, 2000). The difference is often statistically significant—that is, it probably wasn’t a one‐time‐in‐a‐hundred fluke that happened simply by chance. Yet the average difference between girls and boys in overall verbal ability is quite small, with a great deal of overlap between the sexes. Figure 4.1 shows the typical overlap between girls and boys on general measures of verbal ability. Notice that some boys (those whose scores fall in the rightmost part of their curve) have higher verbal ability than most of their female peers despite the average advantage for girls. If we are to maximize the learning and development of all our students, we must be aware of group differences that may influence their classroom performance. Our challenge is to keep these differences in mind without either (1) imposing our own culturally based assumptions on what behaviors are “right” and “wrong” or (2) assuming that all members of a particular group fit typical group patterns. Our erroneous preconceptions about how various students will perform may actually increase differences among those students (de Boer, Bosker, & van der Werf, 2010; Rubie‐Davies, Hattie, & Hamilton, 2006; Sirin & Ryce, 2010; van den Bergh, Denessen, Hornstra, Voeten, & Holland, 2010).

Cultural and Ethnic Differences
The concept of culture encompasses the behaviors and belief systems that characterize a long‐standing social group. The culture in which we live influences the perspectives and values we acquire, the skills we find important and master, and the adult roles to which we aspire. It also guides the development of our language and communication skills, our expression and regulation of emotions, and our formation of a sense of self. Sometimes we use the word culture to refer to behaviors and beliefs that are widely shared over a large geographic area. For example, mainstream Western culture encompasses behaviors, beliefs, and values shared by many people in North America and western Europe. Members of this culture generally value self‐reliance, academic achievement, democratic decision making, and respect for other individuals’ rights and possessions, among other things. However, any single country in North America or western Europe—in fact, almost every country on the planet—encompasses considerable cultural diversity within its borders. Some of this within‐country diversity is the result of growing up in particular geographic regions, religious groups, or socioeconomic circumstances (A. B. Cohen, 2009; Payne, 2005). In addition, most countries include citizens from a variety of ethnic groups. In general, an ethnic group is a group of individuals with a common culture and the following characteristics:

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it resides. It may be comprised of people of the same race, national origin, or religious background. twined. (NCSS Task Force on Ethnic Studies Curriculum Guidelines, 1992) Cultures aren’t static entities. Instead, they continue to change over time as they incorporate new ideas, innovations, and ways of thinking, particularly as they interact with other cultures (Kitayama, Duffy, & Uchida, 2007; O. Lee, 1999; Rogoff, 2003). Furthermore, there’s considerable variation in attitudes and behaviors within a particular culture; individual members may adopt some cultural values and practices but reject others (Goodnow, 2010; Markus & Hamedani, 2007). When people come into contact with a culture very different from their own (e.g., through immigration to a new country), many of them—especially children— gradually undergo acculturation, adopting some of the new culture’s values and customs. Some acculturation is critical for success in the new cultural environment, but rapid acculturation can be detrimental to children’s social and emotional well‐being. In most instances, children’s own cultural groups give them a support network and stable set of values that enable them to do well in school and maintain their self‐ esteem in the face of discrimination and other challenges (Deyhle, 2008; Matute‐ Considerable diversity exists in any culture. Bianchi, 2008; Sam & Berry, 2010). For example, 7‐year‐old Emma’s family makes In general, we can get the best sense of students’ cultural backgrounds and gingerbread houses during the holiday season, ethnic‐group memberships by learning the extent to which they have participated and but many others in her culture do not. continue to participate in various cultural and ethnic‐group activities (Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003). For example, some Mexican American students live in small, close‐ knit communities where Spanish is spoken and traditional Mexican practices and beliefs permeate everyday life, but others live in more culturally heterogeneous communities in which Mexican traditions may be cast aside to make time for mainstream American activities. And in some instances students may participate actively in two or more cultures, perhaps because they have immigrated from one country to another or perhaps because their parents come from distinctly different ethnic or racial backgrounds (Herman, 2004; A. M. Lopez, 2003; Mohan, 2009). In Keep in mind that some general, membership in a particular cultural or ethnic group is a more‐or‐less phenomenon rather than students may have multiple an either‐or situation. In this age of increasing cross‐cultural interaction, many students cannot cultural affiliations. easily be pigeonholed.

NAVIGATING DIFFERENT CULTURES AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL
When they first begin school, many children experience some culture shock—some confusion about the behaviors expected of them in this new setting. Culture shock is more intense for some students than for others. Most schools in North America and western Europe embrace the norms and values of mainstream Western culture, and so students with this cultural background often adjust quickly to classroom practices. In contrast, students who come from cultural groups with radically different norms and values may experience a cultural mismatch between home and school. In particular, they may find school an unsettling place in which they don’t know what to expect from others or what behaviors other people expect of them. Significant differences between home and school cultures can interfere with students’ adjustment to the school setting and ultimately with their academic achievement as well (Phalet, Andriessen, & Lens, 2004; Phelan, Yu, & Davidson, 1994; Tyler et al., 2008; Ward, Bochner, & Furnham, 2001). Cultural mismatch is compounded when teachers misinterpret the behaviors of students from cultural and ethnic minority groups. The following exercise provides an example.

culture Behaviors and belief systems of a long‐standing social group.

ethnic group People who have common historical roots, values, beliefs, and behaviors and who share a sense of interdependence.

acculturation adopting the values and customs of a new culture.

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EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Imagine that, as a new teacher, you’re approaching the school building on the first day of school. You see seven or eight boys standing in a cluster just outside the front door. Two of them are

cultural mismatch Situation in which a child’s home culture and the school culture hold conflicting expectations for behavior.

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CHAPTER engaged in a heated argument, and the others are watching and listening with apparent delight. Here are just a few of the many insults you hear being hurled back and forth: “Your momma so fat her driver’s license says, ‘Picture continued on other side’!” “Yeah? Well, your momma so fat she got to iron her pants on the driveway!” “That ain’t nothin’. Your momma so fat her cereal bowl comes with a lifeguard!” “Hey, man, your momma so fat she got smaller fat women orbitin’ around her!” The argument seems to be escalating, with the insults about the two boys’ mothers becoming more and more outrageous. Should you intervene?

The incident you’ve just witnessed is probably an example of “sounding” or “playing the dozens,” a friendly exchange of insults common among male youth in some African American communities. Some boys engage in such exchanges to achieve status among their peers—those who concoct the biggest, most creative insults are the winners—whereas others do it simply for amusement. But people unfamiliar with African American culture might misinterpret them as being potentially serious and worrisome (Adger, Wolfram, & Christian, 2007; R. E. Reynolds, Taylor, Steffensen, Shirey, & Anderson, 1982; Smitherman, 1998). As students gain experience with the culture of their school, they become increasingly aware of their teachers’ and peers’ expectations for behavior and ways of thinking, and many eventually become adept at switching their cultural vantage point as they move from home to school and back again (Y. Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet‐Martínez, 2000; LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993; Matute‐Bianchi, 2008). One Mexican American student’s recollection provides an example:
At home with my parents and grandparents the only acceptable language was Spanish; actually that’s all they really understood. Everything was really Mexican, but at the same time they wanted me to speak good English. . . . But at school, I felt really different because everyone was American, including me. Then I would go home in the afternoon and be Mexican again. (Padilla, 1994, p. 30)

Not all students make an easy adjustment, however. Some students actively resist adapting to the school culture, perhaps because they view it as conflicting with their own cultural background and identity (Cross, Strauss, & Fhagen‐Smith, 1999; Gay, 2010; Irving & Hudley, 2008; Phelan et al., 1994). Still others try desperately to fit in at school yet find the inconsistencies between home and school difficult to resolve, as illustrated by this report from a teacher whose students included immigrant Muslim children from Pakistan and Afghanistan:
During the days of preparation for Ramadan Feast, the children fasted with the adults. . . . They had breakfast [before dawn] and then went back to sleep until it was time to get themselves ready for school. In school they refrained from food or drink—even a drop of water—until sunset. By noon, especially on warm days, they were a bit listless. . . . They spoke about their obligation to pray five times daily. In their writing they expressed the conflict within: I always think about my country. I think about going there one day, seeing it and practicing my religion with no problems. . . . Before sunrise, I can pray with my family. But at school we can’t say to my teacher, “Please, teacher, I need to pray.” (Igoa, 1995, p. 135)

As teachers, we must learn as much as we can about the ways in which students from various cultural and ethnic groups are apt to be different from one another and from ourselves. Equipped with such knowledge, we can make reasonable accommodations to help students from all backgrounds adjust to and thrive in our classrooms.

EXAMPLES OF CULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY
Tremendous cultural variation exists within African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, and European American groups. Thus, we must be careful not to form stereotypes about any group. At the same time, knowledge of frequently observed cultural differences, such as those described in the following sections, can sometimes help us better understand why students behave as they do.
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LANGUAGE AND DIALECT One obvious cultural difference is language. But even if children speak English at home, they may use a form of English different from the Standard English typically used at school. More specifically, they may speak in a different dialect, a form of a particular language that includes some unique pronunciations, idioms, and grammatical structures. Dialects tend to be associated either with particular geographical regions or with particular ethnic and cultural groups. Perhaps the most widely studied ethnic dialect is African American English (you may also see the terms Black English Vernacular and Ebonics). This dialect—which is illustrated in the earlier “Argument” exercise and is actually a group of dialects that vary somewhat from place to place— is characterized by certain ways of speaking that are distinctly different from those of Standard English (e.g., “He got ten dollar,” “Momma she mad,” “He be talkin’ ”) (Hulit & Howard, 2006, p. 346; Owens, 1995, p. A‐8). At one time, many researchers believed that an African American dialect represented a less complex form of speech than Standard English and thus urged educators to teach students to speak “properly” as quickly as possible. But most researchers now realize that African American dialects are, in fact, very complex languages with predictable sentence structures and that these dialects promote communication and sophisticated thinking processes as readily as Standard English (Alim & Baugh, 2007; Fairchild & Edwards‐Evans, 1990; Hulit & Howard, 2006; Spears, 2007). Many children and adolescents view their native dialect as an integral part of their ethnic identity. Furthermore, when a particular dialect is the language preferred by local community members, it’s often the means through which people can most effectively connect with one another in face‐to‐face interactions and text messaging (Godley & Escher, 2011; Ogbu, 2003; D. Paris & Kirkland, 2011). Nevertheless, lack of proficiency in Standard English can impede children’s reading and writing development, and in later years, their use of a distinct regional or cultural dialect may lead other people to underestimate or discredit their abilities. For such reasons, many experts recommend that all students in English‐speaking countries develop proficiency in Standard English. Ultimately, children and adolescents function most effectively when they can use both their local dialect and Standard English in appropriate settings. For example, although we may wish to encourage Standard English in most written work or in formal oral presentations, we might find other dialects quite appropriate in creative writing or informal classroom discussions (Adger et al., 2007; DeBose, 2007; Ogbu, 1999, 2003; Smitherman, 1994). TALKATIVENESS AND VERBAL ASSERTIVENESS Relatively speaking, mainstream Western culture is a chatty one. People often say things to one another even when they have little to communicate, making small talk as a way of maintaining interpersonal relationships (Gay, 2010; Trawick‐Smith, 2003). In some African American communities as well, people talk a lot, often with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm (Gay, 2006; Tyler et al., 2008). In certain other cultures, however, silence is golden (Norenzayan, Choi, & Peng, 2007; Trawick‐Smith, 2003). For example, many people from Southeast Asian countries believe that effective learning is best accomplished through attentive listening rather than through speaking (J. Li, 2005; J. Li & Fischer, 2004; Volet, 1999). Some talkative cultures are also assertive ones, in that people readily voice their opinions, perhaps interrupting those who are speaking; for example, this is the case for many African Americans, European Americans, and Hawaiians. People from quieter cultures, such as many Asian Americans, tend to be more subtle and tentative in expressing their opinions—for instance, they might begin a sentence by saying “I’m not sure, but perhaps . . . ”—and they aren’t as likely to reveal their emotions during conversations (Gay, 2010; Morelli & Rothbaum, 2007; Tyler et al., 2008; Ward et al., 2001). In addition, different cultural and ethnic groups have diverse views about how assertive children should be with adults. In mainstream Western culture a common expectation is that children will speak up whenever they have comments or questions. Yet in many parts of the world, children are expected to learn primarily by close, quiet observation of adults, rather than by asking questions or otherwise interrupting what adults are doing (Correa‐Chávez, Rogoff, & Mejía Arauz, 2005; Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003; Kağitçibaşi, 2007). And in some cultures—for instance, in many Mexican American and Southeast Asian communities and in some African
Standard English Form of English generally considered acceptable at school, as reflected in textbooks and grammar instruction. dialect Form of a language that has certain unique pronunciations, idioms, and grammatical structures and is characteristic of a particular region or ethnic group. African American English some African American communities that includes some pronunciations, idioms, and grammatical constructions different from those of Standard English.

Encourage students to use both Standard English and their local dialect, each in appropriate settings.

Chapter 11 looks more closely at cultural differences in emotional expressiveness.

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Keep in mind that some students have been taught that initiating a conversation with an adult is disrespectful.

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CHAPTER American communities—children learn very early that they should engage in conversation with adults only when their participation has been directly solicited (Delgado‐Gaitan, 1994; C. A. Grant & Gomez, 2001; Ochs, 1982). EYE CONTACT For many of us, looking someone in the eye is a way to show that we’re trying to communicate or are listening intently to what the person is saying. But in many Native American, African American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican communities, a child who looks an adult in the eye is showing disrespect. In these communities children are taught to look down in the presence of adults ( Jiang, 2010; McCarthy, Lee, Itakura, & Muir, 2006; Tyler et al., 2008). The following anecdote shows how a teacher’s recognition of children’s beliefs about eye contact can make a difference:

In some cultures, including many Native American communities, children are taught to look down as a sign of respect for an adult who speaks to them.

only indicator that students are paying attention.

A teacher [described a Native American] student who would never say a word, nor even answer when she greeted him. Then one day when he came in she looked in the other direction and said, “Hello, Jimmy.” He answered enthusiastically, “Why hello Miss Jacobs.” She found that he would always talk if she looked at a book or at the wall, but when she looked at him, he appeared frightened. (Gilliland, 1988, p. 26)

PERSONAL SPACE In some cultures, such as those of some African American and Hispanic communities, people stand close together when they talk, and they may touch one another frequently. In contrast, European Americans and East Asians tend to keep a fair distance from one another, maintaining some personal space, especially if they don’t know each other very well (Slonim, 1991; Trawick‐ Smith, 2003; Ward et al., 2001). As teachers, we must be sensitive to the personal space that students from various cultural backgrounds need in order to feel comfortable in interactions with us and with classmates. RESPONDING TO QUESTIONS A common interaction pattern in many Western classrooms is the IRE cycle: A teacher initiates an interaction by asking a question, a student responds to the question, and the teacher evaluates the response (Mehan, 1979). Similar interactions are often found in parent–child interactions in middle‐income European American homes. For instance, when my own children were toddlers and preschoolers, I often asked them questions such as “How old are you?” and “What does a cow say?” and praised them when they answered correctly. But children reared in other cultural groups aren’t necessarily familiar with such question‐and‐answer sessions when they first come to school. Furthermore, some children may be quite puzzled when a teacher asks questions to which he or she already knows the answer (Adger et al., 2007; Crago, Annahatak, & Ningiuruvik, 1993; Heath, 1989; Rogoff, 2003, 2007). And children in some communities are specifically taught not to answer questions from strangers about personal and home life—questions such as “What’s your name?” and “Where do you live?” (Heath, 1982, 1989). The issue, then, isn’t that children are unaccustomed to questions; rather, it’s that they have little experience with certain kinds of questions, as one child’s mother explains:
Miss Davis, she complain ’bout Ned not answerin’ back. He says she asks dumb questions she already know about. (Heath, 1982, p. 107)

Meanwhile, teachers may misinterpret the children’s silence, as this teacher does: personal space Personally or culturally preferred distance between people during social interaction.

IRE cycle Adult–child interaction marked by adult initiation (usually involving a question), child response, and adult evaluation.

The simplest questions are the ones they can’t answer in the classroom; yet on the playground, they can explain a rule for a ballgame or describe a particular kind of bait with no problem. Therefore, I know they can’t be as dumb as they seem in my class. (Heath, 1983, p. 269)

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Cultural differences have also been observed in how long people wait before answering another person’s question. People from some cultures use lengthy pauses before

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97 responding as a way of indicating respect, as this statement by a Northern Cheyenne individual illustrates:
Even if I had a quick answer to your question, I would never answer immediately. That would be saying that your question was not worth thinking about. (Gilliland, 1988, p. 27) wait time Length of time a teacher pauses, either after asking a question or hearing a student’s comment, before saying something. Increase wait time as a means of encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to participate in discussions.

When teachers expect immediate answers to their questions—with a delay of, say, a second or less—students from these cultures may not have the time they need to show respect as they respond. Such students are more likely to participate in class and answer questions when their teacher provides a more extended wait time—that is, when several seconds of silence can elapse after the teacher’s question or another student’s comment (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Mohatt & Erickson, 1981; Tharp, 1989). PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE PERFORMANCE In many classrooms learning is a very public enterprise. Individual students are often expected to answer questions or demonstrate skills in full view of their classmates, and they’re encouraged to ask questions themselves when they don’t understand. Such practices, which many teachers take for granted, may confuse or even alienate the students of some ethnic groups (Eriks‐Brophy & Crago, 1994; García, 1994; Lomawaima, 1995). For example, many Native American children are accustomed to practicing a skill privately at first, performing in front of a group only after they’ve attained a reasonable level of mastery (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Suina & Smolkin, 1994). And children in some Native American and Hawaiian communities may feel more comfortable responding to questions as a group rather than interacting with adults one on one (K. H. Au, 1980; L. S. Miller, 1995). VIEWS ABOUT TEASING Although people in some cultures think of teasing as mean spirited, it’s a common form of social interaction in certain other cultures. For example, in the earlier “Argument” exercise, two African American boys engaged in playful one‐upmanship, flinging increasingly outlandish insults at each other. And in the opening case study, Jack’s mother teased him by suggesting that “Now maybe school will look easy!” When taken in the right spirit, teasing serves a variety of functions for particular cultural groups—perhaps providing a source of amusement and an outlet for verbal creativity, exerting gentle pressure to engage in more productive behavior, or helping children learn how to take criticism in stride (Adger et al., 2007; P. M. Cole, Tamang, & Which one of Shrestha, 2006; Rogoff, 2003). COOPERATION VERSUS COMPETITION In a traditional Western classroom, students are rewarded when, as individuals, they achieve at high levels. In some cases—for example, when teachers grade on a curve or post “best” papers on a bulletin board—students must actually compete with one another in order to be successful. Yet in some cultures—including many Native American, Mexican American, African, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Island communities—group achievement is valued over individual success. Students from these cultures are often more accustomed to working cooperatively and for the benefit of the community, rather than for themselves (X. Chen, Chung, & Hsiao, 2009; Lomawaima, 1995; Mejía‐Arauz, Rogoff, Dexter, & Najafi, 2007; Tyler et al., 2008). Such a cooperative spirit is epitomized by the Zulu word ubuntu, which reflects the belief that people become fully human largely through caring relationships with others and regular contributions to the common good. these shapes is a circle?

Increasing teacher wait time also enhances thinking and learning, as you’ll discover in Chapter 6.

Remember that some students feel more comfortable practicing new skills in private.

Boy, this teacher must really be dumb not to know THAT !

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Teachers often ask students questions for which they themselves already know the answers, but not all children are familiar with this strategy—known as an IRE cycle—for assessing students’ knowledge.

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CHAPTER Students from cooperative cultures may resist when asked to compete against their classmates, as 16‐year‐old Maria explains:
I love sports, but not competitive sports. [My brother is] the same way. I think we learned that from our folks. They both try to set things up so that everyone wins in our family and no one is competing for anything. (Pipher, 1994, p. 280)

cooperative activities, especially when students’ cultures place high value on cooperation.

Students may also be confused when teachers scold them for helping one another on assignments or for sharing answers, and they may feel uncomfortable when their individual achievements are publicly acknowledged. Group work, with an emphasis on cooperation rather than competition, often facilitates the school achievement of these students (Deyhle & Margonis, 1995; Lipka, 1998; L. S. Miller, 1995; Rogoff, 2003). FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND EXPECTATIONS In some groups—for example, in many Hispanic, Native American, Arab American, and Asian groups, as well as in some rural European American communities—family bonds and relationships are especially important, and extended family members often live nearby. Students growing up in these cultures are likely to feel responsibility for their family’s well‐being, to have a strong sense of loyalty to other family members, and to go to great lengths to please their elders. It isn’t unusual for students in such communities to leave school when their help is needed at home, as Jack does in the opening case study (Banks & Banks, 1995; Fuligni, 1998; Kağitçibaşi, 2007; McIntyre, 2010). In most cultures school achievement is highly valued, and parents encourage their children to do well in school (Monzó, 2010; R. R. Pearce, 2006; Spera, 2005). But some cultural groups place even higher priority on other accomplishments. For example, when preparing young children for school, many Hispanic families place particular emphasis on instilling appropriate social behaviors—for instance, showing respect for adults and cooperating with peers (Greenfield et al., 2006; Tyler et al., 2008). And in some cultural groups, an early pregnancy is a cause for joy even if the mother‐to‐be hasn’t yet completed high school (Deyhle & Margonis, 1995; Stack & Burton, 1993). We must certainly be sensitive to situations in which the achievements that we think are important are seemingly not valued by students’ families. Whenever possible, we must show our students how the school curriculum and classroom activities relate to their cultural environment and their own life goals (Brayboy & Searle, 2007; Lipman, 1995; Moje & Hinchman, 2004). We must also maintain open lines of communication with students’ parents. Because some parents of minority‐group children feel intimidated by school personnel, teachers often need to take the first step in establishing productive parent–teacher relationships. When teachers and parents realize that both groups want students to succeed in the classroom, they’re more apt to work cooperatively to promote student achievement (Banks & Banks, 1995; Edwards & Turner, 2010; Reschly & Christenson, 2009). CONCEPTIONS OF TIME Many people regulate their lives by the clock: Being on time to appointments, social engagements, and the dinner table is important. This emphasis on punctuality isn’t characteristic of all cultures, however. For example, many Hispanic and Native American groups don’t observe strict schedules and timelines (Tyler et al., 2008; Ward et al., 2001). Not surprisingly, children from these communities may sometimes be late for school and may have trouble understanding the need to complete school tasks within a certain time frame. To succeed in mainstream Western society, students eventually need to learn punctuality. At the same time we must recognize that not all students will be especially concerned about clock time when they first enter our classrooms. Certainly we should expect students to come to class on time and to turn in assignments when they’re due. But we must be patient and understanding when, for cultural reasons, students don’t develop such habits immediately. WORLDVIEWS The cultural and ethnic differences identified so far reveal themselves, in one way or another, in students’ behaviors. Yet the definition of culture presented early in the chapter includes the behaviors and belief systems that characterize a social group. Our general beliefs and assumptions
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Relate the school curriculum to students’ home environments and cultures. Establish and maintain open lines of communication with parents, and work with them to identify ways in which home and school can collaborate in helping students be successful at school. Chapter 13 identifies many strategies for working effectively with parents.

Encourage punctuality, but be patient if students’ cultural backgrounds have placed little emphasis on clock time.

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99 about the world—collectively known as our worldview—are often so integral to our everyday thinking that we take them for granted and aren’t consciously aware of them (Koltko‐Rivera, 2004; Losh, 2003). Some beliefs that permeate the curriculum in traditional Western schools aren’t universally shared, however. Consider the following examples: uted the hurricane to natural causes, but some children from minority‐group backgrounds had heard explanations elsewhere that led them to believe that people’s actions or supernatural forces also played a role in the hurricane’s origins and destructiveness (O. Lee, 1999). tionally high achievement scores in science, but by eighth grade their scores may decline considerably. Menominee culture encourages children to think about the many ways in which they are a part of nature, rather than taking care of or dominating it, and children increasingly find the school science curriculum at odds with this view (Atran, Medin, & Ross, 2005; Medin, 2005). inappropriateness of prayer in public schools, some view the trend away from prayer as a sign of progress toward greater religious freedom. But others—those from deeply religious Christian families, for instance—view the same trend as a decline that reflects abandonment of the country’s religious heritage (Mosborg, 2002). As you can see, then, students’ worldviews are likely to influence their interpretations of current events and classroom subject matter (Kağitçibaşi, 2007; Keil & Newman, 2008). worldview set of assumptions about reality that influence understandings of a wide variety of phenomena.

Consider how students’ diverse worldviews might influence their interpretations of classroom subject matter.

CREATING A CULTURALLY INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Clearly, we must be aware of and responsive to the different ways in which students of various cultural and ethnic groups are likely to think and act. It’s equally important that we help our students develop such awareness and responsiveness, enabling them to become productive members both of the school community and of our increasingly multicultural society. Following are several suggestions. Come to grips with your own cultural lens and biases. In the opening case study Jack’s English teacher complained that “his parents don’t care” and that, in general, the parents of Navajo students “just don’t support their [children’s] education” (Deyhle & LeCompte, 1999, p. 127). This teacher was looking at parents’ behaviors from the perspective of a non‐Navajo. The assumptions and worldviews we’ve acquired in our own culture—for instance, the assumption that good parents actively direct and control their children’s behaviors—are often so pervasive in our lives that we tend to treat them as common sense, or even as facts, rather than as the beliefs they really are. These beliefs become a cultural lens through which we view events—a lens that may lead us to perceive other cultures’ practices as somehow irrational and inferior to our own. Teachers who work effectively with students from diverse backgrounds are keenly aware that their own cultural beliefs are just that—beliefs. And they make a concerted effort not to pass judgment on cultural practices and beliefs very different from their own, but rather to try to understand why people of other cultural groups think and act as they do (Banks et al., 2005; Rogoff, 2003). Educate yourself about your students’ cultural backgrounds. One way to do this, of course, is to read as much as possible about various cultural groups. But in addition, effective teachers immerse themselves in students’ daily lives and cultures—talking with students about their outside interests and activities, getting to know students’ families, patronizing local businesses, and so on (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Ladson‐Billings, 1995a; Moje & Hinchman, 2004). Only when we immerse ourselves in a very different cultural environment can we truly begin to understand how we, too, are products of our own cultures and to appreciate the potential benefits of growing up in a very different one (Banks et al., 2005; Rogoff, 2003). Be sensitive to the culture shock that recent immigrants may be experiencing. In recent years, immigration has become a highly politicized topic in the United States and elsewhere. Whatever

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CHAPTER our own political views might be on the topic, we must realize that all children deserve our guidance and support in their efforts to acquire the knowledge and skills they will need to be successful in the adult world. For recent immigrants, such guidance and support might include not only extra academic assistance, but also explicit instruction in the typical practices and customs—“how things are done”—of their new culture (Vang, 2010; Ward et al., 2001). Also, some students may require accommodations for their religious beliefs; for instance, we might discreetly give devout Muslim students a private place for their early afternoon prayer, and we might excuse them from vigorous physical exercise when they’re fasting during Ramadan (Sirin & Ryce, 2010). Incorporate the perspectives and traditions of many cultures into the curriculum. True multicultural education isn’t limited to cooking ethnic foods, celebrating Cinco de Mayo, or

multicultural education Instruction that integrates throughout the curriculum the perspectives and experiences of numerous cultural groups.

culturally responsive teaching of instructional strategies that build on students’ existing knowledge and skills and are consistent with their culturally preferred ways of learning and behaving.

American history classes have traditionally presented only a European American view of historical events. Watch “Self‐Concept Challenge” and “Genocide Impact.”

Look for commonalities as well as differences among people from different cultural backgrounds.

Stress that people from diverse cultures can all benefit from considering one another’s perspectives.

studying famous African Americans during Black History Month. Rather, it integrates throughout the curriculum the perspectives and experiences of numerous cultural groups and gives all students reason for pride in their own cultural heritage. Students from diverse backgrounds are more likely to be motivated to do well in school—and to actually do well there—when they perceive the school curriculum and classroom activities to be relevant to their own cultures (Brayboy & Searle, 2007; Gay, 2010; Moje & Hinchman, 2004; Tyler et al., 2008). As teachers we can incorporate content from diverse cultures into many aspects of the school curriculum. Following are examples: In language arts, study the work of authors and poets from a variety of ethnic groups (e.g., study the lyrics of popular hip‐hop songs). In math and science, draw on students’ experiences with their community’s building, hunting, farming, and cooking practices. In social studies, look at different religious beliefs and their effects on people’s behaviors (e.g., see Figure 4.2). In history, look at wars and other major events from diverse perspectives (e.g., the Native American perspective on European settlers’ westward migration, the Spanish perspective on the Spanish–American War, the Japanese perspective on World War II). In both history and current events, consider such issues as discrimination and oppression. ( J. M. Hughes, Bigler, & Levy, 2007; J. Kim, 2011; Lipka, Yanez, Andrew‐Ihrke, & Adam, 2009; McIntyre, 2010; NCSS Task Force on Ethnic Studies Curriculum Guidelines, 1992; K. Schultz, Buck, & Niesz, 2000) In our exploration of diverse cultures, we should look for commonalities as well as differences. For example, in the elementary grades we might study how people in various countries celebrate children’s birthdays. In the secondary grades it can be beneficial to explore issues that adolescents of all cultures face: gaining the respect of elders, forming trusting relationships with peers, and finding a meaningful place in society. One important goal of multicultural education should be to communicate that, underneath it all, people are more alike than different (Brophy, Alleman, & Knighton, 2009; Ulichny, 1996). Students should be encouraged to contribute to the multicultural curriculum—for example, by bringing in photographs and favorite foods from home and by expressing their varying experiences and perspectives without fear of ridicule or censure (Gollnick & Chinn, 2009; Jiang, 2010). Ultimately, we should help students realize that diverse cultural groups have much to learn from one another. As an example, students might be surprised to discover that several practices underlying many democratic governments—such as sending delegates to represent particular groups, allowing only one person in a governing council to speak at a time, and keeping government and military bodies separate—were adopted from Native American practices in the 1700s (Rogoff, 2003; Weatherford, 1988). Build on students’ strengths, and adapt instructional methods to their preferred ways of learning and behaving. Classroom strategies that build on students’ existing knowledge, skills, and accustomed ways of learning and behaving are collectively known as culturally responsive teaching. For example, if students regularly collaborate with others at home and in the community, we should make frequent use of cooperative group activities (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Ladson‐Billings, 1995a). If, in their informal interactions with peers, students are accustomed to talking simultaneously and elaborating on one another’s ideas, we might ask them to answer

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101 questions in chorus rather than as individuals (K. H. Au, 1980). And if students’ home environments are high‐energy ones in which several activities often take place simultaneously—as is sometimes true in African American and Hispanic families—we might create a similarly high‐ energy, multiactivity classroom environment (Tyler et al., 2008). Work hard to break down students’ stereotypes of particular ethnic groups. Although we and our students should certainly be aware of real differences among various ethnic groups, it’s counterproductive to hold a stereotype—a rigid, simplistic, and inevitably inaccurate caricature—of any particular group. Even the most open‐minded of us are sometimes prone to holding ethnic stereotypes, as you might discover in the following exercise. stereotype Rigid, simplistic, and erroneous view of a particular group of people.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Form a picture in your mind of someone from each of the following three places. Make note of the first image that comes to mind in each case: The Netherlands (Holland) Mexico Hawaii Now answer yes or no to each of these questions:

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If you answered yes to any of the three questions, then one or more of your images reflected an ethnic stereotype. Most people in the Netherlands, Mexico, and Hawaii don’t routinely wear such stereotypical attire. In the preceding exercise, your stereotypes involved only superficial qualities. Yet people’s stereotypes can also include notions about typical personality characteristics and behaviors. Some stereotypes—for instance, perceptions of a certain group as being “stupid,” “lazy,” or “aggressive”— are derogatory and certainly not conducive to productive cross‐group interactions. Shinto gods are called Kami. It is believed that these spirits are found in the basic forces of fire, wind, and water. Researchers have identified several possible origins Most influence agriculture and this of course was how the of counterproductive stereotypes. In some instances family earliest people survived. They relied on what they grew to members, friends, or popular media communicate stereolive. So the gods had to help them grow their crops or they types through prejudicial remarks, practices, and caricatures died. It seems natural for people to worship things that will (Branch, 1999; Nesdale, Maass, Durkin, & Griffiths, 2005; help them survive, and worshiping forces that affect what you grow was the common practice in early history. These Theobald & Herley, 2009). In other cases a history of conbasic forces even affect the survival of modern people. We flict and animosity between two groups may lead children to all still need agriculture to live and forces of nature really conclude that people in the opposing group have undesirable determine whether crops grow or not. qualities (Pitner, Astor, Benbenishty, Haj‐Yahia, & Zeira, Shintoists never developed strong doctrines, such as the 2003). Occasionally, stereotypes appear in curriculum matebelief in life after death that many other religions have. However they have developed some moral standards such rials and classroom instruction—as happens, for instance, as devotion, sincerity, and purity. . . . when American children role‐play the first Thanksgiving by All Shintoists have a very good and simple set of rules dressing up in paper‐bag “animal skins,” painting their faces, or practice. They want to be honorable, have feelings for and wearing feathers on their heads (Bigler & Liben, 2007; others, support the government, and keep their families safe Brayboy & Searle, 2007). And sometimes students simply and healthy. I think these are good principles for all people, whether they practice a religion or not. . . . have little or no knowledge about a cultural group very different from their own. For example, when a Muslim girl wears a head scarf to school, a thoughtless classmate might ask, “Are you bald? Is there something wrong with your FIGURE 4.2 In this paper for her language arts and social hair?” (McBrien, 2005a, p. 86; Sirin & Ryce, 2010). studies classes, 13‐year‐old Melinda explains what she has At a minimum, unflattering stereotypes lead to mislearned about Japan’s Shinto religion and how in some understandings among members of diverse cultural groups. ways it relates to her own life. When left uncorrected, they can also lead to overtly

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CHAPTER discriminatory and malicious behaviors—ethnic jokes, racial taunts, social exclusion, and so on (Killen, 2007; Pfeifer, Brown, & Juvonen, 2007). Students who are frequent victims of others’ misunderstandings and prejudice are more likely than their peers to become chronically ill or depressed (Allison, 1998; G. H. Brody et al., 2006; Tatum, 1997). Negative stereotypes can also turn inward in a phenomenon known as stereotype threat: Students become overly anxious in domains in which their group stereotypically does poorly and, as a result, perform more poorly than they otherwise would (J. Aronson & Steele, 2005; Walton & Spencer, 2009). As teachers, we must work hard to correct students’ inaccurate and demeaning stereotypes of various cultural and ethnic groups, and we must vigorously address any acts of prejudice and discrimination we witness in the classroom and elsewhere. The Into the Classroom feature “Addressing Students’ Stereotypes and Prejudices” offers several concrete strategies. By learning to appreciate multicultural differences within a single classroom, students take an important step toward appreciating the multicultural nature of the world at large. Bring cultural diversity to culturally homogeneous classrooms. When students attend school only with peers who are culturally very similar to themselves, they may hold especially naive and potentially counterproductive stereotypes about other cultural and

stereotype threat Awareness of a negative stereotype about one’s own group and accompanying uneasiness that low performance will confirm the stereotype; leads (often unintentionally) to lower‐quality performance.

Chapter 11 looks more closely at stereotype threat.

Into the Classroom
Addressing Students’ Stereotypes and Prejudices
Use curriculum materials that represent all cultures and ethnic groups as competent, legitimate participants in mainstream society, rather than as exotic curiosities who live in a separate world.
A history teacher peruses a history textbook to make sure it portrays members of all ethnic groups in a nonstereotypical manner. He supplements the text with readings that highlight the important roles that members of various ethnic groups have played in history.

Expose students to successful role models from various ethnic backgrounds.
A teacher invites several successful professionals from minority groups to speak with her class about their careers. When some students seem especially interested in one or more of these careers, she arranges for the students to spend time with the professionals in their workplaces.

Assign literature depicting peers from diverse cultural backgrounds.
As part of a research project in England, several elementary school teachers read to students a series of stories involving close friendships between English children and refugees from other countries. Following this experimental intervention, the students express more positive attitudes toward refugee children than do control‐group students who have not heard the stories.

Assign small‐group cooperative projects in which students from diverse backgrounds must combine their unique talents to achieve a common goal.
A fourth‐grade teacher has small cooperative groups design and conduct schoolwide surveys soliciting other students’ opinions on various topics (e.g., ideas for school fundraisers, preferences for cafeteria menu items, etc.). The teacher intentionally creates groups that are culturally heterogeneous, knowing that the group members will draw on diverse friendship networks in seeking volunteers to take the surveys. In addition, he makes sure that every member of a group has something unique to offer in survey design or data analysis—perhaps knowledge of word processing software, artistic talent, or math skills.

Explore the nature and complexity of various dialects.
A high school language arts class examines some unique features of a local African American dialect, including various forms of the verb to be. For example, African American members of the class explain that the word is is often dropped in simple descriptive sentences (e.g., “He a handsome man”) and that the word be is sometimes used to indicate a constant or frequently occurring characteristic (e.g., “He be talking” describes someone who talks a lot).

Emphasize that some people affiliate with two or more cultural groups and that individual members of any single group are often very different from one another in behaviors, beliefs, and values.
In a geography unit on major world religions, a middle school teacher regularly points out that members of any single religion often women dress in much the same way that women in this country do; others also wear head scarves in addition to regular, modern clothes; and still others dress in a burqa that covers everything except their about their bodies. In fact, some Jewish women, too, wear head scarves to show that they are modest, but many others don’t.”
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Conduct class discussions about prejudice and racism that exist in the school and local community.
A middle school in a suburban community creates a number of mixed‐race focus groups in which students regularly convene to share their views about interracial relations at the school. Although some students of European American ancestry initially feel uncomfortable talking about this topic with their minority‐ group peers, once the ice has been broken, greater cross‐cultural understanding and communication result.

Sources: Adger et al., 2007; Barbarin, Mercado, & Jigjidsuren, 2010; Boutte & McCormick, 1992; L. Cameron, Rutland, Brown, & Douch, 2006 (refugee stories example); Dovidio & Gaertner, 1999; Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003; Hulit & Howard, 2006, pp. 345–346 (dialect example); Mohan, 2009; Oskamp, 2000; Pfeifer et al., 2007; K. Schultz et al., 2000 (focus groups example); Tatum, 1997.

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103 ethnic groups (McGlothlin & Killen, 2006; Pfeifer et al., 2007). In such FIGURE 4.3 In an essay for his American situations we may have to take students beyond school boundaries, either history class, 16‐year‐old Randy reveals his physically or vicariously. For instance, we might engage students in com- appreciation of cultural differences. munity action projects that provide services to particular ethnic groups— perhaps in preschools, nursing homes, or city cultural centers (Sleeter & To me, diversity is not only a fact of life, Grant, 1999). Alternatively, we might initiate a sister schools program in but it is life. To be different and unique is what which students from two ethnically different communities regularly commuallows people to live a fulfilling life. To learn nicate, exchanging letters, photographs, stories, local news items, and the like and admire other people’s differences is (Koeppel & Mulrooney, 1992). perhaps one of the keys to life and without Foster democratic ideals, and empower students to bring about meaningwill be locked, keeping you out and not ful change. Any multicultural education program must include such demoallowing you to succeed. To learn that a cratic ideals as human dignity, equality, justice, and appreciation of diverse majority of one kind in one place may be a minority of another kind in another place can viewpoints (Gay, 2010; Gollnick & Chinn, 2009; NCSS Task Force on Ethnic help to initiate an outlook on life that promotes Studies Curriculum Guidelines, 1992). We better prepare students to function perspective and reason of any situation. effectively in a democratic society when we help them understand that virtually every nation includes numerous cultures and that such diversity provides a richness of ideas and perspectives that will inevitably yield a more creative, productive society overall. Such understanding is reflected in the writing sample in Figure 4.3, written by a student who was attending a rural, culturally homogenous high school in New Hampshire. The student’s words were genuine; after earning his diploma, he spent two years in a very different cultural environment—a community in rural Brazil—before attending college. Teaching respect for diverse perspectives doesn’t necessarily mean that we treat all beliefs as equally acceptable. For instance, we should certainly not embrace a culture that blatantly violates some people’s basic human rights. Respect does mean, however, that we and our students should try to understand another cultural group’s behaviors within the context of its overall beliefs and assumptions. Ideally, a democracy also provides a context in which students can bring about meaningful change. Students should be encouraged to challenge the status quo—perhaps substandard housing, poor voter turnout in certain neighborhoods, or misuse of natural resources (Ladson‐Billings, 1995a; Lipman, 1995). For example, in some high schools in the Navajo Nation of the American Southwest, students have taken on controversial commercial practices (e.g., excessive tree cutting, landscape‐scarring mining practices) that threaten their community’s long‐term well‐being; they’ve conducted library research, interviewed community leaders, prepared written reports, and presented their findings at public meetings (Nelson‐Barber & Estrin, 1995). Service learning projects such as these seem to instill a “can‐do” spirit and optimism that all citizens can have a significant impact on the quality of their own and other people’s lives (Eccles, 2007; Kahne & Sporte, 2008; Tate, 1995). that key, there will be too many doors that

Gender Differences
In their academic abilities, boys and girls are probably more similar than you think. But in other respects they may be more different than you realize.

RESEARCH FINDINGS REGARDING GENDER DIFFERENCES
Researchers have identified a number of differences in the physical, cognitive, personal, and social domains. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS Boys are temperamentally predisposed to be more active than girls. Thus, they have more trouble sitting still for long periods and are less likely to enjoy sedentary activities such as reading (W. O. Eaton & Enns, 1986; Newkirk, 2002). Before puberty, boys and girls seem to have similar potential for physical and psychomotor growth, although girls have a slight edge in fine motor skills (e.g., handwriting). But overall, boys develop their physical and motor skills more, perhaps

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especially boys—have frequent opportunities to release pent‐up energy.

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CHAPTER through participation in organized sports (Eccles, 2005; J. R. Thomas & French, 1985). After puberty, boys have a biological advantage in height and muscular strength: They’re taller and, because of increased levels of the male sex hormone testosterone, they’re stronger (Halpern, 2006; Hyde, 2005; J. R. Thomas & French, 1985). Such differences are hardly justification for favoring either gender when enhancing students’ physical fitness, of course. Physical education curricula and sports programs should provide equal opportunities for boys and girls to maximize their motor skills and physical well‐being. COGNITIVE AND ACADEMIC ABILITIES On average, boys and girls perform similarly on tests of general intelligence, in part because experts who construct the tests eliminate items that favor one group or the other (Halpern & LaMay, 2000). Researchers sometimes do find differences in more specific cognitive abilities, however. The most consistently observed gender difference is in visual–spatial ability, the ability to imagine and mentally manipulate two‐ and three‐dimensional figures. As an example of what this ability involves, try the next exercise.

visual–spatial ability Ability to imagine and mentally manipulate two‐ and three‐dimensional figures.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Are the three drawings shown here different rotations of the same object, or do they represent two or more different objects?

Object A

Object B

Object C

Expect boys and girls to have similar aptitudes for all academic subject areas.

To correctly answer this question, you must “rotate” the objects in your head. If you mentally rotate Object B 180 degrees, you can see that it represents the same three‐dimensional configuration as Object A. But if you rotate the right side of Object C down a bit and toward you, you can see that it’s not the same as Object A; instead, it’s a mirror image. Thus, Objects A and B are the same object; Object C is different. On average, males show greater proficiency in such visual–spatial thinking, even in infancy (Gallagher & Kaufman, 2005; Quinn & Liben, 2008). In contrast, females seem to have the advantage in certain verbal skills; for instance, girls have, on average, larger vocabularies and can more quickly think of the words they need to express their thoughts (Halpern, 2004, 2006; Halpern & LaMay, 2000; Lippa, 2002). However, most gender differences in specific cognitive abilities tend to be quite small, with considerable overlap between the two groups (e.g., look once again at Figure 4.1). In addition, boys sometimes show greater variability in cognitive abilities than girls do, causing more boys than girls to demonstrate extremely high or low ability levels relative to their age‐group (Halpern et al., 2007; Halpern & LaMay, 2000; Valla & Ceci, 2011). Even though ability levels may be similar, girls consistently earn higher grades in school (Halpern et al., 2007; Halpern & LaMay, 2000). If achievement is measured by achievement tests rather than grades, research findings are inconsistent. When differences are found, girls typically have an advantage in reading and writing, and after puberty boys tend to have the upper hand in complex mathematical problem solving (Halpern, 2006; Halpern & LaMay, 2000; J. P. Robinson & Lubienski, 2011; Valla & Ceci, 2011). Not only are gender differences in visual–spatial, verbal, and mathematical performance quite small, but some researchers have found them to be getting smaller in recent years. In other words, boys and girls are becoming increasingly similar in their academic performance (Hyde, Lindberg, Linn, Ellis, & Williams, 2008; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Spelke, 2005). Thus, in general we should expect boys and girls to have similar academic aptitudes for different subject areas.

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EXPERIENCE WITH TECHNOLOGY As societies worldwide are gaining increasing access to computers and wireless technologies, boys and girls alike are becoming increasing proficient with technology—for example, they’re apt to stay in frequent contact with peers by texting and sending photographs on cell phones and by posting messages on social networking websites such as Facebook (Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009). But overall, boys seem to spend more of their leisure time with technology than girls do. Boys are more likely to play video games, a pastime that may interfere with their reading and writing development but enhances their visual–spatial ability and probably also their comfort and expertise with computers (Feng, Spence, & Pratt, 2007; Ivory, 2006; Lucas & Sherry, 2004; Weis & Cerankosky, 2010). MOTIVATION IN ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES On average, girls are more concerned about doing well in school: They’re more engaged in classroom activities, more diligent in completing school assignments, and more likely to graduate from high school (H. M. Marks, 2000; Marsh, Martin, & Cheng, 2008; McCall, 1994; J. P. Robinson & Lubienski, 2011). Furthermore, girls are more interested in getting a college education than boys are, and in many countries more females than males earn college degrees (Halpern et al., 2007; National Science Foundation, 2007). However, this eagerness to achieve academically leads girls to prefer tasks at which they know they can succeed, and some find academic failure devastating. Boys are more willing to take on academic challenges and risks and more likely to take their failures in stride (Dweck, 2000; Yu, Elder, & Urdan, 1995). SENSE OF SELF Beginning in the upper elementary or middle school grades, boys appear to have a slightly more positive sense of self than girls do. This gender difference seems to be partly due to boys’ tendency to overestimate their abilities and possibly also to girls’ tendency to underestimate theirs (Hyde, 2007; Lundeberg & Mohan, 2009; Pajares, 2005). Boys’ and girls’ self‐perceptions also tend to be consistent with stereotypes about what males and females are good at, especially in adolescence. Boys tend to rate themselves more highly in mathematics and sports, whereas girls tend to rate themselves more highly in reading and social studies. Such differences in self‐ perceptions persist even when boys’ and girls’ actual ability levels are equal (D. A. Cole, Martin, Peeke, Seroczynski, & Fier, 1999; Herbert & Stipek, 2005; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Wigfield, Byrnes, & Eccles, 2006). INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIORS AND RELATIONSHIPS One of the most consistently observed gender differences involves aggression. In early childhood and throughout the elementary and secondary school years, boys are more physically aggressive than girls, with the difference being especially large for unprovoked aggression (Card, Stucky, Sawalani, & Little, 2008; Hyde, 2007; Pellegrini, 2011). However, girls can be equally aggressive in a nonphysical way—for instance, by spreading rumors or snubbing peers (Crick, Grotpeter, & Bigbee, 2002; French, Jansen, & Pidada, 2002; Pellegrini & Archer, 2005). Some of their victims can be emotionally devastated by such treatment (Rudolph, Caldwell, & Conley, 2005). Consistent differences are also seen in boys’ and girls’ interpersonal activities and relationships. Boys tend to congregate in large groups that engage in rough‐and‐tumble play, organized group games, and physical risk‐taking activities (Maccoby, 2002; Pellegrini, Kato, Blatchford, & Baines, 2002; A. J. Rose & Smith, 2009). They enjoy competition and can be fairly assertive in their efforts to achieve their goals (Benenson et al., 2002; Eisenberg, Martin, & Fabes, 1996; Maccoby, 2002). They may often try to hide their true emotions in social situations, putting up a tough, “nothing‐can‐bother‐me” front (Lippa, 2002; Pollack, 2006). Whereas boys are apt to be competitive, girls are more likely to be affiliative and cooperative. Thus, they tend to form closer relationships with their teachers and to achieve at higher levels when classroom activities involve cooperation rather than competition (Inglehart, Brown, & Vida, 1994; Wentzel, Battle, Russell, & Looney, 2010). Girls also seem to be more attuned to others’ mental states and more sensitive to the subtle, nonverbal messages—the body language— that others communicate (Bosacki, 2000; Deaux, 1984). Girls spend much of their leisure time with one or two close friends, with whom they may share their innermost thoughts and feelings (Leaper & Friedman, 2007; A. J. Rose & Smith, 2009). Although girls can be assertive in making their wishes known, they’re also concerned about resolving conflicts and maintaining group

motivate boys—for instance, by incorporating their personal interests into classroom activities.

Help girls understand that taking risks and making mistakes reflect their willingness to take on challenges and stretch their abilities in new directions.

Chapter 3 examines aggression in greater detail.

Communicate that showing emotion is a natural human trait that is appropriate for males as well as females.

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Accommodate girls’ affiliative nature by providing numerous opportunities for cooperative group work.

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CHAPTER harmony, and so they may sometimes subordinate their own needs to those of others (Benenson et al., 2002; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Rudolph et al., 2005). CLASSROOM BEHAVIORS In part because boys tend to be physically more active than girls, they’re more likely to misbehave in class (Altermatt, Jovanovic, & Perry, 1998; Gay, 2006; Sadker & Sadker, 1994). Boys talk more and ask more questions, sometimes without waiting to be called on. They also tend to dominate small‐group discussions and work sessions. Girls are more reticent classroom participants. They’re less likely to publicly volunteer ideas and ask questions, perhaps for fear of looking stupid or perhaps because they worry that looking too smart will reduce their popularity (Jovanovic & King, 1998; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Théberge, 1994; Wentzel, 2009). Girls are more likely to express their opinions in small‐group rather than large‐group discussions, and they’re more likely to assume the role of leader (thereby developing valuable leadership skills) in same‐sex groups (Fennema, 1987; MacLean, Sasse, Keating, Stewart, & Miller, 1995; Théberge, 1994). CAREER ASPIRATIONS Historically, boys have had more ambitious career aspirations than girls have. In recent years, however, many girls—especially those in Western countries—have also begun to set their sights on challenging professions. Often, boys and girls alike focus on careers that are stereotypically “appropriate” for their gender, in part because they have greater self‐confidence about their ability to succeed in such careers (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Weisgram, Bigler, & Liben, 2010). Students’ general life goals come into the picture as well: Girls are more likely than boys to consider how their career choices might mesh with their desires to work with people (rather than objects) and to raise a family (Diekman, Brown, Johnston, & Clark, 2010; Eccles, 2009). Some gender differences are especially prevalent for particular age‐groups. Table 4.1 identifies differences you’re apt to see at various grade levels and offers relevant classroom strategies for accommodating these differences.

work in same‐sex pairs or groups.

Compared to girls, boys are less likely to show their emotions or to actively work to resolve interpersonal conflicts. Watch “Emotions: Late Adolescence” and “Friendships: Late Adolescence.”

ORIGINS OF GENDER DIFFERENCES
Obviously, heredity determines basic physical differences between males and females; some are present at birth, some emerge at puberty. And because of inherited differences in sex‐related hormones—especially estrogen for girls and testosterone for boys—girls reach puberty earlier and boys eventually become taller and stronger. Hormones may account for certain nonphysical gender differences as well. The gender difference in physical aggression appears to be related to testosterone levels (Lippa, 2002; S. Moore & Rosenthal, 2006). Hormones may also play a role in the small differences observed in visual–spatial and verbal abilities, possibly by affecting neurological development in different areas of the brain (Valla & Ceci, 2011; Vuoksimaa et al., 2010). Hormones even seem to influence children’s preferences for male‐stereotypical versus female‐stereotypical behaviors (Auyeung et al., 2009; Hines et al., 2002). Yet environmental factors clearly play a role as well, often by interacting with and amplifying existing biology‐based gender differences (Lippa, 2002; Nuttall, Casey, & Pezaris, 2005). Virtually every culture teaches children that some behaviors are more appropriate for males and others more appropriate for females, as the following exercise may show you.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Form a picture in your mind of each of the following individuals. Make note of the first image that comes to mind in each case: Secretary Bank president Elementary school teacher Scientist
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Fashion model Building contractor

Which individuals did you picture as male, and which did you picture as female?

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D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Gender‐Related Characteristics at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS specific cognitive abilities roughly equivalent for boys and girls to girls’ easier adjustment to a classroom environment behavior; eagerness to conform to these stereotypes

EXAMPLE first‐grade class can sit still during small‐group reading instruction, but some of the boys quickly become fidgety and distracted. The boys are more likely to be attentive in their reading groups if they can physically act out a story they’re reading. of the boys in a fourth‐ a game of baseball or soccer. A few girls join in, but most of the girls stand on the sidelines and talk with one or two friends.

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Expect and encourage equal achievement in all areas of the academic curriculum. to stay on task in order to acquire basic skills, but also give them numerous opportunities to release pent‐up energy. Provide materials for a wide range of play activities (e.g., household items, dress‐up clothes, toy trucks, building blocks, balls). dangerous behaviors; provide guidance about which actions are and are not safe. Assure students that boys and girls have equal potential in all areas of the academic curriculum. Provide materials for group games (balls, bats, soccer goal nets, etc.). Set and enforce reasonable limits on play behaviors so that students’ physical safety is ensured. Be especially sensitive and supportive as girls show signs of puberty (e.g., allow trips to the restroom as needed).

K–2

heroism, girls depict romance); play activities more active and forceful for boys than for girls ability, with boys rating themselves more highly than girls despite equal math achievement

boys than for girls boys than in girls

3-5

of sync with peers, putting them at greater risk for depression A student named Jason explains how he often hides his feelings at school: “If something happens to you, you have to say, ‘Yeah, no big deal,’ even when you’re really hurting. . . . I’ve punched so many lockers in my life, it’s not even funny. When I get home, I’ll cry about it.” Respect students’ modesty and need for privacy when they must change clothes or take a shower in physical education or after‐school sports. Encourage students to gain skills in domains stereotypically associated with the other gender (e.g., teach cooking and woodworking to boys and girls alike) Encourage both boys and girls to pursue extracurricular sports activities; encourage attendance at both boys’ and girls’ sports events. In appropriate contexts, teach good grooming habits and other skills for presenting oneself well to others. Communicate to boys that occasionally showing emotion and vulnerability is both manly and healthy. Encourage students to cross stereotypical boundaries in course selection (e.g., girls taking advanced math, boys taking creative writing). Provide information about the benefits of a college education (e.g., invite recent high school graduates to come and share their college experiences). Expose students to diverse occupations and professions through guest lectures, trips to community businesses and agencies, and the like. Work with colleagues and parents to vigorously address unhealthful and risky out‐of‐school behaviors. Alert the school counselor when you suspect substance abuse, serious depression, an eating disorder, or some other potentially life‐ threatening condition.

participation in sports more widespread and prestigious for boys esteem and assessments of physical attractiveness and athletic competence, with self‐ratings being higher for boys and preoccupation with physical appearance being greater for girls gender‐appropriate, especially for girls less intimate than girls’ when interpersonal relationships go badly; tendency for boys to try to hide feelings of sadness and distress physical attractiveness girls than among boys professions (e.g., working with tools and machines) and for girls to aspire more to social or artistic occupations (e.g., teaching, counseling, writing) girls than in boys, despite equal ability to act prosocially more common in boys than in girls girls than in boys
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6-8

high school service club are girls. The club plans two community service projects for the year: making monthly after‐school trips to a local nursing home and conducting a schoolwide fundraiser to buy holiday gifts for low‐income children.

9-12

Sources: Benenson & Christakos, 2003; Binns, Steinberg, Amorosi, & Cuevas, 1997; Bussey & Bandura, 1992; Card, Stucky, Sawalani, & Little, 2008; D. A. Cole et al., 2001; Crouter, Whiteman, McHale, & Osgood, 2007; Davenport et al., 1998; Davila, 2008; Eisenberg et al., 1996; Evans‐Winters & Ivie, 2009; Fabes, Martin, & Hanish, 2003; M. E. Ford, 1996; Grusec & Hastings, 2007; Halpern, 2004, 2006; Halpern et al., 2007; Hankin, Mermelstein, & Roesch, 2007; M. S. Hardy, 2002; J. R. Harris, 1995; Harter, 1999; Hayward, 2003; Herbert & Stipek, 2005; Hyde, 2005; Hyde & Durik, 2005; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Liben & Bigler, 2002; Lippa, 2002; Maccoby, 2002; Matthews, Ponitz, & Morrison, 2009; T. M. McDevitt & Ormrod, 2013; S. Moore & Rosenthal, 2006; Pollack, 2006, p. 72 (Jason example); Ponitz, Rimm‐Kaufman, Brock, & Nathanson, 2009; M. Rhodes & Gelman, 2008; Rogoff, 2003; A. J. Rose & Smith, 2009; Rudolph et al., 2005; R. M. Ryan & Kuczkowski, 1994; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Seiffge‐Krenke, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2009; J. R. Thomas & French, 1985; Wigfield, Byrnes, & Eccles, 2006; Wigfield, Eccles, & Pintrich, 1996; Zambo & Brozo, 2009 (reading group example).

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CHAPTER If you’re like most people, your secretary, teacher, and fashion model were females, and your bank president, scientist, and building contractor were males. Gender stereotypes persist throughout our society, and even preschool children are aware of them (Bornholt, Goodnow, & Cooney, 1994; Eisenberg et al., 1996; Nosek & Smyth, 2011). Numerous aspects of society conspire to socialize growing children to conform to gender stereotypes. For example, many adults believe—and communicate the message—that boys are “naturally” better in some domains (e.g., math) and that girls are “naturally” better in others (e.g., reading), even in cases where no gender differences in achievement exist (Bleeker & Jacobs, 2004; Eccles, 2009; Herbert & Stipek, 2005). Gender‐stereotypical toys and games can also have impact: The dolls and board games that girls often get foster verbal and social skills, whereas the building blocks and soccer balls that boys get are more apt to foster visual–spatial skills (Feng et al., 2007; Frost, Shin, & Jacobs, 1998; Liss, 1983; Lytton & Romney, 1991). Boys’ and girls’ personality characteristics, too, are socialized to some degree. Especially in cultural groups that espouse traditional gender roles, boys are often reinforced—by adults and peers alike—for being assertive and aggressive, whereas girls are encouraged to be restrained and nurturing (Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Manning & Baruth, 2009; Rothbart, 2011). And television and video games often portray males as aggressive leaders and successful problem solvers, whereas females are depicted as demure, obedient followers (Furnham & Mak, 1999; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; M. K. Miller & Summers, 2007; T. L. Thompson & Zerbinos, 1995). As young children become increasingly aware of the typical characteristics and behaviors of boys, girls, men, and women, they gradually pull their knowledge together into self‐ constructed understandings, or gender schemas, of how males and females are different. These gender schemas, in turn, become part of their sense of self and guide them in their behaviors. By the time children reach school age, much of the pressure to act “appropriately” for their gender comes from within rather than from others (Bem, 1981; Eccles, 2009; Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum, 2006). Because gender schemas are self‐constructed, their contents vary considerably from one individual to another (Liben & Bigler, 2002). For example, in adolescence some girls incorporate into their “female” schema unrealistic standards of beauty presented in popular media (films, fashion magazines, etc.). As girls compare themselves to these standards, they almost invariably come up short, and their self‐assessments of physical attractiveness decline. In an effort to achieve the super‐thin bodies they believe to be ideal, they may fall victim to eating disorders (Attie, Brooks‐ Gunn, & Petersen, 1990; Weichold, Silbereisen, & Schmitt‐Rodermund, 2003). Likewise, some teenage boys go out of their way to meet self‐constructed macho standards of male behavior by putting on a tough‐guy act at school and bragging (perhaps accurately, but more often not) about their many sexual conquests (Pollack, 2006; K. M. Williams, 2001a). Not all students have rigid or unrealistic stereotypes of what their gender should be like, of course. In fact, as students get older, many become increasingly flexible about what males and females can and should do. Those with more flexible gender schemas are more likely to pursue counterstereotypical interests and career paths (Liben & Bigler, 2002; C. L. Martin & Ruble, 2004).

gender schema Self‐constructed, characteristics and behaviors of males or females.

Self‐imposed adherence to gender stereotypes is an example of self‐ socialization, a concept described in Chapter 3.

MAKING APPROPRIATE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR GENDER DIFFERENCES
Despite many teachers’ best intentions to treat male and female students equitably, subtle inequities continue. For example, teachers tend to give more attention to boys, partly because boys ask more questions and present more discipline problems. Teachers also give boys more feedback— praise and criticism alike—than they give girls (Altermatt et al., 1998; Eisenberg et al., 1996; Gay, 2006; Halpern et al., 2007; S. M. Jones & Dindia, 2004). The Into the Classroom feature “Promoting Gender Equity” offers several general suggestions for equitably fostering the learning and development of both sexes. At the same time, gender differences sometimes do warrant differential treatment of girls and boys. For example, girls are likely to improve their visual–spatial ability if we give them frequent opportunities to engage in activities requiring visual–spatial thinking (B. M. Casey et al., 2008; Gallagher & Kaufman, 2005). Meanwhile, boys are more likely to improve their literacy skills if we allow them to pursue typical “boy” interests (e.g., sports, adventure) while reading and writing (Newkirk, 2002).

Acknowledge that some differential treatment of girls and boys is appropriate, especially if it helps to reduce gender gaps in particular abilities and predispositions.

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Into the Classroom

Use your knowledge of typical gender differences to create greater equity for males and females, not to form expectations about how well males and females are likely to perform in various activities. the girls in her class probably haven’t had as much experience as the boys in throwing a baseball or softball overhand, so she gives the girls extra instruction and practice in the overhand throw.

Use curriculum materials that represent both genders in a positive and competent light; include materials that portray both genders competently engaging in counterstereotypical behaviors.
An English teacher assigns Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, in which an attorney named Atticus Finch is portrayed as a gentle, affectionate, and compassionate man, and his daughter Scout is portrayed as a courageous and adventuresome 8‐year‐old. The Their Eyes Were Watching God, in which an African American woman grows from a teenager who depends on others to meet her needs into a self‐sufficient woman who can easily fend for herself.

When planning lessons and instructional strategies, consider typical interests and activity levels of both boys and girls.
A sixth‐grade math teacher teams up with her school’s information technology teacher to create a month‐long unit in which students create simple video games using a variety of animated characters, graphics, and background music. The students then work in small groups to design games that will help them practice a particular mathematical concept or skill. At the end of the unit, each group demonstrates its game for the class, and the teachers copy the games onto compact discs so that students can play them at home.

Monitor yourself to see whether you are unintentionally treating boys and girls in ways that limit the learning opportunities of one gender.
A French teacher decides to count the number of times he calls on boys and girls during class. He finds that he calls on boys more than three times as frequently as girls, partly because the boys raise their hands more often. Therefore he institutes a new procedure: He alternates between boys and girls when he calls on students, and he sometimes calls on students who aren’t raising their hands.

We must also help students recognize that gender stereotypes are just that—stereotypes— and don’t necessarily limit what males and females can or should be. For example, we can: Expose students to same‐gender adults and peers who excel in domains commonly associated with the opposite gender. Talk about the importance of all academic subject areas for students’ future success. Explain the historical roots of stereotypes. For instance, explain that differing expectations for males and females are a holdover from an era when many jobs outside the home required considerable strength (and thus were better suited for men) and jobs inside the home could easily be combined with breastfeeding (and thus were better suited for women). Engage students in discussions about the adverse consequences of rigid gender roles— noting, for example, that adhering to such roles limits people’s options and results in a lot of talent going to waste. (Bem, 1983, 1984; Evans‐Winters & Ivie, 2009; Fennema, 1987; Huguet & Régner, 2007; A. Kelly & Smail, 1986; Pollack, 2006)

Socioeconomic Differences
The concept of socioeconomic status (SES) encompasses a number of variables, including family income, parents’ education levels, and parents’ occupations. A family’s socioeconomic status— whether high‐SES, middle‐SES, or low‐SES—gives us a sense of family members’ standing in the community: what type of neighborhood they live in, how much influence they have on political decision making, what educational opportunities are available to them, and so on. Students’ school performance is correlated with their socioeconomic status: Higher‐SES students tend to have higher academic achievement, and lower‐SES students tend to be at greater risk for dropping out of school (J.‐S. Lee & Bowen, 2006; McLoyd, 1998; Sirin, 2005). As students from lower‐SES families move through the grade levels, they tend to fall further and further behind their higher‐SES peers (Farkas, 2008; Jimerson, Egeland, & Teo, 1999). When researchers find achievement differences among students from different ethnic groups, the differences in the students’ socioeconomic status—not their cultural differences—seem to be mostly to blame (Byrnes, 2003; N. E. Hill, Bush, & Roosa, 2003; Murdock, 2000).

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socioeconomic status (SES) general social and economic standing in society; encompasses family income, occupation, and educational level.

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CHAPTER Life certainly isn’t perfect for students from high‐SES homes (Luthar, 2006; Luthar & Latendresse, 2005). Some high‐income parents have such high expectations for their children’s achievement that the children suffer from significant anxiety and depression. In addition, some high‐income parents have demanding jobs that keep them both physically and emotionally distant from their children, thereby limiting the guidance and support they provide. But by and large it’s children who live in poverty, especially chronic poverty, who face the most significant obstacles to academic success and personal well‐being.

CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH POVERTY
Many, many children grow up in poverty, including more than 16 million children (22%) in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Some of these children live in inner‐city neighborhoods, but others live in rural areas or in modest apartments in wealthy suburbs. Some come from families that can meet life’s basic necessities (e.g., food, warm clothing, adequate shelter) but have little money left over for luxuries. Many others live in extreme poverty; these students are the ones most at risk for academic failure and thus most in need of our attention and support. Several factors tend to contribute to the generally lower school achievement of low‐SES students. Students who face only one or two of these challenges often do quite well in school, but those who face many or all of them are at high risk for academic failure and other negative outcomes (Becker & Luthar, 2002; Gerard & Buehler, 2004; Grissmer, Williamson, Kirby, & Berends, 1998). Poor nutrition and health Lower‐income families have fewer financial resources to ensure that their children have adequate nutrition and health care. Poor nutrition in the early years of life (including the nine months before birth) can lead to impairments in children’s attention, memory, and learning ability (D’Amato, Chittooran, & Whitten, 1992; Noble, Tottenham, & Casey, 2005). Poor nutrition seems to influence school achievement both directly—for example, by hampering early brain development—and indirectly—for example, by leaving children listless and inattentive in class (Ashiabi & O’Neal, 2008; Sigman & Whaley, 1998). And inadequate health care means that some conditions that interfere with school attendance and performance, such as asthma and hearing problems, go unaddressed (Berliner, 2005). Inadequate housing and frequent moves Many poor children live in tight quarters, perhaps sharing one or two rooms with several other family members (Hawkins, 1997; Hernandez, Denton, & Macartney, 2008). Furthermore, children who move frequently from one rental apartment to another must often change schools as well. In the process they lose existing social support networks—both with teachers and with peers—and may miss lessons on fundamental academic skills (Croninger & Valli, 2009; Gruman, Harachi, Abbott, Catalano, & Fleming, 2008; Hattie, 2009). Exposure to toxic substances Especially when children live in poor, inner‐city neighborhoods, their surroundings may expose them to excessive levels of environmental toxins that can seriously jeopardize their health and brain development (Hubbs‐Tait, Nation, Krebs, & Bellinger, 2005; Koger, Schettler, & Weiss, 2005). For example, in old, badly maintained apartment buildings, children may be exposed to lead in the dust from deteriorating paint. In addition, the city water supply may contain pesticides or industrial waste, and the local air may be polluted by power plants and industrial incinerators. Unhealthy social environments On average, low‐SES neighborhoods and communities have higher frequencies of violence and vandalism, greater prevalence of alcoholism and drug abuse, and greater numbers of antisocial peers. Furthermore, there are fewer productive outlets for leisure time—libraries, recreation centers, sports leagues, and so on—and fewer positive adult role models. Such factors appear to be partly responsible for the lower academic achievement of students who live in poverty (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008; T. D. Cook, Herman, Phillips, & Settersten, 2002; Duncan & Magnuson, 2005; Leventhal & Brooks‐Gunn, 2000; Nettles, Caughy, & O’Campo, 2008).

Help families apply for free and reduced‐cost meal programs. Refer students with chronic health problems to the school nurse.

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Emotional stress Students at all income levels experience stressful conditions at one time or another, but students from low‐income families have more than their share. On average, low‐ SES homes are more chaotic and unpredictable than affluent ones. Children may wonder where their next meal is coming from or when the landlord might evict them for not paying rent. The preponderance of single‐parent homes among low‐SES families can come into play as well: A single parent may be too distracted by personal problems to offer much affection or consistent discipline. As a result of such factors, students from low‐SES families show higher‐than‐average rates of depression and other emotional problems (Crosnoe & Cooper, 2010; G. W. Evans, Gonnella, Marcynyszyn, Gentile, & Salpekar, 2005; Morales & Guerra, 2006; Parke et al., 2004). Sometimes, too, chronic stress adversely affects students’ physical development, which in turn can hamper their cognitive development (G. W. Evans & Schamberg, 2009). Not all children from low‐income homes live in chronically stressful conditions, of course, and those whose families provide consistent support, guidance, and discipline generally enjoy good mental health (N. E. Hill et al., 2003; M. O. Wright & Masten, 2006). Nevertheless, we should continually be on the lookout for signs that certain students are undergoing unusual stress at home and then provide whatever support we can. In some instances effective support may involve nothing more than being a willing listener. In other cases we may want to consult with a school counselor or social worker about possible support systems at school and resources in the local community. Gaps in background knowledge Some students from low‐SES families lack the basic knowledge and skills (e.g., knowledge of letters and numbers) on which successful school learning so often depends (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008; Brooks‐Gunn, Linver, & Fauth, 2005; Siegler, 2009). Access to early educational opportunities that might foster such skills—books, computers, trips to zoos and museums, and so on—is always somewhat dependent on a family’s financial resources. In addition, some parents have few basic academic skills that they might share with their children. However, as always, we must be careful not to overgeneralize. Some low‐income parents have considerable education (perhaps a college degree) and may be well equipped to read to their children and provide other enriching educational experiences (Goldenberg, 2001; Raikes et al., 2006; Sidel, 1996). Lower‐quality schools Unfortunately, the students who most need good schools are often least likely to have them. Schools in low‐income neighborhoods and communities tend to receive less funding and, as a result, are often poorly equipped and maintained. Teacher turnover rates are high in these schools, and disciplinary tactics tend to be more harsh and less effective. Furthermore, some teachers at these schools have low expectations for students, offering a less‐challenging curriculum, assigning less homework, and providing fewer opportunities to develop advanced thinking skills than do teachers in wealthier school districts (G. W. Evans, 2004; McLoyd, 1998; Pianta & Hamre, 2009; Raudenbush, 2009). Of course, schools in low‐income school districts don’t have to be this way. In fact, we teachers can make a huge difference in the quality of children’s educational experiences at even the poorest of schools. Consider a teacher whom researchers called Miss A (E. Pedersen, Faucher, & Eaton, 1978): Miss A taught at Ray School, an elementary school in a large, North American city. The school building—constructed like a fortress, with iron bars on its windows—was hardly appealing or welcoming. Its neighbors included old tenement buildings, a junkyard, and a brothel. Fewer than 10% of its students eventually completed high school. Nonetheless, Miss A worked wonders with the students in her first‐grade classes. She showed obvious affection for them, insisted on appropriate behavior without ever losing her temper, and shared her lunch with those who hadn’t brought one. She continually hammered home the importance of learning and education and had high expectations for achievement. She made sure her students learned to read, and she stayed after school with them whenever they needed extra help. Miss A’s students got higher grades than students in other classes not only in their first‐grade year but also for several years after that. On average, their IQ scores went up

Provide emotional support and appropriate referrals when students seem to be undergoing exceptional stress at home.

Identify and address any missing basic skills.

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Be optimistic that you can make a difference in students’ lives.

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CHAPTER between third and sixth grade (one girl’s score changed from 93 to 126), whereas the IQs of most students at Ray School went down. When researchers tracked down some of Miss A’s students many years later, they found that these students were far more financially and professionally successful than the typical Ray graduate. And every single one of them remembered her name.

resilient student Student who succeeds in school and in life despite exceptional hardships at home.

FOSTERING RESILIENCE
Thanks in part to teachers like Miss A, many students of low‐income families succeed in school despite exceptional hardships. Some are resilient students who acquire characteristics and coping skills that help them rise above their adverse circumstances. As a group, resilient students have likable personalities, a positive sense of self, and ambitious goals, and they believe that success comes with hard work and a good education (S. Goldstein & Brooks, 2006; Schoon, 2006; Werner & Smith, 2001). Researchers have learned a great deal about factors that can foster resilience in students from challenging backgrounds. With their findings in mind, I offer the following suggestions. Be a dependable source of academic and emotional support. Resilient students usually have one or more individuals in their lives whom they trust and can turn to in difficult times (Masten, 2001; McLoyd, 1998; Werner, 1995, 2006). For example, resilient students often mention teachers who have taken a personal interest in them and been instrumental in their school success (R. M. Clark, 1983; McMillan & Reed, 1994; D. A. O’Donnell, Schwab‐Stone, & Muyeed, 2002). As teachers, we’re most likely to promote resilience in low‐SES students when we show that we like and respect them, are available and willing to listen to their concerns, hold high expectations for their performance, and provide the encouragement and support they need to succeed both inside and outside the classroom (Kincheloe, 2009; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998; Milner, 2006; Schoon, 2006). Build on students’ strengths. Although some students from lower‐SES backgrounds may lag behind in basic academic skills, they’re apt to bring many strengths to the classroom. For example, these students are often quite clever at improvising with everyday objects. If they work part‐time to help their families make ends meet, they may have a good understanding of the working world. If they are children of single, working parents, they may know far more than their classmates about cooking, cleaning house, and taking care of younger siblings. Their own scarce resources are likely to have instilled genuine empathy and generosity for other people in need. And many of these students are quite knowledgeable about certain aspects of popular culture— characters and plot lines in television shows, lyrics from current rap songs, and so on (Freedom Writers, 1999; Kraus, Piff, & Keltner, 2011; Lareau, 2003; Torrance, 1995). As teachers, then, we must remember that students who have grown up in poverty may, in some respects, have more knowledge and skills than their economically advantaged peers. Such knowledge and skills can often provide a basis for teaching classroom subject matter (Schoon, 2006; Varelas & Pappas, 2006). Furthermore, students who are willing to talk about challenges they have faced can sensitize their classmates to serious inequities in today’s society. Identify and provide missing resources and experiences important for successful learning. Some students from very poor families lack basic essentials—such as nutritious meals, warm clothing, adequate health care, and school supplies—that will be important for their academic success. Many government programs and community agencies can help to provide such essentials. School districts offer free and reduced‐cost meal programs for children from low‐income families. Charitable organizations often distribute warm winter jackets gathered from annual clothing drives. Many communities have low‐cost health clinics. And some office supply stores and large discount chains donate notebooks, pens, and other school supplies to children who need them. Beyond connecting low‐income students and families with community resources, we should identify any basic experiences that students may not have had. Field trips to zoos, farms, the mountains, or the ocean may be in order. And of course, we should identify and teach any basic skills that, for whatever reason, students haven’t yet acquired. When we do so, we’re likely to see significant improvements in students’ classroom performance (S. A. Griffin, Case, &

Remember that many bright, capable students come from low‐income families.

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Students at Risk Capodilupo, 1995; G. Phillips, McNaughton, & MacDonald, 2004; Siegler, 2009). However, we must be careful not to focus exclusively on basic skills, especially when doing so means a fair amount of drill and practice. Students’ academic progress will suffer over the long run if they don’t also have frequent opportunities to engage in complex academic tasks—reading for understanding, mastering new technologies, solving real‐world problems, and so on (Cazden, 2001; Reis, McCoach, Little, Muller, & Kaniskan, 2011).

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Balance any needed instruction in basic skills with challenging and engaging real‐world activities.

WORKING WITH HOMELESS STUDENTS
Children of homeless families typically face far greater challenges than other students from low‐ income families. Many have chronic physical problems, limited social support networks, significant mental health issues, and inappropriate behaviors. Some may be reluctant to come to school because they lack bathing facilities and suitable clothing. And some may have moved so frequently from one school to another that they have large gaps in their academic skills (Coe, Salamon, & Molnar, 1991; McLoyd, 1998; P. M. Miller, 2011; Polakow, 2007). As teachers we, too, face extra challenges when teaching students who live in homeless shelters. Following are several suggestions for giving these students the support they may need to achieve academic and social success at school (Pawlas, 1994): Pair new students with classmates who can provide guidance and assistance—for example, by explaining school procedures and making introductions to other students. Provide a notebook, clipboard, or other portable “desk” on which students can do their homework at the shelter. Find adult or teenage volunteers to serve as tutors at the shelter. Meet with students’ parents at the shelter rather than at school. Share copies of homework assignments, school calendars, and newsletters with shelter officials. When we use such strategies, however, we must keep in mind that students and their families are apt to feel embarrassed about their homeless status (Polakow, 2007). Accordingly, showing respect for their privacy and self‐esteem must be a high priority.

Students at Risk
Students at risk are those with a high probability of failing to acquire the minimum academic skills necessary for success in the adult world. Many students at risk drop out before high school graduation, and many others graduate without mastery of basic skills in reading or mathematics (e.g., Boling & Evans, 2008; Laird, Kienzl, DeBell, & Chapman, 2007). A common assumption is that the reasons for dropping out lie primarily in the students themselves (V. E. Lee & Burkam, 2003). But as we will see, school characteristics also play a significant role.

CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS AT RISK
Students at risk come from all socioeconomic levels, but children of poor, single‐parent families are especially likely to leave school before high school graduation. Boys are more likely than girls to drop out, and African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are more likely than European American and Asian American students to drop out. Also, students in large cities and rural areas are more likely to drop out than students in the suburbs are; graduation rates in some big cities are less than 40% (C. Chapman, Laird, & KewalRamani, 2010; Hardré & Reeve, 2003; L. S. Miller, 1995; National Research Council, 2004). Students at risk, especially those who eventually drop out, typically have some or all of the following characteristics: A history of academic failure. On average, students who drop out have poorer reading and study skills, achieve at lower levels, and are more likely to have repeated a grade than their classmates who graduate. Consistent patterns of low achievement are sometimes seen as early as third grade (K. L. Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1995; Battin‐Pearson et al., 2000; Belfiore & Hornyak, 1998; Hattie, 2009; Suh, Suh, & Houston, 2007).

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student at risk Student with a high probability of failing to acquire minimal academic skills necessary for success in the adult world.

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CHAPTER Emotional and behavioral problems. Potential dropouts tend to have lower self‐esteem than their more successful classmates. They’re also more likely to exhibit serious behavioral problems (e.g., fighting, substance abuse) both in and out of school. Often their close friends are low achieving and, in some cases, antisocial peers (Battin‐Pearson et al., 2000; Garnier, Stein, & Jacobs, 1997; Jozefowicz, Arbreton, Eccles, Barber, & Colarossi, 1994; Suh et al., 2007). Lack of psychological attachment to school. Students at risk for academic failure are less likely to identify with their school or to perceive themselves to be a vital part of the school community. For example, they engage in few extracurricular activities and are apt to express dissatisfaction with school in general (Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Hymel, Comfort, Schonert‐Reichl, & McDougall, 1996; Rumberger, 1995). Increasing disinvolvement with school. Dropping out isn’t necessarily an all‐or‐nothing event. Many high school dropouts show lesser forms of dropping out many years before they officially leave school. Future dropouts are absent from school more frequently than their peers, even in the elementary grades. In addition, they’re more likely to have been suspended from school and to show a long‐term pattern of dropping out, returning to school, and dropping out again (Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Suh et al., 2007). The characteristics just described certainly aren’t surefire indicators of which students will drop out, however. For example, some dropouts come from two‐parent, middle‐income homes, and some are actively involved in school activities almost until the time they drop out (Hymel et al., 1996; Janosz, Le Blanc, Boulerice, & Tremblay, 2000).

WHY STUDENTS DROP OUT
Students drop out for a variety of reasons. Some have little family and peer encouragement and support for school success. Others have extenuating life circumstances; perhaps they have medical problems, take a job to help support the family, or get pregnant. Many simply become dissatisfied with school: They find the school environment unwelcoming or dangerous, perceive the curriculum to be boring and personally irrelevant, or doubt that they can pass high‐stakes achievement tests on which graduation depends (Brayboy & Searle, 2007; Hardré & Reeve, 2003; Hursh, 2007; Portes, 1996; Rumberger, 1995; L. Steinberg, Blinde, & Chan, 1984). Sadly, teacher behaviors can enter into the picture as well. For example, a teacher might communicate low expectations for students’ achievement either explicitly (e.g., by telling them that their chances of earning passing grades are slim) or implicitly (e.g., by brushing off their requests for assistance on assigned tasks). Students are more likely to drop out when they perceive their teachers to be uninterested in helping them succeed (Becker & Luthar, 2002; Farrell, 1990; Suh et al., 2007).

Chapter 15 looks more closely at the effects of high‐stakes testing.

SUPPORTING STUDENTS AT RISK
Because students who are at risk for academic failure are a diverse group of individuals with a diverse set of needs, there is no single strategy that can keep all of them in school until high school graduation (Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Janosz et al., 2000). Nevertheless, effective school and classroom practices will go a long way in helping these students stay on the road to academic success and high school graduation. Following are several suggestions based on research findings. Identify students at risk as early as possible. We begin to see indicators of dropping out, such as low school achievement and high absenteeism, as early as elementary school. And other signs—such as disruptive behavior and lack of involvement in school activities—often appear years before students officially withdraw from school. Therefore it’s quite possible to identify at‐risk students early in their school careers and take steps to prevent or remediate academic difficulties before they become insurmountable. For students at risk, prevention, early intervention, and long‐term support are more effective than later, short‐term efforts (Brooks‐Gunn, 2003; Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; McCall & Plemons, 2001; Ramey & Ramey, 1998).
Chapter 13 offers many strategies for creating warm, emotionally supportive schools and classrooms.

Create a warm, supportive school and classroom atmosphere. Teachers and schools that have high success rates with students at risk tend to be those that communicate a sense of caring, concern, and high regard for students (Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Pianta, 1999).

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Students at Risk

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Into the Classroom
Engaging Students at Risk in the Academic Curriculum
Pique students’ interest with stimulating activities.
In a unit on the physics of sound, a junior high school science teacher shows students how basic principles of sound reveal themselves explains why holding down a string at different points along the neck of the guitar creates different frequencies and thus different notes. and on the Internet and then prepares a lesson to teach students in other groups what it has learned.

Use students’ strengths to promote a positive sense of self.
A low‐income, inner‐city elementary school forms a singing performs at a variety of community events, and the students enjoy increased self‐esteem, improvement in other school subjects, and greater teamwork and leadership skills.

Make the curriculum relevant to students’ lives and needs—for example, through service learning activities.
A math teacher at an inner‐city middle school consistently encourages her students to identify and work to solve problems in many liquor stores located near the school and the questionable customers and drug dealers the stores attract. The students use yardsticks and maps to calculate the distance of each store from city government regulations, identify potential violations, meet with a local newspaper editor (who publishes an editorial describing the situation), and eventually meet with state legislators and the city council. As a result of the students’ efforts, city police begin to monitor the liquor stores more closely, major violations are identified (leading to the closing of two stores), and the city council makes it

Communicate high expectations for short‐ term and long‐term academic success.
A math teacher at a low‐income, inner‐city high school recruits students to participate in an intensive math program. The teacher and students work on evenings, Saturdays, and vacations, and all of them later pass the Advanced Placement calculus exam. (This real‐life example is depicted in the 1988 film, Stand and Deliver, currently

Provide extra support for academic success.
A middle school homework program meets every day after school a shelf. Students follow a particular sequence of steps to do each assignment (assembling materials, having someone check their work, etc.) and use a checklist to make sure they don’t skip any steps. Initially, a supervising teacher closely monitors what they do, but with time and practice the students are able to complete their homework with only minimal help and guidance.

Create a community of learners—a classroom in which students and teachers work collaboratively to increase everyone’s understanding.
In a high school science class’s unit on weather, small groups of pressure). Each group conducts research about its topic in the library

Sources: J. P. Allen & Antonishak, 2008; L. W. Anderson & Pellicer, 1998; Belfiore & Hornyak, 1998 (homework program example); Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Cosden, Morrison, Albanese, & Macias, 2001; Evans‐Winters & Ivie, 2009; L. S. Fuchs, D. Fuchs, et al., 2008; Jenlink, 1994 (Jazz Cats example); Kincheloe, 2009; Ladson‐Billings, 1994a; Mathews, 1988 (inner‐city math program example); Suh et al., 2007; Tate, 1995 (liquor store example).

Make long‐term, systematic efforts to engage students in the academic curriculum. Students are more likely to stay in school and more likely to learn and achieve at high levels if they think their classes are worth their time and effort (e.g., L. W. Anderson & Pellicer, 1998; S. M. Miller, 2003; Ramey & Ramey, 1998; Suh et al., 2007). The Into the Classroom Environment feature “Engaging Students at Risk in the Academic Curriculum” offers several concrete examples of what we might do. Encourage and facilitate identification with school. Students are far more likely to stay in school if they have an emotional attachment to their school and believe that they’re important members of the school community (Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Following are several strategies that researchers have found to be effective: Encourage participation in athletic programs, extracurricular activities, and student government. This strategy is especially important when students are having academic difficulties, because it provides an alternative way of experiencing school success. Involve students in school policy and management decisions. Give students positions of responsibility in managing school activities. Provide rewards (e.g., a trip to a local amusement park) for good attendance records. (Eccles, 2007; Finn, 1989; Garibaldi, 1992; Newmann, 1981; M. G. Sanders, 1996) In general, then, the most effective programs for students at risk are those that would be ideal for any student.

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CHAPTER

4 What Have You Learned?
We now return to the chapter’s learning outcomes and identify key points associated with each one. As we do so, we must remember two critical principles regarding the group differences described in this chapter: There is considerable individual variability within any group and a great deal of overlap between any two groups. ■ 4.1: Describe frequently observed between‐group differences and within‐group variability for various cultural and ethnic groups; also describe the teacher attitudes and strategies that underlie culturally responsive teaching. Cultural and ethnic group differences may be seen in language and dialect, talkativeness and verbal assertiveness, eye contact, personal space, responses to questions, comfort with public performance, views about teasing, attitudes toward cooperation and competition, family relationships and expectations, conceptions of time, and worldviews. For students from cultural and ethnic minority groups, there is often some degree of cultural mismatch between the home and school environments, and teachers’ misinterpretations of students’ behaviors can exacerbate this mismatch. All students benefit when we promote increased understanding of cultural and ethnic differences and foster social interaction among students from diverse groups.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 4.3: Identify challenges that students from low‐income families often face; also identify several strategies through which you can foster their resilience and help them be successful at school. Numerous factors can contribute to the generally lower achievement of students from low‐income families, including poor nutrition and housing, unhealthy physical and social environments, emotional stress, lower‐ quality schools, gaps in basic knowledge and skills, and homelessness. Despite such challenges, many children from low‐income backgrounds have a positive sense of self and do well in school; such resilient students often have one or more individuals in their lives whom they trust and can turn to in difficult times. As teachers, we can help students in lower socioeconomic groups succeed in the classroom by building on their many strengths and providing the academic and emotional support they may sometimes need to overcome their adverse circumstances.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 4.2: Describe the nature and origins of typical gender differences in school‐age children and adolescents, and explain how you can best accommodate such differences in your classroom. On average, males and females have similar academic abilities but differ somewhat in physical activity levels, experience with technology, motivation, sense of self, interpersonal relationships, classroom behavior, and career aspirations. Biological differences (e.g., gender‐related hormone levels and subtle differences in brain development) account for a few gender differences, but socialization (which can amplify small biology‐based differences) is probably at the root of many others. As teachers, we may occasionally need to tailor instructional strategies to the unique characteristics of boys versus girls; in general, however, we should hold equally high expectations for both sexes and make sure that both have equal opportunities to develop in all areas of the school curriculum.

■ 4.4: Explain how you might recognize students who are at risk for academic failure and dropping out of school, and identify strategies for helping these students get on the path to academic and social success. Students at risk are those with a high probability of failing to acquire the minimum academic skills necessary for success in the adult world; they may graduate from high school without having learned to read or write, or they may drop out before graduation. To help such students succeed at school, we should identify them as early as possible, make the curriculum relevant to their needs and interests, communicate high expectations for academic success, provide sufficient support to make such success possible, and encourage involvement in school activities.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
The Active and the Passive
Ms. Stewart has noticed that only a few students actively participate in her junior high school science classes. When she asks a question, especially one that requires students to draw inferences from information presented in class, the same hands always shoot up. She gives the matter some thought and realizes that all of the active participants are of European American descent and most of them are boys. Ms. Stewart sees the same pattern in students’ involvement in lab activities. When she forms small groups for particular lab assignments, the same students (notably the European American

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Students at Risk males) always take charge. The females and minority‐group males take more passive roles, either providing assistance to the group leaders or else just sitting back and watching. Ms. Stewart is a firm believer that students learn much more about science when they participate in class and when they engage in hands‐on activities. Consequently, she is concerned about the lack of involvement of many of her students. She wonders whether they really even care about science.
1. Constructed‐response question: 2. Multiple‐choice question:

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Three of the following explanations are possible reasons that the boys in Ms. Stewart’s class are participating more than the girls. Which alternative contradicts research findings on gender differences? a. On average, boys are more motivated to get good grades. b. On average, boys are more physically active in their classes. c. On average, boys tend to be more confident about their abilities. d. On average, boys are more likely to speak up without waiting to be called on.
3. Constructed‐response question:

Effective teachers place a high priority on equity; that is, they ensure that their classroom practices are not biased in ways that enhance some students’ achievement more than others’. In this situation the European American boys appear to be benefiting more from instruction than their classmates are. Using what you know about group differences, identify at least three possible reasons that minority‐group students are not actively participating in classroom lessons.

Describe three different strategies you might use to increase the participation of both girls and minority‐group students in Ms. Stewart’s class.

PRAXIS tions of this chapter that may be especially applicable to the Praxis tests.

to the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching Tests,” to discover sec-

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5

Individual Differences and Special Educational Needs

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
5.1: Describe various perspectives on the nature of intelligence, and identify several ways in which you can nurture intelligence in your own students. Explain how students’ cognitive styles and dispositions might influence their classroom performance. Identify implications of the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for your own work as a teacher. 5.4: Explain how you might adapt your instruction and classroom practices to the unique strengths and limitations of students with various disabilities. Explain how you might nurture the development of students who show exceptional gifts and talents.
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5.2: 5.3:

5.5:

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CA S E S T U DY: T IM
In elementary school, Tim earned reasonable grades despite poor reading comprehension skills. And although he often appeared to be in a daze during classroom activities, he was generally well behaved. In middle school, his grades began to decline, and teachers complained of his spaciness and tendency to daydream. He had trouble staying on task in class and was so disorganized that he seldom completed homework. When Tim reached high school, he seemed unable to cope with the independence his teachers expected of students, and so he failed several ninth- and tenth-grade classes. Now, as a 17-year-old eleventh grader, Tim undergoes an in-depth psychological evaluation at a university diagnostic clinic. An intelligence test yields a score of 96, reflecting average ability, and measures of social and emotional adjustment are also within an average range. However, measures of attention consistently show this to be an area of weakness. Tim explains that he has trouble ignoring distractions and must find a very quiet place to do his schoolwork. Even then, he says, he often has to reread something several times to grasp its meaning. (Based on Hathaway, Dooling-Litfin, & Edwards, 2006, pp. 410–412)

achievement. But if you look closely at the facts presented in the case, you might realize that Tim also has strengths on which teachers can build. What particular

The clinic evaluation team eventually concludes that Tim has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. (Like Tim, some students identified as having ADHD exhibit attention problems without hyperactivity.) The team suspects that a learning disability might be at the root of the problem but doesn’t have sufficiently precise diagnostic techniques to determine this with certainty. On the plus side, Tim is certainly motivated to do well in school: He’s well behaved in class, seeks out quiet places to study, and may read something several times in an effort to make sense of it. With appropriately modified instruction and settings—for example, teaching Tim basic organizational skills, breaking a single complex task into several shorter and simpler ones, and giving him a quiet place to read and study—Tim can more readily stay on task and complete assignments (Barkley, 2006; Meltzer, 2007). Some differences among students are related to their group membership—for instance, whether they’re male or female or whether they have a particular ethnic heritage. Yet within any single group, students show significant individual differences in cognitive abilities, personalities, physical skills, and so on. In this chapter we’ll look at individual differences in intelligence, cognitive styles, and dispositions. We’ll then consider students with special needs—students who, like Tim, are different enough from their peers that they require specially adapted curriculum materials instructional practices, or both. As we go along, we’ll find that the most effective instruction tends to be differentiated instruction—instruction that is tailored to align with each student’s current knowledge, skills, and needs.

individual differences
Diversity in abilities and characteristics (intelligence, personality, etc.) among students at a particular age and within a particular gender or cultural group.

differentiated instruction
Practice of individualizing instructional methods—and possibly also individualizing specific content and instructional goals—to align with each student’s existing knowledge, skills, and needs.

Intelligence
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Theorists define and conceptualize intelligence in a variety of ways, but most agree that it has several distinctive qualities: adaptive: It can be used flexibly to respond to a variety of situations and problems.

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CHAPTER learning ability: People who are intelligent in particular domains learn new information and skills in those domains more quickly and easily than people who are less intelligent in those domains. use of prior knowledge to analyze and understand new situations effectively. many different mental processes. culture specific. What is intelligent behavior in one culture isn’t necessarily intelligent behavior in another culture. (Dai, 2010; Greenfield, 1998; Laboratory of Human Cognition, 1982; J. Li, 2004; Neisser et al., 1996; Sternberg, 1997, 2004, 2007; Sternberg & Detterman, 1986) With these qualities in mind, I offer an intentionally broad definition of intelligence: the ability to apply prior knowledge and experiences flexibly to accomplish challenging new tasks. For most theorists intelligence is somewhat different from what a person has actually learned (e.g., as reflected in school achievement). At the same time intelligent thinking and behavior depend on prior learning. The more students know about the world in general and about the specific tasks they need to perform, the more intelligently they can behave. Intelligence, then, isn’t necessarily a permanent, unchanging characteristic; it can be modified through experience and learning.

CHA PTER O U TL I N E
Intelligence
Theoretical Perspectives of Intelligence Measuring Intelligence Nature and Nurture in the Development of Intelligence Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Intelligence Being Smart About Intelligence and IQ Scores

Cognitive Styles and Dispositions Educating Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms
Public Law 94-142: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Potential Benefits and Drawbacks of Inclusion Response to Intervention and PeopleFirst Language

Students with Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties
Learning Disabilities Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Speech and Communication Disorders General Recommendations

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF INTELLIGENCE
Some psychologists have suggested that intelligence is a single, general ability that people have to varying degrees and apply in a wide range of activities. Others have disagreed, citing evidence that people can be more or less intelligent on different kinds of tasks, at different points in development, and in different contexts. The theories of intelligence we examine in this section reflect these diverse perspectives on the nature of intelligence. SPEARMAN’S CONCEPT OF g Imagine that you give a large group of students a wide variety of tests—some measuring verbal skills, others measuring visual–spatial thinking, still others measuring mathematical problem solving, and so on. Chances are that the test scores would all correlate with one another to some degree: Students who score high on one test would tend to score high on the other tests as well. The correlations would be strong among tests of very similar abilities; those among tests of distinctly different abilities would be weaker. For example, a student who scored very high on a vocabulary test would probably score high on other measures of verbal ability but might have only modest success in solving math problems (N. Brody, 1999; McGrew, Flanagan, Zeith, & Vanderwood, 1997; Neisser et al., 1996; Spearman, 1904). In the early 1900s, Charles Spearman (1904, 1927) drew on such findings to propose that intelligence comprises both (1) a single, pervasive reasoning ability (a general factor) that is used across the board; and (2) a number of more narrow abilities, such as problem-solving ability and abstract reasoning (specific factors). The general factor and any relevant specific factors work together during the execution of particular tasks. Many contemporary psychologists believe that sufficient evidence supports Spearman’s concept of a general factor in intelligence—often known simply as Spearman’s g. Underlying it, they suspect, may be a general ability to process information quickly and efficiently (Bornstein et al., 2006; Coyle, Pillow, Snyder, & Kochunov, 2011; Haier, 2003). A general ability to control and direct one’s thinking may also be involved (Cornoldi, 2010; H. L. Swanson, 2008).

Students with Social or Behavioral Problems
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Autism Spectrum Disorders General Recommendations

Students with General Delays in Cognitive and Social Functioning
Intellectual Disabilities

Students with Physical or Sensory Challenges
Physical and Health Impairments Visual Impairments Hearing Loss General Recommendations

Students with Advanced Cognitive Development
Giftedness

Considering Diversity when Identifying and Addressing Special Needs General Recommendations for Working with Students Who Have Special Needs

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CATTELL FLUID AND CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCES ’S Several decades after Spearman’s groundbreaking work, Raymond Cattell (1963, 1987) found evidence for two distinctly different components of general intelligence (g). First, people differ in fluid intelligence, their ability to acquire knowledge quickly and adapt to new situations effectively. Second, they differ in crystallized intelligence, the knowledge and skills they’ve accumulated from their experiences, schooling, and culture. Fluid intelligence is more important for new, unfamiliar tasks, especially those that require rapid decision making and involve nonverbal content. Crystallized intelligence is more important for familiar tasks, especially those that depend heavily on language and prior knowledge. Cattell suggested that fluid intelligence is largely the result of inherited biological factors, whereas crystallized intelligence depends on both fluid intelligence and experience and thus is influenced by both heredity and environment. CATTELL-HORN-CARROLL THEORY OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES Some theorists have built on Cattell’s distinction to suggest that intelligence may have three layers, or strata (Ackerman & Lohman, 2006; Carroll, 1993, 2003; D. P. Flanagan & Ortiz, 2001; Horn, 2008). In this Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive abilities, the top stratum is general intelligence, or g. Underlying it in the middle stratum are 9 or 10 more specific abilities— processing speed, general reasoning ability, general world knowledge, ability to process visual input, and so on—that encompass fluid and/or crystallized intelligence to varying degrees. And underlying these abilities in the bottom stratum are more than 70 very specific abilities, such as reading speed, mechanical knowledge, and number and richness of associations in memory. With its large number of specific abilities, the Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory is too complex to describe in detail here, but you should be aware that psychologists are increasingly finding it useful in predicting and understanding students’ achievement in various content domains (e.g., J. J. Evans, Floyd, McGrew, & Leforgee, 2001; Phelps, McGrew, Knopik, & Ford, 2005; B. E. Proctor, Floyd, & Shaver, 2005). intelligence Ability to apply prior knowledge and experiences flexibly to accomplish challenging new tasks. g Theoretical general factor in intelligence that influences one’s ability to learn and perform in a wide variety of contexts.

fluid intelligence Ability to acquire knowledge quickly and adapt effectively to new situations. crystallized intelligence Knowledge and skills accumulated from prior experience, schooling, and culture.

Keep in mind that different students are likely to be intelligent in different ways.

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GARDNER’S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES Howard Gardner (1983, 1998, 1999; Gardner & Hatch, 1990) suggests that people have at least eight distinctly different abilities, or multiple intelligences, that are relatively independent of one another (see Table 5.1). In his view there may also be a ninth (existential) intelligence dedicated to philosophical and spiritual issues (e.g., Who are we? Why do we die?). However, because evidence for it is weaker than that for the other intelligences (Gardner, 1999, 2000a, 2003), I have omitted it from the table. Gardner presents some evidence to support the existence of these distinctly different intelligences. For instance, he describes people who are quite skilled in one area, perhaps in composing music, yet have seemingly average abilities in other areas. He also points out that people who suffer brain damage sometimes lose abilities that are restricted primarily to one intelligence. One person might show deficits primarily in language, whereas another might have difficulty with tasks that require spatial reasoning. Among psychologists, reviews of Gardner’s theory are mixed. Some theorists don’t believe that Gardner’s evidence is sufficiently compelling to support the notion of eight or nine distinctly different abilities (N. Brody, 1992; Corno et al., 2002; Sternberg, 2003; Waterhouse, 2006). Others agree that people may have a variety of relatively independent abilities but argue for different distinctions than those Gardner makes (e.g., note the second-stratum abilities in the Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory just described). Still others reject the idea that abilities in certain domains, such as in music or bodily movement, are really “intelligences” per se (Bracken, McCallum, & Shaughnessy, 1999; Sattler, 2001). Despite psychologists’ lukewarm reception to Gardner’s theory, many educators have wholeheartedly embraced it because of its optimistic view of human potenAttention to detail in 10-year-old Luther’s tial. Gardner’s perspective encourages us to use many different teaching methods so drawing of a plant suggests some talent in what that we can capitalize on students’ diverse talents to help them learn and understand Gardner calls naturalist intelligence. classroom subject matter (L. Campbell, Campbell, & Dickinson, 1998; Gardner,

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CHAPTER

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
TYPE OF INTELLIGENCE
Linguistic intelligence: Ability to use language effectively Logical–mathematical intelligence: Ability to reason logically, especially in mathematics and science a EXAMPLES OF RELEVANT BEHAVIORS

Spatial intelligence: Ability to notice details of what one sees and to imagine and manipulate visual objects in one’s mind Musical intelligence: Ability to create, comprehend, and appreciate music Bodily–kinesthetic intelligence: Ability to use one’s body skillfully Interpersonal intelligence: Ability to notice subtle aspects of other people’s behaviors Intrapersonal intelligence: Awareness of one’s own feelings, motives, and desires Naturalist intelligence: Ability to recognize patterns in nature and differences among various landscaping, or animal training a This example may remind you of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Many of the stage-specific characteristics that Piaget described reflect logical–mathematical intelligence.

