Video-essay summary with my goals

1

Video Review and Report

The Video’s Title and URL

For this assignment, I selected a video titled: Use a Learning Theory:

Cognitivism. The video is located on YouTube channel and is accessed using the URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gugvpoU2Ewo. As the title suggests, the video’s

subject matter is an explanation of how the theory of cognitivism can be used to help

people (more specifically students) grasp and understand challenging concepts.

Description of the subject matter of the video

To illustrate the subject matter of this video, the composer uses an example of a

teacher named Tony, who wishes to teach his students how to carry out long divisions.

However, many of the students appear not to understand this concept and how to do the

long division. It also happens that their teacher does not have an idea on how to help

them. Luckily, the teacher can use the concept of cognitivism.

According to the video, cognitivism is a theory of learning whose emphasis is the

manner in which the mind receives, organizes, stores, and retrieves information. In

cognitivism, the mind is regarded as an information processor, for instance a computer.

When a teacher is teaching, he/she has to organize, sequence, and present instruction in

an understandable and meaningful manner for the learner to grasp. In cognitivism,

retention and recall is emphasized by use of quality practices of teaching.

There is a high possibility that many people have experienced cognitivism in one

way or the other since it is prevalent in many life situations. If one has not experienced it

by using it as a teacher when teaching students, he/she may have interacted with it as a

student. For example, educators use the theory to develop lessons which enable learners

learn higher-order thinking skills.

Some examples of cognitivism as stated in the video include starting a lesson with

a hook that helps create interest in the learners. Often, teachers also create interest by

stimulating prior knowledge by starting a class by reviewing a test. Cognitivism can also

be done by breaking information into digestible and understandable parts by use of

graphic organizers or pictures to help in structuring and relating content.

These principles of cognitivism can be used to solve the problem encountered by

the teacher used as an example in the video (teacher Tony). As has been mentioned

above, his students need to understand how to solve problems involving long division. As

such, Tony needs to first decide the skills needed by students so as to understand this

operation.

To that effect, the teacher realized that in order for his students to understand long

division, they first need to learn and understand basic division and subtraction of

numbers. Thus, it means that students need to remember and have sufficient prerequisite

knowledge about basic division, subtraction, and multiplication. This is an example of

cognitivism and can help Tony’s students grasp the concepts required to successfully

carry out long divisions.

To achieve this, Tony comes up with two techniques. The first method involves

creating a mnemonic device that goes like this: dead monkeys smell bad. This will help

learners recall with ease the following steps of long division: divide, multiply, subtract,

and bring down. The other technique that Tony creates is a color-coded poster with every

first letter of the four steps: divide, multiply, subtract, and bring down. This helps

students to remember the steps they need to follow when doing long division. When

stuck, students look at the poster and remember what should be done.

Relevance of the Video to EDS 5203

The concept of cognitivism is an important theory in human learning, which is the

core of the course EDS 5203. This concept is discussed in the course text and described

as a “…scientific methods for studying a wide variety of mental phenomena: perception,

memory, problem solving, reading comprehension, and so on” (6). This definition is

much similar to the activities and techniques described in the video to help Tony’s

students learn the concepts required for them to master long division.

Further, the text describes cognitivism as a blend of behaviors offered by social

cognitive theory ideas regarding what and how people learn from others. As people

continue learning from others, they gain self-skills and eventually become self-reliant and

“gain control of their behavior” (12). This is much similar to the examples described in

the video. The techniques suggested for Tony to use in teaching his students how to carry

out long divisions are good examples of human learning through the cognitive theory. As

students practice the arithmetic operations using the methods over a long period of time,

they will eventually become perfect in using the methods. Thus, the video plays an

important role in bringing into perspective activities which help learners understand

further the concept of cognitivism in real life context.

