ragged university

Ragged University www.ragged-online.comwww.facebook.com/RaggedUniversitywww.meetup.com/raggeduniversity

What has Psychology ever done for us? 3.We dont need no Educashun: The brain as a learning machine Prof. Ray Miller

The Programme Part 1: All in the Mind: Understanding me, you and the (February) world around us. Consciousness, perception, memory, personality and socialisation. Part 2: Barefoot in the Head: How the way we think, feel (April) and behave produces mental and physical health. Psychological therapies from the couch, through dogs and rats, to mindfulness and positive thinking. Part 3: We dont need no Educashun: The brain as a (June) learning machine. How learning develops, intelligence, critical thinking and the dos and donts of study skills. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 20133

Tonight With apologies for all that had to be left out! What is learning? Innate learning (Evolution, herring gulls and visual cliffs) Behavioural learning (Classical and Operant models training tigers) Learning through observation (Monkey see, monkey do?) Learning through study (Cognitive learning back to school?) The Question of Intelligence (g and the Bell Curve) Using Intelligence (Mindsets and thinking) Study Skills (Why not to highlight!) Life long learning (Health and well-being) Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 20134

Learning: Different Perspectives Learning is a relatively permanent change, due to experience, either in behavior or in mental representations or associations. Learning as a change in behavior Behaviorists focus on observable changes, such as how someone responds to a particular stimulus. Learning as a change in mental representations or associations Social cognitivists focus on the learning that occurs from the observations of others. Cognitive psychologists focus on the mental processes that underlie learning and behavior. Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition Copyright 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 20135

Learning and the Brain Learning results in an increase in both the size and number of synapses between neurons. Neuron formation is stimulated by new learning experiences. Learning and/or thinking about something tends to be an activity that is distributed across many parts of the brain. Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition Copyright 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 20136

What is Learning? Is learning the same thing as memory? Memory is the retention of learned information Learning DOES change memory capabilities Learning results in more refined neural connections 7Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 2013

Is Your Brain Really Necessary? Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 20138 Sheffield University student who had a measured IQ of 126 and passed a Mathematics Degree but who had hardly any discernible brain matter due to extreme hydrocephalus. (Richard Lewin 1980 in Science reporting work of John Lorber)

Why Learning? Adapting to environmental changes and constraints Change behaviors to meet demands and improve chance of survival How does this relate to human evolution and natural selection? 9Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 2013

Innate Learning? Are some learned behaviors innate and acquired through evolution? Behaviors with fixed action patterns are innate Baby herring gulls peck at ANY red dot Reflexes in humans (e.g. startle reflex, rooting reflex, etc.) 10Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 2013

Innate: Visual Cliff Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201311

Adult Visual Cliff Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201312 Glass Walk, Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China

Behaviour Classical Conditioning Learning though association All learning is about forming an association Accidentally discovered by Ivan Pavlov Dogs salivated to the sound of a bell before food was presented Salivation originally elicited only by the presence of food Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201313 One of Pavlovs Drooling Dogs

Classical Conditioning An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) elicits a reflex-like unconditioned response (UCR) Begin pairing UCS with a neutral stimulus Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201314 +

Classical Conditioning Eventually, neutral stimulus alone begins to elicit the same response as the UCS Neutral stimulus is now a conditioned stimulus (CS) Response from CS is a conditioned response (CR) Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201315

Behaviour Operant Conditioning Learning through consequences Associate a behavior (operant) with its outcome Edward Thorndikes Law of Effect Cats in a puzzle box: Eventually, the cat did something to escape and this behavior was reinforced (strengthened) Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201316

Operant Conditioning Influenced by B F Skinner Interaction with environment is a strong motivator Learning is a three part (A B C) sequence: A ntecedents must be present (context) B ehavior can occur C onsequence of behavior results Consequences may include: Reinforcement (reward): increases likelihood of behavior Punishment: decreases likelihood of behavior Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201317

Behaviour Shaping Complex behaviours may need to be learned as a series of steps the famous rat and Skinner box Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201318

The Alternative View Hes well trained now. Every time I press this lever, he drops in some food Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201319

Training Tigers What steps would you take to teach a tiger to jump through a flaming hoop? 20Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 2013 Dont try this at home, kids! That was Grrrrrrrreat!

Backward Chaining Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201321

Observational Learning Learning from watching others behaviors Learner mimics a role model Learn to repair tap washer by watching dad Learn to cook risotto by watching TV chef Albert Banduras Bobo-Doll Experiment Children learned to act by watching others BUT differential effects of reward, punishment and implied permission 22Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 2013

Social Learning Theory Learning From Models Attend to pertinent clues Code for memory (store a visual image) Retain in memory Accurately reproduce the observed activity Possess sufficient motivation to apply new learning Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201323

Social Learning Theory Research indicates that specific factors influence the strength of learning from models: 1. How much power the model seems to have 2. How capable the model seems to be 3. How nurturing (caring) the model seems to be 4. How similar the learner perceives self and model 5. How many models the learner observes 6. The consequences of the behaviour Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201324

Cognitivism Grew in response to Behaviorism learning can be latent, conceptual and adaptable Knowledge is stored cognitively as symbols Learning is the process of connecting symbols in a meaningful and memorable way Focused on the mental processes that facilitate innovative symbol connections Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201325