Sources: Gardner, 1983, 1999.

2000b; Kornhaber, Fierros, & Veenema, 2004). Consider how one eighth-grade teacher took advantage of two girls’ musical talent to teach spelling, something with which both girls were having difficulty:
[I] asked the girls to label the piano keys with the letters of the alphabet, so that the girls could “play” the words on their keyboards. Later, on spelling tests, the students were asked to recall the tones and sounds of each word and write its corresponding letters. Not only did spelling scores improve, but the two pianists began thinking of other “sound” texts to set to music. Soon, they performed each classmate’s name and transcribed entire sentences. (L. Campbell et al., 1998, p. 142)
Present classroom subject matter using a variety of approaches to capitalize on students’ diverse abilities, but also give them tasks that require them to work on areas of weakness.

Whether or not human beings have eight or more distinctly different intelligences, they certainly benefit when they’re encouraged to think about a particular topic in two or more distinctly different ways—perhaps using both words and mental images (R. E. Mayer, 2011b; Moreno, 2006). We won’t always want to teach to students’ strengths, however. We must also give students tasks that encourage them to address and thereby strengthen their areas of weakness (Sternberg, 2002). STERNBERG’S TRIARCHIC THEORY Robert Sternberg (e.g., 1998, 2004; Sternberg et al., 2000) has speculated that people may be more or less intelligent in three different domains—hence the name triarchic theory. Analytical intelligence involves making sense of, analyzing, contrasting, and evaluating the kinds of information and problems often seen in academic settings and on intelligence tests. Creative intelligence involves imagination, invention, and synthesis of ideas within the context of new situations. Practical intelligence involves applying knowledge and skills effectively to manage and respond to everyday problems and social situations.

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In addition, Sternberg proposes that intelligent behavior involves an interplay of three factors, all of which vary from one occasion to the next (Sternberg, 1985, 1997, 2003): The environmental context in which the behavior occurs. Different behaviors may be more or less adaptive and effective in different cultures. For example, learning to read is an adaptive response in industrialized societies yet largely irrelevant to certain other cultures. The relevance of prior experiences to a particular task. Prior experiences can enhance intelligence in either of two ways. In some cases extensive practice with a particular kind of task enables students to perform that task with increasing speed and efficiency—that is, with greater automaticity. In other instances, students are able to draw on what they’ve learned in previous situations to help them with new tasks. The cognitive processes required by the task. Numerous cognitive processes are involved in intelligent behavior: separating important information from irrelevant details, identifying possible problem-solving strategies, seeing relationships among seemingly different ideas, and so on. Different cognitive processes may be more or less important in different contexts, and an individual may behave more or less intelligently depending on the specific cognitive processes needed at the time. To date, research neither supports nor refutes the notion that intelligence is structured in the specifically triarchic manner that Sternberg proposes. Certain aspects of Sternberg’s theory (e.g., how various factors work together) are described in such general terms that they’re difficult to either confirm or disconfirm through research (Sattler, 2001; Siegler & Alibali, 2005). And Sternberg himself acknowledges that most of the data supporting his theory have been collected by his own research team, rather than by outsiders who might be more objective or critical (Sternberg, 2003). Nevertheless, the theory reminds us that students’ ability to behave intelligently may vary considerably depending on the cultural context, previously learned knowledge and skills, and cognitive processes that a task involves. DEVELOPMENTAL VIEWS OF INTELLIGENCE Theories of cognitive development portray children as becoming increasingly intelligent over time; for example, with age and experience children gain greater proficiency in abstract thinking (Jean Piaget’s theory) and effective use of complex cultural tools (Lev Vygotsky’s theory). Yet with the possible exception of Sternberg’s triarchic theory—which points out the importance of prior experiences—the perspectives of intelligence described so far don’t really consider how intelligence might take different forms at different points in development (Dai, 2010). Some psychologists working in the area of giftedness suggest that not only is intelligence somewhat specific to particular domains but also that its basic nature changes with age and experience. From this perspective, the developmental course of exceptional abilities and talents is as follows: 1. Initially (typically in childhood), people show exceptional potential in a certain domain, perhaps in reading, math, or music. 2. With appropriate instruction, guidance, and practice opportunities, people show exceptional achievement in the domain. 3. If people continue to pursue the domain and practice domain-specific tasks over a lengthy time period (typically into adulthood), they may eventually gain considerable expertise and eminence, to the point that their accomplishments are widely recognized (Dai, 2010; Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilus, & Worrell, 2011). Here, then, we see a very dynamic view of intelligence: Although its roots may be in certain natural endowments, over the long run intelligence requires both environmental nurturance and personal perseverance (Dai, 2010; Subotnik et al., 2011). DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENCE Many psychologists are beginning to realize that not only does a supportive environment context enhance people’s intelligence over time, but in fact it can facilitate intelligent behavior in the here and now. People are far more likely to think and behave intelligently when they have assistance from their physical, cultural, and social environments—an idea that is sometimes called

Chapter 6 looks more closely at automaticity.

Chapter 2 describes Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of development.

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CHAPTER distributed intelligence (e.g., Hutchins, 1995; Pea, 1993; Perkins, 1992, 1995). People can “dis-

Children can think and behave more intelligently when they acquire the cognitive tools of their culture, such as strategies for organizing and graphing

tribute” a challenging task—that is, they can pass some of the cognitive burden onto something or someone else—in at least three ways. First, they can use physical objects, especially technology (e.g., calculators, computers), to handle and manipulate large amounts of information. Second, they can represent and think about the situations they encounter by using their culture’s various symbolic systems—words, charts, diagrams, mathematical equations, and so on—and other cognitive tools. And third, they can work with other people to explore ideas and solve problems—as we’ve often heard, two heads are (usually) better than one. In fact, when students work together on complex, challenging tasks and problems, they teach one another strategies and ways of thinking that can help each of them think even more intelligently on future occasions (Kuhn, 2001b; Palincsar & Herrenkohl, 1999; Slavin, 2011; Salomon, 1993). From a distributed-intelligence perspective, then, intelligence is a highly variable, contextspecific ability that increases when appropriate environmental supports are available. It certainly isn’t an immutable trait that learners “carry around” with them, nor is it something that can be easily measured and then summarized with one or more test scores. However, psychologists coming from other theoretical perspectives often do try to measure intelligence, as we’ll see now.

social supports that can help students think more intelligently.

MEASURING INTELLIGENCE
When a student consistently struggles with certain aspects of the school curriculum, as Tim does in the opening case study, psychologists sometimes find it helpful to get a measure of the student’s general level of cognitive functioning. Such measures are commonly known as intelligence tests. To get a sense of what intelligence tests are like, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Answer each of these questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. What does the word penitence mean? How are a goat and a beetle alike? What should you do if you get separated from your family in a large department store? What do people mean when they say, “A rolling stone gathers no moss”? is to d. as is to:

5. Complete the following analogy: a. b. c.

As children get older, they become increasingly able to discern underlying

developmental differences in this

These test items are modeled after items on many contemporary intelligence tests. Often the tests include a mixture of verbal tasks (such as Items 1 through 4) and less verbal, more visual tasks (such as Item 5). Scores on intelligence tests were originally calculated using a formula that involves division. Hence, they were called intelligence quotient scores, or IQ scores. Although we still use the term IQ, intelligence test scores are no longer based on the old formula. Instead, they’re determined by comparing a student’s performance on a given test with the performance of others in the same age-group. A score of 100 indicates average performance on the test: Students with this score have performed better than half of their age-mates but not as well as the other half. Scores well below 100 indicate below-average performance on the test; scores well above 100 indicate above-average performance. Figure 5.1 shows the percentages of students getting scores at different points along the scale (e.g., 12.9% get scores between 100 and 105). Notice that the curve is high in the middle and low at both ends, indicating that scores close to 100 are far more common than scores considerably higher or lower than 100. For example, if we add up the percentages in different parts of Figure 5.1, we find that approximately two-thirds (68%) of students score within 15 points of 100 (i.e., between 85 and 115). In contrast, only 2% of students score as low as 70, and only 2% score as high as 130. Such a many-in-the-middle-and-few-at-the-extremes distribution of scores seems to characterize a wide variety of human characteristics. Hence, psychologists have created a method of scoring intelligence test performance that intentionally yields this distribution.

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In the opening case study, Tim’s performance on an intelligence test yields an IQ score of 96, which we can now make some sense of. As you can see in Figure 5.1, a score of 96 is so close to 100 that we should consider it to be well within an average range. FIGURE 5.1 Percentages of IQ scores in different ranges
Percentage of Scores in Each Range

IQ SCORES AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT 12.9 12.9 Studies repeatedly show that performance 11.9 11.9 on intelligence tests is correlated with school 9.3 9.3 achievement. On average, children with higher 6.7 6.7 IQ scores earn higher course grades, do better on 4.4 4.4 2.5 2.5 standardized achievement tests, and complete more 2.3 2.3 years of education (N. Brody, 1997; Gustafsson & 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 Undheim, 1996; Sattler, 2001). IQ Scores It’s important to keep three points in mind about this IQ–achievement relationship. First, intelligence doesn’t necessarily cause achievement; it is simply correlated with it. Even though students with high IQs typically perform well in school, we cannot conclusively say that their high achievement is actually the result of their intelligence. Intelligence probably does play an scores are standard scores based on important role in school achievement, but so, too, do many other factors—motivation, quality of the normal distribution. Chapter 15 explains these concepts. instruction, family and neighborhood resources, peer-group expectations, and so on. Second, the relationship between IQ scores and achievement is an imperfect one, with many exceptions to the rule. For a variety of reasons, some students with high IQ scores don’t perform well in the classroom, and others achieve at higher levels than we would predict from their IQ scores alone. Third and most important, we must remember that an IQ score simply reflects a child’s performance on a particular test at a particular time—it’s not a permanent characteristic etched in stone—and that about their school achievement. some change is to be expected over time.

NATURE AND NURTURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE
Research tells us that heredity probably plays some role in intelligence. For instance, identical twins (who have the same genetic makeup) tend to have more similar IQ scores than nonidentical (fraternal) twins do, even when the twins are adopted at birth by different parents and grow up in different homes. This is not to say, however, that children inherit a single IQ gene that determines their intellectual ability. Rather, they probably inherit a variety of characteristics that in one way or another affect particular cognitive abilities and talents (Bouchard, 1997; O. S. P. Davis, Haworth, & Plomin, 2009; Horn, 2008; Kovas & Plomin, 2007). Environmental factors influence intelligence as well, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Poor nutrition in the early years of development (including the nine months before birth) leads to lower IQ scores, as does a mother’s excessive use of alcohol during pregnancy (D’Amato, Chittooran, & Whitten, 1992; Neisser et al., 1996; Ricciuti, 1993). Moving a child from a neglectful, impoverished home environment to a more nurturing, stimulating one (e.g., through adoption) can result in IQ gains of 15 points or more (Beckett et al., 2006; Capron & Duyme, 1989; van IJzendoorn & Juffer, 2005). Effective, too, are long-term intervention programs designed to help children acquire basic cognitive and academic skills (e.g., F. A. Campbell & Burchinal, 2008; Kağitçibaşi, 2007). Even simply going to school has a positive effect on IQ scores (Ceci, 2003; Ramey, 1992). Furthermore, worldwide, there has been a slow but steady increase in people’s performance on intelligence tests—a trend that is probably due to better nutrition, smaller family sizes, better schooling, increasing cognitive stimulation (through increased access to television, reading materials, etc.), and other improvements in people’s environments (Flynn, 2007; E. Hunt, 2008; Neisser, 1998). The question of how much nature and nurture each play a role in influencing intelligence has been a source of considerable controversy over the years. But in fact, genetic and environmental factors interact in their influences on cognitive development and intelligence in ways that can probably never be disentangled. First of all, genes require reasonable environmental support to do

distributed intelligence
Enhancement of thinking through the use of physical objects and technology, concepts and symbols of one’s culture, and/or social collaboration and support.

intelligence test current level of cognitive functioning; often used to predict academic achievement in the short run.

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IQ score determined by comparing a person’s performance with that of others in the

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CHAPTER their work. In an extremely impoverished environment—one with a lack of adequate nutrition and stimulation—heredity may have little to say about children’s intellectual growth, but under better circumstances it can have a significant influence (Ceci, 2003; D. C. Rowe, Jacobson, & Van den Oord, 1999; Turkheimer, Haley, Waldron, D’Onofrio, & Gottesman, 2003). Second, heredity seems to affect how susceptible or impervious a child is to particular environmental conditions (Rutter, 1997). For instance, some students—such as those with certain inherited disabilities, like Tim in the opening case study—may need a quiet, well-structured learning environment in which to acquire good reading comprehension skills, but other students might pick up good reading skills regardless of the quality of their environment. And third, children tend to seek out environmental conditions that match their inherited abilities (O. S. P. Davis et al., 2009; W. Johnson, 2010; Scarr & McCartney, 1983). For example, children who inherit exceptional quantitative reasoning ability may enroll in advanced math courses and in other ways nurture their inherited talent. Children with average quantitative ability are less likely to take on such challenges and thus have fewer opportunities to develop their mathematical skills. INTELLIGENCE AND THE BRAIN Intelligence—at least that aspect of intelligence that can be measured by IQ tests—does seem to have some basis in the brain. For example, compared with their average-IQ peers, children with high IQ scores show a prolonged period of development in the cortex (P. Shaw et al., 2006). A high level of intelligence also seems to involve ongoing, efficient interactions among numerous brain regions (Jung & Haier, 2007). Although heredity appears to play some role in these differences, the extent to which they are the result of nature, nurture, or a nature–nurture interaction remains to be seen (Jung & Haier, 2007). And in any case, we must remember that the human brain has considerable ability to restructure itself—that is, it has plasticity—throughout childhood and adulthood.

on the structure, development, and plasticity of the human brain.

CULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN INTELLIGENCE
Historically, some ethnic groups in the United States have, on average, performed better than other ethnic groups on intelligence tests. Most experts agree that such group differences in IQ are probably due to differences in environment and, more specifically, to economic circumstances that affect the quality of prenatal and postnatal nutrition, availability of stimulating books and toys, access to educational opportunities, and so on (Brooks-Gunn, Klebanov, & Duncan, 1996; Byrnes, 2003; McLoyd, 1998). Furthermore, various groups have become increasingly similar in average IQ score in recent years—a trend that can be attributed only to more equitable environmental conditions (Dickens & Flynn, 2006; Neisser et al., 1996). Yet it’s important to note that different cultural groups have somewhat different views about what intelligence is and may therefore nurture somewhat different abilities in their children. Many people of European descent think of intelligence primarily as an ability that influences children’s academic achievement and adults’ professional success. In contrast, people in many African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American cultures think of intelligence as involving social as well as academic skills—maintaining harmonious interpersonal relationships, working effectively together to accomplish challenging tasks, and so on (Greenfield et al., 2006; J. Li & Fischer, 2004; Sternberg, 2004, 2007). And in Buddhist and Confucian societies in the Far East (e.g., China, Taiwan), intelligence also involves acquiring strong moral values and making meaningful contributions to society (J. Li, 2004; Sternberg, 2003). Cultural groups differ, too, in the behaviors that they believe reflect intelligence. For example, many traditional measures of intelligence take speed into account on certain test items: Children score higher if they respond quickly as well as correctly. Yet people in some cultures tend to value thoroughness over speed and may be skeptical when tasks are completed very quickly (Sternberg, 2007). As another example, many people in mainstream Western culture interpret strong verbal skills as a sign of intelligence, but for many Japanese and many Inuit people of northern Quebec, talking a lot indicates immaturity or low intelligence (Crago, 1988; Minami & McCabe, 1996; Sternberg, 2003). One Inuit teacher had this concern about a boy whose language was quite advanced for his age-group:
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Assume that when children from diverse ethnic groups all have reasonably stimulating environments, they have equal potential to develop their intellectual abilities.

Do you think he might have a learning problem? Some of these children who don’t have such high intelligence have trouble stopping themselves. They don’t know when to stop talking. (Crago, 1988, p. 219)

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As teachers, then, we must be careful not to assume that our own views of intelligence are shared by the students and families of cultures very different from our own.

BEING SMART ABOUT INTELLIGENCE AND IQ SCORES
Whatever its nature and origins may be, intelligence appears to be an important factor in students’ ability to learn and achieve in the classroom. Accordingly, we must have a good grasp of how we can best nurture students’ intellectual growth and how we can reasonably interpret their performance on intelligence tests. Following are several recommendations. Place higher priority on developing—rather than on determining—intelligence. As we’ve seen, intelligence is hardly a fixed, unchangeable characteristic: Environmental factors, including schooling, can lead to increases in children’s measured intelligence. And the notion of distributed intelligence suggests that virtually all students can act more intelligently when they have tools, symbolic systems, and social groups to assist them in their efforts. As teachers, we should think more about enhancing and supporting students’ intelligence than about measuring it (Dai, 2010; P. D. Nichols & Mittelholtz, 1997; Posner & Rothbart, 2007; B. Rhodes, 2008). Rather than ask, How intelligent are our students? we should instead ask, How can we help our students think as intelligently as possible? What tools and social networks can we give them? What useful concepts and procedures can we teach them? Think of intelligence tests as useful but imperfect measures. Intelligence tests aren’t magical instruments that mysteriously determine a learner’s true intelligence—if, in fact, such a thing as “true” intelligence exists. Instead, these tests are simply collections of questions and tasks that psychologists have developed in order to get a handle on how well students can think, reason, and learn at a particular point in time. Used in conjunction with other information, they can often give us a general idea of a student’s current cognitive functioning. To interpret IQ scores appropriately, however, we must be aware of their limitations:
Young children’s distractibility during a testing session decreases the reliability of any test scores obtained (see Chapter 14 and Chapter 15).

factors—general health, time of day, distracting circumstances, and so on. Such factors are especially influential for young children, who are apt to have high energy levels, short attention spans, and little interest in sitting still for more than a few minutes. culture—especially in school settings—and on tasks that can be accomplished within a single, short testing session. They don’t necessarily tap into skills that are more highly valued and nurtured in other cultures, nor do they tap into skills that involve lengthy time periods (e.g., planning ahead, making wise decisions). ticular test items and may perform poorly on those items as a result. as a result of growing up in a non-English-speaking environment—are at an obvious disadvantage when an intelligence test is administered in English. Thus, their IQ scores will typically be poor indicators of what they will be able to do once their English improves. (Dirks, 1982; Heath, 1989; Neisser et al., 1996; Perkins, 1995; Stanovich, 2009; Sternberg, 2007; Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Kidd, 2005; Zigler & Finn-Stevenson, 1992) Obviously, then, we must be skeptical of IQ scores obtained for students who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, know little English, or were fairly young at the time of assessment. Use the results of more focused measures when you want to assess specific abilities. Whenever we obtain and use IQ scores, we’re buying into the idea that a general factor, or g, underlies students’ school performance. But given the multifaceted nature of intelligence, no single test can possibly give us a complete picture of a student’s current abilities. If we want to estimate a student’s potential for success in a particular domain—say, in mathematics or mechanical reasoning— we’re probably better off using measures of more specific abilities (Ackerman & Lohman, 2006; Horn, 2008; McGrew et al., 1997). However, I urge you to rely only on instruments available

obtained for recent immigrants and other students who were not fluent in English when tested. And in general, never base expectations for students’ achievement solely scores.

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CHAPTER from well-respected test publishers. Tests you might find on the Internet—for instance, tests that claim to be measures of Gardner’s multiple intelligences—have typically undergone little or no research scrutiny, making their results questionable at best. Keep in mind, too, that intelligence tests should be administered only by school psychologists and other professionals who have been specifically trained in their use. Look for behaviors that reveal exceptional talents within the context of a student’s culture. For example, among students who have grown up in predominantly African American communities, intelligence might be reflected in oral language, such as colorful speech, creative storytelling, or humor. For students from Native American cultures, intelligence might be reflected in interpersonal skills, highly skilled craftsmanship, or an exceptional ability to notice and remember subtle landmarks in one’s physical environment (Dai, 2010; Maker & Schiever, 1989; Sternberg, 2005; Torrance, 1989). As teachers, then, we must be careful not to limit our conception of intelligence only to students’ ability to succeed at traditional academic tasks and to perform well on traditional intelligence tests. One alternative is dynamic assessment: Rather than assess what students already know and can do, we might teach them something new and see how quickly and easily they master it (Feuerstein, Feuerstein, & Falik, 2010; Haywood & Lidz, 2007; Sternberg, 2007). Remember that many other factors also affect students’ classroom achievement. Most measures of intelligence focus on specific things that a student can do, with little consideration of what a student is likely to do. For instance, intelligence tests don’t evaluate the extent to which students are willing to view a situation from multiple perspectives, examine data with a critical eye, or actively take charge of their own learning. Yet such traits are often just as important as intellectual ability in determining success on academic and real-world tasks (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Kuhn, 2001a; Perkins, Tishman, Ritchhart, Donis, & Andrade, 2000). In the next section we’ll examine forms that these cognitive styles and dispositions might take.

Chapter 14 provides more details about dynamic assessment.

Cognitive Styles and Dispositions
Students with the same general level of intelligence often approach classroom tasks and think about classroom topics differently. Some of these individual differences reflect cognitive styles, over which students don’t necessarily have much conscious control. Others reflect dispositions, which students voluntarily and intentionally bring to bear on their efforts to master school subject matter. Don’t agonize over the distinction between the two concepts, because their meanings overlap considerably. Both involve not only specific cognitive tendencies but also personality characteristics (Messick, 1994b; Zhang & Sternberg, 2006). Dispositions also have a motivational component—an I-want-to-do-it-this-way quality (Kuhn, 2001a; Perkins & Ritchhart, 2004; Stanovich, 1999). Over the past few decades, psychologists and educators have examined a wide variety of cognitive styles, sometimes instead using the learning styles. Many of the traits they’ve identified and assessment instruments they’ve developed don’t hold up under the scrutiny of other researchers (J. Cassidy, 2004; Krätzig & Arbuthnott, 2006; Messick, 1994b). Furthermore, tailoring particular instructional strategies to students’ self-reported styles—which in some cases are nothing more than students’ preferences—doesn’t necessarily enhance academic achievement (Curry, 1990; R. E. Mayer & Massa, 2003; Nieto & Bode, 2008; Snider, 1990). And neuroscientists have completely debunked the idea that we might teach to students’ “left brains” or “right brains”: Even the simplest of everyday thinking tasks requires the left and right hemispheres of the brain to work together (Bressler, 2002; Gonsalves & Cohen, 2010; Haxby et al., 2001). One dimension of cognitive style worthy of our attention, however, is a distinction between analytic and holistic thinking.1 In analytic thinking, learners tend to break new stimuli and tasks into their component parts and to see these parts somewhat independently
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1In

Don’t plan instruction based on results you might get from easily available and aggressively

cognitive style Characteristic way in which a learner tends to think about a task and process new information; typically comes into play automatically rather than by choice. disposition desire to approach and think about in a particular way; typically has a motivational component in addition to cognitive components.

the research literature you might see distinctions between field independence and field dependence or between reflectivity and impulsivity. Both of these distinctions overlap with the analytic-versus-holistic processing distinction.

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129 of their context. In holistic thinking, learners tend to perceive situations as integrated, indivisible wholes that are closely tied to their context. Researchers have found cultural differences here: People from mainstream Western culture tend to be analytic thinkers, whereas people from East Asian cultures think more holistically (Norenzayan, Choi, & Peng, 2007; Park & Huang, 2010; Varnum, Grossmann, Kitayama, & Nisbett, 2010). In general, logical and scientific reasoning requires analytic thinking, but holistic thinking can help learners identify associations and relationships among seemingly very different phenomena. For example, holistically minded Chinese scientists identified the underlying cause of the ocean’s tides—the moon’s gravitational pull on any large body of water—many centuries before more narrowly focused, earth-centered European scientists did (Nisbett, 2009). In contrast to the mixed research findings regarding cognitive styles and learning styles, research on dispositions has yielded more consistent and fruitful results. Some kinds of dispositions are clearly beneficial for classroom learning: Stimulation seeking: Eagerly interacting with one’s Children differ in their desires for intellectual stimulation and challenging physical and social environment in order to gain cognitive tasks. new experiences and information Need for cognition: Regularly seeking and engaging in challenging cognitive tasks Chapter 7 describes critical thinking Critical thinking: Consistently evaluating information or arguments in terms of their accumore thoroughly. racy, credibility, and worth, rather than accepting them at face value Open-mindedness: Flexibly considering alternative perspectives and multiple sources of evidence, and suspending judgment for a time rather than leaping to immediate conclusions (Cacioppo, Petty, Feinstein, & Jarvis, 1996; DeBacker & Crowson, 2008, 2009; Halpern, 2008; Kang et al., 2009; Kardash & Scholes, 1996; Raine, Reynolds, & Venables, 2002; Southerland & Sinatra, 2003; Stanovich, 1999; West, Toplak, & Stanovich, 2008) Such dispositions are often positively correlated with students’ learning and achievement, and many theorists have suggested that they play a causal role in what and how much students learn. In fact, dispositions sometimes overrule intelligence in their influence on long-term achievement (Dai & Sternberg, 2004; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006; Perkins & Ritchhart, 2004). For instance, children who eagerly seek out physical and social stimulation as preschoolers later become better readers and earn better grades in school (Raine et al., 2002). Students with a high need for cognition learn more from what they read and are more likely to base conclusions on sound evidence and logical reasoning (Cacioppo et al., 1996; Dai, 2002; P. K. Murphy & Mason, 2006). And students who critically evaluate new evidence and open-mindedly listen to diverse perspectives show more advanced reasoning capabilities and are more likely to revise their beliefs in the face of contradictory information (DeBacker & Crowson, 2009; G. Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2006; Southerland & Sinatra, 2003). Researchers haven’t yet systematically addressed the origins of various dispositions. Perhaps inherited temperamental differences (e.g., in stimulation seeking) are involved (Raine et al., 2002). Beliefs about the underlying nature of knowledge—for instance, the belief that knowledge is fixed and unchanging, on the one hand, or dynamic and continually evolving, on the other— may also play a role (P. M. King & Kitchener, 2002; Kuhn, 2001b; Mason, 2003). And almost certainly teachers’ actions and the general classroom atmosphere they create—for example, whether students are encouraged to pursue intriguing topics, take risks, and think critically— make a difference (Flum & Kaplan, 2006; Gresalfi, 2009; Kuhn, 2001b, 2006). In the following classroom interaction, a teacher actually seems to discourage any disposition to think analytically and critically about classroom material:

Beliefs about the underlying nature of knowledge are known as epistemic beliefs (see Chapter 7).

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CHAPTER

Promoting Productive Dispositions
Communicate your own eagerness to learn about and master new topics. culture we’re accustomed to poems that rhyme and have a steady beat. But many centuries ago the Japanese developed a very different form of poetry. This form, called haiku, give you some of my favorite examples, and then as a class we’ll strategy—stuffing a crumpled paper towel into the glass and then

Conduct learning activities in which students collaborate to address intriguing, multifaceted issues.
A few weeks before a national presidential election, a high school see on television now are harshly criticizing opposing candidates, and

Model openmindedness about diverse viewpoints and a willingness to suspend judgment until all the facts are in. the properties of air—especially the fact predict whether the inside of a glass will get wet or stay dry when it is pushed upside down into a bowl of water. After the glass has been immersed, students come to different conclusions about the

groups today, you’ll be looking at transcripts of three political ads, one each from a different candidate’s campaign. Each group

confirm or disconfirm what the candidates are saying about their own records or those of their opponents. Tomorrow we’ll compare the

Ask students to evaluate the quality of scientific evidence, and scaffold their efforts sufficiently that they can reach appropriate conclusions. program that simulates the effects of various factors (amount of rainfall, rate of snowmelt, type of soil, etc.) on local flooding. To guide students’ inquiry, the program asks them to form and then test specific hypotheses, and it occasionally asks them if a particular series of tests has controlled for other potentially influential factors.

Sources: Strategies based on discussions by de Jong, 2011; Gresalfi, 2009; Halpern, 1998; Kuhn, 2001b; Perkins & Ritchhart, 2004; vanSledright & Limón, 2006.

Teacher: Write this on your paper . . . it’s simply memorizing this pattern. We have meters, centimeters, and millimeters. Let’s say . . . write millimeters, centimeters, and meters. We want to make sure that our metric measurement is the same. If I gave you this decimal, let’s say .234 m (yes, write that). In order to come up with .234 m in centimeters, the only thing that is necessary is that you move the decimal. How do we move the decimal? You move it to the right two places. . . . Simple stuff. (Turner, Meyer, et al., 1998, p. 741) Undoubtedly this teacher means well, but notice the noncritical attitude she communicates: “Write this . . . it’s simply memorizing this pattern.” The Into the Classroom feature “Promoting Productive Dispositions” offers strategies that are more likely to be effective.

Educating Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms students with special needs peers that they require specially adapted instructional materials and practices to maximize their learning and achievement.

As teachers, we can typically accommodate many students’ varying abilities and dispositions within the context of a single curriculum and everyday classroom lessons. But we’re also likely to have students with special needs—students who are different enough from their peers that they require specially adapted instructional materials and practices to help them maximize their learning and achievement. Some of these students have cognitive, personal, social, or physical disabilities that adversely affect their performance in a typical classroom. Others, instead, are so advanced in a particular domain—that is, they are gifted—that they gain little from grade-level activities and assignments.

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In the United States, most students with special educational needs are in general education classrooms for part or all of the school day—a practice known as inclusion (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2010). In fact, federal legislation mandates that students with disabilities be educated in neighborhood schools and, ideally, in regular classrooms to the greatest extent possible. inclusion Practice of educating all students, including those with severe and multiple disabilities, in neighborhood schools and general education classrooms.

PUBLIC LAW 94-142: INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT (IDEA)
In 1975 the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 94-142, which is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This act has been amended and reauthorized several times since then, most recently in 2004 under the name Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. It currently grants educational rights from birth until age 21 for people with cognitive, emotional, or physical disabilities. It guarantees several rights for students with disabilities: A free and appropriate education. All students with disabilities are entitled to a free educational program designed specifically to meet their unique educational needs. For example, to acquire adequate reading skills, a student with a reading disability might require tailor-made reading materials and some one-on-one instruction. Fair and nondiscriminatory evaluation. A multidisciplinary team conducts an in-depth evaluation of any student who may be eligible for special services. The team’s makeup depends on the student’s needs but typically consists of two or more teachers, any appropriate specialists, and the student’s parent(s) or guardian(s). Using a variety of tests and other evaluation tools, school personnel conduct a complete assessment of potential disabling conditions. Evaluation procedures must take a student’s background and any suspected physical or communication difficulties into account. For example, tests must be administered in a student’s primary language. Education in the least restrictive environment. To the greatest extent possible, students with disabilities should be included in the same academic environment, extracurricular activities, and social interactions as their nondisabled peers. That is, they must have the least restrictive environment, the most typical and standard educational environment that, with sufficient supplementary aids and support services, can reasonably meet their needs. Exclusion from general education is warranted only when others’ safety would be jeopardized or when, even with proper support and assistance, a student can’t make appreciable progress in a general education setting. Individualized education program (IEP). When an individual aged 3 to 21 is identified as having a disability, the multidisciplinary team collaboratively develops an instructional program, called an individualized education program (IEP), tailored to the individual’s strengths and weaknesses (see Figure 5.2). The IEP is a written statement that the team

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) legislation granting educational rights from birth until age 21 for people with cognitive, emotional, or physical disabilities.

least restrictive environment typical and standard educational environment that can reasonably meet the needs of a student with a disability.

individualized education program (IEP) appropriate instructional program for a student with special needs.

Provide as typical an educational experience as possible for all of your students.

FIGURE 5.2
Measurement of progress: student’s progress will be monitored and how parents will be informed of this progress. Participation in state and district-wide tests: Explanation of any modifications or exclusions with respect to regularly administered achievement tests and, if applicable, description of any alternative measures of achievement. Dates and places: will begin and how long they will continue. Transition services: goals and preparing to leave school.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2000.

Current performance: school achievement levels, including classroom tests and assignments, teachers’ and specialists’ observations, and results of individually administered assessments. Annual goals: to the student’s academic, social, behavioral, and/or physical needs. Special education and related services: The special services, supplementary aids, and program modifications that will be provided in order to help the student meet the annual goals.
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Participation with nondisabled children: of the extent to which the student will not participate in regular classroom and extracurricular activities.

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CHAPTER continues to review and, if appropriate, revise at least once a year—more frequently if conditions warrant. Due process. IDEA mandates several practices that ensure that students’ and parents’ rights are preserved throughout the decision-making process. For instance, parents can give or withhold permission to have their child evaluated for special education services, and they must be notified in writing before the school takes any action that might change their child’s educational program. Upon request, parents can see all school records about their child. And if the parents and school system disagree on the most appropriate placement for a child, mediation or a hearing before an impartial individual (i.e., someone who isn’t employed by the school district) can be used to resolve the differences. IDEA has now been in effect for four decades, and in that time it has had a significant impact on the nature of special education. More and more, teachers are realizing that truly inclusive practices require differentiated instruction for all students, not just those with formally identified needs. And rather than provide specialized instruction in a separate classroom, many special education teachers now partner with regular classroom teachers to jointly teach all students—both those with disabilities and those without—during part or all of the school day.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF INCLUSION
Despite the mandates of IDEA, inclusive practices for students with disabilities have been controversial. Some experts argue that students are most likely to develop normal peer relationships and social skills when they participate fully in their school’s overall social life. But others worry that when students with special needs are in a regular classroom for the entire school day, they can’t get the intensive specialized instruction they may need to achieve essential skills in reading, math, and the like. Furthermore, nondisabled classmates may stigmatize, avoid, or bully students who appear to be odd or incompetent in some way (Hamovitch, 2007). Numerous research studies have suggested that attending general education classes for part or all of the school day can have several positive outcomes for students with disabilities: classroom

if the school environment is one in which all students accept and respect individual differences among their peers (C. M. Cole, Waldron, & Majd, 2004; Halvorsen & Sailor, 1990; Hamovitch, 2007; Hattie, 2009; P. Hunt & Goetz, 1997; MacMaster, Donovan, & MacIntyre, 2002; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1994; Slavin, 1987; Soodak & McCarthy, 2006; Stainback & Stainback, 1992) We’re especially likely to see such outcomes when students understand the nature of their disabilities and when instruction and materials are tailored to students’ specific needs, perhaps in their regular classrooms or perhaps in short resource-room sessions (e.g., H. L. Swanson, Hoskyn, & Lee, 1999). Appropriate assistive technology—electronic devices and other equipment that can enhance students’ abilities and performance—is also extremely valuable in helping students successfully participate in the curriculum and social life of general education classrooms. In contrast, it’s not helpful to pretend that students’ difficulties don’t exist—for instance, by saying that a student is simply “having a bad day.” Nondisabled students often benefit from inclusive practices as well. For example, they may be able to take advantage of special supports designed for students with disabilities—perhaps detailed study guides or supplementary explanations (C. M. Cole et al., 2004). Furthermore, they acquire an increasing awareness of the heterogeneous nature of the human race and discover that individuals with special needs are in many respects very much like themselves (P. Hunt & Goetz, 1997; D. Staub, 1998). I think of my son Jeff’s friendship with Evan, a classmate with severe physical and cognitive disabilities, during their third-grade year. The boys’ teacher had asked Jeff to be a special friend to Evan, interacting with him at lunch and whenever else the class schedule allowed. Although largely unable to speak, Evan always made it clear through gestures

assistive technology Any electronic or nonelectronic device that can enhance certain abilities or performance areas for students with disabilities.

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133 and facial expressions that he was delighted to spend time with his friend, giving Jeff—who was quite shy—a considerable boost in social self-confidence. Several years later Jeff reflected on his friendship with Evan:
It made me realize that Evan was a person too. It made me realize that I could have a friendship with a boy with disabilities. Doing things that made Evan happy made me happy as well. I knew that Evan knew that we were friends. response to intervention (RTI)
Approach to diagnosing a cognitive impairment in which students are failing to master certain basic skills

has shown to be effective for most students.

It’s essential, of course, that nondisabled students treat classmates who have disabilities in respectful and supportive ways and, better still, forge friendships with these classmates. As teachers, we can do several things to nurture good relationships between students with and without disabilities: Explicitly point out the strengths of a student with a disability. Ask students with and without disabilities to assist others in their particular areas of strength. Plan academic and recreational activities that require cooperation. Encourage students with disabilities to participate in extracurricular activities and community events. (Bassett et al., 1996; DuPaul, Ervin, Hook, & McGoey, 1998; Hamovitch, 2007; Madden & Slavin, 1983; Turnbull, Pereira, & Blue-Banning, 2000)

people-first language usage in which a student’s disability is identified after the student is named.

IDENTIFYING STUDENTS’ SPECIAL NEEDS: RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION AND PEOPLE-FIRST LANGUAGE
Experts don’t completely agree about how to define various categories of special needs—especially those not involving obvious physical conditions—or about how best to identify students who fit into each category. In the United States, IDEA provides specific identification criteria for various disabilities. Students with disabilities who don’t meet IDEA’s criteria are often eligible for special educational services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (sometimes referred to simply as Section 504). This act stipulates that institutions that benefit from federal funding (including public schools) can’t discriminate against individuals on the basis of a disability. Procedures for assessing and accommodating students’ disabilities are less prescriptive in Section 504 than they are in IDEA—a situation that can be either advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on the circumstances. (For more details on the differences between IDEA and Section 504, see deBettencourt, 2002; alternatively, type “IDEA vs. 504” in an Internet search engine such as Google or Yahoo!) One approach to identification that is gaining increasing support (and that is endorsed in the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA) involves determining response to intervention (RTI). In this approach, a teacher keeps an eye out for any student who has exceptional difficulty with basic skills in a certain domain (e.g., in reading or math) despite normal whole-class instruction and intensive follow-up small-group instruction that have both been shown by research to be effective for most children. Such a student is referred for in-depth assessments of various characteristics and abilities. If the assessment rules out obvious disabling conditions (e.g., significant genetic abnormalities, sensory impairments), the student is assumed to have a cognitive impairment— often, but not always, falling within the category of learning disabilities—and is therefore eligible for special services (e.g., Fletcher & Vaughn, 2009; L. S. Fuchs & Fuchs, 2009; Mellard & Johnson, 2008). Whenever we identify a student as having a particular disability, however, we run the risk of focusing other people’s attention on weaknesses rather than on the student’s many strengths and age-typical characteristics. To minimize such an effect, special educators urge us all to use people-first language when referring to students with disabilities—in other words, to mention the person before the disability. For instance, we might say student with a learning disability rather than learning disabled student or student who is blind rather than blind student. In upcoming sections of the chapter, I group students with special needs into five general categories. Table 5.2 lists the specific kinds of special needs that fall within each category. Disabilities covered by IDEA appear in a red color in the table.

genuine appreciation and respect for

talking about students with disabilities.

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CHAPTER

STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS
TABLE 5.2 General and Specific Categories of Students with Special Needs (Specific Categories Listed in Red Are Covered by IDEA)
GENERAL CATEGORY
Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties: These students exhibit an uneven pattern of academic performance; they may have unusual difficulty with certain kinds of tasks yet perform quite successfully on other tasks.

SPECIFIC CATEGORIES

DESCRIPTION
Difficulties in specific cognitive processes (e.g., in perception, language, or memory) that cannot be attributed to other disabilities, such as mental retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders, or sensory impairments Disorder marked by either or both of these

are often eligible for special services under the )

maintaining attention and (2) frequent hyperactive and impulsive behavior mispronunciations of certain sounds, stuttering, or abnormal syntactical patterns) or in language comprehension that significantly interfere with classroom performance

Students with social or behavioral problems: These students exhibit social, emotional, or behavioral difficulties serious enough to interfere significantly with their academic performance.

Emotional and behavioral disorders

Emotional states and behaviors that are present over a substantial period of time and significantly disrupt academic learning and performance Disorders marked by impaired social cognition, social skills, and social interaction, as well as repetition of certain idiosyncratic behaviors; milder forms (e.g., Asperger syndrome) associated with normal development in other domains; extreme forms associated with delayed cognitive and linguistic development and highly unusual behaviors ) intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior (i.e., in practical and social intelligence); deficits are evident in childhood and typically appear at an early age

Autism spectrum disorders

Students with general delays in cognitive and social functioning: These students exhibit low achievement in virtually all academic areas and have social skills typical of much younger children. Students with physical or sensory challenges: These students have disabilities caused by diagnosed physical or medical problems. Physical and health impairments

term) that interfere with school performance as a result of limited energy and strength, reduced mental alertness, or little muscle control Visual impairments prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses Hearing loss that interfere with the perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal speech

Students with advanced cognitive development: These students have unusually high ability in one or more areas.

disability is also present)

more domains within the academic curriculum, requiring special educational services to help students meet their full potential

Students with Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties
Some students with special educational needs show no outward signs of physical disability yet have cognitive difficulties that interfere with their ability to learn certain kinds of academic material or perform certain kinds of classroom tasks. Such students include those with learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and speech and communication disorders.
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LEARNING DISABILITIES
Students with learning disabilities have significant difficulties in one or more specific cognitive processes that can’t be attributed to cultural or linguistic diversity, generally delayed cognitive development, emotional problems, sensory impairment, or environmental deprivation. Such difficulties often appear to result from specific and possibly inherited brain dysfunctions (N. Gregg, 2009; Price, Holloway, Räsänen, Vesterinen, & Ansari, 2007; K. Pugh & McCardle, 2009). Figure 5.3 lists several forms that a learning disability might take. COMMON CHARACTERISTICS In general, students with learning disabilities are different from one another in many more ways than they are similar. They typically have many strengths but may face such challenges as these: learning disabilities Deficiencies in one or more specific cognitive processes but not in overall cognitive functioning.

vidualized assistance in areas of difficulty

N. Gregg, 2009; K. Pugh & McCardle, 2009; Waber, 2010) By no means do such characteristics describe all students with learning disabilities. For instance, some are attentive in class and work diligently on assignments, and some are socially skillful and popular with peers. Sometimes learning disabilities reflect a mismatch between students’ developing abilities, on the one hand, and grade-level expectations for performance, on the other (Waber, 2010). For instance, as students reach middle school, they’re typically expected to work with little or no supervision, yet students with learning disabilities don’t always have the time management skills they need to get things done (N. Gregg, 2009). And in high school, learning may require reading and studying relatively sophisticated textbooks, yet the average high school student with a learning disability reads at a fourth- to fifth-grade level and has few, if any, effective study strategies (Cutting, Eason, Young, & Alberstadt, 2009; Deshler et al., 2001; Meltzer & Krishnan, 2007). This exercise can give you a sense of how these students might feel under such circumstances.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Read the following passage carefully. I will test you on its contents later in the chapter.
Personality research needs to refocus on global traits because such traits are an important part of everyday social discourse, because they embody a good deal of folk wisdom and common sense, because understanding and evaluating trait judgments can provide an important route toward the improvement of social judgment, and because global traits offer legitimate, if necessarily incomplete, explanations of behavior. A substantial body of evidence supporting the existence of global traits includes personality correlates of behavior, interjudge agreement in personality ratings, and the longitudinal stability of personality over time. Future research should clarify the origins of global traits, the dynamic mechanisms through which they influence behavior, and the behavioral cues through which they can most accurately be judged. (Funder, 1991, p. 31)

How well do you think you will perform on the upcoming test about this passage?

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The passage you just read is a fairly typical one from Psychological Science, a professional journal written for people with advanced education (e.g., doctoral degrees) in psychology. Hence, it was written well above a typical college student’s reading level. I won’t really test you on the passage’s contents, but I hope that the exercise gave you a feel for the frustration that high school students with learning disabilities might experience every day. For many students with learning

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 5.3 Examples of cognitive processing deficiencies in students with learning disabilities
Perceptual difficulty. or remembering information they receive through a particular modality, such as vision or hearing. Memory difficulty. information over either the short or long run (i.e., they may have problems with either working memory or long-term memory). Metacognitive difficulty. effective learning strategies, monitoring progress toward learning goals, and in other ways directing their own learning. Oral language processing difficulty understanding spoken language or remembering what they have been told. Reading difficulty. words or comprehending what they read; extreme form is known as dyslexia. Written language difficulty. handwriting, spelling, or expressing themselves coherently on paper; an extreme form is known as dysgraphia. Mathematical difficulty. remembering information involving numbers; an extreme form is known as dyscalculia. Social perception difficulty. others’ social cues and signals and thus may respond inappropriately in social situations. Music processing difficulty. differences in pitch and be unable to recognize familiar tunes; an extreme form is known as amusia.

disabilities, completing school assignments may constantly seem like fighting an uphill battle. Perhaps for this reason, a higher-than-average percentage of students with learning disabilities drop out of school before graduation (N. Gregg, 2009). ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Instructional strategies for students with learning disabilities must be tailored to students’ specific strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, several strategies should benefit many of these students: Minimize distractions. Because many students with learning disabilities are easily distracted, we should minimize the presence of other stimuli that might compete for their attention—for example, by pulling down window shades if other classes are playing outside and by asking students to clear away materials they don’t immediately need (Buchoff, 1990). Present new information in an explicit and well-organized manner. Most students with learning disabilities learn more successfully when instruction directly communicates what they need to learn, rather than requiring them to draw inferences and synthesize ideas on their own. Frequent and carefully structured practice of important skills is also critical (Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007; Hallenbeck, 1996; J. A. Stein & Krishnan, 2007). Present information in multiple sensory modalities. Because some students with learning disabilities have trouble learning through a particular sensory modality, we need to think broadly about the modalities we use to communicate information. For example, when teaching students to recognize alphabet letters, we might have them not only look at the letters but also trace large, textured letter shapes with their fingers (Florence, Gentaz, Pascale, & Sprenger-Charolles, 2004). And in lectures in the secondary grades, we might incorporate videos, graphics, and other visual materials, and we might encourage students to audiotape the lectures (J. A. Stein & Krishnan, 2007; J. W. Wood & Rosbe, 1985). FIGURE 5.4 Seven-year-old Daniel’s Analyze students’ errors for clues about processing difficulties. As an example attempt to write “I trust a policeman” of this strategy, look at 7-year-old Daniel’s attempt to write “I trust a policeman” in Figure 5.4. Daniel captured several sounds correctly, including the “s” and final “t” sounds in trust and all of the consonant sounds in policeman. However, he misrepresented the first two consonant sounds in trust, replacing the t and r with an N. He also neglected to represent most of the vowel sounds, and two of the three vowels he did include (I for the article a and the E near the end of policeman) are incorrect. We might suspect that Daniel has difficulty hearing all the distinct sounds in spoken words and matching them with the letters he sees in written words. Such difficulties are quite common in students with significant reading disabilities (Goswami, 2007; N. Gregg, 2009; K. Pugh & McCardle, 2009).

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Teach study skills and learning strategies. Many students with learning disabilities benefit from being taught specific strategies for completing assignments and remembering classroom subject matter (Fletcher et al., 2007; Meltzer, 2007; Wilder & Williams, 2001). For example, we might teach them concrete strategies for taking notes and organizing homework. We might also teach them specific mnemonics, or memory tricks, to help them remember particular facts (e.g., see Figure 5.5). Provide paper or electronic scaffolding that can support students as they study and work. For example, we might develop study guides, outlines, or graphics that help students identify and interrelate important concepts and ideas. We could provide a copy of a high-achieving classmate’s lecture notes. And we can teach students how to use the grammar and spell checkers in word processing software (N. Gregg, 2009; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1992; Meltzer, 2007).
Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 provide many strategies for helping students study and learn.

FIGURE 5.5 A mnemonic for remembering the letters b and d

ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD)
Virtually all students are apt to be inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive at one time or another. But those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically have significant and chronic deficits in these areas, as reflected in the following identification criteria: Inattention. Students may have considerable difficulty focusing and maintaining attention on assigned tasks, especially when appealing alternatives are close at hand. They may have trouble listening to and following directions, and they may often make careless mistakes. Hyperactivity. Students may seem to have an excess amount of energy. They’re apt to be fidgety and may move around the classroom at inappropriate times. Impulsivity. Students almost invariably have trouble inhibiting inappropriate behaviors. They may blurt out answers, begin assignments prematurely, or engage in risky or destructive behaviors without thinking about potential consequences. (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Barkley, 2006; Gatzke-Kopp & Beauchaine, 2007; N. Gregg, 2009) Students with ADHD don’t necessarily show all three of these characteristics. For instance, some are inattentive without also being hyperactive, as is true for Tim in the opening case study. But all students with ADHD appear to have one characteristic in common: an inability to inhibit inappropriate thoughts, inappropriate actions, or both (Barkley, 2006, 2010; B. J. Casey, 2001; Nigg, 2010). Tim, for example, is easily distracted by his thoughts and daydreams when he should be focusing on a classroom lesson. In many instances, ADHD appears to be the result of brain abnormalities that limit students’ ability to focus their attention and control their behaviors. Sometimes these abnormalities are inherited, but sometimes, instead, they’re the result of toxic substances in children’s early environments—perhaps high lead content in the paint dust of old buildings (Accardo, 2008; Barkley, 2010; Faranoe et al., 2005; Gatzke-Kopp & Beauchaine, 2007; Nigg, 2010). COMMON CHARACTERISTICS In addition to inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, students identified as having ADHD may have characteristics such as these:

Young children with learning disabil ities often confuse lowercase b and d. By clenching their fists as shown

they can more easily remember the alphabet and the fists.

achievement

& Beauchaine, 2007; S. Goldstein & Rider, 2006; N. Gregg, 2009; Hallowell, 1996; Skowronek, Leichtman, & Pillemer, 2008)
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Students’ attention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness problems may diminish somewhat in adolescence, but they don’t entirely disappear, making it difficult for students to handle the increasing demands for independence and self-regulation that come in high school. Accordingly, students

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Disorder marked by inattention, hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, or some combination of these characteristics.

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CHAPTER with ADHD are at greater-than-average risk for dropping out of school (Barkley, 2006; S. Goldstein & Rider, 2006; N. Gregg, 2009; E. L. Hart, Lahey, Loeber, Applegate, & Frick, 1995). ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Some students with ADHD take medication that helps them control their symptoms. But medication alone is rarely sufficient to enable classroom success; individually tailored educational interventions are also in order (Purdie, Hattie, & Carroll, 2002). The strategies previously listed for students with learning disabilities can often be helpful for students with ADHD. Researchers and practitioners have offered several additional suggestions: Modify students’ work environments and schedules. Students with ADHD do better in a work environment where there are minimal distractions, some degree of structure, and ongoing teacher monitoring. And ideally, students should have most academic subjects and challenging tasks in the morning rather than in the afternoon, as the symptoms of ADHD tend to get progressively worse as the day goes on (Barkley, 2006; N. Gregg, 2009). Explicitly facilitate attention and concentration. Students may benefit from soundproof headphones or “white noise” machines that block out many potentially distracting sounds, or, for a low-tech alternative, we might encourage them to move to a new location if their current one presents too many distractions (Buchoff, 1990; N. Gregg, 2009). Also, some computer programs give students intense practice in focusing and keeping their attention on specific stimuli (e.g., see Klingberg, Keonig, & Bilbe, 2002; Rueda, Rothbart, McCandliss, Saccomanno, & Posner, 2005). Provide outlets for excess energy. To help students control excess energy, we should intersperse quiet academic work with frequent opportunities for physical exercise (Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005; Pfiffner, Barkley, & DuPaul, 2006). We might also give students a settling-in time after recess or lunch—perhaps reading an excerpt from a high-interest storybook or magazine article—before asking them to engage in an activity that involves quiet concentration (Pellegrini & Horvat, 1995). Help students organize and use their time effectively. For example, we can show them how to prioritize activities, create to-do lists, and establish a daily routine that they post on their desks. We can break large tasks into smaller ones and set a short time limit for each subtask. And we can provide a folder in which students transport homework assignments to and from school (Buchoff, 1990; N. Gregg, 2009; Pfiffner et al., 2006).

FIGURE 5.6 Like many students with ADHD, 10-year-old Joshua has specific cognitive processing difficulties. Although he has the math skills of a typical fifth grader, he has delayed reading comprehension and writing skills, as reflected in the book report shown here. Josh can more easily express his thoughts orally.

SPEECH AND COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
Speech and communication disorders are impairments in spoken language or language com-

described in Chapter 2.

prehension that significantly interfere with students’ classroom performance. Examples include persistent articulation problems (e.g., see Figure 5.7), stuttering, abnormal syntactical patterns, and difficulty understanding other people’s speech. Sometimes, but not always, these children have difficulty perceiving and mentally processing particular aspects of spoken language—a subcategory of speech and communication disorders known as specific language impairments. And often—but again, not always—the source of the disorder can be traced to heredity or specific brain abnormalities (Bishop, 2006; J. L. Locke, 1993; Spinath, Price, Dale, & Plomin, 2004). COMMON CHARACTERISTICS Although some students with speech and communication disorders have other disabilities as well, many of them are in most ways just typical students. Nevertheless, the following characteristics are fairly common:
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speech and communication disorders language or language comprehension that significantly interfere with classroom performance.

Steckol, & Smith, 1994; Rice, Hadley, & Alexander, 1993)

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FIGURE 5.7 Seven-year-old Isaac receives speech therapy at school to address his consistent mispronunciation of certain sounds (such as pronouncing “th” as “v”). In his writing, he sometimes spells words as he says them rather than as he hears them (for instance, he writes ven for then).

ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Usually a trained specialist will work with students to help them improve or overcome their speech and communication difficulties. Nevertheless, general education teachers can assist in several ways: Encourage regular oral communication. Students with speech and communication disorders need as much practice in classroom-based public speaking as their classmates do. Thus, we should encourage them to talk in class, provided that doing so doesn’t create exceptional stress (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2009; Patton, Blackbourn, & Fad, 1996). Listen patiently. When students have trouble expressing themselves, we might be tempted to assist them, perhaps by finishing their sentences for them. But we better help them when we allow them to complete their own thoughts, and we must encourage their classmates to be equally patient (Heward, 2009; Patton et al., 1996). Ask for clarification when a message is unclear. If we haven’t entirely understood what students are saying, we should explain what we did understand and ask for clarification of the rest. Honest feedback helps students learn how well they’re communicating (Patton et al., 1996). Use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) when students have little or no oral language. Some forms of AAC involve computer technology; for example, a laptop or computer tablet might have a touch screen that “speaks” when a students puts a fingers on particular words or symbols. Others are nonelectronic; for example, we might give students a set of pictures or teach them some gestures they can use to represent their thoughts (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005).

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
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In addition to the strategies described in the preceding pages, several general ones apply to many students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties: Get an early start on appropriate interventions. When students lack basic concepts and skills on which their future learning will depend, intensive instruction to fill in the gaps—and the

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CHAPTER earlier, the better—can often make a significant difference in their achievement over the long run (Fletcher et al., 2007; L. S. Fuchs et al., 2005; Waber, 2010; Wanzek & Vaughn, 2007). Take skill levels into account when assigning reading materials. Even after intensive reading instruction, many students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties continue to have poor reading skills. Thus, we may sometimes need to identify alternatives to standard grade-level textbooks for presenting academic content. For example, we might reduce the amount of required reading, substitute materials written on a simpler (yet not babyish) level, or present information through some medium other than printed text—perhaps audiotapes or text-to-speech computer software (N. Gregg, 2009; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2007). Students may also need extra guidance and support when assignments require them to find and read information on the Internet (Sampson, Szabo, Falk-Ross, Foote, & Linder, 2007). Clearly describe expectations for academic performance. Students will have an easier time accomplishing classroom tasks if they’re told, in concrete and precise terms, exactly what’s expected of them (Meltzer & Krishnan, 2007). For example, before students begin a science lab activity, we might first remind them to carefully follow the steps described on the lab sheet, then review safety precautions, and finally provide a written list of components that should be included in lab reports. Take steps to enhance self-confidence and motivation. Students with a long history of failure at academic tasks need to see that they’re making progress and that they do some things quite well. For instance, we can give them daily or weekly goals we know they can attain. We can also have them keep journals in which they describe the successes they’ve achieved each day. And, of course, we should give them opportunities to do tasks at which they excel (Buchoff, 1990; J. A. Stein & Krishnan, 2007).

emotional and behavioral disorders
Emotional states and behavior patterns that consistently and significantly disrupt academic learning and performance.

externalizing behavior an emotional or behavioral disorder that has a direct effect on other people

internalizing behavior an emotional or behavioral disorder that adversely affects the student with the disorder but has little or no direct effect on other people (e.g., depression, social withdrawal).

Students with Social or Behavioral Problems
Many students have minor social, emotional, or behavioral difficulties at one time or another, particularly during times of unusual stress or major life changes. Often these problems are temporary ones that require only a little extra support from caring adults and peers. At other times problems are more enduring but don’t reflect a disability. Perhaps a student’s temperament is a poor fit with a teacher’s instructional strategies—for instance, an especially fidgety child may perform poorly on lengthy seatwork assignments—or perhaps a teacher simply hasn’t made clear the expectations and rules for classroom behavior (Keogh, 2003; Mehan, 1979). In such situations students’ problems may decrease or disappear with a change in instructional practices or classroom management strategies. However, some students show a pattern of behaviors that consistently interfere with their learning and performance regardless of the teacher and the classroom environment. In this section we’ll look at two groups of students who fit into this category: those with emotional and behavioral disorders and those with autism spectrum disorders.

instructional strategies to students’ temperaments, see the section on goodness of fit in Chapter 3.

EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS
Students with emotional and behavioral disorders become identified as students with special needs—and therefore qualify for special educational services—when their problems have a substantial negative impact on classroom learning. Symptoms of emotional and behavioral disorders typically fall into one of two broad categories. Externalizing behaviors have direct or indirect effects on other people; examples include aggression, defiance, stealing, and general lack of self-control. Internalizing behaviors primarily affect the student with the disorder; examples include severe anxiety or depression, exaggerated mood swings, withdrawal from social interaction, and eating disorders. Students with externalizing behaviors—who are more likely to be boys than girls—are more likely to be referred for evaluation and possible special services. However, students with internalizing behaviors—who are more likely to be girls than boys—can be just as much at risk for school failure (Angold, Worthman, & Costello, 2003; Gay, 2006; Hayward, 2003). Some emotional and behavioral disorders result from environmental factors, such as stressful living conditions, child maltreatment, or family alcohol or drug abuse (P. T. Davies & Woitach,

Report suspicions about child maltreatment immediately to school administrators or child protective services.

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2008; D. Glaser, 2000; Maughan & Cicchetti, 2002). But biological causes (e.g., inherited predispositions, chemical imbalances, brain injuries) may also be involved, either by themselves or by interaction with adverse environmental conditions (Dodge, 2009; Raine, 2008; Yeo, Gangestad, & Thoma, 2007). Some students with a genetic predisposition for an emotional or behavioral disorder exhibit few if any signs of a problem until adolescence, as the following case illustrates: As a ninth grader, Kirk was a well-behaved, likeable student who earned As and Bs and showed particular promise in science and math. But in tenth grade, his grades began to decline, and he increasingly exhibited hostile and defiant behaviors. When Kirk failed three classes during the fall of his twelfth-grade year, the school principal convened a meeting with him, his parents, and his faculty advisor to discuss how to help Kirk get back on track. At the meeting the principal described several occasions on which Kirk had acted disoriented, belligerent, and seemingly “high” on drugs. Despite his strong desire to attend college the following year, Kirk sat at the meeting smirking (seemingly gleeful about his predicament) and focusing his attention on sorting pieces of trail mix in a bowl on the conference room table. By the end of the meeting, the principal was so infuriated that she expelled him from school. Over the next few weeks, Kirk’s mental condition and behavior continued to deteriorate, to the point that he was soon arrested, placed in a juvenile detention facility, and eventually hospitalized in the state mental institution. Kirk was ultimately diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition that is usually inherited and is characterized by excessive mood swings (hence, the disorder is sometimes called manic depression) and in some cases (like Kirk’s) by distorted thought processes. Bipolar disorder often doesn’t appear until adolescence, even though its biological underpinnings have been present since birth (Griswold & Pessar, 2000). When students have emotional or behavioral disorders, their inappropriate behaviors interfere not only with academic achievement but also with peer relationships, leading to social as well as academic failure. Some of these students may seek the companionship of the few peers who will accept them—peers who typically behave in similarly inappropriate ways and may introduce one another to drugs, alcohol, or criminal activity (J. Snyder et al., 2008; Webber & Plotts, 2008). COMMON CHARACTERISTICS Students with emotional and behavioral disorders differ considerably in their abilities and personalities. However, in addition to the difficulty in maintaining healthy peer relationships just mentioned, you may observe one or more of the following characteristics:

Heywood, 1999; Harter, 1999; Leiter & Johnsen, 1997; McGlynn, 1998; C. M. Richards, Symons, Greene, & Szuszkiewicz, 1995; Turnbull, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, 2010; Webber & Plotts, 2008) Some students with emotional and behavioral disorders have other special needs as well, including learning disabilities, ADHD, or giftedness (Fessler, Rosenberg, & Rosenberg, 1991; GatzkeKopp & Beauchaine, 2007; Webber & Plotts, 2008). ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Effective interventions must be tailored to each student’s unique needs, but several strategies can benefit many of these students:
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Show an interest in students’ well-being and personal growth. A good first step in helping students with emotional and behavioral disorders is simply showing that we care about them (Chang & Davis, 2009; Clarke et al., 1995; S. C. Diamond, 1991; Heward, 2009). For example,

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CHAPTER we can greet them warmly when we see them, express concern when they seem upset or overly stressed, and lend a supportive ear when they want to share their opinions or frustrations. And we can take students’ personal interests into account when planning instruction and assignments. Give students a sense that they have some control over their circumstances. Some students, especially those who are frequently defiant, often respond to efforts to control them by behaving even less appropriately. With such students it’s important to avoid power struggles in which only one person wins and the other inevitably loses. Instead, we must create situations in which we ensure that students conform to classroom expectations yet feel that they have some control over what happens to them. For example, we can teach them techniques for observing and monitoring their own actions, with the goal of developing more productive classroom behavior. We can also give them choices, within reasonable limits, about what tasks to accomplish in particular situations (Chang & Davis, 2009; Kern, Dunlap, Childs, & Clark, 1994; Lane, Falk, & Wehby, 2006). Be alert for signs that a student may be contemplating suicide. In the United States, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for adolescents; occasionally even younger students take their own lives (Goldston et al., 2008; Westefeld et al., 2010). Warning signs include the following:

autism spectrum disorders Disorders marked by impaired social cognition, social skills, and social interaction, presumably due to a brain abnormality; extreme forms often associated with significant cognitive and linguistic delays and highly unusual behaviors. Asperger syndrome an autism spectrum disorder in which students have normal intelligence and language skills but show significant deficits in social cognition and social skills.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders are more likely to succeed in inclusive settings if the general education teacher and special education teacher coordinate their efforts. For example, watch “Including Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in General Education.”

possessions) (Kerns & Lieberman, 1993; Wiles & Bondi, 2001) As teachers, we must take any of these warning signs seriously and seek help immediately from trained professionals, such as school psychologists or counselors. It’s also essential, of course, that we help students with emotional and behavioral disorders acquire more appropriate behaviors. I describe strategies for doing so after the discussion of autism spectrum disorders in the next section.

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS
The central, defining features of autism spectrum disorders are marked impairments in social cognition (e.g., perspective taking, interpreting other people’s body language), social skills, and social interaction. Many students with these disorders prefer to be alone and form weak, if any, emotional attachments to other people. Common, too, are repetitive behaviors (often very odd ones rarely seen in age-mates) and inflexible adherence to certain routines or rituals (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Lord, 2010; Pelphrey & Carter, 2007; TagerFlusberg, 2007). Aside from similarities in social impairments and repetitive behaviors, individuals with autism spectrum disorders differ considerably in the severity of their condition—hence the term spectrum. In Asperger syndrome, a fairly mild form, students have normal language skills and average or above-average intelligence. In severe cases, which are often referred to simply as autism, children have major delays in cognitive development and language and may exhibit certain bizarre behaviors—perhaps constantly rocking or waving fingers, continually repeating what someone else has said, or showing unusual fascination with a very narrow category of objects (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Lord, 2010). The vast majority of autism spectrum disorders are probably caused by abnormalities in the brain. Some researchers have observed abnormalities in mirror neurons—neurons that probably underlie people’s perspective-taking abilities (Gallese, Gernsbacher, Heyes, Hickok, & Iacoboni, 2011). Other researchers have discovered abnormalities in interconnections among various parts of the brain—for example, in connections between parts that enable logical reasoning or inhibition of impulses, on the one hand, and parts that underlie emotions and emotional processing, on the other (Cherkassky, Kana, Keller, & Just, 2006; I. L. Cohen, 2007; Kana, Keller, Minshew, & Just, 2007). Also, students with autism spectrum disorders may be either undersensitive or oversensitive

detail in Chapter 3.

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143 to environmental stimulation (Ratey, 2001; R. C. Sullivan, 1994; D. Williams, 1996). Temple Grandin, a woman who has gained international prominence as a designer of livestock facilities, recalls what it was like to be a child with autism:
From as far back as I can remember, I always hated to be hugged. I wanted to experience the good feeling of being hugged, but it was just too overwhelming. It was like a great, all-engulfing tidal wave of stimulation, and I reacted like a wild animal. . . . When I was little, loud noises were also a problem, often feeling like a dentist’s drill hitting a nerve. They actually caused pain. I was scared to death of balloons popping, because the sound was like an explosion in my ear. (Grandin, 1995, pp. 63, 67)

Children with autism sometimes need

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS In addition to the traits already described, students with autism spectrum disorders may have characteristics such as these:

Soulières, Gernsbacher, & Mottron, 2007; Gernsbacher, Stevenson, Khandakar, & Goldsmith, 2008; Grandin & Johnson, 2005; Lord, 2010; Meltzer, 2007; Pelphrey & Carter, 2007; Tager-Flusberg, 2007) Occasionally students with autism exhibit savant syndrome, possessing an extraordinary ability (e.g., exceptional mathematical, artistic, or musical talent) that is quite remarkable in contrast to other aspects of their mental functioning (I. L. Cohen, 2007; L. K. Miller, 2005; Treffert & Wallace, 2002). ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Children with Asperger syndrome are typically in general education classes, and some students with more severe autism spectrum disorders also participate in general education classes for part or all of the school day. Many of the classroom strategies described in earlier sections are applicable for such students. Two additional strategies are helpful as well: Maximize consistency in the classroom layout and weekly schedule. Many students with autism spectrum disorders feel more comfortable when their environments and schedules are predictable. At the beginning of the school year, then, we should arrange furniture and equipment in ways that will be serviceable throughout the school year, making adjustments later only if absolutely necessary. And to the greatest extent possible, we should schedule recurring activities at the same times each day or on particular days of the week. If the schedule must change for some reason, we should alert students well in advance (Dalrymple, 1995). Use visual approaches to instruction. Because students with autism spectrum disorders often have strong visual–spatial skills but may have impaired language skills, a heavy emphasis on visual materials may be in order (Ozonoff & Schetter, 2007; C. C. Peterson, 2002; Quill, 1995). We might use objects, pictures, and photographs to convey ideas about academic topics, or we might use some sort of visual cue to signal the start of a new activity.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Although the causes of emotional and behavioral disorders and those of autism spectrum disorders are usually quite different, students with these disabilities can benefit from some of the same classroom interventions. Certainly we want to promote success on academic tasks, perhaps by using instructional strategies presented earlier for students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties. Following are additional suggestions:
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A variety of simple technological devices are available to help students learn and practice appropriate

Insist on appropriate classroom behavior. Although certain students with disabilities may be more prone to counterproductive classroom behaviors than most of their peers, teachers clearly can help them behave in productive ways—for instance, by putting reasonable limits on their behavior

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CHAPTER

Creating a Productive Classroom Environment

Make expectations for behavior clear and specific.

Give feedback about specific behaviors rather than general areas of performance. focused your attention on your homework, and you didn’t retaliate

Specify and follow through on consequences for appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. words, such as the two you just used, are unacceptable in this classroom. You also know the consequence for such behavior, so

Try to anticipate problems and nip them in the bud.
A student has occasional temper tantrums that disrupt the entire class. Although the tantrums seemingly occur at random, his teacher eventually realizes that his ears always turn red just before an to a punching bag whenever a tantrum is imminent, thereby letting him unleash his feelings with only minimal distraction to others.

Sources: Hallahan et al., 2009; Heward, 2009; Myles & Simpson, 2001; Ormrod & McGuire, 2007 (temper tantrum example); Webber & Plotts, 2008

and imposing consequences when they go beyond those limits (Evertson & Weinstein, 2006; Webber & Plotts, 2008). The Creating a Productive Classroom Environment feature “Encouraging Appropriate Behavior in Students with Social or Behavioral Problems” offers several useful strategies.
You can find strategies for fostering social cognition and perspective taking in Chapter 3.

Foster social cognition and effective interpersonal skills. Students with social or behavioral problems often benefit from training in social cognition and perspective taking. Explicit instruction in and reinforcement of social skills can also be quite powerful. And of course, students need numerous opportunities to practice their new skills (e.g., Chan & O’Reilly, 2008; Myles & Simpson, 2001; Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2004; Schrandt, Townsend, & Poulson, 2009; Theimann & Goldstein, 2004). Be persistent, and look for gradual improvement rather than overnight success. Many students with social or behavioral problems will initially resist our efforts to help them. They may begin to recognize the value of our guidance and support only when they see the natural consequences of their changing behavior—for example, when they start to make new friends or get along better with their teachers. Their progress may be slow, but by focusing on small improvements, we and our students alike can be encouraged by the changes we do see, rather than being discouraged by problems that persist.

Students with General Delays in Cognitive and Social Functioning
When I use the term student with general delays in cognitive and social functioning, I’m talking about any student who shows a consistent pattern of developmental delays, regardless of whether the student has specifically been identified as having a disability. Educators sometimes use the term slow learner to describe a student who obtains intelligence test scores in the 70s and has noticeable difficulties in most or all parts of the academic curriculum. A student with especially pronounced difficulties may be identified as having an intellectual disability.

INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
You’re undoubtedly familiar with the term mental retardation. In recent years, however, many special educators have instead advocated for the term intellectual disability in reference to students who show pronounced delays in most aspects of cognitive and social development. More specifically, students with intellectual disabilities exhibit both of the following characteristics (Luckasson et al., 2002): Significantly below-average general intelligence. These students have intelligence test scores that are quite low—usually no higher than 70, reflecting performance in the bottom 2% of their age-group. In addition, these students learn slowly and show consistently poor achievement in virtually all academic subject areas.
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intellectual disability Disability average general intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior, both of which first appear in infancy or childhood; also known as mental retardation.

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Deficits in adaptive behavior. These students behave in ways that we would expect of much younger children. Their deficits in adaptive behavior include limitations in practical intelligence—that is, managing the ordinary activities of daily living—and social intelligence—that is, conducting themselves appropriately in social situations. The preceding characteristics must be evident in childhood. Thus, a person who shows them beginning at age 18, perhaps as the result of a serious head injury, would not be classified as having an intellectual disability. Intellectual disabilities are often caused by genetic conditions. For example, most children with Down syndrome have delayed cognitive and social development. Other cases of intellectual disabilities are due to biological but noninherited causes, such as severe malnutrition or excessive alcohol consumption during the mother’s pregnancy or oxygen deprivation during a difficult birth. In still other situations, environmental factors, such as parental neglect or an extremely impoverished and unstimulating home environment, may be at fault (Beirne-Smith, Patton, & Kim, 2006). COMMON CHARACTERISTICS Like students in any category of special needs, students with intellectual disabilities have differing personalities, strengths, and needs. Nevertheless, many of them are apt to exhibit characteristics such as the following: adaptive behavior Behavior related to daily living skills or appropriate conduct in social situations; used as a criterion for identifying students with intellectual disabilities.

disabilities are sociable and eager to

(e.g., heart defects, poor muscle tone) (Beirne-Smith et al., 2006; Bergeron & Floyd, 2006; Carlin et al., 2003; Heward, 2009; F. P. Hughes, 1998; Tager-Flusberg & Skwerer, 2007) ADAPTING INSTRUCTION With proper support, many students with mild intellectual disabilities can learn basic skills in reading, writing, and math, perhaps even mastering components of a typical fifth- or sixth-grade curriculum (Hallahan et al., 2009; Heward, 2009). Most of the strategies previously described in this chapter can be useful for these students. Here are several additional strategies to keep in mind: Pace instruction slowly enough to ensure success. When working with a student who has an intellectual disability, we should move through new topics and tasks slowly enough—and with enough support and repetition—that the student can eventually master them. Students with intellectual disabilities typically have a long history of failure at academic tasks. Thus, they need frequent success experiences to learn that, with hard work, they can succeed at many tasks (Feuerstein et al., 2010; Fidler, Hepburn, Mankin, & Rogers, 2005; Heward, 2009). Provide considerable scaffolding to promote effective cognitive processes and desired behaviors. For example, we can develop simple study guides that tell students exactly what to focus on as they study. We can be explicit in our directions to perform various tasks—for instance, saying “John, go to the principal’s office, give Mrs. Smith the absentee sheet, and come back here.” And we can provide handheld, teacher-programmed prompters—which go by such labels as visual assistant and digital memory aid—to help students remember the specific things they need to do (Beirne-Smith et al., 2006; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1992; Patton et al., 1996, p. 105; Turnbull et al., 2010).
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high school cheerleader with Down

Include vocational and general life skills in the curriculum. For most students with intellectual disabilities, training in general life and work skills is an important part of the high school curriculum. Such training is most likely to be effective when it takes place in realistic settings that closely resemble those in which students will find themselves once they leave school (BeirneSmith et al., 2006; Turnbull et al., 2010).

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CHAPTER

severe and multiple disabilities
Combination of two or more disabilities that, taken together, require significant classroom adaptations and highly specialized educational services.

Students with Physical or Sensory Challenges
Some students with special needs have obvious physical disabilities caused by medically detectable physiological conditions. These include physical and health impairments, visual impairments, and hearing loss. A small subset of them have severe and multiple disabilities that require significant adaptations and highly specialized services; such students are typically accompanied by child-specific teacher aides or other specialists when attending general education classrooms.

physical and health impairment that interferes so significantly with school performance that special accommodations are required.

PHYSICAL AND HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS
Physical and health impairments are general physical or medical conditions (usually long term)

visual impairment the eyes or optic nerves that prevents normal vision even with corrective lenses.

that interfere with school performance to such a degree that special instruction, curricular materials, equipment, or facilities are necessary. Students in this category may have limited energy and strength, reduced mental alertness, or little muscle control. Examples of conditions that might qualify students for special services are traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, cancer, and acquired immune deficiency disorder (AIDS). COMMON CHARACTERISTICS It’s hard to generalize about students with physical and health impairments because their conditions are so very different from one another. Nevertheless, several common characteristics are noteworthy:

similar to that of nondisabled peers)

important ways (e.g., less use of public transportation, fewer visits to museums and zoos) how parents and others have responded to their impairments (Heward, 2009; Patton et al., 1996; J. W. Wood, 1998) ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Although we won’t necessarily need to modify the academic curriculum for students with physical and health impairments, we will definitely want to make certain accommodations: Be sensitive to specific limitations, and accommodate them flexibly. One student may require extra time with a writing assignment and perhaps should not be held to the same standards of neatness and legibility. Another may need to respond to test questions orally rather than on paper. Still another might tire easily and need to take frequent breaks. Know what to do in emergencies. A student with acute asthma may have trouble breathing. A student with diabetes may go into insulin shock. A student with epilepsy may have a grand mal seizure. We should consult with school medical personnel ahead of time so that we are prepared to respond appropriately in such life- and health-threatening situations. If students and parents give permission, educate classmates about the nature of students’ disabilities. Many children treat peers with physical disabilities kindly and respectfully, but some others do not. Sometimes peers are simply ignorant about the nature of a disability, and giving them accurate information can help them become more accepting and supportive (e.g., R. White & Cunningham, 1991).

VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS
Students with visual impairments have malfunctions of their eyes or optic nerves that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses. Some students are totally blind, others see only fuzzy patterns of light and dark, and still others have a restricted visual field (tunnel vision) that allows them to see just a very small area at a time. Visual impairments are caused by congenital abnormalities in or damage to either the eye or the visual pathway to the brain.

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COMMON CHARACTERISTICS Students with visual impairments are apt to have many or all of these characteristics:

ties to experience the outside world in educationally important ways (e.g., less exposure to maps, films, and other visual material)

occasional misunderstanding of others’ messages playground) as a result of having no visual knowledge of ongoing events of print, punctuation, etc.) (M. Harris, 1992; Heward, 2009; Hobson, 2004; Patton et al., 1996; Tompkins & McGee, 1986; Turnbull et al., 2010; Tuttle & Tuttle, 1996) ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Specialists typically give students training in Braille, orientation and mobility, and specially adapted computer technology. But general education teachers play important roles as well, as reflected in the following strategies: Orient students ahead of time to the physical layout of the classroom. Students should have a chance to explore the classroom before other students arrive—ideally, before the first day of class. At that time we can help students locate important objects (e.g., wastebasket and pencil sharpener) and point out special sounds (e.g., the buzzing of a wall clock) to help students get their bearings (J. W. Wood, 1998). Use visual materials with sharp contrast. Some students with partial sight can use visual materials with clearly distinguishable features, such as enlarged documents on computer screens and large-print books available at most public libraries. Students’ eyes may tire quickly, however, so we should limit use of visual materials to short time periods (Heward, 2009; Patton et al., 1996). Depend heavily on other modalities. Print-reading computer software and portable printreading devices easily translate most printed text into spoken language. Many novels, school textbooks, and published curriculum materials are available in Braille, many other books are available in audio form (e.g., see www.learningally.org), and volunteers can sometimes be enlisted to convert still other written materials into Braille or audiotape. We can also conduct hands-on activities involving objects that students can feel and manipulate. For example, we might use plastic relief maps that portray mountains, valleys, and coastlines in three dimensions, perhaps embellishing them with pin pricks to indicate country borders and small dabs of nail polish to indicate major cities. Allow extra time for learning and performance. Learning by hearing often takes more time than learning by seeing. When students look at something, they perceive a great deal of information at once and thus learn many commonplace relationships (e.g., between the sight of a cat and the sound it makes). When they must listen to it, however, they receive it sequentially— only one piece at a time—and often without obvious interconnections (Ferrell, 1996; Heward, 2009; M. B. Rowe, 1978).

HEARING LOSS
Students with hearing loss have a malfunction of the ears or associated nerves that interferes with the perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal human speech. Students who are completely deaf have insufficient sensation to understand any spoken language, even with the help of a hearing aid. Students who are hard of hearing understand some speech but experience exceptional difficulty in doing so. hearing loss or associated nerves that interferes with perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal human speech.

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CHAPTER COMMON CHARACTERISTICS Most students with hearing loss have normal intellectual abilities (Braden, 1992; Schirmer, 1994). However, they may have characteristics such as these: if the impairment was present at birth or emerged early in life speechreading) to speech

a result of a reduced ability to communicate (Bassett et al, 1996; Chall, 1996; P. L. Harris, 2006; Heward, 2009; C. C. Peterson, 2002; M. B. Rowe, 1978; Schick, de Villiers, de Villiers, & Hoffmeister, 2007; Turnbull et al., 2010) ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Specialists typically provide training in such communication skills as American Sign Language, finger spelling, and speechreading. With these additions (and possibly some remedial instruction in reading and vocabulary), a normal school curriculum is appropriate for most students with hearing loss. However, several accommodations can facilitate students’ success in general education classrooms: Minimize irrelevant noise. Even when students can benefit from hearing aids, what they hear is often diminished or distorted; consequently, it’s helpful to minimize potentially distracting sounds. For example, carpeting and bulletin boards can absorb some extraneous noise, and fans and pencil sharpeners should be located as far away as possible. Supplement auditory presentations with visual information and hands-on experiences. We can write important points on the chalkboard, illustrate key ideas with pictures, provide reading materials that duplicate lectures, and ask an aide or student volunteer to take notes on in-class discussions. We can also provide speech-to-text software, which enables students to translate spoken words into written language with reasonable accuracy. And we can use concrete activities (e.g., role-playing historical events) to make abstract ideas more understandable. Communicate in ways that help students hear and speechread. Students who are hard of hearing are most likely to understand us when we speak in a normal tone of voice (not overly loud) and pronounce words distinctly but otherwise normally. To help students speechread, we should speak only while facing them and never while sitting in a dark corner or standing in front of a window or bright light (Gearheart, Weishahn, & Gearheart, 1992; J. W. Wood, 1998). Teach American Sign Language and finger spelling to classmates. To facilitate communication with students who have hearing loss, other class members should gain some competence in American Sign Language and finger spelling. I once taught at a school where every student—those with hearing loss and those without—received instruction in signing. One girl in my class was totally deaf yet quite popular with her peers, thanks to everyone’s ability to communicate easily.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
In addition to the strategies just identified for specific physical disabilities, several more general strategies are useful with all students who have physical or sensory challenges: Ensure that all students have access to important educational resources and opportunities. Such access may involve modifying instructional materials (e.g., obtaining large-print copies of textbooks), adjusting a classroom’s physical arrangement (e.g., widening aisles and placing bulletin board displays at eye level to accommodate students in wheelchairs), or making special arrangements that enable students to participate in field trips or sports activities. Provide assistance only when students really need it. Out of their eagerness to help students with physical and sensory challenges, many adults inadvertently perform tasks and solve problems that these students are perfectly capable of handling on their own. Yet one of our goals for these students should be to promote their independence, not their dependence on others (Wehmeyer et al., 2007).

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Use assistive technology to facilitate learning and performance. I’ve already mentioned the value of print-reading software and speech-to-text software for students with sensory challenges. In addition, some computer printers can create Braille documents, enabling students with visual impairments to read their own class notes and compositions. Specially adapted joysticks and voice recognition systems can supplement or replace computer keyboards for students with limited muscle control. And machines known as augmentative communication devices provide synthesized speech for students incapable of producing normal speech.

Students with Advanced Cognitive Development
Many students are apt to have advanced abilities, either in specific subject areas or across the curriculum, that warrant attention and encouragement. Some students—those who are gifted—are so far above the norm that special educational services are often appropriate.

GIFTEDNESS
In general, giftedness is unusually high ability or aptitude in one or more areas (e.g., in math, science, creative writing, or music) to such a degree that special educational services are necessary to help the student meet his or her full potential. In most instances giftedness is probably the result of both a genetic predisposition and environmental nurturing (Dai, 2010; Simonton, 2001; Winner, 2000b). In some cases, however, special gifts and talents are largely the result of intensive practice and mentoring (Ericsson, 2003; Gladwell, 2006). In the United States, the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Student Education Act of 1987 (reauthorized in 1994 and 2001) encourages but doesn’t necessarily mandate special educational services for students who are gifted. Many state governments also either encourage or mandate such services. School districts often use multiple criteria—sometimes including intelligence test scores, sometimes not—to identify students who show exceptional promise in general academic ability, specific academic fields, creativity, or the arts. COMMON CHARACTERISTICS Students who are gifted vary considerably in their unique strengths and talents, and those who show exceptional talent in one area may have only average ability in another (Winner, 2000b). Nevertheless, many students who are gifted have characteristics such as these:

extremely gifted students may have difficulties because they are so very different from their peers) (Cornell et al., 1990; Dai, 2010; Mendaglio, 2010; Parker, 1997; Shavinina & Ferrari, 2004; Steiner & Carr, 2003; Winner, 2000a, 2000b) To some degree, the nature of giftedness depends somewhat on where students are in their developmental journeys (Dai, 2010; D. J. Matthews, 2009). In the preschool and early elementary years, giftedness might take the form of precociousness in certain general domains; for example, a first grader might be reading sixth-grade-level books or exhibit exceptional facility with numbers. By the upper elementary and secondary school grades, some students are likely to show exceptional achievement in very specific areas—perhaps in creative writing, computer technology, or music. Yet we must keep in mind that students who are gifted may also have one or more disabilities; for instance, they may have dyslexia or Asperger syndrome. In planning instruction for such students, we must address their disabilities as well as their unique gifts.

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giftedness aptitude in one or more areas, to such a degree that students require special educational services to help them meet their full potential.

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CHAPTER ADAPTING INSTRUCTION Exceptional talents and achievement levels typically require ongoing environmental nurturance and support, in the forms of both differentiated instruction and access to appropriate resources and practice opportunities. Furthermore, many high-achieving students become bored or frustrated when school assignments don’t challenge them, and others become so accustomed to the “easy A” that they have trouble coping with the mistakes they’re likely to make when they venture into new areas (Dai, 2010; Mendaglio, 2010; Parker, 1997). With such points in mind, I offer the following recommendations: Provide individualized tasks and assignments. Different students are apt to need special services in very different areas—for example, in math, creative writing, or studio art. Some students who are gifted, especially those with only a limited background in English, may also need training in certain basic skills (C. R. Harris, 1991; Udall, 1989). Form study groups of students with similar interests and abilities. In some cases a study group might explore a topic in greater depth and with more sophisticated analysis than other students (an enrichment approach). In other instances a study group might simply move through the standard school curriculum at a more rapid pace (an acceleration approach). Students benefit both academically and socially from increased contact with peers who have similar interests and talents (Hattie, 2009; J. A. Kulik & Kulik, 1997; McGinn, Viernstein, & Hogan, 1980). Teach complex cognitive skills within the context of specific subject areas. Programs designed to enhance students’ creativity, critical thinking, or other complex skills separately from specific content domains tend to have only limited impact. Teaching complex thinking skills within the context of specific topics—for example, creativity in writing or reasoning and problem-solving skills in science—is more likely to be effective (Dai, 2010; M. C. Linn, Clement, Pulos, & Sullivan, 1989; Moon, Feldhusen, & Dillon, 1994; Stanley, 1980). Provide opportunities for independent study and service-learning projects. Independent study and community service projects in areas of interest are often beneficial and motivating for high-ability students, provided that they have the work habits, study strategies, and research skills they need to use their time and resources effectively (Candler-Lotven, Tallent-Runnels, Olivárez, & Hildreth, 1994; Lupart, 1995; Terry, 2008). Seek outside resources. When students have high abilities in domains outside our own areas of expertise, it’s often helpful to identify suitable mentors elsewhere in the school district or in the community at large—perhaps at a local university, government office, private business, or volunteer community group (Ambrose, Allen, & Huntley, 1994; Piirto, 1999; Seeley, 1989). Keep in mind that students with exceptional cognitive abilities aren’t necessarily advanced in other aspects of their development. Most students with special gifts and talents have the same personal and emotional concerns as their average-ability age-mates (D. J. Matthews, 2009). For example, gifted sixth graders making the transition to middle school are likely to have the typical thoughts and feelings of a young adolescent: whether they’ll fit in with a new peer group, whom to sit with at lunch, and so on. They may worry that their peers will see their exceptional ability levels as odd or in some other way unacceptable (Mendaglio, 2010). And they’re likely to be surprised or anxious when they discover that they must exert considerable effort to master challenging new skills and that they sometimes make errors in the process (Mendaglio, 2010). For such reasons, high-ability students are likely to need as much emotional support as their classmates, and they may occasionally need gentle reminders that only new challenges can truly help them grow.

theory (Chapter 2), when gifted students are given the same ability peers, they’re unlikely to be working within their zone of proximal development and so unlikely to make significant cognitive advancements.

form of a cognitive apprenticeship (see Chapter 2).

Considering Diversity When Identifying and Addressing Special Needs
Sadly, a disproportionately large number of minority-group students are identified as having disabilities, especially specific cognitive disabilities, general intellectual disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders (McLoyd, 1998; U.S. Department of Education, 2006; VanTassel-Baska, 2008). Most theorists attribute the differing identification rates to environmental conditions that often accompany low socioeconomic status: higher-than-normal exposure to environmental toxins, inadequate medical care, limited access to enriching educational resources, and so on (e.g., Dyson, 2008; Jacoby & Glauberman, 1995; McLoyd, 1998). Also, English language
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151 learners are identified as having learning disabilities or intellectual disabilities more often than native English speakers—a finding that probably reflects students’ difficulty in understanding and responding to items on language-based diagnostic tests (A. L. Sullivan, 2008). The higher-than-average identification rates for minority-group students pose a dilemma for educators. On the one hand, we don’t want to assign a label such as intellectual disability or emotional disorder to students whose classroom performance and behavior may be due largely to their challenging living conditions. On the other hand, we don’t want to deprive these students of special educational services that might help them learn and achieve more successfully over the long run. In such situations we must conduct fair and nondiscriminatory evaluations of students’ needs, and if students qualify under a special-needs category, we must create IEPs to meet those needs. We should consider these categories of special needs as temporary classifications that may no longer be applicable as students’ classroom performance improves. All students, with and without disability classifications, have changing needs that evolve over time. In addition to being overrepresented in programs for students with disabilities, members of some minority groups are underrepresented in programs for gifted students (D. Y. Ford, Moore, & Whiting, 2006; Graham, 2009; VanTassel-Baska, 2008). On average, students from cultural and ethnic minority groups are at a disadvantage when traditional tests of ability are used to identify giftedness—in some cases because they’ve had little experience with the kinds of tasks that appear on those tests (Rogoff, 2003). It’s critical, then, that we be on the lookout for other signs of giftedness, including the following:

Especially when working with students identified as having cognitive, emotional, or behavioral difficulties, think of their disability labels as temporary classifications that may no longer be applicable as classroom performance improves.

Haywood & Lidz, 2007; Maker & Schiever, 1989; Winner, 1996) For the growth of our society over the long run, it’s imperative that we nurture the many gifted students in all cultural and ethnic groups.

identifying students who may be gifted; for instance, look for specialized talents, richness of language, an ability to learn new things quickly, and exceptional resourcefulness in solving problems.

General Recommendations for Working with Students Who Have Special Needs
Although students with special educational needs vary widely in their abilities and disabilities, several recommendations apply across the board: Be flexible in approaches to instruction and assessment. Even when students clearly fall within a particular category of special needs, we can’t always predict which instructional methods will be most effective for each of them. If we don’t succeed with a particular approach, we should try again, but we might also want to try differently. Furthermore, we must keep open minds about how we assess students’ achievement; depending on the nature of their disabilities, we may need to give them extra time, let them audiotape responses, tailor assessment tasks to an individualized curriculum, and so on. Seek new technologies that can facilitate students’ learning and performance. As we’ve seen, assistive technology takes a wide variety of forms—spell-checkers, hand-held prompters, speech-to-text software, and so on—and exciting new technologies emerge every year. Frequent searches of the Internet can alert us to recent innovations (e.g., search for “assistive technology devices” on Google or Yahoo!). Unless there is reason to do otherwise, hold the same expectations for students with disabilities as for other students. Sometimes a disability makes it difficult or impossible for students to accomplish certain tasks, and we have to modify our expectations and assessment practices accordingly. Aside from such situations, however, we should generally have the same expectations for students with special needs that we have for other students. Rather than think of reasons that a student can’t do something, we should think about how we can help the student do it. Identify and teach the prerequisite knowledge and skills students may not have acquired because of their disabilities. As either a direct or indirect result of certain disabilities, some students lack the knowledge and skills essential for their school success. For instance, students with visual impairments haven’t been able to observe many of the cause–and–effect relationships that

Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 offer numerous suggestions for accommodating disabilities in assessments.

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CHAPTER form a foundation for learning science—such as the changes in the appearance of wood when it’s burned (Ferrell, 1996; M. B. Rowe, 1978). And students whose medical conditions have limited their contact with peers may have had few opportunities to acquire effective interpersonal skills. Consult and collaborate with specialists. School districts usually employ a variety of specialists, including special educators, counselors, school psychologists, nurses, speech pathologists, and physical and occupational therapists. Some students leave the classroom for part of the day to work with these individuals. However, in today’s inclusive schools many special services are provided within a regular classroom context by teachers and specialists working in close collaboration. Communicate regularly with parents. In accordance with IDEA, parents are part of the multidisciplinary team that determines the most appropriate program for a student with special needs. Parents can often tell us what works and what doesn’t, and they can alert us to certain conditions or events at home that may trigger problem behaviors in class. Furthermore, we can bring about desired behavioral changes more effectively if the same expectations for behavior exist both at school and at home. Include students in planning and decision making. Educational programs for most students with special needs—especially those with disabilities—are so highly structured that students have little say regarding what and how they learn. But increasingly, educators are recognizing the importance of letting all students make some choices about their academic goals and curriculum (Algozzine, Browder, Karvonen, Test, & Wood, 2001; Prout, 2009; Wehmeyer et al., 2007). Keep your eyes open for students who may qualify for special services. The more we work with students in a particular age-group, the more we learn about their age-typical abilities and behaviors. Hence, we teachers are in an excellent position to identify children who in one way or another are not typical. Although specialists usually conduct the in-depth assessments necessary to identify particular special needs, the job of referring students for such assessments—and thereby gaining them access to the specialized services they may need—is ultimately up to teachers in general education classrooms.

self-regulation and self-determination, respectively.

5 What Have You Learned?
Let’s now review key points related to each of the chapter’s learning outcomes. ■ 5.1: Describe various perspectives on the nature of intelligence, and identify several ways in which you can nurture intelligence in your own students. Intelligence involves the ability to apply prior knowledge and experiences flexibly to accomplish challenging tasks; it’s apt to manifest itself differently in different cultures. Some psychologists believe that intelligence is a single, biology-based entity that influences students’ learning and performance across a wide variety of tasks and subject areas—a belief that’s reflected in the use of IQ scores as general estimates of cognitive ability. Others disagree, proposing that intelligence consists of a number of somewhat independent abilities or, instead, that intelligent behavior varies considerably depending on a child’s age and environmental support systems. As teachers, we must remember that human intelligence can and does change over time, especially with appropriate instruction and practice opportunities.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

the messages we give about classroom subject matter (e.g., “Does the evidence support what scientists are saying about this topic?”) and by modeling curiosity and enthusiasm for learning.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 5.3: Identify implications of the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for your own work as a teacher. Students with special needs are those students who are different enough from their classmates that they require specially adapted instructional materials and practices to help them maximize their cognitive and social development. Increasingly, students with special needs are being educated in general education classrooms for part or all of the school day; in the United States, such inclusion is in part the result of a mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Students with special needs are most likely to flourish in general education settings when instruction and materials are individualized to address any missing basic skills but also present challenges that spur developmental advancements.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in
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■ 5.2: Explain how students’ cognitive styles and dispositions might influence their classroom performance. Cognitive styles and dispositions are general inclinations to approach tasks in particular ways—for instance, to think analytically or holistically or to approach new ideas in an open-minded or close-minded manner. We can encourage productive styles and dispositions through

■ 5.4: Explain how you might adapt your instruction and classroom practices to the unique strengths and limitations of students with various disabilities. Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties include those with learning

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153 disabilities, those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and those with speech and communication disorders. Many instructional strategies must be tailored to students’ specific difficulty areas, but some strategies are widely applicable; for instance, virtually all of these students benefit from early interventions, clear expectations for performance, and feedback that documents ongoing progress. Students with social or behavioral problems include those with emotional and behavioral disorders (which might involve either externalizing or internalizing behaviors) and those with autism spectrum disorders. Many students with these disabilities benefit from training in interpersonal skills. They may also perform more successfully in a structured environment in which appropriate behaviors are clearly identified and consequences for desired and undesired behaviors are consistently administered. Some students have general delays in cognitive and social functioning, and a subset are formally diagnosed as having an intellectual disability. Effective instruction for these students usually involves a slow pace with considerable scaffolding and, eventually, explicit training in vocational and general life skills. Students with physical and sensory challenges include those with physical and health impairments (conditions that result in reduced energy, alertness, or muscle control), visual impairments, or hearing loss. Although recommended instructional strategies vary considerably depending on students’ specific disabilities, all of these students should have appropriate assistive technologies and access to the same educational resources and opportunities as their nondisabled peers.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 5.5: Explain how you might nurture the development of students who show exceptional gifts and talents. Most students identified as gifted require individualized instruction that challenges them to stretch their existing abilities in new directions. We must be open-minded about how we identify such students, as giftedness may take different forms in different cultural and ethnic groups. Strategies for promoting the achievement of gifted students include forming small study groups on specific topics, teaching complex cognitive skills within the context of various academic subject areas, and providing opportunities for independent study and service learning either within or outside of school walls.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
Quiet Amy
As a veteran kindergarten teacher, Mr. Mahoney knows that many kindergartners initially have difficulty adjusting to the school environment, especially if they haven’t previously attended daycare or preschool. But Amy is giving him cause for concern. Amy never speaks, either to him or to the other children, even when she is directly spoken to. On the infrequent occasions when she wants to communicate, she does so primarily by looking and pointing at something or someone in the room. Amy also has trouble following simple directions, almost as if she hasn’t heard what she’s been asked to do. And she seems distracted during daily storybook readings and science lessons. The only activities that give her pleasure are arts and crafts. She may spend hours at a time working with construction paper, crayons, scissors, and glue, and her creations are often the most inventive and detailed in the class. Mr. Mahoney suspects that Amy may have a disability that qualifies her for special services. To get permission for an in-depth evaluation of her abilities and needs, he and the school psychologist visit Amy’s mother, a single woman raising five other children as well. “Amy doesn’t talk at home either,” the mother admits. “I work two jobs to make ends meet, and I haven’t been able to spend as much time with her as I’d like. Her brothers and sisters take good care of her, though. They always seem to know what she wants, and they make sure she gets it.”
1. Multiple-choice question:

Mr. Mahoney suspects that Amy may qualify for special educational services. If she does, in which of the following categories of special needs is she least likely to fall? a. b. c. d. Hearing loss Autism spectrum disorders Speech and communication disorders Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

2. Constructed-response question:

Amy’s evaluation will undoubtedly take several weeks to complete. In the meantime, what strategies might Mr. Mahoney ey ance? ? use to improve Amy’s classroom behavior and performance? spe Describe at least three different things he mig do. Be spemight speescription cific and concrete in your descriptions.

PRAXIS C, of this chapter that may be especially applicable to the Praxis tests.
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Learning, Cognition, and Memory

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
6.1: Distinguish among four distinct approaches to the study of human learning, and summarize one of these approaches—cognitive psychology—in terms of five basic assumptions. Describe and illustrate the key components that many researchers believe may characterize the human memory system. 6.3: Apply your knowledge of long‐term memory storage in identifying effective strategies for enhancing students’ learning. Explain how students’ self‐constructed beliefs can sometimes interfere with effective learning, and identify several ways of helping students productively revise such beliefs.

6.4:

6.2:

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6.5:

Describe six different factors that influence students’ ability to recall what they have previously learned; also describe five possible reasons why students may either forget or incorrectly remember what they have learned.

6.6:

Give examples of the diversity in cognitive processes you are likely to see in students, in some cases as a result of their cultural background or special educational needs.

CA S E S T U DY: B ONE S
In biology class Kanesha has been struggling to learn the names of the bones in the human body, from head (cranium) to toe (metatarsus). She has learned a few bones quickly and easily. For example, she realizes that, logically, the nasal bone should form part of the nose, and she remembers the humerus (upper arm bone) by thinking of it as being just above one’s funny (“humorous”) bone. But she’s still confused about some of the other bones. For example, the tibia and fibula have similar‐sounding names and are both located in the lower leg. And she keeps thinking that the sternum (at the front of the chest) is actually in the back of the body, just as the stern of a boat is at its rear. She also has trouble remembering bones whose names don’t provide any kind of clue for her—the coccyx, ulna, sacrum, clavicle, patella, and so on. To prepare for an upcoming biology quiz, Kanesha looks at a diagram of the human skeleton and whispers the name of each bone to herself several times. She also writes each name on a sheet of paper. “These terms will certainly sink in if I repeat them enough times,” she tells herself. But Kanesha scores only 70% on the biology quiz. As she looks over her incorrect answers, she sees that she confused the tibia and the fibula, labeled the ulna as “clavicle,” put the sternum in the wrong place, and completely forgot about the coccyx, sacrum, and patella.

would be easiest for you

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Kanesha seems to have an easier time learning bone names she can relate to things she already knows. In particular, she relates nasal bone to nose and humerus to funny bone. She applies her existing knowledge in trying to learn sternum as well, but her strategy backfires because a boat’s stern is at its rear, whereas the sternum is in front of the chest cavity. Kanesha also has trouble with bone names she can’t connect to anything in her previous experiences. Over the course of a lifetime, human beings learn many, many new pieces of information and many, many new behaviors. But as a general rule, people have an easier time learning and remembering things they can readily and appropriately connect to their existing knowledge and skills. For our discussion in this book, we’ll define learning as a long‐term change in mental representations or associations as a result of experience. Let’s divide this definition into its three parts. First, learning is a long‐term change in that it isn’t just a brief, transitory use of information—such as remembering a person’s phone number only long enough to make a phone call—but it doesn’t necessarily last forever. Second, learning involves mental representations or associations; at its core, it’s a phenomenon that takes place in the brain. Third, learning is a change due to experience, rather than the result of physiological maturation, fatigue, use of alcohol or drugs, or onset of mental illness. Psychologists have been studying the nature of learning for more than a century and in the process have taken a variety of theoretical perspectives. Table 6.1 summarizes four general ones, listed largely in the order in which they’ve gained influence in the field of psychology as a whole.

learning Long‐term change in mental representations or associations as a result of experience.

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CHAPTER I urge you not to think of these perspectives as being mutually exclusive. In fact, they tend to complement one another, and together they give us a richer picture of human learning—and also give us many more strategies for facilitating learning in instructional settings—than any single perspective could give us alone. In this chapter we’ll look primarily at what goes on inside the learner. In doing so, we’ll draw from cognitive psychology, a large body of research that addresses a variety of mental phenomena that underlie human behavior—perception, memory, reasoning, and so on.

CH A PTER O U TL I N E
Basic Assumptions of Cognitive Psychology A Model of Human Memory
The Nature of the Sensory Register The Role of Attention Memory Moving Information to Long‐Term Information with Prior Knowledge The Nature of Long‐Term Memory Learning, Memory, and the Brain Critiquing the Three‐Component Model

Basic Assumptions of Cognitive Psychology
At the core of cognitive psychology are several basic assumptions about how people learn: Cognitive processes influence what is learned. The specific things people mentally do as they try to interpret and remember what they see, hear, and study—that is, their cognitive processes—have a profound effect on what they specifically learn and remember. For example, in the opening case study, Kanesha thinks about the nasal bone and humerus in ways that should help her remember them. However, she thinks about the sternum in a way that interferes with her ability to remember it correctly, and she gives little or no thought to why certain other bones have particular names. The extent to which Kanesha thinks about the material she needs to learn—and also how she thinks about it—affects her performance on the quiz. People’s cognitive processes can sometimes be inferred from their behaviors. Historically, some psychologists—especially behaviorists—have argued that we can’t directly observe people’s thinking and therefore can’t study it objectively and scientifically. Cognitive psychologists disagree, suggesting that by observing people’s responses to various objects and events, it’s possible to draw reasonable inferences—to make educated guesses—about the cognitive processes that probably underlie the responses. As an example of how we might learn about people’s cognitive processes by observing their behaviors, try the following exercise.

