What Is A Model?
For the purposes of this discussion, a model is a demonstration of how to perform a task. To understand these kinds of models, we must identify what is to be presented to the observer. At a minimum, we must present what the observer needs in order to learn the information being presented. Thus, in addition to what is to be presented, we need to identify how it is to be presented. If the observer doesn’t learn, then our model has failed. To fulfill these requirements, a model must have at least three different parts: an action performed, explanatory prompts, and an observer. Like the mythical tree in the forest that falls with no one to hear it fall, a model unobserved is not a model. The observer is a large part of the model. Because different observers bring different skills to their observations, there are many different kinds of models.
Actions Performed
A model is a performance of some kind of action. It can be a physical action, a verbal action, or a combination of both. In the name, verbal action, we include any kind of symbol, visual or auditory. For example, performing a dance step for a dance student is a physical action as a model. For a beginning student, this model would not present the final level of performance of the dance step. A speech pathologist pronouncing the sound of a letter is an example of a verbal action that presents a speech action to an observer. In our definition, we define any symbol, whether auditory or visual, as a verbal action. Thus, if we present a picture to an observer that portrays some aspect of an action we are modeling, that picture is considered a verbal model. If the presentation of our model includes sound effects, then those sounds are part of the verbal model.
Every model is an image of an event or object in the environment. The model is not the object or event but rather represents it. Thus, it is a representation. A representation is an abstraction from the real thing. This is an important concept, because models can easily be mistaken for the reality. The reality is more complex than any model and that fact is important.
Important for representing reality are the units of representation. Like everything else except God, a model has parts. All the parts relate to one another and these relationships form a unity. This is the basic structure of a model. The parts are comprised of information from the different sensory modalities (sight, sound, tactile, proprioception) and from abstractions (language, cognitions). Some of this sensory and cognitive information is relevant to the task. Remember, a model is a representation of a task, and as a representation, it describes how the task is performed or structured. A model of an atom illustrates how an atom is formed; a model of dancing the tango shows the proper steps for the dance. All the information presented in a model must directly relate to what the model is demonstrating. Thus, a model of dancing the tango that included the dancer singing would contain an element that is not relevant to dancing the tango.
Explanatory Prompts
An explanatory prompt is information that informs the observer about the model. The prompts may be delivered before presentation of the model, during presentation of the model, and after presentation of the model. The prompts may be physical gestures, spoken information, static photos, video, and performance of part of the model. For example, using a model to teach the dance of tango, the instructor may begin by standing in the correct position and posture to begin the dance while verbally explaining the position. Thus, the instructor would be using the performance of part of the model with spoken information as explanatory prompts. These prompts would be given during presentation of the model. If the instructor showed a video of a couple dancing the tango while explaining the steps they were performing, she would be using video with spoken information as explanatory prompts and the prompts would be delivered during presentation of the model. The couple dancing the tango in the video is considered a model, because a video does not contain full information about the dancing. Full information would require a three-dimensional presentation within a proper social setting.
The Observer
Every model is created for someone whom we will call the observer. A model is an object created for the sole purpose of being observed. Its purpose is to convey information about the actions or objects that it models. Thus, a model is an educational tool. As an educational tool it is made for a particular learner or class of learners. With the addition of the observer, the model becomes more complicated. With present and future video technology, models become interactive and capable of assessing the observer’s responses as the student is imitating the model. But most of the complexities arise from the characteristics of the observer.
As an instructional tool, the model must meet the student’s learning characteristics. If the observer is a child, developmental factors are important than for adults. For example, a 2-year-old child does not have the same language development as a 6-year-old child. At two years, the child is not yet comprehending sentences. They are at best beginning to put together short phrases. Thus, if you use a model that contains speech with complete sentences, the observing 2-year-old child will not fully understand your model or your explanatory prompts. The child will not tell you she does not understand what you are saying. She will merely not be able to respond to your explanations and will appear to not learn. She will not be able to follow your directions. I’ve seen parents, unaware of these developmental differences in children, believe that their younger child is intentionally disobeying. This “disobedience” is therefore, punished by the parent. The punishment confuses the child and introduces fear into the learning context. In creating models, the observer’s learning characteristics must be considered before creating the model.
In addition to language development, the model creator must consider the child’s motor, social, and cognitive development. For example, if sharing toys is to be included in a model, then the observer must be able to share toys, unless the purpose of the model is to teach the child to share toys. If toy sharing is outside the social development of the observer for whom the model is created, then the model will be ineffective as a learning tool for that observer.
The Unified Symbol
This blog has discussed the parts of a model. In creating models, one must understand that these parts are integrated and create a symbol. In model building, the boundary between symbol and reality can become blurred. This tendency is great when you are the one performing the model. There is a large difference between an observer watching someone do something and someone demonstrating how to do a task. The first instance is a reality, the second a symbol of reality.
How many parts a model will have is determined by the person who creates it. Models for young children will have fewer parts than those for older children or adults. Regardless of the number of parts a model has, all models are structurally integrated. They form a unity. One of the indicators of a good model is the amount of integration it has. Is every part related to every other part? It is from this integration that the symbol obtains its instructional power.
To create a unified model, one has to first identify the core skill that the model presents. It is from this skill that the parts are related. For example, assume you are creating a model of sharing toys for preschool children. The core skill in this example has two parts: releasing your toy and accepting another person’s toy. Everything in the model must be directly related to these two actions, releasing and accepting. We won’t analyze these two actions, but they are quite complex. However, we need to understand that they both involve emotional changes toward the object that is “mine” and the object that is “yours.” The model needs to demonstrate how the child is to make these emotional adjustments while considering the child’s language skills, social skills, and emotional control skills. A child of 3 years has a different skill set than a child of 6 years.
Any effective model will need to teach the child to use language that elicits her own emotional self-control and also the other child’s emotional self-control. There may be much other language that could apply to the model, but this other language will not be integrally related to the model. Likewise, how the child handles the toys will be important. If the child clutches her toy tightly while trying to grab the other child’s toy, the words that have been said will fail to elicit sharing on the part of the other child. Thus, the behaviors involved in the children’s physical exchange of the toys are integral to the model. There are lots of other social behaviors that the model could include, but only these two are integral. Here, we have explored the core skill of the model and how the language and motor responses are related to each other and the core skills.
The social problem posed by the model is that of sharing toys. The solution to this problem is beyond the scope of this blog. We just wanted to show how a model achieves integration of its parts. Models are not reality, they are symbols. For that reason, creating models involves both art and science and creating them is an exciting process.