Anybody can learn anything at any age, provided it is stated in terms they can understand New material is presented in a systematic way, and is connected to existing cognitive structures in a meaningful way Cognitive Learning Theory Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201326

Intelligence and Learning What is Intelligence? 27 Reasoning Abilities Problem Solving Strategic Planning Comprehending Ideas Thinking Abstractly Language Comprehension Learning Abilities Intelligence

Spearman model g: General intelligence factor g f : Fluid intelligence novel situations and solutions (deteriorates from early 20s) g c : Crystallised intelligence cumulative learning (continues improving with age) s: Specific situational intelligence Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201328

Gardner model Multiple Intelligences Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201329

Intelligence Quotient IQ = (MA/CA) x 100 Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201330 (MA = Mental Age : CA = Chronological Age)

Nature or Nurture? Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201331

Environment and Potential v Actual IQ Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201332

(US) Race and Intelligence Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201333

Gender and Intelligence Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201334

Mindsets How you use your potential Achieving potential: Related to your belief about ability Related to your belief about the world you live in Fixed Fixed mindset ability cannot change Growth Growth mindset ability can change (grow) Carol Dweck Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201335

The two mindsets Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201336

Goals: performance Fixed Mindset: Those with a FIXED MINDSET tend to create PERFORMANCE goals. They believe that a persons POTENTIAL can be MEASURED. They aim to receive validation from others. Receiving low marks mean that they are not smart. Both success and failure cause ANXIETY. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201337

Goals: learning Growth Mindset: Those with a GROWTH mindset tend to create LEARNING goals. The goal is MASTERY and COMPETENCE. Scores and marks reflect how people are doing NOW and do not measure a persons potential. Creating goals for learning has been shown to INCREASE PERFORMANCE and enjoyment and decrease negative emotion. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201338

Response: helpless Faced with failure or challenge, people with a FIXED mindset: do not pay attention to learning information get depressed, become de-energised and lose self-esteem denigrate their intelligence: I am stupid, theyll think under-represent past successes and over-represent failures (pessimism) explain the cause of events as something stable about them. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201339

Response: mastery Faced with failure or challenge, people with a GROWTH mindset: Pay attention to learning information, and so do better on future tests. Focus on what they are learning, rather than focusing on how they feel. Try out new ways of doing things. Use self-motivating statements such as the harder it gets the harder I try. When faced with tests which are impossible to pass they will factor in other reasons and not blame their intellect i.e. this test was beyond my ability for now. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201340

Effort People were asked about intelligence and how much they thought it was down to effort and how much they thought it was about ability Intelligence=______% effort _______% ability Fixed = 35% effort vs. 65% ability Growth = 65% effort vs. 35% ability Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201341

Effort: mindset Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201342

Strategies Fixed Carol Dweck found students with a fixed mindset keep using the wrong strategy when faced with a problem. Then they disengage from the problem. Finally, they give up. Growth People adopting a growth mindset tend to generate other, and new, ways to do things. If one route doesnt work they will try others. They will think outside of the box to solve problems because they believe that they can. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201343

Study Skills: The Worst (Dunlosky et al., 2013 Report for Association for Psychological Science) Highlighting and underlining: although they common practices, studies show they offer no benefit beyond simply reading the text. Some research even indicates that highlighting can get in the way of learning; because it draws attention to individual facts, it may hamper the process of making connections and drawing inferences. Nearly as bad is the practice of simply Rereading. Summarizing: writing down main points in a text. Can be helpful for those skilled at it but there better ways to spend your study time. Highlighting, underlining, rereading and summarizing were all rated by the authors as being of low utility. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201344

Study Skills: The Best The learning strategies with the most evidence to support them arent well known outside the psychology lab. Distributed practice: spreading out study sessions, rather than one marathon. Last minute cramming may get you through a test or meeting, but quickly disappears from memory. The longer you want to remember the information the longer the intervals should be. Practice testing: research shows the act of calling information to mind strengthens knowledge and aids future retrieval. One familiar approach that captures its benefits is using flash cards. Flash cards can be presented digitally via apps like Quizlet, StudyBlue and FlashCardMachine. Both spaced-out learning, or distributed practice, and practice tests were rated as having high utility by the authors. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201345

Study Skills: The Rest Remaining techniques fell into middle ground not useless, but not very effective. Mental imagery: mental pictures that help you remember text (time- consuming and only works where text lends itself to images) Elaborative interrogation: asking yourself why as you read (like an annoying 4-year-old) Self-explanation: forcing yourself to explain text in detail instead of passively reading it (effectiveness depends on how good your explanations are) Interleaved practice: mixing different types of problems (not much evidence to show that this is helpful, outside of learning motor tasks) Keyword mnemonic: associating new vocabulary words, usually in a foreign language, with an English word that sounds similar e.g. learning the French word for key, la clef, by imagining a key on a cliff These techniques were rated moderate to low utility because either there isnt enough evidence to recommend them or theyre not a good use of your time. Need No Educashun Prof. Ray Miller 201346

Life Long Learning a healthy mind Dementia typically occurs in older age (Can also affect younger people - estimated 17,000

ragged university

Documents

learning machine

learning andor

brain learning results

study cognitive learning

new learning experiences

innate learning evolution

ray miller slide

life long learning health