Long‐Term Memory Storage
How Knowledge Can Be Organized How Declarative Knowledge Is Learned How Procedural Knowledge Is Learned Memory in Long‐Term Memory Storage Encouraging a Meaningful Learning Set and Conceptual Understanding Using Mnemonics in the Absence of Relevant Prior Knowledge

When Knowledge Construction Goes Awry: Addressing Learners’ Misconceptions
Obstacles to Conceptual Change Promoting Conceptual Change

Long‐Term Memory Retrieval
Factors Affecting Retrieval

Diversity in Cognitive Processes
Facilitating Cognitive Processing in Students with Special Needs

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Read the 12 words below one time only. Then cover up the page, and write down the words in the order they come to mind. shirt table hat carrot bed squash pants potatoes stool chair shoe bean

perspectives of learning in a

Did you write down the words in the order in which you read them? Probably not. If you’re like most people, you recalled the words by category—perhaps clothing first, then vegetables, then furniture. From the order in which you wrote the words (i.e., from your behavior), we can draw an inference about an internal cognitive process that occurred as you learned the words: You mentally organized them into categories. People are selective about what they mentally process and learn. People are constantly bombarded with information. Consider the many stimuli you’re encountering at this very moment—the many letters on this page, the many others objects you can see while you’re reading, the many sounds reaching your ears,
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C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
General Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Learning
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Behaviorism can (responses) (stimuli)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Social cognitive theory awareness expectations people learn through modeling self‐efficacy, self‐regulation,

Cognitive psychology inside

working memory long‐term memory elaboration visual imagery information processing theory

individual constructivism. Contextual theories

internalize sociocultural theory social constructivism situated learning distributed cognition.

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the various articles of clothing touching your skin, and so on. I suspect that you’ve been ignoring most of these stimuli until just now, when I specifically asked you to think about them. It’s useful to distinguish between sensation—one’s ability to detect stimuli in the environment—and perception—one’s interpretation of stimuli. For reasons you’ll discover a bit later, it’s virtually impossible to perceive (interpret) everything the body senses. Because learners can handle only so much information at a given time, they must choose a few things to focus on and ignore the rest. As an analogy, consider the hundreds of items a typical adult receives in the mail each year, not only in paper form from the post office but also in electronic form through e‐mail. Do you open, examine, and respond to every piece of mail? Probably not. If you’re like me, you process a few key items, inspect other items long enough to know that you don’t need them, and discard still others without even opening them. In much the same way, students encounter a great deal of new information every day— information delivered by way of teacher instruction, textbooks, bulletin boards, classmates’ behaviors, and so on. They must inevitably make choices about which pieces of information are important for them. They select a few stimuli to examine and respond to in depth, give other stimuli only a cursory glance, and ignore other stimuli altogether.

cognitive psychology theoretical perspective that focuses

cognitive process

of information.

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CHAPTER Meanings and understandings are not derived directly from the environment; instead, they are constructed by the learner. Like Kanesha, people often create their own unique understandings about a topic—understandings that may or may not be accurate. The process of construction lies at the core of many cognitive theories of learning: Learners take numerous, separate pieces of information and use them to create a general understanding, interpretation, or recollection of some aspect of their world (e.g., Brainerd & Reyna, 2005; Bransford & Franks, 1971; Neisser, 1967). Learning theories that focus primarily on the nature of this constructive process are collectively known as constructivism, and a subset of them that address how learners idiosyncratically construct knowledge on their own (rather than in collaboration with other people) are known as individual constructivism. To experience the process of construction firsthand, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Look at the three black‐and‐white figures shown here. What do you see in each one? Most people perceive the figure on the left to be that of a woman, even though many of her features are missing. Enough features are visible—an eye, parts of the nose, mouth, chin, and hair—that you can construct a meaningful perception from them. Is enough information available in the other two figures for you to construct two more faces? Construction of a face from the figure on the right may take a while, but it can be done.

Source: Figures from “Age in the Development of Closure Ability in Children” by C. M. Mooney, from Canadian Journal of Psychology, December 1957, Volume 11(4). Copyright © 1957 by Canadian Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.

construction

constructivism Theoretical perspective proposing that learners

individual constructivism Theoretical

Objectively speaking, the three configurations of black splotches, and especially the two rightmost ones, leave a lot to the imagination. The woman in the middle is missing half of her face, and the man on the right is missing the top of his head. Yet knowing what human faces typically look like may have been enough to enable you to mentally add the missing features and perceive complete pictures. Curiously, once you’ve constructed faces from the figures, they then seem obvious. If you were to close this book now and not pick it up again for a week or more, you would probably see the faces almost immediately, even if you had had considerable difficulty perceiving them originally. As teachers, we must remember that students won’t necessarily learn information exactly as we present it to them. In fact, they’ll each interpret classroom subject matter in their own, idiosyncratic ways. And occasionally they may construct misinformation, as Kanesha does when she relates the sternum to the stern of a boat. Maturational changes in the brain enable increasingly sophisticated cognitive processes with age. With the advent of new technologies for studying the brain, cognitive psychologists are learning more and more about how the brain functions and how it changes with age and experience. This body of research, known as neuropsychology, has enabled cognitive psychologists to test various hypotheses about the precise nature of human learning and thinking. Furthermore, it has revealed that the human brain changes in many significant ways over the course of childhood

meaning from their experiences.

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PRINCIPLES/ASSUMPTIONS
Basic Assumptions of Cognitive Psychology and Their Educational Implications
ASSUMPTION
Influence of cognitive processes

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION

EXAMPLE mammal, ask

Behavior as a reflection of cognitive processes

Selectivity about what is learned things for them to learn. Also help them

Construction of meanings and understandings

The Scarlet Letter,

Increasing capacity for sophisticated cognitive processes with age

counting activities.

and adolescence. Such changes are almost certainly a key reason why children become capable of increasingly effective cognitive processes—longer attention spans, enhanced ability to organize and integrate information, and so on (Kuhn, 2006; Luna, Garver, Urban, Lazar, & Sweeney, 2004; C. A. Nelson, Thomas, & de Haan, 2006). But rather than propose distinct stages of cognitive development (as Jean Piaget did), most cognitive psychologists believe that children’s cognitive development can best be characterized as gradual trends. As we proceed through the chapter, we’ll identify a number of developmental trends in children’s cognitive processes. Table 6.2 summarizes the assumptions just described and can help you apply them to your own teaching practice.

A Model of Human Memory
Cognitive psychologists have offered numerous explanations of how people mentally process and remember new information and events—explanations that fall into the general category of information processing theory. Some early explanations portrayed human thinking and learning as being similar to the ways computers operate. It has since become clear, however, that the computer analogy is too simple: People often think about and interpret information in ways that are difficult to explain in the relatively simplistic, one‐thing‐always‐leads‐to‐another ways that characterize computers (e.g., Hacker, Dunlosky, & Graesser, 2009a; G. Marcus, 2008; Minsky, 2006). Central to information processing theory is the concept of memory. In some instances I’ll use this term to refer to learners’ ability to mentally save previously learned knowledge or skills over a period of time. In other instances I’ll use it when talking about a particular location where learners put what they learn—perhaps working memory or long‐term memory. The process of putting what is being learned into memory is called storage. For example, each time you go to class, you undoubtedly store some of the ideas presented in a lecture or class discussion. You may store other information from class as well—perhaps the name of the person sitting next to you (George), the shape and size of the classroom (rectangular, about 15 by 30 meters), or the pattern of the instructor’s shirt (a ghastly combination of orange and purple splotches). Yet learners rarely store information exactly as they receive it. Instead, they

information processing theory
Theoretical perspective that focuses

memory

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CHAPTER engage in encoding, modifying the information in some way. For instance, when listening to a story, you might imagine what certain characters look like—thus encoding some verbal input as visual images. And when you see your instructor’s orange and purple shirt, you might think, “My instructor really needs a wardrobe makeover”—thus assigning a specific meaning and interpretation to what you’ve seen. At some point after storing a piece of information, you may discover that you need to use it. The process of remembering previously stored information—that is, finding it in memory—is called retrieval. The following exercise illustrates this process.

encoding Changing the format of

retrieval

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
See how quickly you can answer each of the following questions: 1. What is your name? 2. What is the capital of France? 3. In what year did Christopher Columbus first sail across the Atlantic Ocean to reach the New World? 4. When talking about appetizers at a party, we sometimes use a French term instead of the word appetizer. What is that French term, and how is it spelled?

As you probably noticed when you tried to answer these questions, retrieving some kinds of information from memory—your name, for instance—is quick and easy. Other things—perhaps the capital of France (Paris) and the year of Columbus’s first voyage (1492)—can be retrieved only after some thought and effort. Still other pieces of information, even though you may have stored them in memory at one time, may be almost impossible to retrieve. Perhaps the correct spelling of hors d’oeuvre falls into this category. Despite their common use of such terms as storage, encoding, and retrieval, information processing theorists don’t all agree about the precise nature of human memory. However, many suggest that memory has three key components: a sensory register, a working (short‐term) memory, and a long‐term memory. A three‐component model of human memory, based loosely on one proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968 but modified to reflect more recent research findings, is presented in Figure 6.1. The model oversimplifies the nature of memory to some degree (more about this point later), but it provides a good way to organize much of what we know about how memory works.

FIGURE 6.1 A model of the human memory system
Central Executive Input Working (Short-Term) Memory

Input

Sensory Register

Attention

Input lost

In-depth cognitive processing (often involves connecting new information to prior knowledge)

Long-Term Memory

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lost

lost?

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161
Please note that in referring to three components of memory, I’m not necessarily referring to three separate parts of the brain. The model of memory I describe here has been derived largely from studies of human behavior, rather than from studies of the brain. sensory register Component

THE NATURE OF THE SENSORY REGISTER
If you have ever played with a lighted sparkler at night, then you’ve seen the tail of light that follows a sparkler as you wave it about. If you have ever daydreamed in class, you may have noticed that when you tune back in to a lecture, you can still hear the three or four words that were spoken just before you started paying attention to your instructor again. The sparkler’s tail and the words that linger aren’t actually out there in the environment. Instead, they’re recorded in your sensory register. The sensory register is the component of memory that holds the information you receive—the input—in more or less its original, unencoded form. Thus, visual input is stored in a visual form, auditory input in an auditory form, and so on (e.g., Coltheart, Lea, & Thompson, 1974; Cowan, 1995). The sensory register has a large capacity: It can hold a great deal of information at any one time. That’s the good news. The bad news is that information stored in the sensory register doesn’t last very long (e.g., Cowan, 1995; Dahan, 2010; Wingfield & Byrnes, 1981). Visual information (i.e., what you see) probably lasts for less than a second. For example, as a child, I never could spell out my entire first name (Jeanne) with a sparkler: The J had always faded before I got to the first n, no matter how quickly I wrote. Auditory information (i.e., what you hear) probably lasts slightly longer, perhaps for two or three seconds. To keep information for any time at all, then, learners need to move it to working memory. Whatever information isn’t moved is probably lost, or forgotten. attention processing on particular stimuli.

MOVING INFORMATION TO WORKING MEMORY: THE ROLE OF ATTENTION
Sensory information, such as the light cast by a sparkler, doesn’t last very long no matter what we do. But we can preserve a memory of it by encoding it in some minimal way—for instance, by perceiving the letters Jea written in a sparkler’s curlicue tail. In the model of memory presented in Figure 6.1, the first step in this process is attention: Whatever someone mentally pays attention to moves into working memory. If information in the sensory register doesn’t get a person’s attention, it presumably disappears from the memory system. Paying attention involves directing not only the appropriate sensory receptors (in the eyes, ears, etc.) but also the mind toward whatever needs to be learned and remembered. Imagine yourself reading a textbook for one of your classes. Your eyes are moving down each page, but you’re thinking about something altogether different—a recent argument with a friend, a high‐paying job advertised on the Internet, or your growling stomach. What will you remember from the textbook? Absolutely nothing. Even though your eyes have been focused on the words in the book, you haven’t been mentally attending to the words. Young children’s attention often moves quickly from one thing to another and is easily drawn to objects and events unrelated to the task at hand. As children grow older, they become better able to focus their attention on a particular task and keep it there, and they’re less distracted by irrelevant thoughts and events. Yet even adult learners can’t keep their minds on a single task all the time (E. Barron, Riby, Greer, & Smallwood, 2011; S. M. Carlson & Moses, 2001; Dempster & Corkill, 1999). Even when learners are paying attention, they can attend to only a very small amount of information at any one time. In other words, attention has a limited capacity (Cherry, 1953; Cowan, 2007). For example, if you’re sitting in front of the television with your textbook open in your lap, you can attend to the Simpsons rerun playing on television or to your book, but not to both simultaneously. And if you’re preoccupied in class with your instructor’s desperate need for a fashion makeover, you’re unlikely to be paying attention to the lecture itself. Exactly how limited is the limited capacity of human attention? People can often perform two or three well‐learned, automatic tasks at once. For example, you can walk and chew gum simultaneously, and you can probably drive a car and drink a cup of coffee at the same time. But when a stimulus or event is detailed and complex (as both textbooks and Simpsons reruns are)

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CHAPTER

Create stimulating lessons in which students want to pay attention.

Provide frequent breaks from sedentary activities, especially when working with students in the elementary grades.

Get students physically involved with the subject matter. In the middle school and high school grades, encourage students to take notes.

Incorporate a variety of instructional methods into lessons. Minimize distractions, especially when students must work quietly and independently.

Sources: Some strategies based on Di Vesta & Gray, 1972; Kiewra, 1989; Ku, Chan, Wu, & Chen, 2008; Pellegrini & Bjorklund, 1997; M. I. Posner & Rothbart, 2007.

or when a task requires considerable thought (as understanding a lecture and driving a car on an icy mountain road would), then people can usually attend to only one thing at a time (J. R. Anderson, 2005; Lien, Ruthruff, & Johnston, 2006). As teachers, we must remember that attention isn’t just a behavior; it’s also a mental process. The Into the Classroom feature “Getting and Keeping Students’ Attention” presents several effective strategies for keeping students’ minds on classroom topics.

THE NATURE OF WORKING (SHORT‐TERM) MEMORY
Working memory is the component of memory where we hold attended‐to information for a short time while we try to make sense of it. Working memory is also where much of our active cognitive processing occurs. For instance, it’s where we think about the content of a lecture, analyze a textbook passage, or solve a problem. Basically, this is the component that does most of the mental work of the memory system—hence its name, working memory. Rather than being a single entity, working memory probably has several components for holding and working with different kinds of information—for example, visual information, auditory information, and the underlying meanings of events—as well as a component that integrates multiple kinds of information. As shown in Figure 6.1, working memory may also include a central executive that focuses attention, oversees the flow of information throughout the memory system, selects and controls complex voluntary behaviors, and inhibits counterproductive thoughts and actions (Aron, 2008; Baddeley, 2001; Banich, 2009; Logie, 2011). Information stored in working memory doesn’t last very long—perhaps 5 to 20 seconds at most—unless the learner consciously does something with it (e.g., Baddeley, 2001; L. R. Peterson & Peterson, 1959; W. Zhang & Luck, 2009). Accordingly, this component is sometimes called short‐term memory. For example, imagine that you need to call a neighbor, so you look up the neighbor’s number in the telephone book. But then you discover that you can’t find your cell phone. You have no paper and pencil handy. What do you do to remember the number until

metacognition,

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163 you have access to a telephone? If you’re like most people, you probably repeat it to yourself over and over again. This process, known as maintenance rehearsal, keeps information in working memory for as long as you’re willing to continue talking to yourself. But once you stop, the number will disappear fairly quickly. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the amount of information children can hold in working memory increases somewhat with age (Ben‐Yehudah & Fiez, 2007; Kail, 2007). Yet even adults have only so much room to simultaneously hold and think about information. To see what I mean, put your working memory to work for a moment in the following exercise. working memory Component of

of information for a short time.

central executive Component of the

maintenance rehearsal

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Try computing the answer to this division problem in your head: 59)49,383

repetition of a small amount of

cognitive load

Did you find yourself having trouble remembering some parts of the problem while you were dealing with other parts? Did you ever arrive at the correct answer of 837? Most people can’t solve a division problem with this many digits unless they write it on paper. Working memory just doesn’t have enough space both to hold all that information and to perform mathematical calculations with it. Like attention, working memory has a limited capacity—perhaps just enough for a telephone number or very short grocery list (Cowan, 2010; Logie, 2011; G. A. Miller, 1956). Virtually any learning activity imposes a cognitive load—a certain amount of information that students must simultaneously think about, along with certain ways that they must think about it, in order to make sense of and remember what they’re studying (R. E. Mayer, 2011b; Plass, Moreno, & Brünken, 2010; Sweller, 1988, 2008). When we design and conduct lessons, then, we must consider just how much of a load students’ working memories can reasonably handle at any given time. For example, we should minimize information that’s irrelevant to the topic at hand. We should pace the presentation of important information slowly enough that students have time to effectively process what they’re seeing and hearing. And we might repeat the same idea several times (perhaps rewording it each time), stop to write important points on the board, and provide numerous examples and illustrations. I sometimes hear students talking about putting class material in “short‐term memory” so that they can do well on an upcoming exam. Such a statement reflects the common misconception that this component of memory lasts for several hours, days, or weeks. Now you know otherwise. Working memory is obviously not the place to leave information that you need for an exam later in the week or even information you need for a class later in the day. For such information, storage in long‐term memory—the final component of the memory system—is in order.

MOVING INFORMATION TO LONG‐TERM MEMORY: CONNECTING NEW INFORMATION WITH PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
In the model of memory depicted in Figure 6.1, the arrow between working memory and long‐ term memory points in both directions. Effectively storing new information in long‐term memory usually involves connecting it to relevant information that’s already in long‐term memory—a process that requires bringing the “old” information back into working memory. The following exercise can give you an idea of how this might happen.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
1 Study the two strings of letters below until you can remember each of them perfectly:
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AIIRODFMLAWRS

FAMILIARWORDS

2 Study the picture shown here until you can reproduce it accurately from memory.

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CHAPTER No doubt the second letter string was easier to learn because you could relate it to something you already knew: the words familiar words. How easily were you able to learn and remember the picture? Do you think you could draw it from memory a week from now? Do you think you could remember it more easily if it had the title “Bird’s Eye View of a Cowboy Riding a Bicycle”? The answer to the last question is almost certainly yes, because the title would help you relate the picture to familiar shapes, such as those of a bicycle and a cowboy hat (Bower, Karlin, & Dueck, 1975).

long-term memory Component of

astrocyte

activation

THE NATURE OF LONG‐TERM MEMORY
Long‐term memory is where learners store their general knowledge and beliefs about the world, the things they’ve learned in school (e.g., the capital of France, the correct spelling of hors d’oeuvre), and their recollections of events in their personal lives. It’s also where learners store their knowledge about how to perform various actions, such as how to ride a bicycle, use a cell phone, and do long division. Much of the information stored in long‐term memory is interconnected. To see what I mean, try the next exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
What’s the first word that comes to mind when you see the word horse? And what word does that second word remind you of? And what does the third word remind you of? Beginning with the word horse, follow your train of thought, letting each word remind you of a new word or short phrase, for a sequence of at least eight words or phrases. Write down the sequence of things that come to mind.

You probably found yourself easily following a train of thought from the word horse, perhaps something like the route I followed: horse S cowboy S lasso S rope S knot S Girl Scouts S cookies S chocolate The last word in your sequence might be one with little or no obvious relationship to horses. Yet you can probably see a logical connection between each pair of items in the sequence. Related pieces of information tend to be associated with one another in long‐term memory, perhaps in a network similar to the one depicted in Figure 6.2. FIGURE 6.2 A possible train of Information stored in long‐term memory lasts much, much longer than inforthought from horse to chocolate mation stored in working memory—perhaps a day, a week, a month, a year, or a lifetime, depending on a variety of factors that we’ll examine in upcoming sechorse saddle cow tions of the chapter. In addition to its indefinitely long duration, long‐term memory leather seems to be capable of holding as much information as a learner needs to store boots cowboy cattle there. There’s probably no such thing as “running out of room.” In fact, for reasons you’ll discover shortly, the more information already stored in long‐term memory, lariat lasso roundup the easier it is to learn new things. square rope hemp tie green dresses Girl Scouts

knot

bowline
Boy Scouts

LEARNING, MEMORY, AND THE BRAIN
Historically, theorists and researchers have believed that the physiological basis for most learning and memory lies in changes in the interconnections among neurons— in particular, in forming new synapses, strengthening existing ones, or eliminating counterproductive ones (e.g., Merzenich, 2001; M. I. Posner & Rothbart, 2007; Trachtenberg et al., 2002). In addition, some learning may involve the formation of new neurons, especially in a small, seahorse‐shaped structure in the middle of each side of the brain—a structure called the hippocampus—and possibly also in certain areas of the cortex. New learning experiences appear to enhance the survival rate and maturation of the young neurons; without such experiences, these neurons slowly die away (Gould, Beylin, Tanapat, Reeves, & Shors, 1999; Leuner et al., 2004; C. A. Nelson et al., 2006; Sapolsky, 1999).

camping cookies

milk chocolate

cake fudge

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Within the last few years, some researchers have begun to speculate that certain star‐shaped glial cells, . cells in the brain, known as astrocytes, are just as important as neurons—possibly even more important—in learning and memory. Figure 6.3 illustrates the general nature of an astrocyte and its connections with both neurons and the local blood supply. In human beings, astrocytes far outnumber neurons, have innumerable connections with one another and with neurons, and appear to have considerable control over what neurons do and don’t do and how much neurons communicate with one another. A normal brain produces FIGURE 6.3 Two neurons, an many new astrocytes throughout the lifespan (Koob, 2009; Oberheim et al., 2009; astrocyte, and their interconnections Verkhratsky & Butt, 2007). As for where learning occurs, the answer is: many places. Key in the process is the cortex, the large, lumpy structure that covers the top and sides of the brain. The neurons area of the brain immediately behind the forehead—the prefrontal cortex—seems to be the primary headquarters for working memory and its central executive, although all of the cortex may be active to a greater or lesser extent in interpreting new input in light of previously acquired knowledge (Byrnes, 2001; Gonsalves & Cohen, 2010; Huey, Krueger, & Grafman, 2006; Nee, Berman, Moore, & Jonides, astrocyte 2008). The hippocampus is also actively involved in learning, in that it pulls together the information it simultaneously receives from various parts of the brain (Bauer, 2002; Squire & Alvarez, 1998). As you might guess, a healthy brain is essential for effective learning. The Applying Brain Research feature “Enhancing Students’ Brain Functioning” presents three general recommendations that are grounded in brain research. blood vessel CRITIQUING THE THREE‐COMPONENT MODEL
As mentioned earlier, the three‐component model just described oversimplifies— and perhaps overcompartmentalizes—the nature of human memory. For example, attention may be a part of working memory, rather than the separate entity depicted in Figure 6.1 (Cowan, 2007; R. W. Engle, 2002; Wagner, 1996). Furthermore, studies conducted by neuropsychologists and other researchers yield mixed results about whether working memory and long‐term memory are distinctly different entities (e.g., Baddeley, 2001; Nee et al., 2008; Öztekin, Davachi, & McElree, 2010; Talmi, Grady, Goshen‐Gottstein, & Moscovitch, 2005). Some psychologists have proposed that working memory and long‐term memory simply reflect different activation states of a single memory (e.g., J. R. Anderson, 2005; Cowan, 1995; Ruchkin, Grafman, Cameron, & Berndt, 2003). According to this view, all information stored in memory is in either an active or inactive state. Active information, which may include both

Provide ongoing intellectual stimulation.

Encourage students to get plenty of sleep.

Encourage physical exercise.
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consolidate,

is enhancement of the functioning of the central executive—that

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CHAPTER incoming information and information previously stored in memory, is what people are currently paying attention to and thinking about—information I’ve previously described as being in working memory. As attention shifts, other pieces of information in memory become activated, and the previously activated information gradually becomes inactive. The bulk of information stored in memory is in an inactive state, such that we aren’t consciously aware of it; this is information I’ve previously described as being in long‐term memory. Despite its imperfections, the three‐component model can help us remember aspects of learning and memory that we should take into account as we teach. For example, the model highlights the critical role of attention in learning, the limited capacity of attention and working memory, the interconnectedness of the knowledge learners acquire, and the importance of relating new information to things learned previously.

Long‐Term Memory Storage
Regardless of whether there are three truly distinct components of memory, some aspects of memory are definitely long term. Certainly human beings remember many things for a considerable length of time, and in this sense, at least, these things are in long‐term memory. It appears that information stored in long‐term memory can be encoded in a variety of forms (e.g., Barsalou, Simmons, Barbey, & Wilson, 2003; Brainerd & Reyna, 2005; Sadoski & Paivio, 2001). Some information may be encoded in a verbal form, perhaps as actual words. Things you remember word for word (e.g., your name, your address, certain song lyrics) are all verbally encoded. Other information may be encoded as imagery—as it appears perceptually. For example, if, in your mind, you can see the face of a relative, hear that person’s voice, or conjure up a mental whiff of the person’s favorite perfume or aftershave lotion, you’re retrieving images. Finally, a great deal of information in long‐term memory is probably encoded semantically—as a set of underlying meanings. All the preceding examples are instances of declarative knowledge—knowledge that relates to the nature of how things are, were, or will be. Declarative knowledge encompasses both general world knowledge (collectively known as semantic memory) and recollections of specific life experiences (collectively known as episodic memory). Not everything in long‐term is declarative in nature, however. People also acquire procedural knowledge; that is, they learn how to do things (e.g., J. R. Anderson, 1983; Phye, 1997; Tulving, 1983). You probably know how to ride a bicycle, wrap a birthday present, and multiply a three‐digit number by a two‐digit number. To perform such actions successfully, you must adapt your behavior to changing conditions. For example, when you ride a bicycle, you must be able to turn left or right when an object blocks your path, and you must be able to come to a complete stop when you reach your destination. Accordingly, procedural knowledge must often include information about how to respond under different circumstances—it involves knowing when to do certain things (either physically or mentally). In such instances it’s also known as conditional knowledge. Most declarative knowledge is explicit knowledge: Once we recall it, we’re quite conscious of what it is we know. But a good deal of procedural knowledge is implicit knowledge: We can’t consciously recall or explain it, but it affects our thinking or behavior nonetheless (P. A. Alexander, Schallert, & Reynolds, 2009; J. R. Anderson, 2005; M. I. Posner & Rothbart, 2007). Another difference is that declarative knowledge can sometimes be learned very quickly, perhaps after a single presentation, whereas procedural knowledge is often acquired slowly and only with considerable practice.

declarative knowledge

procedural knowledge

conditional knowledge

various circumstances.

explicit knowledge

implicit knowledge

HOW KNOWLEDGE CAN BE ORGANIZED
As we consider the nature of long‐term memory storage, it’s helpful to remember that, to a considerable degree, learners construct their knowledge and understandings. In the process of constructing knowledge, learners often create well‐integrated entities that encompass particular ideas or groups of ideas. For example, beginning in infancy, they form concepts that enable them to categorize objects and events (G. Mandler, 2011; J. M. Mandler, 2007; Quinn, 2002). Some concepts, such as butterfly, chair, and backstroke, refer to a fairly narrow range of objects or events. Other concepts are fairly general ones that encompass numerous more specific concepts.

concept or events that have something in common.

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For example, the concept insect includes ants, bees, and butterflies (e.g., see Figure 6.4). The concept swimming includes the backstroke, dog paddle, and butterfly. As you can see, some words (such as butterfly) can be associated with two very different, more general concepts (such as insects and swimming) and so might lead someone to follow a train of thought such as this one: horse S cowboy S lasso S rope S knot S Girl Scouts S camping S outdoors S nature S insect S butterfly S swimming By combining numerous objects or events into single entities, concepts take some of the strain off of working memory’s limited capacity (G. Mandler, 2011; Oakes & Rakison, 2003). For instance, the concept molecule takes very little “space” in working memory despite the many things we know about molecules: their very tiny size, their essential role in the nature of matter, and so on. The Into the Classroom feature “Teaching Concepts” offers suggestions for fostering concept learning in a variety of academic disciplines. Learners also pull some concepts together into general understandings of what things are typically like. Such understandings are sometimes called schemas (e.g., Rumelhart & Ortony, 1977; Schraw, 2006; Sweller, 2010). For example, let’s return to the concept horse, which we’ve used in a couple of earlier examples. You know what horses look like, of course, and you can recognize one when you see one. Hence, you have a concept for horse. But now think about the many things you know about horses. What do they eat? How do they spend their time? Where are you most likely to see them? You probably have little difficulty retrieving many facts about horses, perhaps including their fondness for oats and carrots, their love of grazing and running, and their frequent appearance in pastures and at racetracks. The various things you know about horses are closely interrelated in your long‐term memory in the form of a “horse” schema.

FIGURE 6.4 In his classification of a butterfly as an insect, 8‐year‐old Noah identifies one characteristic that all insects have—six legs—but correctly doesn’t mention the wings, which are optional.

Teaching Concepts
Give a definition. sphere Present nonexamples, especially near misses, to show what the concept is not. mammal Highlight the characteristics that all or most examples of a concept possess.
A teacher illustrates the concept insect

Ask students to identify examples and nonexamples from among numerous possibilities. dangling participle.

Ask students to generate their own examples of the concept. Present a best example—a prototype that captures the key elements of the concept.
To illustrate the concept democracy, adjectives

Show students how various concepts are related to one another—their similarities and differences, their hierarchical relationships, and so on.
A science teacher explains that the concepts velocity acceleration

Present a wide range of examples in diverse contexts. primary chord
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Sources: Best, Dockrell, & Braisby, 2006; Brophy, Alleman, & Knighton, 2009; Carmichael & Hayes, 2001; R. G. Cook & Smith, 2006; R. M. Gagné, 1985; Ormrod, 2012; Rosch, 1977; B. H. Ross & Spalding, 1994; Tennyson & Cocchiarella, 1986.

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168 script CHAPTER People have schemas not only about objects but also about events. When a schema involves a predictable sequence of events related to a particular activity, it’s sometimes called a script. The next exercise provides an example.

theory particular phenomenon.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Read the following passage one time only.
John was feeling bad today so he decided to go see the family doctor. He checked in with the doctor’s receptionist, and then looked through several medical magazines that were on the table by his chair. Finally the nurse came and asked him to take off his clothes. The doctor was very nice to him. He eventually prescribed some pills for John. Then John left the doctor’s office and headed home. (Bower, Black, & Turner, 1979, p. 190)

You probably had no trouble making sense of the passage because you’ve been to a doctor’s office yourself and have a schema for how those visits usually go. You can therefore fill in a number of details that the passage doesn’t tell you. For example, you probably inferred that John actually went to the doctor’s office, although the story omits this essential step. Likewise, you probably concluded that John took off his clothes in the examination room, not in the waiting room, even though the story never makes it clear where John did his striptease. When critical information is missing, as is true in the story about John, schemas and scripts often enable learners to fill in the gaps in a reasonable way. On a much larger scale, human beings—young children included—construct general understandings and belief systems, or theories, about particular aspects of the world (Gelman, 2003; Keil & Newman, 2008; Wellman & Gelman, 1998.). Such theories include many concepts and the relationships among them (e.g., correlation, cause–and–effect). To see what some of your own theories are like, try the next exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Consider each of the following situations: 1 People took a coffeepot that looked like Drawing A. They removed the handle, sealed the top, took off the top knob, sealed the opening to the spout, and removed the spout. They also sliced off the base and attached a flat piece of metal. They attached a little stick, cut out a window, and filled the metal container with birdseed. When they were done, it looked like Drawing B. After these changes, was this a coffeepot or a bird feeder? 2 Doctors took the raccoon in Drawing C and shaved away some of its fur. They dyed what was left black and then bleached a single white stripe down the center of the animal’s back. Then, with surgery, they put in its body a sac of super‐smelly odor, just like the smell a skunk has. After they were all done, the animal looked like Drawing D. After the operation, was this a skunk or a raccoon?
Source: Both scenarios based on Keil, 1989, p. 184.

A

B

C

D

Chances are, you concluded that the coffeepot was transformed into a bird feeder but that the raccoon was still a raccoon despite its cosmetic makeover and stinky surgery. Now how is it possible that the coffeepot could be made into something entirely different, whereas the raccoon could not? Even young children seem to make a basic distinction between human‐made objects (e.g., coffeepots, bird feeders) and biological entities (e.g., raccoons, skunks) (Gelman & Kalish, 2006; Inagaki & Hatano, 2006; Keil, 1986, 1989). For instance, human‐made objects are defined largely by the functions they serve (e.g., brewing coffee, feeding birds), whereas biological entities are defined primarily by their origins (e.g., the parents who brought them into being, their DNA) (Greif, Kemler Nelson, Keil, & Gutierrez, 2006; Inagaki & Hatano, 2006; Keil, 1987, 1989). Thus, when a coffeepot begins to hold birdseed rather than coffee, it becomes a bird

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C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
Long‐Term Memory Storage Processes
PROCESS
Rehearsal Meaningful learning: Making connections between new information and prior knowledge Elaboration

DEFINITION

EXAMPLE

EFFECTIVENESS

Rote learning: Learning primarily through repetition and practice, with little or no attempt to make sense of what is being learned

Organization

Visual imagery

feeder because its function has changed. But when a raccoon is cosmetically and surgically altered to look and smell like a skunk, it still has raccoon parents and raccoon DNA and so can’t possibly be a skunk. By the time children reach school age, they’ve already constructed basic theories about their physical, biological, social, and psychological worlds (Flavell, 2000; Geary, 2005; Torney‐ Purta, 1994; Wellman & Gelman, 1998). They've also constructed preliminary theories about the nature of their own and other people’s thinking. In general, self‐constructed theories help children make sense of and remember personal experiences, classroom subject matter, and other new information (Gelman, 2003; Reiner, Slotta, Chi, & Resnick, 2000; Wellman & Gelman, 1998). Yet because children’s theories often evolve with little or no guidance from more knowledgeable individuals, they sometimes include erroneous beliefs about the world that can wreak havoc with new learning (more about this point later in the chapter).

theory of mind is an example .

HOW DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE IS LEARNED
Especially when talking about the kinds of declarative knowledge learned in school, learning theorists distinguish between two general forms of long‐term memory storage processes—rote learning and meaningful learning—and among more specific storage processes that differ considerably in their effectiveness (see Table 6.3). ROTE LEARNING Learners engage in rote learning when they try to learn and remember something without attaching much meaning to it. For example, in the “Letters and a Picture” exercise presented earlier, you would be engaging in rote learning if you tried to remember the letter string FAMILIARWORDS simply as a list of isolated letters or if you tried to remember the cowboy/bicycle drawing as a collection of random, unrelated lines and curves. One common form of rote learning is rehearsal, repeating something over and over within a short timeframe (typically a few minutes or less), either by saying it aloud or by continuously thinking about it in an unaltered, verbatim fashion. Earlier I described how maintenance rehearsal—verbally repeating something over and over—helps us keep information in working memory indefinitely. Contrary to what many students think, however, rehearsal is not a very effective way of storing information in long‐term memory. If a learner repeats something often enough, it might eventually “sink in,” but the process is slow, laborious, and not much fun. Furthermore, for reasons I’ll identify later, people who use rehearsal and other forms of rote learning often have trouble remembering what they’ve learned (J. R. Anderson, 2005; Ausubel, Novak, & Hanesian, 1978; Craik & Watkins, 1973). Verbally rehearsing information is probably better than not actively processing it at all, and rehearsal may be one of the few strategies students can use when they have little prior knowledge

rote learning Learning information in making sense of it or attaching much meaning to it.

rehearsal

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CHAPTER to draw on to help them understand new material (E. Wood, Willoughby, Bolger, & Younger, 1993). For example, in the opening case study Kanesha resorts to rehearsal in her efforts to remember such seemingly nonsensical bone names as the coccyx, clavicle, and patella. Ideally, however, we should encourage students to engage in meaningful learning whenever possible. MEANINGFUL LEARNING In contrast to rote learning, meaningful learning involves recognizing a relationship between new information and something already stored in long‐term memory. When we use such words as comprehension and understanding, we’re talking about meaningful learning. Here are examples that 16‐year‐old Hilary describes:
When I’m trying to study for a test, I try to associate the things that I’m trying to learn with familiar things. Like, if I have a Spanish vocabulary test, I’ll try to . . . with the Spanish words, I’ll try to think of the English word that it sounds like, because sometimes it does sound like the English word. And then our government teacher is teaching us the amendments and we’re trying to memorize them. He taught us one trick for memorizing Amendment 2, which is the right to bear arms. He said, “Bears have two arms, so that’s Amendment 2.”

meaningful learning Cognitive

elaboration Cognitive process in

The process of meaningful learning assimilation .

In the vast majority of cases, meaningful learning is more effective than rote learning for storing information in long‐term memory (R. E. Mayer, 1996; Sweller, 2010; Wittrock, 1974). It’s especially effective when learners relate new ideas not only to what they already know about the world but also to what they know or believe about themselves—for instance, to self‐descriptions or personal life experiences (Heatherton, Macrae, & Kelley, 2004; Kesebir & Oishi, 2010; Rogers, Kuiper, & Kirker, 1977). Meaningful learning takes a variety of forms. Three forms that researchers have studied in depth are elaboration, organization, and visual imagery. All three are constructive in nature: They involve combining several pieces of information into a meaningful whole. Elaboration In elaboration, learners use their prior knowledge to embellish on a new idea, thereby storing more information than was actually presented. For example, when I took a course in Mandarin Chinese in high school, I learned that the Chinese word wˇ omen means “we.” “Aha!” I thought to myself, “the sign on the restroom that we girls use says wˇ omen” (albeit without the tone mark over the o). Similarly, a student who reads that a certain species of dinosaurs had powerful jaws and sharp, pointed teeth might correctly deduce that those dinosaurs were meat eaters. And when a student learns that the crew on Columbus’s first trip across the Atlantic threatened to revolt, the student might speculate, “I’ll bet the men were really frightened when they continued to travel west day after day without ever seeing signs of land.” On average, the more students elaborate on new material—that is, the more they use what they already know to help them understand and interpret the new material—the more effectively they will store and remember it. Thus, students who regularly elaborate on what they learn in school usually show higher achievement than those who simply take information at face value (J. R. Anderson, 2005; McDaniel & Einstein, 1989; Paxton, 1999; Waters, 1982). One effective way to encourage elaboration in the classroom is to have students write about a topic—for instance, to summarize what they’ve learned, relate new concepts to their personal experiences, or express and defend certain positions on controversial topics (Bangert‐Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004; Shanahan, 2004). Another good strategy is to ask questions that require students to expand on something they’ve just learned—questions such as “How would you use . . . to . . . ?” and “What do you think would happen if . . . ?” (A. King, 1992, p. 309; McCrudden & Schraw, 2007). Still another approach is to have students work in pairs or small groups to formulate and answer their own elaborative questions. Different researchers call such group questioning either elaborative interrogation or guided peer questioning (Kahl & Woloshyn, 1994; A. King, 1994, 1999; Rosenshine, Meister, & Chapman, 1996; E. Wood et al., 1999). In the following dialogue, fifth graders Katie and Janelle are working together to study class material about tide pools. Katie’s job is to ask Janelle questions that encourage elaboration:
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Katie: How are the upper tide zone and the lower tide zone different? Janelle: They have different animals in them. Animals in the upper tide zone and splash zone can handle being exposed—have to be able to use the rain and sand and wind and sun—and they don’t need that much water and the lower tide animals do.

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Katie: And they can be softer ’cause they don’t have to get hit on the rocks. Janelle: Also predators. In the spray zone it’s because there’s predators like us people and all different kinds of stuff that can kill the animals and they won’t survive, but the lower tide zone has not as many predators. Katie: But wait! Why do the animals in the splash zone have to survive? (A. King, 1999, p. 97) Notice that the two girls are continually relating the animals’ characteristics to survival in different tide zones, and eventually Katie asks why animals in the splash zone even need to survive. Such analyses are quite sophisticated for fifth graders. Imagine what high school students, with their increasing capacity for abstract and hypothetical thinking, might be able to do! concept map organization Cognitive process among various pieces of information

topic.

Organization On average, we learn and remember a body of new information more easily when we pull it together in some reasonable way (e.g., Nesbit & Adesope, 2006; Novak, 1998; D. H. Robinson & Kiewra, 1995). Such organization involves making connections among various pieces of new information and forming an overall cohesive structure. For example, a learner might group information into categories, as you probably did in the “Remembering 12 Words” exercise near the beginning of the chapter. Another way of organizing information is to identify interrelationships among its various parts. For instance, when learning about velocity, acceleration, force, and mass in a physics class, a student might better understand these concepts by seeing how they’re interconnected—perhaps by learning that velocity is the product of acceleration and time (v = a * t) and that an object’s force is determined by both its mass and its acceleration (f = m * a). The trick is not simply to memorize the formulas (that would be rote learning) but rather to make sense of the relationships that the formulas represent. It’s often helpful to give students specific structures they can use to organize information. For example, the weblike note‐taking form shown in Figure 6.5 can help elementary students organize what they learn about tarantulas. Another effective structure is a two‐dimensional matrix or table that enables students to compare several items with respect to various characteristics—for instance, how various geographical regions differ in topography, climate, economic activities, and cultural practices (R. K. Atkinson et al., 1999; Kiewra, DuBois, Christian, & McShane, 1988; D. H. Robinson & Kiewra, 1995). A third approach is to teach students how to create concept maps—diagrams that depict the concepts of a unit and their interrelationships (Hattie, 2009; Nesbit & Adesope, 2006; learning. Novak, 1998). Figure 6.6 shows concept maps that two different students might construct after a lesson about gorillas. The concepts themselves are circled, and their interrelationships are indicated by lines with words or short phrases. Several concept‐mapping software programs (e.g., Kidspiration, MindMapper Jr. for Kids) are available for creating and modifying concept maps quickly and easily. Not only can self‐constructed organizational structures help students learn more effectively, but they can also help FIGURE 6.5 Using a form his second‐grade teacher has teachers assess students’ learning. For example, the concept provided, 7‐year‐old Tony organizes what he has learned map on the left side of Figure 6.6 reveals only spotty, fragabout tarantulas. mented knowledge about gorillas. Furthermore, the student has two ideas that need correction. First, contrary to a common stereotype, gorillas don’t regularly swing from trees, although young ones may occasionally climb a tree to escape danger. Second, gorillas aren’t especially “fierce” creatures. For the most part, they live a peaceful existence within their family group; they get nasty (e.g., by beating their chests) only when a human being, non‐family‐member gorilla, or other potential encroacher threatens their territory. Visual Imagery Earlier I mentioned imagery as one possible way in which information might be encoded in long‐ term memory. Numerous research studies indicate that visual imagery—forming mental pictures of objects or ideas—can be a highly effective method of storing information (Sadoski & Paivio, 2001; D. L. Schwartz & Heiser, 2006). To show you how effective visual imagery can be, I’ll teach you a few of the Mandarin Chinese words I learned in high school.

visual imagery Process of forming a

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 6.6 Two concept maps about gorillas d endangere at ou m ain nt s

AFRICA ARE
BIG

KS SILVERBAC

CHEST PouND territory def

end

live in family group

SWING FROM

are

LIVE IN

GORILLA

S
HAVE

ARE

FIERCE
DO

are

habitat

h

it ab

gorillas

oo mb ba fruit eat eat ans vegetari ) (mostly eat s bug

an wl lo ds

has m wi ate th

TREES

by
Pounding chest

has
Silverback

s female have ies bab

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Try learning these five Chinese words by forming the visual images I describe (don’t worry about learning the marks over the words): Chinese Word fáng mén ké fàn shū English Meaning House door guest food book Image Picture a house with fangs growing on its roof and walls. Picture a restroom door with the word MEN painted on it. Picture someone giving someone else (the guest) a key to the house. Picture a plate of food being cooled by a fan. Picture a shoe with a book sticking out of it.

Now find something else to do for a couple of minutes. Stand up and stretch, get a glass of water, or use the restroom. But be sure to come back to your reading in just a minute or two. Now that you’re back, cover the list of Chinese words, English meanings, and visual images. Then try to remember what each word means: ké fàn mén fáng shū

Did the Chinese words remind you of the visual images you stored? Did the images, in turn, help you remember the English meanings? You may have remembered all five words easily, or you may have remembered only one or two. People differ in their ability to use visual imagery: Some form images quickly and easily, whereas others form them only slowly and with difficulty (Behrmann, 2000; J. M. Clark & Paivio, 1991; Kosslyn, 1985). In the classroom we can promote the use of visual imagery in several ways. We can ask students to imagine how certain events in literature or history might have looked (Johnson‐ Glenberg, 2000; Sadoski & Paivio, 2001). We can provide visual materials (pictures, charts, graphs, etc.) that illustrate important but possibly abstract ideas (R. K. Atkinson et al., 1999; R. Carlson, Chandler, & Sweller, 2003; Verdi, Kulhavy, Stock, Rittschof, & Johnson, 1996). We can also ask students to draw their own illustrations or diagrams of the things they’re studying, such as 9‐year‐old Trisha does in Figure 6.7 (Edens & Potter, 2001; Schwamborn, Mayer, Thillmann, Leopold, & Leutner, 2010; Van Meter & Garner, 2005).

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Visual imagery can be especially powerful when used in combination with other forms of encoding. For example, students more readily learn and remember information they receive in both a verbal form (e.g., a lecture or textbook passage) and a graphic form (e.g., a picture, map, or diagram) (R. E. Mayer, 2011b; Moreno, 2006; Winn, 1991). They’re also likely to benefit from being explicitly asked to represent information both verbally and visually. DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN STORAGE PROCESSES FOR DECLARATIVE INFORMATION The tendency to relate new information to prior knowledge—meaningful learning—probably occurs in one form or another at virtually all age levels (Flavell, Miller, & Miller, 2002; Siegler & Alibali, 2005). More specific strategies—such as rehearsal, organization, and visual imagery—are fairly limited in the early elementary years but increase in both frequency and effectiveness over the course of childhood and adolescence. The frequency of elaboration—especially as a process that learners intentionally use—picks up a bit later, often not until adolescence, and is more common in high‐achieving students. Table 6.4 provides more detailed information on the nature of long‐ term memory storage processes at different grade levels.

FIGURE 6.7 This drawing by 9‐year‐old Trisha effectively illustrates the water cycle.

HOW PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE IS LEARNED
Some of the procedures people learn—for example, baking a cake, serving a volleyball, driving a car with a stick shift—consist primarily of overt behaviors. Many others—for examples, writing a persuasive essay, solving for x in an algebraic equation, surfing the Internet—have a significant mental component as well. Many procedures involve a combination of physical behaviors and mental activities. Procedural knowledge ranges from relatively simple actions (e.g., holding a pencil correctly or using scissors) to far more complex skills. Complex procedures usually aren’t learned in one fell swoop. Instead, they’re acquired slowly over a period of time, often only with a great deal of practice (Charness, Tuffiash, & Jastrzembski, 2004; Ericsson, 2003; Proctor & Dutta, 1995). People appear to learn simple physical procedures primarily as actual behaviors—in other words, as specific actions that, with practice, are strengthened and gradually refined (Ennis & Chen, 2011; Féry & Morizot, 2000; Willingham, 1999). Yet many complex skills, especially those that have a mental component, may also be learned as declarative knowledge—in other words, as information about how to do something ( J. R. Anderson, 1983; Beilock & Carr, 2004). Learners may initially use their declarative knowledge to guide them as they perform a new skill, but to the extent that they must do so, their performance is apt to be slow and laborious and to require a lot of concentration— that is, it consumes considerable working memory capacity. As learners continue to practice the skill, however, their declarative knowledge gradually evolves into procedural knowledge, perhaps eventually to the point that they can perform the activity quickly, efficiently, and effortlessly (we’ll look at such automaticity more closely a bit later). People who show exceptional talent in a particular skill domain—say, in figure skating or playing the piano—typically practice a great deal, often a minimum of three to four hours a day over a period of 10 years or more (Ericsson, 1996; Horn, 2008). Some of the storage processes we’ve already discussed play a role in acquiring procedural knowledge as well as declarative knowledge. For instance, verbally rehearsing a sequence of steps in a motor skill enhances people’s ability to perform the skill (Weiss & Klint, 1987). Illustrations or live demonstrations of a procedure, which presumably foster visual imagery, are also beneficial (Kitsantas, Zimmerman, & Cleary, 2000; SooHoo, Takemoto, & McCullagh, 2004; Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1999). In fact, imagining oneself performing a new skill (e.g., executing a gymnastics move or a basketball shot) can enhance acquisition of the skill, although this strategy obviously isn’t as effective as actual practice (Feltz, Landers, & Becker, 1988; Kosslyn, 1985; SooHoo et al., 2004). Perhaps the most effective way to teach new procedures is to model them for students, including both the overt behaviors and the internal thought processes involved (e.g., Rittle‐ Johnson, 2006; Schunk, 1998). The Into the Classroom feature “Helping Students Acquire New Procedures” illustrates several additional strategies for facilitating procedural learning.

With age and experience, children become increasingly strategic in their efforts to remember information. Watch “Remembering a List.”

communities of practice.

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CHAPTER

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Typical Long‐Term Memory Storage Processes at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE SUGGESTED STRATEGIES

experiences. W

material.

to herself a couple of times

school.

K–2

effort.

at the photos of four structures for topics. information Then he repeats the four

3-5

6-8

agree that sorting them into sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic more strategic approach.

of such historical characters

9-12
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Sources: Bjorklund & Coyle, 1995; Bjorklund & Jacobs, 1985; Bjorklund, Schneider, Cassel, & Ashley, 1994; Cowan, Saults, & Morey, 2006; DeLoache & Todd, 1988; Gaskins & Pressley, 2007; Gathercole & Hitch, 1993; Kosslyn, Margolis, Barrett, Goldknopf, & Daly, 1990; Kunzinger, 1985; Lehmann & Hasselhorn, 2007; Lucariello, Kyratzis, & Nelson, 1992; Marley, Szabo, Levin, & Glenberg, 2008; L. S. Newman, 1990; P. A. Ornstein, Grammer, & Coffman, 2010; Plumert, 1994; Pressley, 1982; Pressley & Hilden, 2006; Schneider & Pressley, 1989.

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Help students understand the logic behind the procedures they are learning. x terms—3x inner last x

FOIL first x, or 6x x. x x x.

outer

When skills are especially complex, break them into simpler tasks that students can practice one at a time.

Give students many opportunities to practice new skills, and provide the feedback they need to help them improve.

Provide mnemonics that can help students remember a sequence of steps.
+ +

Sources: P. A. Alexander & Judy, 1988; J. R. Anderson, Reder, & Simon, 1996; Beilock & Carr, 2004; Ennis & Chen, 2011; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Hecht, Close, & Santisi, 2003; Proctor & Dutta, 1995; Shute, 2008; van Merriënboer & Kester, 2008.

ROLES OF PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND WORKING MEMORY IN LONG‐TERM MEMORY STORAGE
Students are more likely to engage in meaningful learning when they have a relevant knowledge base—that is, when they have existing knowledge to which they can connect whatever new information and skills they’re trying to master. When, in contrast, they have little relevant knowledge on which to build, they’re apt to struggle in their efforts to make sense of new information, as Kanesha sometimes does while studying bone names for her biology quiz. Occasionally students’ prior knowledge interferes with something they need to learn; this is the case when Kanesha tries to remember where the sternum is located. In general, however, a relevant knowledge base helps students learn and remember new material more effectively than they would otherwise (P. A. Alexander, Kulikowich, & Schulze, 1994; Kintsch, 2009; Schneider, 1993). For example, students will better understand scientific principles if they’ve already seen those principles in action either in their personal lives or in the classroom, and they’ll better understand how large some dinosaurs were if they have previously seen life‐sized dinosaur skeletons at a museum of natural history. Students’ prior knowledge contributes to their learning in several ways: their attention appropriately. elaborate on information—for example, to fill in missing details, clarify ambiguities, and draw inferences. organizing new information. (Bjorklund, Muir‐Broaddus, & Schneider, 1990; Haskell, 2001; Rumelhart & Ortony, 1977; P. T. Wilson & Anderson, 1986)
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Children’s knowledge about the world grows by leaps and bounds every year; on average, then, older students have more knowledge to help them understand and elaborate on new ideas and events than younger ones do (Flavell et al., 2002; Halford, 1989; Kail, 1990). When young children have more knowledge than their elders, however, they often have the upper hand

knowledge base

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CHAPTER (Chi, 1978; Rabinowitz & Glaser, 1985). For instance, when my son Alex and I used to read books about lizards together, Alex always remembered more than I did because, even as a 6‐year‐ old, he knew much more about reptiles than I did. Children don’t all acquire the same knowledge bases, of course, and their differing knowledge can lead them to construct different meanings from the same situation. The next exercise illustrates this point.

prior knowledge activation Process

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Read the following passage one time only:
Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was strong but he thought he could break it. He knew, however, that his timing would have to be perfect. Rocky was aware that it was because of his early roughness that he had been penalized so severely—much too severely from his point of view. The situation was becoming frustrating; the pressure had been grinding on him for too long. He was being ridden unmercifully. Rocky was getting angry now. He felt he was ready to make his move. He knew that his success or failure would depend on what he did in the next few seconds. (R. C. Anderson, Reynolds, Schallert, & Goetz, 1977, p. 372)

Now summarize what you’ve just read in two or three sentences.

help them make connections

What did you think the passage was about? A prison escape? A wrestling match? Or perhaps something else altogether? When the Rocky passage was used in an experiment with college students, many physical education majors interpreted it as a wrestling match, but music education majors—most of whom had little or no knowledge of wrestling—were more likely to think it was about a prison break (R. C. Anderson et al., 1977). Yet it isn’t enough that students have the knowledge they need to make sense of new material. They must also be aware that some of their existing knowledge is relevant. They must retrieve that knowledge from long‐term memory while thinking about the new material, so that they have both the old and the new in working memory simultaneously and can make the appropriate connections (Bellezza, 1986; Glanzer & Nolan, 1986; Kalyuga, 2010). As teachers, we should use students’ existing knowledge as a starting point whenever we introduce a new topic. Furthermore, we should explicitly remind students of things they know that bear directly on a topic of classroom study—an instructional strategy known as prior knowledge activation (Machiels‐Bongaerts, Schmidt, & Boshuizen, 1993; Resnick, 1989; Spires & Donley, 1998). For instance, we might begin a first‐grade unit about plants by asking students to describe what their parents do to keep flowers or vegetable gardens growing. In a secondary English literature class, we might introduce Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (in which Robin Hood is a major character) by asking students to tell the tale of Robin Hood as they know it. We should also remember that students from diverse cultural backgrounds may have somewhat different knowledge bases and adjust our starting point accordingly (E. Fox, 2009; Nelson‐Barber & Estrin, 1995; Pritchard, 1990). Furthermore, we should encourage students to retrieve relevant knowledge on their own as they study. One approach is to model this strategy for students. For example, we might read aloud a portion of a textbook, stopping occasionally to tie an idea in the text to something previously studied in class or to something in our own personal experience. We can then encourage students to do likewise, giving suggestions and guiding their efforts as they proceed. Especially when working with students in the elementary grades, we might also want to provide specific questions that encourage students to reflect on their existing knowledge and beliefs as they read and study—for instance, asking themselves, “What do I already know about this topic?” and “Might I discover that something I think about this topic isn’t correct?” (Baer & Garrett, 2010; Spires & Donley, 1998; H. Thompson & Carr, 1995).

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ENCOURAGING A MEANINGFUL LEARNING SET AND CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING
We can’t always blame students when they take a relatively meaningless approach to their studies. Inadvertently, some teachers tend to encourage students to learn school subjects by rote. Think back to your own experiences in school. How many times were you allowed to define a word by repeating its dictionary definition, rather than being expected to explain it in your own words? In fact, how many times were you required to learn something word for word? And how many times did an exam assess your knowledge of facts or principles without ever assessing your ability to relate those facts and principles to everyday life or to things learned in previous lessons or courses? When assignments and assessments require memory of isolated facts—and perhaps even require word‐ for‐word recall—students are apt to engage in rote rather than meaningful learning, believing that a rote‐learning approach will yield them better grades (Crooks, 1988; N. Frederiksen, 1984b; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; L. Shepard, Hammerness, Darling‐Hammond, & Rust, 2005). As teachers, we should not only encourage meaningful learning through the strategies previously described—asking students to logically organize related ideas, think of new examples, speculate about implications, and so on—but we should also communicate that school topics are to be understood rather than memorized. In other words, we should encourage students to adopt a meaningful learning set. For example, we might frequently ask students to explain their reasoning, and our assignments and assessment tasks should require true understanding rather than rote memorization (Ausubel et al., 1978; Middleton & Midgley, 2002; L. Shepard et al., 2005). Ideally, students should gain a conceptual understanding of classroom topics; that is, they should form many logical connections among related concepts and principles. For example, rather than simply memorize basic mathematical computation procedures, students should learn how those procedures reflect underlying principles of mathematics. And rather than learn historical facts as a list of unrelated people, places, and dates, students should place those facts within the context of major social and religious trends, migration patterns, economic conditions, human personality characteristics, and so on. The more interrelationships students form within the subject matter they’re learning— in other words, the better they organize it—the more easily they’ll be able to remember and apply it later on (e.g., Hecht & Vagi, 2010; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; J. J. White & Rumsey, 1994). Constructing an integrated understanding of any complex topic inevitably takes time. Accordingly, many educators advocate the principle Less is more: Less material studied thoroughly (rather than superficially) is learned more completely and with greater understanding (e.g., Sizer, 1992, 2004). Following are several more specific strategies for promoting conceptual understanding of classroom subject matter: Organize units around a few core ideas or issues, always relating specific content back to this core. Explore each topic in depth—for example, by considering many examples, examining cause– and–effect relationships, and discovering how specific details relate to more general principles. Regularly connect new ideas to students’ personal experiences and to things students have previously learned at school. Show students—through the statements made, the questions asked, the assignments given, and the criteria used to evaluate achievement—that conceptual understanding is far more important than knowledge of specific facts. Ask students to teach what they’ve learned to others. Teaching others encourages them to focus on and pull together main ideas in ways that make sense. (Brophy, 2004; Brophy, Alleman, & Knighton, 2009; Hatano & Inagaki, 1993; Middleton & Midgley, 2002; Perkins & Ritchhart, 2004; Roscoe & Chi, 2007; VanSledright & Brophy, 1992; J. J. White & Rumsey, 1994)

meaningful learning set that one can make sense of the

conceptual understanding

USING MNEMONICS IN THE ABSENCE OF RELEVANT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
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Some things are hard to make sense of—that is, hard to learn meaningfully. For instance, why do bones in the human body have such names as fibula, humerus, and ulna? Why is Au the chemical symbol for gold? Why is Augusta the capital of Maine? From most students’ perspectives, there is no rhyme or reason to such facts.

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 6.8 Common mnemonic techniques
Verbal Mediation
A verbal mediator

Information to Be Learned Handschuh

Verbal Mediator A glove is a shoe for the hand. Mosquitoes are at the equator.

Au principal the letters pal The humerus 2 the right to bear arms. ple

Ay, you The principal The humorous

gold pal. funny

A bear has two arms.

Keyword Method keyword method amor 1. love 2. love, amor keywords. amor means

Information to Be Learned Das Pferd horse.

Visual Image Picture a horse Picture a gust of Swan Lake. Picture a swan lake, tie Ford. mane. coughing.

Superimposed Meaningful Structure superimposed meaningful structures
Information to Be Learned Superimposed Meaningful Structure

or

Procedure to Be Learned

Superimposed Meaningful Structure

p m a s d

e

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When students have trouble finding relationships between new material and their prior knowledge, or when a body of information seemingly has no organizational structure (as is true for many lists), special memory tricks known as mnemonics can help students remember classroom material more effectively. Three commonly used mnemonics—verbal mediation, the keyword method, and superimposed meaningful structures—are described in Figure 6.8. Research consistently supports the effectiveness of using mnemonics in learning (e.g., R. K. Atkinson et al., 1999; M. S. Jones, Levin, Levin, & Beitzel, 2000; Pressley, Levin, & Delaney, 1982). Their effectiveness lies in their conformity with a basic principle of long‐term memory storage: Learners find some sort of meaning—even if that “meaning” is a bit contrived—in what might otherwise be nonsensical information. The artificial organization structure that some mnemonics provide is an additional plus. Imposing rhythm on a body of information—for instance, embedding the information in a song or hip‐hop lyrics—is one way of giving it structure and can be especially beneficial when music is a significant part of students’ cultures (B. A. Allen & Boykin, 1991; Barton, Tan, & Rivet, 2008; Tyler et al., 2008).

When Knowledge Construction Goes Awry: Addressing Learners’ Misconceptions
When learners construct their own understandings, there is, of course, no guarantee that they’ll construct accurate ones. Occasionally they may instead construct misconceptions—beliefs that are inconsistent with commonly accepted and well‐validated explanations of phenomena or events. In science, for example, some of students’ beliefs might be at odds with data collected over the course of decades or centuries of scientific research. And in history, students’ understandings of certain events might be inconsistent with existing historical records and artifacts from the time period in question. Figure 6.9 presents misconceptions that researchers have often observed in students—not only in children and adolescents, but occasionally in college students as well. In many instances students’ misconceptions arise out of their own well‐intended efforts to make sense of the things they see—for instance, a sun and moon that seem to “travel” across the sky. But society and culture can foster misconceptions as well. Sometimes common expressions in language misrepresent the true nature of physical events. For instance, when we talk about the sun “rising” and “setting,” children may easily conclude that the sun revolves around the earth, rather than vice versa. In addition, fairy tales and television cartoon programs may misrepresent what we know to be true in, say, physics or paleontology—as examples, you’ve probably seen cartoon bad guys run off cliffs and remain suspended in the air until they realize there’s nothing holding them up, and perhaps you’ve watched cartoon caveman Fred Flintstone riding a brontosaurus to work. Unfortunately, students can also acquire erroneous ideas from other people, occasionally including teachers and textbook authors (Brophy et al., 2009; Glynn, Yeany, & Britton, 1991; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; Wiser & Smith, 2008). Regardless of how students’ misconceptions originate, they can wreak havoc on new learning. As a result of elaborating on new information—a process that usually facilitates learning— students may interpret or distort the information to be consistent with what they already “know” and thus continue to believe what they’ve always believed. For example, one eleventh‐grade physics class was studying the idea that an object’s mass and weight do not, by themselves, affect the speed at which the object falls. Students were asked to build egg containers that would keep eggs from breaking when dropped from a third‐floor window. They were told that on the day of the egg drop, they would record the time it took for the eggs to reach the ground. Convinced that heavier objects fall faster, a student named Barry added several nails to his egg’s container. Yet when he dropped it, classmates timed its fall at 1.49 seconds—a time very similar to that for other students’ lighter containers. Rather than acknowledge that light and heavy objects fall at the same rate, Barry explained the result by rationalizing that “the people weren’t timing real good” (Hynd, 1998a, p. 34). When students have misunderstandings such as Barry’s, we must work hard to promote conceptual change, a process of revising or overhauling an existing theory or belief system in such a way that new, discrepant information can be better understood and explained. Don’t let the term conceptual mislead you here: For the most part, we’re talking about changing tightly interconnected sets of ideas rather than changing single, isolated concepts.

mnemonic

of information.

verbal mediator

information.

keyword method

visual image of one or more concrete keywords

superimposed meaningful structure

facilitate recall.

misconception

phenomena or events.

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conceptual change

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 6.9 Common student beliefs and misconceptions
In Biology

In Astronomy

of the earth.

In Climatology

In Physics an itch. inertia is

In Mathematics

In History

In Geography and Social Studies

person rich.
Sources: Brewer, 2008; Brophy et al., 2009; Chi, 2008; De Corte, Greer, & Verschaffel, 1996; Delval, 1994; diSessa, 1996; H. Gardner, Torff, & Hatch, 1996; Haskell, 2001; Hynd, 2003; Kelemen, 1999, 2004; V. R. Lee, 2010; Martínez, Bannan‐Ritland, Kitsantas, & Baek, 2008; Masters et al., 2010; K. J. Roth & Anderson, 1988; Sneider & Pulos, 1983; Tirosh & Graeber, 1990; Vosniadou & Brewer, 1987; Vosniadou, Vamvakoussi, & Skopeliti, 2008; Winer & Cottrell, 1996.

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OBSTACLES TO CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
Teachers often present new information with the expectation that it will easily replace students’ erroneous beliefs about a topic. And in fact some misconceptions are easily corrected. Yet students of all ages can hold quite stubbornly to certain counterproductive beliefs about the world, even after considerable instruction that explicitly contradicts those beliefs. Theorists have offered several possible explanations about why students’ misconceptions can be so resistant to change: Most children and adolescents have a confirmation bias. Learners of all ages (even college students!) tend to look for information that confirms their existing beliefs and to ignore or discredit contradictory evidence—a phenomenon known as confirmation bias (e.g., De Lisi & Golbeck, 1999; Hynd, 1998b; P. K. Murphy & Mason, 2006). For example, when students in a high school science lab observe results that contradict what they expected to happen, they might complain, “Our equipment isn’t working right” or “I can never do science right anyway” (Minstrell & Stimpson, 1996, p. 192). Students may believe that their existing beliefs better explain their everyday experiences. Well‐established scientific theories are often fairly abstract and sometimes seem to contradict everyday reality (D. B. Clark, 2006; M. C. Linn, 2008; Wiser & Smith, 2008). For example, in physics, although the law of inertia tells us that force is needed to start an object in motion but not to keep it in motion, we know from experience that if we want to move a heavy object across the floor, we must continue to push it until we get it where we want it (Driver, Asoko, Leach, Mortimer, & Scott, 1994). And although virtually any piece of matter has some weight, a very small piece of Styrofoam may feel weightless in our hands (C. L. Smith, 2007). Some beliefs are integrated into cohesive theories, with many interrelationships existing among various ideas. In such circumstances, changing misconceptions involves changing an entire organized body of knowledge rather than a single belief (Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003; C. L. Smith, Maclin, Grosslight, & Davis, 1997; Vosniadou, 2008). For example, the belief that the sun revolves around the earth may be part of a more general earth‐centered view of things, perhaps one that includes the moon, stars, and other heavenly bodies revolving around the earth as well. In reality, of course, the moon revolves around the earth, the earth revolves around the sun, and other stars aren’t directly involved with the earth in one way or another. Yet the earth‐centered view is a much easier one to understand and accept (on the surface, at least), and everything fits so nicely together. Students may fail to notice an inconsistency between new information and their existing beliefs. Sometimes this happens because students learn the new information in a rote manner, without relating it to things they already know and believe. In other instances it occurs because existing misconceptions take the form of implicit knowledge—knowledge that students aren’t consciously aware of. In either case, students don’t realize that the material they’re studying contradicts their current understandings, and thus they may continue to apply their misconceptions when interpreting new situations (Hynd, 2003; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; P. K. Murphy, 2007; Ohlsson, 2009; Strike & Posner, 1992). Students have a personal or emotional investment in their existing beliefs. For one reason or another, students may be especially committed to certain beliefs, perhaps insisting “This theory is what I believe in! Nobody can make me change it!” (Mason, 2003, p. 228). In some instances their beliefs may be an integral part of their religion or culture (Mosborg, 2002; Porat, 2004; Sinatra & Mason, 2008). In other cases students may interpret information that contradicts their existing understandings as a threat to their self‐esteem (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003; Minstrell & Stimpson, 1996; Sherman & Cohen, 2002).

confirmation bias

confirmation bias

worldviews .

PROMOTING CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
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For the reasons just identified, promoting conceptual change can be quite a challenge. Not only must we help students learn new things, but we must also help them unlearn—or at least inhibit—their existing beliefs (Hynd, 2003). Following are strategies that seem to have an impact, especially when used in combination.

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CHAPTER Identify existing misconceptions before instruction begins. As teachers, we can more easily address students’ misconceptions when we know what they are (P. K. Murphy & Alexander, 2004, 2008; Putnam, 1992). Thus, we should probably begin any new topic by assessing students’ current beliefs about the topic—perhaps simply by asking a few informal questions and probing further if students’ initial explanations are vague. As an example, an 11‐year‐old once described rain as “water that falls out of a cloud when the clouds evaporate.” The response has an element of truth— evaporation is an essential process in cloud formation—but not quite on target: In fact, rain results a bit later in the water cycle as a result of condensation. A series of follow‐up questions eventually revealed a rather unique understanding: The water “comes down at little times like a salt shaker when you turn it upside down. It doesn’t all come down at once ’cause there’s little holes [in the cloud] and it just comes out” (Stepans, 1991, p. 94). This conception of a cloud as a salt shaker is hardly consistent with scientific views of rain and should definitely be addressed during instruction. Informal preassessments of students’ current understandings will be especially important in your first few years of teaching. As you gain experience teaching a particular topic year after year, you may eventually find that you can anticipate what students’ prior beliefs and misbeliefs about the topic are likely to be. Look for—and then build on—kernels of truth in students’ existing understandings. Often students’ current understandings have a partly‐right‐and‐partly‐wrong quality (diSessa, 1996, 2006; Vosniadou, 2008). For example, the 11‐year‐old with the salt‐shaker explanation of rain correctly knew that evaporation is somehow involved in the water cycle, and such knowledge would be a good starting point for further instruction. Among other things, a teacher might (1) help the child understand how evaporation and condensation are essentially opposite processes that involve either changing from liquid form to vapor form (evaporation) or vice versa (condensation); and (2) explain how a cloud actually is water itself rather than a shakerlike water container. Convince students that their existing beliefs need revision. We can more effectively promote conceptual change when we show students how new information contradicts what they currently believe and when we demonstrate why their existing conceptions are inadequate. In Jean Piaget’s terminology, we need to create disequilibrium, perhaps with strategies such as these: Present phenomena and ask questions that lead students to find weaknesses in their current understandings. Have students conduct experiments to test various hypotheses and predictions. Ask students to provide several explanations for puzzling phenomena and to discuss the pros and cons of each one. Show how one explanation of an event or phenomenon is more plausible (i.e., makes more sense) than others. Have students apply the new ideas to real‐life situations and problems. (Chinn & Malhotra, 2002; Chinn & Samarapungavan, 2009; D. B. Clark, 2006; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; P. K. Murphy & Mason, 2006; Pine & Messer, 2000; G. J. Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982; K. J. Roth, 2002; Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003; C. L. Smith, 2007; Vosniadou, 2008) Such strategies might encompass a wide variety of instructional methods, including demonstrations, hands‐on activities, teacher explanations, small‐group or whole‐class discussions, and writing assignments. But all of these strategies have one thing in common: a focus on meaningful learning rather than rote memorization. Motivate students to learn correct explanations. Students will be most likely to engage in meaningful learning and undergo conceptual change when they’re motivated to do so. At a minimum, they must be interested in the subject matter, see it as useful in helping them achieve their personal goals, set their sights on mastering it, and have sufficient self‐confidence to believe they can master it. Furthermore, the classroom should be socially and emotionally supportive of conceptual change. For example, students must feel confident that (1) their teacher and classmates won’t ridicule them for their initially erroneous or partly‐right‐but‐partly‐wrong ideas and (2) the ultimate goal of a lesson is understanding the subject matter rather than simply performing well on a quiz or assignment (Hatano & Inagaki, 2003; Pintrich, Marx, & Boyle, 1993; Sinatra & Mason, 2008).

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Monitor what students say and write for signs of persistent misconceptions. Some misconceptions and only‐partly‐correct understandings may persist despite our best efforts. Throughout a lesson, then, we should often check students’ beliefs about the topic at hand, looking for subtle signs that their understanding isn’t completely on target and giving corrective feedback when necessary. As an illustration, imagine a lesson about human vision that includes the following general principles: tion about these light rays to the brain for interpretation. light source to the object, (2) bounce off of the object, and then (3) travel to the retina. objects. A common misconception in both children and adults is that vision involves something going out from the eye to the object, rather than vice versa (K. J. Roth & Anderson, 1988; Winer & Cottrell, 1996; Winer, Cottrell, Gregg, Fournier, & Bica, 2002). Therefore, this misconception is something we would want to be on the lookout for throughout the lesson. For instance, we might show students the drawing in Figure 6.10 and ask them whether the girl can see the car. Several of them might respond, “No, she can’t see through it” or “It’s opaque.” The phrase see through is one that people often use when talking about transparent objects, but it implies that something is traveling from—not to—the eye. We would thus want to ask follow‐up questions to pin down their reasoning: “What do you mean, she can’t see through it?” “What does opaque mean?” and “What are the light rays doing?” Assessment of students’ comprehension is important after a lesson as well. We’re more likely to detect and correct misconceptions when we ask students to explain and apply what they’ve learned, rather than just spitting back memorized facts, definitions, and formulas (D. B. Clark, 2006; Pine & Messer, 2000; K. J. Roth, 1990). Even so, we must remember that true and lasting conceptual change may take considerable time and instruction—perhaps several years’ worth— especially if it involves overhauling a complex, interrelated set of student‐constructed ideas (Vosniadou, 2008). FIGURE 6.10 Can the girl see the car? If not, why not?

complex phenomena can take

Long‐Term Memory Retrieval
As you’ve already discovered, some of the information stored in long‐term memory is easily retrieved later on. Other pieces of information are harder to find, and still others may never be found at all. Retrieving information from long‐term memory appears to involve following a pathway of associations; it’s a process of mentally going down Memory Lane. One idea reminds us of another idea—that is, one idea activates another—the second idea reminds us of a third idea, and so on. The process is similar to what happened when you followed your train of thought from the word horse earlier in the chapter. If the pathway of associations eventually leads us to what we’re trying to remember, we do indeed remember it. If the path takes us in another direction, we’re out of luck. Learners are more likely to remember something later on if, in the process of storing it, they connect it with something else in long‐term memory. Ideally, the new and the old have a logical relationship. To illustrate this idea, let’s return once again to all that mail you routinely get in your mail and e‐mail boxes. Imagine that, on average, you receive five important items—five things you really want to save—each day. That adds up to more than 1,800 items a year. Over the course of 15 years, you would have more than 27,000 important things stashed somewhere in your home, on your computer, or on a flash drive or other back‐up storage device. Imagine that one day you hear that stock in a clothing company (Mod Bod Jeans) has tripled in value. You remember that your wealthy Aunt Agnes bought you some Mod Bod stock for your birthday several years ago, and you presumably decided that the paperwork documenting her purchase was important enough to save. But where in the world did you put it? How easily you find it—in fact, whether you find it at all—depends on how you’ve been storing your mail as you’ve accumulated it. If you’ve been storing it in a logical, organized fashion—for instance, all

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CHAPTER the bills you’ve paid by regular mail on a closet shelf, all banking and investment paperwork in alphabetical order in a file drawer, and all electronic documents from family and friends in labeled folders on your computer—you should quickly find Aunt Agnes’s gift. But if you simply tossed each day’s mail and e‐mail randomly about, you’ll be searching for a long, long time, possibly without ever finding a trace of the Mod Bod stock. Like a home with 15 years’ worth of mail, long‐term memory contains a great deal of information. And like your search for the Mod Bod purchase, the ease with which information is retrieved from long‐term memory depends somewhat on whether the information has been stored in a logical place—that is, whether it’s connected to related ideas. By making connections to existing knowledge—that is, by engaging in meaningful learning—we’ll know where to look for information when we need it. Otherwise, we may never retrieve it again.

FACTORS AFFECTING RETRIEVAL
Even when people connect new information to their existing knowledge base, they can’t always find it when they need it. We now look at several factors affecting retrieval from long‐term memory. MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS WITH EXISTING KNOWLEDGE AND A VARIETY OF CONTEXTS Sometimes learners acquire and practice certain behaviors and ways of thinking in a very limited set of environments—say, in their math classes or science labs. When this happens, the learners may associate those behaviors and ways of thinking only with those particular environments and therefore fail to retrieve what they’ve learned when they’re in other contexts. This tendency for some responses and cognitive processes to be associated with and retrieved only in a very limited range of circumstances is known as situated learning or situated cognition (e.g., J. S. Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Robbins & Aydede, 2009). For example, if students associate principles of geometry only with math classes, they may not retrieve those principles at times when geometry would come in handy—say, when trying to determine whether a 10‐inch pizza that costs eight dollars is a better value than an 8‐inch pizza that costs six dollars. In general, learners are more likely to retrieve information when they have many possible pathways to it—in other words, when they’ve associated the information with many other things they know and with many different contexts in which they might use it. Making multiple connections is like using cross‐references in your mail storage system. You may have filed the Mod Bod paperwork in the banking/investments file drawer, but you may also have written its location on notes‐to‐self you’ve put in other places—perhaps with your birth certificate (after all, you received the stock on your birthday) and in a computer folder of family documents and photos (because a family member gave you the stock). By looking in one of these logical places, you’ll discover where to find the Mod Bod documentation. As teachers, we can help students more effectively remember classroom subject matter over the long run if we show how it relates to many other things they already know. For example, we can show them how new material relates to one or more of the following: related to addition) situations. affected historical events) inertia to how passengers are affected when a car quickly turns a sharp corner) Romeo and Juliet and students’ own interpersonal conflicts) writing skills might be used to craft an essay for a college application)

situated learning and cognition

DISTINCTIVENESS Learners are more likely to remember things that are unique in some way—for instance, things that are new, unusual, or a bit bizarre (R. R. Hunt & Worthen, 2006). For example, second graders are more likely to remember a visit to the local firehouse than, say, their teacher’s explanation

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185 of what a noun is. And when U.S. high school students recall what they’ve learned about events leading up to the American Revolution, they’re more likely to remember the Boston Tea Party—a unique and colorful illustration of colonists’ dissatisfaction with British taxation policies—than, say, the Quartering Act or the publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Certainly, learners are more likely to pay attention to distinctive information, increasing the odds that they store it in long‐term memory in the first place. But even when attention and initial learning have been the same, distinctive information is easier to retrieve than dull‐and‐ordinary information (Craik, 2006; Mather & Sutherland, 2011). EMOTIONAL OVERTONES As learners pay attention to and think about new information, their thoughts and memories sometimes become emotionally charged—a phenomenon called hot cognition. For example, learners might get excited when they read about advances in science that could lead to effective treatments for cancer, spinal cord injuries, or mental illness. Or they might feel quite sad when they read about living conditions in certain parts of the world. And they will, we hope, get angry when they learn about atrocities committed against African American slaves in the pre‐Civil War days of the United States or about large‐ scale genocides carried out in more recent times in Europe, Africa, and Asia. When information is emotionally charged in such ways, learners are more likely to pay attention to it, continue to think about it for an extended period, and repeatedly elaborate on it (Bower, 1994; Heuer & Reisberg, 1992; Zeelenberg, Wagenmakers, & Rotteveel, 2006). And over the long run, learners can usually retrieve material with high emotional content more easily than they can recall relatively nonemotional information (LaBar & Phelps, 1998; Phelps & Sharot, 2008; Reisberg & Heuer, 1992).1 It appears that students’ emotional reactions to classroom topics become integral parts of their network of associations in long‐term memory (Bower & Forgas, 2001; Siegel, 2012). Academic subject matter certainly doesn’t need to be dry and emotionless. In addition to presenting subject matter that evokes strong emotions, we can promote hot cognition by revealing our own feelings about a topic. For instance, we might bring in newspaper articles and other outside materials about which we’re excited, or we might share the particular questions and issues about which we ourselves are concerned (Brophy, 2004; R. P. Perry, 1985).

experiences.

Information and events that evoke strong emotional reactions often remain vivid in memory for quite some time. In this reflection in a class journal, written more than a year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, 12‐year‐old Amaryth still has strong feelings about the attacks.

for a topic.

REGULAR PRACTICE As noted earlier, rehearsal—mindlessly repeating information over and over within the course of a few seconds or minutes—is a relatively ineffective way of getting information into long‐term memory. But by “regular practice,” I mean repetition over a lengthy time span: reviewing and using information and skills at periodic intervals over the course of a few weeks, months, or years. When practice is spread out in this manner—ideally in a variety of contexts—people of all ages learn something better and remember it longer (Dempster, 1991; Proctor & Dutta, 1995; Rohrer & Pashler, 2010). When learners continue to practice things they’ve already mastered, they eventually achieve automaticity: They can retrieve what they’ve learned quickly and effortlessly and can use it almost without thinking (J. R. Anderson, 2005; Pashler, Rohrer, Cepeda, & Carpenter, 2007; Proctor & Dutta, 1995). As an example, think of driving a car, a complicated skill that you can probably perform easily. Your first attempts at driving many years ago may have required a great deal of mental effort. But perhaps now you can drive without having to pay much attention to what you’re doing. Even if your car has a standard transmission that frequently requires stepping on a clutch and shifting gears, driving is, for you, an automatic activity. Learning some knowledge and skills to a level of automaticity has a second advantage as well. Remember that working memory has a limited capacity: The active, consciously‐thinking
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1

hot cognition Learning or cognitive automaticity

Occasionally people may have trouble retrieving highly anxiety-arousing memories. This phenomenon, known as repression, is most likely to occur with traumatic personal events (M. C. Anderson et al., 2004; Erdelyi, 2010; Pezdek & Banks, 1996). It's unlikely to be a factor in the retrieval of classroom subject matter.

task.

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CHAPTER part of the human memory system can handle only so much at a time. When much of its capacity must be used for recalling isolated facts or carrying out simple procedures, little room is left for addressing more complex situations or tasks. One key reason for learning some facts and procedures to the point of automaticity, then, is to free up working memory capacity for complex tasks and problems that require those simpler facts and procedures (De La Paz & McCutchen, 2011; Kalyuga, 2010; Stanovich, 2000). For example, second graders who are reading a story can better focus their efforts on understanding it if they don’t have to sound out words like before and after. High school chemistry students can more easily interpret the expression Na2CO3 (sodium carbonate) if they don’t have to stop to think about what the symbols Na, C, and O represent. Unfortunately, automaticity is achieved in only one way: practice, practice, and more practice. Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect, but it does make knowledge more durable and more easily retrievable. When learners use information and skills frequently, they essentially pave their retrieval pathways—in some cases creating superhighways. This is not to say that we should continually assign drill‐and‐practice exercises involving isolated facts and procedures (e.g., see Figure 6.11). Such activities promote rote (rather than meaningful) learning, are often boring, and are unlikely to convince students of the value of the subject matter (Mac Iver, Reuman, & Main, 1995). A more effective approach is to routinely incorporate basic knowledge and skills into a variety of meaningful and enjoyable activities—problem‐solving tasks, group projects, games, brainteasers, and so on. RELEVANT RETRIEVAL CUES If you were educated in North America, then at one time or another you probably learned the names of the five Great Lakes. Yet at any given moment you may have trouble retrieving all five, even though they’re all still stored somewhere in your long‐term memory. Perhaps Lake Michigan doesn’t come to mind when you retrieve the other four. The HOMES mnemonic presented in Figure 6.8 provides a retrieval cue—a hint about where to “look” in long‐term memory. The mnemonic tells you that one lake begins with the letter M, prompting you to search among the M words you know until (we hope) you find Michigan. Learners are more likely to retrieve information when relevant retrieval cues are present to start their search of long‐term memory in the right direction (e.g., Morris, Bransford, & Franks, 1977; Tulving & Thomson, 1973). Providing retrieval cues is often useful in the classroom, especially when students have trouble recalling information that might help them remember or apply other information. For example, if a student asks what the symbol Au stands for, we might respond by saying “One day we talked about how Au comes from the Latin word aurum. Can you remember what aurum means?” Another example comes from one of my former teacher interns, Jess Jensen. A student in her eighth‐grade history class had been writing about the Battle of New Orleans, which was a decisive victory for the United States in the War of 1812. The following exchange took place: Student: Why was the Battle of New Orleans important? Jess: Look at the map. Where is New Orleans? [The student finds New Orleans.] Jess: Why is it important? Student: Oh! It’s near the mouth of the Mississippi. It was important for controlling transportation up and down the river. In the early grades, teachers typically provide many retrieval cues for their students; for instance, they remind students about tasks they need to do at certain times (“I hear the fire alarm. Remember, we must all walk quietly during a fire drill”). But as students grow older, they must develop greater independence, relying more on themselves and less on their teachers for the things they need to remember. At all grade levels we can teach students ways of providing retrieval cues for themselves. For example, if we expect first graders to get a permission slip signed, we might ask them to write a reminder on a piece of masking tape that they put on their jacket or backpack. If we give junior high school students a major assignment due in several weeks, we might suggest that they tape a note with the due date to their bedside table or add an appropriate

FIGURE 6.11 Occasional rote practice of numerals and letters can be helpful in promoting automaticity, but too much conveys the message that learning basic skills is boring and tedious. Here 5‐year‐old Gunnar has practiced writing numerals 1 through 9. Notice that he got practice in writing 9 backward!

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retrieval cue a piece of information in long‐term

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187 reminder to their cell phone calendar. One tenth grader developed several effective retrieval cues, each appropriate for certain situations: Homework is written down in my agenda book. If it is something to do when I get home, I will write it on my hand. If I have something to do in the next few days, I write it on a note card in my wallet, and whenever I go to get money, I will think to do it. WAIT TIME Wait time is the length of time a teacher allows to pass after the teacher or a student says something before the teacher says something else. In many classrooms, wait time is insufficient for most students to retrieve information that might be relevant to a teacher’s or classmate’s question or comment. For instance, when teachers ask students a question, many wait for only a very short time—perhaps a second or less—and if they don’t get a response, they ask another student the same question, rephrase the question, or answer the question themselves. Many teachers are equally reluctant to let much time elapse after students answer questions or make comments in class; on average, teachers allow one second or less of silence before responding to a statement or asking another question (Jegede & Olajide, 1995; M. B. Rowe, 1974, 1987). Students benefit tremendously simply from being given a little time to think. When teachers instead allow at least three seconds of wait time, more students participate in class—this is especially true for females and minority‐group members—and students begin to respond to one another’s comments and questions. In addition, students are more likely to support their reasoning with evidence or logic and more likely to speculate when they don’t know an answer. Furthermore, they’re more motivated to learn classroom subject matter, thereby increasing actual learning and decreasing behavior problems. Such changes are due, in part, to the fact that with increased wait time, teachers’ behaviors change as well. Teachers ask fewer simple questions (e.g., those requiring recall of facts) and more thought‐provoking ones (e.g., those requiring elaboration). They also modify the direction of discussion to accommodate students’ comments and questions, and they allow their classes to pursue a topic in greater depth than they had originally anticipated. Moreover, their expectations for many students, especially low‐achieving ones, begin to improve (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Giaconia, 1988; M. B. Rowe, 1974, 1987; Tharp, 1989; Tobin, 1987). When our objective is simple recall—when students need to retrieve classroom material very quickly, to “know it cold”—then wait time should be short. Students may sometimes benefit from rapid‐fire drill and practice to learn information and skills to automaticity. But when our instructional goals include more complex processing of ideas and issues, a longer wait time may give both our students and us the time needed to think things through.

WHY LEARNERS SOMETIMES FORGET
Fortunately, people don’t need to remember everything they’ve stored. For instance, you may have no reason to remember the Internet address of a website you looked at yesterday, the plot of last week’s episode of a certain television show, or the due date of an assignment you turned in last semester. Much of the information learners encounter is, like junk mail, not worth keeping, and forgetting it enables learners to get rid of needless clutter (Schacter, 1999). But sometimes learners have trouble recalling what they do need to remember. Here we look at several possible explanations for why students may sometimes forget important information. FAILURE TO STORE OR CONSOLIDATE INFORMATION IN LONG‐TERM MEMORY As we’ve seen, a great deal of the information students encounter never reaches long‐term memory. Perhaps students didn’t pay attention in the first place, so the information never went beyond the sensory register. Or perhaps after attending to it, students didn’t continue to process it, so it went no further than working memory. Even when information does reach long‐term memory, it needs some time to “firm up” in the brain—a process called consolidation. A good night’s sleep after learning something new seems to facilitate this process (see the earlier Applying Brain Research feature). And an event

wait time Length of time a teacher

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CHAPTER that interferes with consolidation—such as a serious brain injury—may cause a student to forget things that happened several seconds, minutes, hours, or even longer prior to the event (Bauer, DeBoer, & Lukowski, 2007; Wixted, 2005). DECAY Historically, many psychologists believed that once information is stored in long‐term memory, it remains there permanently in some form (Loftus & Loftus, 1980). More recently, however, some psychologists have come to the conclusion that information can slowly weaken and eventually disappear—that is, it can decay—especially if it isn’t used regularly (e.g., Altmann & Gray, 2002; Brainerd & Reyna, 2005; Schacter, 1999). INSUFFICIENT SEARCH OF LONG‐TERM MEMORY A man at the supermarket looks familiar, but you can’t remember who he is or where you met him. He smiles at you and says, “Nice to see you again.” Gulp! You desperately search your long‐ term memory for his name, but you’ve clearly forgotten who he is. A few days later you have a bowl of chili for dinner. The chili reminds you of the Chili for Charity supper at which you worked a few months back. Of course! You and the man at the supermarket had stood side by side serving chili to hundreds of people that night. Oh yes, you now recall, his name is Melville Herman. Like you, students often have retrieval difficulties: They simply can’t find something that’s actually in long‐term memory (e.g., Schacter, 1999). Sometimes they may stumble on the information later, while looking for something else. But at other times they never do retrieve it, perhaps because they’ve learned it by rote or don’t have sufficient retrieval cues to guide their memory search. INTERFERENCE Sometimes people can easily retrieve things they’ve learned but don’t know what goes with what. To experience this phenomenon yourself, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Following are six more Mandarin Chinese words and their English meanings (for simplicity I’ve omitted the pronunciation marks over the words). Read the words two or three times, and try to store them in your long‐term memory. But don’t do anything special to learn the words—for instance, don’t intentionally develop mnemonics to help you remember them. Chinese jung ting sung peng ching deng English middle listen deliver friend please wait

Now cover up the list of words and test yourself. What is the Chinese word for friend? For please? For listen? For wait?

decay

interference

Did you find yourself getting confused, perhaps forgetting which English meaning went with each Chinese word? If you did, you were the victim of interference. The various pieces of information you stored in memory were interfering with one another—essentially, they were getting mixed up in your head. Interference is especially likely to occur when items are similar to one another and when they’re learned in a rote rather than meaningful or mnemonic‐based fashion (Dempster, 1985; Healey, Campbell, Hasher, & Ossher, 2010; Lustig, Konkel, & Jacoby, 2004). Interference was probably at work when Kanesha struggled to remember tibia and fibula—two similar‐sounding bones in the lower leg—in the opening case study.

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RECONSTRUCTION ERROR Have you and a friend ever remembered the same event quite differently, even though the two of you were equally active participants at the time? Were you and your friend both certain of the accuracy of your own memories and convinced that the other person remembered incorrectly? Constructive processes in retrieval might explain this difference of opinion. Retrieval isn’t necessarily an all‐or‐nothing phenomenon. Sometimes learners retrieve part of the information they’re seeking but can’t recall the rest. They may logically but incorrectly fill in the gaps using their general knowledge and assumptions about the world—a form of forgetting called reconstruction error (Levstik, 2011; Roediger & McDermott, 2000; Schacter, 1999). If certain details are important to remember, then, we must help students study and learn them in a memorable fashion. All of these explanations of forgetting underscore the importance of instructional strategies presented earlier: We must make sure students are paying attention, help them relate new material to things they already know, and give them frequent opportunities to review, practice, and apply the material.

Diversity in Cognitive Processes
Children and adolescents differ considerably in the various factors that influence their ability to learn and remember in the classroom—attention, long‐term memory storage processes, knowledge base, and so on. For example, on average, girls have a slight edge over boys in keeping their attention focused on classroom activities and in performing certain kinds of memory tasks, such as remembering lists and specific life events (Das, Naglieri, & Kirby, 1994; Halpern, 2006; Halpern & LaMay, 2000). And students of both genders vary in their general ability to think about, encode, and respond to new events and ideas quickly and easily (Coyle, Pillow, Snyder, & Kochunov, 2011; Danthiir, Roberts, Schulze, & Wilhelm, 2005; Demetriou, Christou, Spanoudis, & Platsidou, 2002). Some of this variability is the result of differences in working memory capacity. Students with a smaller overall capacity can have trouble remembering instructions, tackling complex problems, and staying on task; they’re also more likely than their classmates to make careless mistakes and monitor the quality of their work (Alloway, Gathercole, Kirkwood, & Elliott, 2009; Gathercole, Lamont, & Alloway, 2006). Working memory difficulties are especially common in children who have grown up in chronically stressful living conditions, often as a result of living in extreme poverty (G. W. Evans & Schamberg, 2009; Noble, McCandless, & Farah, 2007). Another important source of diversity in cognitive processing is cultural background. Different cultures foster somewhat different ways of looking at physical and social events— different worldviews—that influence how students interpret classroom subject matter. For example, students whose cultures have taught them to strive to live in harmony with their natural environment may struggle with a science curriculum that urges them to change their environment in some way (Atran, Medin, & Ross, 2005; Medin, 2005). And whereas students of European ancestry are apt to view the Europeans’ migration to North America in the 1600s and 1700s as a process of settlement, students with Native American backgrounds might instead view it as increasing invasion (Banks, 1991; VanSledright & Brophy, 1992). Children’s varying cultural backgrounds may also have prepared them to handle different kinds of learning environments and tasks. For instance, African American and Hispanic students are more likely than European American students to be comfortable in environments in which several activities are going on at once and can more easily shift their attention from one activity to another (Correa‐Chávez, Rogoff, & Mejía Arauz, 2005; Tyler et al., 2008). Students from North American, East Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures are apt to have had experience rote‐ memorizing specific facts and written materials (perhaps in the form of multiplication tables, poems, or religious teachings), whereas students from certain cultures in Africa, Australia, and Central America may have been encouraged to remember oral histories or particular landmarks in the local terrain (Purdie & Hattie, 1996; Rogoff, 2001, 2003; Rogoff et al., 2007; Q. Wang & Ross, 2007). The importance of wait time depends partly on students’ cultural backgrounds as well. For example, some Native American students may wait several seconds before responding to a

current events.

reconstruction error Construction

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CHAPTER question as a way of showing respect for an adult (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Gilliland, 1988). And English language learners—students who have grown up in a non‐English‐speaking environment and are still developing their proficiency in English—are apt to require more mental translation time than their native‐English‐speaking peers (Igoa, 2007). To maximize each student’s learning and achievement in the classroom, we must take such individual and group differences into account. For example, we should be especially careful to engage the interest of—and also minimize distractions for—those students whose attention easily wanders. In addition, in our attempts to promote meaningful learning and other effective storage processes, we should relate classroom subject matter to the diverse background experiences that students have had. And we must allow sufficient wait time after questions and comments so that all students can actively think about and elaborate on topics of discussion.

FACILITATING COGNITIVE PROCESSING IN STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Some diversity in learning and cognitive processes is the result of certain disabilities, on the one hand, or giftedness, on the other. For example, some students with disabilities have particular trouble attending to and effectively processing classroom subject matter. This is certainly true for students with learning disabilities (who, by definition, have deficits in certain cognitive processes), and it’s often true for students with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and general intellectual disabilities as well. In contrast, many children with autism spectrum disorders can be very attentive, sometimes to the point that they have trouble shifting to new tasks. And on average, gifted students have a longer attention span and can process new ideas more rapidly and elaboratively than many of their classmates. Table 6.5 identifies commonly observed cognitive processing differences in students who have special educational needs. As teachers, we must keep in mind that students with disabilities almost invariably have strengths as well as weaknesses. For example, some students with FIGURE 6.12 In a science activity in his ADHD have a keen memory for events they’ve personally experienced and may third‐grade class, 9‐year‐old Nicholas generate more detailed narratives than their nondisabled classmates (Skowronek, copied the scientific principle “No two Leichtman, & Pillemer, 2008). And some students with autism spectrum dispieces of matter can occupy the same orders notice and remember many subtle nuances in the things they see and may space at the same time” onto a sheet of produce highly detailed and skillful drawings that are unusual for their age‐group paper. He and a lab partner then filled (I. L. Cohen, 2007; S. Moran & Gardner, 2006). a cup with water and dropped, one at The far‐right column of Table 6.5 presents many useful strategies for a time, more than a dozen small metal working with students who have special educational needs. The first of these— cubes into the cup. Here Nick recorded analyzing students’ errors for clues about possible processing difficulties—is his observations with both words and illustrated in 9‐year‐old Nicholas’s lab report in Figure 6.12. Nick’s description a drawing. of what he observed can be translated as “We poured so many cubes [that] the cup overflowed. The blocks took up all the room.” We can only speculate about why Nick wrote up the left side of the glass, across the top, and then down the other side. One possible explanation is that, with his limited language skills, Nick hadn’t yet mastered the conventional direction of written English. This hypothesis seems unlikely, however, as other samples of Nick’s writing (not shown here) correctly begin at the top of the page and proceed downward. Another possibility is that Nick was thinking about the direction of the water flow (up and out) as he wrote and either intentionally or unintentionally followed the water’s direction in his writing. His limited working memory capacity may have been a factor here: Perhaps he had insufficient mental “room” to think simultaneously about his observations plus the spellings of words and conventions of written English. Virtually all students occasionally have difficulty learning or remembering class material. Accordingly, many of the instructional strategies in Table 6.5 need not be limited to use with students with special needs. All students can benefit from guidance and support that enable them to process information more effectively.

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S T U D E N T S I N INCLUS IV E S E T T ING S
Facilitating Cognitive Processing in Students with Special Educational Needs
CATEGORY
Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties

CHARACTERISTICS YOU MIGHT OBSERVE

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES

retrieval.

Students with social or behavioral problems

personal interests.

Students with general delays in cognitive and social functioning

Students with physical or sensory challenges

Students with advanced cognitive development

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Sources: Barkley, 2006; Beirne‐Smith, Patton, & Kim, 2006; Bulgren, Schumaker, & Deshler, 1994; Cattani, Clibbens, & Perfect, 2007; B. Clark, 1997; Courchesne et al., 1994; Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007; Gathercole et al., 2006; Geary, Hoard, Byrd‐Craven, Nugent, & Numtee, 2007; Grandin & Johnson, 2005; N. Gregg, 2009; Heward, 2009; J. Johnson, Im‐Bolter, & Pascual‐Leone, 2003; G. R. Lyon & Krasnegor, 1996; Meltzer, 2007; Mercer & Pullen, 2005; S. Moran & Gardner, 2006; Piirto, 1999; M. I. Posner & Rothbart, 2007; Rabinowitz & Glaser, 1985; Skowronek, Leichtman, & Pillemer, 2008; H. L. Swanson, 1998; Turnbull, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, 2010.

