The Pain of Cognitive Dissonance

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What a pain in the neck is asking a question and getting a dozen conflicting answers! Why is it so difficult to get a straight answer? All you want is a straight answer that you can put into an effective plan of action. It seems like all the advice you get is contradicting and confusing. That mental stress and discomfort is caused by cognitive dissonance and it happens when you have to balance two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. You like peace of mind, balance, and as psychologists call it you want ‘internal consistency’. However, the pain of cognitive dissonance is necessary as growing pains.

Cognitive dissonance is an important catalytic for learning. Learning is not about transmitting knowledge like giving away a box of chocolates. Learning is the process of making meaning through consciously balancing previous knowledge with the new information. It requires reflection and intentionality. Humans are not machines in which an algorithm is inserted and automatically executed without cognitive processing. When conflicting ideas emerge these are sorted out and considered based on reliability, credibility, and delivery. In some cases, when information doesn’t serve to balance dissonance it is just discarded.

You love unwelcome advice, don’t you? How about uninformed advice or critique? People love to give uninformed advice. They tell you how to do something and how to do it right without examining what you are doing and how you are doing it. Your brain generally rejects the information. When you seek advice or critique you are ready to receive and consider the information. This is why instructional design considers (or at least should) of great importance to perform a needs analysis before suggesting a learning solution. When you go to see a doctor you expect a check up before a prescription. It is unreasonable for a mechanic to tell you how much repairs are going to cost before they assess the damages.

Information is consciously or unconsciously delivered to you in a constant basis. When you are consciously seeking information, no matter how willing you are to receive it, cognitive dissonance must occur. The mental stress should be short when information is considered in a timely manner. Psychology suggests self-perception theory as an alternative to cognitive dissonance. Self-perception theory is explained simply a way to see yourself as if you were an outside observer. Is the new information conflicting with your values, ideas, and beliefs?  Consider advice and where it comes from. Remember the famous saying, “Is not what you say but how you say it”? Cognitively it matters too. It helps to sort out information. Consider your goals. What needs to change to get there? Is the new information helping you develop a plan of action? Straight answers won’t help if you really want to learn.

What is Instructional Design?

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Instructional design or instructional system design is the systematic decision-making process and design of how instruction is going to be delivered. Instructional design draws knowledge from different sciences like psychology and neurology to develop an understanding of how to effectively use teaching strategies and methods. It is the formal process to design training.

instructional designWhile most people know me as an artist, I am also an instructional designer. In my research I contend that in order to provide effective learning solutions it is necessary to perform a learners analysis beyond the knowledge pre-assessment alone. Yes, understanding what people know before entering a specific learning endeavor is very important, but most important is to know the aptitudes and attitudes towards the new experience.

In many of my posts I talk about self-efficacy beliefs or the self-perceptions of skills to achieve a specific goal. This is a learning psychology concept in social cognitive theory developed by psychologist Albert Bandura. People conceive the likelihood of success based on perception of  their skills and past experiences. These perceptions then determine their motivation to pursue a goal. This information facilitates the instructional design process and helps develop strategies not only for learning but for improvement of self-efficacy.

Instructional design also takes in consideration the objective of the instruction and the conditions in which the learning content is intended for delivery to ensure it is effective. This includes instructional time, delivery methods, teaching tools, materials, et cetera. The instructional designer takes all this elements to design a learning solution for a specific learning need. Instructional design is much more than just providing training or teaching a class.

Sharing Knowledge as Equals

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When you engage in group interactions and discussions how do you behave? What are you seeking? What are you revealing of yourself? Peer tutoring is one of the oldest learning practices there is. Peer tutoring occurs when matching companions share knowledge while maintaining a status of equals [1]. Are you thinking about those online discussions where people genuinely share knowledge and honestly learn from each other? Yes, that applies as peer tutoring. Co-workers figuring out together how the new data system works? Yes, that is peer tutoring too. Those group activities in workshops where all come together to achieve a common goal? Indeed, that is peer tutoring. It happens constantly in society.

