Introduction
Today we will be doing a study on the differences between Cognitive Psychology, Behaviorism, and Social Cognitive Theory. You will be learning what each one is, what it does, who made it, and how they can use it in everyday life. For the activity, you will be creating a study board using a design platform of your choice (Canva, etc.) to make a comparison and information board. To get you started, here is some basic information about each of the topics. However, it will be up to you to create your own board and to gather more information! To keep from it getting too complicated, each person will create their own! With that, let's get started!
Cognitive Psychology:
Cognitive Psychology was created by Ulric Neisser using research in recognizing patterns, perception, attention, remembering, and problem solving. One aspect of Cognitive Psychology is selective looking, where, in experiments, a person or group of people would be given something to watch and would miss a seemingly obvious detail because they were so focused on one aspect of the video (APS, 2012).
Behaviorism:
Behaviorism is created to have been created by John B. Watson. Behaviorism is the belief that occurrences in the world shape how a person behaves and their learning through operant conditioning. Behaviorism influences many different occupations like education, therapy, and animal training and was part of a founder of artificial intelligence.
Social Cognitive Theory:
The Social Cognitive Theory was created by Albert Bandura. The Social Cognitive Theory is the belief that people are learning through social experiences and constantly absorbing new information through interactions and communication. It can either be interpreted in a good or bad way, especially for children, depending on what they are observing and whether it is positively or negatively reinforcing a behavior that is positive or negative.
Task
Your task will be to create a picture that demonstrates the three different processes, demonstrating a knowledge and understanding of the topic being given. You may use the facts included in the introduction, but I want to see you come up with your own ideas and do your own research. Any information put into your design MUST be cited and have a correctly formatted APA citation in a reference page. I have included a sample picture that I created with Canva.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xoml3_35jlTeIeN6Purpz7Wj-cz0XQb_lJvumOSvVBg/edit?tab=t.0
My design is simplistic and uses the information given in the introduction because I want to make sure each of you can come up with your own ideas. You can make your presentation any way that you want! Just remember, it needs to be clear, thorough, and readable! I have a rubric attached to the document so you know exactly I am wanting so you can get full points.
Your design should be eye-catching, informative, and well-written. It should not be simplistic, but thorough in your research. Also, remember to cite all of your websites you gathered information from! Not citing your work is plagiarism and you WILL get an automatic zero for not citing your work!
Process
Here are the instructions for using Canva:
- Load up Canva and select a format (I used Poster Landscape for my design)
- Select your formatting (try using the key words "comparing three different objects" to get some charts to work with like my example)
- Start designing!
Note: Remember that I want to know that YOU know this information, so be thorough! It will let you add pages so you can do multiple pages of content! I should see at least a page with some information about who the person is who created it, a page with some information about each theory, and a page on how it can be used in everyday life. There is more information in the rubric included, so use the rubric if you want full points for the assignment!
Note: Feel free to use other designing programs besides Canva as well if you are more comfortable with it!
Here are some links to websites that you can use to research your information. You do not have to use these, and definitely feel welcome to research more than these, but make sure that you are using academically-based websites, ones that end in .gov or .edu being the best. You can use .org, but be careful since not all of those websites are academic. For your citations, use Citation Machine to generate those, just to make sure you have the proper formatting. You can also use it to check your writing for the information section for your design if you wish! I have the links posted for each down below!
Citation Machine (For creating citations and checking grammar in your work):
https://www.citationmachine.net/
INFORMATIONAL WEBSITES
Cognitive Psychology:
https://www.southuniversity.edu/news-and-blogs/2023/11/what-is-cognitive-psychology
Behaviorism:
https://www.nu.edu/blog/behaviorism-in-education/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/
Social Cognitive Theory:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10442055/
https://www.wichita.edu/services/mrc/OIR/Pedagogy/Theories/cognitive.php#:~:text=Social%20Cognitive%20Theory%2FTheories%3A%20This,and%20others%20impact%20learning%20directly.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9733593/
Evaluation
See the following rubric to see the standards and expectations for the design:
In summary, you should have a design prepared on an online platform that shows all three different theories: Cognitive Psychology, Behaviorism, and Social Cognitive Theory. It should have information on who is credited for founding the theory, what it is for, and how it can be used in everyday life. It should be eye-catching, readable, and prove that you did your research by having lots of information. It should have the work cited in the design and on the reference page on the last part/page of your design. In order to achieve full points, you will use the rubric attached above.
Conclusion
After you complete your designs, post them on the discussion group and respond to two other students about their work! Feel free to share ideas and give comments, but remember your netiquette and be respectful if you point out something you think is incorrect! After you have posted this, feel free to research more! There is so much to learn through what these psychologists have taught us! Some thoughts to think about:
- What inspired them to come up with these ideas?
- Were they originally in the field of psychology? (Believe it or not, a lot of famous psychologists actually started out college going for degrees in natural science!)
- What are some of the differences in the three different psychological theories?
- What are some similarities in the theories?
Share your thoughts and ideas! It is important to learn from others as well! As you go on about your everyday life, think about how these theories could be used! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions! I hope you enjoyed the project and have a great rest of the week!
Credits
References:
Association for Psychological Science. (2012, April 27). Remembering the father of cognitive psychology. Association for Psychological Science - APS. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/remembering-the-father-of…
Cognitive psychology. (n.d.). Pgs 28, 142, 254, and 255 https://www.canyons.edu/_resources/documents/academics/onlineeducation/…
National University. (2024, November 18). Behaviorism in education: What is behavioral learning theory? https://www.nu.edu/blog/behaviorism-in-education/