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CHAPTER

6 What Have You Learned?
As a way of summing up our discussion of learning and cognitive processes in this chapter, we now return to the chapter’s learning outcomes. ■ 6.1: Distinguish among four distinct approaches to the study of human learning, and summarize one of these approaches— cognitive psychology—in terms of five basic assumptions. In general, learning is a long‐term change in mental representations or associations as a result of experience. Over the past century, psychologists have offered a variety of perspectives on human learning, many of which fall into one of four general categories: behaviorism, social cognitive theory, cognitive psychology, and contextual theories. As teachers, we can be most effective when we’re theoretically eclectic—that is, when we draw from all of these perspectives to maximally facilitate students’ learning and achievement. Cognitive psychologists propose that the things learners do mentally with new subject matter determine how effectively they learn and remember it. Learners’ cognitive processes can often be inferred from overt behaviors—for instance, from the ways in which learners recall information they’ve previously encountered. Learners must be selective about the information they process in any depth, and they use the information they’ve focused on to construct their own, somewhat idiosyncratic understandings of physical and social phenomena. To some degree, the sophistication and effectiveness of learners’ cognitive processes depends on brain maturation over the course of childhood and adolescence.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

organized, often as concepts that are, in turn, integrated into more general schemas, scripts, and theories. To effectively acquire the kinds of declarative knowledge the school curriculum encompasses, learners should ideally engage in meaningful learning, perhaps by elaborating on or organizing new information or perhaps by engaging in visual imagery. In some cases, acquiring procedural knowledge involves learning and refining various physical behaviors; in other cases, it involves gradually converting declarative knowledge into either physical or mental actions. How effectively learners store new information and skills depends, in part, on how much they already know about the topic at hand. In the absence of relevant prior knowledge, mnemonics can enhance learners’ memory for things that are important for them to remember.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 6.2: Describe and illustrate the key components that many researchers believe may characterize the human memory system. Many cognitive theorists propose that human memory has three components. The sensory register provides temporary storage for incoming information, holding new input for two or three seconds at most. By paying attention to information, learners move it to working memory, where they actively think about and make sense of it. Attention and working memory have a limited capacity; hence, students can pay attention to and think about only a small amount of information at any one time. Furthermore, information stored in working memory has a short duration (typically less than half a minute) and so must be processed further to promote storage in long‐term memory. Long‐term memory has an extremely large capacity and an indefinitely long duration. This particular model of memory has its flaws—for example, some brain research indicates that working memory and long‐term memory aren’t as distinctly different as the model suggests—but it can help us remember many aspects of learning and memory that we should take into account when designing and delivering instruction.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 6.4: Explain how students’ self‐constructed beliefs can sometimes interfere with effective learning, and identify several ways of helping students productively revise such beliefs. Although meaningful learning is usually beneficial, it can occasionally lead students to misinterpret classroom material, especially if they have currently erroneous or only‐partly‐correct beliefs about the topic or phenomenon they’re studying. Some misconceptions may persist despite lessons and activities that present information to the contrary, in part because students are cognitively and emotionally predisposed to confirm (rather than discredit) what they currently believe and in part because students’ current beliefs may be integrated into cohesive theories that can’t easily be unraveled and revised. As teachers, we’re more likely to promote conceptual change when we determine what misconceptions students have before instruction begins, build on kernels of truth in students’ existing understandings, convince students that revision is both warranted and within their grasp, and monitor what students say and write for especially persistent misunderstandings.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 6.3: Apply your knowledge of long‐term memory storage in identifying effective strategies for enhancing students’ learning. Long‐term memory contains both information (declarative knowledge) and skills (procedural knowledge). A good deal of it is

■ 6.5: Describe six different factors that influence students’ ability to recall what they have previously learned; also describe five possible reasons why students may either forget or incorrectly remember what they have learned. Retrieving information from long‐term memory appears to be a process of following pathways of associations. In general, classroom subject matter is more memorable if it has elements that are emotionally laden or in some other way unique and distinctive. Furthermore, students are more likely to be successful in recalling what they’ve learned if they’ve connected it with numerous other things they know, if they’ve used it frequently (and perhaps learned it to automaticity), if their environment provides retrieval cues that send them down the right memory “path,” and if they’re given sufficient wait time to conduct a successful long‐term memory search. Even under the best of circumstances, however, students sometimes forget or misremember what they’ve studied, perhaps as a result of insufficient consolidation, lack of use (resulting

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193 in gradual decay), restricted memory search, interference from competing memories, or reconstruction error.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 6.6: Give examples of the diversity in cognitive processes you are likely to see in students, in some cases as a result of their cultural background or special educational needs. Many components of the human memory system—attention span, working memory capacity, prior knowledge, and so on—can vary significantly from one student to another, and as a result students have varying abilities to learn and remember classroom subject matter. Students’ cognitive processes differ, in part, as a function of their cultural worldviews, the kinds of learning tasks and environments

to which they’re accustomed, and their proficiency with the language in which instruction is being conducted. In addition, some diversity may be the result of certain disabilities. For example, students with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder have difficulty keeping their attention on any single task for lengthy periods, whereas some students with autism spectrum disorders may have trouble shifting their attention to new tasks. Yet at one time or another, all students are likely to have trouble understanding and mastering particular topics. By identifying and facilitating cognitive processes that are most likely to lead to effective learning, teachers can better help all students achieve classroom success.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Practice For Your Licensure Exam
Vision Unit
Ms. Kontos is teaching a unit on human vision to her fifth‐ grade class. She shows her students a diagram of the various parts of the human eye: lens, cornea, retina, and so on. She then explains that people can see objects because light A from the sun or another light source bounces off those objects and into their eyes. To illustrate this idea, she shows them Picture A. “Do you all understand how our eyes work?” she asks. Her students nod that they do. The next day Ms. Kontos gives her students Picture B. She asks students to draw one or more arrows on the picture to show how light enables B the child to see the tree. More than half of the students draw arrows something like the one shown in Picture C.
1. Constructed‐response question:

Obviously, most of Ms. Kontos’s students have not learned what she thought she had taught them about human vision. A. Explain why many students believe the opposite of what Ms. Kontos has taught them. Base your response on contemporary principles and theories of learning and cognition. B. Describe two different ways in which you might improve on this lesson to help students gain a more accurate understanding of human vision. Base your strategies on contemporary principles and theories of learning and cognition.
2. Multiple‐choice question:

Many elementary school children think of human vision in the way that Ms. Kontos’s fifth graders do—that is, as a process that originates in the eye and goes outward toward objects that are seen. When students revise their thinking to be more consistent with commonly accepted scientific explanations, they are said to be a. b. c. d acquiring a new script revising their worldview undergoing conceptual change acquiring procedural knowledge

C
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Source: Case based on a study by J. F. Eaton, Anderson, & Smith, 1984.

PRAXIS

-

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Complex Cognitive Processes

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
7.1: Explain how learners’ metacognitive knowledge and skills influence their learning and academic achievement; also explain how you can promote metacognitive development in your own students. Describe various forms that transfer might take and the conditions in which transfer is most likely to occur, and apply research findings about transfer to your classroom practices. 7.3: Describe four general factors that influence problem‐solving performance; also describe teaching strategies you can use to help students successfully solve both well‐defined and ill‐defined problems. Identify several instructional strategies that can encourage students to think creatively as they tackle new tasks and problems.

7.2:

7.4:

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7.5:

Describe several different forms that critical thinking can take, and explain how you can help students critically evaluate what they see, hear, and read both inside and outside the classroom.

7.6:

Give examples of diversity you might see in creativity, critical thinking, and other complex thinking processes as a result of students’ cultural backgrounds, disabilities, or advanced cognitive development.

CA S E S T U DY: TA K ING OVE R
When an eighth‐grade math teacher goes on maternity leave in March, substitute teacher Ms. Gaunt takes over her classes. In accordance with Massachusetts state standards, the students are expected to master numerous mathematical concepts and procedures, including working with exponents and irrational numbers, graphing linear equations, and applying the Pythagorean theorem. But many of the students haven’t yet mastered more basic concepts and operations, such as percentages, negative numbers, and long division. A few haven’t even learned such number facts as 6 x 3 = 18 and 7 x 8 = 56. Before long, Ms. Gaunt discovers that many students have beliefs and attitudes that also impede their learning progress. For instance, some think that a teacher’s job is to present material in such a way that they “get it” immediately and will remember it forever. Thus they neither work hard to understand the material nor take notes during classroom explanations. And most students are concerned only with getting the right answer as quickly as possible. They depend on calculators to do their mathematical thinking for them and complain when Ms. Gaunt insists that they solve a problem with pencil and paper rather than a calculator. Students rarely check to see whether their solutions make logical sense. For instance, in a problem such as Louis can type 35 words a minute. He needs to type a final copy of his English composition, which is 4,200 words long. How long will it take Louis to type his paper? a student might submit an answer of 147,000 minutes—an answer that translates into more than 100 days of around‐the‐clock typing—and not give the outlandishness of the solution a second thought. (It would actually take two hours to type the paper.) In mid‐April, Ms. Gaunt begins moving through lessons more rapidly so that she can cover the mandated eighth‐grade math curriculum before the upcoming statewide math competency exam. “Students can’t do well on the exam if they haven’t even been exposed to some of the required concepts and procedures,” she reasons. “Mastery probably isn’t possible at this point, but I should at least present what students need to know. Maybe this will help a few of them with some of the test items.”

curriculum? Can you identify at least three different factors that appear to be interfering with students’ learning?
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Source: Case used courtesy of a friend who wishes to be anonymous; “Ms. Gaunt” is a pseudonym.

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CHAPTER One factor, of course, is students’ lack of prerequisite knowledge and skills on which the eighth‐grade curriculum depends. For instance, if students haven’t learned basic number facts—let alone achieved automaticity for them—even fairly simple word problems may exceed their working memory capacity. But students’ beliefs about learning and problem solving are also coming into play. In their minds, learning should come quickly and easily if the teacher does her job. They seem not to understand that understanding classroom subject matter is an active, constructive process involving considerable effort on their part and that certain strategies (e.g., taking notes) can enhance their learning. And they view mathematical problem solving as a quick, mindless enterprise that involves plugging numbers into a calculator and writing down the result, rather than a step‐by‐ step process that requires logical reasoning and frequent self‐checking. Study skills and problem solving are examples of complex cognitive processes, processes in which learners go far beyond the specific information they’re studying, perhaps to apply it to a new situation, use it to solve a problem or create a product, or critically evaluate it. Mastering basic facts and skills is important, to be sure. But learners gain little if they can’t also do something with what they’ve learned. In this chapter we’ll look at a variety of complex cognitive processes, including transfer, problem solving, creativity, and critical thinking. But we’ll begin with a particular set of complex processes that in one way or another influence all of the others: metacognition.

CH A PTER O U TL I NE
Metacognition and Learning Strategies
Effective Learning Strategies Factors Affecting Strategy Use Diversity, Disabilities, and Exceptional Abilities in Metacognition

Transfer
Factors Affecting Transfer

Problem Solving
Problem Encoding Problem‐Solving Strategies: Algorithms and Heuristics Working Memory and Problem Solving Metacognition in Problem Solving Using Computer Technology to Teach Problem‐Solving Skills

Creativity
Fostering Creativity

Critical Thinking
Fostering Critical Thinking

Diversity in Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Other Complex Cognitive Processes
Accommodating Students with Special Needs

Metacognition and Learning Strategies
The term metacognition literally means “thinking about thinking.” It encompasses knowledge and beliefs about the general nature of human cognitive processes, reflection on one’s own cognitive processes, and intentional engagement in behaviors and thought processes that enhance learning and memory. For example, you’ve undoubtedly learned by now that you can acquire only so much information so fast—you can’t possibly absorb the contents of an entire textbook in an hour. You’ve also discovered that you can learn information more quickly and recall it more easily if you put it into some sort of organizational framework. Perhaps, too, you’ve learned that you need to periodically check yourself to make sure you remember and understand what you’ve read. The more learners know about thinking and learning—that is, the greater their metacognitive awareness—the better their learning and achievement is likely to be (B. Hofer & Pintrich, 2002; Schneider, 2010). Furthermore, students who have a more advanced understanding of learning and thinking—for instance, students who realize that one’s knowledge of a topic continues to evolve over time— are more likely to undergo conceptual change when it’s warranted (Mason, 2010; Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003). As children grow older, they become increasingly aware of their own thinking and learning processes and increasingly realistic about what they can learn and remember in a given time period (see Table 7.1). With this growing self‐awareness come more sophisticated study strategies. Truly effective strategies emerge quite slowly, however, especially if young learners don’t get guidance from teachers, parents, or other adults about how to study and learn (J. E. Barnett, 2001; Schneider, 2010; Schommer, 1994a; Veenman, 2011).

complex cognitive processes

metacognition

learning strategy

EFFECTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES
An important component of metacognition is controlling one’s own thinking and learning to some degree. Thanks, in part, to maturational changes in the brain, children and adolescents gradually become more capable of controlling and directing their cognitive processes in their efforts to learn something new (Eigsti et al., 2006; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006). When learners intentionally use a certain approach to learning and remembering something, they’re using a learning strategy.
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D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Metacognition at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE SUGGESTED STRATEGIES wonder remember

K–2

3–5

6–8

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9–12
Sources: Andre & Windschitl, 2003; Astington & Pelletier, 1996; J. E. Barnett, 2001; Bendixen & Feucht, 2010; Buehl & Alexander, 2006; Chandler, Hallett, & Sokol, 2002; Elder, 2002; Flavell, Friedrichs, & Hoyt, 1970; Flavell, Miller, & Miller, 2002; Hatano & Inagaki, 2003; Hewitt, Brett, Scardamalia, Frecker, & Webb, 1995, p. 7 (migration example); P. M. King & Kitchener, 2002; Ku, Chan, Wu, & Chen, 2008; Kuhn, 2009; Kuhn, Garcia‐Mila, Zohar, & Andersen, 1995; Kuhn & Park, 2005; Kuhn & Weinstock, 2002; Lovett & Flavell, 1990; McCrudden & Schraw, 2007; Meltzer, Pollica, & Barzillai, 2007; Muis, Bendixen, & Haerle, 2006; P. A. Ornstein, Grammer, & Coffman, 2010; Schneider, 2010; Schommer, 1994a, 1997; Short, Schatschneider, & Friebert, 1993; J. W. Thomas, 1993a; vanSledright & Limón, 2006; Wellman, 1985, 1990; J. P. Williams, Stafford, Lauer, Hall, & Pollini, 2009.

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CHAPTER Information processing theorists have described several processes that may facilitate long‐term memory storage, including rehearsal, elaboration, organization, and visual imagery. As children grow older, they increasingly discover the benefits of these processes and use them more frequently (P. A. Ornstein, Grammer, & Coffman, 2010; Pressley & Hilden, 2006). Children gradually acquire additional strategies as well. For example, consider the simple idea that you need to devote more study time to more difficult material; children don’t use this seemingly obvious strategy until the fourth or fifth grade (Schneider, 2010). With age and experience, children also become more aware of which strategies are effective in different situations. Even so, many students of all ages (college students included!) seem relatively uninformed about effective learning strategies (Lovett & Flavell, 1990; Schneider, 2010; Schommer, 1994a; Short, Schatschneider, & Friebert, 1993). Some learning strategies are overt strategies; in other words, they’re behaviors we can actually see. Others, such as elaborating and forming visual images, are covert strategies; they’re internal mental processes we often can’t see (Kardash & Amlund, 1991). OVERT STRATEGIES To some degree, successful learning and classroom achievement are the result of certain behaviors, such as asking questions in times of confusion, keeping a calendar for assignments and due dates, devoting part of every evening to schoolwork, and so on. One especially effective overt strategy is writing about classroom subject matter (Bangert‐Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004; P. D. Klein, 1999; Shanahan, 2004). Here we look at research on two writing‐based learning strategies: taking notes and creating summaries. Taking notes By the time students reach the upper elementary or middle school grades, note‐ taking skills begin to play a role in their classroom achievement. In general, students who take more notes learn and remember classroom subject matter better. However, the quality of the notes is equally important. Useful notes typically reflect the main ideas of a lesson or reading assignment (A. L. Brown, Campione, & Day, 1981; Kiewra, 1985, 1989; J. Lee & Shute, 2010). Despite the advantages of note taking, many young adolescents take few or no class notes unless specifically instructed to take them (recall the infrequent note taking in Ms. Gaunt’s eighth‐grade math class). And the notes they do take differ considerably in quality. For example, Figure 7.1 shows

overt strategy

covert strategy

FIGURE 7.1 Two students’ class notes on King Midas, taken in a seventh‐grade language arts unit on Greek mythology

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199 the notes that two students took about King Midas in a Greek mythology unit in their seventh‐grade language arts class. The notes on the left provide a good overall synopsis of the King Midas story and might reasonably help the student remember the story fairly accurately. In contrast, the notes on the right are probably too brief and disjointed to be useful. Especially when students are first learning how to take notes in class, we should scaffold their efforts by giving them an idea about which things are most important to include (Meltzer, Pollica, & Barzillai, 2007; Pressley, Yokoi, van Meter, Van Etten, & Freebern, 1997). One approach is to provide a specific structure to use, such as the one shown in Figure 7.1. Another strategy, especially if students are novice note takers, is to occasionally check their notebooks for accuracy and appropriate emphasis and give constructive feedback. Creating summaries Research consistently indicates that writing a summary of material being studied can enhance learning and memory (A. King, 1992; R. E. Mayer, 2010b; Wade‐Stein & Kintsch, 2004). Creating a good summary is a fairly complex process, however. At a minimum it includes distinguishing between important and unimportant information, synthesizing details into more general ideas, and identifying critical interrelationships. It’s not surprising, then, that even many high school students have trouble writing a good summary (Hidi & Anderson, 1986). Probably the best way of helping students acquire this strategy is to ask them frequently to summarize what they hear and read (e.g., see Figure 7.2). Initially we should scaffold the process for them—for example, by providing compare–contrast tables they can fill in as they read or having them develop summaries in collaboration with peers (Spörer & Brunstein, 2009; J. P. Williams, Stafford, Lauer, Hall, & Pollini, 2009). Computer software is also available to scaffold the summarizing process (e.g., Wade‐Stein & Kintsch, 2004). COVERT STRATEGIES Students’ overt strategies—allocating time for studying, taking notes, summarizing, and so on—are probably valuable only to the extent that effective cognitive processes, or covert strategies, underlie them (Kardash & Amlund, 1991). For example, high‐achieving students tend to benefit more from note taking than low‐achieving students, perhaps because the high‐achieving students are more likely to elaborate on and organize what they’re learning as they take notes (Kiewra, Benton, & Lewis, 1987; Ku, Chan, Wu, & Chen, 2008). In addition to engaging in meaningful learning processes (e.g., elaboration, organization), two covert strategies that may be especially critical for effective classroom learning and achievement are (1) accurately identifying important information and (2) regularly self‐monitoring learning.

FIGURE 7.2 Eight‐year‐old Neville summarizes a lesson about glaciers

Identifying important information The human memory system isn’t set up to remember all the information a typical classroom curriculum presents; thus, students must be selective when studying classroom material. The things they choose to study—whether main ideas and essential supporting details or, instead, isolated facts and trivia—inevitably affect their learning and school achievement (Dee‐Lucas & Larkin, 1991; J. A. Dole, Duffy, Roehler, & Pearson, 1991; R. E. Reynolds & Shirey, 1988). Students often have trouble identifying the most important information in a lesson or reading assignment, especially when they don’t know very much about the topic. Many use relatively superficial strategies in choosing what to focus on—for instance, zeroing in on definitions and formulas, taking notes only on things their teacher writes on the board, or reading only the first sentence of each paragraph of a textbook—and miss critical ideas as a result. As teachers, we can, of course, simply tell students exactly what they should study. But we can also highlight important ideas through more subtle means: Provide a list of learning objectives for a lesson. Write key concepts and relationships on the board. Ask questions that focus students’ attention on central ideas. Students—low‐achieving ones especially—are more likely to learn the essential points of a lesson when such prompts are provided for them (Kiewra, 1989; McCrudden & Schraw, 2007;

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CHAPTER R. E. Reynolds & Shirey, 1988; Schraw, Wade, & Kardash, 1993). As students become better able to distinguish between important and unimportant information on their own, we can gradually phase out our guidance. Regularly monitoring learning One powerful learning strategy is comprehension monitoring, a process of periodically checking oneself for recall and understanding. How well do you monitor your comprehension? The following exercise can help you find out.

comprehension monitoring

illusion of knowing not self‐explanation

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Stop for a minute and ask yourself this question:

self‐questioning

What have I learned from the last five pages of this book? Quickly jot down what you can recall.

Now go back and look at the five pages preceding this one. Do the notes you’ve just written include all of the major points? Is there something you thought you understood but realize now that you don’t? Is there something you never learned at all—perhaps something you were supposedly “reading” when your mind was someplace altogether different? Successful learners continually monitor their comprehension both while they study something and at some point after they’ve studied it (Hacker, Dunlosky, & Graesser, 2009b). Furthermore, when they realize they don’t understand, they take steps to correct the situation, perhaps by rereading a section of a textbook or asking a question in class. In contrast, low achievers rarely check themselves or take appropriate action when they don’t comprehend something. For example, they’re unlikely to reread paragraphs they haven’t understood the first time around (L. Baker & Brown, 1984; Haller, Child, & Walberg, 1988; Veenman, 2011). Many children and adolescents engage in little or no comprehension monitoring (J. A. Dole et al., 1991; McKeown & Beck, 2009; Nokes & Dole, 2004). When they don’t monitor their learning and comprehension, they don’t know what they know and what they don’t know; consequently, they may think they’ve mastered something when they really haven’t. Although this illusion of knowing is especially common in young children, it’s seen in learners at all levels, even college students. As paper‐and‐pencil exams become increasingly prevalent at upper grade levels, an illusion of knowing can lead students to overestimate how well they’ll perform on these assessments (Hacker, Bol, Horgan, & Rakow, 2000; Stone, 2000; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009). My own students occasionally come to me expressing frustration with low test scores. “I knew the material so well!” they tell me. But when we begin to talk about the exam material, it usually becomes clear that they have only vague understandings of some ideas and incorrect understandings of others. Comprehension monitoring doesn’t have to be a solitary activity, of course. If students work in small study groups, they can easily test one another on classroom material and may detect gaps or misconceptions in one another’s understandings (Dunning, Heath, & Suls, 2004; Hacker, 1998; Vaughn et al., 2011). Ideally, the questions they ask one another should encourage them to elaborate on rather than simply recall what they’re studying. For example, we might teach them to ask questions beginning with such phrases as Explain why, What do you think would happen if, and What is the difference between (A. King, 1992, p. 309). Yet to be truly effective learners, students must ultimately learn how to test themselves as well. One effective strategy is self‐explanation, in which students frequently stop to explain to themselves what they’re studying (Berthold & Renkl, 2009; Fonseca & Chi, 2011; McNamara & Magliano, 2009). Another, similar approach is self‐questioning, in which students periodically stop to ask themselves questions—essentially internalizing the mutual question‐asking process they’ve previously used in small‐group study sessions (Dunning et al., 2004; Martínez, Bannan‐ Ritland, Kitsantas, & Baek, 2008; Wong, 1985). Their self‐questions should, of course, include not only simple, fact‐based questions but also elaborative ones.

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FACTORS AFFECTING STRATEGY USE
As we’ve seen, students become increasingly capable of using effective learning strategies as they grow older, in part because they can better control and direct their cognitive processes. With age, too, comes an ever‐expanding knowledge base that supports students’ efforts to engage in elaboration, identify important information, and effectively monitor their comprehension. Several other factors also influence students’ choice and use of various strategies, as reflected in the following principles. Learning strategies depend partly on the learning task at hand. In some situations teachers may assign tasks for which truly effective learning strategies are either counterproductive or impossible. For instance, if we insist that facts and definitions be learned verbatim, students will understandably be reluctant to engage in elaboration and other meaningful learning processes (Turner, 1995; Van Meter, Yokoi, & Pressley, 1994). And if we expect students to master a great deal of material for a single exam, they may have to devote their limited study time to getting only a superficial impression of everything or to studying only the easy material they’re confident they can master (Son & Schwartz, 2002; J. W. Thomas, 1993b). Sometimes working memory’s limited capacity discourages metacognitive processing: If a learning task involves thinking about a lot of information all at once—that is, if it imposes a heavy cognitive load—students may have insufficient “room” in working memory to use strategies that might otherwise be effective (Kalyuga, 2010; H. S. Waters & Kunnmann, 2010). Students are likely to acquire and use new, more effective strategies only if they realize that their current strategies aren’t working. Students will come to such a conclusion only if they’ve been regularly monitoring their comprehension in previous learning tasks and become aware of their learning difficulties. Comprehension monitoring, then, doesn’t just affect students’ understanding of classroom subject matter, it also plays a pivotal role in the development of other metacognitive strategies (Kuhn, Garcia‐Mila, Zohar, & Andersen, 1995; Lodico, Ghatala, Levin, Pressley, & Bell, 1983; Loranger, 1994). In some cases, too, feedback that students haven’t yet mastered a learning task will spur them to adopt more effective strategies, at least for the short run (Starr & Lovett, 2000). Students’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning influence their strategy choices. I once had a conversation with my son Jeff, then an eleventh grader, about the Canadian Studies program that a local university had just added to its curriculum. Jeff’s comments revealed a very simplistic view of what history is: Jeff: The Canadians don’t have as much history as we [Americans] do. Me: Of course they do. Jeff: No they don’t. They haven’t had as many wars. Me: History’s more than wars. Jeff: Yeah, but the rest of that stuff is really boring. Once Jeff reached college, he discovered that history is a lot more than wars and other, “really boring” stuff. In fact, he majored in history and now, as a middle school teacher, actually teaches history. But it’s unfortunate that he had to wait until college to discover the true nature of history as an academic discipline. Children and adolescents have misconceptions about other subject areas as well. For example, in the opening case study, Ms. Gaunt’s students think that math consists of nothing more than a collection of procedures that yield single right answers. Furthermore, many students have misconceptions about the general nature of learning. For instance, Ms. Gaunt’s students think they should be able to learn mathematical concepts and procedures quickly and easily—with little or no effort on their part—as long as their teacher does her job. Students’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning are collectively known as epistemic beliefs (you may also see the term epistemological beliefs). Such beliefs often influence studying and learning (Bendixen & Feucht, 2010; B. Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Muis, 2007). For example, when students believe that learning happens quickly in an all‐or‐none fashion (as Ms. Gaunt’s students apparently do), they’re apt to believe they’ve mastered something before they really have. Furthermore, they tend to give up quickly in the face of failure and express discouragement or dislike regarding the topic they’re studying. In contrast, when students believe that

cognitive load

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CHAPTER learning is a gradual process that often takes time and effort, they’re likely to use a wide variety of learning strategies as they study and to persist until they’ve made sense of the material (D. L. Butler & Winne, 1995; Kardash & Howell, 2000; Muis, 2007; Schommer, 1990, 1994b). As another example of variability in learners’ epistemic beliefs, some students believe that when they read a textbook, they’re passively absorbing information—often in the form of isolated facts—directly from the page to their minds. In contrast, other students recognize that learning from reading requires them to construct their own meanings by actively interpreting, organizing, and applying the information. Learners who realize that reading is a constructive, integrative process are more likely to engage in meaningful learning as they read and to undergo conceptual change when they encounter ideas that contradict their existing understandings (Mason, Gava, & Boldrin, 2008; Muis, 2007; Schommer‐Aikins, 2002; Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003). Epistemic beliefs tend to evolve over the course of childhood and adolescence (Kuhn & Park, 2005; Muis, Bendixen, & Haerle, 2006; Schommer, Calvert, Gariglietti, & Bajaj, 1997). Children in the elementary grades typically believe in the certainty of knowledge: They think that for any topic there’s an absolute truth “out there” somewhere. As they reach high school, some (but by no means all) of them begin to realize that knowledge is a subjective entity and that different perspectives on a topic are sometimes equally valid. Additional changes may occur over the course of the high school grades. For example, twelfth graders are more likely than ninth graders to believe that knowledge consists of complex interrelationships rather than discrete facts and that learning happens slowly rather than quickly. And throughout adolescence, students’ epistemic beliefs become increasingly domain specific (Buehl & Alexander, 2006; Muis et al., 2006). For example, students may believe that, in math, answers are always either right or wrong (recall the students in the opening case study) but that in social studies conflicting perspectives may all have some validity. Such developmental trends are reflected in some of the entries in Table 7.1. As teachers, we must communicate to students what we ourselves know to be true about knowledge and learning: understanding interrelationships among these things.

Many elementary students think of learning primarily as a process of acquiring specific, isolated facts, as illustrated in 8‐year‐old David’s “Protoceratops” composition. Notice that David makes one meaningful connection: how a protoceratops’s length compared to his own father’s height.

passive absorption of it. complex issues, and in some cases it involves critically evaluating available evidence relative to a particular point of view. persistence and hard work.

In communicating such messages—not only in what we say but also in what we do, such as in the questions we ask, the activities we assign, and the ways in which we assess students’ learning— we increase the likelihood that students will apply effective learning strategies, critically evaluate classroom subject matter, and undergo conceptual change when appropriate (Bendixen & Feucht, 2010; B. Hofer & Pintrich, 2002; Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003). Different motives and goals call for different strategies. Motivational factors clearly influence the extent to which students use effective strategies to learn and study. Some students may be more interested in getting by with a passing grade than truly mastering classroom material. Others may think that meaningful learning and other effective strategies involve too much time and effort to be worthwhile. Still others may have so little faith in their learning ability that they expect to do poorly regardless of the strategies they use (P. A. Alexander, Graham, & Harris, 1998; Mason, 2010; Nolen, 1996; Palmer & Goetz, 1988). Ongoing instruction and guidance about effective strategies enhances learning and achievement. With every transition to a higher educational level, teachers expect students to learn more

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When teaching academic content, simultaneously teach students how to effectively study and remember it.

clown I receive. E

o‐w‐n C believe

Occasionally ask students to study instructional material in pairs or small cooperative learning groups.

Suggest a wide variety of strategies—taking notes, thinking of new examples, forming mnemonics, summarizing, taking self‐check quizzes, and so on—each of which is apt to be useful in different situations and for different purposes. Ask students to share their strategies with one another.

bell Brussels

Scaffold students’ attempts to use new strategies— for instance, by modeling the strategies, giving clues about when to use them, and providing feedback on appropriate and inappropriate strategy use.

Make use of software that enhances students’ awareness of effective metacognitive strategies.
Betty’s Brain,

Explain the usefulness of various strategies in an age‐appropriate way.

Sources: P. A. Alexander et al., 1998; Azevedo & Witherspoon, 2009; J. E. Barnett, Di Vesta, & Rogozinski, 1981; Bulgren, Marquis, Lenz, Deshler, & Schumaker, 2011; Hacker et al., 2009b; Hattie et al., 1996; Kahl & Woloshyn, 1994; A. King, Staffieri, & Adelgais, 1998 (muscular system example, pp. 139, 141); Kinnebrew & Biswas, 2011 (Betty’s Brain example); Kucan & Beck, 1997; Kuhn et al., 1995; McCrudden & Schraw, 2007; McGovern, Davis, & Ogbu, 2008 (Minority Achievement Club example); Meltzer et al., 2007; Nokes & Dole, 2004; S. G. Paris & Winograd, 1990; Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987; Pressley, Harris, & Marks, 1992; Pressley & Hilden, 2006; Rosenshine, Meister, & Chapman, 1996; Starr & Lovett, 2000; J. W. Thomas, 1993a; Vaughn et al., 2011; Veenman, 2011; Vygotsky, 1978; C. E. Weinstein, Goetz, & Alexander, 1988; C. E. Weinstein & Hume, 1998; Wentzel, 2009; E. Wood et al., 1999.

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material and to think about it in more sophisticated ways. Thus, the simple learning strategies children acquire in elementary school (e.g., rehearsal) become less and less effective with each passing year. All too often, however, teachers teach academic content areas—history, biology, math, and so on—without also teaching students how to learn in those content areas. When left to their own devices, most students develop effective strategies very slowly (if at all) and thus, over the years, encounter increasing difficulty in their attempts to master classroom subject matter. And when they don’t master it, they may not know why they’ve failed or how to improve their chances of succeeding the next time around (Hacker et al., 2000; Hamman, Berthelot, Saia, & Crowley, 2000; Nokes & Dole, 2004; O’Sullivan & Joy, 1994).

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CHAPTER Using effective learning strategies makes such a difference in students’ classroom achievement that we mustn’t leave the development of these strategies to chance. How can we help students learn how to learn? The Into the Classroom feature “Promoting Effective Learning and Study Strategies” presents several research‐based strategies. The most important of the strategies presented there is the first one: When teaching academic content, simultaneously teach students how to effectively study and remember it. Students are more likely to use effective learning and study strategies when those strategies are taught not in separate study skills classes but rather as integral parts of everyday instruction about specific academic topics (Hattie, Biggs, & Purdie, 1996; S. G. Paris & Paris, 2001; Pressley, Harris, & Marks, 1992; Veenman, 2011).

DIVERSITY, DISABILITIES, AND EXCEPTIONAL ABILITIES IN METACOGNITION
Researchers have observed cultural differences in students’ epistemic beliefs—in particular, their beliefs about what it means to learn something. From the perspective of mainstream Western culture, learning is largely a mental enterprise: People learn in order to understand the world and acquire new skills and abilities. But for many people in China, learning also has moral and social dimensions: It enables an individual to become increasingly virtuous and honorable and to contribute in significant ways to the betterment of society. From a traditional East Asian perspective, true learning isn’t a quick‐and‐easy process; rather, it comes only with a great deal of diligence, concentration, and perseverance (Dahlin & Watkins, 2000; H. Grant & Dweck, 2001; J. Li, 2005; J. Li & Fischer, 2004). Learning strategies, too, may differ somewhat from culture to culture. Consistent with a belief that learning requires diligence and perseverance, many East Asian parents and teachers encourage frequent use of rehearsal and rote memorization as learning strategies that supplement students’ efforts to make sense of material (Dahlin & Watkins, 2000; Ho, 1994; Purdie & Hattie, 1996). Rehearsal and memorization are also common in cultures that value verbatim learning of oral histories or passages of sacred text (e.g., the Bible, the Koran) (MacDonald, Uesiliana, & Hayne, 2000; Rogoff et al., 2007; Q. Wang & Ross, 2007). In contrast, many schools in mainstream Western culture are increasingly conducting activities and encouraging strategies that foster meaningful learning and conceptual understanding. Even so, Western schools typically insist that students learn certain things—such as multiplication tables and word spellings—by heart (Q. Wang & Ross, 2007). ACCOMMODATING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS We’re especially likely to see diversity in metacognition in students who have special educational needs. Table 7.2 presents characteristics you might see in these students. Notice that many students with cognitive disabilities—and some with emotional and behavioral disorders as well—may exhibit little knowledge and use of effective learning strategies. In contrast, students who are gifted typically have more sophisticated learning strategies than their peers do. For many students with disabilities, we may have to teach metacognitive skills explicitly and with considerable scaffolding—that is, with close guidance and assistance in the use of specific learning strategies (Meltzer, 2007). For example, we might provide partially filled‐in outlines to guide students’ note taking (e.g., see Figure 7.3). We might also tell students when particular strategies (e.g., elaboration, comprehension monitoring) are appropriate and model the use of such strategies with specific classroom subject matter. Finally, we must give students opportunities to practice their newly acquired strategies, along with feedback about how effectively they are using each one.

As teachers, we must remember that our students are likely to learn differently—and often less efficiently and successfully—than we do. Almost all of them can benefit from acquiring more sophisticated understandings of what knowledge and learning involve and from regularly practicing effective strategies for mastering school subject matter.

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STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS
Promoting Metacognitive Development in Students with Special Educational Needs
CATEGORY
Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties

CHARACTERISTICS YOU MIGHT OBSERVE

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES

Students with social or behavioral problems Students with general delays in cognitive and social functioning Students with physical or sensory challenges Students with advanced cognitive development -

-

Sources: Beirne‐Smith, Patton, & Kim, 2006; Campione, Brown, & Bryant, 1985; B. Clark, 1997; Edmonds et al., 2009; E. S. Ellis & Friend, 1991; Graham & Harris, 1996; N. Gregg, 2009; Grodzinsky & Diamond, 1992; Heward, 2009; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2007; McGlynn, 1998; Meltzer, 2007; Mercer & Pullen, 2005; Piirto, 1999; Pressley, 1995; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1992; H. L. Swanson, 1993; Turnbull, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, 2010; Waber, 2010; Wong, 1991.

FIGURE 7.3
MUSCLES A. Number of Muscles 1. There are approximately ______________ muscles in the human body. B. How Muscles Work 1. Muscles work in two ways: a. They ______________ , or shorten. b. They ______________ , or lengthen. C. Kinds of Muscles 1. ________________ muscles are attached to the bones by ________________ . a. These muscles are _________________ (voluntary/involuntary). b. The purpose of these muscles is to ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ . 2. ________________ muscles line some of the body’s __________________ . a. These muscles are __________________________ (voluntary/involuntary). b. The purpose of these muscles is to ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ . 3. The __________________ muscle is the only one of its kind.
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a. This muscle is __________________ (voluntary/involuntary). b. The purpose of this muscle is to __________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ .

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CHAPTER

Transfer
How students think about and study school subject matter has implications not only for how well they can understand and remember it but also for how effectively they can use and apply it on later occasions. Here we’re talking about transfer: the extent to which knowledge and skills acquired in one situation affect a person’s learning or performance in a subsequent situation. Following are examples: school, she immediately recognizes many similarities between French and Spanish. “Aha,” she thinks, “what I know about Spanish will help me learn French.” takes more notes. She decides to take more notes in her chemistry class as well, and once again the strategy pays off. “Which number is larger, 4.4 or 4.14?” Ted recalls something he knows about whole numbers: Numbers with three digits are larger than numbers with only two digits. “The larger number is 4.14,” he mistakenly concludes. In most cases prior learning helps learning or performance in another situation. Such positive transfer takes place when Elena’s Spanish helps her learn French and when Stella’s

transfer

positive transfer

negative transfer

specific transfer

general transfer

formal discipline

practice with note taking in history class improves her performance in chemistry class. In some instances, however, existing knowledge or skills hinder later learning. Such negative transfer is the case for Ted, who transfers a principle related to whole numbers to a situation in which it doesn’t apply: comparing decimals. Sometimes we see specific transfer, in which the original learning task and the transfer task overlap in content. For example, Elena should have an easy time learning to count in French because the numbers (un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq . . .) are very similar to the Spanish ones she already knows (uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco . . .). At other times we may see general transfer, in which learning in one situation affects learning and performance in a somewhat dissimilar situation. Consider, for example, Stella’s strategy of taking more notes in chemistry because of her success with note taking in history. History and chemistry don’t necessarily overlap in content, but a strategy acquired in one class helps with learning in the other. Historically, research studies have indicated that when application of academic subject matter is involved, specific transfer occurs far more often than general transfer (S. M. Barnett & Ceci, 2002; W. D. Gray & Orasanu, 1987). In fact, the question of whether general transfer occurs at all has been the subject of considerable debate over the years. Many early educators believed that certain subjects (e.g., math, Latin, formal logic) have great potential for general transfer: Because these subjects require considerable attention to precision and detail, they might strengthen students’ minds and thereby enable students to tackle other, unrelated tasks more easily. This formal discipline perspective of transfer persisted throughout the first several decades of the twentieth century. For instance, when I was in high school in the mid‐1960s, most college‐bound students at my school were encouraged to take both French and Latin—the only two languages my school offered. Taking French made a great deal of sense: Living in Massachusetts, we were within a day’s drive of French‐speaking Quebec. “But why should I take Latin?” I asked. “I can use it only if I attend Catholic mass or run across phrases like ‘caveat emptor’ or ‘e pluribus unum.’ ” My guidance counselor pursed her thin red lips and gave me a look suggesting that she knew best. “Latin will discipline your mind,” she told me. “It will help you learn better.” Most research has discredited this mind‐as‐muscle notion of transfer (Haskell, 2001; Perkins & Salomon, 1989; E. L. Thorndike, 1924). For example, practice in memorizing poems doesn’t necessarily make one a faster poem memorizer (James, 1890). And studying computer programming, though often a worthwhile activity in its own right, doesn’t necessarily help a person with dissimilar kinds of logical tasks (R. E. Mayer & Wittrock, 1996; Perkins & Salomon, 1989). We’re more likely to see general transfer when we broaden our notion of transfer to include application of general academic skills (e.g., reading comprehension, persuasive writing) and general learning strategies (e.g., taking notes) that can be applied to a wide variety of topics and contexts (J. R. Anderson, Greeno, Reder, & Simon, 2000; S. M. Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Perkins, 1995; M. I. Posner & Rothbart, 2007). Furthermore, general beliefs, attitudes, and dispositions

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207 related to learning and thinking—for instance, recognition that learning often requires hard work, as well as open‐mindedness to diverse viewpoints—can have a profound impact on later learning and achievement across multiple domains and so clearly illustrate general transfer at work (Cornoldi, 2010; De Corte, 2003; K. J. Pugh & Bergin, 2006; D. L. Schwartz, Bransford, & Sears, 2005). And some students develop a general desire to apply what they learn in the classroom—that is, they have a spirit of transfer—that consistently resurfaces in later instructional contexts (Haskell, 2001; Volet, 1999).

FACTORS AFFECTING TRANSFER
Ideally, positive transfer to real‐world contexts should be a major objective in classrooms at all grade levels. When learners can’t use their basic math skills to compute correct change or balance a checkbook, when they can’t use their knowledge of English grammar in a job application or business report, and when they can’t apply their knowledge of science to an understanding of personal health or environmental problems, then we have to wonder whether the time spent learning these things might have been better spent doing something else. Although both specific and general transfer do occur, students often don’t apply the academic content they learn in particular classes to other classes or to out‐of‐school situations (Levstik, 2011; R. E. Mayer & Wittrock, 1996; Perkins, 1992; Renkl, Mandl, & Gruber, 1996). Learners are, of course, more likely to transfer what they learn at school when they approach each classroom topic with a deliberate intention to apply it. But several other factors also influence the probability of transfer, often because they influence learners’ ability to retrieve what they’ve learned when they need to use it: Meaningful learning promotes better transfer than rote learning. Instructional time is clearly an important variable affecting transfer: The more time students spend studying a particular topic, the more likely they are to apply what they’ve learned on future occasions (P. A. Alexander & Judy, 1988; Haskell, 2001; Schmidt & Bjork, 1992; Voss, 1987). Ideally, students should gain a conceptual understanding of the topic—that is, they should have the many things they’ve learned appropriately organized and interrelated. Here we see an example of the general principle Less is more: Students are more likely to transfer their school learning to new situations, including those beyond the classroom, when they study a few things in depth and learn them meaningfully instead of studying many topics superficially (Bereiter, 1995; Brooks & Dansereau, 1987; R. E. Mayer & Wittrock, 1996; Schwamborn, Mayer, Thillmann, Leopold, & Leutner, 2010). The less‐is‐more principle is clearly being violated in the opening case study. Ms. Gaunt realizes that she must move quickly in order to cover the entire eighth‐grade math curriculum, even if it means that few students will master any particular topic or procedure. Given the upcoming statewide competency exam, she may have little choice about the matter, but her students are unlikely to use what they’re learning on future occasions. Both positive and negative transfer are more common when a new situation is similar—or at least appears to be similar—to a previous one. Perceived similarity increases the chances that a new situation will provide retrieval cues that point learners in the right direction as they search long‐term memory for potentially relevant knowledge and skills (Bassok, 2003; Di Vesta & Peverly, 1984; Haskell, 2001). For instance, when Elena first encounters number words in her French class (un, deux, trois), the words should quickly trigger recall of similar‐sounding Spanish words (uno, dos, tres). However, we should note that the similarity of two situations, although usually promoting positive transfer, can sometimes lead to negative transfer instead (e.g., Sun‐Alperin & Wang, 2008). To see what I mean, try the following exercise.

less‐is‐ more

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
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Quickly estimate an answer to this division problem: 60 ÷ 0.38

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CHAPTER Is your answer larger or smaller than 60? If you applied your knowledge of division by whole numbers, you undoubtedly concluded that the answer is smaller than 60. In fact, the answer is approximately 158, a number much larger than 60. Does this exercise remind you of Ted’s erroneous conclusion—that 4.14 is larger than 4.4—based on his knowledge of how whole numbers can be compared? Many students at all levels, even in college, show negative transfer of whole‐number principles to situations involving decimals and fractions (M. Carr, 2010; Ni & Zhou, 2005; Tirosh & Graeber, 1990). Working with decimals appears, on the surface, to be similar to working with whole numbers. The only difference— a very important one, as it turns out—is a tiny decimal point. To minimize negative transfer, we teachers must be sure to point out differences between two superficially similar topics. For example, Ted’s teacher might have identified some of the specific ways in which decimals are different from whole numbers. As another example, I find that students in my educational psychology classes often have trouble correctly understanding certain concepts (e.g., maturation, socialization, short‐term memory, reinforcement) because the meanings of these words in psychology are quite different from their meanings in everyday conversation. So when I first introduce one of these concepts, I take great pains to contrast the different meanings. Even so, the everyday meanings regularly intrude into some students’ thinking about course content, especially if the students don’t continually monitor their own thinking and understanding.

For tonight’s homework assignment, memorize all 50 states in the U.S.A. in reverse alphabetical order.

Meaningless mental “exercises” such as this one have little or no benefit. Not only do they not “strengthen” students’ minds, but in fact they’re likely to communicate the message that schoolwork is often a waste of time.

Principles and theories are more easily transferred than discrete facts. Specific facts certainly have an important place in the classroom. For instance, students should know what 2 + 3 equals, what the Berlin Wall signified, and where to find Africa on a globe. Yet by themselves, facts have limited usefulness in new situations. On average, general principles, rules, and theoretical explanations are more widely applicable than specific facts and information (S. M. Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Bransford & Schwartz, 1999; Haskell, 2001; M. Perry, 1991). The more we can emphasize general principles—for example, that adding two positive whole numbers always yields a larger number, that a country’s citizens sometimes revolt when their government officials act unjustly, and that the cultures of various nations are influenced by their locations and climates—the more we facilitate students’ ability to transfer what they learn. Especially as they get older, some students acquire an ability to apply general principles to topics quite different from those they’ve previously studied. For example, in one research study, fifth graders and college students were asked to develop a plan for increasing the population of bald eagles, an endangered species in their state (Bransford & Schwartz, 1999). None of the students in either age‐group had previously studied strategies for eagle preservation, and the plans that both groups developed were largely inadequate. Yet in the process of developing their plans, the college students addressed more sophisticated questions than the fifth graders did. In particular, the fifth graders focused on the eagles themselves (e.g., How big are they? What do they eat?), whereas the college students looked at the larger picture (e.g., What type of ecosystem supports eagles? What about predators of eagles and eagle babies?) (Bransford & Schwartz, 1999, p. 67). Thus, the college students were drawing on an important principle they had acquired in their

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209 many years of science study: Living creatures are more likely to survive and thrive when their habitat supports rather than threatens them. Transfer is more common when information and skills are perceived as being relevant to diverse disciplines and real‐world situations. Unfortunately, many students tend to think of academic subject areas as context bound—that is, as being distinct disciplines that are completely separate from one another and from real‐world concerns (P. A. Alexander & Judy, 1988; S. M. Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Perkins & Simmons, 1988; Renkl et al., 1996). For example, when baking cookies, an 11‐year‐old might ask a parent, “Do two one‐quarters make two fourths? I know it does in math but what about in cooking?” (K. J. Pugh & Bergin, 2005, p. 16). The context‐bound nature of some school learning may prevent students from retrieving what they’ve learned in situations where it might be useful. A study with high school students (Saljo & Wyndhamn, 1992) provides an illustration. Students were asked to figure out how much postage they should put on an envelope that weighed a particular amount, and they were given a table of postage rates that would enable them to determine the correct amount. When students were given the task in a social studies class, most used the postage table to find the answer. But when students were given the task in a math class, most of them ignored the postage table and tried to calculate the postage, in some cases figuring it to several decimal places. Thus, the students in the social studies class were more likely to solve the problem correctly—as a former social studies teacher myself, I suspect that, in that context, they were well accustomed to looking for information in tables and charts. In contrast, many of the students in the math class drew on strategies they associated with math, using formulas and performing calculations, and thus overlooked the more efficient and accurate approach. Fortunately, not all school learning remains “stuck” in school or in a particular classroom. People regularly use some of the skills they’ve learned in their daily lives—reading, arithmetic, map interpretation, and so on. But we can increase the transferability of school subject matter by regularly relating it to other disciplines and to the outside world (R. E. Clark & Blake, 1997; Perkins, 1992; J. F. Wagner, 2010). For instance, we might show students how human digestion provides a justification for categorizing food into several basic food groups or how principles of economics have indirect impacts on global climate change. Numerous and varied opportunities for practice increase the probability of transfer. The more that students practice using what they’ve learned to address real‐world tasks and problems—and the more diverse those tasks and problems are—the greater the probability that students will apply school subject matter in future situations, including those outside the classroom (Gijbels, Dochy, Van den Bossche, & Segers, 2005; Gresalfi & Lester, 2009; J. F. Wagner, 2010). Especially important are authentic activities—activities similar or identical to those that students will eventually encounter in the outside world. For example, when students are learning basic arithmetic principles, they might be asked to apply those principles in determining best buys at a discount store, dividing items equitably among friends, running a school book sale, and so on. Arithmetic will then be associated in long‐term memory with all these situations, and when the need arises to determine which of two purchases yields the most for the money, relevant arithmetic procedures should be readily retrieved. Ideally, students should discover that much of what they learn at school truly has wide applicability—in other words, school topics become context free (A. Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989; Cox, 1997; Perkins & Salomon, 1989). Transfer increases when the cultural environment encourages and expects transfer. All too often, it seems, students are encouraged to acquire school subject matter for mysterious purposes — for example, “You’ll need to know this in college” or “It will come in handy later in life.” Ideally, we should instead create a culture of transfer—a learning environment in which applying school subject matter to new situations, cross‐disciplinary contexts, and real‐world problems is both the expectation and the norm. For instance, we might regularly encourage students to ask themselves, “How might I use this information?” as they listen, read, and study (R. A. Engle, 2006; Haskell, 2001; M. C. Linn, 2008; Pea, 1987; Sternberg & Frensch, 1993). authentic activity

culture of transfer

situated learning and cognition

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CHAPTER

Problem Solving
Problem solving involves using—that is, transferring—existing knowledge and skills to address an

unanswered question or troubling situation. The world presents innumerable problems that differ widely in content and scope, as illustrated in the next exercise. Sometimes problems are straightforward and easy to solve. Problem 1 requires only simple addition and subtraction procedures, which easily yield a correct solution: 10 cents. Problem 2 FIGURE 7.4 How long do the roof planks of this treehouse need to be?

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
How many of these problems can you solve? 1. You buy two apples for 25 cents each and one pear for 40 cents. How much change will you get back from a dollar bill? 2. You’re building a treehouse with the shape and dimensions illustrated in Figure 7.4. You need to buy planks for a slanted roof. How long must the roof planks be to reach from one side of the treehouse to the other? 3. As a teacher, you want to illustrate the idea that metal battleships float even though metal is denser (and thus heavier) than water. You don’t have a toy boat made of metal. What can you use instead to demonstrate that a metal object with a hollow interior can float on water? 4. Tropical rainforests provide homes for many species of animals and plants (including some plants useful in modern medicine), and they help to reduce the rapid increase in carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. Yet each day tens of thousands of acres of tropical rainforest disappear, largely as a result of farmers’ efforts to create new farmland by slashing and burning existing vegetation. What steps might be taken to curtail this alarming rate of deforestation?

? 5ft. 2ft. 4ft.

(Figure 7.4) is more difficult, partly because you probably don’t encounter such problems very often. But if you’ve studied geometry, you’ve almost certainly learned the Pythagorean theorem: In any right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Looking at the top part of the treehouse (from the dashed line upward) as a triangle, we can find the length for the roof planks (x) this way: (Slanted side)2 = (Horizontal side)2 + (Vertical side)2 x 2 = 42 + (5 - 2)2 x 2 = 16 + 9 x 2 = 25 x=5 Problems don’t always have a single correct solution, of course. A variety of objects (e.g., a metal pie plate, bucket, or thimble) might be used to solve Problem 3. And you might identify several possible ways of addressing Problem 4, but you probably wouldn’t know which ones could successfully curtail rainforest destruction until you actually implemented them. Problems differ considerably in the extent to which they’re clearly specified and structured. At one end of this clarity‐and‐structure continuum is the well‐defined problem, in which the goal is clearly stated, all information needed to solve the problem is present, and only one correct answer exists. Calculating correct change after a purchase (Problem 1) and determining the length of planks needed for a treehouse roof (Problem 2) are well‐defined problems. At the other end of the continuum is the ill‐defined problem, in which the desired goal is unclear, information needed to solve the problem is missing, or several possible solutions exist. Finding a suitable

problem solving

well‐defined problem

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211 substitute for a metal ship (Problem 3) is somewhat ill defined: Many objects might serve as a ship substitute, and some might work better than others. The rainforest destruction problem (Problem 4) is even less defined: The goal (curtailing deforestation) is ambiguous, we’re missing a lot of information that would help us solve the problem (e.g., what alternatives might replace farmers’ slash‐and‐burn practices?), and there’s no single correct solution. On average, ill‐defined problems are harder to solve than well‐defined ones. Most problems presented in school are well defined. As an example, let’s return to the typing problem in the opening case study: Louis can type 35 words a minute. He needs to type a final copy of his English composition, which is 4,200 words long. How long will it take Louis to type his paper? Notice that all the information needed to solve the problem is provided, and there’s no irrelevant information to lead students astray. And there’s only one correct answer, with no room for debate. Yet the real world presents ill‐defined problems far more often than well‐defined ones, and students need practice in dealing with them. Furthermore, when students regularly encounter ill‐defined problems in the school curriculum, they may acquire more sophisticated epistemic beliefs—in particular, they may begin to realize that many topics and issues don’t have easy, clear‐ cut right and wrong answers (Rule & Bendixen, 2010). Taking the perspective of cognitive psychology (especially information processing theory), you might think of problem solving as involving five basic steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Encoding the problem Retrieving one or more strategies that might be useful in solving the problem Choosing the most appropriate strategy or set of strategies Carrying out the chosen strategy or strategies Evaluating the quality of the problem solution obtained (steps based loosely on Polya, 1957) ill‐defined problem

Cognitive factors we’ve previously identified as affecting transfer—thorough understanding of a topic, perception of relevance to diverse academic disciplines and to real‐world situations, and so on—certainly affect learners’ ability to carry out these steps successfully. Researchers have identified additional factors related to four general categories: problem encoding, problem‐solving strategies, working memory capacity, and metacognition.

PROBLEM ENCODING
At Step 1 in the problem‐solving process, learners might mentally represent a problem—that is, they might encode it—in a variety of ways. As an example, see whether you can solve the problem in the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Consider this problem: Old MacDonald has a barnyard full of pigs and chickens. Altogether there are 21 heads and 60 legs in the barnyard (not counting MacDonald’s own head and legs). How many pigs and how many chickens are running around the barnyard? Can you figure out the answer? If you’re having trouble, think about the problem this way: Imagine the pigs standing upright on their two hind legs, with their front two legs raised over their heads. Therefore, both the pigs and the chickens are standing on two legs. Figure out how many legs are on the ground and how many must be in the air. From this information, can you determine the number of pigs and chickens in the barnyard?

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CHAPTER Because there are 21 heads, there must be 21 animals. Thus there must be 42 legs on the ground (21 * 2), which leaves 18 pigs’ legs in the air (60 - 42). There must therefore be 9 pigs (18 , 2) and 12 chickens (21 - 9). There are, of course, several ways you might approach the pigs‐and‐chickens problem. But if you initially had trouble solving it—perhaps because your algebra skills are rusty—you may have struggled to encode it in a way that led you to an easy solution. Students often have difficulty solving mathematical word problems because they don’t know how to translate the problems into the procedures they’ve learned (K. Lee, Ng, & Ng, 2009; R. E. Mayer, 1992; Walkington, Sherman, & Petrosino, 2010). At other times students may encode a problem in a seemingly logical way that nevertheless fails to yield a workable result. As an example, take a stab at the next problem.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
How might you stand a candle upright in front of a bulletin board attached to the wall? You don’t want the candle to touch the bulletin board, because the flame might singe the board. Instead, you need to place the candle about a centimeter away from the board. How can you accomplish the task using some or all of the following materials: a small candle (birthday cake size), a metal knitting needle, matches, a box of thumbtacks, and a 12‐inch ruler?
Source: Based on Duncker, 1945. Knitting needle

Bulletin board

Matches

Box of tacks

Candle

Plastic ruler

As it turns out, the ruler and knitting needle are useless in solving the problem. Piercing the candle with the knitting needle will probably break the candle, and you’re unlikely to have much luck balancing the ruler on a few tacks. (I speak from experience here, as my own students have unsuccessfully tried both strategies.) The easiest solution is to turn the thumbtack box upside down or sideways, attach it to the bulletin board with tacks, and then attach the candle to the top of the box with either a tack or melted wax. Many people don’t consider this possibility because they encode the box only as a container of tacks and so overlook its potential use as a candle stand. When learners encode a problem in a way that limits possible solutions, they’re the victims of a mental set. Mental sets, then, interfere with Step 2 in the problem‐solving process: retrieving potentially useful strategies from long‐term memory. Mental sets sometimes emerge when learners practice solving a particular kind of problem (e.g., doing subtraction problems in math or applying the formula E = mc2 in physics) without also practicing other kinds of problems at the same time. Such repetitive practice can lead students to encode problems in a particular way without really thinking about them—in other words, it can lead to automaticity in encoding. Although automaticity in the basic information and skills needed for problem solving is often an advantage because it frees up working memory capacity (more about this point shortly), automaticity in encoding problems can lead students to solve them incorrectly (E. J. Langer, 2000; Luchins, 1942; Rohrer & Pashler, 2010). Several teaching strategies can help students effectively encode problems, without falling victim to counterproductive mental sets: Present problems in a concrete form; for example, provide real objects that students can manipulate, or present an illustration of a problem’s components. Encourage students to make problems concrete for themselves; for example, encourage them to draw a picture or diagram. Highlight aspects of problems that students can competently solve, and when those elements appear again in a different problem, point out that the same information can be applied or the same approach to problem solution can be used. Give problems that look different on the surface yet require the same or similar problem‐ solving procedures. Mix the kinds of problems that students tackle in any single practice session.

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mental set

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Have students work in cooperative groups to identify several ways of representing a single problem—perhaps as a formula, a table, and a graph. (Anzai, 1991; Brenner et al., 1997; Z. Chen, 1999; L. S. Fuchs et al., 2003; R. E. Mayer, 1992; Mayfield & Chase, 2002; Prawat, 1989; Rohrer & Pashler, 2010; Sherman & Bisanz, 2009; Turner, Meyer, et al., 1998)

PROBLEM‐SOLVING STRATEGIES: ALGORITHMS AND HEURISTICS
At the heart of successful problem solving, of course, are the strategies learners have available to them, as reflected in Steps 2, 3, and 4 of the problem‐solving process described earlier. Some problems can be successfully solved with an algorithm, a specific sequence of steps that guarantees a correct solution. For example, by dividing 4,200 by 35, we can easily determine that Louis will need 120 minutes (2 hours) to type his English composition. And by using the Pythagorean theorem and simple algebra, we can correctly calculate the length of a treehouse’s slanted roof. Yet the world presents many problems for which no algorithms exist. There are no rules we can follow to identify a substitute metal ship, no set of instructions to help us address worldwide rainforest destruction. In fact, few algorithms exist for solving problems outside the domains of mathematics and science. In the absence of an algorithm, learners must use one or more heuristics, general problem‐solving strategies that may or may not yield a successful outcome. For example, one heuristic we might use in solving the deforestation problem is this: Identify a new behavior that adequately replaces the problem behavior (i.e., identify another way that rainforest farmers can meet their survival needs). Both types of problem‐solving strategies—algorithms and heuristics alike—are often specific to particular content domains. But here are several general problem‐solving heuristics that can be helpful in a variety of contexts: Identify subgoals. Break a large, complex task into two or more specific subtasks that can be more easily addressed. Round complex numbers up or down. Estimate mathematical solutions by converting hard‐ to‐work‐with numbers to simpler ones. Use paper and pencil. Draw a diagram, list a problem’s components, or jot down potential solutions or approaches. Draw an analogy. Identify a situation analogous to the problem situation, and derive potential solutions from the analogy. Brainstorm. Generate a wide variety of possible approaches or solutions—perhaps including some that might seem outlandish or absurd—without initially evaluating any of them. After a lengthy list has been created, evaluate each item for its potential relevance and usefulness. “Incubate” the situation. Let a problem remain unresolved for a few hours or days, allowing time for a broad search of long‐term memory for potentially productive approaches. (J. E. Davidson & Sternberg, 1998, 2003; De Corte, Op’t Eynde, Depaepe, & Verschaffel, 2010; Halpern, 1997; Minsky, 2006; Sweller, 2009a; Zhong, Dijksterhuis, & Galinsky, 2008) TEACHING PROBLEM‐SOLVING STRATEGIES Occasionally students develop problem‐solving strategies on their own. For instance, many children invent simple addition and subtraction strategies long before they encounter arithmetic at school (Bermejo, 1996; Ginsburg, Cannon, Eisenband, & Pappas, 2006; Siegler & Jenkins, 1989). But without some formal instruction in effective strategies, even the most inventive students may occasionally resort to unproductive trial and error to solve problems. Following are research‐based recommendations for teaching problem‐solving strategies: algorithm For Teaching Algorithms
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Describe and demonstrate specific procedures and the situations in which each can be used. Provide worked‐out examples of algorithms being applied, and ask students to explain what’s happening at each step.

heuristic

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CHAPTER Help students understand why particular algorithms are relevant and effective in certain situations. When a student’s application of an algorithm yields an incorrect answer, look closely at what the student has done, and locate the trouble spot (e.g., see Figure 7.5). For Teaching Both Algorithms and Heuristics Teach problem‐solving strategies within the context of specific subject areas—not as a topic separate from academic content. Have students tackle problems within the context of authentic activities. For example, in problem‐based learning, students acquire new knowledge and skills while working on a complex problem similar to one that might exist in the outside world. Engage in joint problem‐solving activities with students, modeling effective strategies and guiding students’ initial efforts. Provide scaffolding for difficult problems (e.g., break them into smaller and simpler problems, give hints about possible strategies, or provide partial solutions). Have students solve problems in pairs or small groups, in which they share ideas about problem‐solving strategies, model various approaches for one another, and discuss the merits of each approach. (Barron, 2000; M. Carr, 2010; Crowley & Siegler, 1999; Hmelo‐Silver, 2004; Hmelo‐Silver, Duncan, & Chinn, 2007; Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2008; Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; R. E. Mayer, 1985; Renkl, 2011; Rittle‐Johnson, 2006; D. L. Schwartz, Lindgren, & Lewis, 2009; Wentzel & Watkins, 2011)

FIGURE 7.5 Thirteen‐ year‐old Malika incorrectly simplifies the expression 6(2x + y) + 2(x + 4y) as 14x + 10y. The correct answer is 14x + 14y. Where did Malika go wrong?

WORKING MEMORY AND PROBLEM SOLVING
Remember, working memory has a limited capacity: At any one time it can hold only a few pieces of information and accommodate only so much cognitive processing. If a problem requires dealing with a lot of information at once or manipulating that information in a very complex way—when the cognitive load is high—working memory capacity may be insufficient for effective problem processing (K. Lee et al., 2009; Moreno & Park, 2010; H. L. Swanson, Jerman, & Zheng, 2008). Thus, working memory places an upper limit on Step 4 in the problem‐solving process: successfully carrying out chosen strategies. Learners can overcome the limits of working memory in at least two ways. One obvious way is to create an external record of needed information—for example, by writing it on a piece of paper (as we often do with long division problems). Another approach is to learn some skills to automaticity—in other words, to learn them so well that they can be retrieved quickly and easily (N. Frederiksen, 1984a; R. E. Mayer & Wittrock, 2006; Sweller, 1994).

METACOGNITION IN PROBLEM SOLVING
Successful problem solving often involves considerable metacognition. Especially when problems are fairly complex and challenging, effective problem solvers tend to engage in metacognitive process at all five steps of the problem‐solving process—for example, by doing the following:

problem‐based learning
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J. E. Davidson & Sternberg, 1998, 2003; Dominowski, 1998; Kirsh, 2009)

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Such actions enable learners to use problem‐solving strategies flexibly and to determine when particular strategies aren’t appropriate. In contrast, ineffective problem solvers tend to apply problem‐solving procedures mindlessly, without any real understanding of what they’re doing or why they’re doing it. In the opening case study, Ms. Gaunt’s students rarely critique their problem solutions for logical sense; thus, they may not recognize that typing a 4,200‐word paper is unlikely to take 100 days. To some extent, students’ metacognitive problem‐solving processes depend on their conceptual understanding of the subject matter (M. Carr & Biddlecomb, 1998; J. E. Davidson & Sternberg, 1998; Rittle‐Johnson & Star, 2009). Yet students also benefit from instruction and guidance in metacognitive strategies. For example, we can do the following: Ask students to explain what they’re doing and why they’re doing it as they work on a problem. Give students questions they can ask themselves as they work on a problem (e.g., “Are we getting closer to our goal?” “Why is this strategy most appropriate?”). Help students to identify common errors in their problem solving and to check regularly for these errors. Ask students to reflect on their problem solutions to determine whether the solutions make sense within the context of the original problems. (M. Carr, 2010; Dominowski, 1998; Johanning, D’Agostino, Steele, & Shumow, 1999; A. King, 1999, p. 101; Kramarski & Mevarech, 2003, p. 286; Roditi & Steinberg, 2007; Siegler, 2002) Such approaches can be especially effective when students work on challenging problems with one or more classmates and must explain and defend their reasoning to each other.

USING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY TO TEACH PROBLEM‐SOLVING SKILLS
The strategies we’ve considered thus far have been largely “low tech.” But we can also capitalize on computer technology to foster problem‐solving skills. Following are several possibilities: Use computer‐based intelligent tutoring systems—software that provides individualized instruction and guidance related to a particular topic and set of skills—to teach mathematical and scientific reasoning and problem solving (e.g., see Figure 7.6). Show students how to use spreadsheets to analyze complex sets of data. Use computer simulations that allow students to formulate hypotheses, design experiments to test the hypotheses, and interpret the virtual results. Present complex real‐world problems (i.e., authentic activities) that students must solve. (Beal, Arroyo, Cohen, & Woolf, 2010; Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1990, 1996; Kuhn & Dean, 2005; Vye et al., 1998) Numerous software packages and Internet resources can help us with the last of these strategies: presenting complex real‐world problems. Here are three examples: Gary Gadget: Building Cars. Students assemble a car and drive to various destinations using a map; they occasionally encounter obstacles (e.g., a muddy road, a steep hill) that require making adjustments to the car. Crazy Machines: The Wacky Contraptions Game. Students use a collection of three‐dimensional parts (e.g., pumps, pipes, generators, balls) to construct machines for various purposes (e.g., driving nails, moving heavy objects, shooting cannons). Animal Hospital: Pet Vet 3D. Students play the role of a veterinarian who must diagnose and treat a variety of sick pets and also handle the business side of a veterinary office (e.g., purchasing supplies, maintaining a reasonable workload). Many Internet websites also provide both traditional and authentic problem‐solving activities appropriate for children and adolescents. For example, you might look at the websites for the National Science Foundation (www.nsf.gov) and Discover Education (school.discoveryeducation.com).

intelligent tutoring system

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216 creativity CHAPTER

convergent thinking

FIGURE 7.6 In an intelligent tutoring system called AnimalWatch, middle school students apply math and science to solve problems about at‐risk animal species and their environments. A screen from the system is shown here.

divergent thinking

Source: Screenshot courtesy of Carole Beal. Copyright © by Carole Beal. Reprinted with permission. Go to www.animalwatch.org for more information.

Creativity
Creativity, like problem solving, is a form of transfer, because it involves applying previously

learned knowledge or skills to a new situation. Psychologists have offered varying opinions about the nature of creativity, but in general it has two components: New and original behavior: Behavior not specifically learned from someone else A productive result: An outcome appropriate for, and in some way valuable to, one’s culture (e.g., Beghetto & Kaufman, 2010; Runco & Chand, 1995; R. K. Sawyer, 2003) To illustrate these two components, let’s say that I’m giving a lecture on creativity and want a creative way of keeping my students’ attention. One possible approach would be to come to class stark naked. This approach certainly meets the first criterion for creativity (it’s new and original) but not the second criterion (it isn’t appropriate in our culture). An alternative strategy might be to give my students several challenging problems that require creative thinking. This approach is more likely to meet both criteria: Not only is it a relatively original way of teaching, but it’s also appropriate and productive for students to learn about creativity by exploring the process firsthand. Many complex tasks involve both problem solving and creativity. But the two processes differ somewhat in the extent to which they involve convergent versus divergent thinking (see Figure 7.7). To successfully tackle a problem, we typically pull together two or more pieces of information into an integrated whole that resolves the problem. This combining of information into a single idea or product is known as convergent thinking. In contrast, when we engage in creativity, we often begin with a single idea and take it in a variety of directions, at least one of which leads to something that’s new, original, and culturally appropriate. This process of generating many different ideas from a single starting point is known as divergent thinking. To see the difference firsthand, try the next exercise.

FIGURE 7.7 Convergent versus divergent thinking

Final Product

Convergent Thinking

Starting Point

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Divergent Thinking

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EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
On a sheet of paper, write your responses to each of the following: 1. Why are houses more often built with bricks than with stones? 2. What are some possible uses of a brick? Try to think of as many different and unusual uses as you can. 3. Add improvements to the wagon drawing so that the object will be more fun to play with.
Source: Items 2 and 3 modeled after Torrance, 1970.

To answer the first question, you must use convergent thinking to pull together the things you know about bricks, stones, and building construction. But the other two items require divergent thinking about a single object: You must consider how a brick might be used in different contexts and how different parts of the wagon might be embellished—with some of your responses being novel and unique. Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not a single entity that people either have or don’t have. Rather, it’s probably a combination of many specific thinking processes, motives, and behaviors. Among other things, creative individuals tend to have the following characteristics:

combine existing information and ideas in new ways doing (Amabile, 1996; Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Leung, Maddux, Galinsky, & Chiu, 2008; Runco & Chand, 1995; Russ, 1993; Simonton, 2004; Weisberg, 1993) Furthermore, creativity is often specific to particular situations and content areas (Dai, 2010; Glover, Ronning, & Reynolds, 1989; Runco, 2004). For example, students might show creativity in art, writing, or science but won’t necessarily be creative in all of these areas.

FOSTERING CREATIVITY
Certain aspects of creative thinking may have their roots in hereditary factors, but environmental factors play an equally important role in the development of creativity (Esquivel, 1995; Ripple, 1989; Simonton, 2000). In fact, because creativity requires considerable expertise and fairly sophisticated thought processes, learners are apt to become increasingly creative as they grow older, gain diverse experiences and perspectives—ideally including multicultural experiences and perspectives—and have numerous opportunities to experiment with objects and ideas (Hatano & Oura, 2003; Leung et al., 2008; Simonton, 2004). Research studies suggest several strategies for promoting creativity in the classroom: Show students that creative thoughts and behaviors are valued. One way to do this is to encourage and reward unusual ideas and responses. For example, we can assign activities that require students to generate a wide variety of ideas, and we can express excitement when students complete a project or assessment task in a unique and unusual manner. Engaging in creative activities ourselves also shows that we value creativity (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2010; Lubart & Mouchiroud, 2003; Runco, 2004; Sternberg, 2010). Focus students’ attention on internal rather than external rewards. Students are more creative when they engage in activities they enjoy and when they have reason to take pride in their accomplishments (B. A. Hennessey, 2010; Lubart & Mouchiroud, 2003). To foster creativity, then, we should occasionally give students opportunities to explore their own interests—those they’ll gladly pursue without having to be prodded. We can also foster creativity by downplaying the importance of grades, focusing students’ attention instead on the internal satisfaction their creative efforts bring (B. A. Hennessey, 2010; Perkins, 1990). For instance, we might say this to students in an art class: Please don’t worry too much about grades. As long as you use the materials appropriately and give each assignment your best shot, you will do well in this class. The important thing

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CHAPTER is to find an art form that you enjoy and through which you can effectively express your perceptions and feelings. Promote mastery of a subject area. Creativity in a particular subject area is more likely to occur when students have considerable mastery and conceptual understanding of a topic (Amabile & Hennessey, 1992; Haskell, 2001; Simonton, 2000). For example, if we want students to apply scientific principles in a creative manner—perhaps as they complete a science fair experiment or develop a solution to an environmental problem—we should make sure that they know those principles well. Ask thought‐provoking questions. Students are more likely to think creatively when we pose higher‐level questions—questions that require them to use previously learned information in new ways. Questions that require divergent thinking can be particularly helpful (Perkins, 1990; Sternberg, 2010). For example, in history lessons we might ask questions such as the following: In a lesson on the Pony Express as a method of U.S. mail delivery in the 1860s: “In what different ways might people have carried mail across the country at that time?” (Feldhusen & Treffinger, 1980) In a lesson on Angkor Wat, an enormous stone temple complex built in the 12th century in what is now Cambodia: “How might the Khmer people have built these temples using massive blocks (400 pounds each) with no cement?” (Courtesy of Jeffrey Ormrod) Teach and encourage cognitive and metacognitive strategies that support creative thinking. Explicit instruction in some of the strategies that creativity requires can definitely have an impact (Hattie, 2009). Following are several examples of such strategies: after a lengthy list has been generated mediate solution Garrett, 2010; Beghetto & Kaufman, 2010; Sternberg, 2010) Give students the freedom and security they need to take risks. To be creative, students must be willing to take risks—something they’re unlikely to do if they’re afraid of failing (Amabile, 1996; Houtz, 1990; Sternberg, 2010). To encourage risk taking, we can allow students to engage in certain activities without evaluating their performance. For example, in response to the question presented earlier about how 12th‐century Khmer people might have built large stone temples at Angkor Wat, a student at an English‐speaking school in Thailand was quite creative in his response, as his teacher reported: Several students drew a long wooden ramp on which they would drag the giant blocks. I asked them what would probably happen as soon as they started dragging the block up this ramp (i.e., the block would break the ramp and come crashing down). So one student drew poles under his ramp to support it. I pointed out that this would work only at very low levels because the trees in the area were small and weak. His next idea was to use wood and bamboo to make the ramp stronger, but I suggested that the structure still wouldn’t be strong enough to bear the load. He came back a few minutes later with another idea. He still had the ramp, but underneath it for support he had drawn in a few elephants. I urged him to reflect on his new idea: “Even if you can get the elephants to stand still and put a ramp on their backs, elephants are only about this tall. [I showed their height with my hand.] Angkor Wat is 213 feet tall. How are you going to support the ramp between about 6 feet and 213 feet?” His response was to stack the elephants on top of each other. (Excerpt by Jeffrey Ormrod. Copyright © by Jeffrey Ormrod. Reprinted by permission.)
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intrinsic motivation,

higher‐level question

Granted, the student’s ultimate solution wasn’t realistic, but he was definitely thinking in an innovative, divergent manner— “outside the box”—and his teacher had created a classroom atmosphere in which he felt comfortable doing so.

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We can further encourage risk taking by urging students to think of their mistakes and failures as an inevitable—but usually temporary—aspect of the creative process (B. A. Hennessey & Amabile, 1987; J. C. Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009). For example, when students are writing a short story, we might give them several opportunities to get our feedback and perhaps also the feedback of their peers before they turn in a final product. Provide the time and resources that creativity requires. Students need time to experiment with new materials and ideas, think in divergent directions, and make mistakes. And in many instances they can be more creative if they have a variety of physical and social resources on which to draw—perhaps paper and pencil, the Internet, ample space in which to work, and the ideas and support of classmates. Occasional gentle guidance from a teacher can also boost creative thinking (Fairweather & Cramond, 2010; Sternberg, 2010). Ideally, students should reflect on and carefully evaluate the results of their creative thinking (Dai, 2010; Fairweather & Cramond, 2010). In other words, truly productive creative thinking also requires critical thinking—our next topic.

Critical Thinking
Critical thinking involves evaluating the accuracy, credibility, and worth of information and lines of reasoning (Beyer, 1985; Heyman, 2008). It can take a variety of forms, depending on the context. The following exercise presents four possibilities.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Read and respond to each of the following situations: 1. It’s autumn, and the days are becoming increasingly chilly. You see the following advertisement: Aren’t you tired of sniffles and runny noses all winter? Tired of always feeling less than your best? Get through a whole winter without colds. Take Eradicold Pills as directed. (R. J. Harris, 1977, p. 605) Should you go out and buy a box of Eradicold Pills? 2. You have a beat‐up old car and have invested several thousand dollars to get it in working order. You can sell the car in its present condition for $1,500, or you can invest a couple of thousand dollars more on repairs and then sell it for $3,000. What should you do? (modeled after Halpern, 1998) 3. You have been rolling a typical six‐sided die (i.e., one member of a pair of dice). You know that the die isn’t heavier on one side than another, and yet in the past 30 rolls you haven’t rolled a number 4 even once. What are the odds that you’ll get a 4 on the next roll? 4. This research finding was presented by Dr. Edmund Emmer at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association in 1994: Teachers who feel happy when they teach are more likely to have well‐behaved students (Emmer, 1994). If you’re a teacher, do such results suggest that you should try to feel happy when you enter the classroom each morning?

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In each of these situations, you had to evaluate information and make some sort of judgment. In Item 1, I hope you weren’t tempted to buy Eradicold Pills, because the advertisement provided no proof that they reduce cold symptoms. It simply included the suggestion to “Take Eradicold Pills as directed” within the context of a discussion of undesirable symptoms—a common ploy in persuasive advertising. As for Item 2, it makes more sense to sell the car now. If you sell the car for $3,000 after making $2,000 worth of repairs, you’ll make $500 less than you would otherwise. Many people

critical thinking

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CHAPTER mistakenly believe that their past investments justify making additional ones, when in fact past investments are irrelevant to the present circumstances (Halpern, 1998). In Item 3, the chance of rolling a 4 on an evenly balanced die is—as always—one in six. The outcomes of previous rolls are irrelevant, because each roll is independent of the others. But when a 4 hasn’t shown up even once in 30 rolls, many people believe that a 4 is long overdue and so greatly overestimate its probability—a misconception known as the gambler’s fallacy. Now what about making sure you’re happy each time you enter the classroom (Item 4)? One common mistake people make in interpreting research results is to think that an association (correlation) between two things means that one of those things must cause the other. In fact, however, a correlation between two variables doesn’t necessarily indicate a cause–and–effect relationship. Possibly teacher happiness does improve students’ classroom behavior, but there are other potential explanations for the correlation as well. For instance, perhaps good student behavior makes teachers feel happy (rather than vice versa), or perhaps teachers who feel upbeat use more effective teaching techniques and can better keep students on task as the result of using those techniques (Emmer, 1994). The four situations presented in the preceding exercise illustrate several forms that critical thinking can take (Halpern, 1997, 1998, 2008; Nussbaum, 2008): Verbal reasoning: Understanding and evaluating persuasive techniques found in oral and written language. You engaged in verbal reasoning when deciding whether to purchase Eradicold Pills. Argument analysis: Discriminating between reasons that do and don’t support a conclusion. You engaged in argument analysis when you considered possible pros and cons of investing an additional $2,000 in car repairs. Probabilistic reasoning: Determining the likelihood and uncertainties associated with various events. You engaged in probabilistic reasoning when you determined the probability of rolling a 4 on the die. Hypothesis testing: Judging the value of data and research results in terms of the methods used to obtain them and their potential relevance to certain conclusions. When hypothesis testing includes critical thinking, it involves considering questions such as these:

teacher happiness. Some theorists have argued that critical thinking involves a general set of cognitive skills that learners can apply broadly in many different contexts (e.g., Ennis, 1996). But in fact, the nature of critical thinking is somewhat specific to various content domains. In writing, critical thinking may involve reading the first draft of a persuasive essay to look for errors in logical reasoning or for situations in which opinions haven’t been sufficiently justified. In science, it may involve revising existing theories or beliefs to account for new evidence—that is, it may involve conceptual change. In history, it may involve drawing inferences from historical documents, attempting to determine whether things definitely happened a particular way or only maybe happened that way. As you might guess, critical thinking skills emerge gradually over the course of childhood and adolescence (Amsterlaw, 2006; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006; Pillow, 2002). Yet all too often, students at all grade levels—and even many well‐educated adults—take the information they see in textbooks, news reports, on the Internet, and elsewhere at face value. In other words, they engage in little or no critical thinking as they consider the accuracy, credibility, and worth of the information they encounter (Kuhn, 2009; G. Marcus, 2008; M. J. Metzger, Flanagin, & Zwarun, 2003). Students are more likely to look analytically and critically at new information if they believe that even experts’ understanding of a topic continues to evolve as new evidence accumulates. They’re less likely to engage in critical thinking if they believe that knowledge is an absolute, unchanging entity (Kardash & Scholes, 1996; Kuhn, 2001a; Moon, 2008; Schommer‐Aikins, 2002). Thus, students’ epistemic beliefs enter into the critical thinking process.

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FOSTERING CRITICAL THINKING
Critical thinking is a general disposition as well as a set of sophisticated, evaluative thinking processes. In other words, some learners are more inclined than others to approach new ideas in a thoughtful, analytical manner (Halpern, 2008; Perkins, Tishman, Ritchhart, Donis, & Andrade, 2000). Yet researchers have had some success in nurturing critical thinking in children and adolescents (Abrami et al., 2008; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006). Perhaps because critical thinking encompasses such a variety of cognitive skills, strategies for encouraging it are many and varied. Following are several theory‐ and research‐based recommendations: Teach fewer topics, but in greater depth—the less‐is‐more principle once again. Encourage some intellectual skepticism—for instance, by urging students to question and challenge the ideas they read and hear—and communicate the epistemic belief that people’s knowledge and understanding of any single topic will continue to change over time. Model critical thinking—for instance, by thinking aloud while analyzing a persuasive argument or scientific report. Give students many opportunities to practice critical thinking—for instance, by identifying flaws in the arguments of a persuasive essay, evaluating the quality and usefulness of a scientific finding, and using evidence and logic to support a particular viewpoint. Ask questions such as these to encourage critical thinking:

don’t support it? Have students debate controversial issues from several perspectives, and occasionally ask them to defend a perspective quite different from their own. Help students understand that critical thinking involves considerable mental effort but that its benefits make the effort worthwhile. Embed critical thinking skills within the context of authentic, real‐world activities as a way of helping students retrieve those skills later on, both in the workplace and in other aspects of adult life. (Afflerbach & Cho, 2010; Bonney & Sternberg, 2011; Chinn, Anderson, & Waggoner, 2001; De La Paz & Felton, 2010; Derry, Levin, Osana, & Jones, 1998; Halpern, 1998; Heyman, 2008; Kardash & Scholes, 1996; Kuhn & Pease, 2008; Monte‐Sano, 2008; Moon, 2008; Nussbaum, 2008; Nussbaum & Edwards, 2011; S. A. Stahl & Shanahan, 2004; Yang & Tsai, 2010) The Into the Classroom feature “Fostering Critical Thinking” presents examples of what teachers might do in language arts, history, and science. Using an Internet search engine such as Google or Bing, you can find numerous computer software programs allegedly designed to promote critical thinking skills. Some of these programs may be effective, whereas others may not be. When considering them for possible use in your classroom, keep in mind that like all complex cognitive processes, critical thinking skills are probably most effectively learned—and most likely to be transferred to new situations—when they’re practiced within the context of specific academic topics (e.g., De La Paz & Felton, 2010; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006; Yang & Tsai, 2010). It’s important that students think critically not only about what they read and hear in the classroom but also about what they see online. People with a variety of motives and ideologies post their ideas on websites, and students must learn to scrutinize each posting with a skeptical eye. One good resource for teachers is a website maintained by the Center for Media Literacy (www.medialit. org), where you can find free software that teaches students to ask themselves questions such as these:

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In this age of widespread access to the Internet, critical thinking skills are now more critical than ever.

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CHAPTER

Teach elements of critical thinking.

Foster epistemic beliefs that encourage critical thinking.

Teach students how to evaluate the accuracy of information posted on Internet websites.

Embed critical thinking skills within the context of authentic activities.

Sources: Derry et al., 1998 (statistics example based on this study); Halpern, 1997 (criteria for a sound argument); Paxton, 1999 (bias in history example). “All about Explorers,” is a teacher‐created website at www.allaboutexplorers.com.

Diversity in Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Other Complex Cognitive Processes
We might reasonably speculate that Western schools’ focus on meaningful learning and conceptual understanding enhances students’ ability to be creative: One recent study with college students found students from a European American background to be especially proficient in solving math problems requiring creative thinking (Schommer‐Aikins & Easter, 2008). Perhaps more significant, however, was the finding that experiences in two or more cultures enhance creative thinking and behaviors. Quite possibly, such a multicultural background exposes learners to a broader range of concepts, ideas, and perspectives from which to draw when trying to think about a topic or problem in nontraditional ways (Leung et al., 2008). Critical thinking is another complex cognitive process that seems to depend somewhat on students’ cultural backgrounds. Some cultures place high value on respecting one’s elders or certain religious leaders, and in doing so, they may foster the belief that “truth” is a cut‐and‐ dried entity that is best gained from authority figures (Losh, 2003; Qian & Pan, 2002; Tyler et al., 2008). Furthermore, a cultural emphasis on maintaining group harmony may discourage children from hashing out differences in perspectives, which critical thinking often entails (Kağitçibaşi, 2007; Kuhn & Park, 2005). Perhaps as a result of such factors, critical thinking may be less common in some groups (e.g., in some traditional Asian and Native American communities and in some fundamentalist religious groups) than in others (Kuhn, Daniels, & Krishnan, 2003; Kuhn & Park, 2005; Tyler et al., 2008). In some situations, then, we must walk a fine line between teaching students to critically evaluate persuasive arguments and scientific evidence, on the one hand, and to show appropriate respect and strive for group harmony in their community and culture, on the other. One potentially effective approach is to suggest that students pose questions in a nonthreatening way, perhaps like this: “What if someone were to criticize your idea by saying _____? How might you respond?”

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Promoting Advanced Thinking Skills in Students with Special Educational Needs
CATEGORY
Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties

STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS
CHARACTERISTICS YOU MIGHT OBSERVE SUGGESTED STRATEGIES

Students with social or behavioral problems

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Students with general delays in cognitive and social functioning

Students with physical or sensory challenges

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Students with advanced cognitive development

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Sources: Beirne‐Smith et al., 2006; Brownell, Mellard, & Deshler, 1993; B. Clark, 1997; DuPaul & Eckert, 1994; E. S. Ellis & Friend, 1991; N. R. Ellis, 1979; S. Goldstein & Rider, 2006; K. R. Harris, 1982; Heward, 2009; M. C. Linn, Clement, Pulos, & Sullivan, 1989; Maker, 1993; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2007; Meichenbaum, 1977; Mendaglio, 2010; Mercer & Pullen, 2005; Piirto, 1999; Pulos & Linn, 1981; Slife, Weiss, & Bell, 1985; Stanley, 1980; Torrance, 1989; Turnbull et al., 2010; Weissberg, 1985.

ACCOMMODATING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
In addition to differences that may be a function of cultural background, researchers have observed differences in complex thinking skills for students with various disabilities and for students who have advanced cognitive abilities. Table 7.3 presents some of the characteristics you’re likely to see in students with special educational needs, along with recommendations for working with these students.

7 What Have You Learned?
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If we focus classroom activities on learning isolated facts and if we also use assessment techniques that emphasize knowledge of those facts, students will naturally begin to believe that school learning is a process of absorbing information in a rote fashion and regurgitating it later on. But if we instead focus class time and activities on doing things with information—for instance, applying, analyzing, and critically evaluating it—then students should acquire the cognitive processes and skills that will serve them well in the world

beyond the classroom. With these points in mind, let’s return to the learning outcomes presented at the beginning of the chapter. ■ 7.1: Explain how learners’ metacognitive knowledge and skills influence their learning and academic achievement; also explain how you can promote metacognitive development in your own students. Metacognition includes both the beliefs stu-

dents have about their own cognitive processes and their attempts

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CHAPTER to solve new and complex problems (perhaps in technology‐based simulations), mixing up the kinds of problems we ask them to solve in any single lesson or unit, and asking them to explain what they’re doing as they work through a problem.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

to strategically regulate those processes to maximize learning and memory. Some effective learning strategies, such as taking notes and writing summaries, are overt ones easily seen in students’ behaviors. Others, such as identifying important ideas and self‐monitoring comprehension, are covert ones that take place largely or entirely inside students’ heads. Students’ use or nonuse of effective strategies depends, in part, on the particular learning task at hand and also, in part, on (1) students’ ability to reflect on the effectiveness of previous strategies, (2) their beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning (i.e., their epistemic beliefs), and (3) their ultimate goals for learning and classroom performance. As teachers, we should promote students’ metacognitive development at the same time that we teach them academic subject matter— for example, by providing guidance and scaffolding in note taking, elaborative processing, and summarizing, and by having students use new strategies in small‐group activities.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 7.4: Identify several instructional strategies that can encourage students to think creatively as they tackle new tasks and problems. Creativity involves new and original behavior that

■ 7.2: Describe various forms that transfer might take and the conditions in which transfer is most likely to occur, and apply research findings about transfer to your classroom practices.

leads to an appropriate and productive result; it’s probably a combination of many thinking processes and behaviors that each may or may not come into play in different situations and content areas. We’re more likely to see creative thinking and behavior when we show students that we value creativity, focus their attention on internal rather than external rewards, help them master essential knowledge and skills, teach them metacognitive strategies that support creative thinking, ask thought‐provoking questions, encourage risk taking, and provide the time and resources that creativity requires.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Transfer occurs when something learned in one situation either helps or hinders learning or performance in another situation; these two phenomena are known as positive transfer and negative transfer, respectively. Some instances of transfer involve applying specific facts to a similar situation; for example, a student might apply her knowledge of French vocabulary words in a Spanish class. Other instances involve general transfer of knowledge, skills, or attitudes to a very different situation; for example, a student might apply study strategies learned in a history class to a science class and, after gaining self‐confidence in one class, might bring that self‐confidence to other classes as well. Students are more likely to transfer what they learn when they engage in meaningful learning (rather than rote learning), when they see the relevance of classroom material to diverse disciplines and real‐world situations (rather than seeing it as context‐bound), and when they have many opportunities to use the material in new ways.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 7.5: Describe several different forms that critical thinking can take, and explain how you can help students critically evaluate what they see, hear, and read both inside and outside the classroom. Critical thinking involves evaluating the accu-

racy, credibility, and worth of information and lines of reasoning. It takes a variety of forms, depending on the situation, and requires not only a number of cognitive skills (e.g., argument analysis, probabilistic reasoning) but also a general disposition to approach new ideas in a thoughtful, evaluative manner and a belief that humankind doesn’t have all the answers to many important topics. As teachers, we should encourage and model a certain amount of intellectual skepticism, give students many opportunities to engage in critical analysis of classroom subject matter, and ask questions that encourage students to carefully scrutinize and evaluate the ideas they encounter in written documents, classroom discussions, and Internet websites.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 7.3: Describe four general factors that influence problem‐solving performance; also describe teaching strategies you can use to help students successfully solve both well‐defined and ill‐defined problems. Schools have traditionally focused attention on solving

■ 7.6: Give examples of diversity you might see in creativity, critical thinking, and other complex thinking processes as a result of students’ cultural backgrounds, disabilities, or advanced cognitive development. Students exhibit considerable diversity in the

well‐defined problems, yet the outside world presents many ill‐defined problems that students must also learn how to tackle. To be successful problem solvers, students must (1) encode problems in ways that lead them in potentially useful directions in long‐term memory, (2) master both step‐by‐step procedures for particular situations (algorithms) and more general problem‐solving strategies (heuristics), (3) compensate for the limits of working memory (e.g., by learning basic skills to mastery), and (4) consciously self‐direct and self‐monitor the overall problem‐solving process. As teachers, we can help students become more effective problem solvers in a number of ways—for example, by scaffolding their attempts

extent and nature of their complex cognitive thinking processes. For example, students from some cultural backgrounds may be unaccustomed to thinking in divergent, creative ways about complex problems. Students from other backgrounds may have been discouraged from critically evaluating what their elders tell them. And many students with special needs may have acquired few, if any, effective learning strategies and thus may need considerable scaffolding in their early attempts at using such strategies.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

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Practice for Your Licensure Exam
Interview with Charlie
Seventeen‐year‐old Charlie has been earning As in his high school classes; now, at the end of his eleventh‐grade year, he has a 4.0 grade point average. He has particular interests in science and technology; in fact, in addition to challenging coursework at school, Charlie has taken several computer courses at a local community college. His mother says, “He invests a lot of time in projects (writing papers, reports, etc.) but doesn't crack open a book to read or study often.” One afternoon Charlie has the following discussion with an adult: Adult: Why do you think your grades have been so good? Charlie: I do the homework, and I do well on the tests. I don’t really study—I just make sure to focus on the homework and make sure it makes sense to me. . . . What I do depends on the circumstances. For math and chemistry, just doing homework and going over it with friends during lunch or something helps. That’s about all I do for studying. Adult: What do you mean, “make sure it makes sense”? Charlie: If I look at the problem and I know the process of how to do it, like in math and chemistry. Adult: Let’s say that a teacher assigns a textbook chapter for you to read sometime in the next three days. What things would you do—in your head, that is—when you read the chapter? Charlie: Depends on the book and the class. Probably just skim it. Is the teacher just telling us to read it, or are there questions with it? I think about those things. We have a textbook in my computer programming class. I go through the chapter, look at examples and the [computer] code. I don’t look at the other stuff. Adult: I haven’t heard you talk about trying to memorize anything. Charlie: We do have to memorize. If I write it down once—a formula or something—and can use it in a few problems, I get it. Adult: Do you ever use flashcards? Charlie: Flashcards wouldn’t work for what I do. Adult: How do you know when you’ve really learned something— I mean, really learned it—and will remember it for a long time? Charlie: When I do a couple of problems and they don’t seem as hard . . . when I can get the right answer every time. Adult: Your teachers probably expect you to do a lot of things outside of class, right? How do you make sure you get them all done? Charlie: Making lists is really helpful, of everything that’s due. Adult: So what do you do with the lists? Charlie: I either do things as soon as possible or else procrastinate, do it the night before. Sometimes I have a free block at the end of the day to do it. Or I go home and do my chemistry right away. Or I might wait until the last minute. It depends on whether I’m hanging out with friends.
1. Multiple‐choice question:

Charlie says, “I don’t really study—I just make sure to focus on the homework and make sure it makes sense to me.” Which one of the following terms most accurately describes the nature of this statement? a. b. c. d. Algorithm Metacognition Critical thinking Divergent thinking

2. Multiple‐choice question:

Which one of the following statements is the best example of comprehension monitoring? a. “Depends on the book and the class. Probably just skim it.” b. “I go through the chapter, look at examples and the [computer] code. I don’t look at the other stuff. c. “When I do a couple of problems and they don’t seem as hard . . . when I can get the right answer every time.” d. “I either do things as soon as possible or else procrastinate, do it the night before. Sometimes I have a free block at the end of the day to do it.”
3. Constructed‐response question:

Would you characterize Charlie’s learning strategies as involving rote learning or meaningful learning? Use excerpts from the interview to support your answer.

PRAXIS

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Learning and Cognition in Context

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
8.1: Describe five basic assumptions underlying contextual theories of learning, and apply these assumptions to classroom practice. Contrast the benefits of interacting with more advanced individuals versus the benefits of interacting with peers; explain how you might enhance students’ learning through both kinds of interactions. Explain how learners’ cultural backgrounds can influence their interpretations of new information and experiences; also explain how learners can effectively begin to participate in one or more communities of practice. Describe key elements of society that impact learning, and explain how authentic activities can enhance learners’ performance in their out‐of‐school world. Describe the unique roles that digital technologies and the Internet can play in classroom instruction. Apply your knowledge of learning, cognition, and effective instructional practices to various academic content domains.

8.4:

8.2:

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8.5: 8.6:

8.3:

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CA S E S T U DY: IT ’ S A L L IN HOW YO U L O O K AT TH I N G S
In a research study by Susan Mosborg (2002), high‐achieving 12th‐grade history students learned about a 1996 court case involving a school district that had been regularly broadcasting prayers and Bible classes over the high school’s loudspeaker system. The students read two newspaper articles about the case. One article, a front‐page news story, presented the opposing perspectives of the mother who was suing the school district (she argued that the practice violated her daughter’s right to religious freedom) and the school superintendent (he argued that the broadcasts legitimately manifested the school’s right to free speech). The second article, an editorial, lamented the court’s decision to rule in favor of the mother and suggested that the decision would force people to practice their religion behind closed doors, “in the closet.” When students reflected on the articles in light of what they’d previously learned about American history, they reached varying conclusions. For example, a student named Jacob thought the decision reflected society’s general moral decline:
The nation’s Christian heritage to me says a lot about the decline of a lot of things in our country. Over the last century, in particular, morals and beliefs have changed quite a bit and fragmented lots of different groups. And I think a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that we’ve kind of forgotten and strayed away from Christian belief, from prayer. (Mosborg, 2002, p. 333)

Meanwhile, a student named Howard interpreted the court decision as reflecting progress toward greater religious choice:
Despite the assertion that the government was never linked to the church, it really was a lot more back in colonial times. . . . If you didn’t believe in Puritanism, if you did something that was against their morals, but not yours, you were put in jail for it . . . . And I think we’ve come a long way since then. (Mosborg, 2002, p. 333)

different ways? What principles of learning and cognition might you draw on to help you make sense of their diverging perspectives?

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As cognitive psychologists have explained, human learning typically involves meaningful learning—connecting new information and experiences to existing knowledge and beliefs about the world. Often, in fact, learners engage in elaboration, embellishing on and sometimes distorting new input so that it’s a good fit with their current understandings. To the extent that different learners retrieve different knowledge and beliefs in any given situation, they’re likely to interpret that situation in very different ways. For example, Jacob may have retrieved information about undesirable behaviors in the early decades of the twentieth century—perhaps the rise of organized crime in the 1920s or the increasing popularity of illegal drugs beginning in the late 1960s. In contrast, Howard apparently retrieved his knowledge of the rigidity and intolerant religious practices of many Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the seventeenth century. But why did the boys retrieve different prior knowledge and elaborate on the information is distinctly different ways? In her study, Mosborg discovered one important factor that seemed to make a difference: the broader social context in which students had grown up. Some students in the study were, like Jacob, attending an interdenominational religious school that stressed

Cognitive psychology is described in Chapter 6.

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CHAPTER adherence to certain principles of Christianity. Other students, like Howard, attended a more secular private school that focused only on traditional academic disciplines. Presumably the students’ schools reflected their parents’ priorities, beliefs, and values—all of which parents wanted to pass along to their children. Learning always take place within particular contexts—for instance, within a particular classroom environment, social group, culture, and society. Furthermore, in those societies where children attend school, instruction is typically divided into discrete content domains—reading, math, science, and so on—that involve somewhat idiosyncratic kinds of knowledge and skills. Such social and content‐ specific contexts for learning are the subject of this chapter.

CH A PTER O U TL I N E
Basic Assumptions of Contextual Theories Social Interactions as Contexts
Interactions with More Advanced Individuals Interactions with Peers Creating a Community of Learners

Cultures as Contexts
Schemas, Scripts, and Worldviews as Aspects of Culture Communities of Practice as Aspects of Culture

Society and Technology as Contexts
Authentic Activities Technological Innovations

Basic Assumptions of Contextual Theories
Cognitive theories of learning—such as information processing theory and individual constructivism—tell us a great deal about how human beings learn and develop. But in recent years psychologists have become increasingly aware that people’s learning and development are inextricably dependent on and bound to various physical, social, and cultural contexts. Contextual theories of learning vary considerably in the particular contexts they emphasize. Even so, they tend to share most or all of the following assumptions. The brain functions in close collaboration with—rather than in relative isolation from—the rest of the body. Obviously the brain can’t function without the nutrition and health of the rest of the body, and it gets new information from the eyes, ears, and other sensory organs. But in addition, thinking and learning are often intimately intertwined with a learner’s physical actions and reactions. For example, when we think about throwing a baseball, we activate parts of the brain that control arm and hand muscles involved in throwing even if we aren’t actually moving those muscles (Spunt, Falk, & Lieberman, 2010). And when we’re pondering complex situations—perhaps math problems or perhaps the shapes and locations of various objects in space—gestures with our hands or arms can sometimes help us think and talk about the situations more effectively (Alibali, Spencer, Knox, & Kita, 2011; Goldin‐Meadow & Beilock, 2010). Acquired knowledge and skills are often tied to a limited set of activities and environments. When learners acquire new information, behaviors, and ways of thinking in a particular situation—for instance, during a particular kind of activity or in a particular kind of environment—they may use the things they’ve learned only when they’re in the same situation once again. This tendency for some responses and cognitive processes to be rooted in particular activities and environments is known as situated learning or situated cognition. Learners often think and perform more effectively when they can offload some of the cognitive burden onto something or someone else. As you should recall from information processing theory, active cognitive processing takes place in working memory, which—by itself—can handle only a small amount of information at any one time. For complex tasks, then, it’s helpful to shift some of the cognitive load elsewhere—an idea that’s sometimes referred to as distributed cognition or distributed intelligence (e.g., Pea, 1993; Salomon, 1993; E. R. Smith & Conrey, 2009). One way to “distribute” the cognitive load is to use physical objects—for instance, by writing parts of a problem on paper or using a calculator to carry out multistep computations. A second way is to organize and interpret the specific, concrete facts of a situation—the “raw data,” as it were—using concepts, principles, strategies, and other cognitive tools that one’s cultural group has developed to address common problems. For example, we might use a calendar to keep track of upcoming appointments and other commitments, or we might draw a line

Academic Content Domains as Contexts
Literacy Mathematics Science Social Studies Taking Student Diversity into Account

contextual theory Theory of learning that focuses on how people’s general physical, social, and/or cultural surroundings support their learning, development, and behavior.

situated learning and cognition
Knowledge, behaviors, and thinking skills acquired and used primarily within

distributed cognition and intelligence Enhancement of thinking through the use of physical objects and technology, concepts and symbols of one’s culture, and/or social collaboration and support.

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229 graph to see if a particular region’s average annual rainfall has substantially increased or decreased over the past few decades. Still a third way to distribute the cognitive load is to share it with other individuals. When learners spread a challenging task or problem across many minds, they can draw on multiple knowledge bases and ideas. For example, we might convene a group of people to brainstorm possible solutions to a local, national, or international problem. Furthermore, in virtually any social group, different people gain expertise in different topics—some become medical doctors, others become engineers, and so on—thereby distributing the group’s collective knowledge base. Learners sometimes learn more effectively when they collaborate with others to co‐construct meaning. I’ve just mentioned how learners can reduce their own cognitive burden, in part, by sharing a task or problem with others. An additional advantage of multilearner collaboration is that, as a group, learners can often make better sense of a situation than they might do on their own. For example, think about times when you’ve worked cooperatively with classmates to make sense of confusing classroom material. Quite possibly, by sharing various possible interpretations, your group jointly constructed a better understanding of the material than any one of you could have constructed on your own. Unlike individually constructed knowledge, which might differ considerably from one individual to another, socially constructed knowledge is shared by two or more people simultaneously. A perspective known as social constructivism focuses on such collective efforts to impose meaning on the world. Joint meaning‐making doesn’t necessarily have to occur in a single learning session, however. In some cases it proceeds gradually over the course of several days or weeks—or even over the course of many decades or centuries. For example, such academic disciplines as mathematics, science, history, economics, and psychology have evolved as the result of long‐term collaborations among many individuals. Through these disciplines people have developed concepts (e.g., pi [p], molecule, and revolution) and principles (e.g., Pythagorean theorem, supply‐and‐demand, and the limited capacity of working memory) to simplify, organize, and explain certain aspects of the world or its inhabitants. Literature, music, and the fine arts help us impose meaning on the world as well—for example, by trying to portray the thoughts and feelings that characterize human experience. Here we see the very critical role that culture plays in knowledge construction: To the extent that different groups of people use different concepts and principles to explain their physical experiences and to the extent that they have unique bodies of literature, music, and art to capture their psychological experiences, they’ll inevitably see the world in diverse ways. With the help and guidance of more knowledgeable individuals, learners benefit from the accumulated wisdom of their cultural group. Through its ongoing co‐construction of meanings and development of new tools and strategies, any long‐standing social group becomes increasingly effective and efficient in tackling challenging tasks and problems. As the group gains new members—in many cases by giving birth to a new generation—it maintains its effectiveness and efficiency by indoctrinating the new members into its typical ways of interpreting and responding to various situations. Contextual perspectives that emphasize the role of society and culture in promoting learning and development are collectively known as sociocultural theory. In virtually any culture, adults and other more experienced individuals continually help growing children make sense of and respond to new situations in ways the culture deems to be appropriate and productive. In other words, adults mediate new situations for children. Over time, children gradually internalize adults’ ways of interpreting and addressing day‐to‐day events until they themselves become the experts who guide future generations. A sociocultural perspective can help us understand Jacob’s and Howard’s differing interpretations of the school prayer issue in the opening case study. Although both boys had grown up in the United States—and, in fact, in the same geographic part of the country—their parents and schools had probably passed along somewhat different ways of looking at religion and its role in human society. For Jacob, prayer and other Christian traditions provided essential foundations for people’s overall well‐being, whereas for Howard, legitimate religious beliefs and practices might take a wide variety of forms. Table 8.1 summarizes the five assumptions, along with some of their implications for instruction. Taken together, the assumptions involve three general layers of context. In particular, people think and learn within the contexts of (1) their physical bodies, (2) their immediate
Here we are revisiting concepts discussed in previous chapters, including working memory and cognitive load (Chapter 6), distributed intelligence (Chapter 5), and cognitive tools (Chapter 2).

early sociocultural theory, including the processes of mediation and internalization.

social constructivism Theoretical perspective that focuses on people’s collective efforts to impose meaning on the world.

