Behavioral (learning) Approach

PREPARED BY:

ANEEKA BATOOL

Outline:

Introduction

Learning process

What is Behaviorism?a) What is Classical

Conditioning?b) What is Operant

Conditioning? c) What is Observational

Learning?

Roots of Behaviorism – Major Characters

(Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson, Skinner)

Three stages of Behaviorism◦ Watsonian behaviorism◦ Neobehaviorism◦ Sociobehaviorism

The fate of Behaviorism

Behaviorism in a nutshell

Behaviorism in Classroom

Biblohraphy

IntroductionWhat is Learning?

Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of experience.

During the first half of the twentieth century, the school of thought known as behaviorism rose to dominate psychology and sought to explain the learning process.

The three major types of learning described by behavioral psychology are:

classical conditioningoperant conditioningobservational learning

Rationalists - humans have an innate capacity for the development of language, and that we are genetically programmed to develop out linguistic systems in certain ways.

Empiricists - the learner’s experience is largely responsible for language learning. Language learning is seen as the result of external forces acting on the organism rather than the programmed unfolding of language through internal biological mechanisms.

BEHAVIORISM

is the chief empiricist theory of learning.

Classical Conditioning

What is Classical Conditioning?

Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response. Classic conditioning occurs when a natural reflex responds to a stimulus.

The most popular example is Pavlov's observation that dogs salivate when they eat or even see food. Essentially, animals and people are biologically "wired" so that a certain stimulus will produce a specific response. In Pavlov’s classic experiment, the smell of food was the naturally occurring stimulus that was paired with the previously neutral ringing of the bell. Once an association had been made between the two, the sound of the bell alone could lead to a response.

Classical Conditioning in the Classroom

Playing soothing music, dimming the lights to calm and relax students

Unintentional classical conditioning:◦ Test anxiety◦ Math anxiety◦ Public speaking anxiety◦ General school anxiety

Operant ConditioningWhat is Operant Conditioning?

Behavioral or operant conditioning is a learning process in which the probability of response is increased or decreased due to reinforcement or punishment. So, operant conditioning occurs when a response to a stimulus is reinforced.

First studied by Edward Thorndike and later by B.F. Skinner, the underlying idea behind operant conditioning is that the consequences of our actions shape voluntary behavior.

Basically, operant conditioning is a simple feedback system: if a reward or reinforcement follows the response to a stimulus, then the response becomes more probable in the future.

Operant Conditioning in Teaching

Teachers can deliberately use operant conditioning with their students (training)

How someone reacts to our behaviors determines whether or not we continue the behavior

◦ if we are rewarded for something we will likely do it again - do you do this as a teacher?

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

BehaviorIncreases

Behavior Decreases

Positive Reinforcement

Negative Reinforcement

Punishment

Presence of Pleasant Stimulus

Absence of Unpleasant Stimulus

Presence of Unpleasant

Stimulus

Observational LearningWhat is Observational Learning?

Observational learning is a process in which learning occurs through observing and imitating others.

Four important elements are essential for effective observational learning: attention, motor skills, motivation, and memory.

Important People The following are some of the major figures associated with learning and the behavioral school of psychology.

◦ Ivan Pavlov (Pavlovian or classical conditioning)◦ Edward Thorndike (S-R framework of behavioral psychology)◦ John Watson (Radical Environmentalism)◦ B.F. Skinner (Neo-behaviourism)

Three stages of behaviorism◦ 1913-1930: Watsonian behaviorism

◦ 1930-1960: Neo-behaviorism

◦ 1960-present: Socio-behaviorism

Watsonian behaviorismJohn B. Watson (1878 – 1958)

◦ 1913: Watson declared war◦ Dealt solely with observable behavior◦ Rejected mentalistic concepts ◦ Goal: prediction and control of behavior

◦ 1924: Watsonian behaviorism preeminent in US

Watsonian behaviorism Watson said that any existence of a mental life is false. Thus, he argued that mental activity could be observed. Watson called language a “manipulative habit.” Watson also uses an experiment that he and his wife conducted, where they conditioned a baby to say “da-da” when he wanted his bottle. "Twelve infants" quotation.

“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I

might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I

am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.” 

Neo-behaviorism 2nd form of behaviorism

◦ Skinner (Tolman, Hull)

The rat as an important research subject◦ Assumption that one could generalize from rats to other animals and humans

◦ Simple, easy to study, readily available

Dealt only with observable behavior

No presumptions about internal entities◦ The “empty organism” approach◦ Internal physiological and mental events exist but not useful to science

Skinner advocated a system with no theoretical framework◦ Not averse to all theorizing◦ Warned against premature theorizing◦ Large numbers of subjects / statistics not necessary

Skinner’s behaviorism

Criticisms of Skinner’s behaviorism

◦ His extreme view that only observable behavior

could be studied◦ His opposition to theory◦ His willingness to extrapolate beyond the data

to possible real life solutions◦ The narrow range of behavior studied◦ His position that all behaviors are learned

Socio-behaviorism: the cognitive challenge Socio-behaviorism

◦ Combination of behaviorism and cognitive theory◦ Studies humans in social situations◦ The third form of behaviorism

Albert Bandura (1925-)

Social cognitive theory◦ Research focus: observation of the behavior of humans in interaction

◦ Emphasizes the role of reinforcement in learning and behavior modification

◦ Reinforcer effective if◦ Person is consciously aware of what is being reinforced◦ Person anticipates the same reinforcer if the behavior is repeated

Vicarious reinforcement◦ learning by watching other people’s behavior◦ seeing the consequences of their behavior

◦ Assumption: Humans anticipate outcomes◦ Behavior can be regulated by

◦ Imagining consequences, and◦ Making a conscious selection of the behavior to manifest

Albert Bandura (1925-)

◦ Greater emphasis on cognitive processes than Bandura

◦ Four cognitive principles determine behaviors◦ Expectation of amount and kind of reinforcement

◦ Estimation of probability the behavior will lead to a particular reinforcement

◦ Differential values of reinforcers and assessment of their relative worth

◦ Different people place different values on the same reinforcer

Julian Rotter (1916-)

The fate of behaviorism Cognitive challenge to behaviorism from within modified the behaviorist movement

Socio-behaviorists still consider themselves behaviorists ◦ Are contrasted with radical behaviorists like Watson and skinner who do not deal with presumed internal states◦ Skinnerian behaviorism peaked in the 1980s◦ Declined after skinner’s death in 1990

Today’s behaviorism, particularly in applied psychology, is different from forms it took from 1913 (Watson) to 1990 (Skinner)

In an evolutionary sense, the spirit of behaviorism still lives.

Behaviorism in a nutshellLearning is defined by the outward expression of new behaviorsFocuses solely on observable behaviorsA biological basis for learning Learning is context-independentClassical & Operant ConditioningReflexes (Pavlov’s Dogs)Feedback/Reinforcement (Skinner’s Pigeon Box)

Behaviorism in the ClassroomRewards and punishments

Responsibility for student learning rests squarely with the teacher

Lecture-based, highly structured

Behaviorism (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974).

Skinner, B. F.: About behaviorism. New York: Knopf, 1974.

Zuriff, G.: Behaviorism: A Conceptual Reconstruction. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985

Descriptive behaviorism versus cognitive theory in verbal operant conditioning. Spielberger, Charles D.; Denike, L. Douglas Psychological Review, Vol 73(4), Jul 1966, 306-326.

http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htm

References