Provide 3 reasons why theories are useful.

1. Theories help ORGANISE research findings and can provide valuable guidance for our teaching. For example, the theory of behaviourism. 2. Theories allow us to EXPLAIN events in our classrooms and the world at large. For example, Piaget's theory of cognitive development helps us explain the thinking of young children. 3. Theories also allow us to PREDICT behaviour and events. For example, based on behaviourism, we would predict that students who periodically receive positive comments on essays will try harder than either students who receive no comments at all, or students who receive effusively positive comments.