-What is happening in the video is an example of classical conditioning. Dwight is being conditioned by a neutral stimulus (sound of computer rebooting) to come to expect an Altoid. Normally he would expect an Altoid after being offered one. But since the pairing of the unconditioned stimulus (computer reboot) is so close to the offering of an Altoid (neutral stimulus), he has become conditioned to expect the Altoid every time the computer reboots. This response to the neutral stimulus is called a conditioned response and the neutral stimulus has now become a conditioned stimulus.
-I could use this during physical education to teach certain skills to children. One such scenario could be the teaching of a somersault. I could say "Tuck" and the child would do a somersault, and if they got it correct they would get 2 minutes of extra free/play time at the end of class. This reinforcement would keep kids positive about learning because they want to have free time. The more they do it and get it right, they would associate "tuck" with more free time and be able to perform the somersault as easily as running or jumping.
You introduce two pairings here, so I want you to be able to distinguish them.
ReplyDeleteYou're pairing the act of somersaulting properly with playtime. (How does this help those students who don't know how to tuck properly?) You're also pairing the cue of 'Tuck!' with their response of somersaulting. Using both might be effective, but they're different pairings. I think the second one is interesting, so as an example, you could say 'Tuck!' while demonstrating the proper way to do a somersault. Usually, tuck might not mean anything to the children, but seeing what 'tucking' entails, it may cue them to do the same thing in their own somersaults.