Research Title: Emotional Summation: A proposed Theoretical
Viewpoint of Learning
Name of Faculty: Michael M. Nael
Date of Submission: November 15, 2005
Research Abstract:
The study aimed to analyze the validity of emotional summation and its implications to the learning process using the Philosophical-Quantitative Research Method. The philosophical research method was employed to analyze the different theses of Emotional Summation while quantitative research using a survey questionnaire was used to gather data about students’ emotions and learning. An experiment was done to determine the effects of emotions on the learning of respondents. The respondents of this study were fifty (50) second-year students of the Philippine Normal University who were in the stage of finishing the course Logic and Critical Thinking, who have average mid-term grades and who were chosen using the random sampling technique. The data were analyzed using percentage ranking and the two-way analysis of variance while the theory was analyzed using philosophical analysis.
The study is of significance to the following sectors: 1. Educators, School Administrators, Decision Makers and Leaders, who may be provided with an alternative viewpoint in their quest for an effective and efficient educational delivery system; 2. Teachers, who may gather new insights on how to facilitate and bring about relevant learning; 3. Students, who may be provided with an alternative learning method that incorporates their basic emotions in the learning processes.; 4. Parents, who will be assured of a more humanistic and emotionally balanced education for their children; 5. Psychologists and Theorists who may be provided with a new hypothesis in their quest for better learning theories and 6. The Philippine Society in general, which may gain to benefit from a better educational delivery system and output brought about by this study.
The problem
The study specifically sought answers to the following questions:
1. What emotions hinder or enable studying and learning as perceived by the respondents?
- Is there any significant difference among the amount of learning of the three respondent
groups when certain emotions were elicited in the teaching process?
3. What are the major theses of Emotional Summation?
4. Is emotional Summation Philosophically valid?
Hypotheses
This study tested the following hypotheses:
1. There is no significant difference in the groups’ scores in the 1st and 2nd tests
2. There is no significant difference in the scores of the three groups
- There is no interaction among the scores of the three groups in their 1st and 2nd test.
- There are no valid philosophical and empirical bases of the emotional summation theory.
Findings of the Study:
The following are the findings of the study:
1. A. The top five emotions that enable students to study were: 1. Compassion; 2. Love, though no attempt was made to distinguish between being loved and being in love; 3. Respect; 4. Happiness and 5. Enthusiasm.
B. The top five emotions that hinder respondents from studying were: 1. Sorrow; 2. Arrogance; 3. Hatred and Worry; 4. Anxiety, Disgust, Greed and Envy and 5. Avarice and Resentment
C. Among the emotions presented to respondents, pride, happiness, joy, acceptance, respect, enthusiasm and confidence were considered to enable them to learn while hatred, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, sadness and resentment were considered to inhibit them from learning.
D. Majority of respondents considered hatred, as hindrance to studying and learning while the rest of the emotions were considered by the minority to be hindrances to studying and learning.
2. A. The positive emotion group posted the highest mean score of the three groups in the 1st and second test of the experiment. There was however a drop in the mean score of the 2nd test of the same group from 8.7 to 8.2. This may be due to some negative emotions like frustration that followed after the revelation of the experiment.
B. There was a great improvement in the mean score of the negative emotion group when the negative emotions (hatred, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, sadness and resentment) were withdrawn.
C. There was a slight increase in the mean score of the controlled group, from a 7.4 mean score in the 1st test to a mean score of 7.9 in the 2nd test.
D. There was a significant difference on the scores, at .05 margin of error, of those respondents when emotions where introduced in the learning process and when these emotions were withdrawn. This means that emotions whether positive or negative affects learning. This further means that there is a greater difference when negative emotions are withdrawn in the learning process.
E. There was a significant difference on the test scores of the three groups. Positive emotions resulted into more learning than negative emotions. Withdrawal of negative emotions resulted to a greater difference than withdrawal of positive emotions.
There were interactions between the scores of the two tests of the three groups.
3. Emotional Summation theory claims that humans are emotional beings and that all learning is an emotional act. It contends that emotions are not lost but are merely transformed to other emotions in a spiral progression or regression and that learning is simply the transformation of antecedent emotions into a new state of emotional equilibrium through the summation of concomitant emotions. It contends that learning is a process of emotionalizing sense data into a viewpoint which leads to the development of belief, values, certitude and conviction. It rejects the possibility of humans to comprehend the true nature of things as it posits that humans can only graphs the sensed characteristics of things and can achieve certitude and conviction about the material world that they experience.
Major theses of Emotional Summation:
1. There is substantial unity of the human body. The knowing faculty of man is the brain. The mind is a human invention to explain what human beings cannot emotionally grasp.
2. Emotion plays a primary role in the learning process. Knowledge is simply the result of the combinations of different emotions (like colors) Learning is an emotional act and all human knowledge are emotionalized summation of reality.
3. The faculty of awareness are the senses which perceive sense data and sends these to the brain through the neurotransmitters
4. Antecedent emotion is present (whether consciously or not) in the initial apprehension of sense data about the reality confronting a person.
5. Consequent emotion is produce when the brain recognizes the importance of such sense data. This leads to action or fruition
6. A human being knows through and with his emotions, the intellect if ever it exist is simply part of the emotional processes of man
7. At birth a human being’s emotional equilibrium was stirred with the new sense data confronting him and as he experiences reality the equilibrium progresses or regresses as he develops different emotions through emotional summation- the process by which humans interpret reality
8. Each experience results into a different emotional equilibrium different from the original
9. Knowing and learning is simply an act of emotional summation of the different emotions created through perception which results into a consequent emotion
10. The more emotionally stable a learner is the better the learning, the fruition or action
become
4. Emotional summation was found to be valid, based upon the results of the experiment and the philosophical analyses of its tenets
The following are the Philosophical Bases of Emotional Summation Theory:
1.. The clear and distinct experience by human beings of emotions.
2. The refutation of the conventional views of emotions.
The following are the empirical bases of Emotional Summation Theory:
1. The interrelationship of emotion and learning
2. The experience of knowledge as a value
Conclusions:
Based upon the findings of the study, the following conclusions are thus presented:
1. Emotions enable and inhibit students from studying and learning. Emotions are thus vital in the learning process.
2. The emotions that enable students to study are generally similar to the emotions that enable them to learn. This is also true to emotions that inhibit students to study and to learn. Thus teachers must elicit positive emotions and reduce negative emotions in the teaching-learning process.
3. Negative emotions limit learning.
4. There is more learning when students have positive emotions. There is, however, little difference if these emotions are withdrawn.
5. There is greater learning when negative emotions are withdrawn in the learning process
6. Teachers must create opportunities for positive emotions rather than negative emotions
because positive emotions result to more learning
7. However, when faced with already existing emotions, teachers must concentrate more in
changing negative emotions to positive emotions than maintaining positive emotions in
the learning process.
8. Emotional summation is a valid theory of learning.
Recommendations:
Based upon the findings and the conclusions of this study, the following recommendations
were presented:
1. A system-wide evaluation of the emotional environment of Philippine Normal University must be conducted to improve its institutional outputs.
2. Methodologies and strategies of teaching using emotional summation must be developed in order to utilize fully the benefits that can be derived from this theory.
3. A re-evaluation of the learning theories utilized by faculty members of Philippine Normal University is suggested with the end view of integrating the emotional summation theory in the teaching-learning process.
4. A repetition of this study utilizing respondents from all year levels to verify the findings is an imperative.
5. A clinical study in cooperation with psychologists and medical researchers must be conducted to precisely determine the specific role of emotions in the learning process.
6. A comparative study of the rational learning theories and emotional summation theory is necessary to determine the effectiveness and relevance of these theories.
References:
Internet:
2. www.ask jeeves.com “ 9 mulriple intelligences of Gardner
I. The Problem and Its Setting
Introduction
Philosophy is traditionally viewed as the love of wisdom. This nominal definition came from the terms “Phelein” which means love and “Sophia” which means wisdom. Philosophy is understood today as the science and art of all things naturally knowable to man’s unaided powers in so far as these things are studied in their deepest causes and reasons. It is the human beings’ attempt to think speculatively, reflectively, and systematically about the universe and the human relationship to the universe. It is also viewed as the human beings’ search for the ultimate explanations of the realities of life.
