Week 1

1.  Although I was familiar with the main ideas and technical vocabulary we encountered in this week's readings on learning acquisition and development in cognitive psychology, there are a few terms that are worth exploring in more depth or may be unfamiliar to some of my less educated peers. For example, Wiley & Dee (2011) use the term "mentalistic," which is not a commonly used word and is not even located in the Word dictionary. For example, the sentence they use is: "Mentalistic terms, such as belief and desire, were branded as superfluous and unscientific, and removed from accepted terminology," (Wiley & Dee, 2011, p. 3). The term evokes Houdini and mentalists who hypnotize crowds, but in this context refers to any terms that refer directly to mental processes or cognitive processes that are distinct from measurable behavioral outcomes. Immordino-Yang & Fischer (2010) avoid jargon in their discussion on the neuroscience bases of learning but refer to neural networks, which are like neurological systems dedicated to specific cognitive functions and which can be detected through brain imaging. Finally, Wiley & Dee (2011) refer to metacognition, which is crucial for learning and is the essence of self-awareness or self-monitoring.

2. Social processing is a fascinating subject. In Vanderwal, et al. (2008), reserachers use neural imaging to measure social processing to distinguish between self-referencing and mother-referencing. The authors found "striking similarities" between the different conditions, implying that self-reflective analysis actually does not differ when reflecting on an intimate other like a mother. The implications for the study of consciousness are tremendous.

3. One personal real-life example of an occurrence that supports the implications of social learning on our behaviors and beliefs occurred when interacting with some friends at a party. Even when applying the anonymity principles in the AERA Code of Ethics, it is clear that the role of emotions is critical and that feelings of joy or anger are both integral to the processing of memory as well as the process of self-reflection.

4. Based on the AERA... Ethical reporting begins with self-awareness and taking responsibility for as well as allowing self-recognition of biases.
References

Immordino-Yang, M.H. & Fischer, K.W. (2010). Neuroscience bases of learning. Retrieved online: http://latitud-nodosur.org/IMG/pdf/Neuroscience_Bases_of_Learning.pdf

Vanderwal, T. et al. (2008). Self, mother and abstract other: An fMRI study of reflective social processing. Neuroimage 41(4): 1437-1446.

Wiley, J. & Dee, B.D. (2011). Cognition: Overview and recent trends. In Aukrust, V.G. (Ed.) Learning and Cognition in Education. Elsevier.

Week 2

1. In "Situative view of learning," Collins & Greeno (2010) refer to "legitimate peripheral participation," a phrase that connotes a complete student immersion in the learning experience via accessing resources outside of the immediate learning environment. The peripheral items could be external to the classroom, for example. Collins & Greeno (2010) also mention the term "situative," which emphasizes the importance of environmental or situational constraints on learning. In the context of the Collins & Greeno (2010) study, situative learning stresses the importance of social interactions and social learning scenarios like cooperative learning strategies. Finally, Collins & Greeno (2010) refer to "cognitive apprenticeship, which builds and capitalizes on the benefits of mentoring and other types of unique relationships between an educator and a learner.

2. The concept of the zone of proximal development was first set forth by renowned child development psychologist Lev Vygotsky. In "The affective establishment and maintenance of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development," Levykh (2008) comments on recent trends to adapt Vygotsky's original theory of the zone of proximal development and concludes that there is no need to "expand" the theory to…