A SYSTEMS MODEL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR by W. Huitt
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A model is a critical component of one's vision as it defines the important variables to consider and the relationships among those variables. There are a number of different philosophical positions that provide a foundation for organization and interpretation of empirical data into models. One of those positions is that everything can be reduced to a simple entity and if we want to know about multiple entities we can study the entities one at a time and then aggregate our knowledge for an understanding of the whole. This is the foundation of Newtonian physics and the position that forms the foundation for much of the research in psychology. One assumption of this belief is that the interaction of entities can be studied by adding and subtracting them in multiple variations. For example, if we want to study the relationship of thinking and emotional development, we can study each separately and then we can study them together by first introducing one factor, then removing it and introducing another factor. If we want to study what makes for an effective school, we can introduce factors one at a time to see which one has the greatest impact.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is a view that one must not only understand the entities in isolation, but must understand the relationships between or among entities. In this view, it is not enough to first study the development of thinking and then the development of emotion or to identify separate factors that make an effective school, rather these must be studied together in order to understand the relationships among the factors. This systems or cybernetics view reflects a transactional approach to educational and developmental psychology (e.g., Gordon, 1975; Schiamberg & Smith, 1982; Thompson, 1971) and provides the basis for the model of human behavior presented below.  

This systems approach is reflected in this model in several ways. First, the basis of the model stems from an acceptance of the three major aspects of human beings (Mind, Body and Spirit) that have been the focus of the study since the ancient Greeks.

In terms of mind (or human personality, as it is sometimes called), there is wide support for three dimensions (e.g., Eysenck, 1947; Miller, 1991; Norman, 1980): 1) cognition (knowing, understanding, thinking); 2) affect ( attitudes, predispositions, emotions, feelings); and 3) conation (intentions to act, reasons for doing, volition, will). The three components of the mind can be used to organize many of the major issues and topics discussed in educational psychology. This model recognizes that the mind receives information and manifests action through the body. Body can be considered in terms of 1) biological or genetic influences; 2) bodily functioning, and 3) overt behavior or output. Overt behavior has been extensively studied by the behaviorists (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Skinner, 1953). The model also recognizes there is a feedback loop between overt responses (or "behavior") and resulting stimuli from the environment.  Finally, the model recognizes that both biological and spiritual influence the development and functioning of the components of mind.

There are therefore five major components of the individual in this systems model of human behavior

  1. Cognitive component - Perceives, stores, processes, and retrieves information
  2. Affective component - Can modify perceptions and thoughts before and after they are processed cognitively
  3. Conative component - Directs and manages input and output functioning
  4. Spiritual component - How we approach the unknowns of life, how we define and relate to the sacred
  5. Behavioral system - Overt action of organism (output of the individual)
 

It is hypothesized that an individual's thinking (cognition), feeling (affect), and willing (volition, conation) as well as overt behavior and spirituality develop as a result of:

  1. transactions among the various components of mind as
  2. influenced by biological maturation, bodily functioning and the spiritual dimension of the individual,
  3. the environment or context of the individual, and
  4. the feedback from the environment as a result of an individual's overt behavior.

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