My thoughts and Reflections about the Video

This video has important illustration on how the concept of cognitivism. Through

the short video, the viewer gets to understand how the brain and other internal mental

activities function to bring about understanding. Basically, the video provides important

information illustrating how people learn. Various processes of the brain such as

knowing, memory, thinking, and problem-solving are explored in the video. The video

also illustrates the fact that human beings are not like animals which simply respond to

the surrounding stimuli. Unlike animals, humans need to actively take part in an activity

in order to learn. In this regard, Tony’s students must be actively involved in solving a

long division problem using the suggested techniques for them to learn. In addition, they

have to think though as they work the problem out. The video is manifest that the change

in behavior of human beings is an indication of what is taking place in the head of the

learner.

Reference

Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human Learning, 6th Edition. London, United Kingdom: Pearson.

Running head: A TYPICAL CHILD ON PIAGET'S CONSERVATION TASKS 1

The Video’s Title and URL

A typical child on Piaget's conservation tasks

For this assignment, I selected a video titled: A typical child on Piaget's

conservation tasks. The video is located on YouTube channel and is accessed using the

URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnArvcWaH6I. As the title suggests, the

video’s subject matter is a demonstration of how a typical child reasons and how he/she

interprets how things change or remain the same when some things about them are

changed.

Description of the subject matter of the video

In the video, a child’s ability to reason and interpret changes in things when

something about them is changed. The child’s instructor in the video starts by making

two rows of quarters and asks the child if the two are equal. When the child responds that

the two rows are the same, the instructor alters one of the two rows by extending it so that

it looks longer than the others. She achieves this by widening the spaces between the

quarters in the line.

She then asks the child if any of the two rows have more quarters or they are the

same. The child replies and says that the row that has been expanded has more quarters

and (according to the child) the reason for this is that the instructor has stretched the row

out. The child is then asked to count the quarters in the two rows. After counting, he

actually confirms that both have equal number of quarters (five each). Thus, the child

confirms that the two rows are the same.

Next, the instructor introduces two sticks and puts them on the table. She asks the

child if the two sticks are equal. The child responds in the affirmative. The instructor

then moves one side of one of the sticks so that it looks longer towards one end but

shorter on the other end (equivalent to moving the stick parallel to the other stick). This

A TYPICAL CHILD ON PIAGET'S CONSERVATION TASKS 2

time, when the child is asked to state if one of the sticks is longer or shorter, he says that

the stick that has been moved is longer than the other. He reasons that this stick is longer

because it has been moved over.

The next activity involves the instructor pouring blue water into two cups. Both

cups are equal and the instructor puts equal amounts of water into each. When the child is

asked if the amounts of water in the two are equal, he says yes. The teacher then brings a

longer glass and empties the contents of one of the glasses into it. since the glass is linger

than the initial one, the blue water reaches a higher level than the initial one. Because of

this, the child says that this (the longer and narrower) glass has more water than the

shorter, wider one. The little boy’s reasoning is that the water level in the narrower and

taller glass is higher than the water level in the shorter, wider glass.

Next, the instructor introduces two equal balls made up of play-doh. The child is

then asked to tell if the two balls have the same amount of play-doh or if one of them has

more than the other. The child says that one the two balls is made up of more play-doh

than the other. When the teacher cuts some play-doh from the bigger ball and adds it to

the smaller ball, the child replies and says that the two balls are now the same.

The teacher then shapes one of the balls into a flat spheroid. When the young boy

is asked to determine which one has more play-doh, he responds and says that the one in

the original ball-shape has more play-doh. The reason for this, according to him, is that

the other ball has been smashed, hence reduced in size. When the instructor molds the

spheroid back into a ball, the child is able to see again that the two are equal.

The last activity in the video involves the teacher allocating two graham crackers

to herself and one to the boy. When the boy is asked if this is fair, he says that it is not.

However, the boy agrees that it is fair when his graham cracker is split into two and now

he has two, just like the instructor. He does not realize that the two crackers that he has

were actually obtained from splitting the one he had initially.

Relevance of the Video to EDS 5203

A TYPICAL CHILD ON PIAGET'S CONSERVATION TASKS 3

This video is in line with the development stages suggested by Piaget and which

are extensively covered in the course. In the 1920s, Jean Piaget, a Swiss researcher

reported several ways through which reasoning in children happens as they develop.

