Cognitive psychology can be defined as the study of mental processes such as perception, thinking, learning and memory; and how the mind processes information. An analysis of Pulliam’s article shows how the use of mobile phones affects teachers in the classroom as well as students during the learning process. There is no doubt that the use of phones in class may have detrimental effects on the learners, thus affecting the entire process of learning. People often react differently to different situations. Therefore, a mind has different ways of cognition concerning different information or occurrences. For example, some people may prefer loud music in their places of residence while others may consider the music a nuisance.
Effect of Student Classroom Cell Phone Usage on Teachers
The article by Daniel Pulliam describes how teachers get affected by a situation where students have to use their cell phones in class. The usage of cell phones in class interferes with the cognitive process of a teachers’ working memory. Notably, there is the brain system that aids in the provision of temporary storage and manipulation of the information that is crucial for complex cognitive tasks such as language, comprehension, reasoning, and learning (Beck, 2011). Working memory can store and process a limited amount of information. It is important to teachers as they attempt staying focused while performing complex tasks of giving lectures, being aware of what is going on in their environment, and blocking distractions. Further insight into Pulliam’s evaluation of mobile phone use in class shows that the usage of cell phones by students in classrooms distract most teachers as they try to give lectures and ensure their students understand what they are teaching (2017). Their attention is, therefore, shifted to make sure that all learners have focused on the teaching process and not any other thing.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The students, however, are of the belief that they can multitask, and therefore cell phone usage in classrooms is not a problem. Even if there is no study to show the capability of current student’s learning methods in the presence of technology, it is apparent that it may be difficult to quantify the ability to multitask, especially, learning in class and engaging in mobile phone use in the class. Most students believe that their cell phone usage does not distract their teachers in any way, something which is very wrongly placed. Every teacher would love if the students pay attention to the teachings disseminated in the class and ensure that all concepts are well absorbed. In the case of mobile phone use, it is clear that a student may get an attention grabber in the social media, something more fascinating, and as a result, the attention will be shifted to whatever is present in the web.
The Cognitive Psychology Concept
Cognitive psychology delves much into what is happening to people's minds and how it stimulates reaction. That is, how were receive information, how we store and process it, how we solve problems, and how mistakes in our reasoning can lead to negative behaviors and emotional distress. It studies the internal processes of perception, thinking, memory, and attention.
There are three major contributing theories in cognitive psychology namely:
1. Albert Elli’s rationale motive behavior theory
2. Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy
3. Donald Meichenbaum’s cognitive behavior therapy
Rational emotive behavior therapy assumes that one contributes to their psychological problems through their interpretations. The theory focuses on uncovering the irrational beliefs that may lead to unhealthy negative emotions. It examines this relationship through a given framework. An activation event occurs, one evaluates the activities through their beliefs and consequentially provides a reaction. For example, one may call their friend who is not in a position to pick up. Consequently, their ideas lead them into thinking their friend is angry with them and, therefore, not pick up their friend’s calls too. It all depends on the way in which one would tend to interpret things in real life, some of which may be vague or wrong.
Cognitive therapy approach suggests that psychological distress is caused by distorted thoughts about stimuli that trigger emotional suffering. A stimulus brings about thoughts that in turn trigger emotion. This theory explains the causes of mental stress and depression. An example is a mother losing a child. The stimulus sent to the brain when one suffers the loss of a loved one cause pain. The pain, therefore, stimulates different thoughts like being left all alone in the world with nobody to care for them. The bereaved starts asking questions like ‘why them? Why did their loved ones have to go?’ Negative thoughts of it should have been them instead of their child starts kicking in. These thoughts continue running in their head and eventually leads to depression
Cognitive behavior therapy focuses on modifying dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and thoughts to change destructive patterns of behavior. This approach includes identifying unrealistic and unhelpful thoughts and disputing them to develop problem-solving skills; for instance, two children fighting over one toy. Cognitive behavior therapy helps in training the children to learn how to make rational decisions over these issues. They are taught that fighting over the toy will not solve any of their problems as none of them will end up playing with the toy. They are taught, instead, alternative ways of dealing with this matter, like learning how to share-which will be more peaceful, and they will be happier.
In Daniel Pulliam’s article on the effect on teachers of student’s using cell phones in the classroom, he portrays cognitive psychology as how the mind perceives the environment and the reactions it leads to. The article describes that any information or the surrounding of an individual affects the individual either positively or negatively, and consequentially a relevant response. The article uses the rational emotive behavior theory to describe cognitive psychology.
In the article, the activating event is a student using a cell phone in class. The cell phones are either used for academic purposes or as a distraction whereby the students uses the cell phone to text while a teacher is giving a lecture. The teachers, however, often believe that students always use their phones as distractions. The teachers’ beliefs imply that the lessons are boring and the students find their phones more interesting, the student disrespects the teacher, the student is distracted or is finding difficulty in concentrating, or the student is just disinterested in what the teacher has to say. Consequentially, the teacher will give a reaction. Most reactions that teachers give are reminding the students of the phone policy, or warning them against using cell phones in class or even throwing them out of the classroom.
Cognitive Psychology and Public’s Perception
Cognitive psychology is important in a number of ways. It helps us understand human behavior. The mental processes involved in cognitive psychology help us analyze different occurrences that may have prompted one to give a reaction or behave in a certain way. Cognitive psychology also helps us in solving real-life issues such as mental stress and even depression (Sternberg, & Sternberg, 2016). It involves much more than just analyzing people’s behaviors, but goes ahead to understand what prompted such actions. Psychological stress and depression have led to the isolation and death of many people. People with depression have committed suicide. Those with mental stress, likewise, have committed either suicide or murder. Cognitive psychology can be a source of analyzing people’s emotions and thoughts and helping them out of negative thoughts, and therefore minimizing the rate of depression, suicidal thoughts, and even murder.
Implications in the Field of Psychology
Daniel Pulliam’s article has shown clearly that when students use their phones in class, they distract teachers and therefore lower output in both the teacher’s lectures and even the students’ grades. In the field of cognitive psychology, it implies that distractions in peoples’ environment provide different behavioral changes and therefore different results altogether. Pulliam has shown that a distraction in the environment may cause adverse effects as it adds to the various stimuli in one’s brain. Distractions, therefore, can be used as a variable when analyzing one’s behavior.
Conclusion
Cognitive psychology helps people understand the mental processes that take place in a person. The different cognitive psychology theories help in understanding different behavioral changes in people, and various mental phenomena. For instance what may cause different reactions and emotions in people, why people behave how they do, psychological stress and disorder, and depression. It is, therefore, a tool that can be used in solving real day-to-day life problems of depression and mental illnesses. Specifically, psychologists can use it to advise people on specific things that happen in life. In the article by Pulliam, the psychological impacts of using phones in the classroom are explored, and appropriate advice can be rendered based on relevant theories.
References
Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive-behavioral therapy. Clinical textbook of addictive disorders, 491, 474-501.
Pulliam, D. (2017). Effect of student classroom cell phone usage on teachers.
Sternberg, R. J., & Sternberg, K. (2016). Cognitive psychology . Nelson Education.