Education is the total social processes that bring a person into life in a culture. It is the process of acquiring knowledge, habits, attitudes, skills, and abilities. It is the art and science of utilizing knowledge to make humans more humane. It is the sharing of wisdom.
Philosophy and Education are inter-related. The wisdom that Philosophy discovers is taught through the educative process while education provides the need and equips man with the abilities to continue to philosophize. The purpose of education is the total human development and in order to achieve this education must develop the abilities of man to learn to know, to learn to be, to learn to do and to learn to live together. The wisdom of philosophy is thus needed by education for its foundation. The philosophy behind any educative process guides its mission, vision, aims and goals and determines the social, cultural and economic sub-systems and its processes. Learning theories supplied by philosophy and verified by science serve as frameworks of the teaching-learning process.
Ideally, a country which has a lot of educated and schooled citizens, like the Philippines, must be reaping the benefits of education, one of which is development--moral, social, political, spiritual, technological and economic. Yet, the Philippines still belongs to the developing countries in spite of having a lot of educated and schooled citizens. High crime rate, high unemployment rate, massive poverty and the worsening political situation are some indications that education has failed to deliver graduates who learned to know, to be, to do and to live together. This may also indicate that the Philosophical foundation of Philippine education needs to be improve or revised for it is the philosophy of education that dictates and determines the mission, vision, aims and goals of educational institutions and shapes the educative processes and outcomes.
There is a need, therefore, for a review of the different educational philosophies, specifically of the learning theories being employed in the teaching-learning process to trace their
impact and to advance a new theory which may prove to be more relevant to the Philippine setting for new learning theories which are relevant and responsive to the needs of the time must be formulated and adopted to improve the quality of educational output.
Review of Learning Theories and their Impact to Philippine Education
For the purpose of this study, a review of the different learning theories and their impact to education is thus presented.
802papers/mergel/brenda.htm) to be reviewed involve the major theories of Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism. The new theories of Neuroscience, Brain-based Learning, Observational Learning, Social Cognition, Emotional Quotient and Multiple Intelligences will be included as bases and spring board in the formulation of the proposed Emotional Summation Theory.
A. Behaviorism
Behaviorism is a learning theory that bases learning to observable changes in behavior and focuses on a new behavioral pattern being repeated until it becomes automatic. Cognitivism bases learning to the thought process behind the behavior. Changes in behavior are observed, and used as indicators as to what is happening inside the learner's mind. And Constructivism base learning to the premise that we all construct our own perspective of the world, through individual experiences and schema. Constructivism focuses on preparing the learner to solve problem in ambiguous situations.(Schuman, 1996)
Behaviorism is a theory of animal and human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts mental activities. Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior.
Experiments by behaviorists identify conditioning as a universal learning process. There are two different types of conditioning, each yielding a different behavioral pattern:
1. Classic conditioning occurs when a natural reflex responds to a stimulus. The most popular example is Pavlov's observation that dogs salivate when they eat or even see food. Essentially, animals and people are biologically "wired" so that a certain stimulus will produce a specific response.
2. Behavioral or operant conditioning occurs when a response to a stimulus is reinforced. Basically, operant conditioning is a simple feedback system: If a reward or reinforcement follows the response to a stimulus, then the response becomes more probable in the future. For example, leading behaviorist B.F. Skinner used reinforcement techniques to teach pigeons to dance and bowl a ball in a mini-alley.
There have been many criticisms of behaviorism, including the following:
1. Behaviorism does not account for all kinds of learning, since it disregards the activities of the mind.
2. Behaviorism does not explain some learning--such as the recognition of new language patterns by young children--for which there is no reinforcement mechanism.
Research has shown that animals adapt their reinforced patterns to new information. For instance, a rat can shift its behavior to respond to changes in the layout of a maze it had previously mastered through reinforcements
2. Behaviorism does not explain some learning--such as the recognition of new language patterns by young children--for which there is no reinforcement mechanism.
Research has shown that animals adapt their reinforced patterns to new information. For instance, a rat can shift its behavior to respond to changes in the layout of a maze it had previously mastered through reinforcements
Impact of Behaviorism to Learning
This theory is relatively simple to understand because it relies only on observable behavior and describes several universal laws of behavior. Its positive and negative reinforcement techniques can be very effective--both in animals, and in treatments for human disorders such as autism and antisocial behavior. Behaviorism often is used by teachers, who reward or punish student behaviors.
Weakness -the learner may find themselves in a situation where the stimulus for the correct response does not occur, therefore the learner cannot respond. - A worker who has been conditioned to respond to a certain cue at work stops production when an anomaly occurs because they do not understand the system.
Strength - the learner is focused on a clear goal and can respond automatically to the cues of that goal. - W.W.II pilots were conditioned to react to silhouettes of enemy planes, a response which one would hope became automatic.
Strength - the learner is focused on a clear goal and can respond automatically to the cues of that goal. - W.W.II pilots were conditioned to react to silhouettes of enemy planes, a response which one would hope became automatic.
B. Cognitivism
According to Good and Brophy (1990) "Cognitive theorists recognize that much learning involves associations established through contiguity and repetition. They also acknowledge the importance of reinforcement, although they stress its role in providing feedback about the correctness of responses over its role as a motivator. However, even while accepting such behavioristic concepts, cognitive theorists view learning as involving the acquisition or reorganization of the cognitive structures through which humans process and store information." (Good and Brophy, 1990, pp. 187).
Cognitivism posits the following Key Concepts:
1. Schema - An internal knowledge structure. New information is compared to existing cognitive structures called "schema". Schema may be combined, extended or altered to accommodate new information.
2. Three-Stage Information Processing Model - input first enters a sensory register, then is processed in short-term memory, and then is transferred to long-term memory for storage and retrieval.
3. Sensory Register - receives input from senses which lasts from less than a second to four seconds and then disappears through decay or replacement. Much of the information never reaches short term memory but all information is monitored at some level and acted upon if necessary.
4. Short-Term Memory (STM) - sensory input that is important or interesting is transferred from the sensory register to the STM. Memory can be retained here for up to 20 seconds or more if rehearsed repeatedly. Short-term memory can hold up to 7 plus or minus 2 items. STM capacity can be increased if material is chunked into meaningful parts.
5. Long-Term Memory and Storage (LTM) - stores information from STM for long term use. Long-term memory has unlimited capacity. Some materials are "forced" into LTM by rote memorization and over learning. Deeper levels of processing such as generating linkages between old and new information are much better for successful retention of material.
6. Meaningful Effects - Meaningful information is easier to learn and remember. (Cofer, 1971, in Good and Brophy, 1990) If a learner links relatively meaningless information with prior schema it will be easier to retain. (Wittrock, Marks, & Doctorow, 1975, in Good and Brophy, 1990)
7. Serial Position Effects - It is easier to remember items from the beginning or end of a list rather than those in the middle of the list, unless that item is distinctly different.
8. Practice Effects - Practicing or rehearsing improves retention especially when it is distributed practice. By distributing practices the learner associates the material with many different contexts rather than the one context afforded by mass practice.
9. Transfer Effects- The effects of prior learning on learning new tasks or material.
Interference Effects - Occurs when prior learning interferes with the learning of new material.
Interference Effects - Occurs when prior learning interferes with the learning of new material.
10. Organization Effects - When a learner categorizes input such as a grocery list, it is easier to remember.
11. Levels of Processing Effects - Words may be processed at a low-level sensory analysis of their physical characteristics to high-level semantic analysis of their meaning. (Craik and Lockhart, 1972, in Good and Brophy, 1990) The more deeply a word is process the easier it will be to remember.
12. State Dependent Effects - If learning takes place within a certain context it will be easier to remember within that context rather than in a new context.
13. Mnemonic Effects - Mnemonics are strategies used by learners to organize relatively meaningless input into more meaningful images or semantic contexts. For example, the notes of a musical scale can be remembered by the rhyme: Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit.
14. Schema Effects - If information does not fit a person's schema it may be more difficult for them to remember and what they remember or how they conceive of it may also be affected by their prior schema.