Knowledge resides in discourse and communication among individuals and their relationships. These relationships also influence how individuals see themselves, perceive their social circle, and assume how their social circle sees them. Social negotiation becomes knowledge negotiation, through which individuals engage in the meaning-making process. [2]

In peer tutoring the roles of tutor and tutee are constantly changing and balancing each other. However, it is possible to observe how individuals assume different roles in these interactions. These roles and how they are played out could determine the success in a peer tutoring interaction.  Albert Bandura defines these roles as agentic perspectives of human functioning: direct personal, collective, or proxy (surrogate). Agentic perspectives reflect self-efficacy (personal perceptions of skills to reach a goal) according to social cognitive theory [3].

agentic perspectives

Agentic Perspectives of Human Functioning

For peer tutoring to be effective, all parts must present an attitude reflecting a collective agentic perspective: all share and all learn. Yes, there is going to be a constant shift of roles as learning and teaching occurs. This also requires maturity and camaraderie. Arrogance and insecurities are the opposite of that. One can identify these characteristics in interactions online as in face-to-face situations. When individuals only seek to be ‘right’ and no other point of view counts, and when opposition comes and some resource to personal attacks and harassment, it is possible to identify issues that will put at risk the success of the learning process. Such situations are disturbing specially in environments with professional adults.

When practicing peer tutoring, focus on the goal. If the group is not in agreement towards the goal, then it would be futile to force a learning outcome. Sometimes, the learning goal is to seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge without necessarily reaching a consensus of opinion. However, the process itself and how participants conduct themselves could reveal if there is or not collective agency and if the interaction would be fruitful or else. When you engage in group interactions and discussions how do you behave? What are you seeking? What are you revealing of yourself?

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[1] Topping, K. J. (2005). Trends in peer learning. Educational Psychology, 25(6), 631-645.
[2] Tirado-Cordero, I., Hargiss, K.M.,& Howard, C. (2014).Exploring Self-Efficacy Beliefs as Entry Behaviors for Participation in an Online Peer Tutoring Learning Environment. International Journal of Strategic Information Technology and Applications (IJSITA),5 (1), p. 54-82.
[3] Bandura, A. (2008). Toward an agentic theory of the self. In H. Marsh, R. G. Craven, & D. M. McInerney (Eds.), Advances in Self Research, Vol. 3: Self-processes, learning, and enabling human potential (pp. 15-49). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.





						


					


					


				
					


					


						


							
						


						


							
If We Only Knew We Could Predict Behavior
							
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Learning and teaching are complicated endeavors. Every component of a purposeful learning process is important to achieve results. However, there are so many factors and variables to consider that it is almost impossible to count them all. As educator and instructional designer I aim to provide effective learning solutions. Some people might think that an effective learning solution is to provide all the possible answers to a given problem. I prefer to think that guiding people to find the answers for themselves is a better approach.




How can we accomplish this? We must draw knowledge and tools from other disciplines. Psychology for example provides information to facilitate learning, or as Howard Gardner suggested, it provides an understanding of the conditions where education takes place and of the recipients and practitioners of knowledge. If we only knew how people would behave in a specific learning environment, won’t we make sure to be ready to suit the needs accordingly? Understanding what people think of themselves and their skills to succeed in specific learning endeavors can provide instructional designers with direction to design learning goals and instructional strategies that aim not only for the acquisition of knowledge but also providing for a transformative learning experience. Knowing how learners perceived their likelihood to achieve success also provides for a better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of a proposed learning solution.


In my research, I explore self-efficacy beliefs as entry behaviors. Self-efficacy beliefs are personal perceptions of the skills to achieve a goal. If we only knew that self-efficacy beliefs could provide hints not only in how people will approach a learning situation, but to us to be prepared to teach or guide accordingly, won’t we take time to know our students better? According to the results of the study, people not only approach a task according to their self-efficacy, but they also behave as predicted. This provides a better idea of opportunities and constrains in proposed learning solutions.


