In 2014, Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura was ranked number one atop a list of the Top 100 Eminent Psychologists of the Modern Era, published in the Archives of Scientific Psychology. [7] . Former president of the American Psychological Association, winner of numerous awards and more than sixteen honorary degrees and widely held as one of the most influential psychologists alive today, Albert Bandura is among the most prolific psychologists in history.
Author: David L
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Erik Erikson biography
Once described by a colleague as “Freud in sonnet form”, [5] psychological giant Erik Erikson blurred the line between science and art. A prolific researcher best known for his model of human development as a series of eight stages, Erikson’s long and abundantly rich life demonstrated a keen appreciation for the art of living. A look into the life and life’s work of Erik Erikson reveals the lasting impact of this great thinker.
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Educational Robotics and Constructionism (Papert)
Summary: Constructionism as a learning theory emphasizes student-centered discovery learning, and educators are currently expanding its reach to the field of educational robotics in order to engage students.
Originators and Key Contributors: Seymour Papert took Piaget’s theory of constructivism and adapted it into his theory of constructionism.
Keywords: constructivism, constructionism, learning theory, discovery learning, educational robotics, technology
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Psychological Behaviorism (Staats)
Summary: Psychological behaviorism (PB) holds that a person’s psychology can be explained through observable behavior.
Originators and Key Contributors: Watson first developed behaviorism, the umbrella theory that includes psychological behaviorism, in 1912. Skinner further extended the theory with his formulation of radical behaviorism. Staats has argued recently for a psychological behaviorism that emphasizes a person’s psychology and personality.
Keywords: personality, psychology, behavior, behaviorism, language, learning, cumulative learning
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Dopamine, Games, and Motivation
Summary: Dopamine plays a role in motivation, and this role is important to understand in the context of game design. Understanding how dopamine motivates can help game designers produce games that are interesting, effective, and ethical.
Originators and Key Contributors: Henry Chase and Luke Clark presented a study in 2010 that suggested that dopamine was not linked to pleasure as previously understood. By studying groups of gamblers, they found that release of dopamine occurred whether there was a stressful situation presented or a rewarding one[1]. In 2012, a team of Vanderbilt researchers published a study with influential repercussions on our understanding of dopamine and its relationship to motivation. They found a difference in dopamine’s effects based on which areas of the brain expressed higher levels of it[2].
Keywords: dopamine, motivation, addiction, game, reward
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Montessori Method (Montessori)
Summary: The Montessori Method is an approach to learning which emphasizes active learning, independence, cooperation, and learning in harmony with each child’s unique pace of development.
Originator: Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Italian teacher and physician
Keywords: absorbent mind, sensitive period, prepared environment, autoeducation, planes of development
The Montessori Method is an approach to education which emphasizes individuality and independence in learning[1]. Children are seen as inherently curious and learning driven. Thus, education is viewed as a process which should occur in harmony with the child’s individual developmental pace. It is a holistic approach emphasizing all aspects of development, rather than on attaining specific pieces of information.
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3 steps to making money from your website
Have you heard stories of people who quit their day jobs and travel the world while making money from freelance jobs and work online? The Internet today makes all of this easier than ever before.
There are essentially three steps.
(1). Find a topic you are passionate about and write high quality content for it. Everyone is unique. Some folks are interested in Californian wines. Others are knowledgeable in digital cameras and can write advice for how to buy a new one. Still others are expert in unique sports. Find a topic and start writing high quality content on a platform like WordPress or Blogger.
(2). Spread the word about your website and slowly build traffic. In order for Google and other search engines to find your site, you’ll need people to find your site and link to it. There are no real shortcuts here other than gradually getting more people to link to you and share about your site on social media.
(3). Place advertisements and use an automated website improvement platform. Now this is where it gets fun. New tools make it extremely easy to generate different versions of your web content, arranging content and images in different positions and sizes. Free contextual advertisement programs such as Google Adsense can be placed onto your site within minutes. Even easier is to use an automated, data-based platform like Ezoic. Ezoic determines which versions of your website performs the best (in terms of making you money or in terms of user engagement, your choice). You can choose the number of ads you want to use (a little or a lot) and it’s fully customizable depending on your goals.
Ezoic, Automated Testing to Improve Websites
Ezoic is trustworthy as a certified Google Adsense partner. Ezoic runs experiments to create hundreds of different variations of your web content, placing ads in different locations and determining the best sizes to display. After automated testing, it shows the versions of your website that perform better. Based upon your custom settings, you can automatically set it up so that it prioritizes either better user experience or more profit.
It’s incredibly easy. Best of all, it costs nothing. Just create a free account, get set up in minutes, and then it will immediately start running experiments and figuring out the best way to display your website content. Your profits will increase by 50-250% — and they keep a small percentage in return. You have nothing to lose — your website performs better, looks better, and will make you more money!
You can increase ad revenue 50-250% with Ezoic by improving your website with their automated testing. Give it a try and sign up with a free account now.
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Uses and Gratification Theory
Summary: Uses and gratification theory (UGT) is an audience-centered approach that focuses on what people do with media, as opposed to what media does to people.
Originators and Key Contributors: Uses and gratification theory builds off of a history of communication theories and research. Jay Blumler and Denis McQuail laid the primary groundwork in 1969 with their categorization of audience motivations for watching political programs during the time of the 1964 election in the United Kingdom[1]. This eventually led them to develop UGT later on with their colleagues[2][3][4].
Keywords: gratification, media, audience, entertainment, mass media, communication
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Gamification in Education
Summary: Gamification describes the process of applying game-related principles — particularly those relating to user experience and engagement — to non-game contexts such as education.
Originators and Key Contributors: In 1980, Thomas Malone published the study “What Makes Things to Learn: A Study of Intrinsically Motivating Computer Games.”[1] Later, in 2002, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, based in Washington D.C., established the Serious Games Initiative to explore the application of game principles to public policy issues. From that initiative, gamification for education emerged and gradually evolved into a field of study. The term gamification was coined in 2003 by Nick Pelling[2][3]. Today, many game researchers including Katie Salen, founder of the Quest to Learn public school, Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research and Development at the Institute for the Future, and Joey J. Lee, Director of the Games Research Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University, have extended serious advancements in the application of gamification (or “gameful thinking”) to educational contexts.
Keywords: gamification, education, learning, classroom, engagement, motivation
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Attachment Theory (Bowlby)
Summary: Attachment theory emphasizes the importance of a secure and trusting mother-infant bond on development and well-being.
Originator and key contributors:
- John Bowlby (1907-1990) British child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known for his theory on attachment
- Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999), American psychoanalyst known for the `strange situation`
Keywords: maternal deprivation, internal working model, strange situation, attachment styles