15. Advance Organizers - Ausebels advance organizers prepare the learner for the material they are about to learn. They are not simply outlines of the material, but are material that will enable the student to make sense out of the lesson.
The following are the weakness and strength of Cognitivism:
Weakness - the learner learns a way to accomplish a task, but it may not be the best way, or suited to the learner or the situation. For example, logging onto the internet on one computer may not be the same as logging in on another computer.
Strength - the goal is to train learners to do a task the same way to enable consistency. - Logging onto and off of a workplace computer is the same for all employees; it may be important do an exact routine to avoid problems.
C. Constructivism
Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own "rules" and "mental models," which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences.
There are several guiding principles of constructivism:
1. Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues around which students are actively trying to construct meaning.
2. Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. And parts must be understood in the context of wholes. Therefore, the learning process focuses on primary concepts, not isolated facts.
3. In order to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to perceive the world and the assumptions they make to support those models.
4. The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning, not just memorize the "right" answers and regurgitate someone else's meaning. Since education is inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning is to make the assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with information on the quality of their learning.
The following are the weakness and strength of Constructivism:
Weakness - in a situation where conformity is essential divergent thinking and action may cause problems. Imagine the fun Revenue Canada would have if every person decided to report their taxes in their own way - although, there probably are some very "constructive" approaches used within the system we have.
Strength - because the learner is able to interpret multiple realities, the learner is better able to deal with real life situations. If a learner can solve problems, they may better apply their existing knowledge to a novel situation.
The Impact of Constructivism to Learning
Curriculum--Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardized curriculum. Instead, it promotes using curricula customized to the students' prior knowledge. Also, it emphasizes hands-on problem solving.
Instruction--Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to student responses and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information. Teachers also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive dialogue among students.
Assessment--Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own progress.
D. Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the study of the human nervous system, the brain, and the biological basis of consciousness, perception, memory, and learning.
The nervous system and the brain are the physical foundation of the human learning process. Neuroscience links our observations about cognitive behavior with the actual physical processes that support such behavior. This theory is still "young" and is undergoing rapid, controversial development.
Neuroscience is the study of the human nervous system, the brain, and the biological basis of consciousness, perception, memory, and learning.
The nervous system and the brain are the physical foundation of the human learning process. Neuroscience links our observations about cognitive behavior with the actual physical processes that support such behavior. This theory is still "young" and is undergoing rapid, controversial development.
Some of the key findings of neuroscience are:
1. The brain has a triad structure. Our brain actually contains three brains: the lower or reptilian brain that controls basic sensory motor functions; the mammalian or limbic brain that controls emotions, memory, and biorhythms; and the neocortex or thinking brain that controls cognition, reasoning, language, and higher intelligence.
2. The brain is not a computer. The structure of the brain's neuron connections is loose, flexible, "webbed," overlapping, and redundant. It's impossible for such a system to function like a linear or parallel-processing computer. Instead, the brain is better described as a self-organizing system.
3. The brain changes with use, throughout our lifetime. Mental concentration and effort alters the physical structure of the brain. Our nerve cells (neurons) are connected by branches called dendrites. There are about 10 billion neurons in the brain and about 1,000 trillion connections. The possible combination of connections is about ten to the one-millionth power. As we use the brain, we strengthen certain patterns of connection, making each connection easier to create next time. This is how memory develops.
The Impact of Neuroscience to Education
When educators take neuroscience into account, they organize a curriculum around real experiences and integrated, "whole" ideas. Plus, they focus on instruction that promotes complex thinking and the "growth" of the brain. Neuroscience proponents advocate continued learning and intellectual development throughout adulthood.
D. Brain-based Learning
This learning theory is based on the structure and function of the brain. As long as the brain is not prohibited from fulfilling its normal processes, learning will occur.
This learning theory is based on the structure and function of the brain. As long as the brain is not prohibited from fulfilling its normal processes, learning will occur.
The core principles of brain-based learning state that:
1. The brain is a parallel processor, meaning it can perform several activities at once, like tasting and smelling.
2. Learning engages the whole physiology.
3. The search for meaning is innate.
4. The search for meaning comes through patterning.
5. Emotions are critical to patterning.
6. The brain processes wholes and parts simultaneously.
7. Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception.
8. Learning involves both conscious and unconscious processes.
9. We have two types of memory: spatial and rote.
10. We understand best when facts are embedded in natural, spatial memory.
11. Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat.
12. Each brain is unique.
2. Learning engages the whole physiology.
3. The search for meaning is innate.
4. The search for meaning comes through patterning.
5. Emotions are critical to patterning.
6. The brain processes wholes and parts simultaneously.
7. Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception.
8. Learning involves both conscious and unconscious processes.
9. We have two types of memory: spatial and rote.
10. We understand best when facts are embedded in natural, spatial memory.
11. Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat.
12. Each brain is unique.
The three instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning are:
1. Orchestrated immersion--Creating learning environments that fully immerse students in an educational experience
2. Relaxed alertness--Trying to eliminate fear in learners, while maintaining a highly challenging environment
3. Active processing--Allowing the learner to consolidate and internalize information by actively processing it
1. Orchestrated immersion--Creating learning environments that fully immerse students in an educational experience
2. Relaxed alertness--Trying to eliminate fear in learners, while maintaining a highly challenging environment
3. Active processing--Allowing the learner to consolidate and internalize information by actively processing it
The Impact of Brain-Based Learning to Education
Curriculum--Teachers must design learning around student interests and make learning contextual.
Instruction--Educators let students learn in teams and use peripheral learning. Teachers structure learning around real problems, encouraging students to also learn in settings outside the classroom and the school building.
Assessment--Since all students are learning, their assessment should allow them to understand their own learning styles and preferences. This way, students monitor and enhance their own learning process.
Brain-Based Learning suggests that teachers must immerse learners in complex, interactive experiences that are both rich and real. One excellent example is immersing students in a foreign culture to teach them a second language. Educators must take advantage of the brain's ability to parallel process.
E. Social Cognition
The social cognition learning model asserts that culture is the prime determinant of individual development. Humans are the only species to have created culture, and every human child develops in the context of a culture. Therefore, a child's learning development is affected in ways large and small by the culture--including the culture of family environment--in which he or she is enmeshed.
The social cognition learning model asserts that culture is the prime determinant of individual development. Humans are the only species to have created culture, and every human child develops in the context of a culture. Therefore, a child's learning development is affected in ways large and small by the culture--including the culture of family environment--in which he or she is enmeshed.
Culture makes two sorts of contributions to a child's intellectual development. First, through culture children acquire much of the content of their thinking, that is, their knowledge. Second, the surrounding culture provides a child with the processes or means of their thinking, what Vygotskians call the tools of intellectual adaptation. In short, according to the social cognition learning model, culture teaches children both what to think and how to think.
Cognitive development results from a dialectical process whereby a child learns through problem-solving experiences shared with someone else, usually a parent or teacher but sometimes a sibling or peer.
Initially, the person interacting with child assumes most of the responsibility for guiding the problem solving, but gradually this responsibility transfers to the child.
Language is a primary form of interaction through which adults transmit to the child the rich body of knowledge that exists in the culture.
Language is a primary form of interaction through which adults transmit to the child the rich body of knowledge that exists in the culture.
As learning progresses, the child's own language comes to serve as her primary tool of intellectual adaptation. Eventually, children can use internal language to direct their own behavior.
Internalization refers to the process of learning--and thereby internalizing--a rich body of knowledge and tools of thought that first exist outside the child. This happens primarily through language.
A difference exists between what child can do on his own and what the child can do with help. Vygotskians call this difference the zone of proximal development.
Since much of what a child learns comes form the culture around her and much of the child's problem solving is mediated through an adult's help, it is wrong to focus on a child in isolation. Such focus does not reveal the processes by which children acquire new skills.
Interactions with surrounding culture and social agents, such as parents and more competent peers, contribute significantly to a child's intellectual development.
Since much of what a child learns comes form the culture around her and much of the child's problem solving is mediated through an adult's help, it is wrong to focus on a child in isolation. Such focus does not reveal the processes by which children acquire new skills.
