IngridTimm

EducationalPsychology
LearningEventPaperFive
AteveryVillageProjectvisittotheelementaryschool,wecoloredwiththe
childrenneartheendoftheday.Thetopicstheycoveredincludedanimals,families,
andwereoftenopenended.WhenitwasnearHalloween,weaskedthekidstodraw
JackOLanterns.Wegaveeachchildspacetowork,paper,andahandfulofcolorful
crayons,suppliedbytheYMCA.Amongthechildren,theSNCvolunteerssatand
supportedtheirexpressionsandefforts.
DuringColoring,Iobservedtheconceptof
socialpersuasion
createdbyAlbert
Bandura(Cherry).Bandurastatedthat
socialpersuasion
isameansofaffectinghow
someoneacted(Cherry).Inparticular,socialpersuasionmayexplainhowapeers
behaviorinfluencedastudent'sopinionsandbehaviors.Forexample,Inoticedsocial
persuasionasagroupofgirlsweredrawingtheirJackOLanterns.ChildCdrewa
pumpkinalmostidenticaltoherfriends.IknewchildCwasoftenpersuadedbyher
ChildD,anditwasespeciallyevidentduringthisparticularColoringTime.Iasked
ChildCabouthershedidnotanswer,instead,ChildDrespondedthatChildDhad
suggestedtheydrawthesamepumpkin.Thissimplesuggestionwasenoughsocial
persuasiontoinfluenceChildCtoactasherfriend,ChildD,hadasked.
AnotherconceptthatIobservedduringColoringTimewashow
longterm
memory
(Mastin)wasusedtoproducework.
Longtermmemorydata/input/memory
canbestoredinthispartofthebrainforlongperiodsoftime(Mastin).Childrenuse

theirlongtermmemoryonadailybasistobeproductive.Forexample,duringColoring
Time,thestudentsproduceddrawingsoftheirfamiliesbyretrievingmemoriesofthose
imagesstoredinlongtermmemory.Thechildrendidnotuseaphotoforsupport.And
yetthechildrendrewimagesoftheirfamiliesandlabeledthememberslogically.
Althoughthefinemotorskillswerenotsecure,eachchildcoulddescribethroughthe
picturestheimageoftheirfamilybecausetheyhadaccesstotheimagesstoredintheir
longtermmemory.Itwasalsointerestingtoseewhatdetailsdominatedthelongterm
memory.Onestudentdrewherdadthreetimestallerthaneveryoneelse,includingher
mom.
AnotherconceptIobservedduringColoringTime,wastheuseof
shortterm
memory
(
McLeod
).Ashorttermmemoryholdsasmallamountofmemoryforashort
periodoftimeandtheinformationcanbelosteasilyduetodistractionorthepassageof
time(
McLeod
).Aspreviouslydescribed,onedayweaskedthekidstodrawtheir
families.ItappearedthestudentsunderstoodthetaskandyetwhenIwalkedaround
monitoringthemInoticedachildwasdrawingabutterflyandnotapictureofhisfamily.
IaskedhimBuddy,whatarewesupposedtodraw?hesaidhedidntremember.
Accordingtothetheory,hisshorttermmemoryheldtherecentinstructions,and
therefore,thechildcouldnotretrieveit.Herememberedheneededtodrawsomething,
butnotthespecificsofwhattodraw.Intheamountoftimeittookhimtowalktothe
table,withallthedistractionsheexperienced,thememoryofthedirectionstodrawhis
familywasnolongeraccessible.

AnotherconceptthatIobservedatColoringTimewasevidenceof
attribution
theory,specificallythecausalfactorsconsideredExternal,Controllable,Unstable
(McLeod).External,Controllable,andUnstableisdefinedbyWeinerasattributesthat
anindividualwillusetoexplainthecausesofachievementorsuccessatanevent
(sameasabove).Forexample,duringColoringTimearoundThanksgivingweasked
thestudentsdrawturkeyhands.AsIwalkedaroundlookingatthecutedrawings,I
observedachildscratchingherturkeyout.WhenIaskedwhyshewasscratchingit
out,shetoldmeshethoughtitlookedbad.ItoldherIthoughtitlookedgreatandshe
wastryingherbestsothatsallthatmatters.Shethenexplainedtomethatthereason
shebelievedherdrawingturnedoutpoorlywasbecauseherfriendwouldnthelpher.
Thechildbelievedthatthecauseofhersuccess,ormorelackthereof,wasduetoher
friends(external)refusaltohelp(controllableandunstable.)
Finally,duringColoringTimeIobservedthe
conceptoflawofeffect
(Thorndike).AccordingtoThorndikeslawofeffect,responsestoasituationthatare
followedbyrewardswillbestrengthenedandbecomehabitualresponsestothat
situation.Forexample,itwasmycustomtowalkaroundduringColoringTime,
praisingstudentswhowereontaskanddoingtheirbest.AtthebeginningofColoring
Time,manyofthestudentswerenotengagedwithcoloring.However,Inoticedthat
whenIverballypraised(rewarded)workingstudents,thosestudentsmaintainedthe
tasklonger,andothersgotbusy.Irecallthatinthosefirstweeks,Icircledtheroom
praising(rewarding)fewstudents.Thenaftersomeweeks,itseemedthatIwaspraising
allstudentsbecauseIobservedallofthemontask.Eventually,itappearedtomethat

theytookverylittlenoticeofsuperficialpraiseandtheirtimeontaskduringColoring
becamehabitual.Thisledmetolookmorecloselyathowmypraisewasaffectingthe
students.Inoticedthatthestudentswhogotthebestandmostrewards(meaningful
andspecificpraise),maintaineddrawingforthelongestdurationoftime.
ColoringTimewasalearningeventforallofus.Duringcoloringtimethere
weremanypsychologicalconceptsdisplayedthatIhadnotconsideredaspartofwhat
seemedsuchatrivialactivity.TheconceptsIsawweremostprevalentwere
social
persuasion,longtermmemory,shorttermmemory,themindsetofECUunderthe
attributiontheory,andtheconceptoflawofeffect
.NowthatIunderstandthatallof
theseconceptsareineffectduringcoloring,Ihaveabetterappreciationforthisactivity.