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sociocultural theory Theoretical perspective emphasizing the importance of society and culture in promoting learning and development.

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CHAPTER

Basic Assumptions of Contextual Theories and Their Educational Implications
ASSUMPTION
Brain–body interdependence

PRINCIPLES/ASSUMPTIONS
EXAMPLE
Encourage students to use their bodies to help them think about and remember classroom subject matter.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION

As students try to understand the difference gest that they use their hands to simulate what the earth’s shifting tectonic plates do to create these two different types of mountains. in which they apply scientific procedures (e.g., isolation and control of variables) to a question relevant to their personal lives and interests.

Situated nature of learning and cognition

Have students apply new knowledge and skills to

Distributed nature of learning and cognition

Teach students how to use various physical and cognitive tools (e.g., technology, scientific research skills) to help them more effectively gain new knowledge and solve new problems. Also, teach them how they can productively collaborate Convene small groups in which students discuss answers.

Teach students how to use a search engine such as Google or Bing to find information relevant to a particular topic. Also teach them how to distinguish mented information and websites that present erroneous “facts” or highly biased opinions. munity. Ask each group to (1) divide into pairs, with one pair identifying pros and the other identifying

Collaborative co‐construction of meaning

and cons into account. Guidance from more advanced individuals Teach concepts and principles that can help students make better sense of new and potentially puzzling situations.

implications for food storage, road construction, and other important aspects of human society.

term development also involves several discussion of Bronfenbrenner’s theory.

physical and social environments, and (3) the broader cultures and societies in which they live (see Figure 8.1). Keep in mind, however, that the three layers of context interact and influence one another, as reflected in the two way‐arrows in the figure. Furthermore, all of them change over time—for instance, the body’s physical capabilities change, availability of immediate resources and potential social collaborators change, new technological innovations become available in society, and so on. Our focus in the rest of the chapter will be on Layers 2 and 3—more specifically, on how thinking and learning are influenced by learners’ immediate social environments and broader culture and society, as well as by the various tools and knowledge bases that culture and society have created to enhance human performance. As we look at such topics, we mustn’t throw our knowledge of learners’ internal cognitive processes out the window. Instead we must simply recognize that learners’ cognitive processes—processes related to long‐term memory storage, metacognition, problem solving, and so on—work in conjunction with contextual factors (e.g., Kirsh, 2009; Sawyer & Greeno, 2009; Zusho & Clayton, 2011).

Social Interactions as Contexts
Certainly people sometimes learn new things on their own, perhaps by experimenting with the physical objects around them or perhaps simply by thinking and rethinking about things they’ve previously observed. Yet most human learning is in one way or another a very social enterprise, involving interaction with more advanced individuals, with equal‐ability peers, or both.

INTERACTIONS WITH MORE ADVANCED INDIVIDUALS
Young learners are most likely to construct a productive understanding of the world when adults and other advanced individuals share with them the many concepts, principles, theories, and so on that society has developed to explain the physical and psychological aspects of human

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FIGURE 8.1 The multiple contexts that influence thinking and learning
CULTURE AND SOCIETY (e.g., accumulated wisdom, tools and technologies, broad distribution of expertise) IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT (e.g., context-specific knowledge and skills, assistance of and collaboration with others) BODY (e.g., sensory organs, bodily movements, general physical health) MIND/BRAIN

changes over time

experience (R. Driver, 1995; Sweller, Kirschner, & Clark, 2007; Vygotsky, 1934/1986). For example, children can learn a great deal about various biological species and fragile ecosystems— and are likely to acquire positive attitudes toward science—when firsthand observations in class or on field trips are accompanied by scientific explanations of the phenomena at hand (e.g., Patrick, Mantzicopoulos, & Samarapungavan, 2009; Zaragoza & Fraser, 2008). Any explanation that helps learners relate what they’re observing to particular concepts, principles, or theories is a mediated learning experience. Adults and other advanced individuals help young learners in another important way as well: They introduce new cognitive and metacognitive strategies and guide learners in how to use these strategies, perhaps in a group instructional setting or perhaps in a one‐on‐one apprenticeship. For instance, in the elementary grades a teacher and students might co‐construct a timeline that organizes information about different modes of transportation over the course of human history (Brophy, Alleman, & Knighton, 2009); Figure 8.2 is an example of such a co‐constructed timeline. In the secondary grades a teacher and students might collaboratively create two‐dimensional charts to help them compare and contrast what they’re learning about the climate, geography, and economic resources of various states or countries. Through joint discussions and use of strategies— typically with considerable adult guidance and scaffolding at first—learners gradually internalize the strategies and begin using them independently (A. Collins, 2006; Dennen & Burner, 2008; Rogoff, 1990).

Teach concepts, principles, and theories that help students make sense of their

Chapter 2 discusses apprenticeships.

One effective strategy for organizing

INTERACTIONS WITH PEERS
Learners benefit in somewhat different ways from interacting with equal‐ability peers—in particular, from sharing their ideas and perspectives with one another: others.
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construct such a table with her students in “Cause–Effect in Geography.”

erating hypotheses, and formulating questions to be answered. culturally different—and yet equally valid—perspectives.

mediated learning experience
Discussion between an adult and a child in which the adult helps the child make sense of an event they are mutually

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CHAPTER

FIGURE 8.2 In this co‐constructed time line, a teacher provided the general framework, and two students created the drawings depicting modes of transportation during different periods in human history.

Long, Long Ago

Long Ago

Modem Times

Regularly engage students in discussions that encourage one another’s ideas.

one another. reasoning skills, which they can eventually begin to use on their own. use to advance the frontiers of knowledge—for instance, presenting evidence in support of conclusions and examining the strengths and weaknesses of various explanations. epistemic beliefs—more sophisticated views of the nature of knowledge and learning. For example, they may begin to realize that genuine understanding involves acquiring an integrated set of ideas about a topic and that such knowledge is likely to evolve gradually over time. (Andriessen, 2006; Banks, 1991; Bendixen & Rule, 2004; M. Carr & Biddlecomb, 1998; Chinn, 2006; Hatano & Inagaki, 2003; K. Hogan, Nastasi, & Pressley, 2000; D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 2009b; A. King, 1999; Kuhn & Crowell, 2011; P. K. Murphy, Wilkinson, & Soter, 2011; Nussbaum, 2008; B. B. Schwarz, Neuman, & Biezuner, 2000; Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003; C. L. Smith, 2007; Vygotsky, 1978; N. M. Webb & Palincsar, 1996; Wentzel & Watkins, 2011) Peer‐group discussions about academic subject matter have social and motivational benefits as well as cognitive ones. Discussing a topic with classmates can help students acquire more effective interpersonal skills (Certo, 2011; Y. Li et al., 2007; N. M. Webb & Farivar, 1994). It can also have an energizing effect on students and instill a genuine desire to understand a topic better (Hacker & Bol, 2004; P. K. Murphy & Mason, 2006). Controversial topics can be especially motivating because students may be eager to resolve conflicting viewpoints, provided that they can effectively do so without alienating their peers (Chinn, 2006). Clearly, then, students have a great deal to gain from conversing with one another regularly about classroom subject matter.

Chapter 7 describes epistemic beliefs in greater depth.

CREATING A COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS community of learners Class in which teachers and students actively and collaboratively work to create a body of knowledge and help one another learn.

With the benefits of student dialogue in mind and with a goal of promoting social co‐construction of meaning, some psychologists and educators suggest that we create a community of learners, a class in which teachers and students collaborate to build a body of knowledge about a topic and help one another learn about it. A class that operates as a community of learners is likely to have characteristics such as these:

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tributing to and building on one another’s efforts. another—in their efforts to learn about the topic. play a key role in learning.

exclusive responsibility for teaching others. resources on different occasions, depending on the topics and tasks at hand. In some cases individual students focus on particular topics and become local experts on them. Occasionally people outside the classroom share their expertise as well. contribute guidance and direction. ers; students regularly critique one another’s work. ished product. (Bielaczyc & Collins, 2006; A. L. Brown & Campione, 1994; Campione, Shapiro, & Brown, 1995; A. Collins, 2006; R. A. Engle, 2006; Rogoff, Matusov, & White, 1996; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006) In one example of how a community of learners can be structured (A. L. Brown & Campione, 1994), students are divided into small groups to study different subtopics falling under a general theme; for instance, subtopics for the theme changing populations might be extinct, endangered, artificial, assisted, and urbanized. Each group conducts research and prepares teaching materials related to its subtopic. The class then reassembles into new groups that include at least one representative from each of the previous groups. Within these new groups, the students teach one another what they’ve learned. Another approach is to use a computer network to promote a community of learners (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 2006; G. Stahl, Koschmann, & Suthers, 2006; J. Zhang, Scardamalia, Reeve, & Messina, 2009). In this electronic environment, students create a variety of documents—perhaps brief notes, lengthier reports, problem solutions, diagrams, or short stories—and post their work as computer files that their classmates can read, react to, and possibly modify or build on. Students also interact in an ongoing computer‐based chat room in which they present questions or issues to which their classmates respond. For example, students might jointly wrestle with the fact that heat melts some solids but burns others, or they might critique various theories about how human beings first migrated to and then spread throughout North and South America (e.g., Hewitt, Brett, Scardamalia, Frecker, & Webb, 1995; Hewitt & Scardamalia, 1998). Working in communities of learners can give students a sense of the strategies scientists and other scholars use to advance the frontiers of knowledge: They conduct individual and collaborative research, share ideas, build on one another’s findings, and so on. And in fact, participating in such communities appears to promote fairly complex thinking and knowledge‐building processes, often for extended time periods (A. L. Brown & Campione, 1994, 1996; R. A. Engle, 2006; R. A. Engle & Conant, 2002; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006). Participating in a community of learners is also highly motivating for students, who may insist on going to school even when they’re sick and may express regret when the school year ends (Rogoff, 1994; Turkanis, 2001). In addition to the cognitive and motivational benefits, working in a community of learners can foster effective peer relationships and social skills. It can also help create a sense of community in the classroom—a sense that teachers and students have shared goals, are mutually respectful and supportive of one another’s efforts, and believe that everyone makes an important contribution to classroom learning. A community of learners can be especially useful when we have a diverse student population (Kincheloe, 2009; Ladson‐Billings, 1995b; Rothstein‐Fisch & Trumbull, 2008). Such a community values the contributions of all students, using everyone’s individual backgrounds, cultural perspectives, and unique abilities to enhance the overall learning and achievement of the

Create a community atmosphere in which peer collaboration and mutual support are integral parts of classroom learning and achievement.

You can learn more about creating a sense of community in Chapter 13.

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CHAPTER class. It also provides a context in which students can form friendships across the lines of ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and disability—friendships that are critical for students’ social development and multicultural understandings. However, we must also note potential weaknesses of communities of learners, as well as of peer‐group discussions more generally. Some students may dominate interactions, and others (e.g., English language learners) may participate little or not at all (Walshaw & Anthony, 2008; T. White & Pea, 2011). Furthermore, what students learn is inevitably limited to the knowledge they personally acquire and share with one another, and students may occasionally pass along their biases, misconceptions, and ineffective strategies (A. L. Brown & Campione, 1994; Hynd, 1998b; E. R. Smith & Conrey, 2009). Obviously, then, when we conduct classroom discussions or structure our classrooms as communities of learners, we must carefully monitor student interactions to make sure that everyone is meaningfully participating and that students ultimately acquire accurate understandings of the topic they’re studying.

culture Behaviors and belief systems schema Tightly organized set of facts about a specific topic.

script Schema that involves a predictable sequence of events related to a common activity.

Cultures as Contexts
Almost any long‐standing social group develops some sort of culture, which includes both behaviors and beliefs that are passed from old members to new ones, from generation to generation. Culture is a phenomenon that is largely—although not exclusively—unique to the human species (M. Cole & Hatano, 2007). Through its culture a human social group ensures that each new generation acquires and presumably benefits from the wisdom that preceding generations have accumulated. By passing along this collective knowledge base, a cultural group increases the chances that it will survive and thrive over the long run. Especially in large, complex societies, learners typically have exposure to and involvement in two or more cultural groups simultaneously. For example, in North America most learners are immersed in mainstream Western culture, which encourages literacy, knowledge of various academic disciplines, and, in its twenty‐first‐century form, proficiency in digital technologies. But North American learners are likely to be active participants in other cultures as well, such as those associated with particular ethnic or religious groups. Some aspects of cultural knowledge are concrete and easily observable. This is the case, for example, when people use paper and pencil, equations, diagrams, or computers to help them analyze data or solve problems. But other aspects of cultural knowledge are so abstract and pervasive that they’re taken for granted and easily overlooked as contextual factors affecting learning. Consider, for example, the concepts north, south, east, and west. You’ve probably used these concepts frequently to help you find your way around the countryside or on a map. Despite their seemingly obvious relationship to Mother Earth, these concepts are creations that some cultures—and only some cultures—provide. Culture’s influence on learning and thinking is so strong that researchers have observed cultural differences—small, subtle ones, to be sure—in brain organization and functioning (Park & Huang, 2010). As culturally experienced individuals explain various phenomena to newer members of a cultural group, they must inevitably focus on certain aspects of the phenomena and not on others. In the process of doing so, young learners discover that certain things are especially important to think about and remember, and these things typically reflect the cultural group’s perspectives and priorities. For example, recall once again Jacob’s and Howard’s differing interpretations of a court case regarding school prayer—interpretations that presumably reflected the boys’ different religious backgrounds. As another example, when European American mothers recall past events with their children, they often speculate about the thoughts and feelings of the participants. In contrast, Asian mothers are more likely to talk about social norms and expectations, such as how someone might have behaved more appropriately. Such differences are consistent with the priorities and values of these two cultures (MacDonald, Uesiliana, & Hayne, 2000; Mullen & Yi, 1995; Q. Wang & Ross, 2007).

SCHEMAS, SCRIPTS, AND WORLDVIEWS AS ASPECTS OF CULTURE
Schemas and scripts are introduced in Chapter 6.

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As cognitive psychologists have suggested, developing learners draw on their experiences to construct schemas and scripts—general understandings of what things are typically like and how common activities typically unfold. Many schemas and scripts are unique to particular cultures. The following exercise illustrates this point.

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EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND THE WAR OF THE GHOSTS
Read the following story one time only:
One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals, and while they were there it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war‐cries, and they thought, “Maybe this is a war‐party.” They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles, and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men in the canoe, and they said: “What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people.” One of the young men said: “I have no arrows.” “Arrows are in the canoe,” they said. “I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you,” he said, turning to the other, “may go with them.” So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water, and they began to fight, and many were killed. But presently the young man heard one of the warriors say, “Quick, let us go home: that Indian has been hit.” Now he thought: “Oh, they are ghosts.” He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac, and the young man went ashore to his house, and made a fire. And he told everybody and said, “Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not feel sick.” He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead. (F. C. Bartlett, 1932, p. 65)

Now cover the story, and write down as much of it as you can remember.

Compare your own rendition of the story with the original. What differences do you notice? Your version is almost certainly the shorter of the two, and you probably left out many details. But did you also find yourself distorting certain parts of the story so that it made more sense to you? As a Native American ghost story, “The War of the Ghosts” may be inconsistent with some of the schemas and scripts you’ve acquired, especially if you were raised in a non‐Native American culture. In an early study of long‐term memory (F. C. Bartlett, 1932), students at England’s Cambridge University were asked to read the story twice and then to recall it at various times later on. Students’ recollections of the story often included additions and distortions that made the story more consistent with English culture. For example, people in England rarely go “to the river to hunt seals” because seals are saltwater animals and most rivers have fresh water. Students might therefore say that the men went to the river to fish. Similarly, the ghostly element of the story didn’t fit comfortably with the religious beliefs of most Cambridge students and so was often modified. When one student was asked to recall the story six months after he had read it, he provided the following account:
Four men came down to the water. They were told to get into a boat and to take arms with them. They inquired, “What arms?” and were answered “Arms for battle.” When they came to the battle‐ field they heard a great noise and shouting, and a voice said: “The black man is dead.” And he was brought to the place where they were, and laid on the ground. And he foamed at the mouth. (F. C. Bartlett, 1932, pp. 71–72)
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Notice how the student’s version of the story leaves out many of its more puzzling aspects—puzzling, at least, from his own cultural perspective. When students from diverse cultural backgrounds come to school with somewhat different schemas and scripts, they may interpret the same classroom materials or activities differently and in some cases may have trouble making sense of a particular lesson or reading assignment

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CHAPTER
Determine whether students have appropriate schemas and scripts to understand the topic

at hand.

(e.g., Lipson, 1983; R. E. Reynolds, Taylor, Steffensen, Shirey, & Anderson, 1982; Steffensen, Joag‐Dev, & Anderson, 1979). As teachers, then, we need to find out whether students have the appropriate schemas and scripts to understand whatever topic we’re teaching. When students don’t have such knowledge, we may sometimes need to back up and help them acquire it before we forge ahead with new material. Learners’ schemas and scripts tend to be specific to particular topics. In contrast, their worldviews—their general beliefs and assumptions about reality—can influence their meaning‐ making in a great many domains (Koltko‐Rivera, 2004). Following are examples of assumptions that a worldview might encompass: or as part of a divine plan and purpose. or are incapable of conscious thought. or should strive to master the forces of nature or must learn to live in harmony with nature. logical reasoning processes or by seeking guidance and support from sources beyond the realm of scientific and logical thought. or divine intervention or fate or random occurrences. tually punished—or is not necessarily fair and just. (M. Cole & Hatano, 2007; Furnham, 2003; Keil & Newman, 2008; Koltko‐Rivera, 2004; Medin, 2005) To a considerable degree, such beliefs and assumptions are culturally transmitted, with different cultures communicating somewhat different beliefs and assumptions either explicitly through their words or implicitly through their actions (Berti, Toneatti, & Rosati, 2010; M. Cole & Hatano, 2007; Kitayama, 2002; Losh, 2003). Worldviews are often such an integral part of everyday thinking that learners take them for granted and usually aren’t consciously aware of them. In many cases, then, worldviews encompass implicit knowledge rather than explicit knowledge. Nevertheless, they influence learners’ interpretations of current events and classroom subject matter. For example, if students believe that the world and its inhabitants are guided and protected by a an omniscient and benevolent Greater Being, they’re unlikely to believe that global climate change is real or poses a significant threat to human society (Feinberg & Willer, 2011). And if students’ culture consistently emphasizes the importance of accepting and living in harmony with nature as it is, they might struggle with a science curriculum that explores how human beings might manipulate and gain control over natural events (Atran, Medin, & Ross, 2005; Medin, 2005). In some cases, academic subject matter may conflict with students’ most core beliefs, and ultimately with the very essence of who they are as individuals. For example, students who strongly believe in the divine creation of humankind may readily dismiss any suggestion that the human race has evolved from more primitive species (E. M. Evans, 2008; Southerland & Sinatra, 2003). And students whose cultures view certain historical battles as involving good guys triumphing over bad guys—or vice versa—may disregard more balanced perspectives in which each side has had legitimate needs and concerns (K. Jacoby, 2008; Levstik, 2011; Porat, 2004). Hence, students’ worldviews can sometimes interfere with their ability to undergo legitimate conceptual change. Under such circumstances a more achievable goal may be to help students understand (rather than accept) academic scholars’ explanations and lines of reasoning (Feinberg & Willer, 2011; Southerland & Sinatra, 2003).

When students’ worldviews are central to their sense of identity, recognize that they beliefs. In such cases, focus on helping

reasoning.

discussion of conceptual change.

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE AS ASPECTS OF CULTURE worldview General, culturally based set of assumptions about reality that influence understandings of a wide variety of phenomena.

Any cultural group passes along not only certain ways of interpreting the world but also certain ways of doing things. In other words, different cultures foster somewhat different kinds of procedural knowledge. Some procedural knowledge is task‐ or topic‐specific and is conveyed directly and explicitly—for example, “Here’s how to write a cursive A,” and “Let me show you how to

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237 do long division.” But cultures typically also pass along a good deal of procedural knowledge within the context of communities of practice—groups of people who share common interests and goals and regularly interact and coordinate their efforts in pursuit of those interests and goals (e.g., Lave, 1991; Sawyer & Greeno, 2009; Wenger, 1998). Communities of practice tend to adhere to certain standards for action and interaction—standards that are often unwritten understandings rather than explicitly stated rules. For example, in the adult world of mainstream Western culture, people in various professions—medicine, law, scientific research, and so on—tend to communicate regularly with one another and to support one another in particular ways. In most cases, new members of a community of practice learn the acceptable ways of doing things primarily by actively participating in the group. Often a learner begins by participating only at the fringe of the group, perhaps by doing menial chores or by assisting or apprenticing with a more experienced group member. In other words, a novice is gradually introduced to the ways of the group through legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Participation is legitimate in the sense that the novice contributes in genuine, authentic ways to the group’s overall effort. It’s peripheral in that it involves only small tasks at the outer edge, or periphery, of the action. Communities of practice are hardly limited to adult professional groups. For example, volunteer organizations (e.g., the American Red Cross) and organized youth groups (e.g., Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts) are essentially communities of practice as well. Schools, too, are communities of practice, in that they have certain prescribed ways of doing things in order to accomplish particular goals—for example, following schedules, completing assignments, and meeting deadlines. As teachers, we must certainly help students learn the expectations of their educational community. But in addition, we can help students learn the ways of various adult professional communities, as well as of the adult world more generally, by having students actually participate in adult activities—for example, by encouraging part‐time internships with local businesses or collaborative efforts with public service organizations. Initially their participation might involve only easy tasks that are closely guided and supported, but as students gain more knowledge and skills they should also gain more responsibility and independence. community of practice Group of people who share common interests and goals and regularly interact and coordinate their efforts in pursuit of those interests and goals. legitimate peripheral participation
Initially participating at the fringe of a community of practice as a way of gaining knowledge and skills related to the group’s typical ways of doing things.

society economic structures and collective institutions and activities.

distributed knowledge Possession of members of a social group, such that group members must rely on one collective performance and success.

Encourage involvement in local businesses and public service organizations as a way of introducing students to the skills and commonly accepted practices of the adult world.

Society and Technology as Contexts
A concept related to culture, but also somewhat distinct from it, is society: a very large, enduring social group that has fairly explicit social and economic structures, as well as collective institutions and activities. For instance, virtually any nation is a society, in that it has a government that regulates some of its activities, a set of laws identifying permissible and unacceptable behaviors, a monetary system that allows members to exchange goods and services, and so on. A society influences its members’ learning in a variety of ways, including through the resources it provides, the activities it supports, and the general messages it communicates (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 2005; Gauvain & Munroe, 2009). For example, a society’s infrastructure—such as its roads, power plants, and telephone and cable lines—enables the movement of people and goods over great distances and regular collaboration among its residents. Various media (newspapers, television, the Internet, etc.) convey information, ideas, opinions, and messages (often subtle ones) about desired behaviors and group stereotypes. And, of course, schools provide formal structures through which children and adults alike acquire knowledge and skills that will presumably enhance their personal and professional success. One noteworthy aspect of any society is its distributed knowledge: Different people have expertise in different topics, and so society members must rely on one another in order to maximize both their individual success and the success of the overall group. To be truly effective participants in society, then, people must learn how to seek out the expertise they may occasionally need to tackle challenging problems and to distinguish between true experts, on the one hand, and individuals who only claim to be experts, on the other (Bromme, Kienhues, & Porsch, 2010). As teachers, virtually anything we do with students should in one way or another enhance their long‐term success in adult society. But here we focus on two particular topics about which educational psychologists have had a great deal to say in recent years: authentic activities and technological innovations.

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Advanced societies provide many services that either directly or indirectly promote learning. Watch an elementary school class discuss some of these services in “Production, Distribution, and Consumption.”

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AUTHENTIC ACTIVITIES
In industrialized societies, children are largely separated from the adult workplace, and thus they have little exposure to the kinds of tasks they’ll eventually need to perform when they themselves reach adulthood (Rogoff, 2003). Accordingly, many learning theorists recommend that teachers make frequent use of authentic activities—activities similar or identical to those that students will eventually encounter in the outside world (e.g., Barab & Dodge, 2008; Edelson & Reiser, 2006; Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1996; Hickey, 1997). Such activities are likely to have several benefits. For one thing, when students work in a naturalistic context, using the physical and social resources that such a context offers (e.g., tools, other people), students should be able to accomplish more than they might accomplish in relatively artificial and simplistic classroom tasks. Second, complex authentic tasks are likely to promote meaningful learning rather than rote memorization of new information and procedures. Finally, because authentic activities resemble real‐world tasks and problems, they should help students make mental connections between school subject matter and out‐of‐school situations, and these connections should help them retrieve and apply—that is, transfer—what they’ve learned in appropriate contexts. Numerous research studies have confirmed the effectiveness of authentic activities (e.g., Gijbels, Dochy, Van den Bossche, & Segers, 2005; Hung, Jonassen, & Liu, 2008). For example, students’ writing skills may show greater improvement in both quality and quantity when, instead of completing traditional workbook writing exercises, they write stories, essays, and letters to real people (E. H. Hiebert & Fisher, 1992). Students gain a more complete understanding of how to use and interpret maps when, instead of answering workbook questions about maps, they construct their own maps (M. Gregg & Leinhardt, 1994a). And students are more likely to check their solutions to math problems—in particular, to make sure their solutions make logical sense—when they use math for real‐life tasks (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1993; De Corte, Greer, & Verschaffel, 1996). Authentic activities can also be highly motivating for students (M. Barnett, 2005; Marks, 2000; Wirkala & Kuhn, 2011). As an example, consider one high school student’s recollection of a ninth‐grade moon‐tracking activity:
It was the first time I can remember in school doing something that wasn’t in the textbook . . . like we were real scientists or something. We had to keep data sheets, measure the time and angle of the moonrise every day for a month. It drove my mom nuts because sometimes we’d be eating dinner, and I’d look at my watch and race out the door! We had to measure the river near us to see how it was affected by the moon. . . . I went down to the river more than I have in my whole life, I think. Then we had to do the calculations, that was another step, and we had to chart our findings. The test was to analyze your findings and tell what they meant about the relationship of the tides and the moon. . . . I felt that I did something real, and I could see the benefit of it. (Wasley, Hampel, & Clark, 1997, pp. 117–118)

See Chapter 7 for a discussion of factors affecting transfer.

Incorporate classroom subject

authentic activity Classroom activity similar to an activity that students are apt to encounter in the outside world. problem‐based learning Classroom activity in which students acquire new knowledge and skills while working on

By placing classroom activities in real‐world contexts, we help students discover the reasons that they’re learning academic subject matter. Accordingly, authentic activities may be especially valuable in working with students who are at risk for academic failure (L. W. Anderson & Pellicer, 1998; Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Tate, 1995). Authentic activities can be developed for virtually any area of the curriculum. For example, we might ask students to do the following:

project‐based learning Classroom activity in which students acquire new knowledge and skills while working on yields a concrete end product.

service learning Activity that promotes learning and development through contributing to the betterment of others and the outside community.

In some instances authentic activities take the form of problem‐based learning or project‐based learning, in which students acquire new knowledge and skills as they work on complex problems or projects similar to those they might find in the outside world (Hmelo‐Silver, 2004, 2006; Krajcik & Blumenfeld, 2006; Wirkala & Kuhn, 2011). Occasionally authentic activities may also involve service learning—that is, they involve projects that directly or indirectly enhance the

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239 quality of life in the outside community. To be effective in enhancing students’ learning—and to be sources of pleasure and success rather than sources of frustration and failure—most complex authentic activities require considerable teacher guidance and support (Hmelo‐Silver, Duncan, & Chinn, 2007; Mergendoller, Markham, Ravitz, & Larmer, 2006). Authentic activities are possibly most beneficial when they promote complex thinking skills—for instance, synthesizing information, forming and testing hypotheses, or solving problems—and when their final outcomes are multifaceted and somewhat unpredictable (Newmann & Wehlage, 1993; S. G. Paris & Turner, 1994). Nevertheless, they should be sufficiently simple that they don’t impose an unmanageable cognitive load—in other words, they shouldn’t be so complex that students find them too overwhelming (Kester, Paas, & van Merriënboer, 2010; Plass, Kalyuga, & Leutner, 2010). The Into the Classroom feature “Conducting Authentic Activities” offers several strategies that researchers and experienced educators have found to be effective.

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
Strictly speaking, technology includes any humanmade application of scientific knowledge for a practical purpose. But the focus here will be on digital technologies—those that enable us to electronically store, manipulate, and transmit information. (The word digital refers to the fact that the information is stored in the form of many, many 0s and 1s, collectively known as bits.) Computer hardware and software, cell phones, video cameras, video game systems, and the Internet are all examples of digital technologies. As these technologies have become more widely available and affordable, they’ve also become more pervasive in modern‐day societies. For example, although precise statistics on cell

Into the Classroom
Conducting Authentic Activities
Simplify the task sufficiently to be appropriate for students’ age levels and cognitive abilities.
At a school in Seattle, Washington, students in kindergarten and the first and second grades work cooperatively with researchers to monitor dog “poop” along a nature trail in an important watershed area. Once every two months, the students and several adult volunteers count and map the various dog deposits they find on the trail and within seven feet to either side. Midway through the school near the trail and continue their bimonthly monitoring in order to determine whether the dispensers and bags have any effect. Not only do the students gain an awareness of the harmful effects of pollution on natural resources, but they also gain confidence in their ability to have a positive impact on the health of their local environment. at the local grocery store. Using the list, the food pyramid, and a budget of $30, students must plan a healthful breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a family of four for one day.

Encourage students to experiment with new ideas and strategies. and animals indigenous to their area. The students work in groups of two or three to create informational displays about several species for the city museum. Their teacher helps each group brainstorm ideas about how it might effectively portray a particular plant or animal for the general public.

Choose a task that requires students to integrate and apply what they’ve learned in two or more subject areas. various printed materials (announcements, programs, banners, etc.) for activities and performances throughout their school. Students interview for various jobs in the company, make sales calls to solicit business from other classes, design customer order forms, edit and proofread their work, and conduct customer satisfaction surveys.

Communicate high expectations for students’ performance but provide enough scaffolding to ensure students’ success.
All 92 eighth graders at a middle school are required to contribute in are members of the cast, whereas others are involved in scenery construction, costume design, or lighting. Faculty members supervise each aspect of the project and provide guidance and assistance as needed, but the students are largely responsible for the quality of the production. As students from different social groups work with one another, social barriers and ill feelings between popular and unpopular students begin to break down. By opening night the class has acquired a sense of cohesiveness and overall class spirit, and collectively the students take much pride in their successful production.

Communicate that there is no single best or right approach or solution for a task. prices of many items (meats, fruits, vegetables, milk, etc.) available
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Sources: Edelson & Reiser, 2006; Hmelo‐Silver et al., 2007; Kester et al., 2010; Kornhaber, Fierros, & Veenema, 2004 (publishing business example); Mergendoller et al., 2006; Newmann & Wehlage, 1993; S. G. Paris & Turner, 1994; Pickens, 2006 (dog poop example); Plass et al., 2010; M. Thompson & Grace, 2001 (class play example).

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CHAPTER phone usage are virtually impossible to obtain, the majority of middle school and high school students in North America and western Europe appear to have their own cell phones, and many of them are proficient in using their phones not only to make calls but also to send text messages, take and send photographs, and post opinions and photographs on social networking sites such as Facebook. For most adolescents, the primary motive for using cell phones and other new technologies is to initiate and maintain social relationships, especially with peers (Ito et al., 2009; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009; Warschauer, 2011). In large, complex societies, recent technological innovations have increasingly enabled people to access that distributed knowledge of which I spoke earlier. Gone are the days when quick access to important information required people to either (1) effectively store it in their own long‐ term memories or on personal bookshelves or (2) travel to a public library or other physical source of knowledge about a particular topic. Instead, people can gain needed information about almost any subject area—and sometimes they gain misinformation—with a few simple keystrokes on an Internet search engine such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo! The overall learning environment of the early twenty‐first century is indeed a very different one from that of the mid‐twentieth century. TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION When learning takes place in an electronic environment, it’s sometimes called e‐learning. But regardless of what we call it, the many technologies available in twenty‐first‐century societies can enhance it in numerous ways: Instruction can seamlessly integrate several media and multiple pedagogical strategies. For example, instructional software programs often integrate written text with graphics, videos, simulations, exercises, and assessments. And interactive smartboards—large wall‐mounted displays connected to a computer and projector—are increasingly replacing traditional chalkboards and whiteboards. Not only can these boards display the contents of a computer screen—perhaps a video, a set of instructions, or an Internet website—but in addition, class members can electronically write and draw on them, with the products being transmitted to and saved on the computer. Even many textbooks (including this one!) can take a digital form these days. Digital textbooks might include not only traditional text and graphics but also audio recordings, videos, and links to dictionary and glossary entries. Students can electronically “search” for particular words or concepts, highlight sections of particular interest or importance, and write notes related to the content. Instruction itself can be delivered from afar. For example, students can participate in classroom activities when they must be absent from school for extended periods, perhaps because of a chronic illness or significant injury. Also, students can take courses that aren’t available in their local school districts—perhaps Advanced Placement high school courses or college coursework appropriate for their ability levels. Collectively, such forms of instruction are known as distance learning.

e‐learning Instruction and learning that occur largely or entirely within the distance learning instruction in which students are at a location physically separate from that of their instructor.

intelligent tutoring system
Computer software program that provides individually tailored instruction and practice, plus ongoing guidance and feedback, related to a particular topic and set of skills.

Figure 7.6 in Chapter 7 presents an system.

Instruction can more easily be individualized to accommodate students’ unique needs. For example, Internet‐based research projects allow students to pursue topics of personal interest in considerable depth. And software programs known as intelligent tutoring systems help students master knowledge and skills in various content domains—for instance, in reading, math, and science—by giving them ongoing, individually tailored guidance, hints, and feedback as they study new concepts and procedures. When well designed, these software programs can be as effective as one‐on‐one human tutors in helping students learn (VanLehn, 2011; Woolf, 2009). Learners can manipulate data in a variety of ways while also keeping their cognitive load within reasonable limits. As teachers, we must remember that complex thinking tasks can impose a significant burden on working memory. In line with the notion of distributed cognition, digital technologies can carry some of the cognitive burden and free up some working memory capacity for problem solving and creativity. For example, students can use computer spreadsheets and graphing software to explore and examine the effects of different values of x in an algebraic equation. And they can use concept mapping software (e.g., Kidspiration, MindMapper Jr. for Kids) to try out various ways of organizing and interrelating new material. Ideally, technology can

Consider the many ways in which technology might help students think more creatively and problems.

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241 provide an electronic “playground” in which students can experiment with and expand on ideas (J. A. Langer, 2011; Spiro & DeSchryver, 2009). Diverse bodies of knowledge are within easy reach, especially on the Internet, and can be searched on an as‐needed basis. Most schools in mainstream Western culture have computers with Internet connections, either in individual classrooms or in separate computer resource rooms. Some schools also provide laptops or computer tablets (e.g., iPads) that students can use as individuals or in small groups. Outside of school, many students can find computers at libraries and other public places. And as their cell phones increasingly become multifunction smartphones, they can access the Internet wirelessly (i.e., through wifi) at libraries, coffee shops, and many other wireless “hotspots.” Teachers and learners can easily communicate and collaborate with one another. Technology can certainly enhance communication and collaboration within a single classroom. For instance, course management systems such as Blackboard and Moodle provide means through which teachers can post materials and assignments, students can upload their work for feedback or evaluation, and all class members can regularly interact through classroom discussion boards or chat rooms. Another good resource is Google Apps for Education, through which schools can create a separate e‐mail account for every student, post school and classroom calendars with scheduled activities and due dates, and upload documents to which teachers and students alike can contribute. In addition, teachers and their students can create class‐specific wikis, websites on which individual class members can add to, edit, or rearrange material previously contributed by other members. Popular wiki‐creation websites include pbworks.com, wikisineducation.wetpaint.com, and wikispaces.com. Thanks to the Internet, individual students or entire classes can also communicate and collaborate with students or classes in other locations—even in other nations (e.g., see iearn.org). One vehicle for doing so is Skype (www.skype.com), through which people at two different locations can both see and hear each other on any computer, tablet, or smartphone that has a built‐in video camera and microphone. As I write this book, setting up and using a Skype account is free and easy, allowing me to talk regularly with my son Jeff, who is now a middle school teacher in Shanghai, China. Finally, teachers are increasingly communicating and collaborating with one another via the Internet. For example, many teachers share lesson plans and other instructional strategies they’ve found to be effective (e.g., see www.tappedin.org or www.oercommons.org). Some teachers have even written electronic textbooks that other teachers can use and modify for their own purposes (e.g., see www.ck12.org). Technology offers many means of providing authentic activities. For example, students can create their own videos, websites, or video games (e.g., see sploder.com or arisgames.org). They can post their poems and short stories for others to read and critique (e.g., see fanfiction.net). And through well‐designed simulations, they can design and carry out virtual scientific “experiments” to test their theories about cause–and–effect relationships in the physical world. Some technology‐based instructional strategies effectively blur the lines between “work” and “play.” Well‐designed technology‐based instruction is highly interactive and can keep students motivated and engaged for lengthy periods. And some educators and software developers are now developing challenging video games that electronically immerse students in simulated environments in which they act as tribal chiefs in 4000 BC, pirates in the 1600s, or twentieth‐century urban planners (in Civilization, Pirates!, and SimCity, respectively). In the process of playing these games, students can learn a great deal about history, geography, and other academic content domains (Barab & Dodge, 2008; Squire, 2011). As we incorporate digital technologies and the Internet into instruction, however, we must give students the guidance they need to use these things effectively. Following are general suggestions:
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Set up Internet websites that foster ongoing classroom communication both in and outside of school.

Computers and the Internet facilitate cross‐class communication. For example, watch high school history classes in Hawaii and New Hampshire share their knowledge and perspectives in “Distance Education.”

Don’t assume that instruction is better only because it involves technology. Instead, make sure that the technological tools you use enhance students’ thinking and learning in some way.

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CHAPTER Remember that some students may have had little or no experience with technology. As needed, teach them any basic skills they haven’t yet mastered—perhaps how to send an e‐mail message, how to conduct a simple Internet search, or how to create, edit, and save a word processing document. Teach and insist on appropriate social etiquette for cross‐communication, and monitor students’ entries for content; especially be on the lookout for bullying and other antisocial messages. (Bellanca & Stirling, 2011; R. E. Clark, Yates, Early, & Moulton, 2009; Rivers, Chesney, & Coyne, 2011; Warschauer, 2011) In addition, we must remember that use of the Internet requires literacy skills far beyond those necessary for more traditional reading and writing tasks, as we’ll discover in an upcoming section on technological literacy.

Academic Content Domains as Contexts
In the early millennia of human civilization, cultures and societies focused largely on teaching children knowledge and skills related to basic survival (hunting, growing crops, cooking, etc.), and experts in such areas as woodworking, metalwork, and medicine often taught their knowledge to new generations through one‐on‐one apprenticeships. But as cultural groups developed writing systems and constructed increasingly complex understandings of their physical, biological, and social worlds, they began to establish formal schools that could more efficiently pass their cultural creations along to future generations. One way in which schools made the ever‐expanding knowledge base more manageable for instruction was to subdivide it into various academic disciplines: reading, writing, mathematics, science, and so on. To some degree, different academic content domains require different thinking skills. For example, effective reading requires automatic retrieval of the meanings of thousands of words in one’s language, whereas mathematical problem solving requires precisely thinking about quantities and flexibly manipulating symbols that represent them. Furthermore, various subject areas may depend more or less heavily on different parts of the brain (Dehaene, 2007; Katzir & Paré‐Blagoev, 2006; Norton, Kovelman, & Pettito, 2007; Plumert & Spencer, 2007; Posner & Rothbart, 2007). In a very real way, then, different content domains are additional contexts in which students learn, and strategies for effectively teaching the subject matter can vary significantly from one domain to another. In upcoming sections we’ll consider four general content domains: literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies. By no means do these topics cover all of the academic curriculum; for example, physical education, music, and the visual and performing arts are also disciplines in their own rights and enhance children’s development and general well‐being in many ways (e.g., J. H. Davis, 2008). In discussing the four domains separately, I don’t mean to imply that we should consistently teach each domain in isolation from the others. On the contrary, instruction is often more effective when it simultaneously incorporates two or more domains—perhaps teaching reading in conjunction with science or teaching writing in conjunction with history (e.g., Martínez, Bannan‐Ritland, Kitsantas, & Baek, 2008; Monte‐Sano, 2008). Furthermore, several general principles of learning apply to all domains: unique understandings. know and believe about the world. that influence their thinking and performance within a domain. domain when they work collaboratively with peers.
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Regularly consider how you might integrate two or more content domains in instruction, perhaps in collaboration with other teachers.

Table 8.2 illustrates how each of these principles can be seen in each of the domains we’ll consider in this chapter.

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C OM PAR E / CONT R AS T
Applying General Principles of Learning in Different Content Domains
PRINCIPLE
Constructive processes in learning

LITERACY
Good readers go beyond

MATHEMATICS
Beginning with a basic understanding of quantity, numbers, and counting, learners build an integrated understanding of mathematical concepts and principles.

SCIENCE involves constructing general theories and models that integrate many concepts and principles related to particular topics.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Mastery of history, geography, and related domains involves reading maps and historical documents to construct integrated understandings of cause–and–effect relationships among people, events, and features of the physical environment.

inferences, making predictions, and identifying underlying themes. Effective writing involves more than simply transcribing one’s knowledge and beliefs on constructively recasting ideas in such a way that others can more readily understand them. Influence of prior knowledge and beliefs already know about a topic to help them construct write more effectively about topics they know well.

Mathematics is an especially hierarchical discipline in which many advanced concepts and principles build on ideas learned in earlier years.

own theories about natural phenomena long before they have formal instruction about these phenomena. Such theories sometimes interfere with their ability to learn more scientifically acceptable

more effectively when they can relate historical events and geographical phenomena to their own

Metacognitive strategies and epistemic beliefs

Good readers understand that reading involves active monitor their comprehension and engage in processes that are likely to increase it (setting goals, asking questions they try to answer, etc.). Good writers set goals for their writing, consider what their audience is likely to know about a topic, and focus on enhancing organization and clarity as they revise what they’ve written.

Effective problem solvers monitor their progress toward problem solutions. They also have epistemic beliefs conducive to

nature of science influence how they study and learn those who believe that science consists of isolated facts are likely to focus on meaningless memorization. Furthermore, learners’ ability to conduct meaningful

mathematical procedures make logical sense and know that they may need to try several different approaches before they’re successful.

A true understanding of history involves the recognition that a great deal of historical “knowledge” is interpretive rather than factual. A true understanding of geography involves the recognition that locations of various physical features and human creations are not settlement and activity patterns are largely a function of local environmental conditions.

ask themselves questions about their observations and interpretations (e.g., “Have I confirmed my prediction?”). understanding of math when they tutor classmates or younger children. They gain greater metacognitive and may also modify misconceptions about scientific phenomena and acquire more sophisticated scientific reasoning processes when they jointly wrestle with puzzling findings and critique one another’s conclusions.

Collaboration with peers

construct meaning from what they read when they discuss reading material with their classmates. They write more effectively when their peers read and critique their work and when they collaborate on writing projects.

practice advanced reasoning skills (e.g., evaluating and integrating information presented in multiple historical documents) when they work in partnership with peers.

their reasoning to others.

LITERACY
The word literacy has two distinct meanings. In its narrower sense, it refers to one’s reading and writing abilities. In its broader sense, it refers to one’s general ability to understand and communicate meanings using the various concepts and symbols of a particular community of practice— perhaps that of physicists, musicians, or computer programmers. For now we’ll be focusing on the narrower sense of the word: reading and writing. But we must remember that success in virtually any academic discipline requires mastery of its discipline‐specific concepts and symbols.

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CHAPTER Children’s reading and writing skills obviously build on their knowledge of spoken language. But in addition, children must learn the relationships between how words sound and are produced in speech, on the one hand, and how they look and are written on paper, on the other. Children must also master nuances of the written symbol system that have no counterparts in spoken language, such as punctuation marks and appropriate uses of uppercase and lowercase letters. Through storybook reading and other activities at home, many children—but not all of them—come to school knowing a few things about written language. For example, they may know that spoken language is represented in a consistent fashion in writing, that reading proceeds from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom, and that each alphabet letter is associated with particular sounds in spoken language. They may be able to write part or all of their own name, and they may recognize logos of popular products and commercial establishments, such as Coke and McDonald’s. Taken together, such knowledge and skills—collectively known as emergent literacy—lay a basic foundation for reading and writing (Oliver, Dale, & Plomin, 2005; Serpell, Baker, & Sonnenschein, 2005). And reading and writing, in turn, provide important foundations for learning most other academic disciplines, especially in the middle and secondary school grades (E. Fox & Alexander, 2011; Martínez et al., 2008; C. Shanahan, 2004; H. L. Swanson, 2006). As a topic of formal instruction, reading is taught primarily in elementary school. Writing instruction continues in secondary school language arts classes. Yet effective reading and writing strategies tend to take somewhat different forms in different academic disciplines—for example, reading a textbook in a math class is quite different from reading a newspaper article in a social studies class (recall the opening case study), and writing a short story is quite different from writing a science lab report. As teachers, then, we should teach reading and writing within the context of a variety of content domains—not only in language arts classes but also in math, science, and social studies classes. THE NATURE OF SKILLED READING Reading is a multifaceted process that involves considerable knowledge and abilities: Sound and letter recognition: A large body of research indicates that phonological awareness— hearing distinct sounds, or phonemes, within a spoken word (e.g., detecting the sounds “guh,” “ay,” and “tuh” in the word gate)—is an essential element of successful reading, especially in the beginning stages of learning to read. And, of course, learners must be able to recognize alphabet letters in various fonts and in both uppercase and lowercase forms (Anthony & Francis, 2005; Boscardin, Muthén, Francis, & Baker, 2008; Schatschneider, Fletcher, Francis, Carlson, & Foorman, 2004). Word decoding skills: Readers inevitably encounter words they don’t recognize. In such instances they must draw on letter–sound relationships, familiar prefixes and root words, common spelling patterns, and context clues to decipher the words (Goswami, 2007; Nagy, Berninger, & Abbott, 2006; Rayner, Foorman, Perfetti, Pesetsky, & Seidenberg, 2001). Automatic word recognition: When learners must use their limited working memory capacity to decode and interpret many individual words, they have little or no mental “room” left to use in gaining an overall understanding of what they’re reading. Ultimately, word recognition must become automatic in two ways: Learners must be able to (1) identify most words in a split second, without having to decode them letter by letter; and (2) immediately retrieve the words’ meanings (Betjemann & Keenan, 2008; Curtis, 2004; Klauda & Guthrie, 2008). Meaning construction: Effective reading is a constructive process: Good readers go far beyond the words themselves, identifying main ideas, drawing inferences, deriving applications, and so on. Sophisticated readers also find symbolism in works of fiction, evaluate the quality of evidence in persuasive essays, and identify assumptions or philosophical perspectives that underlie editorials. Meaning construction can be especially challenging when learners must integrate what they read from two or more distinct texts, as Jacob and Howard must do in the opening case study (Cromley & Azevedo, 2007; E. Fox & Alexander, 2011; Gaskins, Satlow, & Pressley, 2007; Kintsch, 2009). Metacognitive oversight: Good readers metacognitively “supervise” their own reading. For example, they set goals regarding what they want to learn, focus attention on parts they

emergent literacy Knowledge and skills that lay a foundation for

language.

phonological awareness Ability to hear the distinct sounds of which spoken words are comprised.

Teach literacy skills across the academic curriculum.

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245 deem to be important, and continually self‐assess their understanding and memory of what they’ve read. And ultimately, good readers understand that reading involves actively making meaning, rather than mindlessly “absorbing” meaning from the page (Bråten, Britt, Strømsø, & Rouet, 2011; Gaskins et al., 2007; Pressley & Harris, 2006). Effective meaning construction in reading is, of course, enhanced by the amount of knowledge learners already have about a topic (Beck, McKeown, Sinatra, & Loxterman, 1991; Britton, Stimson, Stennett, & Gülgöz, 1998; Vidal‐Abarca, Martínez, & Gilabert, 2000). For example, second graders who already know a lot about spiders remember more when they read a passage about spiders and can draw inferences more readily than their less knowledgeable classmates (Pearson, Hansen, & Gordon, 1979). Helpful, too, is knowledge about the structures that various types of literature typically follow; for example, the events described in works of fiction usually follow a chronological sequence, and persuasive essays usually begin with a main point and then present evidence to support it (Byrnes, 1996; Cain, Oakhill, & Bryant, 2004; Leon, 2008). As learners grow older and gain more experience as readers, they become increasingly able to understand what they read, in part because they (1) gain automaticity in word recognition, (2) acquire more effective learning strategies and metacognitive processes, and (3) have a larger knowledge base on which to draw as they read. Table 8.3 lists typical characteristics of readers at different grade levels. Nevertheless, we must keep in mind that students at any single grade level differ widely in their reading skills; for example, some high school students have poor word decoding skills and little ability to make sense of what they read (Curtis, 2004; Felton, 1998; N. Gregg, 2009). As teachers, then, we should nurture students’ reading development at all grades. THE NATURE OF SKILLED WRITING As you might guess, learners who are better readers also tend to be better writers. This correlation is partly due to the fact that general language ability—knowledge and effective use of vocabulary, syntax, and so on—provides a foundation for both reading and writing. Furthermore, practice in reading promotes vocabulary development and greater awareness of how words are spelled. And regular reading familiarizes learners with common ways in which fiction and nonfiction texts are structured (De La Paz & McCutchen, 2011; Rayner et al., 2001; T. Shanahan & Tierney, 1990). But effective writing involves additional processes as well: Goal setting: Good writers determine what they want to accomplish in their writing—perhaps to entertain, describe, report, or persuade—and have a good sense of the audience for whom they’re writing (Graham, 2006; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1986; Sitko, 1998). Identification and organization of relevant knowledge: Whether they’re writing fiction or nonfiction, good writers identify what they know about a topic—knowledge that they’ve acquired through either personal experience or formal instruction—and then, if necessary, supplement it with additional research. Typically they also spend a fair amount of time organizing their ideas before they write (Benton, 1997; Berninger, Fuller, & Whitaker, 1996; R. T. Kellogg, 1994). Focus on communication rather than mechanics: Good writers have typically learned the basic mechanics of writing (handwriting, spelling, punctuation, etc.) to automaticity, thereby leaving “room” in working memory to focus on effectively communicating their intended message (Benton, 1997). In their initial drafts, skilled writers focus on conveying their ideas in ways that will help readers readily grasp their meaning; for example, they begin with what they think readers are likely to know and systematically lead readers toward better understandings. In other words, good writers engage in knowledge transforming. In contrast, less skilled writers engage in knowledge telling, writing thoughts in the order in which they retrieve them from long‐term memory, with little concern for helping readers understand and learn (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987; Graham, Harris, & Olinghouse, 2007; McCutchen, 1996). The essays in Figure 8.3 illustrate the difference. Revision: Good writers almost invariably revise what they’ve written, often several times. Although they certainly look for problems related to spelling and grammar, they focus on enhancing organization and clarity while keeping in mind the overall goals of their writing (De La Paz & McCutchen, 2011; Fitzgerald, 1992; K. R. Harris, Santangelo, & Graham, 2010).

Teach and scaffold reading skills even in the secondary grades.

knowledge transforming Writing about ideas in a manner that intentionally helps the reader comprehend them. knowledge telling Writing ideas in whatever order they come to mind, with little regard for communicating the ideas effectively.

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CHAPTER

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Typical Reading Skills at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
When asked if something she’s just read makes sense some students, lack of understanding that true reading involves constructing replies, “What I read never makes sense. The teacher just gives us books so we can don’t have to make sense.”

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Emphasize that written language is intended to communicate ideas and that true reading students questions about what they’ve read. Jointly read a variety of storybooks, including some that tell stories with which students are familiar. Teach letter–sound correspondences through storybooks, games, rhymes, and enjoyable writing activities. Have students listen to or read animated multimedia storybooks on a desktop or tablet computer. Encourage students to read for meaning. paperback novels) appropriate for students’ reading levels.

increasing ability to hear individual phonemes within words (phonological awareness)

K–2

grade 2) to greater reading fluency reads about the Industrial Revolution in his history specific facts. In doing so, he doesn’t grasp the big entire way of life changed as a result of technological innovations at the time.

nonfiction, but with only limited metacognitive awareness and use of effective learning strategies value, without critically evaluating the content

discussions of what they’re reading. Focus on interpretation, drawing inferences, and speculation. For students who continue to struggle with

3–5 common words To Kill a Mockingbird, he is appalled by the blatantly racist attitudes of some of the characters in the book.

activities.

(e.g., questions to answer) to guide students’ thinking and learning as they read. reading strategies, with an emphasis on metacognitive processes (e.g., identifying important information, monitoring comprehension). literature. Seek the advice and assistance of specialists to

processes that enhance understanding (e.g., comprehension monitoring)

6–8
For a high school science

readers.

about a single topic

the knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate it appropriately sophistication of metacognitive reading strategies

for websites about global climate change. The websites she finds present conflicting results: Some stress that climate change is significant and the result of human activity, whereas others reject the websites can’t all be right, but she doesn’t have

but continue to scaffold reading assignments, especially for poor readers. Ask students to read multiple paper and/ them in their efforts to compare, contrast, and synthesize what they read. Jointly discuss and interpret classic works of poetry and literature.

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9–12

research studies and poorly

Sources: Afflerbach & Cho, 2010; Anthony & Francis, 2005; Chall, 1996; Gaskins et al., 2007 (Marissa example, pp. 196–197); Jetton & Dole, 2004; Nagy, Berninger, Abbott, Vaughan, & Vermeulen, 2003; Nokes, Dole, & Hacker, 2007; R. E. Owens, 2008; Pressley & Harris, 2006; Serpell et al., 2005; Slavin, Lake, Chambers, Cheung, & Davis, 2009; Stuebing, Barth, Cirino, Francis, & Fletcher, 2008; van den Broek, Lynch, Naslund, Ievers‐Landis, & Verduin, 2003; Verhallen, Bus, & de Jong, 2006.

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FIGURE 8.3 Working in small groups, fourth graders wrote these two essays to help younger children learn about electric circuits. Notice how the first group's untitled piece simply presents a series of facts. In contrast, the second group's piece anticipates what young children might and might not already know about circuits, uses language appropriate for young children, and gives a concrete example.
Example of knowledge telling: Electric circuits are wires that when it’s closed electricity flows through and it’s circular. A generator is a magnet that spins around in coils. It powers up a city or town. A conductor is what makes electricity. It powers up electrical things. Example of knowledge transforming: Electric Circuits They’ll Shock You You have energy inside of you that allows you to walk, run, jump, etc. There’s also another source of energy, electrical energy. It lets you turn on your light, run your computer, listen to the radio, and many other things. But before you experiment let us caution you that electricity can be very dangerous so don’t experiment without adult supervision. Here are some safety precautions for when you experiment: Never touch the copper part of a wire. Do NOT leave liquid substances near electrical equipment. Do not open a battery without protection (it contains acid). Now that you know the rules let me tell you about electricity. When you turn on your light that means you have made a circuit flow, when you turn off the light that means you broke the circuit. How does a light bulb light you ask? Well you have to have a complete circuit. Let all the equipment touch each other. The wires must touch the battery. The battery must touch the light. The light must touch the battery. If you don’t understand how the circuit breaks, here is an example. When you are using the refrigerator, you open it, and all the air comes out. When you are not using the refrigerator, you close it, and the air no longer comes out. Now that you know about electricity it won’t shock you the way it works.
Source: Excerpts from “Children as Thinkers Composing Scientific Explanations” by Marilyn J. Chambliss, paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 1998. Copyright © 1998 by Marilyn J. Chambliss. Reprinted with permission of the author.

Metacognitive regulation of the overall writing effort: Throughout the writing process, good writers are metacognitively active: They monitor their progress and the effectiveness of what they’ve written, addressing questions such as these:

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The answers to such questions influence their subsequent courses of action (Hacker, Keener, & Kircher, 2009; K. R. Harris et al., 2010). The nature and quality of students’ writing evolve in many ways throughout the elementary and secondary school years. In the early elementary grades, writing projects typically involve narratives: Students write about their personal experiences and create short, fictional stories. They have a hard time writing for an imagined audience and, as a result, engage almost exclusively in knowledge telling rather than knowledge transforming. And of course, they’re still working on basic skills in spelling, punctuation, and grammar—skills that can consume much or all of their working memory capacity (Graham et al., 2007; Hemphill & Snow, 1996; McCutchen, 1996). In the upper elementary grades, writing mechanics are becoming automatic, enabling students to devote more effort to communicating their thoughts effectively. Furthermore, students begin to think about how their readers might respond to what they’ve written and so are more apt to proofread and revise their work. At this point, however, they do little planning before they

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CHAPTER begin to write, and their writing continues to involve more knowledge telling than knowledge transforming (Graham, 2006; R. E. Owens, 2008). In the secondary grades, students are better able to analyze and synthesize their thoughts as they write, and thus they’re more skillful in writing research papers and argumentative essays. At this point, too, although many students continue to engage in knowledge telling, knowledge transforming becomes more common. And students become more metacognitively involved in the writing process, especially when given instruction and guidance in effective metacognitive writing strategies (Graham & Perin, 2007; K. R. Harris et al., 2010; Spivey, 1997). PROMOTING READING AND WRITING DEVELOPMENT Explicit instruction in basic reading skills—relating letters to sounds, identifying common words, finding main ideas, and so on—facilitates reading development, especially for poor readers (Ehri, Dreyer, Flugman, & Gross, 2007; Elbro & Petersen, 2004; Rayner et al., 2001). To become truly effective readers, students must master the most basic components of reading, such as word recognition, to a level of automaticity—something that comes primarily through practice, practice, practice (Ehri, Nunes, Stahl, & Willows, 2001; Stanovich, 2000). One approach, of course, is to provide drill‐and‐practice activities—workbook exercises, flash cards, and so on—but many students find such activities dull and boring (E. H. Hiebert & Raphael, 1996; J. C. Turner, 1995). Better are basic‐skills activities that genuinely engage and challenge students. For example, to promote phonological awareness in young children, we might conduct a game of “Twenty Questions” (e.g., “I’m thinking of something in the room that begins with the letter B”) or ask children to bring something from home that begins with the letter T. And to foster greater automaticity in word recognition, we might simply engage students in a variety of authentic reading activities (Ehri, 1998; Share, 1995). Under no circumstances should we postpone teaching reading comprehension until basic skills are automatic. To do so would be to communicate the message that reading is a meaningless, tedious task, rather than a source of enlightenment and pleasure (Serpell et al., 2005). In an approach known as whole‐language instruction, some educators have suggested that virtually all basic literacy skills—knowledge of letter–sound relationships, root words, common spelling patterns, and so on—be taught entirely within the context of reading children’s books and other authentic written materials. Whole‐language approaches are often quite effective in promoting emergent literacy—familiarity with the nature and purposes of books, letter recognition, and so on (Purcell‐Gates, MyIntyre, & Freppon, 1995; Sacks & Mergendoller, 1997; S. A. Stahl & Miller, 1989). On the downside, however, letter–sound relationships and phonological awareness are often shortchanged in strictly whole‐language instruction (Juel, 1998; Rayner et al., 2001; T. A. Roberts & Meiring, 2006). When working with novice readers, then, we probably need to strike a balance between whole‐language and basic‐skills activities (Cummins, 2007; Rayner et al., 2001; Xue & Meisels, 2004). Authenticity is important in writing assignments as well. Students write more frequently, and in a more organized and communicative (i.e., knowledge‐transforming) manner, when they can write for a real audience—perhaps their classmates or perhaps peers on the Internet—and when they’re interested in their topic (Benton, 1997; Garner, 1998; Graham, 2006). We must remember, too, that skilled reading and writing are both complex activities that involve considerable scaffolding. Following are examples of what we might do: For Reading Especially for novice readers, provide multimedia books to which students can listen while reading along. Remind students of things they already know about a topic. Have students meet in pairs to retell or summarize short sections of what they’ve just read. Have students ask one another teacher‐like questions about something they’ve all read (e.g., “Why do you think she did that?” “What do you think the author might talk about in the next section?”). Provide outlines or graphics that students can use to organize what they’re reading. Explicitly teach strategies for comparing, contrasting, and evaluating multiple texts that give competing messages. (Alfassi, 2004; De La Paz, 2005; D. Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes, & Simmons,

reading and writing tasks, but teach basic skills separately if students might not otherwise master them.

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Into the Classroom
Promoting Reading and Writing Development
Help students develop phonological awareness. words we can think of that rhyme with the word gate. I’ll write the that rhyme with gate.” reads his or her story, other group members ask questions for clarification and make suggestions about how to make the comments in mind.

Help students develop automaticity in word recognition and spelling, but do so within the context of authentic reading and writing activities as much as possible.
The Cat in the Hat, a book that repeatedly uses many of the same words (e.g., cat, hat, thing).

Scaffold students’ efforts as they work on increasingly challenging reading and writing tasks.
A high school English teacher gives students a format to follow when writing a research paper: an introductory paragraph that describes the topic of the paper, at least three different sections within the paper that address different aspects of the topic (each one beginning with a new heading), and a “Conclusion” section that summarizes and integrates the main ideas of the paper.

Give students some choices in what they read and write about. books they might read during their free time, being sure to include books that address students’ diverse interests (e.g., animals, mysteries, science fiction).

Address reading and writing skills in all areas of the curriculum. read from Time magazine. Knowing that the reading level of the article may be challenging for many of her students, she gives them specific questions to answer as they read the article.

Have students discuss with peers the things they are reading and writing.
A middle school teacher has students meet in small groups to read aloud the short stories they’ve written. As each student

Sources: Botelho, Cohen, Leoni, Chow, & Sastri, 2010; Cromley & Azevedo, 2007; J. T. Guthrie et al., 2004; K. R. Harris et al., 2010; Jetton & Dole, 2004; Monte‐Sano, 2008; Reis, McCoach, Little, Muller, & Kaniskan, 2011; Slavin, Lake, Chambers, Cheung, & Davis, 2009; Stuebing, Barth, Cirino, Francis, & Fletcher, 2008; J. P. Williams, Stafford, Lauer, Hall, & Pollini, 2009.

1997; J. T. Guthrie et al., 2004; Hacker, Dunlosky, & Graesser, 2009b; Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Spörer & Brunstein, 2009; Verhallen, Bus, & de Jong, 2006) For Writing Ask students with limited writing skills—especially young children—to dictate rather than write their stories. Ask students to set specific goals for their writing, and help them organize their thoughts before beginning to write. Help students brainstorm ideas for communicating effectively. Provide an explicit structure for students to follow as they write (e.g., for a persuasive essay, ask students to include a main argument, supporting arguments, and rebuttals to possible counterarguments). Suggest that children initially focus on communicating clearly and postpone attention to writing mechanics (e.g., spelling, punctuation) until later drafts. Provide specific questions that students should ask themselves as they critique their writing (e.g., “Do I follow a logical train of thought?”). Encourage use of word processing programs, voice recognition software, and other writing software that can support effective writing. Have students work in small groups to either (1) critique one another’s work or (2) co‐write stories and essays. (Benton, 1997; L. K. Clarke, 1988; Ferretti, Lewis, & Andrews‐Weckerly, 2009; Graham & Perin, 2007; K. R. Harris et al., 2010; Larkin, 2008; McLane & McNamee, 1990; Quinlan, 2004; Sitko, 1998) The Into the Classroom feature “Promoting Reading and Writing Development” illustrates some of these strategies.

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CHAPTER TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY Use of digital technologies and the Internet requires literacy knowledge and skills beyond those involved in traditional paper‐based reading and writing tasks, including the following: Use of common functions: Some functions are essential in using a wide variety of computer applications. For example, learners must know how to “open,” “cut,” “paste,” and “save” and how to search for desired information or locations in a document. Use of device‐specific operating systems: Most learners who have cell phones know such basics as how to make a telephone call, send a text message, or add a friend’s contact information to an address book. But to be technologically literate in the twenty‐first century—especially as electronic books (e‐books) become increasingly common—learners must also be able to find their way around the various applications of personal computers and tablets (iPads, Kindles, etc.). Use of specific computer applications: For example, word processing software, spreadsheets, and presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint) are now commonplace in many elementary and secondary school classrooms. And various Internet‐based communication applications—e‐mail, chat rooms, discussion boards, wikis, and so on—all involve not only basic reading and writing skills but also application‐specific knowledge. Effective search for relevant and credible Internet websites: Learners must know how to use Internet browsers (e.g., Google, Bing, Yahoo!) and identify appropriate keywords to initiate a search. They must be able to determine whether particular Internet websites are relevant or irrelevant to particular tasks and questions. They must critically evaluate each website in order to make reasonable judgments about the validity of its content. And they must often pull together what they learn from various sources into an integrated, organized whole.
Remember that some students may lack basic skills related to digital technologies.

Some of these skills involve critical thinking (see Chapter 7). The final self‐ regulation (see Chapter 10).

Perhaps through past experiences with cell phones, video games, or home computers, many students come to school with some of these skills. Others, of course, don’t have the basics—for example, they may not know how to turn a particular device on and off—and so we must certainly teach them what they don’t know. Yet even students who seem to be technologically sophisticated may lack all the cognitive skills they need to learn effectively from technology. Learning from Internet websites can be especially problematic for them, for several reasons. First, they may have trouble sorting through the hundreds of sites that an Internet search yields in order to determine which ones are truly relevant to their questions and needs. Second, they may not have the knowledge and skills they need to discriminate between sites that present objective information, on the one hand, and those that convincingly offer biased social or political propaganda, on the other. Third, they may not know how to organize and synthesize the separate bits of information they’ve found on various sites. Finally, they may not have the self‐motivating “stick‐to‐it‐iveness” that lengthy and occasionally frustrating Internet searches can involve (Afflerbach & Cho, 2010; K. Hartley & Bendixen, 2001; Leu, O’Byrne, Zawilinski, McVerry, & Everett‐Cacopardo, 2009; Manning, Lawless, Goldman, & Braasch, 2011). Clearly, then, students often need considerable scaffolding as they conduct online research about classroom topics. Following are a few suggestions: Use a database or search engine that restricts the websites to which students have access (e.g., EBSCO Information Services’s “Searchasaurus” search engine). Provide specific questions students should try to answer as they read (e.g., see Figure 8.4). Also provide questions students should consider in evaluating the credibility of a website’s content (e.g., “Does a reputable organization sponsor the website?” “What evidence supports this point of view?”). Give students structured practice in comparing and contrasting websites that present diverse and possibly contradictory perspectives. Ask students to write summaries of what they’ve learned from multiple websites, perhaps in collaboration with peers. (Afflerbach & Cho, 2010; Bromme et al., 2010; Gil, Bråten, Vidal‐Abarca, & Strømsø, 2010; Manning et al., 2011; Wiley et al., 2009)

FIGURE 8.4 Students may need some scaffolding to develop their online literacy skills—for instance, specific questions to answer as they look at a website about maple sugaring.

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Source: Used courtesy of Carol Lincoln.

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In doing these things, we enhance students’ general information literacy—their knowledge and skills related to finding, using, evaluating, organizing, and presenting information acquired from diverse sources.
Scaffold students’ early research on the Internet, and monitor they don’t venture into inappropriate websites and subject matter.

MATHEMATICS
Mathematics includes several subdomains (e.g., arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics) that use various methods for representing and solving quantitative problems. Central to all of them are the following knowledge and skills: Understanding numbers and counting: Obviously learners must know number words (one, two, three . . . ), the written symbols that represent them (1, 2, 3 . . . ), and their correct sequence. In addition, they must understand that, when counting objects, you must count each object once—and FIGURE 8.5 A genuine understanding of numbers only once—until all objects have been included in the count. and mathematics requires constructing a mental Learners eventually construct the mental equivalent of a numnumber line on which all numbers are spaced at ber line on which positive whole numbers and then, later, equidistant intervals. negative whole numbers are spaced at equidistant intervals (see Figure 8.5). Such understandings provide the basic founda–5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5 tion on which virtually all other mathematical concepts, principles, and procedures rest (Case & Okamoto, 1996; Edwards, Esmonde, & Wagner, 2011; Gallistel & Gelman, 1992). Understanding central concepts and principles: For example, learners must master such concepts as negative number, right angle, and variable and such principles as “A negative times a negative equals a positive” and “The three angles of a triangle always equal 180˚.” Mastering problem‐solving procedures: Many of these procedures are specific algorithms that, when correctly applied, always yield an accurate solution. Such is the case, for example, for doing long division, multiplying and dividing fractions, and solving for x in algebraic equaSee Chapter 7 for a more detailed tions. But general problem‐solving heuristics (e.g., identifying subgoals, drawing diagrams, discussion of algorithms and heuristics in problem solving. rounding complex numbers up or down) often come into play as well. To be truly proficient mathematicians, learners can’t simply apply such procedures in a rote, meaningless fashion; rather, they must make sense of the procedures so that they can use them in appropriate circumstances (M. Carr, 2010; Hecht & Vagi, 2010; Rittle‐Johnson, Siegler, & Alibali, 2001). Encoding problems appropriately: An essential step in solving a problem is to encode it—to think of it as being a certain kind of problem and then represent it with relevant mathematical symbols. For example, a learner might identify one problem as requiring simple addition and another as requiring solving for an unknown variable in a quadratic equation. Ideally, learners apply their mathematical knowledge and skills in encoding and solving real‐world problems as well as the more traditional word problems they typically encounter in school (De Corte et al., 1996; Geary, 2006). Metacognitive oversight and regulation of problem solving: Like virtually any other complex cognitive task, successful mathematical problem solving involves metacognitive processes. Students are far more likely to enjoy The learner must set one or more goals for a problem‐solving task, monitor the effectivemath when they understand it. For ness of various problem‐solving strategies, and carefully scrutinize final solutions to determine whether they’re logical ones (M. Carr, 2010; De Corte, Op’t Eynde, Depaepe, & in “Motivation: Early Adolescence.” Verschaffel, 2010; L. S. Fuchs et al., 2003). Even as young infants, we human beings seem to have a basic ability to think in terms of quantities and relative proportions, but our systematic ways of counting, measuring, and symbolically manipulating quantities are cultural creations that not all cultural groups share (Halford & Andrews, 2006; McCrink & Wynn, 2007; Saxe & Esmonde, 2005). When children are regularly exposed to numbers and counting, many of them come to school knowing how to count—at least to 10, and often well beyond (Ginsburg, Cannon, Eisenband, & Pappas, 2006). They may also have self‐constructed simple procedures for adding and subtracting small quantities of objects. For example, if they want to add three objects to a group of five objects they might begin with five and then count the smaller group: “Five, six, seven, eight” (Bermejo, 1996; Siegler & Jenkins, 1989). By and large, however, more sophisticated mathematical knowledge and skills come from formal instruction, especially at school.

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information literacy Knowledge and skills that help a learner find, use, evaluate, organize, and present information about a particular topic.

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CHAPTER Despite ongoing math instruction throughout the elementary and secondary grades, many students seem to have particular difficulty with mathematics as a content domain. To some degree, their difficulty may lie in their limited ability to think about proportions (e.g., decimals, ratios) and abstract concepts removed from everyday reality (e.g., pi, infinity) (Byrnes, 1996; Tourniaire & Pulos, 1985). Encoding problems mathematically can pose an additional challenge, especially if students have learned concepts and procedures only in a rote, meaningless manner (M. Carr, 2010; Clement, 1982; Geary, 2006). For example, students of all ages tend to have trouble encoding relational problems—problems in which only comparative numbers are given—and hence are often unable to solve problems such as this one:
Laura is 3 times as old as Maria was when Laura was as old as Maria is now. In 2 years Laura will be twice as old as Maria was 2 years ago. Find their present ages. (R. E. Mayer, 1982, p. 202)

Even college students have trouble encoding and solving this problem (R. E. Mayer, 1982). (Laura is 18 and Maria is 12.) Unfortunately, too, many elementary and secondary school students don’t metacognitively reflect on what they’re doing as they work on mathematical problems (M. Carr, 2010; Roditi & Steinberg, 2007). To see how metacognitively reflective you are when you do math problems, try the next exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND BUSING THE BAND
Take a minute to solve this problem. Feel free to use a calculator if you have one handy. The Riverdale High School marching band is traveling to Hillside High School to perform in the half‐time show at Saturday’s football game. The school buses owned by the Riverdale School District can transport 32 passengers each. There are 104 students in the Riverdale band. How many buses will the band director need in order to transport the band to Hillside on Saturday?

Is your answer 3.25? If so, think about that for a moment. How is it possible to have 3.25 buses? The band director must actually request four buses for Saturday’s game. If you fell into my trap, you’re not alone. Many students develop the habit of solving word problems based on the numbers alone and overlook the realities with which they’re dealing (De Corte et al., 1996). Compounding the issue is that students are apt to have fairly naive epistemic beliefs about the nature of mathematics. The following misconceptions are common: recalled as needed.

math, whereas others are not. (De Corte et al., 2010; Muis, 2004; Schoenfeld, 1988, 1992) PROMOTING LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS Unfortunately, many students focus largely on rote memorization of concepts and procedures when they study math (M. Carr, 2010; De Corte et al., 2010). Following are general strategies for promoting more meaningful learning and conceptual understanding: When formally introducing addition and subtraction, encourage students to use effective strategies they’ve already constructed on their own (e.g., counting on fingers), but also foster gradual automaticity for addition and subtraction facts. Have students apply fundamental concepts and procedures in working with concrete objects and computer simulations.

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Use a number line to help students understand how numbers relate to one another. Combine problems requiring different strategies (e.g., subtraction, multiplication) into a single practice set. Present problems that include irrelevant as well as relevant information. Present complex, real‐world problems with multiple possible answers; have students work on them in small groups and explain their reasoning to one another. Encourage students to use calculators and computers to assist them in solving problems, especially after they’ve mastered the basic skills and procedures they’re now offloading onto technology (e.g., adding a lengthy set of numbers). Present worked‐out examples to illustrate multistep problem‐solving procedures (e.g., solving for x in a quadratic equation). Teach and scaffold effective metacognitive processes (e.g., have students ask themselves such questions as “Am I closer to my goal?” and “Does this solution make sense?”). Have students tutor classmates or younger children in math, thereby encouraging the tutors to elaborate on and better clarify for themselves what they’ve learned. (M. Carr, 2010; B. Clarke, Gersten, & Newman‐Gonchar, 2010; De Corte et al., 2010; L. S. Fuchs, Fuchs, et al., 2008; Geary, 2006; Greeno et al., 1996; S. Griffin & Case, 1996; J. Hiebert et al., 1996; Inglis & Biemiller, 1997; Lampert, Rittenhouse, & Crumbaugh, 1996; R. E. Mayer, 1999; Renkl & Atkinson, 2010; Rittle‐Johnson, 2006; Rittle‐Johnson & Star, 2009; Roditi & Steinberg, 2007; Rohrer & Pashler, 2010; Sarama & Clements, 2009; Siegler, 1989)

Concrete manipulatives can foster conceptual understanding of mathematical concepts and procedures. Strategies.”

SCIENCE
As a discipline, science has two major goals: to both (1) describe and (2) explain what people observe in nature. At its core is the basic assumption that the world is somewhat predictable— that the phenomena we human beings observe are various manifestations of general cause–and– effect relationships. Also central is the scientific method, which includes a number of more specific cognitive processes with a common element: a conscious intention to both acquire and evaluate new knowledge and explanations. Key to scientific reasoning are the following: Hypothesis formation and testing: Scientists begin with tentative conjectures—hypotheses—about the nature of the world, its inhabitants, and the broader universe. Then, to the extent possible, they systematically test their hypotheses by separating and controlling variables that may possibly influence other variables. Good scientists look not only for evidence that confirms a particular hypothesis but also for evidence that might disconfirm it. Careful, objective documentation of observations: Scientists keep careful records of their observations. Ideally, they categorize and/or measure the things they observe in consistent, objective ways. Construction of theories and models: Scientific inquiry is a very constructive process. Often it involves constructing theories—organized bodies of concepts and principles intended to explain certain phenomena. It may also involve constructing models—physical or symbolic representations that show how certain entities might be interrelated parts of a larger system. (For example, you’ve probably seen physical models of the sun and planets in our solar system, and you’ve undoubtedly seen graphic models of various phenomena in textbooks; Figure 8.1 in this chapter is an example.) Metacognitive reflection: Good scientists think not only about the nature of things but also about the nature of their thinking about things. For example, they continually ask themselves whether they’re being objective in their observations, whether their evidence adequately supports their hypotheses and conclusions, and where there might be holes or inconsistencies in their theories and models (Kuhn & Pearsall, 2000; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; Metz, 2004; B. White, Frederiksen, & Collins, 2009). Advanced epistemic beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge: Good scientists understand that theories and models are, at best, incomplete and somewhat flawed constructions

in Chapter 2 can give you a firsthand controlling variables.

theory Integrated set of concepts particular phenomenon.

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model Physical or symbolic representation of a phenomenon or system that depicts its key components and important interrelationships.

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CHAPTER of reality and that, more generally, scientific understandings must continue to change and evolve as new evidence comes in (Kuhn, 2009; M. C. Linn, Songer, & Eylon, 1996; Wiser & Smith, 2008). Conceptual change when warranted: Good scientists continually revise their beliefs and understandings as credible new evidence and theories appear on the scene. In general, they keep open minds about the nature of phenomena and cause–and–effect relationships. Children begin to construct theories about their physical and biological worlds long before they reach school age, but these early, self‐constructed theories don’t necessarily jibe with contemporary scientific thinking (Goldberg & Thompson‐Schill, 2009; Vosniadou, 2008). For example, consider 7‐year‐old Rob’s theory about mountain formation: Adult: How were the mountains made?

Perhaps as a result of traditional science instruction, many students think of learning science more as a process of memorizing facts than as a process of developing scientific reasoning skills. in “Memory: Early Adolescence.”

Rob: Some dirt was taken from outside and it was put on the mountain and then mountains were made with it. Adult: Who did that? Rob: It takes a lot of men to make mountains, there must have been at least four. They gave them the dirt and then they made themselves all alone. Adult: But if they wanted to make another mountain? Rob: They pull one mountain down and then they could make a prettier one. (Piaget, 1929, p. 348) Sometimes children’s early theories are the results of their day‐to‐day observations; for instance, construction workers have probably brought about many visible changes in young Rob’s local environment. In other instances their theories emerge from explicit teachings or more implicit worldviews of their cultures. In any case, children rarely come to school as “blank slates” when it comes to science. With formal instruction and informal learning experiences, their scientific knowledge gradually aligns itself with that of the adult scientific community, but misconceptions persist, especially when scientists’ explanations are exceptionally abstract or seemingly conflict with children’s personal experiences or cultural worldviews. So, too, do children’s scientific reasoning abilities change with age, experience, and formal instruction. For example, elementary school students can often distinguish between experiments that do and don’t adequately control variables, yet they’re apt to have trouble controlling variables in their own experiments—a task that requires them to keep track of several things simultaneously and thus may tax their limited working memory capacity (Barchfeld, Sodian, Thoermer, & Bullock, 2005; Bullock & Ziegler, 1999; Metz, 2004, 2011). Middle school and high school students are better able to separate and control variables than elementary school children, but even they occasionally have trouble doing so. Furthermore, in their hypothesis testing, they tend to focus on and test hypotheses they think are correct and to ignore evidence that contradicts their hypotheses. Such try‐to‐prove‐what‐I‐already‐believe thinking is known as confirmation bias (Barchfeld et al., 2005; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006; Minstrell & Stimpson, 1996; Schauble, 1996). And as you might guess, students’ metacognitive sophistication in scientific thinking improves with age and instruction (Kuhn, 2009; Kuhn & Franklin, 2006). For example, students become increasingly aware of the tentativeness of science—an idea clearly evident in this explanation by Giulana, an eighth grader:
We can say it’s true now, but tomorrow another scientist may say “I’ve found another document that proves something else” and then we’ll have two different things and we’ll no longer know which is true and which is false. When the atom was discovered, it was considered the smallest particle, but now the quark’s been discovered. What we believed before, now we don’t believe anymore because the quark is smaller. Perhaps in fifty years’ time an even smaller particle will turn up and then we’ll be told that what we believed in before was false. It’s really something to do with progress. (Mason, 2003, p. 223)

See Chapter 6 for more detailed information on children’s early theories and common misconceptions.

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confirmation bias Tendency to seek information that confirms rather than discredits current beliefs.

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Into the Classroom
Promoting Mathematical and Scientific Reasoning Skills
Take students’ general cognitive development into account when teaching concepts and principles. find out what conditions influence the growth of sunflower seeds. He knows that his students probably have only a limited ability to separate and control variables, so he asks them to study the effects of just two things: the amount of water and the kind of soil. He has the students keep their growing plants on a shelf by the window, where temperature and amount of sunlight will be the same for all the plants.

Ask students to identify several strategies or hypotheses regarding a particular task or problem and to explain and justify their ideas to one another.
A middle school math teacher is beginning a unit on how to divide numbers by fractions. After students convene in small groups, she says, “You’ve already learned how to multiply one fraction by 1 /3 by 1 /2, you get 1/6. But now imagine that you want to divide 1/3 by 1/2. 1 Do you think you’ll get a number smaller than /3 or larger than 1/3? And what kind of number might you get? Discuss these questions within your groups. In a few minutes we’ll all get back together to talk about the ideas you’ve come up with.”

Use concrete manipulatives, analogies, and computer simulations to illustrate abstract ideas. even though her students are, in theory, capable of abstract thought, they’re still apt to have trouble understanding this principle: When an object rests on a surface, the object exerts a force on the surface, and the surface also exerts a force on the object. To illustrate the principle, she places a book on a large spring. The book compresses the spring somewhat, but not completely. “So you see, class,” she says, “the book pushes downward on the spring, and the spring pushes upward on the book. An object compresses even a hard surface, such as a table, a little bit, and the surface pushes back in response.”

Foster metacognitive strategies that students can use to regulate their experimentation and problem solving.
When a high school science teacher has students conduct lab they work: (1) As I test the effects of one variable, am I controlling for possible effects of other variables? (2) Am I seeing anything that supports my hypothesis? (3) Am I seeing anything that contradicts my hypothesis?

Have students use mathematics and scientific methods in other content domains.
A junior high school social studies teacher asks students to work in

Ask students to apply math and science to real‐world problems. study of its town’s drinking water, taking small samples from various the results, and comparing its findings to recommended safety standards.

he reminds them about the importance of separating and controlling variables, and he insists that each group identify an objective means of measuring the specific behavior or behaviors that it intends to findings to the rest of the class.

Sources: Boxerman, 2009; D. E. Brown & Clement, 1989 (book‐on‐spring example); M. Carr, 2010; Clement, 2008; De Corte et al., 2010; Graesser et al., 2005; Kuhn & Dean, 2005; Lampert et al., 1996; Lehrer & Schauble, 2006; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; Metz, 2011; Morra, Gobbo, Marini, & Sheese, 2008; Sarama & Clements, 2009; Singer, Marx, Krajcik, & Chambers, 2000; C. L. Smith, 2007; Snir, Smith, & Raz, 2003.

PROMOTING LEARNING IN SCIENCE Certainly science instruction should introduce students to the many fundamental concepts, principles, and theories the discipline has developed to explain everyday experiences—for instance, why people get sick, why water expands when it freezes, and why (thanks to a solar eclipse) the sky might suddenly turn dark in the middle of the day. But in addition, we must attune students to the dynamic, ever‐changing nature of science and foster the reasoning skills that will enable them both to draw appropriate conclusions from others’ research findings and to conduct valid research studies themselves. Educated individuals understand that science isn’t undisputed fact— that, instead, it simply reflects society’s best efforts to make sense of the world—and that almost anyone can make significant contributions to humankind’s collective knowledge base. The Into the Classroom feature “Promoting Mathematical and Scientific Reasoning Skills” presents several general strategies useful in both math and science instruction. Following are additional strategies that researchers have found to be effective in teaching science: Ask students to explain their current beliefs and theories about a phenomenon; listen carefully both for elements of truth on which you can build and for unproductive misconceptions that require revision. Illustrate relationships among concepts and principles using live demonstrations, physical models, paper‐and‐pencil diagrams, or computer simulations.

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In this pencil drawing, 9‐year‐old Corey portrays his science lab as one in which his teacher prescribes particular steps to follow. Ultimately, however, students should be able to conduct their own experiments—separating and controlling variables, systematically measuring and recording their observations, and so on.

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CHAPTER Present phenomena that are inconsistent with students’ current understandings—for example, by showing how a wool blanket (something students associate with warmth) can actually help keep a cold drink cool. Have students design and carry out experiments to test various hypotheses about cause– and–effect relationships. When experiments with real‐world objects and events are impractical or impossible, have students test their hypotheses in computer‐simulated environments. Scaffold students’ efforts to separate and control variables and to draw appropriate conclusions. For example, ask questions that focus their attention on critical aspects of what they’re observing and nudge their thinking in appropriate directions. Explicitly draw students’ attention to results that contradict their predictions and expectations; ask students to explain and in other ways make sense of those results. (Boxerman, 2009; D. B. Clark, 2006; Clement, 2008; Eberbach & Crowley, 2009; Graesser, McNamara, & VanLehn, 2005; Gustafson, Mahaffy, Martin, & Gentilini, 2011; M. C. Linn & Eylon, 2011; R. E. Mayer, 2008; Metz, 2011; C. L. Smith, 2007; Snir, Smith, & Raz, 2003; Zohar & Aharon‐Kraversky, 2005) Such strategies not only help students gain new understandings about their physical and biological worlds but can also help them revise certain misunderstandings. In other words, such strategies can promote conceptual change.

You can find additional strategies for promoting conceptual change in Chapter 6.

Students can learn a great deal about science when, with age-appropriate scaffolding, they conduct their own

Projects.”

SOCIAL STUDIES
The term social studies encompasses content domains concerned with the nature of human societies and social relationships, both past and present. Our focus here will be on two domains that are especially prominent in elementary and secondary school curricula: history and geography. THE NATURE OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AND THINKING At its core, history is very much a socioculturally transmitted body of knowledge. Furthermore, as the opening case study illustrates, different cultural groups are likely to put their own spins on history, portraying past events in ways that are consistent with their beliefs and worldviews. For example, European American students tend to view U.S. history as being guided by principles of freedom and democracy, whereas African American students are more likely to view American history as being marked by racism and violations of basic human rights (T. Epstein, 2000; T. Epstein & Shiller, 2009). Such diverse interpretations are almost certainly the result of how various people and media in one’s cultural group and larger society have described historical events (J. M. Hughes, Bigler, & Levy, 2007; Levstik, 2011; Porat, 2004; vanSledright & Limón, 2006). A solid mastery of history, both as a body of knowledge and as an academic discipline, requires several abilities and processes: Comprehending the nature of historical time: Constructing legitimate understandings of history requires an abstract comprehension of the lengthy time span across which human events may have occurred—a time span far beyond any individual’s personal experience. Perspective taking: Truly making sense of history requires recognizing that even highly influential and respected people (e.g., George Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr.) weren’t perfect: They had their own foibles and fallibilities, and they made mistakes. Furthermore, historical figures lived in particular cultural and social contexts that profoundly influenced their thoughts and actions. Good historians try to put themselves in historical figures’ shoes—to perceive events as those individuals might reasonably have perceived them (P. Lee & Ashby, 2001). Drawing inferences from historical documents: History textbooks often describe historical events in a matter‐of‐fact manner, communicating the message that “This is what happened.” In reality, however, historians often don’t know exactly how particular events occurred. Instead, they construct reasonable interpretations of events after looking at a variety of historical documents that might offer conflicting accounts of what transpired (Leinhardt, Beck, & Stainton, 1994; Paxton, 1999; vanSledright & Limón, 2006). Identifying possible cause–and–effect relationships among events. Mastery of history includes not only knowledge and interpretations of events but also a sense of how some events—perhaps

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257 certain political decisions, religious movements, or economic conditions—may have directly or indirectly led to other events (van Drie, van Boxtel, & van der Linden, 2006). Evaluating the credibility of various documents and interpretations: Some documents are reasonably objective and accurate accounts of historical events and trends; government census records from past decades are an example. But many other historical documents—newspaper articles, personal diaries, and the like—reflect the opinions and biases of their authors. Competent historians take such biases into account when drawing their conclusions about events, but they also understand—metacognitively—that their own and others’ interpretations aren’t necessarily the best or only ones (Paxton, 1999; van Drie et al., 2006; vanSledright & Limón, 2006). By and large, such abilities and processes require a fair amount of abstract thinking, and so learners acquire them only gradually over the course of development. For instance, children in the early elementary grades have little understanding of historical time and the complexity of historical changes (Barton & Levstik, 1996; Ormrod, Jackson, Kirby, Davis, & Benson, 1999). They might refer to events that happened “a long, long time ago” or “in the old days” but have virtually no conception of the time span in question. And they tend to lump historical events into two general categories: those that happened very recently and those that happened many years ago. Not until about fifth grade do students show a reasonable ability to sequence historical events and to attach them to particular time periods (Barton & Levstik, 1996). Other abstract notions continue to challenge students even in adolescence. Many high school students struggle with the ideas that history involves perspectives as well as facts and that historical figures may have been influenced by social and cultural factors very different from their own. And without explicit instruction and guidance, they have trouble effectively reconciling conflicting data that various historical accounts yield (Levstik, 2011; Nokes et al., 2007; S. A. Stahl & Shanahan, 2004). THE NATURE OF GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE AND THINKING The discipline of geography is concerned not only with where various natural features and cultural groups are located but also with why and how they got there. For example, geographers study how rivers and mountain ranges end up where they do, why people are more likely to settle in some locations than in others, and how people in various locations make their livings and interact with one another. The following abilities are key elements of knowledge and thinking in geography: Understanding maps as symbolic representations: An essential cognitive tool in geography is, of course, the map. Learners must understand that maps symbolically depict spatial relationships among various physical and/or humanmade features in a given geographic area. They must also understand that different maps are drawn to different scales, reflecting various proportions between graphic representations and reality. Identifying interrelationships among people and their environments: For example, skilled geographers recognize that people tend to migrate from places with limited or decreasing resources to places with more plentiful resources. And people are more likely to settle in areas that are easily accessible by water or land—perhaps those along navigable rivers or near major roadways. Acknowledging cultural differences and their implications for human behavior patterns: Geographers are acutely aware of how cultural beliefs and practices can have widespread influences on people’s behavior. For example, a group’s beliefs about forbidden foods can put limitations on the crops and livestock they raise. And the Chinese concept of feng shui directs some individuals to locate and orient buildings in ways that effectively align with certain spiritual forces. Learners’ facility in interpreting and using maps depends in part on the sociocultural context in which they’ve been raised. Maps are commonplace in some cultures, nonexistent in others. Even in a society that uses maps extensively, children have varying degrees of experience with geography and maps. For instance, children whose families travel extensively tend to have greater appreciation of distance, more familiarity with diverse landscapes, and a better understanding of how maps are used (Liben & Myers, 2007; Trawick‐Smith, 2003). When children in the early elementary grades look at larger‐scale maps—perhaps those depicting a state or country—they tend to take what they see somewhat literally. For example, they may think

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CHAPTER that lines separating states and countries are actually painted on the earth or that an airport denoted by a picture of an airplane has only one plane. Young children also have trouble maintaining a sense of scale and proportion when interpreting maps. For example, they might deny that a road could actually be a road because “it’s not fat enough for two cars to go on” or insist that a mountain depicted on a three‐dimensional relief map can’t possibly be a mountain because “it’s not high enough” (Liben & Myers, 2007, p. 202). As children get older, and especially as they reach adolescence, they become more proficient in dealing with the symbolic and proportional nature of maps (Forbes, Ormrod, Bernardi, Taylor, & Jackson, 1999; Liben & Myers, 2007; L. J. Myers & Liben, 2008). Despite their growing proficiency with maps, children and adolescents alike tend to have somewhat narrow epistemic beliefs about geography as a discipline. Typically, they conceive of geography as being little more than the names and locations of various countries, capital cities, rivers, mountain ranges, and so on—perhaps, in part, because teachers often present geography this way (Bochenhauer, 1990; vanSledright & Limón, 2006). Even in the high school years, students rarely reflect on why various locations have the physical features they do or on how the economic and cultural practices of various social groups might be partly the result of their physical environments. PROMOTING LEARNING IN SOCIAL STUDIES The Into the Classroom feature “Facilitating Learning in History and Geography” presents several general strategies for teaching these two disciplines. Following are more specific instructional strategies to keep in mind: For History In the early elementary grades, focus instruction on students’ own personal histories and on events that have occurred locally and in the recent past.

Into the Classroom

Help students organize and integrate the things they are learning.
During a unit on ancient civilizations (e.g., Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome), a middle school social studies teacher has students mark the location of each civilization on a map of the Eastern Hemisphere. She also has them develop a time line that depicts the rise and fall of various civilizations.

boats much larger than the canoes your own people use. As the men get out of their boats and approach your village, you see that they them have yellow hair and blue eyes. ‘Strange colors for hair and eyes,’ you think to yourself. How might you feel as these people approach you?”

Ask students to draw inferences from maps and historical documents and to support their inferences with evidence.
A high school geography teacher displays a map showing European countries and their capital cities. “Notice how almost all of the capital cities are located either by seaports or on major rivers,” he points out. “Why do you suppose that is?”

Scaffold productive metacognitive processes. historical documents related to European Americans’ westward

evidence of bias?” “Is an event described differently in different documents?”

Identify cause–and–effect relationships.
A high school history teacher asks students to consider the questions, “Why was Pearl Harbor such an important location to control?” and “What effects did the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor have on the course and final outcome of World War II?”

Have students tackle challenging tasks in pairs or small groups.
Students in an advanced high school history class work in pairs to (1) read multiple documents related to a historical event and then (2) write an essay evaluating the trustworthiness of the documents and defending a particular narrative about the event itself.

Encourage empathy for people from diverse cultures and different time periods. as Native Americans who are seeing Europeans for the first time.

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Sources: Brophy et al., 2009; Davison, 2011; De La Paz, 2005 (westward expansion example, p. 145); Enyedy, 2005; M. Gregg & Leinhardt, 1994b; J. M. Hughes et al., 2007; Liben & Downs, 1989a; Monte‐Sano, 2008; Nokes et al., 2007; S. A. Stahl & Shanahan, 2004; van Drie et al., 2006; Wolfe & Goldman, 2005; Yeager et al., 1997.

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In the upper elementary grades, introduce students to primary historical sources—diaries, letters, newspaper articles, and so on. In the middle school and secondary grades, have students read multiple accounts of significant historical events and then draw conclusions both about what definitely happened and about what might have happened. Have “journalists” (two or three students) interview people (other students) who “participated” in various ways in a historical event. Role‐play family discussions and decision making during critical times (e.g., British soldiers demand to be housed in American colonists’ homes, or a 14‐year‐old son wants to enlist and go off to war). Have students write fictional diary or journal entries from the perspective of a particular time period or historical figure. Ask students to consider how things might have been different if certain events had not taken place. (Afflerbach, VanSledright, & Dromsky, 2003; Brophy & Alleman, 1996; Brophy et al., 2009; Byrnes, 1996; Leinhardt et al., 1994) For Geography Have students create maps of their school building or local neighborhood (e.g., see Figure 8.6). Provide explicit instruction in common map symbols (e.g., compass rose, special dots designating capital cities, contour lines depicting elevation). In the middle school grades, introduce the concept of FIGURE 8.6 Twelve‐year‐old Mary Lynn constructed this scale in maps (e.g., one inch per mile, one centimeter local map for an assignment in her social studies class. per ten kilometers). Emphasize the complex, dynamic interrelationships among the earth’s physical features and human activity (e.g., why towns and roads were constructed in particular locations). Teach students how to use age‐appropriate mapping websites and software (e.g., Google Earth). (Brophy et al., 2009; Egbert, 2009; Enyedy, 2005; M. Gregg & Leinhardt, 1994a; Liben & Downs, 1989a, 1989b; National Geographic Education Project, 1994) For Social Studies in General Focus on key principles—big ideas—that underlie social studies (e.g., basic human needs and motives, adaptation, interdependence, globalization). Relate concepts and principles to students’ everyday experiences. Avoid characterizing individuals and groups as simplistic, one‐dimensional figures, and vigorously combat stereotypes of any particular group in history or the modern‐day world. Assign works of fiction that realistically depict people living in particular times and places. Engage students in authentic activities related to what they’re learning (e.g., creating a museum display, analyzing political attack ads on television). (Brayboy & Searle, 2007; Brophy et al., 2009; A. Collins, Hawkins, & Carver, 1991; M. McDevitt & Chaffee, 1998; NCSS, 1994; Olsen, 1995)

Figure 3.4 in Chapter 3 presents a student’s fictional journal entries written from the perspective of a slave owner in

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CHAPTER

TAKING STUDENT DIVERSITY INTO ACCOUNT
Address any missing emergent of engaging activities, such storybook reading. Encourage students to write in their native dialect in and short stories.

Chapter 2 offers strategies for working with English language learners. Chapter 4 describes the nature of dialects and research regarding gender differences in various content domains.

and encourage females to achieve in math and science, and include the important roles of women and minority groups in history lessons.

Remember that students’ differing cultural backgrounds influence their understanding of both history and geography.

As we teach reading and writing, we must remember that students will have had varying experiences with literacy at home. For example, the lives of some students may have been filled with storybooks and bedtime reading, whereas the lives of others may have involved more oral storytelling. Especially in the primary grades, then, we must not assume that children have mastered alphabet letters and other basics of written language. In addition, of course, some children’s families speak a language other than English at home, and other children’s families speak a dialect of English quite different from the Standard English that’s typically used in classrooms. Effective reading and writing instruction—and, in fact, literate activities in any content domain—takes such backgrounds into account (Janzen, 2008; Klingner & Vaughn, 2004; Serpell et al., 2005). When teaching math and science, we must keep in mind that these two disciplines have, historically, been considered “male” domains. As a result, the boys in our classes are, on average, more likely to believe they can be successful in these areas; this tends to be the case even though there are no substantial gender differences in ability in math and science (Herbert & Stipek, 2005; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Wigfield, Byrnes, & Eccles, 2006). We must regularly convey the message that both content domains are important for girls as well as boys. We should also use instructional strategies—small‐group discussions, hands‐on activities, and so on—that encourage males and females alike to become actively involved in talking about, applying, and mastering math and science. Traditionally, too, females have been given short shrift in history—as have most minority groups—in the sense that history textbooks focus largely on the activities and accomplishments of European American males (Berkin, Crocco, & Winslow, 2009; Levstik, 2011). Accordingly, we may often need to supplement texts with materials that paint a more inclusive picture of our multicultural heritage. Furthermore, we must remember that students’ meaning making in social studies will, in part, be a function of the cultures in which they’ve been raised and the early family experiences they’ve had. For example, students with Japanese ancestry are likely to have a very different perspective on President Harry Truman’s decision to bomb Hiroshima than students with European ancestry. And, of course, some students have had little or no experience with diverse cultural environments and far‐away places. A friend of mine once took students from a lower‐ income, inner‐city Denver neighborhood on a field trip to the Rocky Mountains. Even though these children had seen the Rockies many times from downtown Denver, on seeing them up close for the first time some of them were amazed at how big they were. And a few of them were surprised to discover that the white stuff on the mountaintops was snow! ACCOMMODATING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Many students with special needs have difficulties with reading and writing. The majority of poor readers, whether they’ve been identified as having a learning disability, attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or some other disability, appear to have a significant deficit in phonological awareness: They have trouble hearing the individual sounds in words and connecting those sounds with letters. A few poor readers have other cognitive processing deficits; for example, they may have greater‐than‐average difficulty retrieving words and word meanings based on what they see on the page. In extreme forms, such reading difficulties are known as dyslexia, a disability that often has biological roots (Goswami, 2007; Shaywitz, Mody, & Shaywitz, 2006; Snowling, Gallagher, & Frith, 2003; Stanovich, 2000; Wimmer, Landerl, & Frith, 1999). Chronic difficulties with literacy can have wide‐ranging effects, not only for success in other academic disciplines but also for self‐esteem. Tom, a second grader, describes his feelings when first trying to learn how to read in first grade:
I falt like a losr. Like nobad likde me. I was afrad then kais wod tec me. Becacz I wased larning wale . . . I dan not whet to raed. I whoe whte to troe a book it my mom. (I felt like a loser. Like nobody liked me. I was afraid that kids would tease me. Because I wasn’t learning well ... I did not want to read. I would want to throw a book at my mom.) (Knapp, 1995, p. 9)

dyslexia Inability to master basic reading skills in a developmentally typical time frame despite normal roots. To minimize the academic and psychological damage, we should address students’ reading and writing deficits as early as possible, ideally with deliberate and intensive training in both basic skills (e.g., letter recognition, phonological awareness) and more complex processes (e.g., metacognitive skills in reading, composition skills in writing) (e.g., Elbro & Petersen, 2004; N. Gregg, 2009; Meltzer, 2007; Vadasy, Sanders, & Peyton, 2006). In addition, students with chronic literacy difficulties must find joy in reading and writing. For example, one especially popular series

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261 of paperback novels, Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” features a boy with dyslexia and attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder whose disabilities actually work in his favor in his adventures with various god‐like characters based on ancient Greek mythology. Students’ exceptional difficulties aren’t always limited to reading and writing, of course; for instance, some students with learning disabilities have difficulty with mathematics as well (Price, Holloway, Räsänen, Vesterinen, & Ansari, 2007; A. J. Wilson & Dehaene, 2007). So when we teach various content domains, we must often make special accommodations for those students who have special educational needs. Table 8.4 presents specific strategies that may be helpful as we work with these students.
Help students with disabilities ideally with authentic reading and writing activities.