Similarly, LeyVygotsky, a Russian psychology scholar carried out researches

demonstrating how the social surroundings of children give them an opportunity to

acquire and develop complex thinking abilities. “Piaget in Switzerland and Lev Vygotsky

in Russia, described how children’s thought processes change with age and speculated

about underlying learning mechanisms that might make such change possible” (141).

These are the exact concepts which are being demonstrated in the video as the child is

subjected to changing things and his ability to see if there have been changes or not.

Therefore, this experiment is a part of the theory of cognitive development as proposed

by Piaget and other researchers.

My thoughts and Reflections about the Video

This video has important illustration of the concept of cognitive human

development. In particular, the video demonstrates one of the most effective conservation

tasks as conceived by Piaget and how they can be used to test the ability of a child.

Through the activity demonstrated in the video, researchers are able to determine if

children understand how some things remain unchanged even as some aspects about them

is changed, for example their amount and/or shape. It demonstrates the fact that some

children may not be able to understand that, for example, a given amount of water will

remain the same even when the water is put in a glass of a different shape and/or size.

Through this and other similar activities, it is easy to understand how children

comprehend things at different ages and developmental stages.

Reference Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human Learning, 6th Edition. London, United Kingdom: Pearson.

Running head: VYGOTSKY'S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY 1

Student Name:

Vygotsky's Social Development Theory

The Video’s Title and URL

The video analyzed for assignment is titled Vygotsky's Social Development

Theory. It is located on the URL link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8M7ykflrKA. The objective of the video is to

explain and demonstrate the application of the social development theory as suggested by

Vygotsky.

Description of the subject matter of the video

The video begins by summarizing the theory thus “Social Development Theory

argues that social interaction precedes development; consciousness and cognition are the

end product of socialization and social behavior.” The narrator then gives a brief profile

of Lev Vygotsky who was a Russian psychologist during the Russian revolution and

whose works were very popular in the west until its publication in 1962. Vygotsky’s

theory is among the basics of constructivism and asserts three key themes which are:

Social Interaction, More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), and the Zone of Proximal

Development (ZPD).

The video asserts that social interactions plays a key role in cognitive

development process. Unlike Jean Piaget, Vygotsky believed that social learning

proceeds development and states that every function in the child’s cultural development

initially appears two times on the social level and then later on at the individual level.

That is to say that first, it appears between people and then it happens inside the child

later on.

The more knowledgeable other is defined in the video as anyone with a higher

ability level or better understanding than the one who is learning regarding a given task,

process, or concept. In most cases, a more knowledgeable other is usually a teacher, a

coach, parent, or any other older adult. However, a more knowledgeable other can also be

VYGOTSKY'S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY 2

a peer, or even computers. The zone of proximal development is the distance between the

ability of a student to do a given task under the guidance of an adult or in collaboration

with other peers and his/her ability to do it without any help. It is believed that this is

where and how learning happens.

Vygotsky focused on the connections between people in the social cultural

context in which they act and interact and share experiences. According to him, humans

use tools that develop from a culture such as speech and writing to mediate their social

environments. Initially, children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions,

ways to communicate needs, and that the internalization of these tools led to higher

thinking skills.

Relevance of the Video to EDS 5203

In the course textbook, we learn how Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychology

scholar, carried out researches demonstrating how the social surroundings of children

give them an opportunity to acquire and develop complex thinking abilities. In this video,

Vygotsky’s theory is further explained, specifically focusing on the key themes namely

Social Interaction, More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), and the Zone of Proximal

Development (ZPD). This video is in line with the development stages suggested by

Piaget and which are extensively covered in the course. In the 1920s, Jean Piaget, a Swiss

researcher reported several ways through which reasoning in children happens as they

develop. The course text describes Vygotsky and Piaget’s works thus “Piaget in

Switzerland and Lev Vygotsky in Russia, described how children’s thought processes

change with age and speculated about underlying learning mechanisms that might make

such change possible” (141). In the video, it is suggested that child learns things that

he/she has no ability to do depending on the environment (either under instruction by an

adult or when working together with peers).

My thoughts and Reflections about the Video

This video has important explanation of Vygotsky’s theory of social development.

