Monday, October 06, 2008

A Semester of Psychology in 76 Words

My brother, Steve, and I were standing in the backyard a while ago with our very young toddlers toddling around, and he told me this story:
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Once in college, my schedule was tight and I really needed to get out of a psychology class. I asked the professor if he would let me clep out of his course, and he said that if I could answer one question right there, then I would get full credit for the class.

“Okay,” I said.

“Finish the sentence,” he said. “All behavior is…”

I didn’t even hesitate. “Learned!”

“Nope,” he said. “I’ll see you in class.”
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Well, of course I bit. “What’s the answer?” I was surprised. I would have guessed learned.

Steve shook his head. “I should have thought about it for a while,” he said. “All behavior is motivated.”

This story has always stuck with me. Motivated. That’s interesting. As a teacher, I work with people all day—students, other teachers, administrators. Everything they do is motivated.

That’s really wild. It’s also pretty useful.

2 comments:

Variations On A Theme said...

Great professor!!!! Poor Steve!

Rainbow dreams said...

Hmm true, and so relevant for me at the moment as I am studying - acquiring certificates for the teaching I'm doing :)