DPE 101: Foundations of Education 1

Activity 2: Conditioning Theories in the Teddy Stoddard Story

MEJOS, Al Jay T.
23 February 2019

Introduction

The Teddy Stoddard Story (sometimes posted online as The Teddy Stallard Story) tells of
the experiences of a teacher and a student whose life and learning completely turned around by
the mutual touch caused by both upon each other’s lives.

At first, upon meeting Mrs. Thompson had a negative perception, and therefore attitude,
towards a nonperforming student Teddy Stoddard. In time, upon knowing Teddy more, Mrs.
Thompson grew to act more kindly to Teddy and Teddy changed. Changes came about gradually
until Teddy, from being an unpleasant child became a very successful man while Mrs. Thompson
came to love Teddy as a mother.

The Paper

This paper tries to identify behaviors exhibiting conditioning theories of Edward

Thorndike and Ivan Pavlov as found in the Teddy Stoddard Story.

With the goal to demonstrate the ability to identify salient story points which display the
theories of Thorndike and Pavlov, this paper may cite contextual points explaining specific story
plots and nuances which may reflect cultural and personal biases of the author which may be
beyond what the story explicitly states. Adhesive Principle of classical conditioning states that a
certain displayed behavior is expected to be caused by specific stimuli and these stimuli are
assumed for the purpose of explanation. Perspectives of what circumstances cause certain
behaviors are subject to observations which may be highly idiosyncratic.

Edward Thorndike Theories of Learning

Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same.

Law of Effect and Law of Exercise. The statement shows that the behavior of a teacher
telling the students that she loves them all the same reflects both the Law of Effect and
Law of Exercise. The Law of Effect is in play as the constant association in terms of
methods taught in school and observed among tenured professionals reinforces
association and eventual display of behavior among newer teachers. Law of Exercise
applies as the repetitive and constant beholding of such introduction among teachers lead
to other teachers adopting the same behavior.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well
with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath.
Law of Readiness. The statement shows that at that point in the story and the life of
Teddy he is not yet ready to learn. He is not yet mature enough to take care of himself
and after the circumstances in his family he is also not yet emotionally ready for
continued academic learning which manifested in physical terms.

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt
even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful
ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's.

Law of Effect. The Law of Effect posits that a satisfying or pleasant set of affairs
condition as stimulus to a behavior that reinforces such behavior. In this part of the story,
Mrs. Thompson feeling shame is the stimulus that further encourages her to treat Teddy
better.

But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was,
putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Law of Effect. While the initial response of the students was to laugh at the gift from
Teddy, the intervention provided by Mrs. Thompson provided the stimulus for them to
cease the teasing.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she
began to teach children.

Law of Readiness. Contextually, these sentences show that Mrs. Thompson has been
teaching in a particular way which changed when she changed her perspective and
attitude towards teaching. This turnabout, though caused by her realizations that a
wonderful student may need help, showed that after her moment of change Mrs.
Thompson is now ready for a deeper and more meaningful philosophy and approach at
teaching.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind
seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded.

In this two lines, one can observe the self-reinforcing and self-perpetuating capacity of
Law of Effect and Law of Exercise. The more Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to
Teddy, the more Teddy’s needs are satisfied and the better he performs at school which
encourages further attention from Mrs. Thompson as her approach is rewarded by
affirmation.

Years passed and yet another letter came… The letter explained that she was still the
best and favorite teacher he ever had.

Law of Exercise. The more that Teddy expressed his affection for Mrs. Thompson the
more inclined he is to express his love for her. The constancy and regularity of his
behavior over the years show that his continued looking back on his pleasant elementary
 experiences pushed him further and now the pleasure of expressing regard for his mother
in the person of Mrs. Thompson continues and strengthened his character.

And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And
she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing
on their last Christmas together.

Law of Effect and Law of Exercise. Mrs. Thompson in giving Teddy the pleasant
reminders of his beloved mother caused wonderful and attitude defining changes in him.
Furthermore, the choices that Mrs. Thompson make in helping Teddy reminds him more
of his mother who with his love for her is inspired more to work hard and be better.

She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could
make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Law of Readiness. This last line shows that the experience with Teddy brought about a
form of readiness to see things differently and to act accordingly that changes what
teaching is for Mrs. Thompson.

Ivan Pavlov on Classical Conditioning

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well
with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath.
And Teddy could be unpleasant.

This observation by Mrs. Thompson on Teddy displays multiple aspects of classical

conditioning from Ivan Pavlov and the later expansion of his work. Unpleasant, messy
and unhygienic, it was only natural for Teddy to cause an unconditioned response of
disaffection from Mrs. Thompson. This stage in their interaction may be taken as a form
of excitation. This observation from Mrs. Thompson also manifested a form of stimulus
generalization that children who portray such characteristics must also naturally be
academically incapable and such disgust encouraged adverse reaction which affected
grading as evidenced by the following sentence.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his
papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his
papers.

However, the discovery of a different Teddy prior his initial interaction with Mrs.
Thompson provided for a form of extinction of her negative attitude and perception to the
child.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past
records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was
in for a surprise.
 From that point onwards, Mrs. Thompson’s behavior enabled Teddy to perform better
and to an extent gave positive and reinforcing feedback for Mrs. Thompson to continue
the enabling behavior toward Teddy.

And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And
she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing
on their last Christmas together.

Towards the end of the story, there was a moment when spontaneous recovery was
displayed when despite after years of separation, the mere wearing of the rhinestone
bracelet and Teddy’s mother’s perfume ensured that in that moment Teddy walked with
his mother in church.

The story also displayed different orders of conditioning where the associated feelings
and attitudes both Mrs. Thompson and Teddy had for each other was originally rooted in
the affection that Teddy held for his departed mother. As the story progressed along,
there is manifestation of higher order of conditioning in the vicarious performance of
motherly behaviors manifested by Mrs. Thompson towards Teddy which reinforced his
positive behavior.

Final Thoughts

This is a beautiful story where a realization from a teacher and the innocent love that
every child holds for his mother gave the mechanism and life to the heartwarming story of Teddy
Stoddard and Mrs. Thompson.

It easily resonates with the reader as motherly bond and inspiration is a universal
predisposition among humans that is programmed by nature. It needs not be learned neither that
it is culturally or geographically specific. The actions and the subsequent emotional touch
effected by the story conjures up images of beautiful scenes that are merely hinted in the story.
This subtlety allows for the imagination to fill in the spaces and invites further investment and
involvement from the reader.

This beautiful story further illustrates what a heartfelt joy there is in reading. There is
more that the story may share beyond the homework. That then will be for another discussion at
another time.

References:

Corpuz, B. B. and Salandanan, G. G. (2015). “Principles of Teaching 1”.

http://www.teachnet.com/speakout/teddystoddard.html. Date Accessed: 23 April 2019