Cognitive Dissonance, Research Paper Example

Cognitive dissonance refers to the experience that an individual faces when he or she is posed with a new idea that is in confliction with his or her own (Festinger, 1962). This concept is applicable to the field of education, as it is partially responsible for explaining why certain students are resistant to new ideas that are presented in the classroom. Certain reactions to learning, therefore stem from an individual’s want to be psychologically comfortable and thus wanting to reduce the conflicting thoughts that he or she is having. This ultimately leads to acceptance or rejection of the new idea depending upon the student’s specific set of current belief systems.

Although the cognitive dissonance theory was postulated by Leon Festinger in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, much research is currently being done on the topic and it can be applied to a variety of subjects. In the field of education, the cognitive dissonance theory is applied primarily to the motivation of learning. One practical application has been the observation that it is not beneficial to award the completion of academic tasks with an additional benefit. The aim of the integration into cognitive dissonance into this type of an exercise has indicated that students who are offered no prize and choose to complete their given work because they enjoy it will perform more effectively. Meanwhile, those who are not given a prize for completing work will have no drive to complete the work in the future.

Traditionally, the cognitive dissonance theory has been integrated into constructivist models of learning. To reduce the mental stress that students encounter while learning new information, this learning model is used to provide ways for the students to cope with potentially conflicting ideas prior to the presentation of the information, during the presentation of the information, and after the presentation of the information. It is ineffective to provide students with new facts and ideas without allowing them the opportunity to understand how these concepts relate to their current mindset (Harmon-Jones, 2002). When these gaps are bridged successfully, learning occurs.

The latest technological advance that has been developed to facilitate students’ coping with cognitive dissonance is instructional software. Although historically, the teacher has been responsible for allowing his or her student to understand the old perspective in terms of the new one, computer programs can achieve these ends as well. This is a particularly useful method when students are learning a complex subject because it provides them with an adequate opportunity to practice their knowledge. It is likely that these methods will continue to be developed into the future in order to integrate feelings of cognitive consonance with learning across the board.

While the cognitive dissonance theory has practical uses in the field of education, understandings its process is a more complex topic. Neuroscientists have recently attempted to determine the impact that this phenomenon has on the human brain, to find that conflicting ideas would bring up activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and the insular cortex. The extent to which these regions were activated are dependent upon the degree of dissonance that people feel (Van Veen, 2009). Furthermore, a 2007 study indicated that it is likely that cognitive dissonance patterns are based on an evolutionary advantage, although it is difficult to determine why with certainty (Egan et al., 2007).

Understanding of the cognitive dissonance theory will be particularly helpful in my future educational setting as a leader, as it provides educators with a method to assess students’ confusion and to alleviate it before it blocks learning. As a young student, I remember being easily frustrated with the presentation of some school subjects, and I now recognize that it is possible to prevent these feelings towards particular ideas. Ultimately, I believe that this theory would be most effective in the instruction of math and science, science these are topics that typically confuse both primary and secondary school children.

An important understanding that teachers of science should have is that students typically have their own opinions about how the world works. Although it is likely that they are aware and believe in basic levels of scientific knowledge, furthering this knowledge is often challenging. For example, many students have prior beliefs that are either due to religious values, a fabricated understanding of their own world in order to have it make sense, or a combination of these two. While it is important to not undermine the religious beliefs of students, it is certainly necessary to educate them on the principles that are deemed scientific fact. It is therefore not unsurprising that these lessons will conflict with their inherent beliefs.

To teach science effectively in the classroom, it is essential to have discussions prior to the presentation of the material. This will allow students to come forth and share the opinions they have about the topic. In many cases, students will pose conflicting ideas in which only one or a few have the potential for being correct. This type of discussion is useful in promoting cognitive consonance because prior to presenting the conflicting information, the students will be aware that the beliefs that they had held prior to the lesson could possibly be incorrect.

Throughout a science lesson, it is important to continue receiving input from students concerning their beliefs. While they received the original notion that their currently held belief may not be accurate prior to the lesson, they need to balance the receipt of new information with rejecting the old belief. It is important to have them repeat their prior ideas and explain why it is not in line with what had been learned so that they are able to justify the acceptability of the new information that had been presented to them in class.

Lastly, when presenting new ideas, it is important to ensure that the dissonant thoughts continue to be alleviated even after the lesson has been completed. It is therefore helpful to have discussions after the class that emphasize why a variety of students have changed their opinions on the subject matter and to address any confusions that still might exist. While the educators who study the cognitive dissonance theory in relation to learning believe this is the last step of this process, it would be helpful to provide students a means to reinforce this new knowledge both in their homes and for the next few days or weeks in class, depending upon the particular topic that is discussed.

It would be beneficial for teachers who wish to take advantage of promoting cognitive consonance in the classroom to assign homework assignments that revolve around the formerly dissonant topic. Assignments that require critical thinking will allow students the opportunity to continue to think about the topic and resolve the potential confliction of views that exists in their minds. While it is important to assign homework for the general reinforcement of principles that are presented in class, it must be done in a manner that allows the student to think about the topic, rather than requiring him or her to simply recall information.

Reinforcing the consonance between preexisting values and newly presented information should be performed in the classroom or at home using several different techniques. As mentioned previously, classroom discussions can be used for students of all ages and varying levels of complexity are appropriate depending upon the cognitive abilities of an individual class. Furthermore, essay or short answer assignments can be used for this purpose as well. While classroom discussions allow students to determine what other individuals in the class believe and how they are coping with new information, essay writing requires a more thorough evaluation of a students’ unique thoughts. To ensure that new information is effectively integrated into the knowledge base of students and to ensure that these facts can be used readily to allow them to cope with related information in the future, it is also helpful to give assignments that involve the integration of all new ideas presented. Whether this is a paper or a hands on project, this is certainly a useful tool that can help students both understand and use the information that they have been presented with.

Ultimately, it is essential to be aware of cognitive dissonance in the classroom because this theory explains why many students are unable to grasp new information. While teachers have the ability to explain course material in a manner that is more simplistic, it is more difficult to understand the conflicts that may exist in the minds of their students. Therefore, cognitive dissonance should be considered at all points of learning to ensure that students are able to succeed.

References

Egan, L.C., Santos, L.R., & Bloom, P. (2007). The origins of cognitive dissonance: Evidence from children and monkeys.Psychological Science, 18(11): 978-983.

Festinger, L. (1962). Cognitive dissonance. Scientific American, 207(4): 93–107.

Harmon-Jones, E. (2002). A Cognitive Dissonance Theory Perspective on Persuasion, in The Persuasion Handbook: Developments in Theory and Practice, James Price Dillard, Michael Pfau, eds. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Van Veen, V., Krug, M.K., Schooler, J.W., & Carter, C.S. (2009). Neural activity predicts attitude change in cognitive dissonance. Nature Neuroscience, 12(11): 1469–1474.