Interactions with surrounding culture and social agents, such as parents and more competent peers, contribute significantly to a child's intellectual development.
The Impact of Social Cognition to Learning:
Curriculum--Since children learn much through interaction, curricula should be designed to emphasize interaction between learners and learning tasks.
Instruction--With appropriate adult help, children can often perform tasks that they are incapable of completing on their own. With this in mind, scaffolding--where the adult continually adjusts the level of his or her help in response to the child's level of performance--is an effective form of teaching. Scaffolding not only produces immediate results, but also instills the skills necessary for independent problem solving in the future.
Assessment--Assessment methods must take into account the zone of proximal development. What children can do on their own is their level of actual development and what they can do with help is their level of potential development. Two children might have the same level of actual development, but given the appropriate help from an adult, one might be able to solve many more problems than the other. Assessment methods must target both the level of actual development and the level of potential development.
F. Observational Learning
Observational learning, also called social learning theory, occurs when an observer's behavior changes after viewing the behavior of a model. An observer's behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences--called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment-- of a model's behavior.
Observational learning, also called social learning theory, occurs when an observer's behavior changes after viewing the behavior of a model. An observer's behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences--called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment-- of a model's behavior.
The Impact of Observational Learning to Education:
Curriculum-- Students must get a chance to observe and model the behavior that leads to a positive reinforcement.
Instruction-- Educators must encourage collaborative learning, since much of learning happens within important social and environmental contexts.
Assessment--A learned behavior often cannot be performed unless there is the right environment for it. Educators must provide the incentive and the supportive environment for the behavior to happen. Otherwise,
Curriculum-- Students must get a chance to observe and model the behavior that leads to a positive reinforcement.
Instruction-- Educators must encourage collaborative learning, since much of learning happens within important social and environmental contexts.
Assessment--A learned behavior often cannot be performed unless there is the right environment for it. Educators must provide the incentive and the supportive environment for the behavior to happen. Otherwise,
G. Learning Styles
This approach to learning emphasizes the fact that individuals perceive and process information in very different ways. The learning styles theory implies that how much individuals learn has more to do with whether the educational experience is geared toward their particular style of learning than whether or not they are "smart." In fact, educators should not ask, "Is this student smart?" but rather "How is this student smart?"
This approach to learning emphasizes the fact that individuals perceive and process information in very different ways. The learning styles theory implies that how much individuals learn has more to do with whether the educational experience is geared toward their particular style of learning than whether or not they are "smart." In fact, educators should not ask, "Is this student smart?" but rather "How is this student smart?"
The Impact of Learning Styles Theory to Education
Curriculum--Educators must place emphasis on intuition, feeling, sensing, and imagination, in addition to the traditional skills of analysis, reason, and sequential problem solving.
Instruction--Teachers should design their instruction methods to connect with all four learning styles, using various combinations of experience, reflection, conceptualization, and experimentation. Instructors can introduce a wide variety of experiential elements into the classroom, such as sound, music, visuals, movement, experience, and even talking.
Assessment--Teachers should employ a variety of assessment techniques, focusing on the development of "whole brain" capacity and each of the different learning styles.
H. Emotional Quotient
Emotional Quotient theory posits the development of emotional qualities vis-a- vis intellectual qualities of the learners. Emotional quotient is defined as:
“ the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection and influence.”(Robert Cooper and Ayman Sawaf)
“ the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” (Peter Salovey and John Mayer)
It is clear from these definitions that a person with high rational intelligence does not automatically possess high EQ. For all students to be well rounded, it is thus necessary to enhance both their IQs and EQs.
EQ Qualities
EQ consists of five major qualities or characteristics:
1. Self-awareness
2. Mood management
3. Self-motivation
4. Impulse control
5. Interpersonal skills
The first four qualities can be broadly grouped under intrapersonal EQ. They each influence the development of one’s courage, perseverance, enthusiasm and passion. Such personal qualities are vital in competitive sports, breakthrough scientific research, inventions, entrepreneurship and extraordinary achievements. They also make the difference because creative solutions or radically new approaches are usually considered illogical based on conventional wisdom; they only become logical on hindsight.
Intrapersonal EQ qualities are equally important to all of us in our daily lives. Through self-awareness, we are conscious of our feelings and can deal with them better. Self-awareness also helps us to catch any worrisome episode as soon as possible. Through mood management, we can act to overcome any negativity (e.g. being angry or depressed) that prevents us from accomplishing our goals. To hope or think positively helps us to sustain our morale in the face of setbacks or defeats. Self-motivation is the internal drive to scale new heights, overcome obstacles, disappointments and frustrations, and search proactively for opportunities. It also prompts us to initiate resolving conflicts, seeking clarification and mending relationships. Impulse control allows us to resist temptation and delay gratification; it encourages a person to pursue higher goals as he/she copes better with the stress associated with a difficult task, foregoes short-term rewards for more substantial long-term goals, and follows through on difficult plans.
The fifth quality can be called interpersonal EQ. It is the ability to understand other people: what motivates them, how they work, how to work co-operatively with them. It requires the fundamental skill of empathy – identifying oneself mentally with a person and understanding his/her feelings. Empathy makes other people feel safe enough to talk freely without fear of being judged. There is a great difference between listening and empathetic listening. In listening, we listen but may not hear what the speaker is saying; instead, we may be trying to interpret what they mean. In empathetic listening, we place ourselves in the speaker’s shoes, undergo what he/she is feeling and identify with his/her problems.
Empathy and the four intrapersonal EQ qualities combined together create other important interpersonal skills that Hatch and Gardner of Harvard University have identified:
1. Organizing groups
2. Negotiating solutions
3. Personal connection
4. Social analysis
In all, these are the stuff of interpersonal polish, the necessary ingredients for charm, social success and even charisma. Interpersonal EQ is essential in the practice of teaching with ‘heart’. Teachers with low interpersonal EQ criticize easily and are frugal with praise. In contrast, teachers with high interpersonal EQ empathize, show compassion, praise others generously, avoid prejudice, and accommodate mistakes by using them as opportunities for students to learn and gain experience. With their positive outlook, they are easy to interact with; they also gain trust, build consensus and co-ordinate teams well.
Such teachers will be very important in the knowledge-based education of the 21st century for effective teamwork in an educational organization of empowered knowledge teachers will be a critical competitive advantage. There is need to pay special attention to developing such skills, particularly as life becomes potentially more impersonal with technology – email and distance deliveries, for instance, becoming increasingly pervasive.
I. Multiple Intelligences
Dr. Howard Gardner ( www.ask jeeves.com “ 9 mulriple intelligences of Gardner ” http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_overview.html) , author of Frames of Mind and co-director of Project Zero at Harvard University
•the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture;
•a set of skills that make it possible for a person to solve problems in life;
•the potential for finding or creating solutions for problems, which involves gathering new knowledge.
HOWARD GARDNER'S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:
1. Linguistic Intelligence: the capacity to use language to express what's on your mind and to understand other people. Any kind of writer, orator, speaker, lawyer, or other person for whom language is an important stock in trade has great linguistic intelligence.
2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system, the way a scientist or a logician does; or to manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does.
3. Musical Rhythmic Intelligence: the capacity to think in music; to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them. People who have strong musical intelligence don't just remember music easily, they can't get it out of their minds, it's so omnipresent.
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: the capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body (your hands, your fingers, your arms) to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of production. The most evident examples are people in athletics or the performing arts, particularly dancing or acting.
5. Spatial Intelligence: the ability to represent the spatial world internally in your mind -- the way a sailor or airplane pilot navigates the large spatial world, or the way a chess player or sculptor represents a more circumscribed spatial world. Spatial intelligence can be used in the arts or in the sciences.
2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system, the way a scientist or a logician does; or to manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does.
3. Musical Rhythmic Intelligence: the capacity to think in music; to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them. People who have strong musical intelligence don't just remember music easily, they can't get it out of their minds, it's so omnipresent.
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: the capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body (your hands, your fingers, your arms) to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of production. The most evident examples are people in athletics or the performing arts, particularly dancing or acting.
