Educational Psychology
Online lecture 3 (dr. Škubalová)
Learning
„Learning involves consciously or nonconsciously attending to
relevant aspects of incoming information, mentally organizing the information
into a coherent cognitive representation, and integrating it with relevant
existing knowledge activated from long-term memory.“ (APA)
- Optimal level of awareness (consciousness) and Attention (sustained, focused) - frontal lobe, basal ganglia, thalamus
- Thinking (evaluation of information, sorting, analyzing) – access to cortical regions
- Memory (working memory, storage) - hippocampus
Cognitive processes are dependent upon mental/bodily state of arousal/activation = affect and its regulation (limbic system and developped, functional prefrontal cortex)
impaired self-regulation of affect = impaired learning
Affect - biology of emotions
Brain (limbic
system) - amygdala ->
processes the information quickly and sends signals to the hypothalamus, which
in turn activates the autonomic nervous system.
The cortex ->
processes the information more slowly, allowing people to appraise or
evaluate the event and choose/modulate
reaction. The cortex
under an influence of a strong emotion is more likely to process information
incorrectly.
Autonomic
nervous system (ANS):
Sympathetic nervous system involves expending energy
(fight or flight)
Parasympathetic nervous system works to keep energy in the
body (rest/repair and digest)
What we can observe in people/pupils and ourselves?
Accessibility
to frontal cortext and cortical reagions in general is a condition for
higher order learning. Thus"Normal life" states is where learning
occurs, whilst altering between states of calmness and alertness should
be in reasonable intervals and respect individual needs of a child.
ANS regulation
voluntary study
Early brain development
90% of brain development happens before the age of five.
Neurons that fire together wire together and survive togetherNeural pruning - ‘use it or lose it’
Sensitive periods, critical windows
Myelination
Neuroplasticity
How Does a Child's Brain Develop? (Susan Bookheimer)
voluntary study
Attachment and brain development
Behavioural model of
attachment in 60s-70s Bowlby,
Ainsworth >
Cognitive model in 80s-90s Emotional (Affect) model of attachment
Alan Schore
Right brain
development (3rd trimester to second year of life), experience
dependent growth
Process of
emotional regulation = co-regulating
process > right brain – to – right brain communication (mostly non-verbal: facial
expression, tone of voice, gestures, posture, tactile)
- Includes both up playing of positive emotions and down playing of negative emotions
- Formation of the integrated self
- Connection to the body
- Formation of empathy
Absence of secure early emotional relationship results
in dysregulation
Can be shaped by later experience – requires
relational experiences with an emotionally sensitive and empathetic other
An Introduction to Attachment and the implications for Learning and Behaviour
very practical resource (voluntary read)
All forms of attachment are result of child´s early adaptation to his/hers life circumstances. School can provide different life circumstances and new challenges/opportunities for adaptation. Relationships in school with mature adults and peers in safe environment can alter attchament patterns.
On the other hand bad
relationship experiences (rejection, humiliation, abandonment, bullying)
can seriously undermine trust in others even in securely attached
children. Romantic relationships in adolescence are crucial for
activating or altering attachment patterns in childhood, mostly because
physicality/sexuality is usualy involved.
Early exposure to stress
Cummulative exposure to
CORTISOL compromises the ability of neurons to withstand neuropathological
insults. Has a neurotoxic effect on the prefrontal cortex.
AMYGDALA - sets in motion the stress response. Overrides the prefrontal cortex. Shows volume increase. Increase in reactive behaviors.
HIPPOCAMPUS - Short-term
memory loss. Neuronal loss. Impaired
memory, sleep, immunity.
Trauma effect: chronic state
of low- fear (alarm reaction) – even though outwardly children may look calm
and relaxed.
ACE graphics
Retrieved (1.12.2020) from https://canpweb.org/resources/connections-newsletter/2020-editions/connections-march-2020/aces-aware/
Physiology and temperament
A set of mostly inherited and innate mental
(physiological) qualities that determine the dynamics of experience and
behavior.
Temperament manifests itself in a way of a person's
reaction (affectivity, speed and strength of reactions) and can be mediated by
education only partially.
Temperament in childhood Thomas and Chess
- longitudinal study
- observable temperament categories in young children (from the age
of 12 weeks)
1.Level of
activity (energy management)
2.Regularity of
biological functions
3. Accessibility
/ withdrawal - positive or negative responses to new situations, people and
requirements
4.Adaptability
to change (easy or difficult)
5.Stimulus /
reaction threshold (threshold = intensity must be stimulated to allow the child
to respond, e.g. parents'
nervousness)
6.The quality of
the prevailing mood
7.Reaction
intensity (mood expression)
8.Diversion of
attention (distraction)
9.Length and
range of attention and degree of endurance.
- important factor: "goodness of fit" and "poorness of fit" between child´s temperament and caregiver´s temperament
Getting a good start in school
An example of applied temperament theory in education (voluntary reading)
Cultivation of emotional functioning
Appropriate emotional functioning is dependent upon
ability to discern and
name emotional
states within oneself and in other people.
1.Self-Awareness: knowing one’s
own emotions, strengths and weaknesses, values, drivers, etc.
2.Self-Regulation: the ability
to control and adapt one’s own emotions, impulses, and energies
3.Social Skills: the ability
to effectively manage relationships with groups or individuals
4.Motivation: the internal
drive to work consistently toward one’s goals
5.Empathy: taking the
feelings of others into consideration.