For this
week’s (Week 2) blog assignment, we were to evaluate and identify at least two
online resources as it relates to the brain and learning, information
processing theory, and problem-solving methods during the learning process.
Upon
reviewing multiple sites within my Walden Library, I came across the following
websites that I found interesting.
The first was
found under the Psychology curriculum called “Human agency in social cognitive
theory.” The article examines the nature and function of human agency within
the conceptual model of triadic reciprocal causation. In analyzing the operation
of human agency in this interactional causal structure, social cognitive theory
accords a central role to cognitive, vicarious, self-reflective, and
self-regulatory processes. The issues addressed concern the psychological
mechanisms through which personal agency is exercised, the hierarchical
structure of self-regulatory systems, eschewal of the dichotomous construal of
self as agent and self as object, and the properties of a non-dualistic but non-reductional
conception of human agency (Bandura, 1989).
In reading
the above article, I came across a second interesting study called Parents, siblings, and peers: Close social
relationships and adolescent deviance (2002). In this study, the relations
between parents, older siblings, peers, adolescents’ individual
characteristics, and adolescents’ deviant attitudes and behaviors were examined
simultaneously, using a social learning perspective and data of 121 families
from inner-city Philadelphia (Ardelt & Day, 2002). Of the structural equation models, it
showed that older deviant siblings had the strongest effect on adolescent
deviance. Deviant peers also played a significant role. The effects for parents
varied for deviant attitudes and behaviors. Positive family relationships,
parental support, and discipline consistency were associated negatively with
adolescents’ approval of deviance, but only parental discipline consistency and
adult supervision of adolescents were related negatively to adolescents’ deviant
behaviors (Ardelt & Day, 2002). Coefficient estimates did not differ by
ethnicity/race, family structure, or the quality of the sibling relationship.
However, adolescents who identified with their older sibling, were of the same
gender, or had a deviant older brother tended to be affected most negatively by
the deviant sibling. I found this study personally interesting
because time and time again, I’ve mentioned far too often kids growing up in
intercity areas are getting more and more accustomed to that lifestyle and are
believing they cannot succeed because nothing more is offered in the world.
Sadly, according to this article, most of these feelings or thoughts are based
on what is taught or told to them, unfortunately, by those living in the same
home.
The final article
I read spoke of problem-solving methods during the learning process. The name
of this particular article is “Are social
competence difficulties caused by performance or acquisition deficits? The
importance of self-regulatory mechanisms.” However, it mainly discussed the
performance vs. skill acquisition model of social skills deficits. In short, this
reading performed two studies in regards to social behaviors and efficacy of self-management
on a non-contingent and contingent reinforcement phases. In Study 1, baseline
social behaviors for a random sample of 12 boys with comorbid emotional and
behavioral disorders (EBD), learning disabilities (LD), language delays, and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) revealed that prosocial
behaviors as well as inappropriate behaviors exist comorbidly in behavioral
repertoires, supporting a performance rather than acquisition model of social
competence difficulties. In Study 2, an ABAC design was used to examine the
efficacy of a self-management intervention with non-contingent (B) and
contingent (C) reinforcement for three elementary aged boys with EBD. Generalization
was demonstrated in natural settings for the contingent reinforcement phase
only, but was not observed over time. Study 3 replicated Study 2's procedures
using an ABAC multiple baseline across participants design with a sample of
adolescents with varying degrees of mental retardation (Gumpel, 2007). Two of
the three participants responded favorably to the self-monitoring training and
showed marked improvements in prosocial play skills during recess; for the
third participant, no behavioral changes were observed. Results from all three
studies are discussed from a social learning theory perspective. The efficacy
of the data collecting procedure and implications of the results were discussed
and evaluated showing many of the students with ADHD and LD displayed more aggressive
behavior, delinquent behavior issues, depression and social problems.
References:
Ardelt, M., & Day, L. (2002) Parents, siblings,
and peers: Close social relationships and adolescent deviance. Journal of Early Adolescence, 22 (3), pp.
310-349.
Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive
theory. American Psychologist, 44(9), 1175-1184.
doi:10.1037/0003-066X.44.9.1175
Gumpel, T. P. (2007). Are social competence
difficulties caused by performance or acquisition deficits? The importance of
self-regulatory mechanisms. Psychology In The Schools, 44(4), 351-372.
doi:10.1002/pits.20229