5. Spatial Intelligence: the ability to represent the spatial world internally in your mind -- the way a sailor or airplane pilot navigates the large spatial world, or the way a chess player or sculptor represents a more circumscribed spatial world. Spatial intelligence can be used in the arts or in the sciences.
6. Naturalist Intelligence: the ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) and sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward. We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves. They tend to know what they can and can't do, and to know where to go if they need help.
8. Interpersonal Intelligence: the ability to understand other people. It's an ability we all need, but is especially important for teachers, clinicians, salespersons, or politicians -- anybody who deals with other people.
9. Existential Intelligence: the ability and proclivity to pose (and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward. We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves. They tend to know what they can and can't do, and to know where to go if they need help.
8. Interpersonal Intelligence: the ability to understand other people. It's an ability we all need, but is especially important for teachers, clinicians, salespersons, or politicians -- anybody who deals with other people.
9. Existential Intelligence: the ability and proclivity to pose (and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities.
Theoretical Framework
Emotional Summation: The Logic of Emotions
Emotional summation posits the conservation of emotions, that is, emotions are not lost but are merely transformed to other emotions. It also posits that learning is a process of emotionalizing sense data into a viewpoint which leads to the development of belief, values, certitude and conviction. It rejects the possibility of man to comprehend the truth and posits that man can only achieve certitude and conviction about the material world that he experiences.
Figure 1: The Process of Learning through Emotional Summation
The learning process (figure 1 above) begins when a person feels or senses a particular reality. The data coming from the senses is transmitted to the brain through the neurotransmitters in the form of electrical/chemical impulses. The sensing process is an emotional act with and through antecedent emotions that create emotional stirring in the brain and in turn generates interest and prompts the senses to gather more data until the brain is able to create a viewpoint in the common sense.
feedback
Learning, therefore, may be viewed as the totality of emotions created consciously or subconsciously in the person by the thing sensed (antecedent emotions) and created by a deliberate act of the individual (consequent emotion) through the summation of concomitant emotions. Learning is thus an emotional act. The amount of learning may be determined by adding up the antecedent, concomitant and consequent emotions. If the sum is greater than the previous emotional equilibrium, there is positive learning and if the sum is lesser than the previous emotional equilibrium, there is negative learning.
Consequently, learners and facilitators of learning must be conscious of the interplay of different emotions and the emotional environment that they create in the course of the teaching-learning process.
The formula for the computation of emotional summation is :
E.S.=MPE + MNE + PEE
While the formula for the determination of emotional learning is:
EL= ES- PEE or
EL= MPE+MNE
The Impact of Emotional Summation to Education
Curriculum-- Students will be provided with emotionally conducive materials and will be encouraged to examine their emotional responses to the lesson. A humanized curriculum which enables the students to analyze, utilize and form their emotions will thus be a necessity.
Instruction-- Educators will encourage, the expressions of different emotions since much of learning happens through and with emotions. Instructions will address the emotional needs of the learners. An emotionally sound teaching-learning environment and emotionally balanced teachers will be a necessity.
Assessment--A learned behavior often cannot be performed unless there is the right environment for it. Educators will provide the incentive and the supportive environment for the behavior to happen. Assessment will concentrate on the proper emotional responses of students and the emotional equilibrium the educative processes create in the course of the teaching-learning process.
Emotional Equilibriums Applicable in the Teaching- Learning Process
The following are some of the emotional equilibriums relevant to the teaching-learning process:
1. Emotional sum of Well-Being of a situation as an event
joy: pleased about an event
distress: displeased about an event
distress: displeased about an event
2. Emotional sum of a situation as an event affecting another
happy-for: pleased about an event desirable for another
gloating: pleased about an event undesirable for another
resentment: displeased about an event desirable for another
jealousy: resentment over a desired mutually exclusive goal
envy: resentment over a desired non-exclusive goal
sorry-for: displeased about an event undesirable for another
gloating: pleased about an event undesirable for another
resentment: displeased about an event desirable for another
jealousy: resentment over a desired mutually exclusive goal
envy: resentment over a desired non-exclusive goal
sorry-for: displeased about an event undesirable for another
3. Emotional sum of a situation as a prospective event
hope: pleased about a prospective desirable event
fear: displeased about a prospective undesirable event
hope: pleased about a prospective desirable event
fear: displeased about a prospective undesirable event
4. Emotional sum of a situation as confirming or disconfirming an expectation
satisfaction: pleased about a confirmed desirable event
relief: pleased about a disconfirmed undesirable event
fears-confirmed: displeased about a confirmed undesirable event
disappointment: displeased about a disconfirmed desirable event
relief: pleased about a disconfirmed undesirable event
fears-confirmed: displeased about a confirmed undesirable event
disappointment: displeased about a disconfirmed desirable event
5. Emotional sum of attribution of a situation as an act accountable to some agent
pride: approving of one's own act
admiration: approving of another's act
shame: disapproving of one's own act
reproach: disapproving of another's act
admiration: approving of another's act
shame: disapproving of one's own act
reproach: disapproving of another's act
6. Emotional sum of attraction of a situation as containing an attractive or unattractive object
liking: finding an object appealing
disliking: finding an object unappealing
disliking: finding an object unappealing
7. Emotional sum of Well-being/Attribution compound emotions
gratitude: admiration + joy
anger: reproach + distress
gratification: pride + joy
remorse: shame + distress
anger: reproach + distress
gratification: pride + joy
remorse: shame + distress
8. Attraction/Attribution compound emotion extensions
love: admiration + liking
hate: reproach + disliking
hate: reproach + disliking
Research Problem
The study aimed to analyze the validity of emotional summation and its implications to the learning process using the Philosophical-Quantitative-Experimental Research Method The philosophical research method was employed to evaluate the different theses of Emotional Summation while quantitative research using a survey questionnaire was use to gather data about students’ emotions and learning. An experiment was done to determine the effects of emotions on the learning of respondents. The respondents of this study were fifty (50) second-year students of the Philippine Normal University who were in the stage of finishing the course Logic and Critical Thinking, who have average mid-term grades and who were chosen using the random sampling technique. The data were analyzed using percentage ranking and the two-way analysis of variance.
The study specifically sought answers to the following questions:
1. What emotions hinder or enable learning according to the respondents’
perceptions?
2. Is there any significant difference among the learning of respondents who were exposed to
positive emotions, negative emotions and the controlled group who were not exposed to these emotions?
3. What are the major theses of Emotional Summation? Are these theses philosophically
valid?
Hypotheses
This study tested the following hypotheses:
1. There is no significant difference in the groups’ scores in the 1st and 2nd tests
2. There is no significant difference in the scores of the three groups
- There is no interaction among the scores of the three groups in their 1st and 2nd test.
- The theory of emotional summation is philosophically invalid..
Significance of the Study
This study is of significance to the following sectors:
- Educators, School Administrators, Decision Makers and Leaders who may be provided with an alternative viewpoint in their quest for an effective and efficient educative delivery system;
- Teachers who may gather new insights on how to facilitate and bring about relevant learning;
- Students, who may be provided with an alternative learning method that incorporates their basic emotions in the learning processes.;
- Parents, who will be assured of a more humanistic and emotionally balanced education for their children;
- Psychologists and Theorists who may be provided with a new hypothesis in their quest for a more comprehensive and realistic understanding of the learning processes;
- The Philippine Educational System which may gain a new framework in delivering quality and humanistic education
- The Filipino Society which will be assured of a more humane and emotionally balanced educational outputs and quality graduates who will lead society and man the industries.
Scope and Delimitation
This study was a philosophical analysis of the proposed theory of emotional summation as an alternative viewpoint in explaining the learning process of respondents. It included the different theses of emotional summation and the test for their validity and soundness.
The study is partially theoretical and speculative being a philosophical research. However, the test for the validity and soundness of the theory was based on empirical and experiential data. An attempt was made to test the theory using quantitative data from the respondents’ perceptions on what emotions hinder or facilitate their learning. Furthermore, an experiment was performed to validate respondents’ perceptions of learning. This study, however, was limited in a classroom setting and was further limited by its attempt to explain learning by bracketing and suspending any explanation that involves the mind and the intellectual processes of man. Another limitation of this study was the lack of terms that are not associated with the mental processes in referring to learning and the prevailing bias towards rational learning theories.
