Why You Should Make Smart Flashcards Mark Mitchell & Janina Jolley, 2014 Clarion University of Pennsylvania

How Can You Learn a Concept? Three Models of Concept Learning Key Attributes Model Prototype (Best Example) Model Exemplar Model

Learn concepts by learning their defining characteristics. Knowing the key elements of the concept’s definition. 1. Learn the Key Attributes

Example of Learning Attributes Key Attributes Model Know the key elements of the definition. Example of Negative Reinforcement Definition: Negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior is increased by taking away an aversive stimulus. Key Elements 1.It must increase behavior 2.It must involve taking away an aversive stimulus. Example of Negative Reinforcement Definition: Negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior is increased by taking away an aversive stimulus. Key Elements 1.It must increase behavior 2.It must involve taking away an aversive stimulus.

Problem With Learning Key Attributes Identifying the key elements means thinking in abstract ways that are removed from reality. We typically think in more concrete ways by using real world examples. Love

How Can You Learn a Concept? Three models of concept learning 1.Key Attributes Model 2. Prototype (Best Example) Model 3. Exemplar Model

2. Learn Prototypes Learn a concept by learning a “best example” of it. Best = Common Typical

Example of Using Prototypes Prototype Model Learn a concept by learning a “best example” of it. Sources of Examples – Class Lectures – Textbook Example “Negative reinforcement occurs when a parent hears crying until the parent holds the baby and so the parent is constantly holding the baby.”

Problem With Learning Prototypes Concepts are too general to have one example that captures the concept. For example, no one dog is a perfect example of the concept “dog.”

How Can You Learn a Concept? Three models of concept learning 1.Key Attributes Model 2. Prototype (Best Example) Model 3. Exemplar Model

3. Learn exemplars You learn a concept by learning many examples of that concept.

Example of Exemplar Model Exemplar Model You learn a concept by learning many examples of that concept. Common Source for Model – Observation – you have seen many examples. Example Because you have seen so many examples of dogs, you know what a dog is, and you can recognize many kinds of dogs as dogs–even if you don’t have a definition of “dog” memorized.

Two Problems With Learning from Exemplars 1.For all the concepts you need to learn in a course, will you be able to study enough examples to cover each concept? 2.From examples alone, will you be able to figure out the key features of a concept?

Review: Models of Concept Learning and Their Implications for Studying ModelStudy by Key AttributesMemorizing the concept’s defining characteristics (know its definition). PrototypeMemorizing a typical, characteristic example of the concept. ExemplarMemorizing several varied examples.

Models of Concept Learning and Their Implications for Studying ModelStudy byProblems Key Attributes Memorizing the concept’s defining characteristics (know its definition). 1.People often learn best from examples. 2.Overextension errors* PrototypeMemorizing a typical, characteristic example of the concept. 1.Knowing one example of a category (e.g., knowing one girl) may not prepare you to recognize the wide range of examples of that category. 2.Overextension errors ExemplarMemorizing several varied examples. 1.May not have time to learn all those examples. 2.May not abstract the definition from those examples. 3.Overextension errors*

Ways of Trying to Learn a Concept & Their Problems Study byProblems Memorizing the concept’s defining characteristics (know its definition). 1.People often learn best from examples. 2.Overextension errors* Memorizing a typical, characteristic example of the concept. 1.Knowing one example of a category (e.g., knowing one girl) may not prepare you to recognize the wide range of examples of that category. 2.Overextension errors Memorizing several varied examples. 1.May not have time to learn all those examples. 2.May not be able to learn the precise definition from those examples. 3.Overextension errors*

Overgeneralizing: A Big Problem in Concept Formation Regardless of how people try to learn a concept, people often fail to see how that concept differs from related concepts. For example, young children often call horses “doggies” because horses, like dogs, have four legs. This kind of overgeneralization is called an overextension error.* Dog?

Overgeneralizing: A Big Problem in Concept Formation Even when learning a concept from definitions, prototypes, and exemplars, people often fail to see how that concept differs from related concepts. For example, young children often call horses “doggies” because horses, like dogs, have four legs. This kind of overgeneralization is called an overextension error.* Dog?

