35.4 Theoretical Foundations of Cooperative Learning

There are at least three general theoretical perspectives that have guided research on cooperative learning: cognitivedevelopmental, behavioral, and social interdependence. The cognitive-developmental perspective is largely based on the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. The work of Piaget and related theorists is based on the premise that when individuals cooperate on the environment, sociocognitive conflict occurs that creates cognitive disequilibrium, which in turn stimulates perspective-taking ability and cognitive development. The work of Vygotsky and related theorists is based on the premise that knowledge is social, constructed from cooperative efforts to learn, understand, and solve problems. The behavioral learning theory perspective focuses on the impact of group reinforcers and rewards on learning. Skinner focused on group contingencies; Bandura focused on imitation; and Homans, as well as Thibaut and Kelley, focused on the balance of rewards and costs in social exchange among interdependent individuals. While the cognitive-developmental and behavioral theoretical orientations have their followings, by far the theory dealing with cooperation that has generated the most research is social interdependence theory.

Social interdependence exists when individuals share common goals (see 6.4), and each person's success is affected by the actions of the others (Deutsch, 1962; Johnson & Johnson, 1989). It may be differentiated from social dependence (i.e., the outcomes of one person are affected by the actions of a second person, but not vice versa) and social independence (i.e., individuals' outcomes are unaffected by each other's actions). There are two types of social interdependence: cooperative and competitive. The absence of social interdependence and dependence results in individualistic efforts. Social interdependence is one of the most fundamental and ubiquitous aspects of being a human being and it affects all aspects of our lives (Deutsch, 1949, 1962).

Theorizing on social interdependence began in the early 1900s, when one of the founders of the Gestalt School of Psychology (see 5.2.2), Kurt Koffka, proposed that groups were dynamic wholes in which the interdependence among members could vary. One of his colleagues, Kurt Lewin, refined Koffka's notions in the 1920s and 1930s while stating that: (a) The essence of a group is the interdependence among members (created by common goals), which results in the group's being a "dynamic whole," so that a change in the state of any member or subgroup changes the state of any other member or subgroup; and (b) an intrinsic state of tension within group members motivates movement toward the accomplishment of the desired common goals. For interdependence to exist, there must be more than one person or entity involved, and the persons or entities must have impact on each other in that a change in the state of one causes a change in the state of the others. From the work of Lewin's students and colleagues, such as Ovisankian, Lissner, Mahler, and Lewis, it may be concluded that it is the drive for goal accomplishment that motivates cooperative and competitive behavior.

In the late 1940s, one of Lewin's graduate students, Morton Deutsch, extended Lewin's reasoning about social interdependence and formulated a theory of cooperation and competition (Deutsch, 1949, 1962). Deutsch conceptualized three types of social interdependence: positive, negative, and none. Deutsch's basic premise was that the type of interdependence structured in a situation determines how individuals interact with each other, which, in turn, largely determines outcomes. Positive interdependence tends to result in promotive interaction; negative interdependence tends to result in oppositional or contrient interaction; and no interdependence results in an absence of interaction. Depending on whether individuals promote or obstruct each other's goal accomplishments, there is substitutability, cathexis, and inducibility- The relationships between the type of social interdependence and the interaction pattern it elicits is assumed to be bidirectional. Each may cause the other. Deutsch's theory has served as a major conceptual structure for this area of inquiry for the past 45 years.