Cognitive Development Theory
In my Communication Theory course at Western Carolina University, I was paired with another PR student to discuss the cognitive dissonance theory by Leon Festinger. For our presentation, we focused on certain components of the theory which allowed us to explain those critical components in great detail by using the constructivism theory. The depth of our material supported the credibility of our work and allowed us to establish the “reasoning” of the theory.
Our goal was to allow the audience to fully absorb the theory as its own entity. While the theory is truly fascinating, we wanted each audience member to connect and discover the specifics of this theory.
Conversing about cognitive dissonance creates a discourse of comfort where all ideas will be considered and comprehended. In addition, the audience (peers) will then feel safe about challenging their own questions and understandings, defending their own, and supporting real-world scenarios such as the performers and the police officers.
Upon realizing the discontinuity in logical steps they might be able to better understand themselves and their values. The individual may then align their value structure appropriately to where their religion is supreme and all other values stem from it, or they might abandon religion and build upon the foundation of their racist leanings.
The theory of constructivism is based on the premise of students learning by building upon presuppositions. However, a construction project can only be as strong as the foundation upon which it lay. If said foundation is incongruent and does not properly align the entirety of the project, the student’s beliefs and education will be unstable and unable to withstand any hardship.
With the use of our PowerPoint, the TedTalk provided and shown to the class will help the audience develop skills to analyze the real-world around them. As the TedTalk featuring Kevin Jones plays, the viewers can identify the cognitive dissonance in the video as well as the verbal reflection Jones gives as he describes his time with the police officers and the training that occurred as well as the connection that occurred between the performers and the officers.
Using an open-ended question and leaving time in our presentation to allow the audience to think and analyze a response based on their own experience or personal inquiry is a major component of constructivism. Open-ended questions encourage critical thinking, they seek to organize a logical justification for the response or thought.