Developmental Psychology/Social Psych/Cognitive Psychology - Oral Comps - Alyssa Joy

What role do emotions play in human behavior? 

Emotions can lead to how we behave/respond to specific situations.  

Siegal hand model 

• Brain stem, amygdala/emotion center, prefrontal cortex 

• At rest prefrontal cortex is the lid – we can have more logical/organized thoughts 

• During a stress situation, our lid gets flipped up and our behaviors are driven by our amygdala/emotional state 

When are peers most salient? How might you use this? (also social psych) 

Peers are important throughout development – 

• During early childhood, peers are important in early social-skill development and early conflict resolution (e.g. turn-taking, sharing) 

• During adolescence, peers are extremely salient as adolescents are more likely to participate in group behavior or be influenced by the behaviors of other peers and value peer approval. Adolescents are beginning to develop the want for independence and may be influenced by the behavior of their peers more than their parents 

What does social psychology tell us about group behavior? How does this influence our biases? 

• Group behavior often influences our own individual attitudes, perceptions, and actions – which can often lead to the development and reinforcement of biases if these are not challenged 

• Important for continues self-awareness and reflection when discussing clients/students/participants 

• Continue to exposure ourselves to diverse perspectives 

• Critical thinking 

• Accountability 

• Education and training 

What is social learning theory?  

• Bandura 

• People learn from each other from observation, imitation, and modeling 

• Can play a role in building self-efficacy 

How can we influence self-efficacy? 

• Verbal Persuasion: you can do it 

• Vicarious Experience: witness somebody doing it 

• Physiological State: how am I feeling when I’m about to do it 

• Mastery Experience: you did it! 

What is cognitive dissonance? What role does it play in therapeutic change? 

• Cognitive dissonance are two conflicting thoughts/beliefs/values/behaviors 

• The knowledge of conflicting thoughts/values can be a motivator for change 

• Therapists can highlight ambivalence when they recognize a client with cognitive dissonance and have client lead to their own motivation for change 

How do you apply the biological bases of behavior to school psychology? 

• There are brain and behavior relationships that can be related to learning. 

• Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in reward and motivation 

• Increase this feeling during learning activities to increase the likelihood of behavior occurring again 

• Dopamine plays a role in reinforcement and continues flow of dopamine can increase the likelihood of behavior 

What happens in the brain when you have a panic attack/anxious/fight or flight? 

• Siegal hand model 

• Brain stem, amygdala/emotion center, prefrontal cortex 

• At rest prefrontal cortex is the lid – we can have more logical/organized thoughts 

• During a stress situation, our lid gets flipped up and our behaviors are driven by our amygdala/emotional state 

*Cultural Attunement vs. Adaptation 

Attunement: Boost engagement, but does not modify key components 

• Translating content, relevant examples 

• Parent training: using behaviors/home routines/language that are relevant to the family  

Adaptation: Modification of key components 

• Change in programming after studied in phases and receiving input from stakeholders 

• Tailoring the intervention to be more appropriate for specific populations, change in key components 

• Parent training: replacing key components (labeled praise) with something that is more appropriate but serves the same function (positive attention) 

*If you have to give an intervention to a population of a differing cultural background, what would you do? 

• Be open during clinical interviewing and receptive to the population’s values 

• Seek consultation regarding appropriate interventions, understand the risks/benefits of the differences 

What would you say to people who are skeptical of adapting interventions? It may compromise the fidelity? 

• Researchers who adapt interventions are often experts in the populations they are adapting them for – inclusion of stakeholders to understand how to best tailor the intervention  

• Adaptions increase the effect size of implementation (i.e. interventions are more effective when they are adapted) – more effective when they are in use and accepted by different populations 

• Unethical to implement an intervention that you know is inconsistent with a client’s cultural beliefs/values – not best practice (don’t just ignore fit) 

Test selection for someone who speaks a second language? 

• Is this a disability or is this an inability to access appropriate instruction? 

• Be aware of the district and area resources to support instruction 

Emotions can lead to…

how we behave or respond to specific situations

Siegel hand model

Brain stem (wrist), amygdala/emotion center (thumb), prefrontal cortex (fingers around thumb in fist)

At rest, prefrontal cortex is the lid, more organized and logical thought

During a stressful situation, our lid gets flipped up and our behavior is driven by amygdala/emotional state (emotions drive behavior)

What peers are most salient?

During early childhood, peers are important in early social-skill development and early conflict resolution (e.g. turn-taking, sharing, conflict resolution, relationship building)

During adolescence (middle/high school), peers are extremely salient as adolescents are more likely to participate in group behavior or be influenced by the behaviors of other peers and value peer approval

Spending a lot of time with peers in school

adolescent brain is particularly sensitive to social reward and peer evaluation

Adolescents are beginning to develop the want for independence and may be influenced by the behavior of their peers more than their parents

How might you use this idea of peers as salient?

Prosocial peer group work or same-aged mentoring relationships

Peer-led learning on collaborative learning assignments

Incorporate peer feedback knowing it holds weight

In class assignments

During class acitivites

Monitor the negative effects of peers

Target areas to implement more peer engagement

What does social psychology tell us about group behavior?

Group behavior often influences individual attitudes, perceptions, and actions

How does group behavior influence bias?

Group behavior that informs individual aspects of us can lead to the reinforcement of biases if they are not challenged

Example: Imagine you're a student at Lincoln High School, and your school's biggest rival is Jefferson High School. Even though you've never met any students from Jefferson, most of your classmates say things like, "Jefferson kids are so rude.” Because everyone in your group (your school) believes this, you start to believe it too, even without any personal experience. You might feel angry or unfriendly toward Jefferson students, just because your group does.

How do we monitor such biases? (group behavior-influenced biases)

It is important to engage in self-awareness and reflection when discussing clients, students and/or participants

Exposure to diverse perspectives

Critical thinking

Accountability

Education & Training

Social Learning Theory

Define: People learn from each other from observation, imitation, and modeling (especially when we see them being rewarded or punished)

Observation: learn by watching others

Imitation: learn by copying others

Modeling: Person being observed in the model that we are more likely to imitate if they are similar to us

Theory discovered by Albert Bandura

How did Bandura adjust prior conceptions of radical behaviorism with observations from social psychology?

Radical behaviorism:

focused only on observable behavior

Argued that learning happens through direct reinforcement or punishment.

Denied or downplayed the role of internal mental processes (like thoughts, intentions, or emotions)

Bandura’s view: Learning through observation directly challenged the idea of learning through reinforcement

showed that people can learn just by watching others, without direct experience.

Example: A child can learn aggressive behavior by watching someone else act aggressively (as in his Bobo doll experiment).

Included cognitive processes in that learning involves memory, attention & motivation as well as self-efficacy