Definition of Concepts/Terms
For the purpose of this study, the following terms were authoritatively and operationally defined:
Antecedent emotions. These are initial feelings, either conscious or subconscious, that prompts the senses to gather sense data when the individual is faced with a particular reality or phenomenon
Belief. These are emotionally summed viewpoint of what a thing is even at the absence of adequate sense data.
Certitude. These are emotionally summed viewpoint of what a thing is that adequately agree with the thing sensed. This is stronger than beliefs because it is more emotionally grounded.
Conviction. This is the strongest form of belief or certitude about what a thing is
Concomitant emotions. These are emotions consciously created in order to understand reality
Consequent emotion. The resulting emotions created through emotional summation. It is the sum of the combinations of positive and negative emotions. It also refers to the emotional equilibrium or disposition after the summation process.
Common sense. The sense where all the data gathered by the senses are put together in order to create a viewpoint
Disposition. The present emotional equilibrium and the readiness of the individual to receive data coming from the external realities
Emotion. This refers to the combinations of energies, impulses, creative juices that allow human beings to find meaning from his experiences. The following are some of the known emotions:
Anger: An emotional sum for revenge that shall be evident, and caused by an obvious, unjustified slight with respect to the individual or his friends. Slights have three species: contempt, spite, and insolence.
Mildness: An emotional sum of settling down and quieting of anger.
Love: An emotional sum to wish for a person’s sake and not one’s own sake those things which you consider to be good and to tend so far as you can to affect them.
Enmity (hatred): Whereas anger is excited by offences that concern the individual, enmity may arise without regard to the individual as such. Anger is directed against the individual, hatred is directed against the class as well.
Fear: An emotional sum of pain or disturbance arising from a viewpoint of impending evil of a painful or destructive sort.
Confidence: The opposite of fear. Confidence is the hope (anticipation), accompanied by a viewpoint of things conducive to safety as being near at hand, while causes of fear seem to be either non-existent or far away.
Shame: A pain or disturbance regarding that class of evils, in the present, past, or future, which we summed, will tend to our discredit.
Shamelessness: An emotional sum of certain contempt or indifference regarding the said evils.
Benevolence: The emotional sum of disinterested kindness in doing or returning good to another or to all others; the same term represents the kind action as an action; or the kind thing done considered as a result.
Pity: An emotional sum or sense of pain at what we take to be an evil of a destructive or painful kind, which befalls one who does not deserve it, which we think we ourselves or some one allied to us might likewise suffer, and when this possibility seems near at hand.
Indignation: An emotional sum of pain at the sight of undeserved good fortune.
Envy: An emotional sum of disturbing pain directed at the good fortune of an equal. The pain is felt not because one desires something, but because the other persons have it.
Emulation: An emotional sum of pain at what we take to be the presence, in the case. of persons who are by nature like us, of goods that are desirable and are possible for us to attain--a pain felt, not because the other persons have these goods, but because we do not have them as well.
Contempt: The antithesis of emulation (Persons who are in a position to emulate or to be emulated must tend to feel contempt for those who are subject to any evils [defects and disadvantages] that are opposite to the goods arousing emulation, and to feel it with respect to these evils).
Emotional equilibrium. The sense of emotional balance wherein a person becomes at ease.
Emotional mean. The summation of all the values given to emotions that are present divided by the number of emotions. This is the resulting emotion when you add up different emotions.
Emotional memory. The faculty wherein the different emotions and emotional equilibrium are stored for future use
Emotional Summation. The process of adding up all the emotions present in the learning process in order to understand reality
Emotive sense. The sense responsible for emotional summation and the creation of belief, certainty and conviction. It is the sense where in the value of sense data are evaluated and appreciated
Fruition. The enjoyment of a particular product of emotional summation or action
Knowledge. These are the emotionalized body of accepted certainty, belief s or convictions about reality
Learning. The process of creating a higher emotional equilibrium through emotional summation.
Values. The importance and appreciation given by an individual to the thing sensed
Viewpoint. The product of the common sense which are emotional representations of the thing sensed. It is a particular way of looking at things
II. Research Methodology
This study utilized the Philosophical-quantitative research method.
Research Procedures
The research was conducted using the following procedure:
1. A review of the different learning theories was done.
2. The emotional summation theory was initially conceptualized.
3. A compilation of different emotions was made.
4. Respondents of the study were identified using the random sampling technique. Fifty
second year students whose mid-term grades in the Logic course handled by the
researcher ranges from 83 to 88 were selected
5. An initial survey of the different emotions that enable or hinder respondents from
studying and learning was conducted. Results from the initial survey became the bases
of what emotions were tested in the experiment.
6. An experiment was conducted involving the same respondents. Respondents were
divided into three groups. Emotions that enable respondents to study and learn were
elicited from the first group while emotions that hinders respondents from studying and
learning were elicited from the second group. The third group was made the controlled
group where no emotions were elicited.
7. After confirming the presence of emotions in the first and second groups. A lesson on
Fallacy of relevance was introduced to the three groups. Afterwards, the first 15-item
teacher-made test was given to each groups. Results were tabulated and analyzed.
8. Then the emotions were withdrawn by revealing the experiment
9. A lesson on Fallacy of ambiguity was introduced then the second 15-item teacher-made
test was administered. Results were then tabulated and compared to the first test. To
determine if there were significant differences on the scores of the first and second tests,
the two-way analysis of variance was used.
10 Results coming from the survey and the experiment were then used to support the
the validity of the emotional summation theory.
Participants or Subjects
The participants of this study were fifty (50) second year students of the Philippine Normal University who were in the stage of finishing the course Logic and Critical Thinking, who have average mid-term grades and who were chosen using the random sampling technique.
Instruments Used:
The following instruments were used to gather data and to analyze the theory:
Survey Questionnaire. A structured questionnaire was used in gathering respondents’ perceptions on the relationship specific emotions and their learning. The data were then grouped and analyzed
Teacher-Made Test. Two sets of 15-item multiple choice test on fallacies were specifically designed and pre-tested to measure the learning of respondents in the experiment.
Philosophical and Data analyses:
This study made use of the following tools to analyze the data gathered through the survey and the experiment:
Statistical Tools used: The data were analyzed using percentage ranking and the two-way analysis of variance.
Philosophical Analysis. The truth-value table of immediate inference and the rules of validity of syllogisms were used in analyzing the different theses of emotional summation. Occam’s razor was also employed in determining what statements will be accepted.
III. Findings of the Study
The following are the findings of this study:
Problem 1.: According to respondents’ perceptions, what emotions hinder or enable
learning?
Table 1 shows the top five emotions that enable students to study. “Compassion:” ranked first where eighty-two percent of the respondents claimed that they can study when this emotion is present and 63 percent of them to a large extent. Ranked second where 80 percent of the respondents can study was the emotion “Love” though no attempt was made to distinguish between being loved and being in love. This was followed by “Respect”, “Happiness” and “Enthusiasm”.
As to emotions that hinder respondents from studying; 62 percent of respondents perceived “Sorrow” as a hindrance in studying. “Arrogance” where 60 percent claimed hinders them from studying, ranked second while “Hatred” and “Worry” where 58 percent of respondents were hindered from studying were ranked third. “Anxiety”, ”Disgust”, “Greed” and “ Envy” ranked fourth and were followed by “Avarice: and “Resentment” where 54 percent of respondents were hindered from studying.
Table 1: Top 5 Emotions that Enable or Hinder Respondents to Study
| Presence of emotions where respondents can study | Presence of emotions where respondents cannot study | ||||||
| Emotions/Rank | F | % | Large extent | % | Emotions/Rank | F | % |
| 1. Compassion | 41 | 82 | 26 | 63 | 1. Sorrow | 31 | 62 |
| 2. Love | 40 | 80 | 26 | 65 | 2. Arrogance | 30 | 60 |
| 3. Respect | 40 | 80 | 20 | 50 | 3. Hatred/worry | 29 | 58 |
| 4. Happiness | 39 | 78 | 36 | 92 | 4. Anxiety, disgust, greed, envy | 28 | 56 |
| 5. Enthusiasm | 38 | 76 | 36 | 95 | 5. Avarice, resentment | 27 | 54 |
Table 2 shows that among the emotions presented to respondents, pride, happiness, joy, acceptance, respect, enthusiasm and confidence were considered to enable them to learn while hatred, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, sadness and resentment were considered to inhibit them from learning.