Chapter 5 identifies specific categories of special needs that fall within the five general categories listed in Table 8.4.

STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS
Facilitating Learning in Various Content Domains in Students with Special Educational Needs
CATEGORY
Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties

CHARACTERISTICS YOU MIGHT OBSERVE comprehension, often as a result of poor phonological awareness sible difficulties in composition skills as well due to poor literacy skills meaning) when revising written work facts in math, science, and social studies

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Assign reading materials appropriate for students’ reading skills. assignments (e.g., shorten assignments, identify main ideas, have students look for answers to specific questions). to set goals for their writing, give students a specific structure to follow as they write, encourage use of word processing programs with grammar and spell checkers). Use concrete manipulatives to teach math and science. Use mnemonics to help students remember basic facts. Have students read and write about topics of personal interest. Ask students to apply math, science, and social studies to situations relevant to their own lives. (Also use strategies listed for students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties.) Minimize reliance on reading materials as a way of presenting new information. edge and skills that other students may have already learned on their own. they need to consider only one or two variables at a time. (Also use strategies listed for students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties.)

Students with social or behavioral problems

in some or all content domains years below grade level in one or more content domains

Students with general delays in cognitive and social functioning

resulting delays in literacy skills which new information can be related

or organization children (e.g., inability to think abstractly in the secondary grades) Students with physical or sensory challenges especially if students have hearing loss language, especially if students have visual impairments world knowledge upon which instruction in math, science, and social studies can build

When students have difficulty with motor coordination, allow them to dictate their stories and compositions. scientific concepts and principles. If students have limited vision, enlarge images on a computer

Students with advanced cognitive development
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integrated understandings

more advanced writing assignments). Form study groups in which students can pursue advanced topics in particular domains.

Sources: Bassett et al., 1996; Curtis, 2004; De La Paz & McCutchen, 2011; Ferretti, MacArthur, & Dowdy, 2000; Garner, 1998; N. Gregg, 2009; Hallenbeck, 1996; Hulme & Joshi, 1998; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1992, 2000; Page‐Voth & Graham, 1999; Piirto, 1999; Rayner et al., 2001; Salend & Hofstetter, 1996; Sampson, Szabo, Falk‐Ross, Foote, & Linder, 2007; H. L. Swanson, Cooney, & O’Shaughnessy, 1998; Tompkins & McGee, 1986; Turnbull, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, 2010; D. K. Wood, Frank, & Wacker, 1998.

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CHAPTER

8 What Have You Learned?
Let’s now review and summarize our discussions of the various contexts for learning by returning to the chapter’s learning outcomes. ■ 8.1: Describe five basic assumptions underlying contextual theories of learning, and apply these assumptions to classroom practice. Thinking and learning always take place within certain

■ 8.3: Explain how learners’ cultural backgrounds can influence their interpretations of new information and experiences; also explain how learners can effectively begin to participate in one or more communities of practice. Any long‐standing social

contexts; in particular, they’re inextricably intertwined with the learner’s physical body, immediate physical and social environment, and broader culture and society. Taken as a whole, contextual theories rest on at least five assumptions. First, the brain functions in close conjunction with the rest of the body—for instance, with the sensory systems, overt physical actions, and general bodily well‐being. Second, acquired knowledge and skills are often linked to, or situated in, specific activities and environments. Third, learners often think and perform more effectively when they can offload, or distribute, some of their cognitive burden onto physical objects, symbolic systems, or other people. Fourth, learners are sometimes more effective when they collaborate with other people in thinking and learning tasks; such collaborative efforts can take place either at a single point in time or sequentially over a lengthy period. And fifth, learners benefit greatly from the collective wisdom of their culture and society.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning outcome in .

■ 8.2: Contrast the benefits of interacting with more advanced individuals versus the benefits of interacting with peers; explain how you might enhance students’ learning through both kinds of interactions. Learners benefit in numerous ways

group has a culture, which includes behaviors and beliefs that older, more experienced group members pass along to newer members. A learner’s culture influences the ways in which the learner thinks about and interprets virtually any new situation. From day‐to‐day experiences and interactions within the culture, the learner acquires general schemas and scripts regarding what things are typically like and how common activities typically unfold. In addition, a culture passes along certain worldviews—all‐encompassing sets of beliefs and assumptions about the very nature of reality and human existence. Occasionally students from certain cultural backgrounds may not have the schemas and scripts they need to effectively make sense of classroom material; at other times students may hold certain worldviews that are inconsistent with scientific theories or that distort their understandings of historical events. Cultures typically include communities of practice—groups of people who share common interests and goals (e.g., making sick people well, creating Internet websites) and regularly interact and coordinate their efforts in pursuit of those interests and goals. In general, people best gain competence in a community of learners by actively participating in it, usually at the fringe of an activity at first and then gradually becoming more centrally involved as competence increases.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning outcome in .

from the guidance of teachers and other more advanced individuals. Such individuals can mediate new experiences for learners, helping them attach meaningful concepts, principles, and other interpretations to what they see and hear. These individuals also introduce learners to new cognitive and metacognitive strategies and scaffold learners’ efforts to use them effectively. Interactions with peers have a different set of advantages. For example, when learners collaboratively discuss and apply new subject matter, they must clarify, organize, and elaborate on what they’ve learned sufficiently that they can explain it to others. Furthermore, when they encounter conflicting ideas coming from peers, they may reexamine their own perspectives and possibly revise their views to achieve more accurate and complete understandings. And active discussions of classroom subject matter provide a means through which learners can observe and acquire more advanced ways of thinking and more sophisticated views of the nature of knowledge. One classroom strategy gaining research support is to create a community of learners—a class in which teachers and students collaborate to build a body of knowledge about a topic and help one another learn about it. In such a context, face‐to‐ face and online interactions and feedback are common, as are collective efforts at meaning making.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning outcome in .

■ 8.4: Describe key elements of society that impact learning, and explain how authentic activities can enhance learners’ performance in their out‐of‐school world. A society is a very

large, enduring social group that has fairly explicit social and economic structures, as well as collective institutions and activities. Any society influences learning in a number of ways—for instance, through the resources it provides, the activities it supports, and the general messages it communicates. Furthermore, different members of society have different areas of expertise, and so its members must rely on one another for their individual and collective success. One critical way of preparing students for their eventual participation in adult society is engaging them in authentic activities—those that resemble tasks in the outside world. For example, authentic activities may involve solving complex, real‐world problems, working on multifaceted projects, or engaging in community service. Such activities foster meaningful learning of classroom subject matter and increase the odds that students will eventually apply what they’ve learned to future tasks and problems outside of school.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning outcome in .

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■ 8.5: Describe the unique roles that digital technologies and the Internet can play in classroom instruction. Recent technological advancements (especially those based on digital technologies) offer numerous benefits for instructional practice. They enable

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263 seamless integration of multiple media and pedagogical strategies into instruction, which can be simultaneously delivered to students in distant locations and individualized for different students’ unique abilities and needs. Also, appropriately designed and scaffolded software can provide mechanisms through which students can manipulate complex data sets and bodies of information without being overwhelmed by the cognitive load. Furthermore, the Internet puts information about many topics within easy reach and allows teachers and students to communicate and collaborate easily and frequently. Finally, some technology‐based instructional programs simulate real‐world or fantasy environments that engage students in highly motivating learning and problem‐solving tasks.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 8.6: Apply your knowledge of learning, cognition, and effective instructional practices to various academic content domains.

Different content domains involve somewhat different kinds of knowledge; for example, reading and writing involve knowledge related to verbal language, whereas mathematics involves knowledge related to counting and measurement. The various domains also require different kinds of thinking and reasoning skills; for example, scientific investigations require forming hypotheses and

testing them through careful separation and control of variables, whereas historical research involves critically evaluating and comparing potentially biased accounts of events and then constructing defensible explanations of what may have transpired. The chapter offers many strategies for teaching reading, writing, math, science, and social studies; underlying a good number of them are some common themes. First, we must scaffold students’ efforts to construct reasonable meanings from various sources—from textbooks, Internet websites, historical documents, maps, and so on. Second, we must help students acquire the metacognitive processes and epistemic beliefs that will enhance their competencies in various content domains. For example, students must learn how to set goals and monitor their progress in reading, writing, and mathematical problem solving, and they must come to understand that science and social studies are evolving disciplines in which theories (and sometimes even basic “facts”) may continue to change as new evidence comes in. And third, we can often help students acquire more sophisticated understandings, reasoning processes, and metacognitive skills by having them work collaboratively with peers to tackle complex issues and tasks.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
The Birth of a Nation
Ms. Jackson has asked her second graders to write an answer to this question: The land we live on has been here for a very long time, but the United States has been a country for only a little more than 200 years. How did the United States become a country? Following are some of the children’s responses: Meg: The United States began around two hundred years ago. The dinosors hav ben around for six taosine years ago. Christfer klumbis salde the May flowr. Sue: The pilgrums we’re sailing to some place and a stome came and pushed them off track and they landed we’re Amaraca is now and made friends with the indens and coled that spot AMARACA! Matt: It all staredid in eginggind they had a wore. Thein they mad a bet howevery wone the wore got a ney country. Called the united states of amarica and amaricins wone the wore. So they got a new country. Lisa: We wone the saver wore. It was a wore for fradam and labrt. One cind of labraty is tho stashow of labrt. We got the stashew of labraty from england. Crastaver calbes daskaved Amaraca.
1. Multiple‐choice question:

a. b. c. d.

Meg spells sailed as “salde” and flower as “flowr.” Sue spells Pilgrims as “pilgrums” and called as “coled.” Matt spells started as “staredid” and war as “wore.” Lisa spells civil as “saver” and discovered as “daskaved.”

2. Multiple‐choice question:

Which one of the following statements best characterizes the content of these writing samples? a. The children have set clear goals for their writing efforts. b. The children appear to have a good sense of the audience for whom they’re writing. c. The children have engaged in knowledge telling rather than knowledge transforming. d. The children have pulled together what they have learned about American history into coherent understandings.
3. Constructed‐response question:

Despite the many misspellings, the children have clearly learned some things about written language. Identify at least three aspects of written language that most or all of the students appear to have mastered.

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Which one of the following pairs of word spellings best reflects possible difficulty with phonological awareness, especially with regard to consonants?

PRAXIS

C, “Matching Book and

,” to discover sec-

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9

Behaviorist Views of Learning

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
9.1: Describe five basic assumptions underlying behaviorist views of learning, and apply these assumptions to classroom practice. Explain how learners can acquire involuntary responses through classical conditioning and how you might help a student overcome classically conditioned emotional responses that interfere with classroom performance. Describe the effects that various kinds of consequences can have on behavior. 9.4: Apply behaviorist principles to encourage productive student behaviors and discourage undesirable ones. Accommodate students’ personal and cultural backgrounds and special needs in your application of behaviorist principles. Describe circumstances in which behaviorist techniques might not be helpful.

9.2:

9.5:

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9.6:

9.3:

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CA S E S T U DY: T HE AT T E NT ION G E TTE R
James is the sixth child in a family of nine children. He likes many things; for instance, he likes rock music, comic books, basketball, and strawberry ice cream. But more than anything else, James likes attention. James is a skillful attention getter. He gets his teacher’s attention by making outrageous remarks in class, throwing paper airplanes across the room, and refusing to turn in assignments. He gets his classmates’ attention by teasing them, poking them, and writing obscenities on the restroom walls. And by the middle of the school year, James’s antics are regularly earning him trips to the school office, where he gets the assistant principal’s attention at least once a week.

might explain his behavior?

As you consider James’s situation, think back to your own experiences as a student in elementary and secondary school. Which students received the most attention: those who behaved well or those who behaved poorly? Chances are, your teachers and classmates paid the most attention to misbehaving students (Landrum & Kauffman, 2006; J. C. Taylor & Romanczyk, 1994). James has undoubtedly learned that if he wants to be noticed—if he wants to stand out in a crowd—he must behave in ways that are hard to ignore. Throughout our lives we learn many, many new behaviors—how to sharpen a pencil, dribble a basketball, make and fly a paper airplane, and so on. In this chapter we’ll examine a theoretical perspective known as behaviorism, which focuses on how people’s immediate environments bring about changes in their behavior. We’ll also use behaviorist ideas to understand how, as teachers, we can help students acquire behaviors that are more complex, productive, or prosocial than the ones they exhibit when they first enter our classrooms.

Basic Assumptions of Behaviorism
When psychologists first began systematically studying human learning and behavior in the late 1880s, much of their work involved asking people to “look” inside their heads and describe what they were mentally doing (e.g., Ebbinghaus, 1885/1913; Galton, 1880; James, 1890). But beginning in the early 1900s, some psychologists criticized this approach as being subjective and scientifically unsound. In their minds, the human mind was a black box that couldn’t be opened for inspection. Instead, these psychologists began to focus on two things that could be observed and objectively measured: local conditions and events—that is, environmental stimuli (sometimes abbreviated as S)—and learners’ behaviors, or responses (sometimes abbreviated as R). This focus gave rise to the behaviorist movement, which dominated much of psychology in the middle decades of the twentieth century, especially in North America. In later decades, psychologists became increasingly inventive in their effects to study thinking processes with scientific rigor, and many left the behaviorist approach behind for more cognitively oriented approaches. Nevertheless, behaviorism is still very much alive and well, in large part because behaviorist concepts and principles can be quite useful in helping people of all ages acquire productive behaviors in classrooms and other settings. Underlying the behaviorist perspective are several key assumptions: People’s behaviors are largely the result of their experiences with stimuli in their immediate environments. Many early behaviorists suggested that, with the exception of a few simple reflexes, a person is born as a “blank slate” (or in Latin, tabula rasa), with no inherited tendency to behave one way or another. Over the years the environment “writes” on this slate, slowly molding, or conditioning, the person into someone who has unique characteristics and ways of behaving. As teachers, we must keep in mind the very significant effect that students’ past and present environments are likely to have on their behaviors. We can often use this basic principle to

behaviorism Theoretical perspective in which learning and behavior are described and explained in terms of stimulus–response relationships. stimulus (S) Specific object or event that influences an individual’s learning or behavior. response (R) Specific behavior that an individual exhibits. conditioning Term commonly used by behaviorists for learning; typically involves specific environmental events leading to the acquisition of specific responses.

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CHAPTER our advantage: By changing the classroom environment, we may also be able to change how students behave. Learning involves a behavior change. Whereas most contemporary psychologists think of learning as a mental phenomenon, many behaviorists define it as a behavior change—in particular, learning is a change in behavior as a result of experience. Such a view of learning can often be useful in the classroom. Consider this scenario: Your students look at you attentively as you explain a difficult concept. When you finish, you ask, “Any questions?” You look around the room, and not a single hand is raised. “Good,” you think, “everyone understands.” But do your students understand? On the basis of what you’ve just observed, you really have no idea whether they do or don’t. Only observable behavior changes— perhaps an improvement in achievement test scores, a greater frequency of independent reading, or a reduction in off‐task behaviors—can ultimately tell us that learning has occurred. Learning involves forming associations among stimuli and responses. By and large, behaviorist principles focus on relationships among observable events. For example, the opening case study illustrates one important behaviorist principle: People are likely to learn and exhibit behaviors that bring about certain kinds of consequences. For example, in the opening case study, James has formed an association between his own disruptive behaviors (responses) and attention from other people (which is an environmental event, or stimulus, for James). If we were to take a strict black‐box perspective here, we wouldn’t concern ourselves with what’s going on inside James’s head at all. But in recent decades, it has become increasingly evident, even to behaviorists, just how difficult it is to omit thinking from explanations of learning and behavior. Accordingly, some behaviorists have begun to incorporate cognitive processes and other internal phenomena into their theoretical explanations (e.g., DeGrandpre, 2000; Rescorla, 1988). As you read this chapter, you’ll find that I occasionally allude to internal phenomena in my discussion of behaviorist principles. In doing so, I’m revealing my own bias as a cognitive psychologist, and pure behaviorists might object. Learning is most likely to take place when stimuli and responses occur close together in time. When two events occur at more or less the same time—perhaps two stimuli or perhaps a stimulus and a response—there is contiguity between them. The following examples illustrate contiguity: back an exam she has just corrected. You discover that you’ve gotten a D– on the exam, and your entire body tenses up. The next time

CH A P TE R O U TL I N E
Basic Assumptions of Behaviorism Building on Existing Stimulus– Response Associations: Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning of Involuntary Emotional Responses Common Phenomena in Classical Conditioning Addressing Counterproductive Emotional Responses

Learning from Consequences: Instrumental Conditioning
Contrasting Classical Conditioning and Instrumental Conditioning The Various Forms That Reinforcement Can Take The Various Forms That Punishment Can Take

Strategies for Encouraging Productive Behaviors
Using Reinforcement Effectively Shaping New Behaviors Bringing Antecedent Stimuli and Responses into the Picture

Strategies for Discouraging Undesirable Behaviors
Creating Conditions for Extinction Cueing Inappropriate Behaviors Reinforcing Incompatible Behaviors

Addressing Especially Difficult Classroom Behaviors
Applied Behavior Analysis Functional Analysis and Positive Behavior Support

Diversity in Student Behaviors and Reactions to Consequences
Accommodating Students with Special Needs

Strengths and Potential Limitations of Behaviorist Approaches

hand. Although you’re fairly quiet in your other classes, you find yourself raising your hand and speaking up more frequently in this one. more or less simultaneously. Here we see contiguity between two stimuli. In the second situation, your hand‐raising response is followed immediately by Professor Y’s request for your input. In this case we see contiguity between a response and a subsequent stimulus (although calling on you is a response that Professor Y makes, it’s a stimulus for you). In both situations a behavior has changed: You’ve learned to tighten your muscles every time one instructor scowls, and you’ve learned to raise your hand and speak up more frequently in another instructor’s class. Many species, including human beings, learn in similar ways. Many behaviorist principles have been derived from research with nonhuman animals. For instance, as you’ll see in a moment, our knowledge about classical conditioning first emerged from Ivan Pavlov’s early work with dogs. And another well‐known behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, worked almost exclusively with rats and pigeons.
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Basic Assumptions of Behaviorism and Their Educational Implications
ASSUMPTION
Influence of the environment Learning as a behavior change Focus on observable events (stimuli and responses) Contiguity of events

PRINCIPLES/ASSUMPTIONS
EXAMPLE

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION
Create a classroom environment that fosters desirable student behaviors. Conclude that learning has occurred only when students exhibit a change in classroom performance. Identify specific stimuli (including your own actions as a teacher) that may be influencing students’ behaviors. If you want students to associate two events (stimuli, responses, or stimulus and response), make sure those events occur close together in time. Remember that research with nonhuman species often has relevance for classroom practice.

When a student consistently has trouble working independently, praise her inconspicuously every time she completes an assignment without having to be prompted. Regularly assess students’ learning, and look for ongoing progress in what they know and can do. If a student frequently engages in disruptive classroom behavior, consider whether you might be encouraging such behavior by giving him attention every time he misbehaves. Include enjoyable yet educational activities in each day’s schedule as a way of helping students associate school subject matter with pleasurable feelings. Reinforce a hyperactive student for sitting quietly for successively longer time periods—a shaping process based on early research studies with rats and pigeons.

Similarity of learning principles across species

Students in my own educational psychology classes sometimes resent having human learning compared to that of laboratory rats. But, in fact, behaviorist principles developed from the study of nonhuman animals are often quite helpful in explaining human behavior. Table 9.1 summarizes the five assumptions just described and draws general implications for classroom practice.

Building on Existing Stimulus–Response Associations: Classical Conditioning
Consider this situation: Alan has always loved baseball. But in a game last year, he was badly hurt by a wild pitch while he was up at bat. Now, although he still plays baseball, he gets anxious whenever it’s his turn at bat, to the point that his heart rate increases and he often backs away from the ball instead of swinging at it. One possible explanation of Alan’s behavior is classical conditioning, a theory that explains how we sometimes learn new responses as a result of two stimuli being presented at approximately the same time. Alan experienced two stimuli—an oncoming baseball and its painful impact—almost simultaneously. The ways in which Alan now responds to a pitched ball—his physiological reactions and his backing away—are ones he didn’t exhibit before his painful experience with the baseball. Thus, learning has occurred. Classical conditioning was first described by Ivan Pavlov (e.g., 1927), a Russian physiologist who was conducting research about salivation. Pavlov often used dogs in his research projects and presented meat to get them to salivate. He noticed that the dogs frequently began to salivate as soon as they heard the lab assistant coming down the hall, even though they couldn’t yet smell the meat that the assistant was bringing. Curious about this phenomenon, Pavlov conducted an experiment to examine more systematically how a dog learns to salivate in response to a new stimulus. His experiment went something like this:
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contiguity Occurrence of two or more events (e.g., two stimuli, or a stimulus and a response) at approximately the same time. classical conditioning Form of learning in which a new, involuntary response is acquired as a result of two stimuli being presented close together in time.

1. Pavlov flashes a light and observes that the dog doesn’t salivate. Using the letters S for stimulus and R for response, we can symbolize Pavlov’s first observation like this: S (light) ➔ R (none)

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CHAPTER 2. Pavlov flashes the light again and presents meat immediately afterward. He repeats this procedure several times, and the dog salivates each time. The dog is demonstrating something it already knows how to do—salivate to meat—and hasn’t yet learned anything new. We can symbolize Pavlov’s second observation like so: S (light)
S

➔ R (salivation)

S (meat) 3. Pavlov flashes the light once more, but this time without any meat. The dog salivates; in other words, it has learned a new response to the light stimulus. We can symbolize Pavlov’s third observation this way: S (light) ➔ R (salivation) In more general terms, classical conditioning proceeds as follows: 1. It begins with a stimulus–response association that already exists—in other words, an unconditioned stimulus–response association. Pavlov’s dog salivates automatically whenever it smells meat, and Alan becomes upset and backs away whenever he encounters a painful stimulus. No learning is involved in either case. When a stimulus leads to a particular response without prior learning, we say that an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) elicits an unconditioned response (UCR).1 The unconditioned response is typically an automatic, involuntary one over which the learner has little or no control. 2. Conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus—one that doesn’t elicit any particular response—is presented immediately before the unconditioned stimulus. In the case of Pavlov’s dog, a light is presented immediately before the meat. In the case of Alan, a baseball is pitched immediately before the painful impact. Conditioning is especially likely to occur when both stimuli are presented together on several occasions and when the neutral stimulus occurs only when the unconditioned stimulus is about to follow (R. R. Miller & Barnet, 1993; Rachlin, 1991; Rescorla, 1967). Sometimes one pairing is enough, especially if the unconditioned stimulus is a very painful or frightening one. 3. Before long, the new stimulus also elicits a response, usually one very similar to the unconditioned response. The neutral stimulus has become a conditioned stimulus (CS), and the response to it has become a conditioned response (CR). For example, Pavlov’s dog acquires a conditioned response of salivation to a new, conditioned stimulus—the light. Likewise, Alan acquires conditioned responses of increased heart rate and backing away—both of which reflect anxiety—to a pitched baseball. Like the unconditioned response, the conditioned response is an involuntary one: It occurs automatically every time the conditioned stimulus is presented.

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Stimulus that elicits a particular response without prior learning.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING OF INVOLUNTARY EMOTIONAL RESPONSES
Classical conditioning can help us understand how people learn a variety of involuntary responses, especially responses associated with physiological processes, emotions, and other relatively “thoughtless” aspects of human functioning (Mineka & Zinbarg, 2006; J. B. Watson & Rayner, 1920). Following are three examples of how unpleasant emotional responses might be learned through classical conditioning. Notice that in each case two stimuli are presented together: One stimulus already elicits a response, and the second stimulus begins to elicit a similar response as a result of the pairing. him to the local recreation center for a swimming lesson, he cries hysterically as she tries to drag him to the side of the pool.
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unconditioned response (UCR)
Response that is elicited by a particular (unconditioned) stimulus without prior learning.

neutral stimulus Stimulus that does not elicit any particular response. conditioned stimulus (CS) Stimulus that begins to elicit a particular response through classical conditioning.

conditioned response (CR) Response that begins to be elicited by a particular (conditioned) stimulus through classical conditioning.

In discussions of classical conditioning, behaviorists often use the word elicit (meaning “draw forth or bring out”), as I do here. The word conveys the idea that learners have little or no control over their classically conditioned responses.

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UCS: inability to breathe CS: swimming pool ➔ ➔ UCR: fear of asphyxiation CR: fear of the pool

know how to do the long division problems his teacher is now assigning. After a number of frustrating experiences with the assignments, he begins to feel anxious whenever he encounters a division task. UCS: failure/frustration CS: long division ➔ ➔ UCR: anxiety about failure CR: anxiety about long division
In a personal “yearbook,” Ashton identifies math and reading as being the best part of his third‐grade year. He clearly associates these subjects with pleasure rather than discomfort.

note to the entire class, revealing some very personal, private information that embarrasses her. Beth now feels extremely uncomfortable whenever she goes into that teacher’s classroom. UCS: humiliation CS: teacher/classroom ➔ ➔ UCR: embarrassment in response to humiliation CR: emotional discomfort in response to teacher/ classroom

As teachers, we should create a classroom environment in which stimuli—including our own behaviors—are likely to elicit such responses as enjoyment or relaxation, not fear or anxiety. When students associate school with pleasant circumstances (e.g., positive feedback, enjoyable activities), they soon learn that school is a place they want to be. But when they encounter unpleasant stimuli in school—such as public humiliation or constant frustration and failure— they may eventually learn to fear or dislike a particular activity, subject area, teacher, or school in general.

Create a classroom atmosphere in which students feel physically and psychologically safe and secure.

COMMON PHENOMENA IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Two common phenomena in classical conditioning are generalization and extinction. As you’ll discover later in the chapter, variations of these phenomena occur in instrumental conditioning as well. GENERALIZATION When people learn a conditioned response to a new stimulus, they may respond in the same way to similar stimuli—a phenomenon known as generalization. For example, a boy who learns to feel anxious about long division problems may generalize the anxiety response to other kinds of math problems. And a girl who experiences humiliation in one classroom may generalize her feelings of embarrassment to other classrooms as well. Thus, we see a second reason that students should associate pleasant feelings with school subject matter: Students’ reactions to a particular topic, activity, or context may generalize—that is, they may transfer—to other topics, activities, or contexts. EXTINCTION Pavlov discovered that conditioned responses don’t necessarily last forever. By pairing a light with meat, he conditioned a dog to salivate to the light alone. But later, when he repeatedly flashed the light without following it with meat, the dog salivated less and less. Eventually, the dog no longer salivated to the light flash. When a conditioned stimulus occurs repeatedly in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus—for example, when math is never again associated with failure or when a teacher is never again associated with humiliation—the conditioned response may decrease and eventually disappear. In other words, extinction can occur. Many conditioned responses do fade over time. Unfortunately, many others do not. A child’s fear of water or anxiety about mathematics can persist for years. One reason that fears and anxieties persist is that learners tend to avoid situations that elicit negative emotional reactions. But if they stay away from a stimulus that makes them fearful, they never have a chance to experience the stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus with which it was originally paired. As a result, they have no opportunity to learn to be unafraid—no opportunity for the response to undergo extinction.

Remember that the feelings students develop in response to you, your classroom, or specific academic topics may generalize to other situations.

generalization Phenomenon in which a person learns a response to a particular stimulus and then makes the same response to a similar stimulus; in classical conditioning, involves making a conditioned response to a stimulus similar to a conditioned stimulus.

extinction Gradual disappearance of an acquired response; in classical conditioning, results from repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

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ADDRESSING COUNTERPRODUCTIVE EMOTIONAL RESPONSES
When a particular subject matter or task arouses anxiety, present it slowly and gradually while the learner is happy and relaxed.

As teachers, how can we reduce conditioned responses that interfere with students’ learning and performance? One effective way to extinguish a negative emotional reaction to a particular conditioned stimulus is to introduce the stimulus slowly and gradually while a student is happy, relaxed, or in some other way feeling good (M. C. Jones, 1924; Ricciardi, Luiselli, & Camare, 2006; Wolpe & Plaud, 1997). For example, if Bernard is afraid of water, we might begin his swimming lessons someplace where he feels at ease—perhaps on dry land or in the wading pool—and move to a deeper pool only as he begins to feel more comfortable. And if Bobby gets overly anxious every time he encounters a math problem, we might revert to very easy problems—those he can readily solve—and gradually increase the difficulty of his assignments only as he demonstrates greater competence and self‐confidence. There’s nothing like success to help students feel good about being in the classroom. One way to promote student success is to structure the classroom environment so that appropriate behaviors lead to desirable consequences and inappropriate behaviors do not. Such reinforcement plays a central role in instrumental conditioning.

Learning from Consequences: Instrumental Conditioning
When students associate classroom tasks with pleasant feelings, they learn that school is a place where they want to be. For example, notice how engaged the students are in “Water Wheels Activity.”

Mark is a student in Ms. Ferguson’s geography class. Let’s look at what happens to him during the first week in October: Monday: Ms. Ferguson asks students where Colombia is. Mark knows that Colombia is the northern part of South America. He sits smiling, with his hands in his lap, hoping to be called on. Instead Ms. Ferguson calls on another student. Tuesday: Ms. Ferguson asks the class where Colombia got its name. Mark reasonably guesses that it was named after Christopher Columbus, so he raises his hand a few inches. Ms. Ferguson calls on another student. Wednesday: Ms. Ferguson asks the class why Colombia’s official language is Spanish rather than, say, English or French. Mark knows that Colombians speak Spanish because many of the country’s early European settlers came from Spain. He raises his hand high in the air. Ms. Ferguson calls on another student. Thursday: Ms. Ferguson asks the class why Colombia grows coffee but Canada doesn’t. Mark knows that coffee can grow only in certain climates. He raises his hand high and waves it wildly back and forth. Ms. Ferguson calls on him. Friday: Whenever Ms. Ferguson asks a question Mark can answer, he raises his hand high and waves it wildly about. Several of Mark’s behaviors bring no results. But waving his hand wildly brings Mark the outcome he wants—a chance to speak in class—and so it increases in frequency. When learners’ behaviors either increase or decrease as a result of the consequences those behaviors bring about, instrumental conditioning is at work. Consequences that increase the behaviors they follow are reinforcers, and the act of following a particular response with a reinforcer is known as reinforcement. Conversely, consequences that decrease the behaviors they follow constitute punishment. Both reinforcers and punishments are environmental stimuli that influence behavior. In his research with animals, one highly influential early behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, found consistent evidence that reinforcers increased the behaviors they followed but little evidence for the influence of punishing consequences (e.g., B. F. Skinner, 1938, 1953, 1954). Skinner used the term operant conditioning to refer to reinforcement‐based learning—a term that essentially captures the increase‐in‐behavior half of our instrumental conditioning definition—and many behaviorists continue to use that term today. However, many other behaviorists have found that punishment can, under certain conditions, be quite effective in reducing inappropriate behaviors. Accordingly, we’ll use the more inclusive term instrumental conditioning in the rest of the chapter.

instrumental conditioning process in which a response either increases or decreases as a result of being followed by either reinforcement or punishment, respectively.

reinforcer Consequence (stimulus) of a response that increases the frequency of the response it follows; the act of following a response with a reinforcer is known as reinforcement. punishment Consequence (stimulus) that decreases the frequency of the response it follows.

operant conditioning process in which a response increases as a result of being followed by reinforcement; is one form of instrumental conditioning.

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Notice that I’ve defined both reinforcer and punishment in terms of their effects on behavior, rather than in terms of their relative pleasantness and desirability. Some learners increase certain behaviors for consequences that most of us would think of as unpleasant—consequences that we certainly wouldn’t think of as “rewards.” As an example, let’s return to the opening case study. When James throws objects, makes outrageous comments, and so on, we can assume that his teacher is probably frowning at or scolding him, which we don’t usually think of as desirable outcomes. Yet those consequences are leading to an increase in James’s misbehaviors; thus, they’re apparently reinforcing for him. Other people’s attention, regardless of the form it might take, can be highly reinforcing for some students and often serves to maintain counterproductive classroom behaviors (McGinnis, Houchins‐Juárez, McDaniel, & Kennedy, 2010; Mueller, Nkosi, & Hine, 2011; N. M. Rodriguez, Thompson, & Baynham, 2010). Punishment, too, seems to be in the eye of the beholder. For example, some seemingly very desirable forms of attention, such as teacher praise, can be a must‐to‐avoid—and hence punishing— for adolescents who don’t want their peers to think of them as a “goodie‐two‐shoes” or teacher’s pet (Burnett, 2001; Pfiffner, Rosen, & O’Leary, 1985).

CONTRASTING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING
Classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning both involve stimuli and responses. But instrumental conditioning is different from classical conditioning in two important ways: The response is voluntary rather than involuntary. In classical conditioning, the response is involuntary: When a particular (conditioned) stimulus is present, the response usually follows automatically, with little choice on the learner’s part. In instrumental conditioning, however, the response is typically voluntary: The learner can control whether or not to make it. For example, in the opening case study, James can choose whether to make inappropriate comments, toss paper airplanes, or tease classmates; nothing in the classroom environment is forcing him to do these things. The voluntary nature of responses in instrumental conditioning is an important one for teachers to keep in mind. In order for such conditioning to occur, learners must first make a response. Many educational applications of behaviorist principles, then, involve getting students physically and actively engaged in working with academic subject matter. Learning occurs as a result of a stimulus that comes after, rather than before, the response. Classical conditioning results from the pairing of two stimuli, one (the UCS) that initially elicits a response and another (the CS) that begins to elicit the same or a similar response. Thus, these two stimuli lead to certain responses. In instrumental conditioning, however, the learner makes the first move, and an environmental stimulus (either a reinforcer or punishment) follows. Typically there’s a contingency between the response and the consequence: The consequence almost always follows the response and seldom occurs when the response hasn’t been made. For example, a teacher who praises students only when they behave appropriately is making reinforcement contingent on desired behavior. In contrast, a teacher who laughs at the antics of a chronically misbehaving student is providing reinforcement even when an acceptable response hasn’t occurred; consequently, the student’s behavior is unlikely to improve. Don’t confuse contingency with the term contiguity introduced near the beginning of the chapter. Contingency involves an if‐this‐happens‐then‐that‐happens relationship. In contrast, contiguity simply involves two things happening at about the same time. Effective instrumental conditioning usually involves contiguity as well as contingency; that is, the consequence occurs almost immediately after the response (J. A. Kulik & Kulik, 1988; Rachlin, 1991). The immediacy of reinforcement or punishment after a response is especially important when working with young children. It’s less critical for older children and adolescents, who are better able to make a mental connection between what they do now with what happens to them later (more on this point shortly).
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Get students physically and actively engaged in working with classroom topics.

THE VARIOUS FORMS THAT REINFORCEMENT CAN TAKE
Reinforcers come in all shapes and sizes, and different ones are effective for different learners. We explore a few possibilities in the following exercise.

contingency Situation in which one event happens only after another event has already occurred; one event is contingent on the other’s occurrence.

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EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
1. Imagine that you’re currently enrolled in my educational psychology class. As your instructor, I ask you if you’d be willing to spend an hour after class tutoring two classmates who are having trouble understanding course material. You have no other commitments for that hour, but you’d really like to spend the time at a nearby coffee shop where several friends are having lunch. What would it take for you to spend the hour tutoring your classmates instead of joining your friends? Would you do it to gain my approval? Would you do it for a candy bar? How about if I gave you five dollars? Would you do it simply because it made you feel good to be helping someone else? Write down a consequence—perhaps one I’ve just listed or perhaps a different one altogether—that would persuade you to help your classmates instead of meeting your friends. 2. A few weeks later, I ask you to spend the weekend (eight hours a day on both Saturday and Sunday) tutoring the same two struggling classmates. What would it take this time to convince you to do the job? Would my approval do the trick? A candy bar? Five dollars? Five hundred dollars? Or would your internal sense of satisfaction be enough? Once again, write down what it would take for you to agree to help your classmates.

There are no right or wrong answers to this exercise. Different people would agree to tutor classmates for different reasons. But you were probably able to identify at least one consequence in each situation that would entice you to give up your free time to help others. PRIMARY VERSUS SECONDARY REINFORCERS Some reinforcers, such as a candy bar, are primary reinforcers, because they address a basic biological need. Food, water, sources of warmth, and oxygen are all primary reinforcers. To some extent, physical affection and cuddling seem to address built‐in biological needs as well, and for an adolescent addicted to an illegal substance, the next “fix” is also a primary reinforcer (Harlow & Zimmerman, 1959; Lejuez, Schaal, & O’Donnell, 1998; Vollmer & Hackenberg, 2001). Other reinforcers, known as secondary reinforcers, don’t satisfy any physiological need. Praise, money, good grades, and trophies are examples. Such stimuli may become reinforcing over time through their association with other stimuli that already have a reinforcing effect. For example, if praise is occasionally associated with a special candy treat from Mother, and if money often comes with a hug from Father, the praise and money eventually become reinforcing in and of themselves. In this way, seemingly unpleasant stimuli can become reinforcers. For instance, if James regularly associates a teacher’s scolding with something he wants—more attention—then a scolding may indeed become a reinforcer in its own right. Secondary reinforcers are far more common in classrooms than primary reinforcers. In fact, making primary reinforcers (e.g., lunch, restroom breaks) contingent on certain levels of performance is generally not good teaching practice. When we use secondary reinforcers, however, we must remember that they’re learned reinforcers, and not everyone has come to appreciate them. Although most students respond positively to such consequences as praise and good grades, a few students may not. POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT Up to this point, we’ve been talking about reinforcement as the presentation of a particular reinforcing stimulus. But in some cases we can also reinforce a behavior through the removal of a stimulus. Behaviorists use the terms positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, respectively, for these two situations. Positive reinforcement Whenever a particular stimulus is presented after a behavior and the behavior increases as a result, positive reinforcement has occurred. Don’t be misled by the word positive, which in this case has nothing to do with the pleasantness or desirability of the stimulus being presented. Positive reinforcement can occur even when the presented stimulus is one that others might think is unpleasant or undesirable. The word positive here simply means adding something to the situation. For instance, some students may make a response to get a teacher’s

students have learned to appreciate such secondary reinforcers as praise and good grades.

primary reinforcer Consequence that satisfies a biologically built‐in need. secondary reinforcer Consequence that becomes reinforcing over time through its association with another reinforcer. positive reinforcement Consequence that brings about the increase of a behavior through the presentation (rather than the removal) of a stimulus.

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Stop it, James!

Teachers’ and peers’ attention is often a positive reinforcer—that is, it increases the behavior it follows—even if the messages being communicated are intended to discourage the behavior.

praise, but others (like James in the opening case study) may behave in a way that gets them a scolding. Most students will work for As, but a few may actually prefer Cs or even Fs. (As a school psychologist, I once worked with a high school student who used Fs as a way to get revenge on his overly controlling parents.) Depending on the individual, any one of these stimuli—praise, a scolding, an A, or an F—can be a positive reinforcer. Following are examples of the forms that positive reinforcement can take: concrete reinforcer is an actual object—something that can be touched (e.g., a snack, sticker, or toy). social reinforcer is a gesture or sign (e.g., a smile, attention, or praise) that one person gives another, often to communicate positive regard. activity reinforcer is an opportunity to engage in a favorite pastime. Learners often do one thing—even something they don’t like to do—if it enables them to do something they enjoy. This phenomenon is sometimes called the Premack principle (Premack, 1959, 1963). For example, children with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to sit quietly during a lesson if they know that doing so will enable them to engage in a physically more lively activity afterward (Azrin, Vinas, & Ehle, 2007). token reinforcer is a small, insignificant item (e.g., poker chip, specially marked piece of colored paper) that a learner can later use to “purchase” a desired object or privilege. It’s often used in a token economy, a strategy to be described a bit later. well—positive feedback—is reinforcement enough. In fact, sometimes even negative feedback can be reinforcing if the overall message is a positive one. The Creating a Productive Classroom Environment feature “Using Feedback to Improve Learning and Behavior” offers suggestions based on research by behaviorists, cognitive psychologists, and motivation theorists.

consequences that seem “negative” (e.g., scoldings, bad grades) may nevertheless be positively reinforcing for some students.

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Premack principle Phenomenon in which learners do less‐preferred activities in order to engage in more‐preferred activities.

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CHAPTER

Creating a Productive Classroom Environment

Be explicit about what students are doing well—ideally, at the time they are doing it.
When praising her students for appropriate classroom behavior, a second‐grade teacher is quite specific about the actions for which she’s commending them. For example, she says, “I like the way you’re working quietly” and “You should see Ricky being so polite. Thank you, Ricky, for not disturbing the rest of the class.”

classmates will think, ‘Wow, this is really interesting!’”

Don’t overwhelm students with too much feedback; tell them only what they can reasonably attend to and remember at the time.
As a kindergarten teacher watches one of his students practice writing several alphabet letters, he helps the student hold her pencil in a way that gives her better control. He doesn’t mention that she’s time, after she has mastered her pencil grip.

Give concrete guidance about how students can improve their performance.
A high school physical education teacher tells a student, “Your time in the 100‐meter dash wasn’t as fast as it could have been. It’s early in the season, though, and if you work on your endurance, I know you’ll improve. Also, I think you might get a faster start if you stay low when you first come out of the starting blocks.”

Minimize feedback when students already know exactly what they’ve done well or poorly.
A high school math teacher has a student who has been getting poor grades in large part because of insufficient effort. When the student begins to buckle down and do his homework regularly, his quiz scores improve tremendously. As his teacher hands back his first quiz after his newfound diligence—a quiz on which he’s earned a score of 96%—she says nothing but smiles and gives him a private thumbs‐up.

Communicate optimism that students can improve.
When a student in a middle school geography class gives her oral report on Mexico, she goes on at length about her family’s recent souvenirs to illustrate her remarks. The other students soon become bored and communicate their displeasure through body language and occasional whispers across the aisles. At the end of class, the student is devastated that her report has been so poorly received. Her teacher takes her aside and gently says, “You included many interesting facts in your report, Julie, and all your pictures and how young teenagers are—they can have a pretty short attention span at times. I’ll be assigning oral reports again next semester.

Teach students strategies for appropriately asking for teacher feedback.
A fourth‐grade teacher has two students with intellectual disabilities in her class. She knows that these students may need more frequent feedback than their classmates. She teaches them three steps to or walk quietly to her desk; (2) they should wait patiently until she has time to speak with them; and (3) they should make their needs

Sources: Bangert‐Drowns, Kulik, Kulik, & Morgan, 1991; Boyanton, 2010; D. L. Butler & Winne, 1995; Craft, Alberg, & Heward, 1998, p. 402 (fourth‐grade example); Feltz, Chase, Moritz, & Sullivan, 1999; Hattie & Gan, 2011; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; K. A. Meyer, 1999; Narciss, 2008; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Schunk & Pajares, 2005; Shute, 2008; J. V. Stokes, Luiselli, Reed, & Fleming, 2010; Tunstall & Gipps, 1996.

One form of intrinsic reinforcement is students’ sense of pride about a job well done. For example, watch “Science Fair Projects.”

The reinforcers just listed are extrinsic reinforcers, those provided by the external environment (often by other people). Yet some positive reinforcers are intrinsic reinforcers, those supplied by learners themselves or inherent in tasks being performed. When students perform certain behaviors in the absence of any observable reinforcers—when they read an entire book without putting it down, do extra classwork without being asked, or practice with a neighborhood rock group into the wee hours of the morning—they’re probably working for the intrinsic reinforcement that such behaviors yield. Intrinsic reinforcers are not observable events and thus don’t fit comfortably within traditional behaviorist theory. Yet students clearly do engage in some behaviors solely for the intrinsic satisfaction their behaviors bring. For instance, in the earlier “What Would It Take?” exercise, if you agreed to help your classmates simply because doing so would make you feel good, you’d be working for an intrinsic reinforcer. From our perspective as teachers, positive feedback (an extrinsic reinforcer) and the feelings of pleasure and satisfaction that such feedback can bring (intrinsic reinforcers) are probably the most desirable forms of classroom reinforcement. But we must remember that the classroom successes that yield such forms of reinforcement can occur only when instruction has been carefully tailored to individual skill levels and abilities and only when students have learned to value academic achievement. When students aren’t motivated to achieve academic success for whatever reasons, then social reinforcers, activity reinforcers, and occasionally even concrete reinforcers can be used to increase desired classroom behaviors.

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Negative reinforcement Whereas positive reinforcement involves the presentation of a stimulus, negative reinforcement brings about the increase of a behavior through the removal of a stimulus—typically an unpleasant one, at least from the learner’s perspective. The word negative here isn’t a value judgment. It simply refers to the act of taking away, rather than adding, a stimulus.2 When people make a response in order to get rid of something and the frequency of the response increases as a result, they’re being negatively reinforced. Imagine, for example, that you have a difficult assignment to do for one of your classes. Because you don’t like the assignment hanging over your head, you complete it and give it to your instructor well before its due date. After you turn it in, you feel much better: You’ve gotten rid of that annoying worry feeling. If you find yourself completing future assignments early as well, then you’ve been negatively reinforced for your complete‐something‐before‐due‐date behavior. We can see another possible example of negative reinforcement in the opening case study. When James misbehaves, his teacher sometimes sends him to the assistant principal’s office. By doing so, the teacher may be negatively reinforcing his troublesome behavior. In particular, James gets out of class, thereby removing a stimulus—some aspect of the classroom environment—that may be aversive for him. (If James likes spending time with the assistant principal, he’s receiving positive reinforcement as well.) Whereas some students misbehave in class primarily to get attention (a positive reinforcer), others often misbehave to escape something they don’t want to do, such as a difficult assignment, and their escape behavior is negatively reinforced (McComas, Thompson, & Johnson, 2003; K. A. Meyer, 1999; Mueller et al., 2011). Students may learn other escape behaviors as well, as one student with a learning disability revealed:
When it comes time for reading I do everything under the sun I can to get out of it because it’s my worst nightmare to read. I’ll say I have to go to the bathroom or that I’m sick and I have to go to the nurse right now. My teacher doesn’t know that I’ll be walking around campus. She thinks I am going to the bathroom or whatever my lame excuse is. All I really want to do is get out of having to read. (Zambo & Brem, 2004, p. 5)

As teachers, we should use negative reinforcement rarely, if at all. Ideally, we want to create a classroom environment in which there are few stimuli that students want to escape. Nevertheless, we should recognize that negative reinforcement does have an effect on behavior. Some students may finish an assignment more to get it out of the way than for any intrinsic satisfaction the assignment brings. Others may engage in a variety of responses—perhaps misbehaving or identifying imaginary reasons for leaving the classroom—as a way of avoiding the assignment altogether. When certain responses enable students to eliminate or escape unpleasant stimuli, those responses will increase in frequency. LOOKING AT REINFORCEMENT FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE Children’s preferences for various kinds of reinforcers tend to change with age. For example, concrete reinforcers (e.g., scratch‐and‐sniff stickers, small trinkets) can be effective with young children, but teenagers are more likely to appreciate opportunities to interact with friends. Table 9.2 presents forms of reinforcement that may be especially effective at various grade levels. An important developmental trend is evident in Table 9.2 as well: As children get older, they become better able to handle delay of gratification. That is, they can forego small, immediate reinforcers for the larger reinforcers that their long‐term efforts may bring down the road (Atance, 2008; L. Green et al., 1994; Steinberg, Graham, et al., 2009). Whereas a preschooler or kindergartner is apt to choose a small reinforcer available now rather than a larger and more attractive reinforcer she can’t get until tomorrow, an 8‐year‐old may be willing to wait a day or two for the more appealing item. Many adolescents can delay gratification for several weeks or even longer. For instance, as a 16‐year‐old, my son Jeff worked long hours stocking shelves at the

When students consistently behave in ways that enable them to avoid or escape certain activities, identify and address possible reasons that students find the activities aversive.

extrinsic reinforcer Reinforcer that comes from the outside environment, rather than from within the learner.

intrinsic reinforcer Reinforcer that is provided by the learner or inherent in the task being performed.

negative reinforcement
Consequence that brings about the increase of a behavior through the removal (rather than the presentation) of a stimulus.

2

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You might draw an analogy between positive versus negative reinforcement and positive versus negative numbers. Positive numbers and positive reinforcement both add something to a situation. Negative numbers and negative reinforcement both subtract something from a situation.

delay of gratification Ability to forego small, immediate reinforcers in order to obtain larger ones later on.

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Effective Reinforcers at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS reinforcers over larger, delayed ones

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
EXAMPLE
When a kindergarten teacher asks children to choose between a small snack before morning recess or a larger one after recess, most of them clamor for the smaller, immediate snack.

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Give immediate praise for appropriate behavior. come later as a result of students’ current behaviors. Use stickers, handwritten smiley faces, and the like to reinforce students’ written work. Have students line up for recess, lunch, or dismissal based on desired behaviors (e.g., “Table 2 is the quietest and can line up first”). Rotate opportunities to perform classroom duties (e.g., feeding the goldfish, watering plants); make such duties contingent on appropriate behavior. Use concrete reinforcers only occasionally, perhaps to add novelty to a classroom activity. Award a certificate to a Citizen of the Week, explicitly identifying things the recipient has done especially well; be sure that every student gets at least one certificate during the school year. Plan a trip to a local amusement park for students with good attendance records (especially useful for students at risk for academic failure). Make short periods of free time with peers (e.g., five minutes) contingent on accomplishing assigned tasks. Spend one‐on‐one time with students, especially those who appear to be socially isolated. Provide explicit feedback about what things students have done well (e.g., their use of colorful language in an essay or their prosocial behaviors with classmates).

crayons, small trinkets) praise)

taking absentee forms to the main office)

K–2
(i.e., to put off small reinforcers in order to gain larger ones later on) pride when her teacher praises her for helping a classmate with a challenging writing assignment

pencils, small toys) feedback

games)

3–5 with peers Students in a sixth‐grade science class work diligently on an assigned lab activity, knowing that if they complete it before the end of the class session they can have a few minutes to talk with their friends.

peers support (especially critical after the transition to middle school or junior high)

6–8

demic performance (preferably given in private) immediate pleasures in order to gain desired long‐term outcomes (especially for students who are applying to selective colleges) friends ask him to go to the movies on a Thursday evening, he declines. “I have to study for tomorrow’s history test,” he tells them. “If I keep my grades up, I’ll have a better chance of getting a good college scholarship.” Acknowledge students’ concerns about earning good grades, but focus their attention on the value of learning school subject matter for its own sake. on students’ own work; take precautions to ensure that cheating and plagiarism are not reinforced. Publicize accomplishments of extracurricular groups and athletic teams in local news media. Provide opportunities for independent decision making and responsibility, especially when students show an ability to make wise decisions.

friends academic performance formance (e.g., newspaper articles about a club’s public service work) student representative to the Faculty Senate)

9–12

Sources: E. M. Anderman & Mueller, 2010; L. H. Anderman, Patrick, Hruda, & Linnenbrink, 2002; Atance, 2008; Cizek, 2003; S. A. Fowler & Baer, 1981; L. Green, Fry, & Myerson, 1994; Hine & Fraser, 2002; Krumboltz & Krumboltz, 1972; Rimm & Masters, 1974; Rotenberg & Mayer, 1990; M. G. Sanders, 1996; Steinberg, Graham, et al., 2009; Urdan & Mestas, 2006; M.‐T. Wang & Holcombe, 2010.

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277 local grocery store (hardly an intrinsically reinforcing activity!) to earn enough money to pay half the cost of a $400‐a‐night limousine for his high school prom. Some children and adolescents are better able to delay gratification than others. Those who are willing and able to postpone reinforcement are less likely to yield to temptation, more carefully plan their future actions, and achieve at higher levels at school (Bembenutty & Karabenick, 2004; Rothbart, 2011; Shoda, Mischel, & Peake, 1990). However, even 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds can learn to delay gratification for a few hours if their teachers tell them that rewards for desired behaviors (e.g., sharing toys with peers) will be coming later in the day (S. A. Fowler & Baer, 1981). Teaching children effective waiting strategies—for instance, focusing attention on something else during the delay and using such self‐talk as “If I wait a little longer, I’ll get something better”—enhances their ability to postpone gratification as well (Binder, Dixon, & Ghezzi, 2000).

When working with young children, try to reinforce desired behaviors immediately, even if only by pointing out that a desired consequence will come later.

THE VARIOUS FORMS THAT PUNISHMENT CAN TAKE
Historically, the use of punishment in the classroom has been controversial, and in fact some forms of punishment do a great deal of harm. But under certain conditions, punishment can be both effective and appropriate, especially when students seem to have little motivation to change their behavior for the better. All punishing consequences fall into one of two categories. Presentation punishment involves presenting a new stimulus, presumably something that a learner finds unpleasant and doesn’t want. Scoldings and teacher scowls—if they lead to a reduction in the behavior they follow—are instances of presentation punishment. Removal punishment involves removing an existing stimulus or state of affairs, presumably one that a learner finds desirable and doesn’t want to lose. Loss of a privilege, a fine or penalty (involving the loss of money or previously earned points), and grounding (i.e., restriction from certain pleasurable outside activities) are all examples of removal punishment.3 Over the years I’ve often seen or heard people use the term negative reinforcement when they’re really talking about punishment. Remember, negative reinforcement is reinforcement, which increases a response, whereas punishment has the opposite effect. Table 9.3 can help you understand the distinction. CONSEQUENCES THAT SERVE AS EFFECTIVE PUNISHMENTS As a general rule, we should use only mild forms of punishment in the classroom. Researchers and educators have identified several mild consequences that can be effective in reducing classroom misbehaviors. Verbal reprimands (scolding) As is true for James in the opening case study, some students seem to thrive on teacher scolding because it brings them the attention they can’t seem to get in other ways. But most students find verbal reprimands to be unpleasant and punishing (Landrum & Kauffman, 2006; Pfiffner & O’Leary, 1993; Van Houten, Nau, MacKenzie‐Keating, Sameoto, & Colavecchia, 1982). In general, reprimands are most effective when they’re immediate, brief, unemotional, and given in a quiet tone of voice. Whenever possible, we should reprimand students privately rather than publicly. When students are scolded in front of classmates, some may relish the peer attention, and others (e.g., many Native American and Hispanic students) may feel totally humiliated (Fuller, 2001). Response cost The loss either of a previously earned reinforcer or of an opportunity to obtain reinforcement is known as response cost. A form of removal punishment, response cost is especially effective when used in combination with reinforcement of appropriate behavior and when learners who make a few missteps within an overall pattern of desirable behavior lose only a little of what they’ve earned (Conyers et al., 2004; Landrum & Kauffman, 2006; E. L. Phillips, Phillips, Fixsen, & Wolf, 1971).

presentation punishment
Punishment involving presentation of a new stimulus, presumably one a learner finds unpleasant.

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3

You may sometimes see the terms positive punishment and negative punishment used instead of presentation punishment and removal punishment, respectively. But in my experience, such terms can lead to the same valuejudgment misinterpretation problem that exists for negative reinforcement: Many people mistakenly believe that positive punishment is somehow more desirable than negative punishment, which isn’t necessarily the case.

removal punishment Punishment involving removal of an existing stimulus, presumably one a learner doesn’t want to lose. response cost previously earned reinforcer or of an opportunity to obtain reinforcement.

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CHAPTER

Distinguishing among Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, and Punishment
CONSEQUENCE
Positive reinforcement

C O M PA R E / C O N T R A S T
EXAMPLES

EFFECT
Response increases when a new stimulus (presumably one the learner finds desirable) is presented. Response increases when a previously existing stimulus (presumably one the learner finds undesirable) is removed.

is praised for writing an assignment in cursive. She begins to write other assignments in cursive as well. gets lunch money by bullying a girl into surrendering hers. He begins bullying his classmates more frequently. no longer has to worry about a research paper that he completed several days before the due date. He begins to do his assignments ahead of time whenever possible. escapes the principal’s wrath by lying about her role in recent school vandalism. After this incident she begins lying to school faculty whenever she finds herself in an uncomfortable situation. is scolded for taunting other students. She taunts others less frequently after that. is ridiculed by classmates for asking what they perceive to be a stupid question during a lesson. He stops asking questions in class. is removed from the softball team for a week for showing poor sportsmanship. She rarely shows poor sportsmanship in future games. loses points on a test for answering a question in a creative but unusual way. He takes fewer risks on future tests.

Negative reinforcement

Presentation punishment

Response decreases when a new stimulus (presumably one the learner finds undesirable) is presented.

Removal punishment

Response decreases when a previously existing stimulus (presumably one the learner finds desirable) is removed.

Logical consequences A logical consequence is something that follows naturally or logically from a student’s misbehavior; in other words, it’s punishment that fits the crime. For example, if a student destroys a classmate’s possession, a reasonable consequence is for the student to replace it or pay for a new one. If two close friends talk so much that they aren’t completing assignments, a reasonable consequence is for them to be separated. The use of logical consequences makes logical sense, and research vouches for its effectiveness (Dreikurs, 1998; Landrum & Kauffman, 2006; Nucci, 2001). Positive‐practice overcorrection One desired result of administering punishment, of course, is that students learn more appropriate behavior in the process. Positive‐practice overcorrection involves having a student repeat an action, but doing it correctly, perhaps in an exaggerated form. For example, a student who runs dangerously down the school corridor might be asked to back up and then walk—perhaps at a normal pace, or perhaps very slowly—down the hall. Similarly, a student in a drivers’ education class who neglects to stop at a stop sign might be asked to drive around the block, return to the same intersection, and come to a complete stop (perhaps counting aloud to five) before proceeding. In general, positive‐practice overcorrection is most likely to be effective when its duration is relatively short and when teachers portray it as a means for helping students acquire appropriate behavior rather than simply as punishment per se (Alberto & Troutman, 2013; R. G. Carey & Bucher, 1983; M. D. Powers & Crowel, 1985). Time‐out A misbehaving student given a time‐out is placed in a dull, boring (but not scary) situation—perhaps a separate room designed especially for time‐outs, a little‐used office, or a remote corner of the classroom. A student in time‐out has no opportunity to interact with classmates and no opportunity to get reinforcement. The length of the time‐out is typically quite short (perhaps 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the student’s age), but the student isn’t released until any inappropriate behavior (e.g., screaming, kicking) has stopped. Time‐outs have been used successfully to reduce a variety of noncompliant, disruptive, and aggressive behaviors. Keep in mind, however, that a time‐out is apt to be effective only if ongoing classroom activities are a source of pleasure and reinforcement for a student. If a time‐out allows a student to escape difficult tasks or an overwhelming amount of noise and stimulation, it might actually be a form of negative reinforcement and thus increase undesirable

logical consequence Unpleasant consequence that follows naturally or logically from a student’s misbehavior. positive‐practice overcorrection
Consequence of a poorly performed response in which a learner must repeat the response correctly and appropriately, perhaps in an exaggerated manner.

time‐out Consequence for misbehavior in which a learner is placed in a dull, boring situation with no opportunity for reinforcement or social interaction.

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279 behavior (J. M. Donaldson & Vollmer, 2011; McClowry, 1998; Pfiffner, Barkley, & DuPaul, 2006; Rortvedt & Miltenberger, 1994; A. G. White & Bailey, 1990). In‐school suspension Like time‐out, in‐school suspension involves placing a student in a quiet, boring room within the school building. However, it often lasts one or more school days and involves close adult supervision. Students receiving in‐school suspension spend the day working on their class assignments, enabling them to keep up with their schoolwork. But they have no opportunity for interaction with peers—an aspect of school that’s reinforcing for most students. Although in‐school suspension programs haven’t been systematically investigated through controlled research studies, educators report that these programs are often effective in reducing chronic behavior problems. They’re typically most effective when suspension sessions include instruction in appropriate behaviors and missing academic skills and when the supervising teacher acts as a supportive resource rather than a punisher (Gootman, 1998; Huff, 1988; Pfiffner et al., 2006; J. S. Sullivan, 1989). CONSEQUENCES THAT MAY UNDERMINE DESIRED BEHAVIOR CHANGES Several forms of punishment are typically not recommended because they have adverse side effects, convey a counterproductive message, or actually serve as reinforcers for some students. Physical punishment Most experts advise against physical punishment for school‐age children (e.g., W. Doyle, 1990; Hyman et al., 2006; Landrum & Kauffman, 2006). Furthermore, its use in the classroom is illegal in many places. Even mild physical punishment, such as a spank or slap with a ruler, can lead to such undesirable outcomes as resentment of the teacher, avoidance of school tasks, lying, aggression, vandalism, and truancy. When carried to extremes, physical punishment constitutes child abuse and can cause long‐term physical damage, psychological problems, or both. Psychological punishment Any consequence that seriously threatens a student’s sense of self‐worth is psychological punishment and isn’t recommended. Fear tactics, embarrassing remarks, and public humiliation can lead to some of the same side effects as physical punishment can—for instance, resentment, distraction from schoolwork, and truancy—and can inflict long‐term psychological harm. By deflating students’ sense of self, psychological punishment can also dampen their interest in classroom subject matter and expectations for future performance (Brendgen, Wanner, Vitaro, Bukowski, & Tremblay, 2007; J. Ellis, Fitzsimmons, & Small‐ McGinley, 2010; Hyman et al., 2006). Extra classwork Asking a student to complete makeup work for time missed in school is a reasonable and justifiable request. But assigning extra classwork or homework beyond that required for other students is inappropriate if it’s assigned simply to punish a student for wrongdoing (H. Cooper, 1989; Corno, 1996). Such punishment has a very different side effect: It communicates the message that schoolwork is unpleasant. Out‐of‐school suspension Teachers and administrators are negatively reinforced when they suspend a problem student. After all, they get rid of something they don’t want—a problem! But out‐of‐school suspension is usually not an effective means of changing a student’s behavior. For one thing, being suspended from school may be exactly what the student wants, in which case inappropriate behaviors are being reinforced rather than punished. Also, because many students with chronic behavior problems tend to do poorly in their schoolwork, suspension involves a loss of valuable instructional time and interferes with any psychological attachment to school. Thus, it decreases students’ chances for academic and social success even further and increases the probability that students will drop out before graduation (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008; Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2010; Osher, Bear, Sprague, & Doyle, 2010).
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in‐school suspension Consequence for misbehavior in which a student is placed in a quiet, boring room within the school building, typically to do schoolwork under close adult supervision. psychological punishment
Consequence that seriously threatens self‐esteem and general psychological well‐being.

not use physical punishment, public humiliation, or extra classwork to discourage undesirable behaviors.

Advocate for in‐school alternatives to out‐of‐school suspension for wrongdoing.

CONSEQUENCES WITH MIXED REVIEWS Two additional forms of punishment get mixed reviews regarding effectiveness. In some situations missing recess is a logical consequence for students who fail to complete their schoolwork during regular class time because of off‐task behavior. Yet research indicates that, especially at

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CHAPTER the elementary level, students can more effectively concentrate on school tasks if they have frequent breaks and opportunities to release pent‐up energy (Maxmell, Jarrett, & Dickerson, 1998; Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005; Pellegrini, Huberty, & Jones, 1995). And although imposing after‐ school detention for serious misbehavior is common practice at many schools, some students simply can’t stay after school hours, perhaps because they have transportation issues, must take care of younger siblings at home, or are justifiably afraid to walk through certain neighborhoods after dark (J. D. Nichols, Ludwin, & Iadicola, 1999). Unless we can address such concerns, imposing after‐school detention isn’t logistically feasible.

having students miss recess and imposing after‐school detention.

Strategies for Encouraging Productive Behaviors
As a prominent early behaviorist, B. F. Skinner was quite vocal in advocating for the application of behaviorist principles in classroom settings. He argued that punishment was a relatively ineffective means of changing behavior—it might temporarily suppress a response but could never eliminate it—and thus urged teachers to focus their efforts on reinforcing desirable behaviors rather than punishing undesirable ones (e.g., B. F. Skinner, 1954, 1968; B. F. Skinner & Epstein, 1982). Following Skinner’s lead, most contemporary behaviorists suggest that we emphasize the positive, looking for and reinforcing what’s right with student behavior. As teachers, we must be sure that productive student behaviors—contributing to class discussions, keeping work areas tidy, working cooperatively with peers, and so on—are reinforced in some way. At the same time, we should be careful not to reinforce counterproductive behaviors. If we repeatedly allow Carol to turn in assignments late because she says she forgot her homework and if we often let Caleb get his way by bullying his peers, then we’re reinforcing—and hence increasing—Carol’s irresponsibility and Caleb’s aggressiveness.

inadvertently reinforce undesirable behaviors.

USING REINFORCEMENT EFFECTIVELY
The following strategies are consistent with behaviorist principles and research findings: Specify desired behaviors at the outset. Before beginning a lesson or behavioral intervention, behaviorists identify the desired end results—the terminal behaviors—in specific, concrete, observable terms. Rather than talk about the need for students to “Learn world history,” we might instead talk about them being able to “Describe the antecedents and outcomes of World War II.” Rather than say that students should “Learn responsibility,” we might instead talk about their need to “Follow instructions, bring the necessary books and supplies to class each day, and turn in assignments by the due dates.” By specifying terminal behaviors up front, we give both ourselves and our students targets to shoot for, and we can better determine whether everyone is making progress toward them. Educators are increasingly recognizing the importance of spelling out in advance the most important things that students should learn and achieve. You’re apt to see a variety of terms for this idea—perhaps instructional goals, objectives, outcomes, competencies, benchmarks, and standards. Make sure that all students regularly receive reinforcement for desired behaviors. In the opening case study, James engages in a variety of inappropriate behaviors in order to gain other people’s attention. We might reasonably guess that James would prefer more pleasant interactions with adults and peers, yet for whatever reasons he seldom has such interactions—perhaps because his academic performance rarely gains his teacher’s praise or perhaps because he lacks the social skills to make and maintain friendships. In working with James, then, his teacher should identify the academic and social skills he might be missing, help him acquire those skills, and then, of course, reinforce him for using the skills. In our attempts to improve the behaviors of some students, however, we must be careful that we don’t unintentionally slight other, equally deserving students. Furthermore, we must keep in mind that some students may be unable to exhibit particular behaviors through little or no fault of their own. Consider the case of an immigrant student who had to adjust very quickly from a 10:00–5:00 school day in Vietnam to a 7:45–3:45 school day in the United States:

terminal behavior Form and frequency of a desired response that a teacher hopes to foster through reinforcement.

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281
Every week on Friday after school, the teacher would give little presents to kids that were good during the week. And if you were tardy, you wouldn’t get a present. . . . I would never get one because I would always come to school late, and that hurt at first. I had a terrible time. I didn’t look forward to going to school. (Igoa, 1995, p. 95) token economy Technique in which desired behaviors are reinforced by small, insignificant items (tokens) that learners can use to “purchase” a variety of other, more desirable reinforcers.

Ultimately school should be a place where all students can, in one way or another, earn reinforcement for appropriate behaviors and academic progress. Use extrinsic reinforcers only when desired behaviors will not otherwise occur. It’s neither possible nor necessary to reinforce every good deed. Furthermore, many extrinsic reinforcements lose their effectiveness when used repeatedly (Michael, 2000; Murphy, McSweeney, Smith, & McComas, 2003). The best reinforcers are intrinsic ones, such as the pleasure one gets from reading, the pride one feels after completing a challenging task, and the internal satisfaction one feels while helping others. Students willingly engage in activities that are enjoyable or pique their curiosity, and they’ll readily behave in ways that lead to feelings of mastery and accomplishment. Yet many of the tasks students tackle in school—writing persuasive essays, solving mathematical word problems, playing a musical instrument, and so on—can be difficult and frustrating, especially at first. When students struggle with a task and encounter frequent failure, we should probably provide some extrinsic reinforcement (praise, free time, etc.) for small improvements. And when we find that we must break a complex task into small pieces that are easier to accomplish but less fulfilling in their own right—for instance, drill‐and‐practice activities that foster automaticity for basic math facts—we’ll probably need to reinforce students’ many seemingly meaningless successes. However, once students have mastered tasks and skills to a level that brings them feelings of genuine accomplishment, extrinsic reinforcers may no longer be necessary (J. Cameron, 2001; Covington, 1992; Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 2001; Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000). Determine whether particular “reinforcers” are truly reinforcing for students. Different students have different needs and desires—factors that underlie their motivation—that influence the effectiveness of various reinforcers (McGill, 1999; Michael, 2000; Rispoli et al., 2011). Accordingly, the use of reinforcement is far more effective when reinforcers are tailored to individual students. In some cases we can let students choose their own reinforcers and perhaps choose different reinforcers on different occasions. Children seem to prefer having some choice in the reinforcers for which they work (Geckeler, Libby, Graff, & Ahearn, 2000; Sran & Borrero, 2010; Tiger, Hanley, & Hernandez, 2006; Ulke‐Kurcuoglu & Kircaali‐Iftar, 2010). One useful strategy for a class with many chronic misbehavers is a token economy, in which students who exhibit desired behaviors receive tokens—perhaps specially printed “class dollars” or teacher‐initialed checkmarks on a slip of paper—that they can collect and later use to “purchase” a variety of backup reinforcers—perhaps small treats, free time in the reading center, or a prime position in the lunch line. In such instances the tokens often become effective reinforcers in and of themselves. Perhaps they become secondary reinforcers through repeated association with other reinforcing objects and events, or perhaps they’re effective simply because they provide feedback that students are doing something well. By and large, however, we should stay away from concrete reinforcers (e.g., toys and candy) as much as possible. Such reinforcers can be expensive and distract students’ attention away from their schoolwork. Fortunately, many less tangible reinforcers—such as positive feedback, special privileges, and favorite activities—and reinforcement at home for school behaviors can be quite effective with school‐age children and adolescents (e.g., Feltz et al., 1999; Homme, deBaca, Devine, Steinhorst, & Rickert, 1963; Kelley & Carper, 1988). The Creating a Productive Classroom Environment feature “Identifying Effective Reinforcers for Different Students” offers some widely recommended strategies. Make response–consequence contingencies explicit. Reinforcement is typically more effective when students know exactly which behaviors will lead to which consequences. For example, kindergarten students are more likely to respond appropriately if they’re told, “The quietest group will be first to get in line for recess.” And high school students are more likely to complete their Spanish assignments if they know that regularly doing so will earn them a field trip to a local Cinco de Mayo festival.
Chapter 11 explores motivation in depth.

Use concrete reinforcers (e.g., toys, candy) only if less tangible reinforcers are ineffective.

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CHAPTER

Creating a Productive Classroom Environment

Give students choices among two or more alternatives.
A high school teacher is working with a boy who has a significant intellectual disability and chronic behavior problems. On various occasions, she gives him different choices about which of two things he’d prefer to do. For example, she might give him a choice between (1) talking with her versus playing alone with favorite items, (2) working with her on an assigned task versus sitting by himself with nothing to do, or (3) working with her on an assigned task versus playing alone with favorite items. From the student’s pattern of choices, the teacher concludes that her attention is an effective reinforcer for the student.

Provide a small amount of free time contingent on desired behaviors.
A fifth‐grade teacher allows students to engage in favorite activities during the free time they earn each day. Some students work on the classroom computer, others work on art projects, and still others talk with friends.

Observe students’ behaviors and written work, keeping a lookout for activities and consequences that students seem to appreciate.
At home one night, 11‐year‐old Amie writes the entry below in the class journal that she and her teacher regularly use to communicate. The entry reveals that Amie clearly enjoys playing soccer; in other words, soccer is intrinsically reinforcing for her. It appears, too, that Amie appreciates attention from her coach, probably because (1) he might have her play more and (2) she would like feedback about what she’s doing well and how she might improve her skills.

Ask students (or perhaps their parents) about consequences they would find especially appealing.
A first‐grade teacher always includes his students in parent–teacher conferences. At one such conference, the teacher expresses his delight about the progress a student has made in the last few weeks but adds, “I’ve seen a lot of inconsistency in Janie’s performance. Sometimes she works very hard, but at other times she doesn’t put much effort into her schoolwork, and occasionally she doesn’t complete assignments at all.” Together the teacher, Janie, and her parents agree that successfully completed assignments will earn her points toward the bicycle she has been asking her parents for.

Make use of the Premack principle: Students will often engage in behaviors they don’t especially enjoy so that they can do something else they do enjoy.
After class one day, a ninth‐grade teacher commends a student for his desire to make other people laugh. Then she points out the distract your classmates from what they’re supposed to be doing, and sometimes I have a hard time getting class discussions back on topic.” She promises the student that if he can keep his attention and remarks focused on classroom subject matter throughout a class period, she’ll give him the last two or three minutes of the period to tell the class a joke or two.
Source: W. K. Berg et al., 2007 (student with intellectual disability example).

Some students need explicit and frequent information about response– consequence contingencies. For example, watch “Incentive Systems for Academic Performance.”

One concrete way of communicating both behavioral expectations and response–reinforcement contingencies is a contingency contract. To develop such a contract, the teacher meets with a student to discuss a problem behavior (e.g., talking to friends during independent seatwork or speaking disrespectfully to classmates). The teacher and the student then identify and agree on desired behaviors that the student will demonstrate (e.g., completing seatwork assignments within a certain time frame or speaking with classmates in a friendly, respectful manner). The two also agree on one or more reinforcers (e.g., a certain amount of free time or points earned toward a particular privilege or prize). Together the teacher and the student write and sign a contract that describes the desired behaviors and contingent reinforcers. Contingency contracts can be highly effective in improving a variety of academic and social behaviors (K. L. Lane, Menzies, Bruhn, & Crnobori, 2011; D. L. Miller & Kelley, 1994). When you want to encourage the same behavior in a group of students, consider using a group contingency. In a group contingency, students are reinforced only when everyone in a particular group—perhaps even an entire class—achieves at a certain level or behaves appropriately. Following are two examples of whole‐class contingencies: age of only 12 students (38%) earning perfect test scores in any given week. Hoping

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283 for improvement, the teacher announced that any student with a perfect score would get free time later in the week, and the average number of perfect spelling tests rose to 25 (78%) a week. But then the teacher added a group contingency: Whenever the entire class achieved perfect spelling tests by Friday, the class could listen to the radio for 15 minutes. The group contingency produced an average of 30 perfect spelling tests (94%) a week (Lovitt, Guppy, & Blattner, 1969). minute, chances were good that one or more students would be talking out of turn or getting out of their seats. In a desperate move, the teacher divided the class into two teams that competed in a “good behavior game.” Every time that a student was observed talking out of turn or getting out of his or her seat, the student’s team received a mark on the chalkboard. The team receiving fewer marks during a lesson won special privileges (e.g., having some free time or being first in the lunch line). If both teams had five marks or fewer, everyone won privileges. Misbehaviors dropped almost immediately to less than 20% of their initial frequency (Barrish, Saunders, & Wolf, 1969; also see J. M. Donaldson, Vollmer, Krous, Downs, & Berard, 2011; Taub & Pearrow, 2006). Group contingencies are clearly effective in improving academic achievement and classroom behavior if everyone in the group is capable of making the desired responses (Heck, Collins, & Peterson, 2001; Kellam, Rebok, Ialongo, & Mayer, 1994; S. L. Robinson & Griesemer, 2006). Peer pressure and social reinforcers seem to play a role here. Many students encourage misbehaving classmates to behave appropriately and then reinforce those who do so. Furthermore, when students’ own success is riding on the success of their peers, students who have mastered a topic begin to tutor students who are struggling (D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 1987; Pigott, Fantuzzo, & Clement, 1986; Slavin, 1983). Whenever we use group contingencies, however, we must closely monitor students’ behaviors to make sure that any peer pressure is socially appropriate—for instance, that students aren’t ridiculing or bullying their low‐performing classmates. Monitor students’ progress. Whenever we use reinforcement as a primary strategy for increasing desired behaviors—especially with students who have been performing poorly—we should ideally determine whether our efforts are bringing about the desired results. In particular, we should assess the frequency of the desired terminal behavior both before and during our attempts to increase it. The frequency of a behavior before we intentionally begin reinforcement is its baseline level. Some behaviors occur frequently even when they’re not being explicitly reinforced; others occur rarely or not at all. By comparing the baseline frequency of a response with its frequency after we begin reinforcing it, we can determine whether our strategy is actually having an effect. As an example, let’s look once again at James in the opening case study. He rarely turns in classroom assignments; this is a behavior with a low baseline. An obvious reinforcer to use with James is attention—a consequence that, until now, has effectively reinforced such counterproductive behaviors as making inappropriate comments in class and throwing objects across the room. When we make our attention contingent on James’s turning in assignments, rather than on his refusing to do so, we might see an almost immediate increase in the number of assignments we receive from James. But if we see no significant change, we might need to consider alternative reinforcers. We should also consider and address possible reasons—perhaps poor reading skills—why he might be trying to avoid his schoolwork. Administer reinforcement consistently until the desired behavior occurs at a desired rate. As you might guess, desired responses increase more quickly when they’re reinforced every time they occur—that is, when the responses lead to continuous reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement is most important when students are first learning new behaviors, perhaps when they begin a new school year or perhaps when they must tackle a challenging new task. In some instances we may need to begin by reinforcing effort (e.g., time on task) and switch to reinforcing accuracy only after students have gained some proficiency (Lannie & Martens, 2004). Once a behavior is well established, gradually—but only gradually—wean students from extrinsic reinforcement. Just as reinforced behaviors increase in frequency, nonreinforced behaviors

Group contingencies are an important component of many cooperative learning activities. For example, watch

When imposing a group contingency, make sure that everyone in the group is capable of making the desired response.

contingency contract Formal agreement between a teacher and a student that identifies behaviors the student will exhibit and the reinforcers that will follow.

group contingency Situation in which everyone in a group must make a particular response before reinforcement occurs. baseline Frequency of a response before it is intentionally and systematically reinforced. continuous reinforcement
Reinforcement of a response every time it occurs.

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CHAPTER often decrease in frequency and may eventually disappear altogether. Like the decrease of a conditioned response in classical conditioning, the decrease and eventual disappearance of a nonreinforced response in instrumental conditioning is known as extinction. Intrinsic reinforcement can, of course, maintain many productive behaviors over the long run, both in the classroom and in the outside world. But as previously noted, students don’t necessarily find all desired behaviors enjoyable in and of themselves. When certain behaviors have no intrinsic appeal, intermittent reinforcement—reinforcing a behavior on some occasions but not others—provides a viable alternative. As an example, let’s consider Molly and Maria, two students who rarely participate in class discussions. Their teacher, Mr. Oliver, decides to reinforce the girls for raising their hands. Each time Molly raises her hand, Mr. Oliver calls on her and praises her response. But when Maria raises her hand, Mr. Oliver isn’t always looking in her direction; hence he calls on her on some occasions but not others. Thus, Molly is getting continuous reinforcement and Maria is getting intermittent reinforcement. Other things being equal, Molly’s hand raising should increase more rapidly than Maria’s. Now let’s move ahead a few weeks. Thanks to Mr. Oliver’s attentiveness to Molly and Maria, both girls are regularly volunteering in class. Consequently, Mr. Oliver turns his attention to other quiet students and no longer reinforces Molly and Maria when they raise their hands. As you might expect, the girls begin to participate less often; in other words, we see signs of extinction. But which girl’s class participation will extinguish more quickly? If you predicted that Molly’s volunteering will decrease more rapidly than Maria’s, you’re right. Responses that have previously been continuously reinforced tend to extinguish quickly once reinforcement stops. But because Maria has been receiving intermittent reinforcement, she’s accustomed to being occasionally ignored and may not realize that reinforcement has stopped altogether. Behaviors that have been reinforced only intermittently decrease slowly, if at all, after reinforcement ceases. In other words, these behaviors can be more resistant to extinction (e.g., Ferster & Skinner, 1957; Freeland & Noell, 1999; Pipkin & Vollmer, 2009). Once students have mastered a desired behavior and are using it regularly, then, we should continue to reinforce it intermittently, especially if it has no intrinsically reinforcing effect. Mr. Oliver doesn’t need to call on Molly and Maria every time they raise their hands, but he should certainly call on them once in a while. In a similar manner, we might occasionally reinforce diligent study habits, completed homework assignments, prosocial behaviors, and so on—even for the best of students—as a way of encouraging these responses to continue.

extinction (in instrumental conditioning) Gradual disappearance of an acquired response as a result of repeated lack of reinforcement.

intermittent reinforcement
Reinforcement of a response only occasionally, with some occurrences of the response not being reinforced.

shaping Process of reinforcing successively closer and closer approximations to a desired terminal behavior.

reinforcement—different schedules of reinforcement—have somewhat different effects on learning and varying effects in “Schedules of Reinforcement.”

After students have begun to exhibit a desired behavior regularly, continue to reinforce it intermittently to encourage persistence and prevent extinction.

SHAPING NEW BEHAVIORS
What if a desired behavior has a baseline level of zero? How can we encourage a behavior that a student never exhibits at all, at least not in its ideal form? In such cases behaviorists suggest gradually shaping the behavior: reinforcing a series of responses—known as successive approximations— that increasingly resemble the terminal behavior. Shaping involves these steps: 1. Reinforce any response that in some way resembles the terminal behavior. 2. Reinforce a response that more closely approximates the terminal behavior (while no longer reinforcing the previously reinforced response). 3. Reinforce a response that resembles the terminal behavior even more closely. 4. Continue reinforcing closer and closer approximations to the terminal behavior. 5. Reinforce only the terminal behavior.
Shape a low‐frequency behavior by reinforcing closer and closer approximations over time.

Each response in the sequence is continuously reinforced until it occurs regularly. Only at that point do we begin reinforcing a behavior that more closely approaches the desired end result. As an example, imagine that we have a second grader who can’t seem to sit still long enough to get much of anything done. We’d ultimately like her to sit still for 20‐minute periods, but we may first have to reinforce her for staying in her seat for just 2 minutes, gradually increasing the required sitting time as she makes progress.

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285 antecedent stimulus Stimulus that influences the probability that a particular response will follow. antecedent response Response that influences the probability that a certain other response will follow.

FIGURE 9.1 As Jeff moved through the elementary grades, his teachers gradually shaped his handwriting, in part by reducing the spacing between lines and, later, omitting some of the lines.

cueing Use of a verbal or nonverbal signal to indicate that a certain behavior is desired or that a certain behavior should stop.

We can often use shaping to help students acquire complex physical and psychomotor skills. For example, in the early elementary grades teachers gradually shape students’ handwriting skills—for instance, expecting increasingly small and well‐shaped letters (see Figure 9.1). And in secondary schools, physical education teachers and coaches may teach and expect increasingly proficient athletic skills (e.g., J. V. Stokes, Luiselli, & Reed, 2010). In much the same way, we can use shaping—and teachers often do so—to teach students to work independently on assignments. We begin by giving first graders structured tasks that may take only 5 to 10 minutes to complete. As students move through the elementary school years, we expect them to work independently for longer periods and begin to give them short assignments to do at home. By the time students reach high school, they have extended study halls and complete lengthy assignments on their own after school hours. In the college years, student assignments require a great deal of independence and self‐direction.

BRINGING ANTECEDENT STIMULI AND RESPONSES INTO THE PICTURE
In our discussion of instrumental conditioning so far, we’ve focused on the consequences of behaviors. But stimuli and responses that precede a desired behavior—antecedent stimuli and antecedent responses—can have effects as well. Here we’ll look at several phenomena that involve antecedent stimuli, as well as one phenomenon (behavioral momentum) that involves antecedent responses. CUEING Students are more likely to behave appropriately when they’re given reminders—often called cues or prompts—that certain behaviors are expected (e.g., Northup et al., 1995; Shabani et al., 2002). Such cueing sometimes involves a nonverbal signal, such as flicking overhead lights off and on to remind students to use their “indoor voices.” At other times it involves a verbal reminder about what students should be doing. Subtle hints are often effective for older students (e.g., “I see some art supplies that still need to be put away”), whereas more explicit hints may be necessary for younger children (e.g., “Table 3 needs to clean up its art supplies before it can go to lunch”).

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Quickly and unobtrusively cue students about appropriate behaviors, perhaps through a flick of the light switch or short verbal reminder.

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CHAPTER SETTING EVENTS In cueing we use specific stimuli to prompt students to behave in particular ways. An alternative approach is to create an overall environment—a setting event—that’s apt to evoke desired behaviors. For example, young children are more likely to interact with peers during free‐play time if they have a relatively small area in which to play and if the toys available to them (e.g., balls, puppets) encourage cooperation and group activity (W. H. Brown, Fox, & Brady, 1987; Frost, Shin, & Jacobs, 1998; S. S. Martin, Brady, & Williams, 1991). Similarly, the nature of the games children are asked to play influences the behaviors they exhibit: Cooperative games promote cooperative behavior, whereas competitive games promote aggressive behavior (Bay‐Hinitz, Peterson, & Quilitch, 1994). GENERALIZATION Once children have learned that a response is likely to be reinforced in one set of circumstances (which serve as antecedent stimuli), they’re apt to make the same response in a similar situation. In other words, they show generalization. For example, after an especially fidgety student has learned to sit quietly and attentively for 20‐minute periods in her second‐grade classroom, she may generalize that behavior to her third‐grade classroom the following year. And once a student has learned cursive writing at school, he’s apt to use cursive in his out‐of‐school writing tasks. Generalization of newly acquired behaviors is most likely to occur when students have opportunities to practice them in diverse settings (Haring & Liberty, 1990; B. M. Johnson et al., 2006; T. F. Stokes & Baer, 1977). This process of generalization should remind you of the generalization that occurs in classical conditioning: In both cases an individual learns a response to one stimulus and then responds in the same way to a similar stimulus. The major difference is one of learner control: Generalization involves an automatic, involuntary response in classical conditioning but a voluntary response in instrumental conditioning. DISCRIMINATION Sometimes responses are reinforced only when certain environmental conditions (i.e., certain antecedent stimuli) are present. This ability to distinguish between conditions in which a particular behavior will and won’t be reinforced is known as discrimination. For example, teenage boys should certainly learn that slapping a peer on the fanny may be quite acceptable when celebrating an athletic victory with teammates but is not acceptable when greeting a female classmate in the hall. Some students may need explicit guidance about the circumstances in which particular behaviors are and are not likely to be reinforced. It’s occasionally helpful to use cueing to help students determine when certain behaviors are allowed. For example, in one recent study, children in three elementary classrooms were having trouble determining when they could and could not request a teacher’s assistance. Their teachers began to wear green and red leis at different times and told them, “While I am wearing the green lei, I will be able to answer your questions. While I am wearing the red lei, I will not be able to answer your questions.” This simple procedure minimized student requests at inopportune moments (Cammilleri, Tiger, & Hanley, 2008, p. 301). BEHAVIORAL MOMENTUM In many cases students are more likely to make desired responses if they’re already making similar responses—a phenomenon known as behavioral momentum (Ardoin, Martens, & Wolfe, 1999; Belfiore, Lee, Vargas, & Skinner, 1997; Mace et al., 1988). For example, imagine that we have low‐achieving high school students with a history of refusing to do math assignments. Such students are more likely to attempt difficult three‐digit multiplication problems after they’ve first worked on a few simple one‐digit problems (Belfiore et al., 1997). Similarly, we might ask students to tidy up a messy classroom after they’ve already cleaned their own desktops or to try a backward roll after they’ve successfully executed a forward roll. In general, we can promote behavioral momentum by assigning relatively easy or enjoyable tasks that lead naturally into more complex and potentially frustrating ones.

setting event Complex environmental condition that is likely to evoke certain voluntary behaviors.

generalization (in instrumental conditioning) Phenomenon in which a person makes a voluntary response to a stimulus that is similar to one previously associated with a response– reinforcement contingency.

discrimination Phenomenon in which a student learns that a response is reinforced in the presence of one stimulus but not in the presence of another, similar stimulus. behavioral momentum Increased tendency for a learner to make a particular response immediately after making similar responses.

Create an environment that naturally evokes desired behaviors, and provide opportunities for students to practice desired behaviors in a variety of settings.

which certain behaviors are appropriate, and reinforce the behaviors only when they are appropriate.

Take advantage of behavioral momentum, assigning easy tasks as a lead‐in to similar but more challenging ones.

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Strategies for Discouraging Undesirable Behaviors
Our focus so far has been primarily on promoting desirable behaviors. But we must also actively discourage undesirable behaviors—those that jeopardize students’ classroom success or their classmates’ well‐being. Behaviorists offer several possible approaches that we look at now.

CREATING CONDITIONS FOR EXTINCTION
One way to reduce the frequency of an inappropriate response is simply to make sure it’s never reinforced. For instance, a class clown whose antics are ignored might stop distracting his classmates, and a child who never gets what she wants by insulting others may begin to speak to them more respectfully. There are several points to keep in mind about extinction, however. First, once reinforcement stops, a previously reinforced response may initially increase for a short time (Lerman & Iwata, 1995; McGill, 1999). For example, imagine you have a television set that works only when you bang on it once or twice. At some point something changes inside your TV that makes the banging ineffective, but you don’t realize this at first, so you bang it many times and very hard before you finally give up. In much the same way, students whose inappropriate behaviors have previously been reinforced may begin to behave even less appropriately once their original behaviors are no longer working for them. Fortunately, such increases in misbehavior are usually temporary, but they can certainly try our patience and perhaps tempt us into paying attention to—and thereby inadvertently reinforcing—the more extreme responses. Second, if we ignore a student’s misbehavior in an effort to extinguish it, we must be sure that we don’t ignore the student altogether. Instead, we should give a misbehaving student attention for doing things well and also at random intervals throughout the school day (Austin & Soeda, 2008). Third, we may sometimes have situations in which removing a reinforcer has no noticeable effect on a student’s counterproductive behavior. Perhaps the behavior has previously been reinforced only intermittently, thus making it fairly resistant to extinction (recall the earlier Molly/Maria example). Or perhaps the behavior is being reinforced in other ways—say, by classmates’ attention or the release of pent‐up energy. In such cases, one or more of the strategies that follow are called for.
Identify and try to remove reinforcers that may be maintaining an undesirable behavior.

CUEING INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS
Just as we can use cueing to remind students about what they should be doing, we can also cue them about what they should not be doing (Emmer, 1987; Northup et al., 1995; Woolfolk & Brooks, 1985). For example, we might use body language—perhaps making eye contact and raising an eyebrow—or physical proximity—moving closer to the student and standing there until the problem behavior stops. When subtlety doesn’t work, a brief verbal cue may be in order—perhaps stating a student’s name or (if necessary) pointing out an inappropriate behavior (e.g., “Lucy, put away your cell phone”).

Use physical or verbal cues to discourage inappropriate behavior.

REINFORCING INCOMPATIBLE BEHAVIORS
Often we can reduce the frequency of an unproductive behavior simply by reinforcing an alternative behavior. Ideally, the two behaviors are incompatible behaviors, which can’t be performed simultaneously. For example, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
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Have you ever tried to sleep while standing up? Horses can do it, but most of us humans really can’t. In fact, there are many pairs of responses that are impossible to perform simultaneously.

incompatible behaviors Two or more behaviors that cannot be performed simultaneously.

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CHAPTER Take a minute to identify something you can’t possibly do when you perform each of these activities: When you . . . Sit down Eat crackers Take a walk You cannot simultaneously . . . ________________________ ________________________ ________________________

Encourage and reinforce responses that are incompatible with undesirable behaviors.

Obviously there are many possible right answers. For instance, sitting is incompatible with standing. Eating crackers is incompatible with singing—or at least with singing well. Taking a walk is incompatible with taking a nap. In each case it’s physically impossible to perform both activities at exactly the same time. When our attempts at extinction or cueing are unsuccessful, reinforcement of one or more behaviors that are incompatible with a problem behavior is often quite effective (K. Lane, Falk, & Wehby, 2006; Lerman, Kelley, Vorndran, Kuhn, & LaRue, 2002; Pipkin, Vollmer, & Sloman, 2010). This is the approach we’re taking when we reinforce a hyperactive student for sitting quietly: Sitting is incompatible with getting‐out‐of‐seat and roaming‐around‐the‐room behaviors. It’s also an approach we might use to deal with forgetfulness (we reinforce students when they remember to do what they’re supposed to do), being off‐task (we reinforce on‐task behavior), and verbal abusiveness (we reinforce prosocial statements). And consider how we might deal with a chronic litterbug (Krumboltz & Krumboltz, 1972): Walt often leaves banana peels, sunflower seed shells, and other garbage in and outside the school building. When the school faculty establishes an Anti‐Litter Committee, it puts Walt on the committee, and the committee eventually elects him as its chairman. Under Walt’s leadership, the committee institutes an anti‐litter campaign, complete with posters and lunchroom monitors, and Walt receives considerable recognition for the campaign’s success. Subsequently, school personnel no longer find Walt’s garbage littering the building and school grounds.

USING PUNISHMENT WHEN NECESSARY
Some misbehaviors require an immediate remedy—for instance, they might interfere significantly with classroom learning or reflect total disregard for other people’s rights and welfare. Consider this example: Bonnie doesn’t handle frustration well. Whenever she encounters an obstacle she can’t immediately overcome, she hits, punches, kicks, or breaks something. Once, during a class Valentine’s Day party, she accidentally drops her cupcake. When she discovers that it’s no longer edible, she throws her milk carton across the room, hitting another child on the head. Bonnie’s troublesome behaviors are hard to extinguish because they aren’t being reinforced to begin with—at least not extrinsically. Also, there are no obvious incompatible responses that might be reinforced instead. And presumably Bonnie’s teacher has often cued her about her inappropriate behaviors. When other strategies are inapplicable or ineffective, punishment is a potentially viable alternative. A frequent criticism of punishment is that it’s inhumane, or somehow cruel and barbaric. Indeed, certain forms of punishment, such as physical abuse and public humiliation, do constitute inhumane treatment. We must be extremely careful when we use punishment in the classroom. If administered judiciously, however, some forms of mild punishment can lead to rapid reductions in misbehavior without causing physical or psychological harm. And when we can decrease counterproductive classroom behaviors quickly and effectively—especially when those

Use punishment when alternative approaches are inapplicable or have been ineffective.

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289 behaviors are harmful to self or others—punishment may, in fact, be one of the most humane approaches we can take (Lerman & Vorndran, 2002). Following are several guidelines for using punishment effectively and humanely. Choose a consequence that is truly punishing without being overly severe. Any unpleasant consequence must be strong enough to discourage students from engaging further in the punished behavior (Boyanton, 2010; Landrum & Kauffman, 2006; Lerman & Vorndran, 2002). But unnecessarily harsh punishments—those that far surpass the severity of the crime—are apt to lead to such undesirable side effects as resentment, hostility, aggression, and escape behavior. Furthermore, although severe punishment can quickly suppress a response, that response may reappear at its original level once the punisher has left the scene (Appel & Peterson, 1965; Azrin, 1960; Landrum & Kauffman, 2006). The ultimate purpose of administering punishment is to communicate that the limits of acceptable behavior have been exceeded, not to exact revenge and retaliation. Inform students ahead of time that certain behaviors will be punished, and explain how those behaviors will be punished. When students are informed of response–punishment contingencies ahead of time, they’re less likely to engage in forbidden behaviors, and they’re less likely to be surprised or resentful if punishment must be administered (Boyanton, 2010; Moles, 1990). Ultimately, students must learn that their behaviors influence the consequences they experience— that they have some control over what happens to them. Follow through with specified consequences. A mistake some teachers make is to continually threaten punishment without ever following through. One warning is desirable, but repeated warnings are not. Consider the teacher who says, “If you bring that rubber snake to class one more time, I’ll take it away!” but never does take away the snake. This teacher is giving the message that no response–punishment contingency really exists. Administer punishment privately, especially when other students are not aware of the transgression. By administering punishment in private, we protect students from public embarrassment and humiliation. We also eliminate the possibility that the punishment will draw classmates’ attention—a potential reinforcer for the very behavior we’re trying to eliminate. Emphasize that it is the behavior—not the student—that is unacceptable, and explain why it is unacceptable. We must explain exactly why a certain behavior can’t be tolerated in the classroom—perhaps because it interferes with learning, threatens other students’ safety or self‐esteem, or damages school property. In other words, punishment should be accompanied by induction. Punishment is far more effective when accompanied by one or more reasons that the punished behavior is unacceptable (Hoffman, 1975, 2000; Parke, 1974; D. G. Perry & Perry, 1983). Administer punishment within the context of a warm, supportive interpersonal relationship. Punishment is more effective when the person administering it has previously established a good working relationship with the student (Landrum & Kauffman, 2006; Nucci, 2001). The message should ultimately be this: “I care for you and want you to succeed, and your current behavior is interfering with your success.” Simultaneously teach and reinforce desirable alternative behaviors. Punishment of misbehavior is almost always more effective when appropriate behaviors are being reinforced at the same time (Landrum & Kauffman, 2006; Lerman & Vorndran, 2002). Furthermore, by reinforcing desirable responses as well as punishing undesirable ones, we give students the positive, optimistic message that, yes, behavior can and will improve. Ultimately, the overall classroom atmosphere we create must be a positive one that highlights the good things students do. Monitor the punishment’s effectiveness. Remember that punishment is defined by its effect on behavior. True punishment decreases the response it follows, typically quite rapidly (R. V. Hall et al., 1971; Landrum & Kauffman, 2006). If a given consequence doesn’t decrease the response it’s intended to punish, the consequence may not be aversive to the individual being “punished.” In fact, it may even be reinforcing. induction Explanation of why a certain behavior is unacceptable, often with a focus on the pain or distress that someone has caused another.

Understanding that one’s own behaviors influence consequences is an example of an attribution (see Chapter 11).

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Some mild forms of punishment, such as a brief time‐out in a quiet corner away from peers, can reduce counterproductive behaviors, but we must monitor their effectiveness for different students.

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CHAPTER

applied behavior analysis (ABA)
Systematic application of behaviorist principles in educational and therapeutic settings.

Addressing Especially Difficult Classroom Behaviors
Behaviorist principles can be extremely helpful in tackling difficult and chronic behavior problems. In this section we consider three related approaches for addressing especially challenging behaviors. Often they’re planned and carried out by one or more teachers in consultation with a school psychologist or other specialist.

functional analysis Examination of inappropriate behavior and its antecedents and consequences to determine one or more purposes (functions) that the behavior might serve for the learner.

APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, is a group of procedures that systematically apply behaviorist principles in changing behavior. (You might also see such terms as behavior modification, behavior therapy, and contingency management.) Applied behavior analysis is based on the assumptions that (1) behavior problems result from past and present environmental conditions and (2) modifying a learner’s present environment will promote more productive responses. When teachers and therapists use ABA to help a student acquire more appropriate classroom behavior, they typically use strategies such as these:

Describe both the present behaviors and the desired terminal behaviors in objectively measurable terms. Identify one or more effective reinforcers. Develop a specific intervention or treatment plan, which may involve reinforcement of desired behaviors, shaping, extinction, reinforcement of incompatible behaviors, punishment, or some combination of these. Give explicit instruction related to desired behaviors. Measure the frequency of desired and undesired behaviors both before the intervention (i.e., at baseline level) and during the intervention in order to monitor the intervention’s effectiveness; modify the program if necessary. Take steps to promote generalization of new behaviors (e.g., through practice in various realistic situations). Gradually phase out the treatment (e.g., through intermittent reinforcement) after desired behaviors are occurring regularly. The systematic use of behaviorist strategies such as these can lead to significant improvements in academic performance and classroom behavior. For example, when we reinforce students for academic accomplishments, we’re apt to see noticeable progress in such areas as reading, spelling, creative writing, and math. And when we reinforce appropriate classroom behaviors—paying attention, interacting cooperatively and prosocially with classmates, and so on—misbehaviors decrease (S. N. Elliott & Busse, 1991; Evertson & Weinstein, 2006; Piersel, 1987). One likely reason that ABA often works so well is that it gives students clear and consistent messages about which behaviors are acceptable and which are not. Another likely reason is that through the gradual process of shaping, students begin to practice new behaviors only when they’re truly ready to acquire them; thus, their probability of achieving success and reinforcement is quite high.

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT
Traditional ABA focuses largely on changing response–reinforcement contingencies to bring about more appropriate behavior. Some behaviorists suggest that we also consider the purposes, or functions, that students’ inappropriate behaviors may serve. Such an approach is known as functional analysis (you might also see the terms functional assessment and functional behavioral assessment). Functional analysis involves collecting data regarding the specific conditions (i.e., antecedent stimuli) in which students tend to misbehave and also the consequences (i.e., reinforcers, punishments, or both) that typically follow the misbehaviors. Thus, we would collect data related to the three parts of a stimulus–response–stimulus sequence: Antecedent → Behavior → Consequence

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For example, we’ve speculated that in the opening case study, James misbehaves in order to get the attention he apparently can’t get in more productive ways and possibly also to escape certain classroom tasks. Functional analyses have shown that students with chronic classroom behavior problems often misbehave when they’re asked to do difficult or unpleasant tasks (this is the antecedent) and that their misbehavior either allows them to escape these tasks or gains them the attention of others (these are possible consequences) (McComas et al., 2003; Mueller et al., 2011; Van Camp et al., 2000). Positive behavior support (PBS) takes the process a step further: After identifying the purposes that inappropriate behaviors might serve, a teacher—or, more often, a team of teachers and other professionals—develops and carries out a plan to encourage appropriate behaviors. In particular, positive behavior support involves strategies such as these: Teach behaviors that can serve the same purpose as—and can therefore replace—inappropriate behaviors. Modify the classroom environment to minimize conditions that might trigger inappropriate behaviors. Establish a predictable daily routine as a way of minimizing anxiety and making the student feel more comfortable and secure. Give the student opportunities to make choices; in this way the student can often gain desired outcomes without having to resort to inappropriate behavior. Make adaptations in the curriculum, instruction, or both to maximize the likelihood of academic success (e.g., build on the student’s interests, present material at a slower pace, or intersperse challenging tasks among easier and more enjoyable ones). Monitor the frequency of various behaviors to determine whether the intervention is working or, instead, requires modification. (Crone & Horner, 2003; Ruef, Higgins, Glaeser, & Patnode, 1998; Wheeler & Richey, 2010) The following case study (summarized from DeVault, Krug, & Fake [1996]) provides an example of how functional analysis and positive behavior support might be used in combination: Nine‐year‐old Samantha had been identified as having a mild form of autism and moderate speech disabilities. She frequently ran out of her third‐grade classroom, damaging school property and classmates’ belongings in her flight. When an adult tried to intervene, she would fight back by biting, hitting, kicking, or pulling hair. On such occasions school personnel often asked her parents to take her home. By systematically collecting data on Samantha’s classroom performance, a team of teachers and specialists discovered that her misbehaviors typically occurred when she either was given or was expecting a difficult assignment. Departures from the regular schedule or the absence of favorite teachers further increased the frequency of misbehaviors. The team hypothesized that Samantha’s undesirable behaviors served two purposes: They (1) helped her escape unpleasant academic tasks and (2) enabled her to gain the attention of valued adults. The team suspected, too, that Samantha felt as if she had little or no control over classroom activities and that she yearned for more social interaction with her teachers and classmates. Armed with this information, the team took several steps: breaks from potentially challenging academic tasks and numerous opportunities to interact with others. would work on, the length of time she would work on them, and the reinforcer she would receive for achieving each goal.
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When a student’s problem behavior persists, try to identify functions that the behavior might serve for the student.

positive behavior support of traditional applied behavior analysis that involves identifying the purposes of undesirable behaviors and encouraging alternative behaviors that more appropriately accomplish those purposes.

some time in the “relaxation room,” a quiet and private space where she could sit in a beanbag chair and listen to soothing audiotapes.