Specifically, it summarizes how the theory is based on the three themes namely Social

VYGOTSKY'S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY 3

Interaction, More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), and the Zone of Proximal Development

(ZPD). The video gives researchers a clear-cut and accurate summary of Vygotsky’s

main points in the theory of social development. Vygotsky focused on the connections

between people in the social cultural context in which they act and interact and share

experiences, thus providing a truthful account of human learning. According to him,

humans use tools that develop from a culture such as speech and writing to mediate their

social environments. Initially, children develop these tools to serve solely as social

functions, ways to communicate needs, and that the internalization of these tools led to

higher thinking skills.

Reference Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human Learning, 6th Edition. London, United Kingdom: Pearson.

Running head: VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 1

Video Review and Report

Student Name :

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 2

Video Review and Report

The Video’s Title and URL

The title of the video selected for this assignment is “Animal Behavior” and can be found

on YouTube under the URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hREwakXmAo&t=236s. The

key message/subject matter regards the eight types of behavior that is found in animals. The

video by Paul Andersen begins by describing ethology and clarifying that behavior can either be

learned or inborn. Using examples, the video presenter deliberates on the following types of

animal behavior, giving examples; instinct, imprinting, fixed action pattern, learning through

trial and error, insight, observational learning, associative learning, and habituation. At the start

of the video, the presenter also notes that a person who studies animal behavior is called an

ethologist and the discipline is known as ethology.

Description of the subject matter of the video

To illustrate the innate behavior in animals, Paul uses an example of a hognose snake.

When the snake is threatened, it tries to intimidate its aggressor by spitting at him/her. Since it is

not poisonous, the spit may not turn away the aggressor. For this reason, the snake has another

technique that will help turn him/her away. When the invader gets too close, the snake turns

upside down, its head thrown back, and starts to emit a smell that of a dead flesh. Paul explains

that this behavior exhibited by the hognose snake is inborn and is acquired as soon as the snake

is hatched from the egg. He also refers to this behavior as instinct, which is a fixed pattern

behaviors which an animal takes in a given condition.

The presenter also uses a lac goose to illustrate instinct in animals. He explains that if the

goose is sitting on its eggs, its instinct tells it that anything that looks like a goose egg lying next

to its nest should be pulled into the nest. For this reason, if you remove one of its eggs and put it

next to the nest, the goose will definitely pull the egg back into the nest before sitting on it.

Similarly, if you place anything that looks like goose egg (for instance a billiard ball or a light

bulb) the goose would still pull it into the nest before sitting on it together with other eggs. Paul

attributes this behavior to the belief that throughout their evolution history, geese never

developed a better way to distinguish between their eggs and things which may look similar in

shape.

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 3

Next, the presenter describes imprinting as something that happens to an animal during a

critical period in its lifetime. He states that just like instinct behavior, this is not a learning

behavior. For instance, the geese chicks basically imprint on their mother and follow her around

until they are mature enough to depend on themselves. During this critical period, the chicks are

able to identify their mother through a smell that is emitted through a particular chemical process

in her body. For this reason, the chicks cannot confuse and follow another animal apart from

their mother.

Paul defines associative learning as the process of learning in animals where a new

response becomes associated with a given stimulus. He uses Pavlov and his dogs to illustrate this

behavior. Working with his dogs, Pavlov would ring the bell and then followed this by giving

them some meat powder. After repeating this for some time, Pavlov realized that the dogs would

salivate whenever he rang the bell. This is due to the fact that they associated the stimuli (ringing

the bell) with eating meat. Thus, the dogs were salivating in response to the ringing of the bell or

the footsteps of the person bringing them food rather than the meat powder itself.

Under trial and error method, the presenter of this video uses BF Skinner’s operant

conditioning. In his first example, Paul explains that if a rat is placed inside a cage with some

lights and lever, the rat can be taught to respond to a particular stimuli. For instance, when the

green light comes, the rat can be trained to know that if it touches the lever, food will come out.

Thus, rats (or any other animal for that case), can be taught some complex behavior through this

trial and error method. The presenter also uses the example of crow vending, the trial and error

concept that was used to make the vending machine.