Confronting new challenges brings consciously or unconsciously the need to assess and balance skills with requirements. Individuals consider what is required to achieve a goal and examine if they have the skills to achieve it. They also consider if they have the skill to learn the skills required to achieve the goal. Task engagement, performance, anxiety, stress, persistence, and coping skills are also affected by self-efficacy. Knowing this before hand prepares instructional designers to create learning solutions accordingly and to provide a transformative experience through the learning process.


In order to provide learning solutions of transformation it is necessary to know what needs to change. This is another way to measure success. Let’s call it “base line”. Assessing previous knowledge is important. However, knowing how people feel about the knowledge and skills they possess can make a great difference in how they approach a task. The act of teaching and guidance could be designed and approached based on learning strategies design to fit the specific needs. We could also be changing lives. Instructional designers could be helping to improve self-efficacy along with providing effective learning solutions.





						


					


					


				
					


					


						


							
						


						


							
Art Changing Lives
							
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A few years ago I was teaching art to children with disabilities. It was my first official teaching job and one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Back then, the kids called me “Mr. T” (since it was easier than trying to say: “Tirado”). In one of the older kids’ classes I had a student who ran to the bathroom and stayed there every time I can to teach the class. He was friendly outside the classroom, I spent time with his class many times in different activities, and we even had lunch together many times. He never ran away to hide or anything like that. One day during lunch I had to ask: “Why do you hide in the bathroom every time there is art class?”. His answer changed my perception towards teaching and ignited my curiosity to understand self-efficacy beliefs (although I was not familiar with the term back then). He said: “Mr. T, I can’t take that class. I can do nothing of what you teach. I grew up listening to people telling me that I’m stupid. I don’t want to try and then disappoint you too.”


During my doctorate studies I focused my dissertation towards understanding self-efficacy beliefs as a way to predict how people would engage in new learning experiences (you can read about my research in my bio if interested). Based on Social Cognitive Theory, self-efficacy beliefs are the product of the interaction between environment, behavior, and cognitive (and physical) capabilities forming the way with think about ourselves and our skills to reach a goal. The interaction of these factors of causation (environment, behavior, and cognitive) is known as Triadic Reciprocal Determinism. To make it simple: Our experiences and how we react to and interpret these experiences shape what we think of ourselves now and how we are going to approach new challenges. I know you might be thinking: “What in the world does this mumbo-jumbo has to do with art?”


Art affecting factors of causation
Art affecting factors of causation


Take a look of the benefits of art in all three factors of causation:


Physical factors: motor skills, eye/hand coordination, neurological reconstruction, stress reliever.


Cognitive factors: emotional relief, attitude change, understanding of culture and society, knowledge increase in art history, coping skills.


Environment: Different approach to decoding social and cultural symbolism, decoding environmental responses.


Behavior: better response to challenges, problem solving, better articulation of ideas.


Remember the kid hiding in the bathroom during art class? I had a conversation with him during lunch one day and taught him how to draw the human figure using basic shapes and proportions. He went his way and a few days later came to show me what he had accomplished. It was very impressive! This kid had so much hidden talent that was captive under the belief that he was stupid because that’s what every one said. That year he achieved the certificate for best improved art student and not only that, he also improved in other domains. He began to understand that what people said won’t count if you know you can do it. After graduation, He became a role model and mentor for younger kids.


I am not saying that art is the solution to your life’s problems. IT IS NOT! However, ART opens spiritual and neurological pathways facilitating the release of repressed emotions, internal conflicts, and traumatic experiences. ART also helps as anxiety, depression and stress reliever. ART is a powerful tool to facilitate transformation. We are not talking about clinical therapy (although it is used clinically), art is therapy in itself, and the results and benefits are available to anyone who engages in the creative experience. This is not at all limited to children. It is often the child who grew up hurt who needs it more.


Art changes lives!