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CHAPTER

schoolwide positive behavior support Systematic use of behaviorist principles to encourage and reinforce productive behaviors in all students; typically involves multiple layers of support in order to accommodate the varying needs and behavior patterns of different students.

relaxation room, where she could calm down without a lot of adult attention. mates. Initially, she earned points for appropriate social behaviors and could trade them for special treats (e.g., a family trip to Dairy Queen or a video store). Eventually, her new social skills led to natural consequences—friendly interactions with peers—that made extrinsic reinforcers unnecessary (DeVault et al., 1996). Samantha’s problem behaviors didn’t disappear overnight, but they showed a dramatic decline over the next few months. By the time Samantha was 12 years old and in sixth grade, her grades consistently earned her a place on the honor roll, and she had a group of friends with whom she participated in extracurricular activities. Her teachers described her as being sociable, inquisitive, and creative. Her principal called her a “model student” (DeVault et al., 1996). In recent years some schools have successfully instituted schoolwide positive behavior support programs that encourage productive behaviors in all students. These programs typically include most or all of the following: ting desired outcomes (e.g., teacher attention) rent needs and ability levels

Positive behavior support is sometimes use on a schoolwide basis. For example, watch “Principals 200 Club.”

often also with token reinforcers that can be traded for special prizes and privileges ventions) for students who need them ary actions, and other relevant data Such steps often lead to dramatic changes in students’ behavior and are especially helpful in schools that have historically had many discipline problems. Furthermore, teachers become more optimistic that they can truly make a difference in improving students’ classroom behavior and academic achievement (Ihlo & Nantais, 2010; T. J. Lewis, Newcomer, Trussell, & Richter, 2006; Osher et al., 2010; Warren et al., 2006). Positive behavior support clearly has elements of behaviorist theory, including its focus on structuring an environment that reinforces desired behaviors and extinguishes undesirable ones. At the same time, it also incorporates contemporary theories of motivation, as reflected in its attempts to minimize anxiety, provide opportunities for choice making, and promote mastery of classroom tasks.

The importance of doing such things will become clearer in the discussions of motivation and affect in Chapter 11.

Diversity in Student Behaviors and Reactions to Consequences
When we take a behaviorist perspective, we realize that every student brings a unique history of environments and experiences to the classroom, and such diversity is a key reason for the different behavior patterns we see. Some students may have associated particular stimuli with anxiety‐ arousing events (classical conditioning), and various students have undoubtedly been reinforced and punished—by parents, previous teachers, peers, and so on—for different kinds of behaviors (instrumental conditioning). For example, some students may have been reinforced for completing tasks carefully and thoroughly, whereas others may have been reinforced for completing them quickly and with little regard for quality. Likewise, some students may have been reinforced for initiating interactions with age‐mates, whereas others may have been punished (e.g., by peer rejection) for similar outgoing behavior. In some instances, diversity in students’ behaviors is the result of the different behaviors that various cultures encourage (i.e., reinforce) and discourage (i.e., punish) in children.

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Differences also exist in the consequences students find reinforcing, to some degree as a result of the cultures in which they’ve grown up. For instance, although students from mainstream Western culture are apt to appreciate praise for their personal accomplishments, many students from Asian cultures are unaccustomed to public praise, preferring instead to have simple compliments given in private along with feedback that helps them improve on their weaknesses. And many Native American students may feel uncomfortable when praised for their work as individuals yet feel quite proud when they receive praise for group success—a preference that’s consistent with the cooperative spirit of most Native American groups (Fuller, 2001; Hattie & Gan, 2011; Jiang, 2010; Kitayama, Duffy, & Uchida, 2007). In some cultures reprimands are often used to communicate concern and affection. For example, on one occasion a teacher in Haiti was reprimanding students for proceeding across a parking lot without her: Teacher: Did I tell you to go? Children: No. Teacher: Can you cross this parking lot by yourselves? Children: No. Teacher: That’s right. There are cars here. They’re dangerous. I don’t want you to go alone. Why do I want you to wait for me, do you know? Claudette: Yes . . . because you like us. (Ballenger, 1992, p. 205)

from some cultures are unaccustomed to public praise for their individual accomplishments.

ACCOMMODATING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
The structured, systematic use of behaviorist principles—such as those manifested in positive behavior support—can be especially effective with students who have cognitive, social, or behavioral disabilities. Table 9.4 offers specific recommendations for working with students who have various special needs.
Chapter 5 identifies specific categories of special needs that fall within the five general categories listed in Table 9.4.

Strengths and Potential Limitations of Behaviorist Approaches
Behaviorist techniques are especially helpful when we need to address chronic and challenging behavior problems, and in such cases they’re often effective when other approaches have failed. However, psychologists have had mixed feelings about the value of behaviorist techniques in addressing academic problems. Reinforcement and other behaviorist strategies often do lead to improved academic performance, but we should keep the following drawbacks in mind: Attempts to change behaviors ignore cognitive factors that are potentially interfering with learning. When cognitive deficiencies (e.g., limited background knowledge, poor study strategies) hinder students’ ability to master certain topics or skills, reinforcement alone may be insufficient to bring about significant improvement. For example, let’s return one final time to the opening case study. Perhaps James has poor reading skills that, because of shame or embarrassment, he wants to hide from his teacher and classmates. If so, he may sometimes misbehave to escape tasks that, to him, seem impossible. For those students who have significant weaknesses in their knowledge or cognitive abilities, instructional strategies based on cognitive, contextual, or social cognitive theories of learning may be more effective. Reinforcement for accomplishing academic tasks may encourage students to do things quickly rather than well. In general, reinforcement solely for accomplishing a particular task, perhaps at a minimally acceptable level, focuses students’ attention and effort more on completing the activity than on learning from it. Especially if we want students to engage in complex cognitive processes—for example, to think critically and creatively about a topic—then extrinsic reinforcement simply for task accomplishment may be counterproductive (E. M. Anderman & Anderman, 2010; Deci & Ryan, 1985; McCaslin & Good, 1996). Extrinsic reinforcement of an activity that students already find intrinsically reinforcing may undermine their enjoyment of the activity. Students often engage in behaviors because of the

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CHAPTER

STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS
Encouraging Appropriate Behaviors in Students with Special Educational Needs
CATEGORY
Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties

CHARACTERISTICS YOU MIGHT OBSERVE students) SUGGESTED STRATEGIES desired classroom behaviors. Emphasize differences among similar stimuli (e.g., the letters b, d, p, and q), and provide opportunities to practice making subtle discriminations. Promote generalization of new responses (e.g., by pointing out similarities among different situations and by teaching skills in real‐world contexts). Have students work on assignments with classmates who are good role models and can encourage on‐task behaviors. Explicitly and concretely describe desired behaviors. Give precise feedback regarding students’ behavior. Reinforce desired behaviors using teacher attention, private praise, activity reinforcers, and group contingencies (for students with emotional and behavioral disorders). Reinforce accomplishments immediately, using concrete reinforcers or activity reinforcers; combine them with praise so that praise eventually becomes reinforcing in and of itself (for students with more severe forms of autism). Shape desired behaviors over time; expect gradual improvement rather than immediate perfection. Punish inappropriate behaviors (e.g., using time‐ out or response cost); consider applied behavior analysis or positive behavior support for persistently challenging behaviors. Promote generalization of new responses to appropriate situations (e.g., by teaching skills in real‐world contexts and providing opportunities to role‐play new responses). Explicitly teach and cue appropriate behaviors. Reinforce accomplishments immediately (e.g., using concrete reinforcers, activity reinforcers, praise). Use continuous reinforcement during the acquisition of new responses. Shape complex behaviors slowly over time; expect gradual improvement rather than immediate perfection. Reprimand minor misbehaviors; use time‐out or response cost for more serious and chronic misbehaviors. Emphasize the stimuli to which you want students to attend. Promote generalization of new responses (e.g., by teaching skills in real‐world contexts and by reinforcing generalization). Shape desired behaviors slowly over time; expect gradual improvement rather than immediate perfection. classroom assignments. Encourage and reinforce creative responses.

challenging tasks especially when perceptual deficits exist

Students with social or behavioral problems

situations; difficulty determining when and where particular responses are appropriate reinforced (e.g., intrinsically or by teacher attention) (for students with emotional and behavioral disorders) approval (for some students with autism) situations

Students with general delays in cognitive and social functioning

reinforcers to improve when reinforcement is immediate rather than delayed

unimportant stimuli to another

Students with physical or sensory challenges Students with advanced cognitive development

students have had traumatic brain injury

classroom tasks

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Sources: Barbetta, 1990; Barbetta, Heward, Bradley, & Miller, 1994; Beirne‐Smith, Patton, & Kim, 2006; Buchoff, 1990; J. O. Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007; Cuskelly, Zhang, & Hayes, 2003; E. S. Ellis & Friend, 1991; S. Goldstein & Rider, 2006; Grauvogel‐MacAleese & Wallace, 2010; Heward, 2009; Hobson, 2004; Hoerger & Mace, 2006; Landau & McAninch, 1993; Mercer & Pullen, 2005; Mueller et al., 2011; Neef et al., 2005; Patton, Blackbourn, & Fad, 1996; Pfiffner et al., 2006; Piirto, 1999; Pressley, 1995; Turnbull, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, 2010.

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295 personal satisfaction and other intrinsic reinforcers that those behaviors bring. Some research studies indicate that enjoyable activities can be increased through extrinsic reinforcement but will then decrease to a below‐baseline frequency once the reinforcers are removed. Extrinsic reinforcers are most likely to have this adverse effect when students perceive them as being controlling or manipulative, rather than as promoting improvement and mastery (Deci & Moller, 2005; Lepper & Hodell, 1989; Reeve, 2006). Before using extrinsic reinforcers, then, we should be sure that such reinforcers are truly necessary—that students have little or no intrinsic desire to acquire the academic skills and classroom behaviors essential for their school success. As they gain competence and self‐confidence, however, they may begin to find certain activities and behaviors worth engaging in for their own sake.

Communicate genuine appreciation for what students have done. Try not to come across as controlling or manipulative.

Extrinsic reinforcement for students who don’t need it can undermine their sense of self‐determination (see Chapter 11).

9 What Have You Learned?
As a way of recapping our discussion of behaviorist principles, we now return to the chapter’s learning outcomes. ■ 9.1: Describe five basic assumptions underlying behaviorist views of learning, and apply these assumptions to classroom practice. Historically behaviorists have argued that internal

mental processes can’t be studied objectively, and thus they have focused largely on stimuli in a learner’s immediate environments (both past and present) and on a learner’s responses to those stimuli. Behaviorists view learning as a change in behavior (rather than a mental change) and explain it in terms of specific stimulus–response associations. Key to forming such associations is close proximity in time (contiguity) between the stimuli and responses involved. Many behaviorist principles of learning apply equally to human beings and other animal species.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 9.2: Explain how learners can acquire involuntary responses through classical conditioning and how you might help a student overcome classically conditioned emotional responses that interfere with classroom performance. Classical con-

■ 9.3: Describe the effects that various kinds of consequences can have on behavior. By definition, a reinforcing stimulus increases the behavior it follows, whereas a punishing stimulus decreases the behavior. Taken together, these two effects are known as instrumental conditioning, although you may also see the term operant conditioning used in reference to the effects of a reinforcer. Positive reinforcement is at work when a response increases after previously being followed by the presentation of a particular stimulus or event (e.g., a compliment or opportunity to engage in a favorite activity). Negative reinforcement is at work when a response increases after previously being followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (e.g., a frustrating task or feeling of anxiety). Negative reinforcement—which increases the behavior— shouldn’t be confused with punishment, which can involve either the presentation of a stimulus (presumably one that a learner finds desirable) or the removal of a stimulus (presumably one that a learner wants to get rid of ). Some forms of punishment (e.g., mild reprimands, time‐outs) can be quite effective when used judiciously, whereas others (e.g., public humiliation, out‐of‐school suspension) are usually counterproductive.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

ditioning occurs when (1) one stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus) already elicits a particular response (the unconditioned response) and (2) that stimulus is presented in conjunction with another stimulus, usually on several occasions. Under these circumstances, the second (conditioned) stimulus begins to elicit a (conditioned) response as well. Classical conditioning is one possible explanation for why students may have unproductive emotional reactions in certain learning environments—say, in a math class or on the athletic field. As teachers, we should strive to create an instructional environment that conditions pleasure and relaxation responses to new tasks and activities, not an environment that elicits fear and anxiety.
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Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 9.4: Apply behaviorist principles to encourage productive student behaviors and discourage undesirable ones. We can increase the frequency of desired student behaviors either by reinforcing the behaviors whenever they occur or by gradually shaping them over time. Our use of reinforcement is more likely to be effective when we make response–consequence contingencies explicit and when we individualize reinforcers to match students’ preferences. We must also be careful that we don’t reinforce inappropriate behaviors. Students’ behaviors are influenced not only by their consequences but also by antecedent events. For example, once students have learned a particular response to a particular stimulus, they’ll tend to generalize the same response to similar

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CHAPTER ■ 9.5: Accommodate students’ personal and cultural backgrounds and special needs in your application of behaviorist principles.

stimuli. Seemingly similar situations occasionally call for very different behaviors, however, and so we must help students discriminate between occasions when certain responses are and are not appropriate. It’s important, too, to create environments that readily evoke desired student behaviors and to introduce challenging tasks only after students have become comfortable performing similar but slightly easier ones. Behaviorist principles offer several strategies for reducing nonproductive or counterproductive classroom behaviors. As teachers, we might remove the consequences that reinforce an unwanted behavior (possibly resulting in extinction), cue students about inappropriate behavior, or reinforce responses that are incompatible with those we want to eliminate. In some cases, we may need to resort to punishment, especially if students’ behaviors significantly interfere with classroom learning or jeopardize one or more students’ welfare. We must abide by strict guidelines in the use of punishment; for example, we should tell students ahead of time which behaviors are unacceptable and what the particular consequences will be, and we should administer punishment within the context of a warm, supportive relationship—one that communicates a genuine concern for students’ well‐being. Applied behavior analysis, functional analysis, and positive behavior support are three approaches through which we can apply behaviorist principles in a systematic fashion. Such techniques are often effective in promoting academic achievement and appropriate classroom behavior, even in cases where other approaches haven’t worked. In fact, positive behavior support can be effectively applied on a schoolwide basis to reduce discipline problems and enhance student achievement across the board.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

The students in any single classroom have had different histories of reinforcement and different prior experiences with the stimuli they encounter at school; hence, they’ll inevitably have varying reactions to the same tasks and situations. Students’ cultural backgrounds may also have contributed to their diversity; for example, some students may appreciate praise only when it’s given in private, and others may prefer reinforcement for group achievement rather than individual accomplishments. Students with cognitive, social, or behavioral disabilities can especially benefit from the structured, consistent learning environments that behaviorists advocate. For example, a functional analysis can help us understand why a certain student is frequently aggressive or noncompliant and then enable us to plan an intervention that promotes more productive classroom behaviors. And consistent, explicit, and immediate use of reinforcement to shape increasingly complex behaviors can help students with cognitive disabilities acquire many new skills.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 9.6: Describe circumstances in which behaviorist techniques might not be helpful. Behaviorist techniques are most applicable when students have the ability to behave appropriately. If cognitive factors interfere with learning or behavior, however, behaviorist approaches alone may be ineffective. Furthermore, we must be careful that we don’t provide extrinsic reinforcement unnecessarily; in doing so, we may encourage students to do things quickly rather than well, and we may undermine students’ intrinsic enjoyment of certain activities.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
Hostile Helen
Mr. Washington has a close‐knit group of friends in one of his high school vocational education classes. He is concerned about one particular student in this group, a girl named Helen. Helen uses obscene language in class. She’s also rude and disrespectful to Mr. Washington, and she taunts and insults classmates outside her own circle of friends. In addition, Helen is physically aggressive toward school property; she defaces furniture, kicks equipment, punches walls, and so on. At first, Mr. Washington tries to ignore Helen’s hostile and aggressive behaviors, but this strategy doesn’t lead to any improvement in her behavior. He then tries praising Helen on those rare occasions when she does behave appropriately, but this strategy doesn’t seem to work either.
1. Multiple‐choice question:

Mr. Washington initially tries to ignore Helen’s inappropriate behavior. This approach best reflects which one of the following concepts from behaviorism? a. b. c. d. Extinction Response cost Functional analysis Negative reinforcement
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2. Multiple‐choice question: 3. Constructed‐response question:

Later, Mr. Washington tries praising Helen for appropriate behaviors. This approach best reflects which one of the following behaviorist concepts? a. b. c. d. Setting event Discrimination Positive behavior support Reinforcement of incompatible behaviors

Many research studies indicate that behaviorist principles can be effective in bringing about significant improvements in students’ classroom behavior, yet neither of Mr. Washington’s strategies has an effect on Helen’s classroom behavior. A. Suggest at least three different reasons that Mr. Washington’s strategies might not be having much effect. B. Describe how you might use behaviorist learning principles to bring about a behavior change in Helen. Be specific about what you would do.

PRAXIS sections of this chapter that may be especially applicable to the Praxis tests.

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10

Social Cognitive Views of Learning

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
10.1: Describe five basic assumptions of social cognitive theory and their classroom implications. 10.2: Use a social cognitive perspective to explain how mental processes can influence the effects of reinforcement and punishment. 10.3: Describe the potential effects of modeling on learners’ behaviors, and explain how you can productively use modeling in instruction. 10.4: Describe the nature and origins of self‐efficacy, and explain how you might enhance self‐efficacy both in your students as developing learners and in yourself as a teacher. 10.5: Identify important components of self‐regulated behavior and self‐regulated learning, and apply your knowledge of self‐regulation to help diverse learners effectively control their behavior, master academic subject matter, and address interpersonal problems. 10.6: Compare and contrast perspectives of learning associated with cognitive psychology, contextual theories, behaviorism, and social cognitive theory.

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CA S E S T U DY: PA R L E Z ‐VOU S F R A NÇ AI S?
Nathan is in French I only because his mother insisted that he take it. On the first day of class, Nathan notices that most of his classmates are girls and the few boys are students he doesn’t know very well. He sits sullenly in the back, recalling that three male friends who took French last year got mostly Ds and Fs on quizzes and homework and that two of them dropped the class after one semester. “I do great in math and science,” he tells himself, “but I’m just no good at learning languages. Besides, learning French is a girl thing.” Although Nathan comes to class every day, his mind often wanders as his teacher demonstrates correct pronunciations and explains simple syntactical structures. He makes feeble attempts at homework assignments but quickly puts them aside whenever he encounters something he doesn’t immediately understand. Sure enough, Nathan is right: He’s no good at French. He gets a D− on the first exam.

things has he not

Although Nathan hasn’t learned much from his French teacher—partly because he hasn’t been paying attention during lessons and partly because he hasn’t put much effort into assignments— he’s learned a few things from observing his peers. Knowing what happened to three male friends and seeing mostly girls in his class, he concludes that, as a boy, he’s doomed to failure. We human beings learn a wide variety of behaviors by observing the people in our lives and in the media. We also learn which behaviors are likely to get us ahead—and which are not—by seeing their consequences for others. In part by watching what others do, we develop a sense of what our own capabilities are likely to be, and we begin to direct our behavior toward goals we think we can achieve. In this chapter we explore social cognitive theory, a perspective that can help us understand what and how people learn by observing others and how, in the process, they begin to take control of their own behavior. Originally called social learning theory, social cognitive theory has its early roots in behaviorism and thus addresses the effects of reinforcement and punishment. Over the past few decades, however, it has increasingly incorporated cognitive processes into its explanations of learning and now includes a blend of ideas from behaviorism and cognitive psychology. Social cognitive theory has developed in large part through the research efforts of Albert Bandura at Stanford University. You’ll find references to Bandura and others who have built on his ideas (e.g., Dale Schunk, Barry Zimmerman) throughout the chapter.

Chapter 9 presents behaviorist perspectives of learning.

Basic Assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory
Several basic assumptions underlie social cognitive theory: social cognitive theory

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People can learn by observing others. From the perspective of behaviorism, learning is often a process of trial and error: Learners try many different responses, keep those that bring desired consequences, and leave unproductive ones behind. Social cognitive theorists argue that learners don’t necessarily have to experiment in such a trial‐and‐error manner. Instead learners acquire many new responses simply by observing the behaviors of other individuals, or models.

Theoretical perspective that focuses on how people learn by observing others and how they eventually assume control over their own behavior.

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CHAPTER

CHA PTER O U TL I N E
Basic Assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory The Social Cognitive View of Reinforcement and Punishment Modeling
Behaviors and Skills That Can Be Learned through Modeling Characteristics of Effective Models Essential Conditions for Successful Modeling

Self‐Efficacy
How Self‐Efficacy Affects Behavior and Cognition Factors in the Development of Self‐Efficacy Teacher Self‐Efficacy

Children learn many new behaviors simply by watching adults or peers perform them successfully.

Self‐Regulation
Self‐Regulated Behavior Self‐Regulated Learning Self‐Regulated Problem Solving Diversity in Self‐Regulation Revisiting Reciprocal Causation

For example, a student might learn how to solve a long division problem, spell the word synonym correctly, or mouth off at a teacher simply by watching someone else do these things first. Learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a behavior change. Rather than define learning as a change in behavior (as many behaviorists do), social cognitive theorists (like cognitive psychologists) view learning as a mental change that may or may not be reflected in the learner’s present or future behavior. For example, you might try to dribble a basketball as soon as you watch someone else do it. You probably won’t demonstrate that you’ve learned how to apologize tactfully until a later time when an apology is necessary. And you might never walk through campus nude, no matter how many times you see someone else do it. Cognitive processes influence motivation as well as learning. Like cognitive psychologists, social cognitive theorists recognize the importance of cognitive processes (e.g., attention, encoding) for learning and remembering new information. But they point out that cognition is also an important ingredient in motivation. For example, people set mental goals toward which they direct their behavior, and their goals are based to some degree on their expectations about what they might reasonably accomplish. People’s beliefs about their own ability to execute certain behaviors or reach certain goals—their self‐efficacy—influence how hard they try, how long they persist at challenging tasks, and ultimately how much they learn and achieve. People and their environments mutually influence each other. Some learning theorists, especially behaviorists, focus primarily on how environmental variables can influence learners. But the reverse is true as well: Learners influence their environments, often quite deliberately. To some degree learners influence their environments through their behaviors. For example, the responses they make (e.g., the classes they choose, the extracurricular activities they pursue, the company they keep) affect the learning opportunities they have and the consequences they experience. Mental processes, personality characteristics, and other things that learners “own” in some way—social cognitive theorists call these things person variables—come into play as well. For example, learners are apt to focus their attention on—and thus learn from—only certain aspects of their environment, and their idiosyncratic interpretations of why they’ve been reinforced or punished influence the specific effects that such consequences have.

Comparing Theoretical Perspectives of Learning

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Ultimately, all three of these factors—environment, behavior, and person—influence one another in the manner shown in Figure 10.1. Social cognitive theorists use the term reciprocal causation when referring to this constant interplay among environment, behavior, and person variables (e.g., Bandura, 1989, 2008). Behavior becomes increasingly self‐regulated. In the first few years of life, children’s actions are controlled and guided to a considerable degree by others—by parents, older siblings, child care providers, teachers, and so on. But as children grow older, most of them increasingly take charge of their lives, not only identifying particular goals toward which to strive but also directing and monitoring their behaviors and thought processes to accomplish their goals. In other words, most children increasingly engage in self‐regulation. Table 10.1 summarizes the assumptions just listed and offers examples of their implications for classroom practice.
Environment Behavior

reciprocal causation
Interdependence of environmental, behavioral, and personal variables in influencing learning and development.

FIGURE 10.1 In social cognitive theory, environmental, behavioral, and personal variables mutually influence one another.
Person

The Social Cognitive View of Reinforcement and Punishment
Reinforcement and punishment are less critical in social cognitive theory than they are in behaviorism, but they do have several indirect effects on learning and behavior (e.g., Bandura, 1977, 1986; T. L. Rosenthal & Zimmerman, 1978). Cognitive factors come into play in these indirect effects, as reflected in the following ideas: Consequences influence behavior only if learners are aware of the response–consequence contingency. From a social cognitive perspective, reinforcement and punishment influence learners’ behaviors only if the learners connect these consequences to specific things they’ve done (Bandura, 1986). As teachers, then, we should be very clear about what we’re reinforcing and punishing, so that students know the real response–reinforcement contingencies operating in the classroom. For instance, if we give Sam an A on an essay but we don’t tell him why he’s earned that grade, he won’t necessarily know how to get an A the next time. Thus we might accompany the A grade with feedback such as “You followed a logical train of thought and gave three good examples.” And rather that simply tell Sandra “Good job!” after a basketball game, we might tell her that we were pleased with her high energy level and passing accuracy.

Be explicit about which behaviors have led to which consequences.

PRINCIPLES/ASSUMPTIONS
Basic Assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory and Their Educational Implications
ASSUMPTION
Learning by observation

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION
Help students acquire new behaviors more quickly by demonstrating those behaviors yourself. Remember that new learning doesn’t always reveal itself immediately but may instead be reflected in students’ behaviors at a later time. Encourage students to set productive goals for themselves, especially goals that are challenging yet achievable. Encourage students to make choices that will lead to valuable learning experiences. Teach students strategies through which they can better control their own behavior and direct their own learning.

EXAMPLE
Demonstrate appropriate ways to deal with and resolve interpersonal conflicts. Then ask students to role‐play conflict resolution in small groups, and compliment those who use prosocial strategies. When one student engages in disruptive classroom behavior, take appropriate steps to discourage it. Otherwise, classmates who have witnessed the misbehavior may be similarly disruptive in the future. communicate with a classmate who is deaf, ask them to predict how many new words and phrases they can learn each week. Describe the benefits of taking an advanced writing course both as a means of enhancing writing skills and as a way of exploring writing as a possible career path. Give students concrete suggestions about how they can remind themselves to bring needed supplies to school each day.

Learning as an internal process that may or may not be reflected in behavior Cognitive processes in motivation

Reciprocal influences among environmental, behavioral, and personal variables
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Increasing self‐regulation with age

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CHAPTER Learners form expectations about the likely consequences of future actions and then behave in ways they think will maximize desired results. Learners often base such outcome expectations on existing patterns of reinforcement, nonreinforcement, and punishment. For example, perhaps you’ve taken a course in which all exam questions came from the textbook, without a single question coming from class lectures. After the first exam, did you find yourself reading the textbook carefully but skipping class a lot? And perhaps you’ve taken a course in which exams were based almost entirely on lectures. In that situation, did you go to class regularly but hardly ever open your textbook? When a particular response is reinforced every time it’s made, learners typically expect to be reinforced for behaving the same way in the future. In a similar manner, when a response frequently leads to punishment—as insulting an instructor or skipping class on a test day might—learners will probably expect that response to be punished on later occasions as well. Sometimes, however, learners form expectations about future consequences on the basis of little or no hard data. For example, a high school student might erroneously believe that bragging about perfect test scores will gain him the admiration of his classmates (i.e., a reinforcer). Another student might believe that her classmates will ridicule and reject (i.e., punish) her for being smart, even though they wouldn’t actually do so. Expectations about future contingencies certainly affect learners’ behaviors. They may or may not influence learning itself, as the following exercise can show you.

outcome expectation Prediction regarding the consequence that a particular behavior is likely to yield.

incentive Hoped‐for, but not guaranteed, future consequence of behavior.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND DR. X
Think about a class you’re taking now or have taken recently—not an online class but one that involves an instructor and students regularly convening in a single room. How many of the following questions can you answer about your instructor, whom I’ll call “Dr. X”? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Is Dr. X right handed or left handed? Is Dr. X a flashy dresser or more conservative one? What kind of shoes does Dr. X wear to class? Does Dr. X wear a wedding ring? Does Dr. X bring a briefcase to class each day?

Be explicit about future response–reinforcement and response–punishment contingencies as well.

If you’ve attended class regularly, you can probably answer at least two of these questions and possibly all five. But I’m guessing that you’ve never mentioned what you’ve learned to anyone else, because you’ve had no reason to believe that demonstrating your knowledge about these matters would be reinforced. When learners do expect reinforcement for such knowledge, it suddenly surfaces. For example, every time I teach educational psychology, I take a minute sometime during the semester to hide my feet behind the podium and ask my students what my shoes look like. They first look at me as if I have two heads, but after a few seconds of awkward silence, at least a half dozen of them (usually those who regularly sit in the first two rows) begin to describe my shoes, right down to the rippled soles, scuffed leather, and beige stitching. Students learn many things in the classroom. They learn facts and figures, they learn ways of getting their teacher’s attention, and they may even learn which classmate stores M&Ms in his desk or what kind of shoes their teacher wears to class. Of all the things they learn, they’re most likely to demonstrate the things they think will bring reinforcement. When learners choose to behave in a way that might bring future reinforcement, they’re working for an incentive, which is never guaranteed. For instance, students never know that they’re going to get an A on a test when they study for it or that they’ll win a position on the Student Council simply because they run for office. An incentive is an expected or hoped‐for consequence that may or may not actually occur.
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Learners’ expectations are influenced by what happens to other people as well as to themselves. When I was in the third grade, I entered a Halloween costume contest dressed as Happy Tooth, a character in several toothpaste commercials at the time. I didn’t win the contest; a witch won first

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303 prize. So the following year I entered the same contest dressed as a witch, figuring I was a shoo‐in for first place. I had experienced reinforcement vicariously rather than directly—that is, through watching what happened to someone else. Learners who observe someone else being reinforced for a behavior are likely to exhibit that behavior more frequently themselves—a phenomenon known as vicarious reinforcement. For example, by watching the consequences their classmates experience, students might learn that studying hard leads to good grades, that being elected to class office brings status and popularity, or that neatness counts. Conversely, when learners see someone else get punished for a behavior, they’re less likely to behave that way themselves—a phenomenon known as vicarious punishment. For example, when a coach benches a football player for unsportsmanlike conduct, other players are unlikely to behave similarly. Unfortunately, vicarious punishment can suppress desirable behaviors as well as undesirable ones. For instance, when a teacher belittles a student’s question by calling it “silly,” other students may be reluctant to ask questions of their own.1 As teachers, we must be extremely careful that we don’t vicariously reinforce undesirable behaviors or vicariously punish desirable ones. If we give too much attention to a misbehaving student, others who want our attention may misbehave as well. Or if we ridicule a student who volunteers an incorrect answer or erroneous belief, classmates will hardly be eager to voice their own ideas. Expectations about future consequences affect how thoroughly and in what ways learners cognitively process new information. To get a sense of how this might happen, try the next exercise. vicarious reinforcement
Phenomenon in which a response increases in frequency when another person is observed being reinforced for that response.

vicarious punishment Phenomenon in which a response decreases in frequency when another person is observed being punished for that response.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Quickly skim the contents of the upcoming section on modeling to get a general idea of the topics it includes. Once you’ve done so, imagine yourself in each of these situations: 1. Your instructor announces, “The section on modeling won’t be on your test, but please read it anyway.” How thoroughly and carefully will you read that section? 2. The next day your instructor announces, “I misled you yesterday. Actually, half of next week’s test will be on modeling.” Now how thoroughly and carefully will you read that section? If you don’t expect to be reinforced for knowing about modeling, you may very well not read the chapter’s discussion of it. (Perhaps you’ll read it later, you tell yourself, but you have other things you need to do right now.) If, instead, you discover that getting an A in your educational psychology class depends on knowing the material about modeling really well, you’re apt to read the material slowly and attentively, possibly trying to remember every detail. When learners believe they’ll be reinforced for learning something, they’re more likely to pay attention to it and perhaps engage in elaboration, comprehension monitoring, and other effective cognitive processes. When they don’t expect to be reinforced for learning something, they’re far less likely to process it in any significant way. As an example of the latter situation, let’s return to the opening case study. Nathan is convinced he can’t learn French, thanks in part to his friends’ low French grades (which served as vicarious punishment for him). As a result, Nathan pays little attention to what his teacher says in class, and he makes only halfhearted attempts to complete assignments. His low expectations almost guarantee poor performance—a self‐fulfilling prophecy. The nonoccurrence of an expected consequence—whether for oneself or for someone else—can have a reinforcing or punishing effect in and of itself. What happens when learners’ expectations aren’t met—say, when an expected reinforcement never comes? When, as a fourth grader, I entered the Halloween costume contest as a witch, I lost once again—this time to a girl wearing a metal colander on her head and claiming to be Sputnik, the first satellite launched into space by what
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The effects of vicarious reinforcement and vicarious punishment are sometimes referred to as the response facilitation effect and response inhibition effect, respectively.

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CHAPTER was then the Soviet Union. That was the last time I entered a Halloween contest. I had expected reinforcement and felt cheated because I didn’t get it. Social cognitive theorists propose that the nonoccurrence of expected reinforcement is a form of punishment (e.g., Bandura, 1986). When people think that a certain response is going to be reinforced but the response isn’t reinforced, they’re less likely to exhibit the response in the future. Just as the nonoccurrence of expected reinforcement is a form of punishment, the nonoccurrence of expected punishment is a form of reinforcement (Bandura, 1986). Perhaps you can think of a time when you broke a rule, expecting to be punished, but you got away with your crime. Or perhaps you can remember seeing someone else break a rule without being caught. When nothing bad happens after a forbidden behavior, people may actually feel as if the behavior has been reinforced. Thus, when students work hard to achieve a desired result—perhaps a compliment, a high grade, or a special privilege—and the anticipated result doesn’t materialize, they’ll be unlikely to work as hard the next time around. And when students break school rules but aren’t punished for doing so, they’re likely to break the rules again—and so are other students who are aware that the behavior has gone unpunished.2 It’s important that we, as teachers, follow through with promised reinforcements for desirable student behaviors. It’s equally important that we impose any reasonable consequences students have come to expect for inappropriate behaviors.

Follow through with the consequences students have been led to expect for certain behaviors.

cautions in the use of punishment.

Modeling
As human beings, we have some ability to imitate others beginning early in infancy (S. S. Jones, 2007; Meltzoff, 2005; Nielsen & Tomaselli, 2010). In fact, the brain seems to be specially equipped for imitation. Certain neurons in the brain, appropriately called mirror neurons, become active either (1) when learners observe others engaging in a particular behavior or (2) when learners engage in that same behavior themselves. It appears, then, that our brains are prewired to make connections between observing and doing, thus enhancing our ability to learn new skills from our social and cultural surroundings (Arbib, 2005; Gallese, Gernsbacher, Heyes, Hickok, & Iacoboni, 2011; Iacoboni & Woods, 1999). In general, a model can take one of three forms (Bandura, 1977, 1986). One form, of course, is a live model—an actual person demonstrating a particular behavior. But we can also learn from a symbolic model—a person or character portrayed in a book, film, television show, video game, or other medium. For example, many children model their behavior after football players, rock singers, or such fictional characters as Harry Potter and Dora the Explorer. Finally, we can learn from verbal instructions—descriptions of how to successfully execute certain behaviors—without another human being, either live or symbolic, being anywhere in sight. Social cognitive theorists sometimes use the term modeling to describe what a model does (i.e., demonstrate a behavior) and at other times to describe what the observer does (i.e., imitate the behavior). To minimize confusion, I’ll often use the verb imitate rather than model when referring to what the observer does.

BEHAVIORS AND SKILLS THAT CAN BE LEARNED THROUGH MODELING mirror neuron that fires either when a person is performing a particular behavior or when the person sees someone else perform the behavior.

By observing what other people do, learners can, of course, acquire a wide variety of psychomotor skills, from relatively simple actions (e.g., brushing teeth) to far more complex ones (e.g., performing dance routines or gymnastics skills) (Boyer, Miltenberger, Batsche, & Fogel, 2009; Poche, McCubbrey, & Munn, 1982; Vintere, Hemmes, Brown, & Poulson, 2004). But observations of other people also enable learners to acquire many behaviors with cognitive or emotional components. For example, learners are apt to do the following: person or on videotape (Geiger, LeBlanc, Dillon, & Bates, 2010)
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model Real or fictional individual who demonstrates a behavior that learners might emulate; alternatively, a set of instructions for successfully executing the behavior. modeling Demonstrating a behavior for another person or observing and imitating another person’s behavior.

The tendency for learners to engage in forbidden behavior when they see others incur no adverse consequences for behaving that way is known as the response disinhibition effect. In this situation, the learners have presumably already mastered the behavior but the expectation of punishment has previously inhibited it. With the expectation no longer present, the behavior is disinhibited and may increase in frequency.

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if others show fear in those circumstances (Mineka & Zinbarg, 2006) when a peer has modeled resistance strategies (Poche, Yoder, & Miltenberger, 1988) people around them refuse to tolerate such statements (Blanchard, Lilly, & Vaughn, 1991) Considerable research has been conducted concerning the impact of models in three areas: academic skills, aggression, and productive interpersonal behaviors. ACADEMIC SKILLS Learners acquire many academic skills, at least in part, by observing what others do. For instance, they may learn how to solve long division problems or write a cohesive composition partly by observing how adults or peers do these things (Braaksma, Rijlaarsdam, & van den Bergh, 2002; K. R. Harris, Graham, Brindle, & Sandmel, 2009; Schunk & Hanson, 1985). Modeling of academic skills can Students who are prominent members of the school community can be powerful be especially effective when the model demonmodels for many of their peers—perhaps for the better or perhaps for the worse, strates not only how to do a task but also how to depending on the specific behaviors being modeled. think about the task—in other words, when the model engages in cognitive modeling (Schunk, 1998; Schunk & Swartz, 1993; Zimmerman, 2004). As an example, consider how a teacher might model the thinking processes involved in the long division problem in the margin:
First I have to decide what number to divide 4 into. I take 276, start on the left and move toward the right until I have a number the same as or larger than 4. Is 2 larger than 4? No. Is 27 larger than 4? Yes. So my first division will be 4 into 27. Now I need to multiply 4 by a number that will give an answer the same as or slightly smaller than 27. How about 5? 5 * 4 = 20. No, too small. Let’s try 6. 6 * 4 = 24. Maybe. Let’s try 7. 7 * 4 = 28. No, too large. So 6 is correct.3

4)2 7 6

AGGRESSION Numerous research studies have indicated that children become more aggressive when they observe aggressive or violent models (Bandura, 1965; N. E. Goldstein, Arnold, Rosenberg, Stowe, & Ortiz, 2001; Guerra, Huesmann, & Spindler, 2003). Children learn aggression not only from live models but also from the symbolic models they see in films, on television, and in video games—and possibly also from aggressive lyrics they hear in popular music (C. A. Anderson et al., 2003; Carnagey, Anderson, & Bartholow, 2007; Wartella, Caplovitz, & Lee, 2004). Furthermore, young learners’ aggressive behaviors tend to take the same forms as the aggression they witness. Boys in particular are apt to copy other people’s aggressive actions (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963; Bushman & Anderson, 2001; Lowry, Sleet, Duncan, Powell, & Kolbe, 1995). A classic study by Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) dramatically illustrates the power of modeling for both encouraging and discouraging aggressive behavior. Preschoolers were taken, one at a time, to a playroom containing a variety of toys and were seated at a table where they could draw pictures. While in the playroom, some of the children saw an aggressive model: An adult came in and behaved aggressively toward an inflatable punching doll—for example, kicking
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Extract from “Teaching Elementary Students to Self‐Regulate Practice of Mathematical Skills with Modeling” by Dale H. Schunk, from Self‐Regulated Learning: From Teaching to Self‐Reflective Practice, edited by Dale H. Schunk and Barry J. Zimmerman, p. 146. Copyright © 1998 by Guilford Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

cognitive modeling Demonstrating how to think about as well as how to do a task.

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CHAPTER the doll in the air, hitting its head with a wooden mallet, and making statements such as “Pow!” and “Punch him in the nose.” Other children instead observed a nonaggressive model: An adult came in and played constructively with building blocks. Still other children saw no model at all in the playroom. The children were then led to another room where they were mildly frustrated: Just as they began to play with some attractive, entertaining toys, the toys were taken away. Finally, the children were taken to a third room that contained both nonaggressive and aggressive toys (including the punching doll and mallet). Children who had seen the aggressive model were the most aggressive of the three groups; in fact, they mimicked many of the behaviors they’d seen the aggressive model display. Children who had observed a nonaggressive model were even less aggressive than the no‐model group. With regard to aggression, then, models can have an impact either way: Aggressive models lead to increased aggression in children, and nonaggressive models lead to decreased aggression. PRODUCTIVE INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIORS Learners acquire many interpersonal skills by observing and imitating others. For example, when they talk about literature in small groups, children may adopt one another’s strategies for conducting discussions, perhaps learning how to solicit one another’s opinions (“What do you think, Jalisha?”), express agreement or disagreement (“I agree with Kordell because . . .”), and justify a point of view (“I think it shouldn’t be allowed, because . . .”) (R. C. Anderson et al., 2001, pp. 14, 16, 25). And children with mild or moderate forms of an autism spectrum disorder are apt to play more effectively with age‐mates after watching a videotape of a nondisabled peer using good social skills in play activities (Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2004). Learners can also acquire prosocial behaviors in part through observation and modeling (R. Elliott & Vasta, 1970; Jordan, 2003; Radke‐Yarrow, Zahn‐Waxler, & Chapman, 1983). In one research study (Rushton, 1980), children observed an adult playing a game and reinforcing himself with tokens for good performance. Some children saw the adult donate half of his earned tokens to a poor boy named Bobby pictured on a poster in the room; other children observed the adult keep all his winnings for himself. After that, the children played the game and could reward themselves with tokens. The more tokens they earned, the better the prize they could purchase. They could make a donation to Bobby, but doing so meant lesser purchasing power for themselves. Children who had seen a generous model were more likely to give some tokens to Bobby than were children who had seen a selfish model—not only at that time but also in a follow‐up session two months later. Benevolent models in popular media can have a positive impact as well. Rather than encouraging aggression, some characters in books, television programs, and other popular media promote prosocial behaviors—those aimed at helping others rather than at enhancing personal well‐being— and such models can prompt children and adolescents to behave similarly (D. R. Anderson, 2003; Huston, Watkins, & Kunkel, 1989; Jordan, 2003; Nucci, 2001; Rushton, 1980).

You can learn more about the development of prosocial behaviors in Chapter 3.

Regularly expose students to prosocial models in literature, history, and other academic subject areas.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE MODELS
Learners don’t always imitate the people they see around them and in the media. Influential models typically have several characteristics (Bandura, 1986; T. L. Rosenthal & Bandura, 1978; Schunk, 1987). First, they’re competent at the behavior or skill in question. Learners usually want to behave like people who do something well rather than poorly. For instance, children may try to imitate the basketball skills of a professional basketball player, and adolescents may make note of especially effective techniques they observe in art or literature (see Figure 10.2). Even preschoolers have some ability to discriminate between competent and incompetent models (P. L. Harris & Want, 2005). Second, influential models typically have prestige and power. Some effective models—a world leader, a renowned athlete, a popular rock star—are famous at a national or international level. The prestige and power of other models—a head cheerleader, the captain of the high school hockey team, a gang leader—may be more localized. As an example of such local influence, children are more likely to interact with students who have disabilities when they see popular classmates (rather than unpopular ones) initiating such interactions (Sasso & Rude, 1987). Third, and perhaps most importantly, influential models exhibit behaviors relevant to learners’ own circumstances. Learners are most likely to adopt behaviors they believe will be useful for

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FIGURE 10.2 Seventh graders in a language arts class chose these examples of figurative writing to serve as models for their own writing efforts.
“The blackness of the night came in, like snakes around the ankles.” —Caroline Cooney, Wanted, p. 176 “Flirtatious waves made passes at the primly pebbled beach.” The Cat Who Saw Stars, p. 120 “Water boiled up white and frothy, like a milkshake.” For Better, for Worse, Forever, p. 60 “I try to swallow the snowball in my throat.” Speak, p. 72

themselves and are within their own ability levels (Braaksma et al., 2002; Schunk & Hanson, 1985). And remember Nathan’s belief that French is a “girl thing”? Learners must believe that a particular behavior is appropriate for their gender, with different individuals having varying views about which activities are “gender appropriate” (Grace, David, & Ryan, 2008; Leaper & Friedman, 2007). As classroom teachers, we’re likely to be perceived by most students as competent, prestigious, and powerful—that is, we’re likely to be influential models. Thus, we “teach” not only by what we say but also by what we do. It’s critical, then, that we model appropriate behaviors— for instance, showing enthusiasm about classroom topics and fairness in our dealings with all students—and don’t model inappropriate ones. Our actions will often speak louder than our words (e.g., J. H. Bryan, 1975). Yet our students won’t always perceive our behaviors as being relevant to their own circumstances. For instance, students from cultures and socioeconomic groups very different from our own may think that certain topics have little value in their own lives and communities. Students of both genders may view certain content domains and careers as being only for males or “girl things.” And students with disabilities may believe they’re incapable of performing the skills that a nondisabled teacher demonstrates. Ideally, students need to see successful models who are similar to themselves in obvious ways—for instance, in race, cultural background, socioeconomic status, gender, and (if applicable) disability (C. L. Martin & Ruble, 2004; Pang, 1995; L. E. Powers, Sowers, & Stevens, 1995).

Expose students to successful male and female models from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Also expose them to models who have achieved success despite disabilities.

ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL MODELING
Even with the presence of influential models, however, learners don’t always acquire the behaviors and skills they see others demonstrate. Social cognitive theorists suggest that four conditions are necessary for successful learning from models: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation (e.g., Bandura, 1986). ATTENTION To learn effectively, the learner must pay attention to the model and, in particular, to critical aspects of the modeled behavior. For instance, students must observe carefully as we show proper procedures in the science lab or demonstrate the elementary backstroke, and they must listen attentively as we pronounce Comment allez‐vous? in a French class—something Nathan didn’t do in the opening case study. RETENTION After paying attention, the learner must remember what the model does. As cognitive psychologists have discovered, students are more likely to recall information they’ve encoded in memory in more than one way—perhaps as both a visual image and a verbal representation (R. E. Mayer, 2011b; Moreno, 2006). As teachers, then, we may often want to describe what we’re doing as we demonstrate behaviors. We may also want to give descriptive labels to complex behaviors that might otherwise be hard to remember (Vintere et al., 2004; Ziegler, 1987). For example, in

Chapter 6 presents many strategies for enhancing students’ attention and retention.

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CHAPTER teaching swimming, an easy way to help students remember the sequence of arm positions in the elementary backstroke is to teach them the labels chicken, airplane, and soldier (see Figure 10.3).

FIGURE 10.3 Often learners can more easily remember a complex, multifaceted behavior—such as the sequence of arm movements in the elementary backstroke—when the various components have verbal labels.

“Chicken”

MOTOR REPRODUCTION In addition to attending and remembering, the learner must be physically capable of reproducing the modeled behavior. When a student lacks the ability to reproduce an observed behavior, motor reproduction obviously can’t occur. For example, first graders who watch a teenager throw a softball don’t have the muscular coordination to mimic the throw. And high school students who haven’t yet learned to roll their rs will have trouble repeating the Spanish teacher’s tongue twister: Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rápido corren los carros del ferrocarril. It’s often useful to have students imitate a desired behavior immediately after they see it modeled and to give them “Airplane” “Soldier” guidance and feedback that can help them improve their performance. This approach—sometimes known as coaching— is often more effective than modeling alone (S. N. Elliott & Busse, 1991; Kitsantas, Zimmerman, & Cleary, 2000; Schunk & Swartz, 1993). When considering this approach, however, we must keep in mind that students from some ethnic groups (e.g., many Native Americans) may prefer to practice new behaviors in private at first and show us what they’ve learned only after they’ve achieved reasonable mastery (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Suina & Smolkin, 1994). MOTIVATION Finally, the learner must be motivated to demonstrate the modeled behavior. Some students may be eager to show what they’ve observed and remembered; for example, they may have seen the model reinforced for a certain behavior and thus have already been vicariously reinforced. But other students may not have any motivation to demonstrate something they’ve seen a model do, perhaps because they don’t see the model’s actions as being appropriate for themselves. When all four factors—attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation—are present, modeling can be an extremely effective teaching technique. The Into the Classroom feature “Promoting Learning through Modeling” offers several strategies that can maximize its effectiveness.

Self‐Efficacy
One important aspect of the fourth condition—motivation—is self‐efficacy, and in this respect learners often differ considerably. In general, self‐efficacy is a learner’s self‐constructed judgment about his or her ability to execute certain behaviors or reach certain goals. To get a sense of your own self‐efficacy for various activities, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Take a moment to answer the following questions: 1. Do you believe you’ll be able to understand and apply educational psychology by reading this book and thinking carefully about its content? Or do you believe you’re going to have trouble with the material regardless of how much you study? 2. Do you think you could learn to execute a reasonable swan dive from a high diving board if you were shown how to do it and given time to practice? Or do you think you’re such a klutz that no amount of training and practice would help? 3. Do you think you could walk barefoot over hot coals unscathed? Or do you think the soles of your feet would be burned to a crisp?

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self‐efficacy Belief that one is capable of executing certain behaviors or achieving certain goals.

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Into the Classroom

Make sure you have students’ attention when modeling a desired behavior.
A middle school science teacher wants to show his class how to prepare a slide of swamp water for inspection under a microscope. He meets with students in groups of three or four so that everyone can closely observe what he does.

might quickly estimate the total cost of several purchases at a local discount store.

Invite respected professionals to the classroom to demonstrate skills in their areas of expertise.
A high school journalism teacher invites a local newspaper reporter to show students how he determines the sequence in which he presents information in a newspaper article.

Describe what you are doing as you model a desired behavior.
As a fourth‐grade teacher shows students how to use word processing software to edit their compositions, she explains every step she takes to insert new text, cut unwanted text, use the thesaurus and spell‐check by step, how to perform each of these procedures, and she shows where to find important commands and functions on the computer screen.

Show videos of skilled individuals performing complex psychomotor skills.
A gymnastics coach shows an aspiring young gymnast a video in which an expert performs a particular gymnastics skill. The coach also videotapes the child’s execution of the skill. The coach and child then watch the two videos—sometimes pausing the videos at particular frames—to identify components of the skill in which the child could benefit from further practice.

When teaching a complex behavior or sequence or behaviors, provide descriptive labels that students can repeat to themselves to help them remember what they need to do.
To help students remember the new dance steps she demonstrates, a dance teacher instructs them to say such things as “One, two, gallop, gallop” and “One leg, other leg, turn, and turn” while performing the steps.

Have students read about or observe positive role models in such media as books and films.
In a unit on civic responsibility and community service, a high school social studies teacher has students read excerpts from Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father.

Have students perform a desired behavior immediately after you model it; give them guidance and feedback to help them improve their performance.
After an elementary art teacher shows students how to work effectively with watercolor paints, she walks around the classroom, giving pointers on how to blend colors for desired shades and how to keep differently colored areas from bleeding into one another.

Introduce students to models who have successfully crossed traditional gender boundaries in certain professions.
When exploring various professions over the course of the school year, a second‐grade teacher invites several adults in the community—including a female police officer and a male nurse—to come to class and describe what they do in their jobs.

Show students how the skills you model can help them in their own lives.
After demonstrating how to use rounding to estimate sums, a middle school math teacher presents examples of how students

Include competent children as well as adults in the role models you present.
Once a week, a kindergarten teacher invites one or two third graders to come and read storybooks to his class. The older children delight in their ability to show off their reading skills and work especially hard to make the stories lively and entertaining.

Sources: Boyer et al., 2009 (gymnastics example); R. L. Cohen, 1989; S. N. Elliott & Busse, 1991; Féry & Morizot, 2000; Gerst, 1971; Kitsantas et al., 2000; Mace, Belfiore, & Shea, 1989; Obama, 2004; T. L. Rosenthal, Alford, & Rasp, 1972; Schunk, 1989c; Schunk & Hanson, 1985; Schunk & Swartz, 1993; Shute, 2008; Vintere et al., 2004, p. 309 (dance example); Ziegler, 1987.

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Learners are more likely to engage in certain behaviors when they believe they’ll be able to execute the behaviors successfully—that is, when they have high self‐efficacy for the behaviors (e.g., Bandura, 1997). For example, I hope you have high self‐efficacy for learning educational psychology, believing that with careful thought about what you read, you’ll be able to understand and apply its key principles. You may or may not believe that with instruction and practice, you could eventually execute a passable swan dive. You’re probably quite skeptical that you could ever walk barefoot over hot coals, so my guess is that you have low self‐efficacy regarding this endeavor. Obviously, then, self‐efficacy plays a key role in learners’ outcome expectations for various courses of action. Self‐efficacy is a component of one’s overall sense of self. It may seem similar to such concepts as self‐concept and self‐esteem, but it’s different from these other two concepts in important ways (Bong & Skaalvik, 2003; Pietsch, Walker, & Chapman, 2003; Schunk & Pajares, 2005). When psychologists talk about self‐concept and self‐esteem, they’re typically describing a fairly general self‐view that pervades a broad range of activities (e.g., “Am I a good student?”) and may encompass feelings as well as beliefs (e.g., “How proud am I of my classroom performance?”).

aspects of a learner’s sense of self (e.g., self‐concept, identity).

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CHAPTER In contrast, self‐efficacy is more task or situation specific and involves judgments (rather than feelings) almost exclusively (e.g., “Can I learn how to solve quadratic equations?”).

HOW SELF‐EFFICACY AFFECTS BEHAVIOR AND COGNITION
Learners’ sense of self‐efficacy affects their choice of activities, their goals, and their effort and persistence in classroom activities. Ultimately, then, it also affects their learning and achievement (Bandura, 1982, 2000; Pajares, 2009; Schunk & Pajares, 2005). Choice of activities Imagine yourself on registration day, perusing the hundreds of courses in the semester schedule. You fill most of your schedule with required courses, but you have room for an elective. Only two courses are offered at the time slot you want to fill. Do you sign up for Advanced Psychoceramics, a challenging seminar taught by the world‐renowned Dr. Josiah S. Carberry? Or do you sign up for an English literature course known across campus as being an “easy A”? Perhaps you find the term psychoceramics a bit intimidating, and you think you can’t possibly pass such a course, especially if Dr. Carberry is as demanding as everyone claims. So you settle for the literature course, knowing it’s one in which you can succeed. Learners tend to choose tasks and activities at which they believe they can succeed and to avoid those at which they think they’ll fail. Eventually they also place greater value on activities in which they think they’ll do well (Bandura, 1986; Pajares, 2009). Goals Learners set higher goals for themselves when they have high self‐efficacy in a particular domain. For example, adolescents’ choices of careers and occupational levels reflect subject areas in which they have high rather than low self‐efficacy. On average, their choices tend to be consistent with traditional gender stereotypes: Boys are more likely to have high self‐efficacy for (and so choose) careers in science and technology, whereas girls are more likely to have high self‐ efficacy for (and so choose) careers in education, health, and social services (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001; Plante & O’Keefe, 2010). Effort and persistence Learners with a high sense of self‐efficacy are more likely to exert effort when attempting a new task, and they’re more likely to persist—to “try, try again”—when they confront obstacles. In contrast, learners with low self‐efficacy about a task will put in little effort and give up quickly in the face of difficulty. For example, in the opening case study, Nathan is convinced he can’t learn French, and so he quickly abandons assignments when he encounters something he doesn’t immediately understand. Learning and achievement Learners with high self‐efficacy tend to learn and achieve more than those with low self‐efficacy, even when the two groups initially have similar ability levels (Bandura, 1986; Klassen, 2002; T. Williams & Williams, 2010). Learners with high self‐efficacy may achieve at superior levels partly because they’re more likely to engage in cognitive processes that promote learning—paying attention, elaborating, organizing, and so on (Berger & Karabenick, 2010; Bong & Skaalvik, 2003; Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008; Schunk & Pajares, 2005). SOME OVERCONFIDENCE—BUT NOT TOO MUCH—CAN BE BENEFICIAL Most 4‐ to 6‐year‐olds are quite confident about their ability to perform various tasks (R. Butler, 1990, 2005; Eccles et al., 1998). As they move through the elementary grades, however, they can better recall their past successes and failures, and they become increasingly aware of and concerned about how their performance compares with that of their peers. Presumably as a result of these changes, students gradually become less confident—although usually more realistic—about what they can and can’t do (R. Butler, 2005; Dijkstra, Kuyper, van der Werf, Buunk, & van der Zee, 2008; Wigfield & Wagner, 2005). Ideally learners should have a reasonably accurate sense of what they can and cannot accomplish, putting them in a good position to capitalize on their strengths and address their weaknesses (P. P. Chen, 2003; Försterling & Morgenstern, 2002; J. Wang & Lin, 2005). However, a tad of overconfidence can often be beneficial, because it may entice learners to take on challenging activities that will help them develop new skills and abilities (Assor & Connell, 1992; Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 2009). Within this context it’s useful to distinguish between self‐efficacy for learning

topics for which they have high self‐ efficacy. Hear 12‐year‐old Claudia express her high self‐efficacy for math in “Motivation: Early Adolescence.”

Chapter 11 examines the development of value in greater detail.

Interpret reluctance and lack of persistence as possible indicators of low self‐efficacy.

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(“I can learn this if I put my mind to it”) and self‐efficacy for performance (“I already know how to do this”) (Lodewyk & Winne, 2005; Schunk & Pajares, 2004). Self‐efficacy for learning—for what one can eventually do with effort—should be on the optimistic side, while self‐efficacy for performance should be more in line with current ability levels. Sometimes students—especially girls—underestimate their chances of success, perhaps because they’ve had a few bad experiences or are especially attuned to how their own performance falls short relative to that of peers (D. A. Cole, Martin, Peeke, Seroczynski, & Fier, 1999; Dijkstra et al., 2008; Schunk & Pajares, 2005). For example, a girl who gets a C in science from a teacher with exceptionally strict grading criteria may erroneously believe that she’s “no good” in science. Or a new boy at school whose attempts at being friendly are rejected by two or three thoughtless classmates may erroneously believe that “no one” likes him. In such circumstances students set unnecessarily low goals for themselves and give up easily in the face of small obstacles. But it’s also possible to have too much of a good thing. When learners are too overconfident, they can set themselves up for failure by forming unrealistically high expectations or exerting insufficient effort to succeed. Moreover, students will hardly be inclined to address weaknesses they don’t realize they have (Bandura, 1997; Sinatra & Mason, 2008; Sweeny, Carroll, & Shepperd, 2006; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009).

FIGURE 10.4 Nine‐year‐ old Sophie has been charting her monthly progress in remembering multiplication facts. Although she has had minor setbacks, her general progress is upward. (She was absent for February’s assessment.)

FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF‐EFFICACY
At least five distinct factors affect learners’ self‐efficacy: their previous successes and failures, their current emotional state, other people’s messages, other people’s successes and failures, and successes and failures that learners experience as members of a particular group (Bandura, 1986, 1997; Usher & Pajares, 2009). PREVIOUS SUCCESSES AND FAILURES Without a doubt, the most important factor affecting learners’ self‐efficacy for an activity is the extent to which they’ve previously succeeded at that activity or similar ones (Bandura, 1986; Usher & Pajares, 2008; T. Williams & Williams, 2010). For example, Edward is more likely to believe he can learn to divide fractions if he has previously mastered fraction multiplication, and Elena will be more confident about learning to play rugby or field hockey if she’s already acquired reasonable soccer skills. However, learners show developmental differences in how far back they look when they consider their prior successes and failures. Perhaps because of more limited cognitive abilities, children in the early elementary grades typically recall only their most recent experiences when predicting the likelihood of future success. In contrast, older children and adolescents are apt to consider a long‐term pattern of prior successes and failures (Eccles et al., 1998). As you can see, then, one important strategy for enhancing students’ self‐efficacy is to help them be successful at a variety of tasks in different content domains. Ideally we should tailor task difficulty to students’ current self‐efficacy levels: Students with little or no confidence in their ability to perform in a particular domain may initially respond more favorably if we give them tasks at which they’ll almost certainly do well. But ultimately, students develop higher self‐efficacy when they can successfully accomplish challenging tasks, perhaps initially with some degree of structure—that is, scaffolding—to increase the likelihood of successful performance (Falco, 2008; Lodewyk & Winne, 2005). Nonetheless, mastery of important knowledge and skills, even fairly basic ones, often comes only slowly over time. Consequently, it’s often important to define success in terms of improvement rather than mastery (R. Butler, 1998a; M.‐T. Wang & Holcombe, 2010). In such instances we may need to provide concrete mechanisms that highlight day‐to‐day progress—for instance, giving students progress charts they can fill in themselves (e.g., see Figure 10.4) and providing frequent verbal or written feedback about the little things students are doing well. Once students have developed a high sense of self‐efficacy, an occasional failure is unlikely to dampen their optimism much. In fact, when these students encounter small setbacks, they know they can succeed if they try, and they also develop a realistic attitude about failure—that at worst it’s a temporary setback and at best it can give them useful information about how to improve their performance. In other words, students develop resilient self‐efficacy (Bandura, 1989, 2008; Dweck, 2000).

Adjust the initial difficulty of tasks to students’ existing self‐ efficacy levels. Then gradually increase the challenge, providing structure to guide students’ efforts.

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resilient self‐efficacy Belief that one can perform a task successfully even after experiencing setbacks.

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CHAPTER CURRENT EMOTIONAL STATE Learners’ current emotional state—for instance, their general mood and the extent to which they feel anxious or stressed—can significantly affect their self‐efficacy for the task at hand. For example, a student who feels excessively anxious or agitated during an important academic task may interpret that feeling as a sign of low ability for the task, even if the feeling has come from an unrelated source (Bandura, 1997; Schunk & Pajares, 2005; Usher & Pajares, 2009). The resulting low self‐efficacy will, of course, undermine the student’s performance, perhaps to the point that the task itself subsequently evokes anxiety and stress. MESSAGES FROM OTHERS When learners’ successes aren’t obvious, we can enhance their self‐efficacy by explicitly pointing out ways in which they’ve previously done well or are now excelling. Occasionally we may also be able to boost their self‐efficacy by giving them reasons to believe they can be successful in the future (Usher & Pajares, 2008). Statements such as “You can do this problem if you work at it” and “I bet Judy will play with you if you ask her” might give students a slight boost in self‐confidence. The effects of optimistic predictions will be modest and short lived, however, unless learners’ efforts at a task ultimately do meet with success (Schunk, 1989a; Valentine, DuBois, & Cooper, 2004). Even negative feedback can promote high self‐efficacy if it gives guidance about how to improve and communicates confidence that improvement is likely—in other words, if it boosts self‐efficacy for learning (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Narciss, 2008; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). For example, consider the following statement: In the first draft of your research paper, many of your paragraphs don’t lead logically to the ones that follow. A few headings and transitional sentences would make a world of difference. Let’s find a time to discuss how you might use these techniques to improve the flow of your paper. The statement indirectly communicates the message “With a little effort and new strategies, I know you can do better.” In some cases we communicate our beliefs about learners’ competence through our actions rather than our words. For example, if we offer after‐school assistance to students who are struggling to master a particular mathematical procedure or musical technique, we’re communicating that with a little persistence, improvement is possible. We must be careful not to go overboard, however. If we give struggling students more assistance than they really need, we may inadvertently communicate the message “I don’t think you can do this on your own” (Schunk, 1989b). SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS We often form opinions about our probability of success by observing the successes and failures of other people, especially those whose ability levels are seemingly similar to our own (Dijkstra et al., 2008; Usher & Pajares, 2008; Zeldin & Pajares, 2000). For example, you’re more likely to enroll in Dr. Carberry’s Advanced Psychoceramics class if most of your friends have done well in the course, but if, instead, numerous friends have dropped the course in frustration, you may suspect that your own chances of succeeding are pretty slim. Likewise, recall Nathan’s pessimism about learning French in the opening case study—pessimism based largely on the experiences of three low‐achieving friends. Another way of enhancing learners’ self‐efficacy, then, is to point out that others like them have mastered the knowledge and skills at hand (Schunk, 1983, 1989c). For example, a class of chemistry students who seem overwhelmed by the many chemical symbols they must learn might be reassured with a statement such as this: I know it seems like a lot to learn in such a short time. My students last year thought so, too, but they found that they could learn the symbols within three weeks if they studied a few new symbols each day. But even more than telling learners about others’ successes, seeing is believing. Learners who actually observe similar‐ability peers successfully reach a goal are especially likely to believe that

Teacher messages can have a big impact on students’ self‐efficacy for literacy skills. Observe examples of efficacy‐enhancing feedback in “Author’s Chair.”

Communicate your confidence in students’ abilities even in your feedback about students’ weaknesses.

Try not to give students more help than they actually need to succeed.

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313 they, too, can achieve the goal. Hence, students sometimes develop greater self‐efficacy when they see a classmate model a behavior than when they see their teacher model it. In one study (Schunk & Hanson, 1985), elementary school students who were having trouble with subtraction were given 25 subtraction problems to complete. Students who had seen another student successfully complete the problems got an average of 19 correct, whereas those who saw a teacher complete the problems got only 13 correct, and those who saw no model at all solved only 8! It may be even more beneficial for students to see one or more peers struggling with a task or problem at first—as they themselves might do—and then eventually mastering it (Kitsantas et al., 2000; Schunk, Hanson, & Cox, 1987; Schunk & Pajares, 2005). Presumably observing such a coping model shows learners that success doesn’t necessarily come easily—that they must work and practice to achieve success—and allows them to observe the strategies the model uses to gain proficiency. What we don’t want to do, however, is to define success in terms of how students’ performance compares with that of their peers—perhaps identifying the “best” writer, science student, or basketball player. Such comparison sets up a competitive situation in which the majority of students must inevitably lose. Most students have higher self‐efficacy and achieve at higher levels if they don’t evaluate their own performance in terms of how they stack up against others (Graham & Golen, 1991; Shih & Alexander, 2000; Stipek, 1996). SUCCESSES AND FAILURES AS PART OF A GROUP Learners can often think more intelligently and acquire a more complex understanding of a topic when they collaborate with peers to master and apply classroom subject matter (e.g., D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 2009a; Pea, 1993; Slavin, 2011). Collaboration with peers has a possible additional benefit: Learners may have greater self‐efficacy when they work in a group rather than alone. Such collective self‐efficacy depends not only on students’ perceptions of their own and others’ capabilities but also on their perceptions of how effectively they can work together and coordinate their roles and responsibilities (Bandura, 1997, 2000; George & Feltz, 1995; Klassen & Usher, 2010). Whether we ask students to tackle challenging tasks as individuals or in small groups, we must keep in mind that the school day shouldn’t necessarily pose one challenge after another. Such a state of affairs would be absolutely exhausting, and probably quite discouraging as well. Instead, we should strike a balance between easy tasks, which will boost students’ self‐confidence over the short run, and the challenging tasks so critical for an optimistic sense of self‐efficacy for the long term (Spaulding, 1992; Stipek, 1996). The Into the Classroom feature “Fostering Productive Self‐Efficacy Levels” presents several research‐based strategies. coping model Model who initially struggles with a task but successfully overcomes obstacles.

collective self‐efficacy People’s beliefs about their ability to be successful when they work together on a task.

Minimize students’ awareness of classmates’ performance levels.

for discussions of the benefits of cooperative learning activities.

TEACHER SELF‐EFFICACY
Not only should our students have high self‐efficacy about their ability to succeed in the classroom but so, too, should we teachers have high self‐efficacy about our ability to help them succeed. Students are more likely to achieve at high levels when their teachers have confidence that they can help students master classroom topics (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2008; Tschannen‐Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998; Ware & Kitsantas, 2007). Some of this teacher confidence may take the form of collective self‐efficacy: When teachers at a school believe that, as a group, they can make a significant difference in the lives of children and adolescents, their students, too, have higher self‐efficacy themselves and are more likely to achieve at high levels (Goddard, 2001; Goddard, Hoy, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2000; Tschannen‐Moran et al., 1998). When teachers have high self‐efficacy about their effectiveness in the classroom—both individually and collectively—they influence students’ achievement in several ways: students learn.

Collaborate with colleagues to identify effective ways of fostering all students’ academic and social success at school.

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learn. (Bandura, 1997; Roeser, Marachi, & Gehlbach, 2002; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2008; Tschannen‐Moran et al., 1998) Such effects should look familiar: Just as self‐efficacy affects students’ choice of activities, goals, effort, and persistence, so, too, does it affect teachers’ choices, goals, effort, and persistence.

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CHAPTER

Into the Classroom

Teach basic knowledge and skills to mastery.
A biology teacher makes sure all students clearly understand the

After students have mastered basic skills, present some tasks at which they can succeed only with effort and perseverance.
A physical education teacher tells his students, “Today we’ve determined how far each of you can go in the broad jump. We’ll future efforts will be more successful than others, but let’s see if every one of you can jump at least two inches farther when I test you again at the end of the month.”

Assure students that they can be successful at challenging tasks, and point out that others like them have been successful in the past.
Early in the school year, students in beginning band express frustration in learning to play their instruments. Their teacher reminds them that, like themselves, students in last year’s beginning band started out with little knowledge but eventually mastered their instruments. A few weeks later, the beginning band class attends a concert at which the school’s advanced band (last year’s beginning band class) play a medley from the Broadway musical Wicked.

Have students tackle especially challenging tasks in small, cooperative groups.
A fifth‐grade teacher has students work in groups of three or four The teacher makes sure that the students in each group collectively have the skills in library research, writing, word processing, and art student has some unique skills to contribute to the group effort.

Have students see peers with similar ability successfully accomplishing challenging tasks.
To convince his students from low‐income, minority‐group families that they can do almost anything if they put their minds to it, a high school math teacher shows his class the film Stand and Deliver.

who, through hard work and perseverance, earned college credit by passing the national Advanced Placement (AP) calculus exam.

If students are unrealistically overconfident—so much so that they don’t exert the effort and strategies needed to master the material—help them learn how to accurately evaluate their current knowledge and skill levels.
Many students in math classes at a technical school are quite confident that they’re solving problems correctly, even though their past grades in the class have been poor. To help them more realistically assess their current understandings, a teacher in one of the classes begins giving frequent short quizzes in which students have to predict their ability to correctly solve each problem before actually trying to solve it; they must also evaluate the accuracy of their problem solutions. Then, when they get back their graded quizzes, they get extra points for critiquing the accuracy of their problem‐specific self‐evaluations and for explaining and correcting than their peers in other classes.

Help students track their progress on challenging tasks.
As first graders are learning how to weave on small circular looms, one student approaches her teacher in tears, frustrated that her first this is the history, your own history, of learning to weave. You can look at this and say, ‘Why, I can see how I began, here I didn’t know how very well, I went over two instead of one; but I learned, and then—it is perfect all the way to the end!’“ The student returns to with another, flawless one and proudly shows it to her teacher.

Sources: Bandura, 1986, 1989, 1997, 2000; R. Butler, 1998a; Eccles et al., 1998; Hawkins, 1997, p. 332 (weaving example); Lodewyk & Winne, 2005; Mathews, 1988; Menéndez, 1988 (Stand and Deliver example); Schunk, 1983, 1989a, 1989c; Usher & Pajares, 2008; Zeldin & Pajares, 2000; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009 (math example).

As is true for students, however, it’s possible for teachers to have too much of a good thing. Occasionally teachers have so much confidence in their existing knowledge and skills that they find little benefit in professional development activities that would enhance their effectiveness (Guskey, 1988; Middleton & Abrams, 2004; Tschannen‐Moran et al., 1998). We teachers are learners as well, and we’ll always have room for improvement in our classroom strategies.

Self‐Regulation self‐regulation Process of setting goals for oneself and engaging in behaviors and cognitive processes that lead to goal attainment.

Although high self‐efficacy can certainly enhance students’ classroom performance, it’s by no means the only thing that affects their performance. Students must also master the knowledge and skills that make high performance levels possible. Some knowledge and skills are specific to particular topics and academic domains, but one set of skills—those related to self‐regulation— can have a pervasive influence on students’ achievement across the board. To get a sense of your own self‐regulation skills, try the following exercise.

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EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
For each of the following situations, choose the alternative that most accurately describes your attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors as a college student. No one will see your answers except you, so be honest! 1. With regard to my final course grades, I’m trying very hard to a. Earn all As. b. Earn all As and Bs. c. Keep my overall grade point average at or above the minimally acceptable level at my college. 2. As I’m reading or studying a textbook, a. I often notice when my attention is wandering, and I immediately get my mind back on my work. b. I sometimes notice when my attention is wandering, but not always. c. I often get so lost in daydreams that I waste a lot of time. 3. Whenever I finish a study session, a. I write down how much time I’ve spent on my schoolwork. b. I make a mental note of how much time I’ve spent on my schoolwork. c. I don’t really think much about the time I’ve spent on my schoolwork. 4. When I turn in an assignment, a. I usually have a good idea of the grade I’ll get on it. b. I’m often surprised by the grade I get. c. I don’t think much about the quality of what I’ve done. 5. When I do exceptionally well on an assignment, a. I feel good about my performance and might reward myself in some way. b. I feel good about my performance but don’t do anything special for myself afterward. c. I don’t feel much different than I did before I received my grade.

self‐regulated behavior and self‐directed behavior that leads to the fulfillment of personally constructed standards and goals.

Regardless of how you answered Item 1, you could probably identify a particular goal toward which you’re striving. Your response to Item 2 should give you an idea of how much you monitor and try to control your thoughts when you’re studying. Your responses to Items 3 and 4 tell you something about how frequently and accurately you evaluate your performance. And your response to Item 5 indicates whether you’re likely to reinforce yourself for desired behaviors. To the extent that we establish our own priorities and goals, take charge of our own thoughts and actions, and reflect on and evaluate our own behaviors, we are self‐regulating individuals (e.g., Bandura, 2008). Thanks, in part, to brain maturation over the course of childhood and adolescence, most learners become increasingly self‐regulating as they grow older (more on this point in an Applying Brain Research feature later in the chapter). Table 10.2 presents typical advancements in the elementary and secondary school years. Some of the entries in the table, such as self‐instructions and self‐evaluation of actions, reflect self‐regulation in behavior. Others, such as ability to control attention and self‐motivation, reflect self‐regulation in learning. We’ll look here at both self‐regulated behavior and self‐regulated learning, as well as at self‐regulated problem solving.

FIGURE 10.5 Components of self‐regulated behavior
Before the Response:

During the Response:

SELF‐REGULATED BEHAVIOR
When we behave in particular ways and observe how our environment reacts—reinforcing some behaviors and punishing or otherwise discouraging others—we begin to distinguish between productive and unproductive responses, and most of us increasingly control and monitor our own actions (Bandura, 1986, 2008). In other words, we engage in self‐regulated behavior. Self‐regulated behavior has at least six important components, which are summarized in Figure 10.5. As you’ll see, all six of them have cognitive elements as well as behavioral ones.
After the Response:

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CHAPTER

D E V E L O P M E N TA L T R E N D S
Self‐Regulation at Different Grade Levels
GRADE LEVEL AGE‐TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS for behavior for learning and achievement guide behavior appropriateness of actions; feelings of guilt about wrongdoings impulses, emotions, and attention; peer relationships and classroom performance affected by amount of self‐control in these areas Every Thursday evening, performance and progress performance and moral transgressions strategies (e.g., conscious attempts to focus attention, ability to do short assignments independently at home) some students for the weekly spelling test his teacher will give his class the following his father or older brother to test him on especially difficult words.

EXAMPLE
Most of the children in a kindergarten class can sit quietly and listen when their teacher reads a storybook. But a few of them squirm restlessly and occasionally poke or otherwise distract their classmates.

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Discuss rationales for classroom rules. them reach their goals and how other behaviors interfere with goal attainment. Organize the classroom so that students can carry out some activities on their own (e.g., have reading centers where children can listen to storybooks on tape). When students show impulsiveness or poor emotion control, provide guidelines and consistent consequences for behavior.

K–2

3–5 due in part to increased capacity for abstract thought learning strategies, especially those that involve overt behaviors (e.g., keeping a calendar of assignments and due dates) minimizing distractions, devising ways to make a boring task more interesting and enjoyable, reminding oneself about the importance of doing well) For fear of looking “stupid” in her math class, 13‐year‐ old Katherine rarely asks questions when she doesn’t understand a new concept or procedure.

Have students set specific, concrete goals for their learning. Encourage students to assess their own performance; provide criteria they can use to evaluate their work. Ask students to engage in simple, self‐regulated learning tasks (e.g., small‐group learning activities, short homework assignments); provide some structure to guide students’ efforts. Encourage students to use their peers as resources when they need help. If students have continuing difficulty with self‐ control, teach self‐instructions that can help them control their behavior. Assign homework and other tasks that require age‐appropriate independent learning. Provide concrete strategies for keeping track of learning tasks and assignments (e.g., provide monthly calendars on which students can write due dates). Provide concrete guidance about how to learn and study effectively (e.g., give students questions they should answer as they complete reading assignments at home). Give students frequent opportunities to assess their own learning; have them compare your evaluations with theirs.

6–8

times of confusion, especially if teachers appear to be aloof and nonsupportive After moving from fairly small middle schools to a much larger, consolidated high school, some students diligently complete their homework each night. But many others are easily enticed into more enjoyable activities with friends— hanging out at a local fast‐food restaurant, instant‐ messaging on cell phones, and so on—and their grades decline significantly as a result. Relate classroom learning tasks to students’ long‐range personal and professional goals. Encourage students to experiment with various emotions and emotion‐control strategies through role‐playing and drama. Assign complex independent learning tasks, providing the necessary structure and guidance for students who are not yet self‐regulating learners. Have high‐achieving students describe their strategies for resisting attractive alternatives and keeping themselves on task when doing homework.
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emotion regulation, especially in contexts that can evoke strong emotions (e.g., sports, theater productions) learning, especially when out‐of‐school assignments conflict with attractive leisure activities; few self‐regulating learning strategies among many low‐achieving high school students persistent difficulties in self‐control that can adversely affect classroom behavior and peer relationships

9–12

Sources: Blair, 2002; Bronson, 2000; Corno & Mandinach, 2004; Damon, 1988; Dunning, Heath, & Suls, 2004; Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998; Fries, Dietz, & Schmid, 2008; Hampson, 2008; M. Hofer, 2010; M. H. Jones, Estell, & Alexander, 2008; Kochanska, Gross, Lin, & Nichols, 2002; Larson & Brown, 2007; Marchand & Skinner, 2007; J. S. Matthews, Ponitz, & Morrison, 2009; Meichenbaum & Goodman, 1971; Meltzer et al., 2007; S. D. Miller, Heafner, Massey, & Strahan, 2003; S. G. Paris & Paris, 2001; Posner & Rothbart, 2007; Schneider, 2010; Valiente, Lemery‐Calfant, Swanson, & Reiser, 2008; Wolters & Rosenthal, 2000.

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SELF‐DETERMINED STANDARDS AND GOALS As self‐regulating human beings, we tend to have general standards for our behavior—standards that serve as criteria for evaluating our performance in specific situations. We also establish certain goals that guide our actions and activity choices. Meeting our standards and reaching our goals give us considerable self‐satisfaction, enhancing our self‐efficacy and spurring us on to greater heights (Bandura, 1986, 1989). Different individuals adopt different standards and goals for themselves, of course. Often their standards and goals are modeled after those of other people (Fitzsimmons & Finkel, 2010; E. A. Locke & Latham, 1990; R. B. Miller & Brickman, 2004). For example, at the high school I attended, many students wanted to go to the best college they possibly could, and their academic aspirations were contagious. But at a different high school, getting a job after graduation—or perhaps instead of graduation—might have been the goal more commonly modeled by peers. Students are typically more motivated to work toward goals they’ve chosen for themselves, rather than goals that others have imposed on them (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 1992; Fitzsimmons & Finkel, 2010; M. E. Ford, 1992). One way to help students develop self‐regulation, then, is to provide situations in which they set their own goals. For example, we might ask them to decide how many addition facts they’re going to learn by Friday, what topic they want to study for a research project, or which gymnastic skills they’d like to master. Ideally we should encourage students to establish standards and goals that are challenging yet realistic. We might even want to provide incentives that encourage students to set and achieve challenging goals (Stipek, 1996). At the same time, we must caution students that constant perfection is not a realistic goal—that occasional errors are inevitable in the pursuit of new and difficult tasks. Students who are satisfied only with flawless performance can’t possibly live up to such an impossible standard and, as a result, may become excessively anxious or depressed (Bandura, 1986; Covington, 1992; Parker, 1997). EMOTION REGULATION A second important aspect of self‐regulated behavior is emotion regulation, keeping in check or modifying any feelings that might lead to counterproductive responses—perhaps anger, resentment, or excessive excitement. Effective emotion regulation often involves a two‐pronged approach (Buckley & Saarni, 2009; Pekrun, 2006; J. M. Richards, 2004). First, learners control the extent to which they express their feelings. In addition, self‐regulating individuals often reinterpret events in order to put a positive spin on what might otherwise be anger‐ or sadness‐inducing circumstances. For instance, a student who gets an unexpectedly low quiz score might treat it as a wake‐up call to study more diligently in the future. And a student who doesn’t make the varsity soccer team might think, “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, because it gives me more time to help out at the Boys’ Club after school.” On average, children and adolescents who can effectively control their emotions have more friends and better social skills (Aikins & Litwack, 2011; Eisenberg, Vaughan, & Hofer, 2009). In contrast, those who have trouble keeping their feelings in check are likely to be lonely and depressed; some exhibit behavior problems at school, and others become chronic victims of school bullies (Buckley & Saarni, 2009; Silk, Steinberg, & Morris, 2003). SELF‐INSTRUCTIONS Sometimes learners simply need reminders of how to behave in particular situations. By teaching them how to use self‐instructions to guide themselves through complex situations, we provide them with a means through which they remind themselves about appropriate actions. One effective approach involves five steps (Meichenbaum, 1977): 1. Cognitive modeling: The teacher models self‐instruction by repeating instructions aloud while simultaneously performing the activity. 2. Overt, external guidance: The teacher repeats the instructions aloud while the learner performs the activity. 3. Overt self‐guidance: The learner repeats the instructions aloud while performing the activity. 4. Faded, overt self‐guidance: The learner whispers the instructions while performing the activity. 5. Covert self‐instruction: The learner silently thinks about the instructions while performing the activity. emotion regulation Process of keeping in check or intentionally altering feelings that might lead to counterproductive behavior. self‐instructions Instructions that one gives oneself while performing a complex behavior.

chosen goals enhance one’s sense of self‐determination, an important prerequisite for intrinsic motivation (see Chapter 11).

Have students set some of their own goals in the classroom. Encourage them to set challenging yet realistic goals; caution them against always striving for perfection.

As children grow older, most develop strategies for regulating their emotions. For example, listen to 10‐year‐old Daniel, 13‐year‐old Crystal, and 15‐ year‐old Greg in “Emotions.”

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CHAPTER
Teach students instructions they can use to guide themselves through difficult tasks.

Chapter 2.

As you can see in these steps, the teacher initially serves as a model both for the behavior and for the self‐instructions and then gradually transfers responsibility to the learner. Steps 3 through 5 in the process may remind you of Vygotsky’s concepts of self‐talk and inner speech. Teaching self‐instructions can be useful in helping students acquire and improve complex athletic skills (Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Galanis, & Theodorakis, 2011). It can also be quite effective in working with students who consistently exhibit behavior problems, such as chronic impulsivity or dishonesty (Carter & Doyle, 2006; W. M. Casey & Burton, 1982; Meichenbaum, 1985). Furthermore, applications are now available for programming individualized self‐instructions into a smartphone (e.g., search the Internet for “self‐talk apps”).

SELF‐MONITORING Another important aspect of self‐regulation is to observe oneself in action—a process known as self‐ monitoring (or self‐observation). To make progress toward important goals, learners must be aware of how well they’re currently doing. And when they see themselves making progress, they’re more likely to continue with their efforts (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997). Learners aren’t always astute monitors of their own behavior, FIGURE 10.6 Example of a self‐monitoring sheet however. For instance, they may not be aware of how frequently for staying on task they do something incorrectly or ineffectively or of how infrequently they do something well. Specific, concrete mechanisms can often enhance their self‐monitoring. For example, if Raymond Hillary Self-Observation Record for too often speaks out of turn, we can ask him to make a checkmark Every ten minutes, put a mark to show how well you have on a sheet of paper every time he catches himself talking at inapbeen staying on task. propriate times. And if Hillary has trouble staying on task during assigned activities, we can ask her to stop and reflect on her + means you were almost always on task 1/2 means you were on task about half the time behavior every few minutes (perhaps with the aid of an egg timer – means you were hardly ever on task or electronic beeper) to determine whether she was staying on task during each interval. Figure 10.6 illustrates the type of form we 9:00-9:10 9:10-9:20 9:20-9:30 9:30-9:40 9:40-9:50 9:50-10:00 might give Hillary to record her observations. Such self‐focused observation and recording can bring about noticeable changes—sometimes quite dramatic ones—in 10:00-10:10 10:10-10:20 10:20-10:30 10:30-10:40 10:40-10:50 10:50-11:00 learners’ behavior. For example, self‐monitoring can be used to increase students’ participation in class and diligence in completing assignments. It’s also effective in reducing aggression and such 11:00-11:10 11:10-11:20 11:20-11:30 11:30-11:40 11:40-11:50 11:50-12:00 disruptive behaviors as talking out of turn and getting out of one’s seat (Belfiore & Hornyak, 1998; Plavnick, Ferreri, & Maupin, 2010; Prater, Carter, Hitchcock, & Dowrick, 2011; Reid, Trout, & Schartz, 2005; Webber, Scheuermann, McCall, & Coleman, 1993). Use of video technology can further enhance learners’ self‐monitoring capabilities (Bear, Torgerson, & Dubois‐Gerchak, 2010; Hitchcock, Dowrick, & Prater, 2003; Prater et al., 2011). Consider, for example, the case of Charles, a highly intelligent fifth grader whose classroom Have students observe and behaviors—aggression, temper tantrums, regular refusals to complete schoolwork—had his record information about their parents and teachers totally exasperated. Nothing had worked with Charles—not traditional own behavior. behaviorist techniques (e.g., systematic praise, time‐outs, a token economy), counseling, or paper‐and‐pencil self‐monitoring sheets. But when his special education teacher began videotaping and then showing him his behaviors in math class, he was appalled at what he saw: “Do I really look like that?” “Did I really say that?” “Turn it off!” Charles expressed a strong desire to be “normal,” his classroom behaviors became noticeably more compliant and respectful, and he began to appreciate the praise, tokens, and other reinforcers he’d previously shunned (Bear et al., 2010, p. 83). self‐monitoring Process of observing and recording one’s own behavior.

self‐evaluation Process of judging one’s own performance or behavior.

SELF‐EVALUATION To be truly self‐regulating, learners must not only monitor but also judge their own behavior, as Charles obviously did when he watched the videotapes. In other words, they must engage in self‐evaluation. Reasonably accurate self‐evaluation depends on having appropriate standards

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FIGURE 10.7 After a cooperative group activity with three classmates, Rochelle and her teacher used the same criteria to rate Rochelle’s performance and that of her group. With the two sets of ratings side by side, Rochelle could evaluate the accuracy of her self‐assessments.
Travel Guide Project description_____________________________________________________ Evaluate with a 1 for weak, a 2 for fair, a 3 for good, a 4 for very good, and a 5 for excellent. Student Teacher 4 ____ 5 ____ 4 ____ 4 ____ 5 ____ 5 ____ 5 ____ 4 ____ 5 ____ 4 ____ 45 ____ 4 ____ 4 ____ 5 ____ 5 ____ 4 ____ 5 ____ 5 ____ 5 ____ 4 ____ 4 ____ 45 ____ 1. The task was a major amount of work in keeping with a whole month of effort. 2. We used class time quite well. 3. The workload was quite evenly divided. I did a fair proportion. 4. I showed commitment to the group and to a quality project. 5. My report went into depth; it didn’t just give the obvious, commonly known information. 6. The project made a point: a reader (or viewer) could figure out how all of the details fitted together to help form a conclusion. 7. The project was neat, attractive, well assembled. I was proud of the outcome. 8. We kept our work organized; we made copies; we didn’t lose things or end up having to redo work that was lost. 9. The work had a lot of original thinking or other creative work. 10. The project demonstrated mastery of basic language skills— composition, planning, oral communication, writing. Total

for behavior, of course, and also on having relatively objective techniques for self‐monitoring one’s own actions. When learners have such prerequisites, we can use strategies such as the following: Have students write in daily or weekly journals in which they address the strengths and weaknesses of their performance. Arrange small‐group peer conferences in which several students discuss their reactions to one another’s work. Have students assemble portfolios of what they consider their best work, with a self‐evaluation of each entry. (S. G. Paris & Ayres, 1994; S. G. Paris & Paris, 2001) In addition, we can provide self‐assessment instruments that show students what to look for as they evaluate their work, and we can occasionally have them compare their self‐assessments with others’ independent judgments of their performance (DuPaul & Hoff, 1998; Mitchem & Young, 2001; Reid et al., 2005; D. J. Smith, Young, West, Morgan, & Rhode, 1988). Figure 10.7 presents a form one teacher has used to help her students learn to evaluate their performance in a cooperative group activity. SELF‐IMPOSED CONTINGENCIES Self‐imposed contingencies involve giving oneself reinforcement or punishment for one’s behavior. For example, how do you feel when you accomplish a difficult task—perhaps earning an A in a challenging course or making a three‐point shot in a basketball game? And how do you feel when you fail in your endeavors—perhaps getting a D on an important exam or thoughtlessly hurting a friend’s feelings? When you accomplish something you’ve set out to do, especially if the task is complex and challenging, you probably feel quite proud of yourself

Once students have set appropriate standards and objective methods of self‐ observation, ask them to evaluate their own performance.

Chapter 15 offers recommendations for helping students create portfolios.

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CHAPTER and give yourself a mental pat on the back. In contrast, when you fail to accomplish a task, you’re probably unhappy with your performance; you may also feel guilty, regretful, or ashamed (Harter, 1999; Krebs, 2008). As children and adolescents become increasingly self‐regulating, they, too, begin to reinforce themselves when they accomplish their goals—perhaps by feeling proud or telling themselves they did a good job. And they may punish themselves when they do something that doesn’t meet their own performance standards—perhaps by feeling sorry, guilty, or ashamed. But self‐imposed contingencies aren’t necessarily confined to emotional reactions. Many self‐ regulating individuals reinforce themselves in far more concrete ways when they do something well (Bandura, 1977). I once had a colleague who went shopping every time she completed a research article or report (she had one of the best wardrobes in town). I’m more frugal: When I finish writing each major section of a chapter, I either help myself to a piece of chocolate or take time to watch one of my favorite television game shows. As a result, I’m chubbier than my colleague, but I have a wealth of knowledge of game‐show trivia and would almost certainly beat her in a game of Trivial Pursuit. Thus, an additional way to help students become more self‐regulating is to teach them self‐ reinforcement. When students begin to reinforce themselves for appropriate responses—perhaps giving themselves some free time, allowing themselves to engage in a favorite activity, or simply praising themselves—their study habits and classroom behavior can improve significantly (K. R. Harris, 1986; Hayes et al., 1985; Reid et al., 2005). In one research study, students who were performing poorly in arithmetic were taught to give themselves points when they did well on assignments; they could later use the points to “buy” a variety of items and privileges. Within a few weeks, these students were doing as well as their classmates on both in‐class assignments and homework (H. C. Stevenson & Fantuzzo, 1986). The most diligent workers and highest achievers in the classroom, on the athletic field, and elsewhere are likely to be individuals who can effectively self‐regulate their behavior (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Trautwein, Lüdtke, Kastens, & Köller, 2006; Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 2005). But we certainly don’t have to leave the development of self‐regulated behavior to chance. As we teach students strategies for taking charge of their own actions, we should keep several points in mind:

self‐regulated learning Regulation of one’s own cognitive processes and studying behaviors in order to learn successfully.

Teach students to reinforce themselves for productive behavior.

scaffolding to help them acquire self‐ regulation skills. Observe how one teacher uses technology to provide Brandon’s MotivAider and Picture

improvements are rare. Acquiring effective self‐regulation skills is often a slow, gradual process, but with reasonable guidance and scaffolding, virtually all students can master them.

SELF‐REGULATED LEARNING
To be truly self‐regulating, learners must direct and monitor their learning as well as their behavior. In particular, self‐regulated learning includes the following processes, many of which clearly involve metacognition: metacognition. Goal setting: Self‐regulating learners know what they want to accomplish when they read or study—perhaps to learn specific facts, gain a broad conceptual understanding of a topic, or simply acquire enough knowledge to do well on a classroom exam. Typically they tie their goals for a particular learning activity to longer‐term goals and aspirations (Nolen, 1996; Winne & Hadwin, 1998; Wolters, 1998; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009). Planning: Self‐regulating learners determine ahead of time how best to use the time and resources they have available for learning tasks (Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009). Self‐motivation: Self‐regulating learners typically have high self‐efficacy regarding their ability to accomplish a learning task successfully. They use a variety of strategies to keep themselves on task—perhaps embellishing the task to make it more fun, reminding themselves of the importance of doing well, or promising themselves a reward when they’re finished (Pajares, 2009; Usher, 2009; Wolters, 2003).

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Attention control: Self‐regulating learners try to focus their attention on the subject matter at hand and to clear their minds of potentially distracting thoughts and emotions (Harnishfeger, 1995; J. Kuhl, 1985; Winne, 1995). Flexible use of learning strategies: Self‐regulating learners choose different learning strategies depending on the specific goals they hope to accomplish. For example, how they read a magazine article depends on whether they’re reading it for entertainment or studying for an exam (Meltzer et al., 2007; van den Broek, Lorch, Linderholm, & Gustafson, 2001; Winne, 1995). Self‐monitoring: Self‐regulating learners continually monitor their progress toward their goals for studying—for instance, by frequently checking their understanding of and memory for what they’re reading (i.e., monitoring comprehension). In addition, they change their learning strategies or modify their goals as necessary (D. L. Butler & Winne, 1995; Carver & Scheier, 1990; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009). Appropriate help‐seeking: Truly self‐regulating learners don’t necessarily try to do everything on their own. On the contrary, they recognize when they need other people’s help and actively seek it out. They’re especially likely to ask for the kinds of help that will enable them to work more independently in the future (R. Butler, 1998b; J. Lee & Shute, 2010; R. S. Newman, 2008; Zusho & Barnett, 2011). Self‐evaluation: Self‐regulating learners determine whether the things they’ve learned have helped them meet their goals. Ideally, they also use their self‐evaluations to adjust their use of various learning strategies on future occasions (Schraw & Moshman, 1995; Winne & Hadwin, 1998; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009). As noted in Table 10.2, a few elements of self‐regulated learning (e.g., conscious efforts to focus attention and completing short learning tasks independently) emerge in the upper elementary grades, and additional ones (e.g., planning, self‐motivation) appear in the middle school and high school years. To some extent, self‐regulated learning probably develops from opportunities to engage in age‐appropriate independent learning activities and to observe other people modeling effective self‐regulation strategies (S. G. Paris & Paris, 2001; Vye et al., 1998; Zimmerman, 2004). But if we take Vygotsky’s perspective for a moment, we might suspect that self‐regulated learning also has roots in socially regulated learning (Stright, Neitzel, Sears, & Hoke‐Sinex, 2001; Vygotsky, 1934/1986; Zimmerman, 1998). At first, a teacher or parent might help children learn by setting goals for a learning activity, keeping the children’s attention focused on the learning task, suggesting effective learning strategies, monitoring learning progress, and so on. Then, in co‐regulated learning , the adult and children share responsibility for directing the various aspects of the learning process (McCaslin & Good, 1996; McCaslin & Hickey, 2001; Zimmerman, 2004). For example, a teacher and students might agree on the specific goals of a learning endeavor, or the teacher might prescribe criteria that students might use to self‐ evaluate their performance. The teacher might initially provide considerable scaffolding for the students’ learning efforts and then gradually remove it as students become more proficient self‐ regulators. Alternatively, several learners of equal ability might collectively regulate a learning task, perhaps in a cooperative group activity (Hickey, 2011; Volet, Vaura, & Salonen, 2009). In such a situation, different learners can take on different responsibilities and monitor one another’s progress. When children and adolescents are self‐regulating learners, they set more ambitious academic goals for themselves, learn more effectively, and achieve at higher levels in classrooms and computer‐based learning environments (D. L. Butler & Winne, 1995; Corno et al., 2002; Greene & Azevedo, 2009; Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997). Self‐regulation becomes increasingly important in adolescence and adulthood, when many learning activities—reading, doing homework, seeking needed resources on the Internet, and so on—occur in isolation from other people and thus require considerable self‐direction (Trautwein et al., 2006; Winne, 1995; Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 2005). Even at advanced grade levels, however, many students have few self‐regulated learning skills, perhaps in part because traditional instructional practices do little to encourage them (S. G. Paris & Ayres, 1994; Winters, Greene, & Costich, 2008; Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997). co‐regulated learning Process through which an adult and child share responsibility for directing various aspects of the child’s learning; alternatively, collaborative process in which one or more learners jointly support and monitor one another’s learning progress.

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CHAPTER PROMOTING SELF‐REGULATED LEARNING To promote self‐regulated learning, we must, of course, teach students the kinds of cognitive processes that facilitate learning and memory—comprehension monitoring, elaborative self‐ questioning, and so on. In addition, researchers have suggested the following strategies: Encourage students to set some of their own goals for learning and then to monitor their progress toward those goals. Give students opportunities to work without teacher direction or assistance; include both independent learning activities in which students study by themselves (e.g., seatwork assignments, homework) and small‐group activities in which students help one another learn (e.g., peer tutoring, cooperative learning). Occasionally assign activities in which students have considerable leeway regarding goals and use of time (e.g., research papers, creative projects). Teach time management strategies (e.g., setting aside specific times to study at home, prioritizing assignments based on difficulty and due dates). Provide the scaffolding students need to acquire self‐regulation skills (e.g., give them checklists they can use to identify what they need to do each day and to determine when they’ve completed all assigned work). Model self‐regulating cognitive processes by thinking aloud while using such processes, and then give students constructive feedback as they engage in similar processes. Encourage students to seek short‐term, focused help to overcome temporary difficulties in understanding. Consistently ask students to evaluate their own performance, and have them compare their self‐assessments to teacher assessments. (Belfiore & Hornyak, 1998; Bronson, 2000; Falco, 2008; A. King, 1997; McCaslin & Good, 1996; McMillan, 2010; Meltzer et al., 2007; R. S. Newman, 2008; S. G. Paris & Paris, 2001; N. E. Perry, 1998; N. E. Perry, VandeKamp, Mercer, & Nordby, 2002; Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997; J. W. Thomas, 1993b; Winne & Hadwin, 1998; Wong, Hoskyn, Jai, Ellis, & Watson, 2008; Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997)

self‐regulated problem solving of self‐directed strategies to address complex problems.

SELF‐REGULATED PROBLEM SOLVING
Effectively directing one’s own efforts in tackling complex problems—that is, self‐regulated problem solving—involves many of the same components as self‐regulated learning: goal setting, self‐motivation, attention control, self‐monitoring, self‐evaluation, and so on (Zimmerman & Campillo, 2003). And just as teacher scaffolding facilitates the development of self‐regulated learning skills, so, too, does it facilitate the acquisition of self‐regulated problem‐solving strategies. For example, to encourage brainstorming and creativity in solving problems, we might suggest that students give themselves instructions such as these:
I want to think of something no one else will think of, something unique. Be freewheeling, no hang‐ups. I don’t care what anyone thinks; just suspend judgment. I’m not sure what I’ll come up with; it will be a surprise. The ideas can just flow through me. (Meichenbaum, 1977, p. 62)
Teach students the mental steps they can follow to solve complex problems more effectively.

We might also provide a general structure for students to follow as they approach complex problems— for example, by encouraging them to ask themselves such questions as “Why am I using this strategy?” and “Am I sure this answer makes sense?” (Berardi‐Coletta, Buyer, Dominowski, & Rellinger, 1995; Desoete, Roeyers, & De Clercq, 2003). Self‐regulated problem solving is important not only for solving academic problems but for solving social problems as well. For instance, to help students deal more effectively with interpersonal conflicts, we might teach them to take these steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Define the problem. Identify several possible solutions. Predict the likely consequences of each solution. Choose the best solution. Identify the steps required to carry out the solution.
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6. Carry out the steps. 7. Evaluate the results. (S. N. Elliott & Busse, 1991; Meichenbaum, 1977; Weissberg, 1985; Yell, Robinson, & Drasgow, 2001) Following such steps often helps students who have interpersonal problems—for instance, students who are either socially withdrawn or overly aggressive—to develop more effective social skills (K. R. Harris, 1982; Meichenbaum, 1977; Yell et al., 2001). Another approach is to provide training in peer mediation, in which students help one another solve interpersonal problems. In this approach, students learn how to mediate conflicts among classmates by asking opposing sides to express their differing points of view and then work together to devise a reasonable resolution (M. Deutsch, 1993; D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 1996, 2006; Stevahn, Johnson, Johnson, Oberle, & Wahl, 2000). In one study involving several second‐ through fifth‐grade classrooms (D. W. Johnson, Johnson, Dudley, Ward, & Magnuson, 1995), students were trained to help peers resolve interpersonal conflicts by asking the opposing sides to do the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Define the conflict (the problem). Explain their own perspectives and needs. Explain the other person’s perspectives and needs. Identify at least three possible solutions to the conflict. Reach an agreement that addresses the needs of both parties.
Teach students strategies for effectively mediating classmates’ interpersonal conflicts.