Next, he describes habituation as when an animal gets the same stimuli over and over

again until it ultimately learns to ignore it. For instance, if a prairie dog sees a snake, it will make

some noise to alert other dogs, which will respond by hiding. The same thing happens when the

dogs see humans. The dogs will repeat this behavior whenever they see humans or snakes.

However, they will stop after a long time if they notice that humans or snakes just walk around

and do not harm them.

Under observational learning in animals, Paul explains that animals learn by watching

other animals do and mimicking that. For example, if an octopus is placed inside an aquarium

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 4

and given a bottle with food inside, it may not be able to open the lid and access the food inside.

However, if the octopus sees another one opening the bottle, it will repeat exactly the same.

Observational learning in animals is made possible through mirror neurons.

Insight, which is the last in the learning behavior continuum in animals, is not found in

most animals, especially those in lower levels. It involves a deeper understanding and analysis of

a given situation so as to come up with a viable solution. This mostly requires animals with well-

developed and complex brains.

How the subject matter of the video is related to course material and my thoughts about it

This video is full of life lessons regarding the psychology of animal behavior. It is

evident from the video that animal behavior varies between a continuum with innate/inborn

behavior on one side and learned behavior on the other. The behavior of animals and how it

helps them cope in various environments is an important aspect of living, and which is covered

in this course and textbook. Learning the behavior that is exhibited by various animals is an

important lesson that can go a long way in helping humans and other animals live and interact

cohesively. Most importantly, the video has information that helps facilitate better interaction

and cooperation among human beings and other animals. Just like the presenter concludes, one

does not need to be intelligent, but should rather live socially by looking at oneself and

everybody around.

1

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT

Video Title: Bobo Doll experiment (Bandura)

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqNaLerMNOE

Description of the Video

This video describes a section of Albert Bandura’s experiments on learning and

aggression and how children learned aggressive behavior after they observed adults act

aggressively on a Bobo Doll. The doll used in the experiment has a rounded bottom with a low

mass center that enables it to bounce back to an upright position after it has been knocked down.

The model of the experiment involved children watching a film named de dolt which showed an

adult performing a novel aggressive acts towards an inflated doll. The physical aggression by the

parent was complemented by novel venomous remarks. Later, the level of aggression learned by

the children after watching the adults handle the doll aggressively.

In the video, Bandura notes that measuring of learned aggressive behavior is done

through simulated targets rather than living ones. For instance, testing how well bomba deers

have learned strategies for bombing would involve using simulated targets instead of requiring

them to bomb a real city such as New York or San Francisco. This is an ethical aspect of

experiments where researchers cannot use humans especially when the experiment poses danger

to the subject.

The model involved pummeling the doll using a mallet and flinging it in the air. The doll

was also beaten repeatedly, throwing it down, and beating it again. Before this experiment, there

was a wide belief that watching others express aggression would drain the aggressive driver of

the person viewing. However, this experiment shows that this is not the case as it has

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT - BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT 2

demonstrated that aggressive modeling does not result in catharsis. It actually does exactly the

opposite.

According to the video, exposing one (especially a child) to aggressive modeling

augments desire for guns. Even though it was not modeled in this video, it has been shown that

children who have not been exposed to the aggressive modeling do not see guns as appealing.

The video also discusses the fact that the children exposed to the aggressive modeling

experiment picked up the novel hostile language used by the adults in the video as they beat,

flung, and threw the doll.

It was also observed that children who had been exposed to the aggressive modeling

experiment, for instance Sherwood, would specifically go for the doll and play with it

aggressively even when the room had so many playing materials. Another key observation is that

the exposed children came up with new ways of hitting the doll. The object of interest in this

experiment was the fact that the children who did not have any exposure to the aggressive

modeling showed aggression while those who were exposed did.