Table 2: Top 5 Emotions that Enable or Hinder Respondents to Learn
| Presence of emotions where respondents learn | Presence of emotions where respondents don’t learn | ||||||
| Emotion/Rank | F | % | Large extent | % | Emotion/ Rank | F | % |
| 1.Pride/Happiness/joy | 40 | 80 | 30 | 75 | 1. Hatred | 29 | 58 |
| 2.Acceptance | 38 | 76 | 30 | 79 | 2. Fear / anxiety | 24 | 48 |
| 3.Respect | 34 | 68 | 19 | 56 | 3. Worry / Anger | 23 | 46 |
| 4.Enthusiasm | 32 | 64 | 26 | 81 | 4. Sadness | 22 | 44 |
| 5.Confidence | 32 | 64 | 29 | 91 | 5. Resentment | 20 | 40 |
Ranked first among the enablers were “Pride”, “Happiness”, and “Joy” where 80 percent of respondents were enabled to learn and where 75 percent of them learned to a large extent. Ranked second, where 76 percent of respondents were enabled to learn was “Acceptance”. “Respect”, “enthusiasm”, and “confidence” were ranked 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. It is interesting to note that although compassion and love were emotions that enabled respondents to study, they were not among the top five emotions that enabled respondents to learn. This could be explained by pointing that compassion and love are expressed as acceptance and confidence in most instances.
Of the emotions that respondents claimed hinder them to learn, ranked first with 58 percent was “Hatred” followed by “Fear” and “Anxiety” with 48 percent. Ranked third were “worry” and “Anger” with 46 percent which was followed by “Sadness” with 44 percent. Ranked fifth was “Resentment” where 40 percent of respondents don’t learn.
It is interesting to note that, except for hatred, the rest of the emotions that hindered respondents to learn got below the 50 percent mark which indicated that only the minority of the respondents considered them as hindrance to learning. This is also an indication that some learning is possible despite the presence of emotions which generally are considered negative.
Problem 2. Is there any significant difference among the learning of the three respondent
groups when certain emotions were elicited in the teaching process?
Table 3 shows the test scores of the three groups who participated in the experiment to verify the role of emotions in the learning process. The highest mean score was 8.7 out of 15 item test by the Positive emotion group in their 1st test where pride, happiness, joy, acceptance, respect, enthusiasm and confidence where introduced during the presentation of the lesson. The presence of these emotions was confirmed by the group before the test furthermore these emotions were reinforced by telling the group that they will be exempted from the final exams.
The second highest mean was 8.2 by the same group in their 2nd test where the experiment was revealed to them and where they were told that they will not really be exempted from the exam. It is interesting to note that the mean dropped from 8.7 to 8.2 this is due to some negative emotions like frustration that followed after the revelation.
The third highest mean belonged to the Negative emotion group in their 2nd test. This was a great improvement from their 1st test which was the lowest mean. The increase from 5.6 mean score of the first test to 8.1 mean score can be attributed to the withdrawal of the negative emotions which was introduced before the first test. Hatred, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, sadness and resentment were introduced and were reinforced by telling the group that they are failing the course before they were given the lesson and given the 1st test.
The controlled group, on the other hand, has a 7.4 mean score in their 1st test and a slightly higher mean score of 7.9 in their 2nd test.
Table 3: Test Scores of Controlled group, Negative Emotion Group and
Positive Emotion Group
| Controlled Group | Negative Emotion Group | Positive Emotion Group | ||||||
| Respondent Number | Test Scores | Respondent Number | Test Scores | Respondent Number | Test Scores | |||
| 1stTest | 2ndTest | 1stTest | 2ndTest | 1stTest | 2ndTest | |||
| 1 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 9 | 8 |
| 2 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 10 | 6 |
| 4 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 12 | 11 |
| 5 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 9 | 10 |
| 6 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 26 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 7 | 7 |
| 10 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 30 | 9 | 8 |
| Total | 74 | 79 | Total | 56 | 81 | Total | 87 | 82 |
| Mean | 7.4 | 7.9 | Mean | 5.6 | 8.1 | Mean | 8.7 | 8.2 |
To test whether the changes in the scores of the three groups were significantly different the two-way analysis of variance was employed with the following null hypotheses:
1. There is no significant difference in the groups’ scores in the 1st and 2nd tests
2. There is no significant difference in the scores of the three groups
3. There is no interaction among the scores of the three groups in their 1st and 2nd test
Table 4 below indicates that at .01 margin of error, hypothesis no.1 must be accepted since the computed F value is lesser than the critical value of F. However at .05 margin of error, hypothesis no 1 is rejected and the alternative hypothesis must be accepted. There is therefore a significant difference on the scores, at .05 margin of error, of those respondents when emotions where introduced in the learning process and when these emotions are withdrawn. This proves that emotions whether positive or negative affects learning. And that there is a greater difference when negative emotions are withdrawn in the learning process
The computed F value of 4.23 on factor B is found significant at .05 margin of error but not at .01 margin of error. So at .05 degree of freedom, hypothesis no 2 is rejected. There is therefore, significant difference on the test scores of the three groups. Positive emotions results into more learning than negative emotions. Withdrawal of negative emotions results to a greater difference than withdrawal of positive emotions
Table. 4 : Summary of the Two-Way Analysis of Variance
| Sources of Variation | SS | df | MS | Computed F | F value at .05 level | Significance/Decision | F value at .01 level | Significance/ Decision |
| Factor A 1st and 2nd Tests | 11.2 | 1 | 11.20 | 5.17 | 4.00 | Significant/ Reject Ho | 7.08 | Not Significant/ Accept Ho |
| Factor B 3 groups | 18.35 | 2 | 9.18 | 4.23 | 3.15 | Significant/ Reject Ho | 4.98 | Not Significant/ Accept Ho |
| Interaction of A and B | 25.15 | 2 | 12.58 | 5.80 | 3.15 | Significant/ Reject Ho | 4.98 | Significant/ Reject Ho |
| With in Group | 121 | 54 | 2.24 | | | | | |
The computed F value on the interaction of Factor A and Factor B is 5.80 which indicate that both at .01 and .05 margins of error, the null hypothesis is rejected. There is therefore an interaction between the scores of the two tests and the test results of each groups.
Problem 3. What are the Major Theses of Emotional Summation?
Emotional Summation theory claims that humans are emotional beings and that all learning is an emotional act. It contends that emotions are not lost but are merely transformed to other emotions in a spiral progression or regression and that learning is simply the transformation of antecedent emotions into a new state of emotional equilibrium through the summation of concomitant emotions. It contends that learning is a process of emotionalizing sense data into a viewpoint which leads to the development of belief, values, certitude and conviction. It rejects the possibility of humans to comprehend the true nature of things as it posits that humans can only graphs the sensed characteristics of things and can achieve certitude and conviction about the material world that he experiences.
Emotional summation posits the following major theses:
- There is substantial unity of the human body. The knowing faculty of man is the brain. The mind is a human invention to explain what human beings cannot emotionally grasp.
- Emotions are the end product of the combinations or reactions of still unidentified bodily fluids, chemicals, impulses and energies. Emotion plays a primary role in the learning process. Knowledge is simply the result of the combinations of different emotions (similar to the characteristics of colors) Learning is an emotional act and all human knowledge are emotionalized summation of reality.
- The faculty of awareness are the senses which perceive sense data and sends these to the brain through the neurotransmitters
- Antecedent emotion is present in the initial apprehension of sense data about the reality confronting a person.
- Consequent emotion is produce when the brain recognizes the importance of such sense data. This leads to action or fruition
- A human being knows through and with his emotions, reasoning is simply part of the emotional processes of man.
- At birth a human being’s emotional equilibrium was stirred with the new sense data confronting him and as he experiences reality the equilibrium progresses or regresses as he develops different emotions through emotional summation- the process by which humans interpret reality
- Each experience results into a different emotional equilibrium different from the original
- Knowing and learning is simply an act of emotional summation of the different emotions created through perception which results into a consequent emotion.