Students took turns serving as mediator for their classmates, such that everyone had experience resolving the conflicts of others. As a result, the students more frequently resolved their own interpersonal conflicts in ways that addressed the needs of both parties, and they were less likely than students in an untrained control group to ask for adult intervention. In peer mediation, then, we see another example of Vygotsky’s notion that many effective cognitive processes have their roots in social interactions. In a peer mediation session, students model effective conflict resolution skills for one another, and they may eventually internalize the skills they use in solving others’ problems to solve their own problems. Peer mediation is most effective when students of diverse ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic groups, and achievement levels all serve as mediators (Casella, 2001a; K. M. Williams, 2001b). It’s appropriate primarily for small, short‐term interpersonal problems, such as hurt feelings or conflicts over use of limited academic resources. Even the most proficient of peer mediators may be ill prepared to handle conflicts that involve deep‐seated and emotionally charged attitudes and behaviors, such as homophobia and sexual harassment (Casella, 2001a). In such cases the guidance and intervention of teachers and other school personnel is probably necessary.

DIVERSITY IN SELF‐REGULATION
Some diversity in self‐regulation—especially diversity related to effortful control—is the result of maturational changes in the brain (see the Applying Brain Research feature “Understanding and Accommodating Individual Differences in Self‐Regulation”). Brain development progresses somewhat more quickly in females than in males—a trend that might partly explain girls’ tendency to be more self‐regulating than boys as early as kindergarten (Lenroot et al., 2007; Matthews, Ponitz, & Morrison, 2009). But culture, too, seems to make a difference. Some cultural groups—for instance, many East Asian cultures—place particular importance on emotional restraint and self‐discipline. Children growing up in these cultures are apt to be hard workers who can focus their attention and work independently on assigned tasks for long periods (X. Chen & Wang, 2010; P. M. Cole, Tamang, & Shrestha, 2006; Morelli & Rothbaum, 2007). PROMOTING SELF‐REGULATION IN STUDENTS AT RISK Some students have few outside role models for effective study habits—few people in their out‐of‐ school lives who can model the self‐regulated learning skills they’ll need to succeed in high school and postsecondary education (J. Chen & Morris, 2008). As a result, these students may have little knowledge about how to accomplish goals such as graduating from high school, attending college, and eventually becoming successful professionals (Belfiore & Hornyak, 1998; B. L. Wilson & Corbett, 2001). For example, in a study with low‐income, inner‐city middle school students

peer mediation Approach to conflict resolution in which a student (serving as a mediator) asks peers in conflict to express their differing viewpoints and then work together to devise a reasonable resolution. effortful control Ability to inhibit dominant responses in favor of other, less dominant ones that might be more productive; an aspect of temperament that is influenced by biology and brain maturation.

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CHAPTER (B. L. Wilson & Corbett, 2001), researchers found that many of the students aspired to professional careers (doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc.) yet misbehaved in class, inconsistently completed homework, and often skipped school. They had little idea about what it would take to do well in their studies, as this interview with one of the students reveals: Adult: Are you on track to meet your goals? Student: No. I need to study more. Adult: How do you know that? Student: I just know by some of my grades. [mostly Cs] Adult: Why do you think you will be more inclined to do it in high school? Student: I don’t want to get let back. I want to go to college. Adult: What will you need to do to get better grades? Student: Just do more and more work. I can rest when the school year is over.4 Motivation and effort are important, to be sure, but so are planning, time management, regular self‐monitoring and self‐evaluation, and appropriate help‐seeking—things about which this student seemed to have little knowledge (B. L. Wilson & Corbett, 2001).
4

Dialogue from Listening to Urban Kids: School Reform and the Teachers They Want by Bruce L. Wilson and Dick Corbett, p. 23. Copyright © 2001 by the State University of New York Press, State University of New York. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Applying Brain Research

on two areas in the front part of the brain—the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex—that continue to develop over the course of

Anterior cingulate cortex Prefrontal cortex

control over a set of structures in the middle of the brain—including the amygdala—that are heavily involved in feeling and responding to emotions. To some degree, then, effective self‐regulation requires maturational

Compounding the problem for adolescents is that the changing hormone levels accompanying puberty can increase their sensitivity and reactions to high‐stress situations. For example, the increasing testosterone levels in teenage boys make some of them especially prone to

Amygdala

Yet in any single age‐group, learners seem to differ considerably in their ability to regulate their behaviors, emotions, and cognitive processes. ment known as effortful control, which appears to have its basis in the brain. In particular, some learners are better able than others to consciously restrain themselves from making impulsive responses when other, less domtrol can better plan ahead, focus their attention where they need to, and be better behaved in class and to achieve at higher levels than their class-

this will be true for many students who have been identified as having emotional and behavioral disorders. Clear rules for behavior, explicit response–consequence contingencies, and concrete mechanisms for self‐monitoring and self‐evaluation are often in order. Also useful are simple technological devices—such as small buzzers that a teacher or other adult can remotely activate—that either remind students of things they should be doing or give them Heward, 2007). Teach strategies for keeping counterproductive emotions in check. Especially when working with students who are prone to emotional volatility, we can provide concrete guidance about how they might control feelings that would lead them to behave in ways they’d later regret. For instance, we might suggest that they count to 10 and take a few deep breaths in order to calm down before responding to a provocation on the playground. And we can help them brainstorm possible “silver linings” in

As you can see, then, some students may need more guidance and support than others in acquiring self‐regulation skills. With this point in mind, I offer two suggestions: Individualize the scaffolding students need to regulate their behaviors. to help them keep unproductive behaviors in check; for example,

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Fortunately, explicit instruction in FIGURE 10.8 On this daily log sheet, 13‐year‐old Lea has kept track of self‐regulating strategies can help students her math assignments, their due dates, and her performance on them. at risk begin to acquire more effective study habits (Cosden et al., 2001; Eilam, 2001; Graham & Harris, 1996; S. D. Miller et al., 2003). Sometimes instruction can take place in structured after‐ school homework programs, in which students have considerable scaffolding for such basic skills as keeping track of homework assignments and due dates, developing plans to complete all assignments in a timely manner, and locating helpful resources. But we can also provide scaffolding for self‐regulated activities during regular school hours—for instance, distributing forms that students can use to keep track of what they’ve already done and still need to do. A daily log sheet, such as that presented in Figure 10.8, can help middle school students keep track of their math assignments and monitor their performance. The form has its limits, because it provides no place for students to record the types of problems they get wrong, the kinds of errors they make, or any other information that might help them improve. For students with few self‐regulation strategies, however, using such a form can start them on the road to effective self‐monitoring. SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Students with disabilities often grow up in tightly controlled and structured environments, and some of them have brain abnormalities that make self‐regulation difficult. Thus many of these students may especially benefit from explicit instruction in self‐regulation strategies and scaffolded opportunities to self‐regulate some of their own activities (Coch, Dawson, & Fischer, 2007; Wehmeyer et al., 2007). For instance, we might encourage students with disabilities to set and strive for their own goals, especially goals that are concrete, specific, and accomplishable within a short time period. These students are also well served when we teach them self‐monitoring, self‐reinforcement, and self‐regulated problem‐solving skills (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2006; Mithaug & Mithaug, 2003; Reid et al., 2005; J. R. Sullivan & Conoley, 2004). Table 10.3 presents a social cognitive perspective of characteristics commonly seen in students with special needs, as well as strategies for promoting the academic and social success of these students.

Chapter 5 identifies specific categories of special needs that fall within the five general categories listed in Table 10.3.

REVISITING RECIPROCAL CAUSATION
We return now to a concept introduced at the beginning of the chapter: reciprocal causation. As we’ve explored social cognitive theory, we’ve identified how environmental factors (e.g., reinforcement, teacher scaffolding) can influence learners’ behaviors. We’ve also identified personal factors (e.g., self‐efficacy, self‐determined standards and goals) that learners bring with them to new tasks, and those, too, affect learners’ behaviors. From a social cognitive perspective, all three of these factors—environment, behavior, and person—mutually influence one another (e.g., Bandura, 2008). Several examples of these reciprocal influences are presented in the “General Examples” column in Table 10.4.

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CHAPTER

STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS
Applying Social Cognitive Theory with Students Who Have Special Educational Needs
CATEGORY
Students with specific cognitive or academic difficulties

CHARACTERISTICS YOU MIGHT OBSERVE behaviors where there has been a history of failure

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
Help students form more realistic expectations about the consequences of their behaviors. to increase the probability of success. Identify students’ areas of strength, and give them opportunities to tutor peers in those areas. Teach self‐regulation strategies (e.g., goal setting and planning, self‐monitoring, self‐instructions, self‐reinforcement).

Students with social or behavioral problems

other aspects of the social environment (for many students with autism spectrum disorders) action and in predicting the likely consequences of specific behaviors effective social skills and prosocial behavior (for some students with emotional and behavioral disorders)

Model appropriate classroom behaviors; combine modeling with explicit verbal instruction, and use visual aids to communicate desired behaviors. Discuss possible consequences of various courses of action when social conflicts arise. Provide opportunities for students to interact with peers who model effective social and prosocial behaviors. inappropriate behaviors; use videos of their appropriate behaviors as models for future actions. Teach self‐regulation strategies (e.g., self‐monitoring, self‐instructions, self‐regulated problem solving). Help students recognize and interpret other people’s body language and other social cues.

Students with general delays in cognitive and social functioning

to behave avoiding failure) behavior

increase the probability of success. Model desired behaviors; identify peers who can also serve as good models. Encourage students to set high yet realistic goals for achievement. Promote self‐regulation (e.g., by teaching self‐ monitoring, self‐instructions, self‐reinforcement). Teach skills that promote self‐sufficiency and independence. Teach students to make positive self‐statements (e.g., “I can do it!”) to enhance their self‐efficacy for acting independently. Provide the academic support that students need to reach high goals. Provide opportunities for independent study. Provide challenging tasks, including some at which students may initially fail; teach constructive strategies for dealing with failure (e.g., persistence, using errors to guide future practice efforts).

Students with physical or sensory challenges

skills because of health limitations and/or a tightly controlled environment

Students with advanced cognitive development experience dealing productively with failure (for some students)

Sources: Bandura, 1989; Bear et al., 2010; Beirne‐Smith, Patton, & Kim, 2006; Biemiller, Shany, Inglis, & Meichenbaum, 1998; Coch et al., 2007; Cunningham & Cunningham, 2006; Dapretto et al., 2006; E. S. Ellis & Friend, 1991; Fletcher, Lyons, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007; Kehle, Clark, Jenson, & Wampold, 1986; Meltzer, 2007; Mercer & Pullen, 2005; Mithaug & Mithaug, 2003; J. R. Nelson, Smith, Young, & Dodd, 1991; Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2004; Piirto, 1999; Reid et al., 2005; Sands & Wehmeyer, 1996; Schumaker & Hazel, 1984; Schunk et al., 1987; Silk et al., 2003; J. R. Sullivan & Conoley, 2004; Turnbull, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, 2010; Usher & Pajares, 2008; Webber & Plotts, 2008; Yell et al., 2001; Zimmerman, 2004.

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C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
Mutual Influences (Reciprocal Causation) among Environment, Behavior, and Person
GENERAL EXAMPLES
On behavior Effect of Environment Reinforcement and punishment affect future behavior. Feedback from others affects sense of self‐efficacy.

EXAMPLES IN LORI’S CASE: SCENE 1 future classroom failure.

EXAMPLES IN LORI’S CASE: SCENE 2 lead to improved academic performance.

On person

low self‐efficacy. attention. Poor classroom performance leads the teacher to meet privately with her. Increasing self‐regulation and better academic performance lead to more reinforcement from the teacher. Increasing self‐regulation and better academic performance lead to higher self‐efficacy. Attention to classroom activities leads to greater benefits derived from teacher’s instruction. Greater self‐efficacy and increased motivation lead to more persistent study habits.

On environment amount of reinforcement and punishment received. Effect of Behavior On person expectations for future performance. On environment activities and therefore also affects the specific environment encountered. Effect of Person On behavior Attention, retention, and motivation affect the degree to which a learner imitates behaviors modeled by others.

Poor classroom performance leads to low self‐efficacy.

Attention to classmates rather than classroom activities affects the specific environmental stimuli and events perceived and experienced. Attention to classmates rather than classroom activities leads to academic failure.

As a concrete illustration of how environment, behavior, and personal factors are continually intertwined, let’s consider Scene 1 in the case of a student named Lori: Scene 1 Lori often comes late to Mr. Broderick’s seventh‐grade social studies class, and she’s usually ill prepared for the day’s activities. In class she spends more time interacting with friends (e.g., whispering, passing notes) than engaging in assigned tasks. Lori’s performance on most exams and assignments is unsatisfactory—when she turns in her work at all. In mid‐October Mr. Broderick takes Lori aside to express his concern about her lack of classroom effort. He suggests that she could do better if she paid more attention in class. He also offers to work with her twice a week after school to help her understand class material. Lori is less optimistic, describing herself as “not smart enough to learn this stuff.” For a week or so after meeting with Mr. Broderick, Lori seems to buckle down and exert more effort, but she never does stay after school for extra help. And before long she’s back to her old habits. Mr. Broderick eventually concludes that Lori is a lost cause and decides to devote his time and effort to helping more motivated students. Lori’s low self‐efficacy (a person factor) is probably one reason she spends so much class time engaged in task‐irrelevant activities (behaviors). The fact that she devotes her attention (another person factor) to her classmates rather than to her teacher affects the particular stimuli she experiences (her environment). Lori’s non‐self‐regulating behaviors and resulting poor performance on assignments and exams (behaviors) affect both her self‐efficacy (person) and Mr. Broderick’s treatment of her (environment). By eventually concluding that Lori is a lost cause, Mr. Broderick begins to ignore Lori (environment), contributing further to her failure

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CHAPTER (behavior) and even lower self‐efficacy (person). The “Scene 1” column in Table 10.3 presents examples of such interactive effects. In general, Lori is showing signs of being at risk for long‐ term academic failure. Now imagine that Mr. Broderick reads several research articles describing effective strategies for working with students like Lori. Midway through the school year, he makes the following changes in his classroom:

suggests that they reinforce themselves with 15 minutes of a favorite activity after finishing a homework assignment, and shows them how to track their progress on graph paper. dents develop more effective reading and learning strategies.

responsible for their performance. Let’s see what happens next, as we consider Scene 2: Scene 2 By incorporating students’ personal experiences and interests into daily lesson plans, Mr. Broderick captures Lori’s interest and attention. She begins to realize that social studies has implications for her own life, and she becomes more involved in class activities. With the more structured assignments, better guidance about how to study class material, and frequent quizzes, Lori finds herself succeeding in a subject in which she previously experienced only failure. Mr. Broderick is equally pleased with her performance, and he frequently communicates his pleasure through his facial expressions, verbal feedback, and willingness to provide help whenever she needs it. By the end of the school year, Lori is studying course material more effectively and completing her assignments regularly. She’s actually looking forward to next year’s social studies class, confident that she’ll continue to do well. Once again, we see the interplay among environment, behavior, and person. Mr. Broderick’s new instructional methods (environment) engage Lori’s attention (person), foster self‐regulation, and enhance academic performance (behaviors). Lori’s improved classroom performance, in turn, influences Mr. Broderick’s treatment of her (environment) and her own self‐efficacy (person). Her improved self‐efficacy, her greater attention to classroom activities, and her increased motivation to succeed (all person variables) affect her ability to benefit from Mr. Broderick’s instruction (environment) and her classroom success (behavior). The “Scene 2” column in Table 10.4 presents examples of such interactive effects.

Comparing Theoretical Perspectives of Learning
For detailed discussions of the other three theoretical perspectives, see Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 (cognitive theories), and Chapter 9 (behaviorism).

At this point in your study of human learning, you may have examined four general theoretical perspectives: cognitive psychology, contextual theories, behaviorism, and social cognitive theory. Table 10.5 identifies central ways in which these perspectives are similar and different. But I urge you to keep this point in mind: Diverse perspectives of learning often complement rather than contradict one another, and together they give us a richer, more multifaceted picture of human learning than any single perspective can give us by itself. All four perspectives provide valuable guidance about how we can help students achieve in classroom settings.

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C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
Comparing the Four Perspectives of Learning
ISSUE
Learning is defined as. . .

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
An internal mental phenomenon that may or may not be reflected in behavior Cognitive processes

CONTEXTUAL THEORIES
A phenomenon that is often situated within a particular physical or social context

BEHAVIORISM
A behavior change

SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY
An internal mental phenomenon that may or may not be reflected in behavior Both behavior and cognitive processes

The focus of investigation is on. . . Principles of learning describe how. . . Consequences of behavior. . . Learning and behavior are influenced. . .

(e.g., small groups, culture, society) that support learning and development People mentally process new information and construct knowledge from their experiences Are not a major focus of consideration Primarily by cognitive processes within the individual Physical, social, and cultural mechanisms influence learning and cognition Are not a major focus of consideration Both by local environmental conditions and by broader cultural and social factors

can be readily observed

People’s behaviors are affected by environmental stimuli Must be experienced directly if they are to affect learning Primarily by local environmental conditions

People’s observations of those around them affect their behavior and cognitive processes Can be experienced either directly or vicariously Partly by the environment and partly by cognitive processes (people become increasingly self‐regulating— and therefore less controlled by the environment—over time) and acquire effective self‐ regulation skills

Educational implications focus on how we can help students. . .

Process information in effective ways and construct accurate and complete knowledge about classroom topics

Acquire complex knowledge and skills within authentic, real‐world contexts

Acquire more productive classroom behaviors

10 What Have You Learned?
We now return to the chapter’s learning outcomes to summarize key concepts, principles, and applications of social cognitive theory. ■ 10.1: Describe five basic assumptions of social cognitive theory and their classroom implications. As a perspective that focuses on how people learn by observing others, social cognitive theory has built on ideas from both behaviorism and cognitive psychology. Social cognitive theorists view learning as an internal mental process (as cognitive psychologists do), but it also stresses the important influences of response–consequence contingencies (as behaviorists do). Furthermore, the interplay of mental processes and environmental consequences has implications not only for learning but also for motivation. Ultimately environmental, behavioral, and personal factors all interact with one another in their effects on learning—a three‐way interdependence known as reciprocal causation. With age, experience, and appropriate scaffolding, many learners can increasingly take charge of their own behaviors, academic learning, and interpersonal problems.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 10.2: Use a social cognitive perspective to explain how mental processes can influence the effects of reinforcement and punishment. Social cognitive theorists’ beliefs about how reinforce-

ment influences learning and behavior are quite different from those of behaviorists. From a social cognitive perspective, reinforcement and punishment affect learning indirectly rather than directly, and consequences to one learner vicariously influence the behaviors of other learners as well. For example, students who observe a classmate being reinforced or punished for a particular behavior may conclude that engaging in that behavior will yield similar consequences for themselves. Furthermore, the nonoccurrence of expected reinforcement is punishing, and the nonoccurrence of expected punishment is reinforcing. As teachers, we should recognize that the consequences of students’ behaviors are likely to influence the expectations students form, the ways in which they process information, and the choices they make.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

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■ 10.3: Describe the potential effects of modeling on learners’ behaviors, and explain how you can productively use

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CHAPTER own behaviors. With development, too, many children gradually acquire strategies for regulating their learning efforts. For example, they conscientiously plan how they might best use their time and resources, motivate themselves to stay on task as they work, apply and evaluate various study strategies, and seek help when they need it. They can be equally self‐regulating in addressing interpersonal problems, identifying various possible solutions and evaluating the end result of whatever solution they choose. As teachers, we can foster the development of self‐regulation skills in many ways—for instance, by asking students to set some of their own goals, providing explicit criteria with which they can evaluate their performance, and giving them age‐appropriate independence in various situations and tasks. However, we must keep in mind that students in any single age‐group vary considerably in their ability to control their behaviors and emotions, in part as a result of differences in brain maturation and temperament. Furthermore, some students may have had few outside role models for effective study habits. Some of our students, then, may need considerable guidance and support in their development of self‐regulation skills.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

modeling in instruction. Effective models can take one of three forms: living people, real or fictional characters portrayed in various media, or verbal instructions regarding how to successfully execute desired behaviors. Such models can encourage either productive behaviors and skills (e.g., math and writing competencies, interpersonal skills) or inappropriate ones (e.g., aggression). Four conditions are essential if students are to learn from models: attention to the model, retention (memory) of what the model does, capacity for motor reproduction of the modeled behavior, and motivation to exhibit the modeled behavior. Students often benefit more from models who are not only competent and prestigious but also similar to themselves in cultural background, socioeconomic status, gender, and (if applicable) disability. Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 10.4: Describe the nature and origins of self‐efficacy, and explain how you might enhance self‐efficacy both in your students as developing learners and in yourself as a teacher.

Learners are more likely to engage and persist in certain activities when they believe they can perform or learn the activities successfully—that is, when they have high self‐efficacy. As teachers, we can enhance students’ self‐efficacy by giving them reasons to believe they can master school subject matter (e.g., by having them observe successful peer models) and by providing many opportunities to experience success working either as individuals or as part of a group. At the same time, we must remember that our own self‐efficacy—our belief that with effort and effective instructional strategies we can definitely make a difference in students’ lives—is an important factor in students’ success.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

■ 10.6: Compare and contrast perspectives of learning associated with cognitive psychology, contextual theories, behaviorism, and social cognitive theory. Cognitive psychology,

■ 10.5: Identify important components of self‐regulated behavior and self‐regulated learning, and apply your knowledge of self‐regulation to help diverse learners effectively control their behavior, master academic subject matter, and address interpersonal problems. As children grow older, most of them

contextual perspectives, behaviorism, and social cognitive learning sometimes share and build on one another’s ideas, but in other respects they offer competing views of how human beings learn. Key differences among the four perspectives include their definitions of learning; the nature of their research; their emphases on mental processes, influences of stimuli and consequences in one’s immediate environment, or broader social and cultural contexts; and the specific implications they derive for instruction. As teachers, we must keep in mind that all four perspectives have useful applications for classroom practice.
Evaluate and apply your knowledge related to this learning . outcome in

become increasingly self‐regulating. For example, they begin to set standards and goals for themselves, try to keep counterproductive emotions in check, and monitor and evaluate their

Practice for Your Licensure Exam
Teacher’s Lament
“Sometimes a teacher just can’t win,” complains Mr. Adams, a sixth‐ grade teacher. “At the beginning of the year, I told my students that homework assignments would count for 20% of their grades. Yet some students hardly ever turned in any homework, even though I continually reminded them about their assignments. After reconsidering the situation, I decided that I probably shouldn’t use homework as a criterion for grading. After all, in this low‐income neighborhood, many kids don’t have a quiet place to study at home. “So in November I told my class that I wouldn’t be counting homework assignments when I calculated grades for the first report card. Naturally, some students—the ones who hadn’t been doing their homework—seemed relieved. But the students who had been doing

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331 it were absolutely furious! And now hardly anyone turns in homework anymore.”
1. Multiple‐choice question:

Which one of the following statements best uses principles from social cognitive theory to explain why the students who had regularly been doing their homework were so upset? a. Switching grading policies midstream, as Mr. Adams did, was a form of negative reinforcement. b. The nonoccurrence of expected reinforcement for completing homework was a form of punishment.

c. By not giving credit for homework assignments, Mr. Adams significantly reduced students’ self‐efficacy regarding academic subject matter. d. Reciprocal causation was at work: The students were essentially retaliating against their teacher for his unexpected change in grading policy.
2. Constructed‐response question:

What might Mr. Adams do to encourage and help all students to complete homework assignments? Basing your discussion on principles of self‐regulation, describe at least three different strategies in specific, concrete terms.

PRAXIS

Go to Appendix C, “Matching Book and tions of this chapter that may be especially applicable to the Praxis tests.

,” to discover sec-

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Motivation and Affect

LE ARNIN G OUTCOMES
11.1: Draw on diverse theoretical perspectives to describe the multifaceted nature of motivation. 11.2: Describe several basic needs that seem to drive much of human behavior, and identify numerous strategies for helping students address these needs at school. 11.3: Explain how learners’ cognitive processes and sociocultural environments can have significant impacts on their motivation, and apply your knowledge of these factors to classroom practice. 11.4: Describe how various forms of affect are intertwined with motivation, learning, and cognition, and explain how you might promote productive affective states in students.

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CA S E S T U DY: PA S S ING A L GE B RA
Fourteen‐year‐old Michael has been getting failing grades in his eighth‐grade algebra class, prompting his family to ask graduate student Valerie Tucker to tutor him. In the first tutoring session, Michael tells Ms. Tucker that he probably won’t pass the course because he has little aptitude for math and his teacher doesn’t explain the subject matter very well. In his mind, he’s powerless to change either his own ability or his teacher’s instructional strategies, making continuing failure inevitable. As Ms. Tucker works with Michael over the next several weeks, she encourages him to think more about what he can do to master algebra and less about what his teacher may or may not be doing to help him. She points out that he did well in math in earlier years and so certainly has the ability to learn algebra if he puts his mind to it. She also teaches him some strategies for understanding and applying algebraic principles. Michael takes a giant step forward when he finally realizes that his own efforts play a role in his classroom success: Maybe I can try a little harder. . . . The teacher is still bad, but maybe some of this other stuff can work. (Tucker & Anderman, 1999, p. 5) When Michael sees gradual improvement on his algebra assignments and quizzes, he becomes increasingly aware that the specific strategies he uses are just as important as his effort: I learned that I need to understand information before I can hold it in my mind. . . . Now I do things in math step by step and listen to each step. I realize now that even if I don’t like the teacher or don’t think he is a good teacher, it is my responsibility to listen. I listen better now and ask questions more. (Tucker & Anderman, 1999, p. 5) As Michael’s performance in algebra continues to improve in later weeks, he gains greater confidence that he can master algebra after all, and he comes to realize that his classroom success is ultimately up to him: The teacher does most of his part, but it’s no use to me unless I do my part. . . . Now I try and comprehend, ask questions and figure out how he got the answer. . . . I used to just listen and not even take notes. I always told myself I would remember but I always seemed to forget. Now I take notes and I study at home every day except Friday, even if I don’t have homework. Now I study so that I know that I have it. I don’t just hope I’ll remember.1

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1

This and preceding extracts from “Cycles of Learning: Demonstrating the Interplay between Motivation, Self‐ Regulation, and Cognition” by Valerie G. Tucker and Lynley H. Anderman, paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 1999, pp. 5-6. Copyright © 1999 by Valerie G. Tucker and Lynley H. Anderman. Reprinted with permission of the authors.

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CHAPTER Michael initially believes he’s failing algebra because of two things he can’t control—his teacher’s poor instruction and his own low ability—and so exerts little effort in the class. But with Ms. Tucker’s guidance, he discovers that increased effort and better strategies can make a big difference in his classroom performance. Suddenly Michael himself—not his teacher and not some genetically predetermined inability that lurks within him—is in control of the situation, and his confidence skyrockets. In this chapter we’ll discover that learners’ beliefs and goals play key roles in their motivation—or apparent lack of it—to master classroom subject matter. We’ll discover, too, that teachers’ behaviors and the overall classroom environment can either enhance learners’ motivation (perhaps by facilitating mastery, as Ms. Tucker does) or discourage it (perhaps by using ineffective instructional strategies, as Michael’s teacher seemingly does). Later in the chapter we’ll also look at the nature of emotions—which psychologists often refer to as affect—and consider how they come into play in both learning and motivation.

CH A PTER O U TL I N E
The Nature of Motivation
Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Motivation

Basic Human Needs
Arousal Competence and Self‐Worth Self‐Determination Relatedness Universality and Diversity in Basic Needs Theory

Cognitive and Sociocultural Factors in Motivation
Interests Expectancies and Values Goals Attributions Teacher Attributions and Expectations Diversity in Cognitive and Sociocultural Factors Affecting Motivation A TARGETS Mnemonic for Remembering Motivational Strategies

The Nature of Motivation
Learning theorists focus primarily on the question “What can people do and learn?” Motivation theorists focus on a somewhat different question: “How likely are people to do what they’re capable of doing and to learn what they’re capable of learning?” In general, motivation is something that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior; it gets people moving, points them in a particular direction, and keeps them going. More specifically, motivation has several effects:

Affect and its Effects
Interrelated Cognition Anxiety in the Classroom Diversity in Affect

of occasional obstacles and interruptions. how much they think about and elaborate on it. We often see students’ motivation reflected in personal investment and in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in certain activities. In general, then, motivation increases students’ physical and cognitive time on task, an important factor affecting their learning and achievement in a particular domain (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; Ladd & Dinella, 2009; J. Lee & Shute, 2010; Maehr & McInerney, 2004; E. Skinner, Furrer, Marchand, & Kindermann, 2008). Researchers have approached the study of motivation from several angles, which are summarized in Table 11.1. Each of these theoretical perspectives provides pieces of the motivation “puzzle,” offering useful ideas about how we can motivate students in classroom settings, and so we’ll draw from all of them in the pages ahead. But three general principles of motivation will underlie much of our discussion: All children and adolescents are motivated in one way or another. Occasionally I hear educators, policy makers, or the public at large talking about “unmotivated” students. In reality, all students have needs and desires they’re motivated to satisfy. One student may be keenly interested in classroom topics and seek out challenging coursework, participate actively in class discussions, and earn high marks on assigned projects. Another student may be more concerned with the social side of school, interacting frequently with classmates, attending many extracurricular activities, and perhaps running for a student government office. Still another may be focused on athletics, excelling in physical education classes, playing or watching sports most afternoons and weekends, and faithfully following a physical fitness regimen. Yet another student—perhaps because of an undetected

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C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
General Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Motivation
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Trait theories temperaments individual differences

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Behaviorist theories

drives: purposeful

Humanism

potential for psychological growth

positive psychology Social cognitive theories self‐efficacy beliefs goals Cognitive theories

self‐determination. attributions Contextual theories

situated

learning disability, shy temperament, or seemingly uncoordinated body—may be motivated to avoid academics, social situations, or athletic activities. Motivation to do well in school is grounded in a variety of cognitive and sociocultural factors that evolve over time. A common misconception is that students can turn their motivation “on” or “off” at will, much as one would flip a light switch. In fact, students’ motivation to achieve—or not achieve—in a traditional academic curriculum is the result of many factors that don’t easily change overnight. Some of these factors are cognitive in nature, such as students’ short‐term and long‐term goals and their self‐efficacy for learning academic topics. Others have social or cultural origins, such as the activities and values that students’ families and local communities endorse. In the opening case study, Michael’s self‐efficacy for mastering math improves—but only gradually— as he discovers that by applying effort and good strategies, he can be successful in the class. Conditions in the classroom play a major role in students’ motivation to learn and achieve. Motivation isn’t necessarily something that learners bring to school; it can also arise from environmental conditions at school. When we talk about how the environment can enhance a learner’s motivation to learn particular things or behave in particular ways, we’re talking about situated motivation (S. G. Paris & Turner, 1994; Rueda & Moll, 1994; Turner & Patrick, 2008). As you’ll see throughout the chapter, we teachers can do many things to motivate students to learn

motivation time on task

situated motivation

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CHAPTER and achieve in ways that promote their long‐term success and productivity. Sometimes even the seemingly “little” things we do—for instance, communicating genuine concern about students’ academic and personal well‐being and ensuring that their peers treat them respectfully—can have a significant long‐term impact (Yeager & Walton, 2011).

EXTRINSIC VERSUS INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Not all forms of motivation have exactly the same effects on human learning and performance. Consider these two students in an advanced high school writing class: earn a scholarship at State University, which she desperately wants to attend. scholarship at State University, but more importantly, she wants to become a better writer and knows that the skills she can gain will be useful in her future profession as a journalist. An additional bonus is that she’s learning many new techniques for making her writing more vivid and engaging. Sheryl has extrinsic motivation: She’s motivated by factors external to herself and unrelated to the task at hand. Extrinsically motivated learners perform a task as a means to an end— perhaps the good grades, money, or recognition that particular activities and accomplishments bring—rather than as an end in itself. In contrast, Shannon shows intrinsic motivation: She’s motivated by factors within herself and inherent in the task she’s performing. Intrinsically motivated learners may engage in an activity because it gives them pleasure, helps them develop an important skill, or seems to be the ethically and morally right thing to do. Some learners with high levels of intrinsic motivation become so focused on and absorbed in an activity that they lose track of time and completely ignore other tasks—a phenomenon known as flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 1996; Csikszentmihalyi, Abuhamdeh, & Nakamura, 2005; Shernoff & Csikszentmihalyi, 2009). Learners are most likely to show the beneficial effects of motivation when they’re intrinsically motivated to engage in classroom activities. Intrinsically motivated learners willingly tackle assigned tasks and are eager to learn classroom material, are more likely to process information in effective ways (e.g., by engaging in meaningful learning), and are more likely to achieve at high levels. In contrast, extrinsically motivated learners may have to be enticed or prodded, may process information only superficially, and may be interested in performing only easy tasks and meeting minimal classroom requirements (M. Becker, McElvany, & Kortenbruck, 2010; Reeve, 2006; Schiefele, 1991). In the early elementary grades, students are eager and excited to learn new things at school. But sometime between grades 3 and 9, their intrinsic motivation to master school subject matter declines (A. E. Gottfried, Fleming, & Gottfried, 2001; Lepper, Corpus, & Iyengar, 2005; Otis, Grouzet, & Pelletier, 2005). This decline is probably the result of several factors. As students get older, they’re increasingly reminded of the importance of good grades (extrinsic motivators) for promotion, graduation, and college admission, causing them to focus their efforts on earning high grade point averages. In addition, they become more cognitively capable of setting and striving for long‐term goals, and they begin to evaluate school subjects in terms of their usefulness in meeting such goals. Furthermore, they may grow increasingly impatient with the overly structured, repetitive, and boring activities they often encounter at school (Battistich, Solomon, Kim, Watson, & Schaps, 1995; Larson, 2000; Shernoff, Csikszentmihalyi, Schneider, & Shernoff, 2003). Extrinsic motivation isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Often learners are simultaneously motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors (J. Cameron & Pierce, 1994; Covington, 2000; Lepper et al., 2005). For example, although Shannon enjoys her writing course, she also knows that getting a good grade will help her get a scholarship at State U. And good grades and other external rewards for high achievement may confirm for her that she’s mastering school subject matter (Hynd, 2003). Furthermore, in some situations, extrinsic motivation—perhaps in the form of extrinsic reinforcers for academic achievement or desired behavior—may be the only thing that can get students on the road to successful classroom learning and productive behavior. Yet ultimately motivation from within is what will sustain students over the long run.

extrinsic motivation

intrinsic motivation

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Basic Human Needs
Obviously learners have certain needs they must address related to their physical survival; for example, they must regularly have food, water, and shelter. But some motivation theorists have speculated that fulfilling certain other needs may be important for psychological well‐being and that these needs might be key ingredients in intrinsic motivation. Here we’ll look at four such psychological needs: the needs for arousal, competence, self‐determination, and relatedness.

need for arousal

AROUSAL
Human beings appear to have a need for arousal—a need for some degree of stimulation (E. M. Anderman, Noar, Zimmerman, & Donohew, 2004; Berlyne, 1960; Heron, 1957; Labouvie‐Vief & González, 2004). As an example, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
For the next five minutes, you’re going to be a student who has nothing to do. Remain exactly where you are, put your book aside, and do nothing. Spend at least five minutes on this “task.”

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What kinds of responses did you make during your five‐minute break? Did you fidget a bit, perhaps wiggling tired body parts or scratching newly detected itches? Did you interact in some way with something or someone else, perhaps tapping on a table or talking to another person in the room? Did you get out of your seat altogether—something I specifically asked you not to do? The exercise has, I hope, shown you that you tend to feel better when something, rather than nothing at all, is happening to you. Not only do people seem to have a basic need for arousal but they also strive for a certain optiThe Pythagorean theorem... blah blah blah mal level of arousal at which they feel best (E. M. the hypotenuse squared... blah blah blah Anderman et al., 2004; Berlyne, 1960; Hsee, Yang, & Wang, 2010). Too little stimulation is unpleasant, but so is too much. You might enjoy watching a television game show or listening to music, but you’d probably rather not have three TV sets, five CD players, and a live rock band all blasting at you at once. Different people have different optimal levels: Some individuals are sensation seekers who thrive on physically thrilling and possibly dangerous experiences (Cleveland, Gibbons, Gerrard, Pomery, & Brody, 2005; V. F. Reyna & Farley, 2006). Others prefer a quieter existence. I, for one, like physical stimulation a bit on the dull side: You’ll never catch me hang‐gliding or bungee‐jumping. Yet I like a lot of cognitive stimulation in the form of regular exposure to new ideas, occasional debates about controversial issues, and so on (e.g., see Cacioppo, Petty, Feinstein, & Jarvis, 1996). The need for arousal explains some of the things students do in the classroom. For instance, it explains why many students happily pull out a favorite book and read if they finish an in‐class assignment before their classmates. But it also explains why students sometimes engage in off‐ task behaviors—for instance, passing notes and All human beings have a basic need for arousal. Students who don’t find classroom playing practical jokes—during boring lessons activities reasonably stimulating will satisfy their need for arousal in other ways. (Pekrun, Goetz, Daniels, Stupnisky, & Perry, 2010).
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CHAPTER Obviously, students are most likely to stay on task when classroom activities keep them sufficiently aroused that they have little need to look elsewhere for stimulation.

COMPETENCE AND SELF‐WORTH
Human beings also appear to have a basic need for competence—a need to believe they can deal effectively with their environment (Boggiano & Pittman, 1992; Elliot & Dweck, 2005; Reeve, Deci, & Ryan, 2004; R. White, 1959). To achieve this sense of competence, children spend a great deal of time exploring and trying to gain mastery over various aspects of their world. One motivation theorist has proposed that a high priority for most people is protecting their general belief that, overall, they’re good, capable individuals—something he calls self‐worth (Covington, 1992). Occasionally some individuals seem more concerned about maintaining consistent self‐perceptions, even if those self‐perceptions are negative (J. Cassidy, Ziv, Mehta, & Feeney, 2003; Hay, Ashman, van Kraayenoord, & Stewart, 1999). By and large, however, viewing oneself favorably and demonstrating competence for others do appear to be high priorities (Rhodewalt & Vohs, 2005; Sedikides & Gregg, 2008; T. D. Wilson & Gilbert, 2008). Other people’s judgments and approval play a key role in children’s development of a sense of competence and self‐worth, especially in the early years (Harter, 1999; Rudolph, Caldwell, & Conley, 2005). Regularly achieving success in new and challenging activities—as Michael eventually does in the opening case study—is another important way of maintaining, perhaps even enhancing, a sense of competence and self‐worth (Deci & Moller, 2005; N. E. Perry, Turner, & Meyer, 2006; Reeve et al., 2004). But consistent success isn’t always possible, especially when learners must undertake especially difficult tasks. In the face of such tasks, an alternative way to maintain self‐worth is to avoid failure, because failure gives the impression of low ability (Covington & Müeller, 2001; Urdan & Midgley, 2001). Failure avoidance manifests itself in a variety of ways: Learners might refuse to engage in a task, minimize the task’s importance, or set exceedingly low expectations for performance (Covington, 1992; Harter, 1990; Rhodewalt & Vohs, 2005). When learners can’t avoid tasks at which they expect to do poorly, they have several strategies at their disposal. They may make excuses that seemingly justify their poor performance (Covington, 1992; Urdan & Midgley, 2001). They may also do things that actually undermine their chances of success—a phenomenon known as self‐handicapping. Self‐handicapping takes a variety of forms, including the following: Reducing effort: Putting forth an obviously insufficient amount of effort to succeed Setting unattainably high goals: Working toward goals that even the most capable individuals couldn’t achieve Taking on too much: Assuming so many responsibilities that no one could possibly accomplish Mastering new challenges is one important means of gaining a sense of them all competence and self‐worth. In writing about “A Book That C(h)anged Me,” Procrastinating: Putting off a task until success is 8‐year‐old Anthony expresses pride in reading his first 100‐page book. Notice Anthony’s personal interest in sports: At the Plat(e) is about baseball, and On virtually impossible the Co(u)rt is about basketball. Cheating: Presenting others’ work as one’s own Using alcohol or drugs: Taking substances that will inevitably reduce performance (E. M. Anderman, need for competence Griesinger, & Westerfield, 1998; Covington, 1992; Hattie, 2008; Riggs, 1992; Urdan, Ryan, Anderman, & Gheen, 2002) self-worth self-handicapping

It might seem paradoxical that learners who want to be successful would actually try to undermine their own success. But if they believe they’re unlikely to succeed no matter what they do—and especially if failure will reflect poorly on their intelligence and ability—such behaviors increase their chances of justifying the failure and thereby protecting their self‐worth. Self‐ handicapping is seen as early as elementary school and becomes increasingly common in the high school and college years (Urdan, 2004; Urdan & Midgley, 2001; Wolters, 2003).

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REVISITING SELF‐EFFICACY On the surface, the concepts of competence and self‐worth are similar to the concept of self‐ efficacy. In theory, however, there’s a key difference between the need for competence and self‐ worth, on the one hand, and self‐efficacy, on the other. Having a sense of competence and self‐worth may be a basic human need. In contrast, social cognitive theorists have suggested that self‐efficacy is certainly a good thing, but they don’t go so far as to speculate that it’s an essential driving force of human nature. However, one point on which virtually all motivation theorists agree is that students’ confidence about their ability to handle day‐to‐day tasks is an important variable influencing motivation—especially intrinsic motivation—in the classroom (Boggiano & Pittman, 1992; Elliot & Dweck, 2005; Reeve et al., 2004; Zimmerman, 2010). ENHANCING STUDENTS’ SENSE OF COMPETENCE AND SELF‐WORTH Strategies for enhancing students’ general sense of self and more domain‐specific self‐efficacy should, of course, increase their sense of competence and self‐worth. Following are three widely recommended strategies: Help students achieve success, especially on challenging tasks. Give students concrete mechanisms through which they can track their progress over time. Minimize competitions and other situations in which students might judge themselves unfavorably in comparison with peers. Ideally, learners’ sense of competence and self‐worth should be based on a reasonably accurate appraisal of what they can and cannot accomplish. Learners who underestimate their abilities set unnecessarily low goals for themselves and give up easily after only minor setbacks. Those who overestimate their abilities—perhaps because they’ve been lavished with praise by parents or teachers or perhaps because school assignments have been consistently easy and unchallenging—may set themselves up for failure by forming unrealistically high expectations, exerting insufficient effort, or not addressing their weaknesses (Försterling & Morgenstern, 2002; Hattie & Gan, 2011; S. G. Paris & Cunningham, 1996; H. W. Stevenson, Chen, & Uttal, 1990). As teachers, we’re more likely to encourage students to tackle realistically challenging tasks—and thus enhance their sense of competence and intrinsic motivation—when we create an environment in which they feel comfortable taking risks and making mistakes (Clifford, 1990; Fredricks et al., 2004). We can also provide greater rewards for succeeding at challenging tasks than for achieving easy successes; for example, we might give students a choice between doing an easy task or a more difficult one but give them more points for accomplishing the difficult one (Clifford, 1990; Lan, Repman, Bradley, & Weller, 1994). Once students are intrinsically motivated, they seem to prefer challenges rather than easy tasks (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 2005; Reeve, 2006; Shernoff & Csikszentmihalyi, 2009). In general, challenges and intrinsic motivation mutually enhance one another, leading to a “vicious cycle” of the most desirable sort. To date, most research on competence, self‐worth, and self‐handicapping has focused on academic tasks and accomplishments. We must keep in mind, however, that academic achievement isn’t always the most important thing affecting students’ sense of competence and self‐ worth. For many students such factors as physical appearance, peer approval, and social success are more influential (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998; Rudolph et al., 2005). To the extent that we can, then, we should support students’ successes in the nonacademic as well as the academic aspects of their lives.

Most learners are motivated by realistically challenging tasks—those they can successfully accomplish with reasonable effort. Listen to 9‐year‐ old Elena and 15‐year‐old Greg in “Motivation: Middle Childhood” and “Motivation: Late Adolescence.”

SELF‐DETERMINATION
Some theorists suggest that in addition to a need for competence, human beings may also have a need for self‐determination—a desire for autonomy and self‐direction regarding the things they do and the courses their lives take (d’Ailly, 2003; deCharms, 1972; Reeve et al., 2004; R. M. Ryan & Deci, 2000). When we think, “I want to do this” or “I’d find it valuable to do that,” we have a high sense of self‐determination. In contrast, when we think, “I have to” or “I should,” we’re telling ourselves that someone or something else is making decisions for us. The following exercise provides an example.

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CHAPTER

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
Imagine that I give you a paintbrush, a set of watercolor paints, two sheets of paper (a fairly small one glued on top of a larger one), and some paper towels. I ask you to paint a picture of your house, apartment building, or dormitory and then give you the following instructions:
You have to keep the paints clean. You can paint only on this small sheet of paper, so don’t spill any paint on the big sheet. And you must wash out your brush and wipe it with a paper towel before you switch to a new color of paint, so that you don’t get the colors all mixed up. In general, don’t make a mess with the paints. (Koestner, Ryan, Bernieri, & Holt, 1984, p. 239)

How much fun do you think your task would be? After reading my rules, how eager are you to begin painting? My rules about painting are quite controlling: They make it clear that I’m in charge of the situation and that you, as the artist, have little choice about how to go about your task. By diminishing your sense of self‐determination, my rules would undermine any intrinsic motivation you might have to paint the picture, and you’d probably be less creative in your painting than you might be otherwise (Amabile & Hennessey, 1992; Koestner et al., 1984; Reeve, 2006). Students with a sense of self‐determination are more likely to be intrinsically motivated during classroom activities, to achieve at high levels, and to complete high school (Hardré & Reeve, 2003; Reeve, Bolt, & Cai, 1999; Shernoff, Knauth, & Makris, 2000; Vansteenkiste, Lens, & Deci, 2006). Even kindergartners seem to prefer classroom activities of their own choosing (E. J. Langer, 1997; Paley, 1984). For example, when students in Ms. Paley’s kindergarten class are asked whether activities at the class painting table are “work” or “play,” two of them respond as follows: Clarice: If you paint a real picture, it’s work, but if you splatter or pour into an egg carton, then it’s play. Charlotte: It’s mostly work, because that’s where the teacher tells you how to do stuff. (Paley, 1984, p. 31)

ENHANCING STUDENTS’ SENSE OF SELF‐DETERMINATION As teachers, we can’t always give students total freedom about what they will and won’t do in the classroom. And it’s neither realistic nor helpful to suggest that all assigned tasks are just “play,” because many tasks will—or at least should—require hard work and persistence in the face of obstacles. Nevertheless, we can do several things to enhance students’ sense of self‐determination at school: Provide opportunities for independent work and decision making. Opportunities to work and make decisions independently not only foster the development of self‐regulation skills but also enhance learners’ sense of self‐determination. For instance, we might have students study new topics through instructional software programs or tackle challenging tasks through small‐ group work, and we can give students considerable autonomy in the extracurricular activities we supervise (Larson, 2000; Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, & Turner, 2004; Swan, Mitrani, Guerrero, Cheung, & Schoener, 1990). Providing autonomy in activities doesn’t mean removing all structure, however. Some scaffolding—tailored to students’ developmental levels, of course—can further increase students’ sense of self‐determination. For example, we can establish general routines and procedures that students should follow as they work, thereby minimizing the need to give explicit instructions for every assignment. And we should describe our evaluation criteria in advance so that students know exactly what they’ll need to do to be successful (Clani, Middleton, Summers, & Sheldon, 2010; Jang, Reeve, & Deci, 2010; Spaulding, 1992; M.‐T. Wang & Holcombe, 2010).
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Present rules and instructions in an informational rather than controlling manner. Virtually every classroom needs a few rules and procedures to ensure that students act appropriately and

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341 activities run smoothly. The challenge is to present these rules and procedures without communicating a message of control. Instead, we can present them as information—for instance, as conditions that can help students accomplish classroom objectives (Deci, 1992; Koestner et al., 1984; Reeve, 2009). Here are two examples: without interrupting and if we raise our hands when we want to contribute to the discussion.” this format, it will be easier for me to find your answers and to figure out how I can help you improve.” Yet we should also acknowledge students’ feelings about things they must do but would rather not do—thus communicating the message that their opinions matter (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Reeve, 2009). Give some choices about how to accomplish classroom goals. Sometimes a variety of routes will lead to the same destination. For example, we might encourage students to make choices, either individually or as a group—and within reasonable limits—about some or all of the following:

Cramond, 2010; Meece, 1994; Patall, Cooper, & Wynn, 2010; Reed, Schallert, Beth, & Woodruff, 2004; A. C. Schmidt, Hanley, & Layer, 2009)

FIGURE 11.1 In this assignment, a sixth‐grade language arts teacher enhances students’ sense of self‐determination by offering several options for demonstrating understanding of a science fiction book.

Choose One!
SCIENCE FICTION BOOK PROJECTS _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ Write a “Dear Abby” letter from one of the main characters, in which he or she asks for advice on solving his or her main problem. Then answer the letter. Draw a time line of the main events of the book. Create a comic book or a comic strip page that features a major scene from the book in each box. Make a collage of objects and printed words from newspapers and magazines that give the viewer a feeling for the mood of the book. Your book probably takes place in an unusual or exotic setting, so illustrate and write a travel brochure describing that location. Imagine yourself as a scientist who has been asked to explain the unusual events in the book. Write up a report in scientific style. With other students who have read the same book, plan a bulletin board display. Write a plot summary; character and setting descriptions; discussions of special passages. Each group member must contribute one artistic piece—for example, new book cover, bookmark, poster, banner, some of the ideas listed above. Arrange the writing and artwork under a colorful heading announcing the book.

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CHAPTER When students can make choices about such matters, they gain a sense of ownership about classroom activities, are more likely to be interested and engaged in what they’re doing, and take genuine pride in their work (Deci & Ryan, 1992; Nolen, 2011; Patall et al., 2010; Schraw, Flowerday, & Lehman, 2001; Stefanou et al., 2004). Evaluate students’ performance in a noncontrolling way. As teachers, we must regularly evaluate students’ accomplishments. But external evaluations can undermine students’ intrinsic motivation, especially if they’re communicated in a controlling manner (E. M. Anderman & Dawson, 2011; Deci & Moller, 2005). Ideally, we should present evaluations of students’ work not as judgments to remind students of how they should perform but as information that can help them improve their knowledge and skills. And, of course, we can give students criteria by which they can evaluate themselves. Be selective about when and how you use extrinsic reinforcers. Ideally we should rely on intrinsic reinforcers—such as students’ own feelings of pride and satisfaction about their accomplishments—as often as possible. One problem with extrinsic reinforcers (e.g., praise, good grades) is that they can undermine self‐determination and intrinsic motivation, especially if students perceive them as controlling behavior and limiting choices (Deci & Moller, 2005; Lepper & Hodell, 1989; Reeve, 2006). Extrinsic reinforcers may also communicate the message that classroom tasks are unpleasant chores—why else would a reinforcer be necessary?—rather than activities to be carried out and enjoyed for their own sake (B. A. Hennessey, 1995; Stipek, 1993). Extrinsic reinforcers appear to have no adverse effects when they’re unexpected—for example, when students get special recognition for a community service project—or when the reinforcers aren’t contingent on specific behaviors—for example, when they’re used simply to make an activity more enjoyable. They can even be beneficial if used to encourage students not only to do something but also to do it well. And if they communicate that students have done something well (as a high grade might indicate) or have made considerable improvement, they can enhance students’ sense of competence and focus students’ attention on mastering the subject matter (E. M. Anderman & Dawson, 2011; J. Cameron, 2001; Deci & Moller, 2005; Reeve, 2006). Sometimes students may initially find a new topic or skill boring or frustrating and thus may need external encouragement to continue (J. Cameron, 2001; Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 2001; Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000). On such occasions, one effective strategy is to praise students in a manner that communicates information but doesn’t show an intent to control behavior (Deci, 1992; R. M. Ryan, Mims, & Koestner, 1983). Following are examples: makes her come alive.” graph makes your results easy to see and interpret.” Another st rategy is to teach students to reinforce themselves for their accomplishments, a practice that clearly keeps control in students’ hands.

Evaluative feedback is more likely to promote intrinsic motivation when it’s presented in an informational, noncontrolling manner. Observe examples in “Author’s Chair.”

RELATEDNESS
To some degree we’re all social creatures: We live, work, and play with our fellow human beings. Some psychologists have proposed that people of all ages have a fundamental need for relatedness— a need to feel socially connected and to secure the love and respect of others (Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Fiske & Fiske, 2007; Reeve et al., 2004; R. M. Ryan & Deci, 2000). The need for relatedness seems to be especially strong in adolescence: Most teenagers spend a great deal of time interacting with peers, perhaps through face‐to‐face activities, instant messaging on cell phones, or social networking sites such as Facebook (Barron, 2006; Ito et al., 2009; A. M. Ryan & Patrick, 2001; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009). At school the need for relatedness manifests itself in a variety of behaviors. Some students place a higher priority on interacting with friends than on getting schoolwork done (Dowson & McInerney, 2001; W. Doyle, 1986a; Wigfield, Eccles, Mac Iver, Reuman, & Midgley, 1991). They may also be concerned about projecting a favorable public image—that is, looking smart, popular, athletic, or cool. By looking good in the eyes of others, students not only satisfy their need for relatedness but also enhance their sense of self‐worth (Harter, 1999; Juvonen, 2000).

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Yet another way in which they might address the need for relatedness is to work for the betterment of others—for example, by helping peers who are struggling with classroom assignments (Dowson & McInerney, 2001; Lawlor & Schonert‐Reichl, 2008; Thorkildsen, Golant, & Cambray‐Engstrom, 2008). ENHANCING STUDENTS’ SENSE OF RELATEDNESS Students are more likely to be academically motivated and successful—and more likely to stay in school rather than drop out—when they believe that their peers and teachers like and respect them (Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Roorda, Koomen, Spilt, & Oort, 2011; A. M. Ryan & Patrick, 2001). Ideally we should find ways to help students simultaneously learn academic subject matter and address their eagerness to interact with peers. Group‐ based activities—such as cooperative learning tasks, role‐playing, and playful game‐show contests among two or more teams of equal ability—all provide the means through which students can satisfy their need for relatedness while also acquiring new knowledge and skills (Blumenfeld, Kempler, & Krajcik, 2006; D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 2009a; Wentzel & Wigfield, 1998). Students’ relationships with their teachers are just as important. Thus, we should show students that we enjoy being with them and are concerned about their academic achievement and personal well‐being (M.‐L. Chang & Davis, 2009; D. K. Meyer & Turner, 2006; Roorda et al., 2011). We can communicate our fondness and concern for them in numerous ways—for example, by expressing interest in their outside activities, providing extra help when they need it, and lending a sympathetic ear in stressful times. Such caring messages are especially important for students who are at risk for academic failure and dropping out of school (Christenson & Thurlow, 2004; Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Pianta, 1999).

UNIVERSALITY AND DIVERSITY IN BASIC NEEDS
The four basic needs just described are probably universal among people throughout the world (e.g., Bao & Lam, 2008; Berlyne, 1960; Deci & Moller, 2005; Fiske & Fiske, 2007). However, researchers have identified distinct cultural differences in how people strive to address three of them—in particular, the needs for competence, self‐determination, and relatedness. Achieving a sense of competence and self‐worth In mainstream Western culture, achieving a sense of self‐worth often involves being good at certain things and also thinking that one is good at these things. In such a context, learners are likely to engage in self‐handicapping as a means of justifying poor performances. But not all cultures stress the importance of positive self‐ evaluations. For instance, many people in East Asian cultures place greater importance on how well other people view an individual as living up to society’s standards for behavior. In such cultures the focus is more likely to be on correcting existing weaknesses—that is, on self‐improvement—than on demonstrating current strengths (Heine, 2007; J. Li, 2005; Sedikides & Gregg, 2008). Achieving a sense of self‐determination The amounts and forms of autonomy and self‐determination may differ considerably from group to group (d’Ailly, 2003; Fiske & Fiske, 2007; Rogoff, 2003). For example, adults in some Native American groups (e.g., those living in the Navajo Nation in the southwestern United States) give children more autonomy and control over decision making than do many adults in mainstream Western culture (Deyhle & LeCompte, 1999). In contrast, many Asian and African American parents give children less autonomy than other American adults, in some cases as a way of ensuring children’s safety in potentially hostile environments (McLoyd, 1998; L. Qin, Pomerantz, & Wang, 2009; Tamis‐Lemonda & McFadden, 2010). Cultural differences have also been observed in one important aspect of self‐determination: opportunities to make choices. In particular, although young people around the world find choice‐making opportunities highly motivating, those from Asian cultures often prefer that people they trust (e.g., parents, teachers, respected peers) make the choices for them (Bao & Lam, 2008; Hufton, Elliott, & Illushin, 2002; Iyengar & Lepper, 1999).

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Passing notes in class is one way that some students regularly address their need for relatedness.

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CHAPTER Perhaps Asian children see trusted others as people who can make wise choices, which will ultimately lead to greater learning and competence. Achieving a sense of relatedness Researchers have found several cultural differences in how children and adolescents address their need for relatedness. In comparison to other groups, Asian children spend less time with peers and place greater importance on excelling in schoolwork and gaining others’ approval (Dien, 1998; J. Li, 2005; Steinberg, 1996). Furthermore, whereas Asian students are apt to have friends who encourage academic achievement, some students from certain other ethnic groups (boys especially) may feel considerable peer pressure not to achieve at high levels, perhaps because high achievement reflects conformity to mainstream Western culture (Bergin & Cooks, 2008; B. B. Brown, 1993; Ogbu, 2008b). An additional factor is family ties: Students from many cultural and ethnic groups have especially strong loyalties to family and may have been brought up to achieve for their respective communities, rather than just for themselves as individuals. Motivating statements such as

2005; Fiske & Fiske, 2007; Kağitçibaşi, 2007; Timm & Borman, 1997). The need for relatedness can sometimes be at odds with the need for self‐determination. In particular, achieving relatedness can involve doing what others want one to do, whereas achieving self‐determination involves doing what one personally wants to do. Many people from Asian cultures resolve this apparent conflict by willingly agreeing to adjust personal behaviors and goals to meet social demands and maintain overall group harmony (Iyengar & Lepper, 1999; Kağitçibaşi, 2007; J. Li & Fischer, 2004; Savani, Markus, Naidu, Kumar, & Berlia, 2010).

A POSSIBLE HIERARCHY OF NEEDS: MASLOW’S THEORY
What happens when people have trouble reconciling their various needs? One early humanist, Abraham Maslow, suggested that people tend to prioritize their needs in a fairly consistent manner (e.g., Maslow, 1943, 1973, 1987). His theory predates much of the research on the four basic needs we’ve examined in this chapter, but at least two of them—and possibly three—are reflected in the five central needs he identified: 1. Physiological: Needs related to physical survival (food, water, shelter, etc.) 2. Safety: The need to feel safe and secure in one’s environment 3. Love and belonging: The need to have affectionate relationships with others and to be accepted as part of a group 4. Esteem: The need to feel good about oneself (self‐esteem) and also to believe that others also perceive oneself favorably (esteem from others) 5. Self‐actualization: The need to reach one’s full potential—to become all that one is capable of becoming FIGURE 11.2 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs We can reasonably speculate that the need for relatedness underlies Maslow’s love‐and‐belonging and esteem‐from‐others needs and that Growth the need for competence underlies his self‐esteem and self‐actualization 5. Need for Self-Actualization need needs. Furthermore, the need for arousal may sometimes have a physiological basis—perhaps simply in the form of a need to release pent‐up energy. 4. Esteem Needs Maslow proposed that the five needs form a hierarchy, as illustrated in Figure 11.2. Specifically, learners try to satisfy their physi3. Love and Belonging Needs ological needs first, then their need for safety, and still later their needs Deficiency for love, belonging, and esteem. Only when such needs have been met needs do they strive for self‐actualization, exploring areas of interest, learn2. Safety Needs ing simply for the sheer pleasure of it, and so on. For example, a boy with a need for releasing pent‐up energy (a physiological need) may become excessively restless in class even though his teacher scolds him 1. Physiological Needs for his hyperactivity (and thereby doesn’t satisfy his need for esteem from others). A girl with an unfulfilled need for love and belonging

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345 may decide not to enroll in intermediate algebra—a class that would satisfy her desire to learn more math—if the peers whose friendships she most values tell her the class is only for nerds and dweebs. I once knew a boy living in a Philadelphia ghetto who was eager to go to school but often stayed home to avoid the violent gangs that hung out on the local street corner. This boy’s need for safety took precedence over any need for self‐actualization he might have had. The first four needs in the hierarchy—physiological, safety, love and belonging, and esteem—result from things a learner lacks; thus Maslow called them deficiency needs. Deficiency needs can be met only by external sources—by people and events in one’s environment. And once these needs are fulfilled, there’s no reason to satisfy them further. In contrast, self‐actualization is a growth need: It enhances the learner’s development and is rarely satisfied completely. Self‐actualizing activities tend to be intrinsically motivating: Learners engage in them because doing so gives them pleasure and satisfies their desire to know and grow. In Maslow’s view total self‐actualization is rarely, if ever, achieved, and then typically only by mature adults. Unfortunately, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was based on very little hard evidence; thus, many theorists continue to regard his theory as being more conjecture than fact. Yet aspects of Maslow’s theory clearly have some merit. It makes sense that learners will worry about their physical well‐being and personal safety before trying to address more social needs (e.g., Kenrick, Griskevicius, Neuberg, & Schaller, 2010). And many people do seem to be eager to gain wisdom or creatively express themselves, consistent with Maslow’s idea of self‐actualization (Kesebir, Graham, & Oishi, 2010; C. Peterson & Park, 2010).

Cognitive and Sociocultural Factors in Motivation
Let’s return to the opening case study, in which Michael changes from a student who is failing algebra to one who pays close attention in class, regularly does his homework, and seeks help with things he doesn’t understand. Michael’s initial beliefs about his math ability (i.e., his self‐efficacy) and his explanations for his poor performance (low ability and poor instruction) contribute to a lackadaisical attitude: He simply hopes he’ll remember—but usually forgets—his teacher’s explanations. Later, when Michael’s appraisal of the situation changes, he’s a much more engaged and proactive learner. Michael’s dramatic turnaround illustrates both that cognitive processes affect motivation and that motivation affects cognitive processes. Yet the turnaround requires a significant change in Michael’s social environment—in particular, a new tutor who helps him think in more productive ways both about mathematics as a content domain and about his ability to do well in that domain. As we explore various elements of motivation in the upcoming sections, we’ll see how cognition and motivation often interact in their effects on learning and behavior and how numerous sociocultural factors enter into the picture as well.

INTERESTS
When we say that learners have interest in a particular topic or activity, we mean that they find the topic or activity intriguing and engaging. Interest, then, is a form of intrinsic motivation. Interest is typically accompanied by cognitive arousal and such feelings as enjoyment and excitement (Ainley & Ainley, 2011; M. Hofer, 2010; Renninger, 2009). Learners who are interested in a topic devote more time and attention to it and become more cognitively engaged in it—often both in and outside of school (Barron, 2006; Hidi & Renninger, 2006; M. A. McDaniel, Waddill, Finstad, & Bourg, 2000). They’re also likely to learn it more meaningfully—for instance, by interconnecting ideas, drawing inferences, and identifying potential applications (Pintrich & Schrauben, 1992; Schraw & Lehman, 2001; Tobias, 1994). And unless they’re emotionally attached to their current beliefs, learners who are interested in what they’re studying are more likely to undergo conceptual change when

interest

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CHAPTER it’s warranted (Andre & Windschitl, 2003; Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003; Mason, Gava, & Boldrin, 2008). As you might guess, then, students who are interested in what they study show higher academic achievement and are more likely to remember the subject matter over the long run (Garner, Brown, Sanders, & Menke, 1992; Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000; Renninger, Hidi, & Krapp, 1992). Psychologists distinguish between two general types of interest. Situational interest is evoked by something in the immediate environment. Things that are new, different, or unexpected often generate interest, as do things with a high activity level or intense emotions. Children and adolescents also tend to be intrigued by topics related to people and culture (e.g., diseases, holidays), nature (e.g., dinosaurs, the sea), and popular media (e.g., television shows, video games, contemporary music). Works of fiction and fantasy are more engaging when they include themes and characters with which readers can personally identify. Textbooks and other works of nonfiction are more interesting when they’re easy to understand and when relationships among ideas are clear. And challenging tasks are often more interesting than easy ones—a fortunate state of affairs if, as Lev Vygotsky proposed, challenges promote cognitive growth (Ainley, 2006; J. M. Alexander, Johnson, Leibham, & Kelley, 2008; Hidi & Renninger, 2006; M. Hofer, 2010; Schraw & Lehman, 2001; Shernoff & Csikszentmihalyi, 2009; Zahorik, 1994). Other interests lie within: Learners tend to have personal preferences about the topics they pursue and the activities in which they engage. Such personal interests are relatively stable over time and lead to consistent patterns in the choices learners make (J. M. Alexander et al., 2008; Nolen, 2007; Y.‐M. Tsai, Kunter, Lüdtke, Trautwein, & Ryan, 2008). Even in the early elementary grades, many children have specific interests that persist over time—perhaps about reptiles, ballet, or computer technology. Often personal interest and knowledge perpetuate each other: Interest in a topic fuels a quest to learn more about it, and the increased knowledge and skills gained, in turn, promote greater interest (Barron, 2006; Blumenfeld et al., 2006; Nolen, 2007). And especially in adolescence, long‐standing personal interests can be important components of a learner’s sense of identity (Barron, 2006; M. Hofer, 2010). Ultimately, personal interest is more beneficial than situational interest because it sustains engagement, effective cognitive processing, and improvement over the long run. Yet situational interest is important as well, because it captures learners’ attention and often provides a seed from which a personal interest can grow (P. A. Alexander, Kulikowich, & Schulze, 1994; Durik & Harackiewicz, 2007; Hidi & Renninger, 2006; M. Mitchell, 1993). PROMOTING INTEREST IN CLASSROOM SUBJECT MATTER As teachers, we can certainly capitalize on students’ personal interests by allowing some flexibility in the topics about which they read, learn, write, and study (e.g., see Figure 11.3). On other occasions we can temporarily pique students’ interest, and perhaps also stimulate the beginnings of more enduring personal interests, through the activities we develop and the ways we present information. Following are several strategies that often evoke interest in classroom topics: Model excitement and enthusiasm about classroom topics and healthful physical activities. Occasionally incorporate novelty, variety, fantasy, or mystery into lessons and procedures. Encourage students to identify with historical figures or fictional characters and to imagine what these people might have been thinking or feeling. Provide opportunities for students to respond actively to the subject matter—perhaps by manipulating physical objects, creating new inventions, debating controversial issues, representing ideas in art or drama, or teaching something they’ve

situational interest

personal interest

Hands‐on activities often evoke situational interest. For example, watch “Investigating Particles: Part 1.”

FIGURE 11.3 Students’ personal interests can provide a motivating context in which to practice basic skills. Here, 12‐year‐old Connor practiced research and graphing skills by surveying peers about a favorite topic: cars.

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FIGURE 11.4 Examples of strategies for generating interest in various content domains
Art: Biology: Geography: Health education: Reading: History: Language arts: Mathematics: Writing: Spelling: Music: Physical education: Physical science:

Sources: Some ideas derived from Alim, 2007; Barab, Gresalfi, & Ingram‐Goble, 2010; Botelho, Cohen, Leoni, Chow, & Sastri, 2010; Brophy, 1986; A. Collins & Halverson, 2009; Lepper & Hodell, 1989; W.‐M. Roth, 2011; Spaulding, 1992; Stipek, 1993; Wlodkowski, 1978.

learned to peers. (Ainley, 2006; Andre & Windschitl, 2003; Brophy, Alleman, & Knighton, 2009; Certo, Cauley, & Chafin, 2003; Chinn, 2006; Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Hidi, Weiss, Berndorff, & Nolan, 1998; Kunter, Frenzel, Nagy, Baumert, & Pekrun, 2011; Pool, Dittrich, & Pool, 2011; Radel, Sarrazin, Legrain, & Wild, 2010; Zahorik, 1994) Figure 11.4 presents examples of how we might promote intrinsic motivation in a variety of content domains.

EXPECTANCIES AND VALUES
Some theorists have proposed that motivation for performing a particular task depends on two variables, both of which are fairly subjective (e.g., Feather, 1982; Nagengast et al., 2011; Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). First, learners must have a high expectation, or expectancy, that they’ll be successful. Certainly their prior history of success and failure at a particular task—and thus their self‐efficacy—has a strong influence. But other factors also affect expectancy level, including the perceived difficulty of a task, the availability of resources and support, the quality of instruction (recall Michael’s complaint about his algebra teacher), and the amount of effort that will be necessary (Dweck & Elliott, 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992; Zimmerman, Bandura, & Martinez‐Pons, 1992). From such factors learners come to conclusions—perhaps accurate, perhaps not—about their chances of success. Equally important and equally subjective is value: Learners must believe there are direct or indirect benefits in performing a task. Theorists have suggested four possible reasons that value might be high or low: importance, utility, interest, and cost (Eccles, 2009; Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). Some activities are valued because they’re associated with desirable personal qualities; that is, they’re viewed as important. For example, a boy who wants to be smart and thinks that smart people do well in school will place a premium on academic success. Other activities have high value because they’re seen as a means to a desired goal; that is, they have utility. For example, although my daughter Tina found mathematics confusing and frustrating, she struggled through four years of high school math because many colleges require that much math. Still other activities are valued simply because they bring pleasure and enjoyment; in other words, they’re interesting. However, we can also envision circumstances in which learners probably won’t value an activity very much. Some activities may require a lot more effort than they’re worth; this is the cost factor. For example, although you could eventually become an expert on some little‐known

expectancy

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topic (e.g., the nature of rats’ dreams, animal‐eating plants of Borneo), gaining expertise might require far more time and energy than you’re willing to expend. Other activities might seem costly as a result of their association with bad feelings. For example, if learners become frustrated often enough in their efforts to understand math, they may eventually try to avoid it whenever they can. And of course, anything likely to threaten a learner’s sense of self‐worth is a “must” to avoid. Students are likely to engage in a particular behavior only if they have some expectancy of success and find some value in the behavior. Aside from this both‐are‐necessary condition, expectancies and values are related to different aspects of students’ behavior and performance. Values affect the choices students make—for instance, which courses they select and whether they participate in extracurricular activities. In contrast, expectancies are FIGURE 11.5 Sequence in which related to students’ effort and achievement—for instance, their grade point averinternalized motivation may develop age (Durik, Vida, & Eccles, 2006; Mac Iver, Stipek, & Daniels, 1991; Wigfield, Tonks, & Eccles, 2004). 1. External regulation: Learners are initially In the early elementary years, students often pursue activities they find motivated to behave in certain ways, based interesting and enjoyable, regardless of their expectancies for success (Wigfield, primarily on the external consequences that will follow the behaviors; that is, the learners are 1994). As they get older, however, their values and expectancies become somewhat extrinsically motivated. interdependent. In particular, they increasingly attach value to activities for which they have high expectancy for success and which they think will help them meet long‐term goals. At the same time, they begin to devalue the things they do poorly 2. Introjection: Learners begin to behave in ways (Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles, & Wigfield, 2002; Wigfield, 1994). Sadly, the that gain the approval of others, partly as a way value students find in many school subjects declines markedly over the school years of protecting and enhancing their sense of self. (Archambault, Eccles, & Vida, 2010; Jacobs et al., 2002; Wigfield et al., 2004). As They feel guilty when they violate certain one 16‐year‐old put it, “School’s fun because you can hang out with your friends, standards for behavior but do not fully understand but I know I won’t use much of this stuff when I leave here” (Valente, 2001). the rationale behind these standards. INTERNALIZING VALUES OF ONE’S SOCIAL AND CULTURAL GROUPS As children grow older, they tend to adopt many of the priorities and values of the people around them. Such internalized motivation typically develops gradually over the course of childhood and adolescence, perhaps in the sequence depicted in Figure 11.5 (Deci & Moller, 2005; Deci & Ryan, 1995; R. M. Ryan & Deci, 2000). Initially children may engage in certain activities primarily because of the external consequences that result. For instance, they may do schoolwork to earn praise or to avoid being punished for poor grades. With time other people’s approval becomes increasingly important for children’s sense of self. Eventually children begin to internalize the pressure to perform certain activities and to see these activities as important in their own right. Such internalization of values is most likely to occur if adults who espouse those values (parents, teachers, etc.) do the following:

3. Identification: Learners now see some behaviors and activities as being personally important or valuable for them.

4. Integration: Learners integrate certain behaviors and activities into their overall system of motives and values. In essence, these behaviors become a central part of their identity and general sense of self.
Source: Based on Deci & Moller, 2005; Deci & Ryan, 1995.

relatedness).

important. (Deci & Moller, 2005; Eccles, 2007; Jacobs et al., 2005; R. M. Ryan, Connell, & Grolnick, 1992; R. M. Ryan & Deci, 2000) Fostering the development of internalized motivation, then, involves striking a delicate balance between giving students opportunities to experience self‐determination and providing guidance about desired behaviors. In one respect, internalized motivation is similar to intrinsic motivation: Both forms of motivation arise from inside the learner rather than from outside factors in the immediate, here‐and‐now environment. But there’s an important difference: Because intrinsic motivation seems to arise spontaneously within the learner, it can increase or decrease somewhat unpredictably. In contrast, because internalized motivation is a product of ongoing social and cultural factors and eventually becomes an integral part of learners’ sense of self, it has considerable stability and is therefore fairly dependable over time (Otis et al., 2005; Reeve et al., 2004).

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The more students have internalized the value of learning and academic success, the more cognitively engaged they become in school subject matter and the better their overall classroom achievement is likely to be. Internalized motivation is also an important aspect of self‐regulated learning: It underlies a general work ethic in which learners spontaneously engage in activities that, although not always fun or immediately gratifying, are essential for reaching long‐term goals (Assor, Vansteenkiste, & Kaplan, 2009; La Guardia, 2009; Ratelle, Guay, Vallerand, Larose, & Senécal, 2007; R. M. Ryan et al., 1992; Walls & Little, 2005). FOSTERING EXPECTANCIES AND VALUES IN THE CLASSROOM As teachers, we must certainly give students reasons to expect success with classroom tasks—for instance, by providing the necessary resources, support, and strategies, as Ms. Tucker did in the opening case study. But we must also help students find value in school activities. Motivation theorists and experienced teachers have offered several suggestions for fostering genuine appreciation for academic subject matter: Clearly identify the particular knowledge and skills that students will gain from lessons. Convey how certain concepts and principles can help students make better sense of the world around them. Help students relate information and skills to their present concerns and long‐term goals. Embed the use of new skills within the context of real‐world (i.e., authentic) and personally meaningful activities. Model how you yourself value academic activities—for example, by describing how you apply the things you’ve learned in school. Above all, refrain from asking students to engage in activities with little long‐term benefit— for instance, having them memorize trivial facts for no good reason or requiring them to read material that is clearly beyond their comprehension levels. (Ames, 1992; Brophy et al., 2009; G. L. Cohen, Garcia, Purdie‐Vaughns, Apfel, & Brzustoski, 2009; Eccles, 2009; Ferrari & Elik, 2003; Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, & Harackiewicz, 2010; Newmann & Wehlage, 1993; W.‐M. Roth, 2011; Stefanou et al., 2004)

GOALS
Much of human behavior is directed toward particular goals. Some goals are short term and transitory (e.g., “I want to finish reading my dinosaur book”); others are long term and relatively enduring (e.g., “I want to be a paleontologist”). Children and adolescents typically have a wide variety of goals: Being happy and healthy, doing well in school, gaining popularity with peers, winning athletic competitions, and finding a long‐term mate are just a few of the many possibilities (M. E. Ford & Smith, 2007; Schutz, 1994). Here we’ll look at research related to several types of goals especially relevant to instructional settings. ACHIEVEMENT GOALS Early motivation theorists proposed that achievement motivation is a general trait that learners consistently exhibit in a wide variety of contexts. In contrast, most contemporary theorists believe that achievement motivation may be somewhat specific to particular tasks and occasions. It can also take different forms, depending on learners’ specific goals. For example, let’s consider what three different boys might be thinking during the first day of a basketball unit in Mr. Wesolowski’s physical education class: Tim: I’d like to show everyone what a great basketball player I am. If I stay near the basket, Travis and Tony will keep passing to me, and I can make a bunch of baskets. Travis: I hope I don’t screw this up. If I shoot at the basket and miss, I’ll look like a real loser. Maybe I should just stay outside the three‐point line and keep passing to Tim and Tony. Tony: I really want to become a better basketball player. I’ll ask Wesolowski to give me feedback about how I can improve my game. Maybe some of my friends will have suggestions as well. All three boys want to play basketball well—that is, they all have achievement goals. But they have different reasons for wanting to play well. Tim is concerned mostly about impressing his teacher

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CHAPTER and classmates and so wants to maximize opportunities to demonstrate his skills. Travis, too, is concerned about the impression he’ll make, but he just wants to make sure he doesn’t look bad. In contrast, Tony isn’t thinking about how his performance will appear to others. Instead, he’s interested mainly in developing his basketball skills and doesn’t expect immediate success. For Tony, making mistakes is an inevitable part of learning a new skill, not a source of embarrassment or humiliation. Tony’s approach to basketball illustrates a mastery goal, a desire to acquire additional knowledge or master new skills. Tim and Travis each have a performance goal, a desire to present themselves as competent in the eyes of others. More specifically, Tim has a performance‐ approach goal: He wants to look good and receive favorable judgments from others. In contrast, Travis has a performance‐avoidance goal: He wants to avoid looking bad and receiving unfavorable judgments. Sometimes achievement goals—especially performance goals—have an element of social comparison, with learners being concerned about how their accomplishments compare to those of their peers (Elliot, Murayama, & Pekrun, 2011; Régner, Escribe, & Dupeyrat, 2007; Senko, Hulleman, & Harackiewicz, 2011). Mastery goals, performance‐approach goals, and performance‐avoidance goals aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. Learners may simultaneously have two kinds or even all three (Luo, Paris, Hogan, & Luo, 2011; Murayama, Elliot, & Yamagata, 2011; Senko et al., 2011). Returning to our basketball example, we could imagine a fourth boy, Trey, who wants to improve his basketball skills and look good in front of his classmates and not come across as a klutz.

Students with mastery goals recognize that competence comes from effort and practice. For example, listen to 8‐year‐old Keenan in “Portfolio.”

Effects of mastery and performance goals In most instances, having mastery goals is the optimal situation. As Table 11.2 illustrates, learners with mastery goals tend to engage in the very activities that will help them learn: They pay attention in class, process information in ways that promote effective long‐term memory storage, and learn from their mistakes. Furthermore, they have a healthy perspective about learning, effort, and failure: They realize that learning is a process of trying hard and continuing to persevere in the face of temporary setbacks. Consequently, these learners are the ones who are most likely to stay on task and who benefit the most from their classroom experiences (Elliot et al., 2011; Kumar, Gheen, & Kaplan, 2002; Sins, van Joolingen, Savelsbergh, & van Hout‐Wolters, 2008). In contrast, learners with performance goals—especially those with performance‐avoidance goals—tend to steer clear of the challenges so important for learning, give up easily in the face of failure, and are apt to engage in self‐handicapping when they expect to do poorly. Performance‐approach goals are a mixed bag: They sometimes have positive effects, especially in combination with mastery goals, spurring learners to achieve at high levels (Linnenbrink, 2005; Rawsthorne & Elliot, 1999; Wolters, 2004). Yet by themselves, performance‐approach goals may be less beneficial than mastery goals: Learners may exert only the minimum effort necessary, use relatively superficial learning strategies (e.g., rote memorization), and occasionally cheat on assessments. Performance‐approach goals appear to be most detrimental when learners are younger (e.g., in the elementary grades) and have low self‐efficacy for classroom tasks (E. M. Anderman et al., 1998; Midgley, Kaplan, & Middleton, 2001; M.‐T. Wang & Holcombe, 2010). Developmental trends in achievement goals In the preschool and early elementary years, children seem to focus largely on mastery goals, but performance goals become increasingly prevalent at more advanced grade levels (Bong, 2009: Dweck & Elliott, 1983; Harter, 1992). By the time students reach high school, they may find pleasure in learning new things, but many are concerned primarily about getting good grades and prefer short, easy tasks to lengthier, more challenging ones. Performance goals are also common in team sports, where the focus often is more on winning and gaining public recognition than on developing new skills (G. C. Roberts, Treasure, & Kavussanu, 1997). When children begin school at age 5 or 6, two things happen that gradually orient them more toward performance goals (Dweck & Elliott, 1983). For one thing, they now have many peers with whom to compare their own behaviors, and they may sometimes see themselves coming up short. In addition, children may have trouble evaluating their progress on complex academic skills and thus must rely on others (e.g., teachers) to make judgments about their competence.

mastery goal performance goal

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C O M PAR E / CONT R AS T
Typical Differences between Learners with Mastery versus Performance Goals
LEARNERS WITH MASTERY GOALS LEARNERS WITH PERFORMANCE GOALS (ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH PERFORMANCE‐AVOIDANCE GOALS)

Sources: Ablard & Lipschultz, 1998; E. M; E. M. Anderman & Maehr, 1994; L. H. Anderman & Anderman, 2009; Corpus, McClintic‐Gilberg, & Hayenga, 2009; Dweck, 1986; Dweck & Elliott, 1983; Dweck, Mangels, & Good, 2004; Elliot et al., 2011; Gabriele, 2007; Gabriele & Boody, 2001; Graham & Weiner, 1996; Hardré, Crowson, DeBacker, & White, 2007; Jagacinski & Nicholls, 1984, 1987; Kaplan & Midgley, 1999; Lau & Nie, 2008; Levy‐Tossman, Kaplan, & Assor, 2007; Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008; Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002, 2003; E. A. Locke & Latham, 2006; McGregor & Elliot, 2002; Meece, 1994; Middleton & Midgley, 1997; P. K. Murphy & Alexander, 2000; Newman & Schwager, 1995; Nolen, 1996; Pekrun, Elliot, & Maier, 2006; Poortvliet & Darnon, 2010; Pugh & Bergin, 2006; Rawsthorne & Elliot, 1999; A. M. Ryan, Pintrich, & Midgley, 2001; Schiefele, 1991; Senko et al., 2011; Shernoff & Hoogstra, 2001; Shim, Ryan, & Anderson, 2008; Sideridis, 2005; Sinatra & Mason, 2008; Sins et al., 2008; Skaalvik, 1997; Steuer & Dresel, 2011; Turner, Thorpe, & Meyer, 1998; Urdan, 2004; Urdan & Midgley, 2001; Urdan, Midgley, & Anderman, 1998; Wolters, 2004

As children reach adolescence, two more factors kick in: They become increasingly concerned about what other people think of them, and they realize that performing at high levels—for instance, getting good grades—is critical for their future educational and professional opportunities (Covington & Müeller, 2001; Juvonen, 2000; Midgley, 1993). Many teaching and coaching practices also contribute to the development of performance goals. Consider these common practices:

imaginary audience,

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All of these strategies are undoubtedly well intentioned, but they encourage students to focus their attention more on demonstrating competence than on acquiring it (E. M. Anderman & Mueller, 2010; Midgley, 2002).

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Fostering productive achievement goals To some degree, performance goals are probably inevitable in today’s schools and in society at large. Learners may quite legitimately use their peers’ performance as a criterion for evaluating their own ability levels, many colleges look at grade point averages and test scores when screening applicants, and many aspects of the adult world are inherently competitive in nature. Ultimately, however, mastery goals are the ones most likely to lead to effective learning and performance over the long run. FIGURE 11.6 With this handout, Sometimes mastery goals come from within, especially when students both value a middle school information and have high self‐efficacy for learning a topic (Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008; P. K. Murphy technology teacher asks students & Alexander, 2000; Pajares, 2009). But the following classroom practices can also to reflect on their current strengths encourage mastery goals: and identify specific goals for Show how mastery of certain topics is relevant to students’ long‐term personal improvement. This handout is for and professional goals. girls; boys get one with shorter hair. Insist that students understand, rather than simply memorize, classroom material. Things I need to Communicate the belief that effective learning requires exerting effort and makimprove are . . . ing mistakes. Give students short‐term, concrete goals—known as proximal goals—toward which to work; identify goals that are challenging yet accomplishable with reasonable effort. By the end of the term I will . . . Ask students to set some of their own short‐term and long‐term goals for learnThings I am good ing (e.g., see Figure 11.6). at are . . . Provide regular feedback that enables students to assess their progress toward goals. Offer specific suggestions about how students can improve. By the end of Give praise that focuses on mastery of content rather than on comparison with the year I will . . . classmates. Encourage students to use their peers not as reference points for their own progress but rather as a source of ideas and assistance. (E. M. Anderman & Maehr, 1994; Brophy, 2004; Corpus, Tomlinson, & Stanton, 2004; E. A. Locke & Latham, 2006; Middleton & Midgley, 2002; R. B. Miller & Brickman, 2004; Page‐Voth Source: Figure by Jeffrey Ormrod. Copyright © by Jeffrey & Graham, 1999; N. E. Perry & Winne, 2004; Schunk & Pajares, 2005; Turner, Ormrod. Reprinted with permission of the author. Meyer, et al., 1998; Urdan et al., 2002; M.‐T. Wang & Holcombe, 2010) Focusing on mastery goals, especially when these goals relate to students’ own lives and needs, may especially benefit students from diverse ethnic backgrounds and students at risk for academic failure (E. S. Alexander, 2008; García, 1992; Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 1995). WORK‐AVOIDANCE AND DOING‐JUST‐ENOUGH GOALS As we’ve seen, learners sometimes want to avoid looking bad as they perform classroom tasks. But on other occasions they may want to avoid doing classroom tasks at all, or at least to invest as little effort as possible in them. In other words, learners may have a work‐avoidance goal, often because they have low self‐efficacy for the tasks at hand (Coddington & Guthrie, 2008; Dowson & McInerney, 2001; Urdan et al., 2002). Students use a variety of strategies to avoid classroom tasks—for instance, they might engage in disruptive behaviors, complain loudly about challenging assignments, or refuse to contribute to small‐group learning activities (Dowson & McInerney, 2001; Gallini, 2000; Hemmings, 2004). A similar goal—but for a very different reason—is a doing‐just‐enough goal (McClure et al., 2011). In particular, students want to get reasonable school grades through the easiest possible routes, perhaps by rote‐memorizing isolated facts, copying classmates’ homework, or submitting research papers downloaded from the Internet. A doing‐just‐enough goal is in some respects a performance goal, but the focus isn’t on demonstrating competence or hiding a lack of it. Instead, students simply have other priorities for their time—perhaps pursuing nonacademic interests or enhancing their relationships with peers (Hickey, 2011; M. Hofer, 2010; Wells, 2011). As you might guess, students with doing‐just‐enough goals have relatively low achievement levels (McClure et al., 2011; Tuominin‐Soini, Salmela‐Aro, & Niemivirta, 2011).

proximal goal

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When students actively avoid assigned tasks because of low self‐efficacy, obviously the most effective strategy is to give them the guidance and support they need to improve their performance, as Ms. Tucker does in the opening case study. When, instead, they have doing‐just‐enough goals, we must help them find relevance in classroom subject matter and tie it to things that are important to them. For example, they might enhance their writing skills by writing about their own lives and exchanging their stories with peers on the Internet (Garner, 1998). Or they might apply scientific and mathematical concepts to document the ecological decline of their local environment and report their findings to the adult community (W.‐M. Roth, 2011). Students with work‐avoidance goals and doing‐just‐enough goals may ultimately be our biggest challenges, and we’ll probably need to use a variety of motivational strategies—extrinsic reinforcement as well as strategies that promote interest and mastery goals—to get them genuinely engaged in academic subject matter (Brophy, 2004). SOCIAL GOALS Earlier we noted that virtually all people have a need for relatedness—a need to feel socially connected with their fellow human beings. Consistent with this fundamental need, children and adolescents are apt to have a variety of social goals as they interact with other people. Such goals typically include some or all of the following:

the classroom

M. E. Ford & Smith, 2007; Hinkley, McInerney, & Marsh, 2001; Kiefer & Ellerbrock, 2011; Patrick, Anderman, & Ryan, 2002; Schutz, 1994; Wentzel, Filisetti, & Looney, 2007) The specific nature of students’ social goals affects their classroom behavior and academic performance—sometimes for the better but sometimes for the worse. If students are seeking friendly relationships with classmates or are concerned about others’ welfare, they may eagerly engage in such activities as cooperative learning and peer tutoring (Dowson & McInerney, 2001; Wentzel et al., 2007). But if they’re more concerned about gaining the approval of their peers, they may go out of their way to behave in ways they think will please others, possibly compromising their own standards for behavior in the process and possibly also alienating peers because they’re trying too hard to be liked (M. Bartlett, Rudolph, Flynn, Abaied, & Koerber, 2007; Boyatzis, 1973; Rudolph et al., 2005). Meanwhile, of course, many students are also eager to form productive social relationships with their teachers. Ideally, we would hope that they see us teachers primarily as sources of support and guidance who can help them master academic subject matter and adjust comfortably to the school environment. But some may be more concerned with gaining our approval, in which case they’re likely to shoot for performance goals and may self‐handicap in activities at which they expect to do poorly (H. A. Davis, 2003; Hinkley et al., 2001; S. C. Rose & Thornburg, 1984). LONG‐TERM LIFE GOALS Many children and adolescents give considerable thought to the kinds of lives they want to lead and set goals consistent with those hoped‐for lives (J. Q. Lee, McInerney, Liem, & Ortiga, 2010; Oyserman, 2008). Key among these long‐term goals, of course, are career goals. Young children set such goals with little thought and change them frequently; for instance, a 6‐year‐old may want to be a firefighter one week and a professional baseball player the next. But by late adolescence many young people have reached tentative and relatively stable decisions about the career paths they want to pursue (Lapan, Tucker, Kim, & Kosciulek, 2003; Marcia, 1980). Often their choices are based on a strong sense of competence in a particular domain and on personal and cultural values regarding important life pursuits (Plante & O’Keefe, 2010).

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Many children begin thinking about long‐term goals as early as the preschool and early elementary years. Here, 7‐year‐old Ashton explains why he wants to be a surgeon. His explanation reflects social goals as well as a career goal.

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CHAPTER Students’ long‐term goals can certainly direct them toward particular curricular and extracurricular activities at school—perhaps in science, music, or athletics. Three teaching strategies can capitalize on those goals: Have students brainstorm the kinds of knowledge and abilities they’re likely to need to accomplish their goals. Also have students brainstorm possible obstacles they might encounter in pursuit of their goals, along with specific ways they might overcome those obstacles. Regularly tie school subject matter to students’ personal goals; for example, conduct activities in which they can authentically apply classroom topics to tasks related to their chosen professions. (Gay, 2010; Nolen, 2011; Oyserman, 2008) But in addition, we must keep in mind that many students don’t have the self‐regulation skills to keep themselves on track toward meeting their long‐term goals, perhaps because they have few self‐regulating role models in their outside lives (R. B. Miller & Brickman, 2004; Oyserman, 2008; B. L. Wilson & Corbett, 2001). Another key strategy, then, is to teach and scaffold such skills—scheduling sufficient time for studying, saying “no” to appealing but nonproductive leisure‐time activities, self‐imposing reinforcement for completing specific tasks, and so on. At the same time, students will probably have greater stick‐to‐itiveness if they also build enjoyable leisure activities into their schedules. Expecting them to totally deny themselves life’s little pleasures isn’t likely to be either productive or realistic (M. Hofer, 2010). COORDINATING MULTIPLE GOALS Most students have numerous goals and use a variety of strategies to juggle them (Covington, 2000; Dodge, Asher, & Parkhurst, 1989; Urdan & Maehr, 1995). Sometimes students find activities that allow them to address two or more goals simultaneously; for example, they can address both achievement goals and social goals by forming a study group to prepare for a test. Sometimes students pursue one goal while temporarily putting others on the back burner; for example, they might complete a required reading assignment while bypassing more interesting but unassigned material. And occasionally students may modify their idea of what it means to achieve a particular goal; for instance, an ambitious high school student who initially hopes to earn all As in three advanced classes may eventually concede that earning Bs in two of them may be more realistic. In other situations students may entirely abandon one goal in order to satisfy another, conflicting one (M. Hofer, 2010; McCaslin & Good, 1996; Phelan et al., 1994). For example, students who want to do well in school may choose not to perform at their best in order to maintain relationships with peers who don’t value academic achievement (B. B. Brown, 1993; Ogbu, 2008b). And students with mastery goals in particular content domains may find that the multiple demands of school coerce them into focusing on performance goals (e.g., getting good grades) rather than studying the subject matter as thoroughly as they’d like. Brian, a junior high school student, expresses his concern about leaving his mastery goals behind as he strives for performance goals:
I sit here and I say, “Hey, I did this assignment in five minutes and I still got an A+ on it.” I still have a feeling that I could do better, and it was kind of cheap that I didn’t do my best and I still got this A. . . . I think probably it might lower my standards eventually, which I’m not looking forward to at all. . . . I’ll always know, though, that I have it in me. It’s just that I won’t express it that much. (S. Thomas & Oldfather, 1997, p. 119)

Naturally, our students will be most successful when their multiple goals all lead them in the same direction (M. E. Ford, 1992; Wentzel, 1999). For example, students might work toward mastery goals by learning and practicing new skills within the context of group projects (thus meeting their social goals) and with evaluation criteria that allow for taking risks and making mistakes (thus also meeting their performance goals). Students are unlikely to strive for mastery goals when assignments ask little of them (recall Brian’s concern about the minimal requirements for an A), when we insist that they compete with one another for resources or high test scores (thereby interfering with their social goals), or when any single failure has a significant impact on their final grades (thereby thwarting their progress toward performance goals).

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ATTRIBUTIONS
Attributions are learners’ self‐constructed explanations of their successes and failures—their

attribution

beliefs about what causes what in their personal lives. Learners are often eager to identify the probable causes of things that happen to them, especially when events are unexpected—for instance, when they get a low score on a class assignment after thinking they’ve done a good job. Forming attributions is just one of the many ways in which learners try to make better sense of their world (Stupnisky, Stewart, Daniels, & Perry, 2011; Tollefson, 2000; Weiner, 1986, 2000). To gain insight into the kinds of attributions you yourself might form, try the following exercise.

EXPERIENCING FIRSTHAND
1. Professor Josiah S. Carberry has just returned the first set of exams in your advanced psychoceramics class. You’ve gotten one of the few high test scores in the class: an A−. Why did you do so well when most of your classmates did poorly? Jot down several possible explanations for your high grade in Carberry’s class. 2. An hour later you get the results of the first test in Professor Barbara F. Seville’s sociocosmetology class, and you learn that you failed possible reasons for your F on Seville’s test. 3. You’ll be taking second exams in both psychoceramics and sociocosmetology in about three weeks. How much will you study for each exam? Here are some possible explanations for your A− in Carberry’s class:

psychoceramics and requesting copies of the articles he’s written (which you never actually read), really paid off. In contrast, here are some possible reasons you failed the exam in Seville’s class:

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How much time you spend studying for the next exams will depend to some degree on how you’ve interpreted your previous test grades. Let’s first consider your A− on Professor Carberry’s exam. If you think you did well because you studied hard, you’ll probably spend a lot of time studying for the second test as well. If you think you did well because you’re smart or a natural whiz at psychoceramics, you may not study quite as much. If you believe your success was a matter of luck, you may hardly study at all, but you might wear your lucky sweater when you take the next exam. And if you think the A− reflects how much Carberry likes you, you may decide that time spent flattering him is more important than time spent studying. Now let’s consider your failing grade on Professor Seville’s exam. Once again, your explanation of the grade will influence the ways in which you prepare for the second exam—if, in fact, you prepare at all. If you believe you didn’t study enough or didn’t study the right things, you may spend more time studying the next time. If you think your poor grade was due to a temporary situation—the student sitting next to you was distracting, or Seville asked the wrong questions— you may study in much the same way you did before, hoping you’ll do better the second time

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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CHAPTER around. If you believe your failure was due to your low aptitude for sociocosmetology or to the fact that Seville writes lousy tests, you may study even less than you did the first time. What good will it do to study when your poor test performance is beyond your control? Learners form attributions for many events in their daily lives—not only about why they do well or poorly on tests and assignments but also about why they’re popular or unpopular with peers, why they’re skilled athletes or total klutzes, and so on. Their attributions vary in three primary ways (Weiner, 1986, 2000, 2004, 2005): Locus: Internal versus external.2 Learners sometimes attribute the causes of events to internal things—to factors within themselves. Thinking that a good grade is due to your hard work and believing that a poor grade is due to your lack of ability are examples of internal attributions. At other times learners attribute events to external things—to factors outside themselves. Concluding that you received a scholarship because you were lucky and interpreting a classmate’s scowl as a sign of her bad mood (rather than a response to something you might have done to deserve it) are examples of external attributions. Stability: Stable versus unstable. Sometimes learners believe that events are due to stable factors—to things that probably won’t change much in the near future. For example, if you believe that you do well in science because of your innate intelligence or that you have trouble making friends because you’re overweight, you’re attributing events to stable, relatively long‐term causes. But sometimes learners believe that events result from unstable factors—things that can change from one time to the next. Thinking that winning a tennis game was a lucky break and believing you got a bad test grade because you were exhausted when you took the test are examples of attributions involving unstable factors. Controllability: Controllable versus uncontrollable. On some occasions learners attribute events to controllable factors—things they can influence and change. For example, if you think a classmate invited you to a party because you often smile at him and if you think you failed a test simply because you didn’t study the right things, you’re attributing these events to controllable factors. On other occasions learners attribute events to uncontrollable factors—to things over which they have no influence. If you think that you were chosen for the lead in the school play only because you look “right” for the part or that you played a lousy game of basketball because you were sick, you’re attributing these events to uncontrollable factors. Attributions are an excellent example of knowledge construction in action: Learners interpret new events in light of existing knowledge and beliefs about themselves and the world and then develop what seems to be a reasonable explanation of what has happened. Because attributions are self‐constructed, they may or may not reflect the true state of affairs. For instance, a student may blame a low test grade on a tricky test or unfair teacher when the cause was really the student’s own lack of effort or ineffective learning strategies. In general, learners tend to attribute their successes to internal causes (e.g., high ability, hard work) and their failures to external causes (e.g., luck, other people’s actions) (Mezulis, Abramson, Hyde, & Hankin, 2004; Rhodewalt & Vohs, 2005). By patting themselves on the back for things they do well and putting the blame elsewhere for poor performance, they can maintain their sense of self‐worth. But when learners consistently fail at tasks—especially when they see their peers succeeding at the same tasks—they’re apt to put the blame on a stable and uncontrollable internal factor: their own low ability (Covington, 1987; Y. Hong, Chiu, & Dweck, 1995; Schunk, 1990; Weiner, 1984). HOW ATTRIBUTIONS INFLUENCE EMOTION, COGNITION, AND BEHAVIOR Attributions influence a number of factors that either directly or indirectly affect learners’ future performance. First, attributions influence learners’ emotional reactions to success and failure. Learners are apt to feel proud about their successes and guilty and ashamed about their failures only if they attribute these outcomes to internal causes—for instance, to things they themselves have done. Unpleasant as guilt and shame might feel, such emotions often spur learners to address their shortcomings. If, instead, learners think someone else was to blame for an undesirable outcome, they’re
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2

This dimension is sometimes referred to as locus of control; however, as you can see in the discussion here, locus and control are two distinct dimensions (Weiner, 1986, 2000)

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Eighth Edition, by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Published by Pearson. Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

357 apt to be angry—an emotion that’s unlikely to lead to productive follow‐up behaviors (Hareli & Weiner, 2002; Pekrun, 2006). Second, attributions have an impact on expectations for future success and failure. When learners attribute their successes and failures to stable factors—perhaps to innate ability levels— they expect their future performance to be similar to their current performance. In contrast, when they attribute successes and failures to unstable factors—for instance, to effort or luck—their current success rate has little influence on future expectations. The most optimistic learners—those with the highest expectations for future success—are the ones who attribute their successes to stable, dependable (and usually internal) factors, such as innate ability and an enduring work ethic, and attribute their failures to unstable factors, such as lack of effort or inappropriate strategies (Dweck, 2000; S. J. Lopez, Rose, Robinson, Marques, & Pais‐ Ribeiro, 2009; McClure et al., 2011; Pomerantz & Saxon, 2001). Third, attributions affect effort and persistence. Learners Students are usually happy when they succeed at classroom tasks, who believe their failures result from their own lack of effort (a but they also feel proud and satisfied if they attribute their successes controllable cause) are apt to try harder and persist in the face to internal causes. of difficulty. Learners who, instead, attribute failure to a lack of innate ability (an uncontrollable cause) give up easily and sometimes can’t even perform tasks they’ve previously done successfully (Dweck, 2000; Feather, 1982; McClure et al., 2011; Weiner, 1984). Finally, attributions influence learning strategies and classroom performance. Learners who expect to succeed in the classroom and believe that academic success is a result of their own actions are more likely to apply effective learning and self‐regulation strategies, especially when they’re taught these strategies. In contrast, learners who expect failure and believe that their academic performance is largely out of their hands often reject effective learning strategies in favor of rote‐learning approaches (Mangels, 2004; D. J. Palmer & Goetz, 1988; Zimmerman, 1998). Given all of these effects, it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that students with internal, controllable attributions for classroom success are more likely to achieve at high levels and graduate from high school (L. E. Davis, Ajzen, Saunders, & Williams, 2002; Dweck, Mangels, & Good, 2004; McClure et al., 2011; Pintrich, 2003). Let’s consider how some of the factors just discussed play out in the opening case study. Michael initially attributes his failure in algebra to both his own low ability and his teacher’s poor instruction—attributions that probably evoke both shame and anger. Furthermore, because the perceived causes of his failure are both stable and out of his control, he expects future failure no matter what he does and therefore has little reason to exert much effort. As Michael acquires new study skills and gains a better understanding of algebra concepts and procedures, he achieves greater success and realizes that his success is the direct result of his own hard work. His new internal and controllable attributions lead him to use effective strategies and be a more self‐regulating learner:
Now I do things in math step by step and listen to each step. . . . I used to just listen and not even take notes. I always told myself I would remember but I always seemed to forget. Now I take notes and I study at home every day except Friday, even if I don’t have homework. Now I study so that I know that I have it. I don’t just hope I’ll remember.3

DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN ATTRIBUTIONS Young children become increasingly able to distinguish among the various possible causes of their successes and failures: effort, ability, luck, task difficulty, and so on (Dweck & Elliott, 1983; Eccles et al., 1998; Nicholls, 1990). One disti