Relevance of the Video to EDS 5203 Course Content

The content of this video has great relevance and implications to what has been learned in

the course content through lectures and readings. For instance, aggressive behavior among

children and how to deal with it has been discussed in chapter 5 of the course text (p.92). The

video serves to teach us that aggressive behavior especially in children can be learned by

observing others act aggressively. In the text’s fifth chapter, the author suggests that when

punishing aggressive behavior, teachers, parents, therapist, or any other adult should also make

sure that they instil and reinforce effective social skills rather than simply telling the child to stop

being aggressive (Ormrod, 2012). This means that if we want to help an aggressive child

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT - BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT 3

abandon the behavior, it is advisable for them to be taught an alternative behavior, for instance to

be sociable and nonviolent to others instead of being aggressive.

Since aggressiveness is an inappropriate behavior, Ormrod (2012) suggests that there are

various ways of eliminating them. For instance, children showing this behavior can be taught

behaviors which can help eliminate or replace the aggressive behavior. Adults can also reduce

the circumstances which may prompt aggressive behaviors among children (Ormrod, 2012).

Thus, adults should make sure that children are exposed to constructive rather than destructive

behaviors and parents ensure that what they do when children are watching is not something that

will ruin children’s behavior if they learn it.

Thoughts and Reflections about the Video

This video provides a lot of useful information that can help in proper raising of children.

For instance, the video demonstrates that children can learn aggressive and any other negative

behavior by observing others doing it. In daily life, children are exposed to violent programs on

television, video games, and movies. This is highly likely to lead them to learning what they see

and start behaving aggressively. This is because violence and aggressiveness is a learned

behavior. Learning takes place through interactions with other people and observing what they

do. Basically, people learn by observing others and copying what they do.

Important observations from the video include the fact that when children observe an

adult acting in an aggressive or violent manner, they are very likely to act aggressively

irrespective of whether the adult is present or not. Further, children are likely to reinforce the

behavior and even devise new methods of being aggressive. Kids are also likely to copy what the

model of the same sex did as opposed to the opposite sex. For instance, it can be observed that

the boy in the experiment was imitating the man model while the girl was imitating the woman

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT - BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT 4

model. The bottom-line is that adults should realize that children learn by observing, and thus

should show constructive behaviors while in the presence of children.

Reference

Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human Learning . Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Running head: VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 1

Student Name

Course Topic

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 2

Video Review and Report: Reinforcement and Punishment

The Video’s Title and URL

The video used for this assignment is located at the URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwOh37DEHLk.

The video’s subject matter

This video describes the reinforcement and punishment theory as described by

psychologist BF Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning. The presenters of the video

emphasizes on making clear the difference between positive and negative reinforcement and

punishment. According to the video, reinforcement is defined as any stimulus that leads to an

increase in a particular behavior. The video gives several examples of behaviors which can be

increased by positive reinforcement including students doing their homework. Punishment is

defined as any stimulus that reduces a given behavior, for instance, a stimulus that reduces the

tendency of a child not hitting another is a punishment.

The video also highlights BF Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning. The theory

stipulates that behaviors can either be increased or decreased by presenting or removing various

stimuli. Positive reinforcement is when a given stimulus is used to increase or improve behavior.

For instance, a teacher can enhance the behavior of a student wanting to answer questions in

class by giving them a candy every time he/she answers a question correctly. While this is

commonly as a reward system in many classrooms, it can backfire when it is used to reward

unwanted behavior.

Negative reinforcement is used when there is need to avoid unwanted behavior. For

instance, a teenager can choose to abandon a certain bad behavior so as to avoid complaining and

nagging from his/her parents. In the video, another example which decreases bad behavior is the

irritating sound made by a car when the key is left in the ignition. This sound is an example of

negative reinforcement which leads to removal of the key every time to avoid hearing the

annoying sound.

In the video there is also a discussion of how BF Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning

can be used to diminish behavior through both positive and negative punishment. As it has been

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 3

mentioned above, positive punishment is when something or a stimulus is added to reduce a

given behavior. The example used in the video is that of a coach yelling at a player to make her

minimize the number of errors she makes during a game. In this case, yelling by the coach is the

stimulus while errors in the field by the player is the behavior. According to the video, positive

punishment has been found to be among the least effective methods used to change behavior.