Overextension Errors Overextension errors are likely when a word is used one way in ordinary language, but has a more specific meaning in a specific field. Meaning in psychologyCommon meaning RandomDue to chance—free from systematic bias. Arbitrary – based on a whim that may reflect systematic bias. ExperimentA study that usually uses random assignment to disentangle treatment effects from natural differences between groups. Any type of study.

How Can You Avoid Overextension Errors? It is not enough to learn from positive instances: examples of what the concept is. You must also learn from negative instances: examples of what the concept is not.

How Can You Avoid Overextension Errors? – Getting feedback about negative instances (“that’s not a doggie, that’s a horse”) helps people avoid the overextension error. “Doggie”

How Can You Avoid Overextension Errors? – Negative exemplars (“that’s not negative reinforcement, it is punishment”) help people avoid the overextension error.

Conclusions Based on Theory and Research on Concept Learning for Making Flashcards To put new information into your head, you need cards that will help you 1.Have a meaningful definition of the term; 2.Have relevant, representative, varied, visual, and meaningful examples of the term; and 3.Avoid overextension errors.

Designing Flashcards That Help You Learn Concepts StrategyHelps you to learnParticularly useful for questions that ask you Make “Definition cards” that break down definitions into their key parts. defining features of the concept to recognize the correct definition of a concept or to understand the definition of the concept Make “Examples” cards that give you a typical example and a variety of examples that fit the definition. Prototypes and exemplars of the concept to apply the concept Add notes to cards that help you tell the difference between the concept and related concepts. to avoid overextension errors to distinguish the concept from related concepts (most multiple- choice questions)

Definition Card Negative reinforcement Definition Front Back

Example and Elements of an Intelligent Definition Flashcard Negative reinforcement (2) Definition {Positive punishment} occurs when a ____________ (1) behavior is increased by__ (2) taking away an aversive__ stimulus._____ ___________ ________________________ “aversive”means unpleasant. ________________________ ________________________ Front Back To avoid ignoring key parts of the definition, definition’s elements are underlined and numbered. Words and terms that are not understood are defined. Number of definition’s key elements you should recall. Term you should not confuse with your term.

Example of What Might Be Added to the Back of a Definition Card Text definition: “Occurs when a (1) behavior is increased by_____ (2) taking away an aversive stimulus after the undesired behavior occurs.”_______________________________________________ Warning: I confuse positive punishment with negative reinforcement. They are similar in that both are ways of altering behavior through the use of aversive stimuli._____________________ They are different because negative (-)_reinforcement increases (reinforces) behavior by taking away (-) an aversive stimulus after the desired behavior occurs whereas positive (+) punishment decreases behavior by adding (+) an aversive stimulus after the undesired behavior has occurred.__

An Example of an Examples Card Back Front Negative reinforcement Examples Text/professor example: (2) A baby cries until Mom picks it up. ________ (1)Mom picks it up to stop the crying. ______________________________ ______________________________ My example: (2) My dog whines until I start scratching her ears, so (1) I ___ scratch her ears more than I used to because I want to stop the whining. ______________________________ Two examples The key elements from the definition card have been matched to each example and those elements have been underlined and numbered.

What Could Be Added to An Examples Card TermsNegative reinforcementPositive Punishment Difference 1: Their effects Increases behavior.Decreases behavior. Difference 2: Timing of unpleasant event Unpleasantness occurs before desired behavior. Unpleasantness starts after undesired behavior ExampleEx: Parent yells before and until child starts cleaning up room so child starts cleaning up room Ex: Parent yells after child writes on walls so child stops writing on walls.

Final Thoughts  Learning concepts is difficult because a concept can’t be captured by a single example and because you will tend to confuse concepts that sound similar of have similar meanings.  You will tend to think you know a concept when you don’t. This may lead to you being surprised on tests.  Designing your flashcards can help you learn terms.  To learn how to make flashcards that will help you learn terms, see our powerpoint presentation: “Making Flashcards.”Making Flashcards

References Appleby, D. C. (2013). A flashcard strategy to help students prepare for three types of multiple choice questions commonly found on introductory psychology tests. Retrieved from Documents/otrp/resources/appleby13flashcard.pdf Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., III, McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Cambridge, MA: Belknap. Young, S. (2010). Learn more, study less! Publisher: Author.

Acknowledgments We would like to thank Dr. Jeanne Slattery, Dr. Jamie Phillips, Mr. Ryan Devlin, and Dr. Scott Kuehn for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this presentation.