ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.

com/

Syllogisms in Education
Peoples Inability to Reason
As professionals in the field of education, one encounters a great variety of student issues that are simply hard to explain why they actually take place. And after having one of those particular student issues in one of my classes, the need to comprehend aggressive behavior against professors and the inability to reason beyond ones perception of reality made me try to find at least a convincing explanation to this puzzling situation: How good are university students with aggressive behavior at reasoning? Based on Barons book (1997) Fundamentos de Psicologa, humans are not that good when it comes to reasoning; for some people, their rational, reasoning abilities are even less that appropriate for rationalizing logical argumentation. But why is it that individuals have trouble reasoning? One of the possible justifications or answers for this question relies on the fact that, as Baron (1997) states, emotion and reasoning cannot walk together. Pointed out by Forgas and Bower (1988), the way in which we feel, that is our mood and emotions, can greatly affect several aspects of cognition.

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

Its not surprising to realize that emotions and beliefs emotionally charged- can greatly influence ones cognitive reasoning abilities. Based on this premise, lets now explore the case of a student whom we call from now on- Fedor who has had several episodes of aggressive behavior against his instructors due to his poor performance along several terms at the university where he studies. 1. Fedor is the kind of student who pushes his teachers to get extra assignments or credit and who curses them when they do not consider appropriate to help him pass a course. Since Fedor is someone who barely hits his books or seldom takes time to review what has been studied in prior sessions, his evaluations show that oftentimes he has no clue of what is being studied or covered along the term. And of course- in Fedors eyes, his professors are to blame for his poor school performance. 2. From Fedors point of view, and whose beliefs and convictions are already biased and emotionally charged against his instructors and their way of reasoning in regards to his course performance, Fedor can and will alter the real meaning of the reasoning premises employed by his teachers. Furthermore, as stated by Baron (1997), Fedor is bound to recall reasons and factors that were never uttered by his teachers, especially when addressing his problem with the school authorities and/or with other fellow students.

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

3. Paraphrasing Barons idea about logics (1997), the moment emotions and strong beliefs clash against logical arguments, the latter tends to lose. For this reason, Fedors case is a good example of this sentence based on the following way of reasoning. A. Inability to understand syllogisms Fedor cannot really understand this way of logical reasoning because his emotionally charged ideas against his instructors are in the way to real cognitive analysis of his present situation. How do you think Fedor will answer these syllogisms? In the same way that you would probably do it? - People who often study and review the course subjectSyllogism 1

matter usually get good grades. - Charlie doesnt normally get good or even passing grades. - Does Charlie often study? - If I often study and review the course content, I will usually get good grades. - Im not normally getting good or just passing grades. - Am I really studying? - Every time people take a class with Professor James, they usually get low grades or fail quizzes and exams. - Im now taking a class with Professor James. - Will I fail?

Syllogism 2

Syllogism 3

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

B. The omission bias Individuals like Fedor cannot understand (or refrain themselves from comprehending) that people use their selectivity to examine flaws depending on the importance of facts perceived by them. In other words, Fedors instructors reasons for not helping him with extra points (usually backed up by the school regulations) are irrational, no matter how logical and valid those arguments are. C. The confirmation bias Students like Fedor possess an inability to consider information that can question or counterattack their emotionally charged beliefs and arguments. In other words, anyone else is wrong, Pedro would say; Im right and a victim of my instructors. Professors argumentation cannot be rationalized because it threatens students convictions and their strong beliefs since in their minds, they hold the monopoly of truth; consequently, anyone else opposing their point of view is sounding wrong. D. The a posteriori perception As Baron (1997) suggests, this type of perception is ones belief that I can predict a given happening prior to knowing it already happened. Such forecasting of future events is a good example of ones wrong way of reasoning, and Fedor uses it most of the time since it cannot arrive at the appropriate answers when dealing with syllogisms applied to his condition as a university student.

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

To sum up, university students like our fictitious Fedor are rather common in our classrooms, and finding the way to deal with their aggressive behavior, threats, and temper tantrums should not be the sole responsibility of a professor. University (or school) authorities, with the assistance of psychologists coaching, must train their teachers, especially when students like Fedor do not want to be helped by their hateful instructors or taken to the counseling office for an in-depth study of their learning conditions and limitations.

To fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, its advisable to research and expand these areas: 1 2 3 4 5 Syllogisms in education The omission bias The confirmation bias The a posteriori perception Coaching in student aggressive behavior

ELT article published by Prof. Jonathan Acua at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com/

Professor Jonathan Acua-Solano ELT Instructor & Trainer based in Costa Rica IATEFL Member and NCTE Affiliate Curricular Developer at CCCN Senior ELT Professor at Universidad Latina Freelance ELT Consultant four OUP in Central America For further comments or suggestions, reach me at: @jonacuso Twitter jonacuso@gmail.com Gmail Other blogs and sites I often write for my students at the university are: 1. Pronunciation 1 3. Pronunciation 2 2. Readding Skills 1 4. Computering Applications in Education

Baron, R. (1997) Fundamentos de Psicologa. 3rd Ed. Translated by Mara Elena Ortiz Salinas. Mexico: Prentice Hall Hispanoamericana Also available at http://books.google.co.cr/books?id=w1vQowY6TTcC&printsec=frontcover& hl=es#v=onepage&q&f=false Forgas, J. & Bower, G. (1988) Mood effects on person-perception judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 53(1), Jul 1987, 53-60.