While advertisers base their whole operation on the premise that the right advertising message will help promote sales, Ogilvy (2007/1983), citing specific campaigns and associated sales figures, also argued the converse — namely that advertising that sends the wrong message can actually decrease sales. In other words, he argued against the premise that any and all adverting would increase sales and instead proposed that the message must be carefully and specifically crafted. Specifically, he proposed that advertisers, in order to create and effective ad, must research the consumers and “find out how they think . . . what language they…

Ever since I was a small girl I’ve been fascinated with houses. I used to dream about what my house would be like when I grew up. I loved decorating my doll houses. Even when playing the game Clue I planned my dream floorplan — the library, the conservatory, the billiard room, the lounge. I watched the Saturday afternoon mystery movies and was enthralled by the hidden staircases and secret rooms behind bookcases. I didn’t always remember the plot or whether or not the butler did it, but I always remembered those rooms.

When I bought my first home, it…

Behaviorist Paradigm

Behavioral learning theory, “assumes that the outcome of learning is change in behavior and emphasizes the effects of external events upon the individual” (Woolfolk, 1998, p. 205). The behaviorist orientation forms the basis for the traditional didactic orientation toward learning and teaching, emphasizing clearly defined, often progressive learning goals which are managed by the instructor in an evaluative capacity. The emphasis is on demonstrated performance of tasks determined to objectify learning goals. Inherent within this orientation is a distinctive and hierarchical separation of instructor and learner, whereby the more knowledgeable individual imparts expertise upon the less knowledgeable individual…

The concept of adult education is a complex and elusive term which has fluctuating meaning depending upon the purpose and intention of the person or organization using the term. Describing this broad band of meaning, Courtney states that “Adult education might be seen to embrace a variety of prominent, visible, social activities lying somewhere between schooling and recreation” (Merriam & Cunningham. 1989, p.15). Furthermore, numerous terms have been used interchangeably (i.e., adult education, continuing education, lifelong learning, etc.) without adequate distinction between their shades of meaning.

In an attempt to hone and clarify the definition Courtney presents several versions of…

In counseling training, when we were studying how to respond to a crisis that involved a potential suicide, we were told to find something — anything, no matter how small, trivial or ridiculous — that would anchor the person to this world. It would be a short-term bandage, just enough to get them through the crisis. Later, you could begin the longer process of helping them rebuild a life they wanted to live, rather than escape from. It made sense to me intellectually, but I wondered if I would ever put it to use.

Ellen came into my office for…

In the realm of consumer behavior research, a successful advertisement must accomplish four basic tasks: 1) Exposure — the consumer must come in contact with the ad message; 2) Attention — the consumer must have thoughtful awareness and consideration of the content; 3) Interpretation — the ad must be accurately understood; and 4) Memory — the ad must be retained in memory in a manner that will allow retrieval under the proper circumstances (Hawkins & Motherbaugh, 2009). …

Nurturing Self-Management in the Classroom

Various researchers (Cruz & Cullinan, 2001; Maslow, 1987; Ointrich & Schrunk, 2002) have demonstrated a strong positive correlation between motivation and achievement. Motivated learners approach tasks eagerly, exert high levels of effort, and persist in the face of difficulty. When students lack adequate motivation, they often become restless and disruptive in the classroom as well. Borrowing from the behaviorist and social learning theory perspectives, teachers can employ various strategies to encourage positive classroom behavior, increase motivation and facilitate student achievement.

Shaping

Shaping refers to “a process that involves reinforcing learners for making gradual progress toward a terminal behavioral goal” (Fetsco…