COGNITIVE DISSONANCE CAN MOTIVATE
and challenge learners to think critically about their beliefs and cognitions, thereby enabling learning. This article will describe the theory and its implications for instructional designers.
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What is Cognitive Dissonance?
This theory, first developed by social psychologist Leon Festinger, states that a learner will tend to seek consonance between cognitions. When this consonance is challenged by a new and incongruent cognition, the learner will experience a state of tension. This unpleasant state impels the learner to reduce or eliminate the dissonance.
A person has a multitude of cognitions, most of which are either unrelated to one another, or fit together in some fashion. A person can know that "It takes ten minutes to get to work each day" and "I like bananas." These cognitions are neither consonant or dissonant, and they coexist in the brain with no relationship. However, when a new cognition challenges a previously existing one, the two cognitions can not "peacefully" coexist in the brain. Dissonance results from the incongruous cognitions.
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| The Earth is flat. Or is it round? This cognitive dissonance causes a state of tension for the learner. | |
Consider the following example: When Age of Discovery explorers Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan challenged the conventional wisdom of the day by stating that the earth was round, not flat, this led to widespread cognitive dissonance.
The more entrenched a particular cognition or belief (I am 100% sure the Earth is round!), the greater the dissonance when an alternative view is presented.
Eliminating or Reducing Dissonance
Festinger compared the need for consonance with biological urges, such as the need to satisfy hunger. A person is driven to satisfy that urge. Because dissonance is an unnatural or unpleasant state (similar to hunger), learners will use a variety of methods to reduce or eliminate dissonance when it occurs.
- Reject the new cognition
The Earth can’t possibly be round, because I know it’s flat. - Reduce the importance of the dissonant cognitions
I’ll never venture beyond the town where I live, so it does not matter if the Earth is flat or round. - Add new cognitions
The Earth casts a round shadow on the moon, so it is possible the Earth is round. - Change the dissonant beliefs so they are no longer inconsistent
Magellan circumnavigated the Earth, so it can not be flat. - Change the behavior to reflect the cognition
I will sail around the Earth.
In the first two options, while the dissonance may be reduced, real learning, or an attitude change does not occur. In the remaining options, learning can occur. The learner evaluates the new knowledge and adopts the new cognition, while rejecting the old information.
A key component in reducing cognitive dissonance was demonstrated by the experiments of Festinger. He discovered that, after generating cognitive dissonance in his subjects, providing a small incentive led to adoption of the new cognition. Contrary to what might be expected, larger incentives did not result in adoption of the new cognition. A large incentive caused the subjects to change a behavior, but not the underlying cognition. These subjects were able to act in a manner that was contrary to their cognitions, because the incentive was large enough to justify the contradiction.
Cognitive Dissonance and Instructional Strategies
Cognitive dissonance can be a powerful catalyst to elicit change in a learner’s thoughts or attitudes. Creating cognitive dissonance, where previously only consonance existed, provides a valuable instructional opportunity.
According to Kamradt and Kamradt (Kamradt and Kamradt, 1999) activating cognitive dissonance can be extremely helpful in instruction designed to change attitudes. Once the dissonance is established, the instructor can then address the different components of the attitude: affective, cognitive, and behavioral. Rather than attempting a radical change in attitude all at once, the learner can be nudged, in stages, to accept intermediate attitudes, with the ultimate goal of eventually accepting the target attitude.
Karen Smith
San Diego State University
認知失調可以刺激和激發學習者去批判性的思考他們的看法和認知，也因此能夠學習。本篇文章將描述這個理論和教材設計者的應用。
什麼是認知失調？
這個理論，一開始由社會心理學家 Leon Festinger 發展，陳述學習者會傾向尋找認知間的一致性。當這個一致性被新的和不一致的認知所挑戰，學習者將會感受到不安的狀況。這個使人不愉快的狀況迫使學習者去減少或排除這個不一致性。
人有許多認知，多數互相不相關或是以一些方式彼此適合。人可以知道「每天花十分鐘工作」和「我喜歡香蕉」。這個認知是兩者都不協調或是不一致的，它們在大腦中不相干的共存。然而，當新的認知挑戰先前存在的，兩個認知不會和平的同時在大腦中存在。不一致的認知導致失調。
認知的範例：當探險家 Christopher Columbus 和 Ferdinand Mageellan 的時代，挑戰傳統的知識，描述地球是圓的，不是平坦的，這導致廣泛的認知失調。
較根深蒂固的特別認知或相信（我百分之百確信地球是圓的！），主要的失調是當二擇一的觀點出現。
排除或減少失調
Festinger 比較生物學迫切需求的一致性，像需要去滿足飢餓。人類滿足迫切的需求。因為失調是不自然的或是不受歡迎的狀況（與飢餓相似），學習者將使用多種方法去減少或排除失調，當其發生時。
- 拒絕新認知
地球不可能是圓的，因為我知道它是平坦的。 - 減少認知失調的重要性
我將不會冒險越過我居住的這城鎮，所以無論地球是圓的或平坦的都沒關係。 - 加入新的認知
地球投射一個圓的影子在月球上，所以地球可能是圓的。 - 改變不一致的事實，所以不再矛盾
麥哲倫在地球上環航，所以它不可能是平坦的 - 改變態度去轉移認知
我將航行地球
在前二個狀況，當失調可能減少，真實的學習或態度改變就不會發生。剩下的選擇中，學習可能發生，學習者評估新知識和採納新認知，去除舊知識。
藉由 Festingere 的實驗，減少認知失調的構成要素被證明。他發現在他的實驗對象產生認知失調，提供小的激勵導致採納新的認知。相反的可預期大量的刺激不會導致採用新的認知。大量的刺激引起這主題改變習慣，而不是根本的認知。這些主題能在違背他們認知的方法中行動，是因為激勵大到足夠去證明其矛盾。
認知失調與教學策略
認知失調可以是有力的刺激因素去引出學習者想法與態度的改變。建立認知失調，當先前的協調性存在，提供教學機會的一種可能。
根據 Kamradt 和 Kamradt 達到使認知失調非常有幫助在教學設計去改變態度上。失調建立時，教學者可以提出不同的看法在態度的、情感的、認知的和行為的。與其嘗試一次在習慣上所有根本的改變，學習者可以被輕推，階段的去接受中間的態度，和接受目標態度的最終目的。