Negative punishment is when something is withdrawn or removed so as to eliminate a

given behavior. An example given in the video is that of a restaurant owner wishing to

extinguish the behavior of taking too long to make an order. According to the video, he achieves

this by withdrawing his delicious soup when customers are making orders. Here, the delicious

soup is the stimulus being taken away. Negative punishment is popular among parents raising

deviant teens. For instance, I teenager who has a habit of staying out until late can be compelled

to stop this behavior when some of his privileges are withdrawn.

The relationship between the subject matter of the video and the course material

There is a very strong relationship between the subject matter of this video and the

material covered in the course text and lecture material. More specifically, this video is about

reinforcement and punishment, which is very similar to the contents discussed in chapter 4 of the

course text: Instrumental conditioning. The video illustrates the concept of positive and negative

punishment using Edward Thorndike and BF Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning. For

example Thorndike postulated that “Responses to a situation that are followed by satisfaction are

strengthened; responses that are followed by discomfort are weakened” (p. 49). This means that

responses which are rewarded increase while those that are punished decrease. This claim is very

similar to the one made in the video while defining positive and negative punishment.

In a similar way, BF Skinner hypothesizes, as can be seen in the course text, that when a

response is preceded by a reinforcer, it is strengthened and thus very likely to happen again. This

means that reinforced responses seem to increase and become more frequent as opposed to those

that are not reinforced. In this case, Skinner deliberately used “reinforcer” as a replacement for

“reward” to refer to a consequence that causes an increase in a behavior’s frequency. Thus, the

content described in this video regarding reinforcement and punishment is fundamentally similar

to Skinner’s discussion as seen in the course text.

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 4

My thoughts about the video

The content discussed in the video is useful in psychology and quite useful in daily life.

For example, planned reinforcement can be applied and is very effective in promoting student

behavior that is desirable. The video teaches that positive reinforcement can lead to an increase

in either desirable or undesirable behavior. An instance of positively reinforcing an undesirable

behavior is when a student whines for unnecessary attention and succeeds in getting it. Such a

success means that the student will continue to whine in order to continue receiving positive

reinforcement. However, if the student is punished, he/she is likely to stop the whining behavior.

The video also illustrates how punishment can be used appropriately in the classroom, at

home, or any other place to encourage good behavior. After watching the video, one learns that

positive punishment involves adding a stimulus with the aim of improving behavior. For

example, yelling at a student can make them stop an undesirable behavior. However, positive

punishment should be exercised with a lot of precaution since it is the least effective and can

backfire. Lastly, the video teaches that negative punishment is when a stimulus is withdrawn to

discourage bad behavior. Through this video, a teacher, parent, guardian, or any other person

with the responsibility of looking after children or teens gets tips on how to best decrease bad

behavior and increase good behavior. The tips can also be used in other areas such as training

animals, training sportspeople, and many other fields.

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 5

Reference

Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human Learning . Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Running head: VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 1

Student Name

Course Topic

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 2

Video Review and Report

The Video’s Title and URL

For this assignment, the title of the video chosen is “The Little Albert Experiment.” It can

be found on YouTube using the URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBfnXACsOI.

Description of the subject matter of the video

The subject matter of the video is the description of a famous experiment carried out by

behavioral psychologist John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner, a graduate student. The video

mentions that prior to this experiment, a Russian psychologist named Ivan Pavlov had done

experiments to establish the process of conditioning in dogs. Watson’s interest was to extend the

research conducted by his predecessor, Pavlov, to demonstrate that classical conditioning of

emotional reactions can be done in people.

In Watson’s experiment, the participant was a little baby who the researchers named

Albert B and who is currently popularly known as Little Albert. Watson and Rayner subjected

the baby to several stimuli including a white rat, a monkey, a rabbit, masks, and fire resulting

from burning newspapers as they observed how the baby reacted. Initially, the little boy did not

show any sign of fearing the objects as they were shown to him.

Having observed that Little Albert did not show any fear for the object shown to him, the

researchers decided to some additional stimuli. They started by exposing him to a rat and then

making a loud noise by striking a metal pipe using a hammer. As expected, the baby started

crying on hearing the loud noise. This was repeated several times and the researchers observed

that after a long time of exposing the little boy to the rat and loud noise simultaneously, he

started crying as soon as he saw the rat even without the loud noise.

