Cognitive Science 301

Applied Cognitive Science and Education
Fall 2006

Approaches to Management, Chapter 15

What should the goals be of management? 

• Enhancement of subskills and skills
  • e.g., academic skills
  • social skills
  • cognitive strategies
• Allowing success for the individual (feeling good through success)
• Prevention of complications
  • as a result of the neurodevelopmental dysfunctions
  • as a result of adults who make things complicated because they don't understand
• Assurance of gratification
  • is the program of management at the right level to insure gratification?
• Facilitation of critical transitions
  • after mastery, how to proceed to the next hurdle?
• Preservation of authenticity
  • keeping the child's uniqueness
  • "children have the right to be different" (p 567)
• Fostering self-esteem and motivation

Demystification is the most important part of an effective management program.

• teaching the individual about their own strengths
• teaching the individual about their weaknesses and how to manage the weaknesses
• "Demystification should help alleviate guilt, dispel fantasies, and minimize condemnation and accusation." (p 568)
• teaching the parents and teachers is the most difficult part of demystification
• Levine's recommended steps for demystification (see Table 15-1, p 569)
  • destigmatization
  • strength delineation
  • weakness enumeration (using a small number of problems to work on)
  • take an optimistic approach
  • form an alliance with the individual so that you can work together (the individual has someone s/he can rely on)
• accountability of the individual is essential in moving forward

Creating bypass strategies

• See Table 15-2 for examples of bypass strategies.  Where would you use each of these?
  • rate modification
  • volume reduction
  • complexity adjustment
  • prioritization
  • curriculum changes
  • special devices
  • alteration of routines
  • formal shifts
  • feedback modifications
• Some teachers and many college professors believe that bypass strategies are unethical and give the recipient an unfair advantage over the rest of the class.  Convincing them to use bypass strategies is sometimes difficult. 
• Legally, the strategies are needed to 'level the playing field' and allow equal access for all students to learning

Interventions at breakdown points

• breakdown points are "stages or components of a task or expected skill with which a particular student has difficulty and which therefore thwart successful performance or mastery." (p 573)
• these interventions can be used to bolster or strengthen the 'weak links' in processing, analysis, or production
• they need to be identified through careful task analysis (observation and assessment)
• at school, often intervention at a breakdown point for one student may help the entire class
• "Intervention should never focus exclusively on the remediation of developmental dysfunctions." (p 575)

Enhancing strengths

• This is an essential part of the management program.
• "wilting" strengths are not helpful as one matures
• bolster and encourage achievement in areas of academic content affinities/strengths
• success in an area of strength can provide the attitude that will carry over into having the courage to tackle the weaknesses

Humiliation protection

• needless to say humiliation, especially in front of peers needs to be avoided
• this often happens in the classroom as individuals are called on to perform (sometimes in areas of weakness)
• a management program should not push the individual into areas where they may experience more public humiliation

Additional services to be used in a management program

• tutors in specific academic content areas
• educational therapists (trained in helping the individual use strengths to overcome or enhance weaknesses in any area)
• speech and language therapists
• occupational therapy
• social skills training
• recreational therapy
• psychotherapy

Medical therapies: see pages 577-578

Legal entitlements

• Independent evaluations should provide a multifaceted assessment
• IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
  • see p 558-561 in Chapter 14 regarding necessary provisions

Learning Disorders in College

• Relevant points in management
  • denial of a life-long learning disability often occurs
  • concealing the need to continue taking medication occurs
  • a student's learning disorder can reveal itself in college
  • the distraction of noisy dormitories
  • need to balance classes in the individual's areas of strength and weakness each term
  • many of students with learning disabilities have "minds that are highly specialized (as opposed to well-rounded). (p 601)
  • writing difficulties may be especially troublesome
  • alternative strategies for assimilating reading information are often needed
  • faculty need to be aware of the importance of content (ideas, concepts, processes) rather than specific basic skills in learning
  • "Students with neurodevelopmental dysfunctions may have problems deriving sufficient meaning from primary sources." (p 601)
  • "Colleges should offer freshmen a course in cognition and learning." (p 601)
  • Students with learning disabilities should enter into contracts with the schools regarding the school's expectations and what happens if the students do not meet those expectations.
• What happens at Oxy?
• What happens at other colleges and universities?

You have been a great class!  Thank you!