- The more emotionally stable a learner is the better the learning, the fruition or action
become.
Problem 4: Is Emotional Summation philosophically valid?
To determine the validity of Emotional Summation the following Principles will be used:
1. The Principle of Identity. Stated as: What is, is and Everything is what it is.
2. The Principle of contradiction. stated as: A thing cannot be and be at the same respect and a thing cannot both have and not have the same attribute in the same respect
3. The Principle of causality. Stated as Every effect has a cause
4. The truth-value table of immediate inference and the rules of validity of syllogisms.
5. The test of clarity and distinctness. Stated as: A viewpoint to be certain must be clear and distinct.
6. The test of causation. Stated as: Every effect has a cause
7. Occam’s Razor. Stated as: The simplest form of statement is superior to endless hypotheses.
Objections to the Conventional View of Emotion
- Reason is a faculty of awareness but emotion is a faculty not of perception, but of
reaction to one's perceptions.
Objection: The senses are the faculty of awareness and not reason. Reason is also a reaction to the things sensed for it cannot proceed unless it has data coming from the senses. Perception is an emotional reaction. Human beings are aware because he has emotions or its initial form- feelings. The sensing process, therefore, is an emotional act and all knowledge that a person possesses are actually an emotionalized version of reality.
- Feelings or emotions are not part of the method of logic; they are not evidence for a
conclusion
Objection: The rational method of logic leads to contradiction between what one feels and what one knows which leads to the dehumanization of man and to desensitized knowledge. It desensitizes the learning process and assumes that a conclusion is true because there is evidence for it. Yet truth is not dependent on evidence for a thing may be true even if there is no evidence for it. There is nothing more distinct, clear and certain than the presence of emotions and these emotions have evidence that leads men to conclusion through emotional summation. The rational method of logic presumes that emotion does not follow a particular logical sequence, however, this is contradictory to man’s common experience that specific emotions follow from specific sense perception, that emotions follow a particular logic which the rational method of logic refuses to investigate and which it simply sets aside as non-existent. Thus the rational method of logic is guilty of a fortiori fallacy.
IV. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
The summary of findings, the conclusions inferred from said research findings and the recommendations are presented below:
A. Summary of Findings:
1. The top five emotions that enable students to study were: 1. Compassion; 2. Love, though no attempt was made to distinguish between being loved and being in love; 3. Respect; 4. Happiness and 5. Enthusiasm.
2. The top five emotions that hinder respondents from studying were: 1. Sorrow; 2. Arrogance; 3. Hatred and Worry; 4. Anxiety, Disgust, Greed and Envy and 5. Avarice and Resentment
3. Among the emotions presented to respondents, pride, happiness, joy, acceptance, respect, enthusiasm and confidence were considered to enable them to learn while hatred, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, sadness and resentment were considered to inhibit them from learning.
4. Majority of respondents considered hatred, as hindrance to studying and learning while the rest of the emotions were considered by the minority to be hindrances to studying and learning.
5. The positive emotion group posted the highest mean score of the three groups in the 1st and second test of the experiment. There was however a drop in the mean score of the 2nd test of the same group from 8.7 to 8.2. This may be due to some negative emotions like frustration that followed after the revelation of the experiment.
6. There was a great improvement in the mean score of the negative emotion group when the negative emotions (hatred, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, sadness and resentment) were withdrawn.
7. There was a slight increase in the mean score of the controlled group, from a 7.4 mean score in the 1st test to a mean score of 7.9 in the 2nd test.
8. There was a significant difference on the scores, at .05 margin of error, of those respondents when emotions where introduced in the learning process and when these emotions were withdrawn. This means that emotions whether positive or negative affects learning. This further means that there is a greater difference when negative emotions are withdrawn in the learning process.
9. There was a significant difference on the test scores of the three groups. Positive emotions resulted into more learning than negative emotions. Withdrawal of negative emotions resulted to a greater difference than withdrawal of positive emotions.
10. There were interactions between the scores of the two tests of the three groups.
B. Conclusions
Based upon the findings of the study, the following conclusions are thus presented:
1. There are emotions that enable and inhibit students from studying as there are emotions that enable and inhibit learning. Emotions are thus vital in the learning process.
2. The emotions that enable students to study are generally similar to the emotions that enable them to learn. This is also true to emotions that inhibit students to study and to learn.
3. Some learning is possible despite the presence of emotions which generally are considered negative.
4. There is more learning when students have positive emotions. There is, however, little difference if these emotions are withdrawn.
5. There is greater learning when negative emotions are withdrawn in the learning process.
6. Positive emotions rather than negative emotions result to more learning
7. However, when faced with already existing emotions, one must concentrate more in
changing negative emotions to positive emotions than maintaining positive emotions in
the learning process.
8. Emotional summation is a valid theory of learning.
C. Recommendations
Based upon the findings and the conclusions of this study, the following recommendations
are thus forwarded:
1. Teachers must conduct from time to time an evaluation of the emotional environment in
the classroom to improve the learning outcomes.
2. Methodologies and strategies of teaching using emotional summation must be developed in order to utilize fully the benefits that can be derived from this theory.
3. A re-evaluation of the learning theories utilized by faculty members of Philippine Normal University is suggested with the end view of integrating the emotional summation theory in the teaching-learning process.
4. A repetition of this study utilizing respondents from different year levels to verify the findings is an imperative.
5. A clinical study must be conducted to precisely determine the specific role of emotions
in the learning process.
References:
Internet:
2. www.ask jeeves.com “ 9 mulriple intelligences of Gardner
An emotion derives from a percept assessed within a context; the context is defined by a highly complex conceptual content. Most of this content at any time is not present in conscious awareness. But it is real and operative nonetheless.
What makes emotions incomprehensible to many people is the fact that their ideas are not only largely subconscious, but also inconsistent. Men have the ability to accept contradictions without knowing it. This leads to the appearance of a conflict between thought and feelings.
A man can hold ideas of which he is rarely or never aware and which clash with his professed beliefs. The former may be ideas which he has forgotten forming, or which he has accepted only by implication, without ever identifying the fact, or which he actively works not to know. If he then responds to an object in terms of such hidden mental contents, it will seem to him that his emotions are independent of his thinking and even at war with it. In fact, his emotions are still following from his conclusions, but he does not identify these latter correctly…
Reason is a faculty of awareness; its function is to perceive that which exists by organizing observational data. And reason is a volitional faculty; it has the power to direct its own actions and check its conclusions, the power to maintain a certain relationship to the facts of reality. Emotion, by contrast, is a faculty not of perception, but of reaction to one's perceptions. This kind of faculty has no power of observation and no volition; it has no means of independent access to reality, no means to guide its own course, and no capacity to monitor its own relationship to facts.
Emotions are automatic consequences of a mind's past conclusions, however that mind has been used or misused in the process of reaching them. The ideas and value judgments at the root of a feeling may be true or false; they may be the product of meticulous logic or of a slapdash mess; they may be upheld in explicit terms, or they may be subconscious and unidentified. In all these cases, positive and negative alike, the feeling follows obediently. It has no power to question its course or to check its roots against reality. Only man's volitional, existence-oriented faculty has such power.
Feelings or emotions are not part of the method of logic; they are not evidence for a conclusion. The fact that a man has a certain feeling means merely that, through some kind of process, he earlier reached a certain idea, which is now stored in his subconscious; this leaves completely open the question of the idea's relationship to reality. To identify this relationship, one needs a process of validating ideas, i.e., a process of reason.
Although reason and emotion by their nature are in harmony, the appearance of conflict between them, as we have seen, is possible; the source of such appearance is a contradiction between a man's conscious and subconscious conclusions in regard to an evaluative issue. When this occurs, the conscious ideas may be correct and the subconscious ones mistaken. Or the reverse may be the case: a man may consciously uphold a mistaken idea while experiencing a feeling that clashes with it, one that derives from a true subconscious premise. In both kinds of case, however, the real clash is between two ideas. And the only way to resolve the conflict, to know which side is correct, is to submit both ideas to the bar of reason…