The speaker in the video makes an important note that at first, Little Albert showed

positive response when he was exposed to the rat without the loud noise. The conditioning

experiment was started when the metal was hit to produce a loud bang as the baby was reaching

out to the rat. At first, he was startled but never cried. However, the little boy cried when he

heard the loud noise as he was reaching for the rat the second time. This shows that the

researchers had without a doubt conditioned a fear response in the little boy.

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 3

Watson and Rayner noted the observation that as soon as the moment the child saw the

rat, he started to cry. Almost instantaneously, the baby suddenly turned and fell over on his left

side. He then raised on his fours and started rapidly crawling away so fast that he strived to reach

for the edge of the table.

Next, Little Albert was a shown a rabbit, of which he cried as soon as he saw it. He also

moved away and got as far as possible from it. After this, the researchers exposed the little

participant to a dog. They observed that he did not cry right away, probably because the dog was

not too close to him. However, he started to cry and tried to get away from the dog when it was

moved closer to his head.

After this, the speaker mentions that Watson and Rayner exposed the boy to an ACL fur

coat. This made him quite agitated as he turned away from it. Next, the researchers used a Santa

Claus mask and this met a lot of negative reaction from the little participant. It is observed by the

speaker of the video that Little Albert abruptly became afraid of objects resembling the white rat.

The speaker refers to this phenomenon as generalization.

Watson then proceeded to find out whether the baby would demonstrate similar reactions

if the experiment was done in a different environment. The previous experiments were carried

out in a dark tiny room but now they decided to change the setting to a bigger room. The objects

used in this part of the experiment were the same as those used in the first part.

Just like in the first case, the little participant did not show strong signs of fear or

withdrawal when exposed to the objects. However, he strongly withdrew when the when a loud

noise followed each object he was exposed to.

To test if the Little Albert had the ability to remember the fear after some time, the

researchers repeated the experiment after a month. As before, they used the baby as the

participant, using the same objects accompanied by loud noises. It was observed that Little

Albert showed similar strong signs of withdrawal as before. Once again, the researchers proved

that they had indeed conditioned fear into the little boy. They discovered that this conditioned

fear was not affected by the setting of the experiment. Watson and Rayner concluded that

phobias are most likely conditioned responses.

VIDEO REVIEW AND REPORT 4

How the subject matter of the video is related to course material

The subject matter of this video is related to the textbook and lecture material in the sense

that it is talking about an important aspect of psychology; classical conditioning. Within the

video is a good example of how classical conditioning can be used to condition for an emotional

response. Classical conditioning and how it shapes human and animal behavior is one of the

topics discussed in the course textbook and course materials.

Various aspects of classical conditioning discussed in the course textbook and lecture

materials have also been illustrated in the video. These include neutral stimulus, unconditioned

response, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned response, and conditioned stimulus. Indeed, this

video presents a very important part of the behavioral psychology discussed in the course

textbook and course lecture materials.

My thoughts about the video

The Little Albert experiment presented in the video is very significant in the wider field

of psychology and other related disciplines. The test has motivated various researchers and

continues to impact the direction taken by psychological scholars. The video presents various

types of stimuli and responses in a clear and easy to understand way. For example, the white rat

represents neutral/conditioned stimulus while the loud noise is the unconditioned stimulus. The

phobia/fear developed by the boy is an example of unconditioned/conditioned response.

The video also does a good job explaining stimulus generalization. This is in addition to

the demonstration that emotional responses in human beings can be conditioned. For instance,

after the conditioning tests, the little boy did not fear just the rat, but he also feared other objects

with a texture like that of the rat. He developed fear for objects such as furred coats and Santa

Clause beard.

Despite the fact that the experiment is quite famous in psychology, it has been widely

criticized for being unethical. This is because the researchers made use of a young child with no

clear consent from the parents or himself. The experiment involved instilling fear into the little

boy. This kind of fear may have severe effects on the baby’s mental as he may permanently live

with it.