the behaviourist orientation to learning

the behaviourist orientation tolearning

The behaviourist movement in psychology has looked tothe use of experimental procedures to study behaviour inrelation to the environment.

John B. Watson, who is generally credited as the first behaviourist,argued that the inner experiences that were the focus of psychologycould not be properly studied as they were not observable. Insteadhe turned to laboratory experimentation. The result was thegeneration of the stimulus-response model. In this the environmentis seen as providing stimuli to which individuals develop responses.

In essence three key assumptions underpin this view:

Observable behaviour rather than internal thought processesare the focus of study. In particular, learning is manifested bya change in behaviour.

The environment shapes one's behaviour; what one learns isdetermined by the elements in the environment, not by theindividual learner.

The principles of contiguity (how close in time two events mustbe for a bond to be formed) and reinforcement (any means ofincreasing the likelihood that an event will be repeated) arecentral to explaining the learning process. (Merriam andCaffarella 1991: 126)

Researchers like Edward L. Thorndike build upon these foundationsand, in particular, developed a S-R (stimulus-response) theory oflearning. He noted that that responses (or behaviours) werestrengthened or weakened by the consequences of behaviour. Thisnotion was refined by Skinner and is perhaps better known asoperant conditioning - reinforcing what you want people to do again;ignoring or punish what you want people to stop doing.

In terms of learning, according to James Hartley (1998) four keyprinciples come to the fore:

Activity is important. Learning is better when the learner isactive rather than passive. ('Learning by doing' is to beapplauded).

Repetition, generalization and discrimination are importantnotions. Frequent practice - and practice in varied contexts - isnecessary for learning to take place. Skills are not acquiredwithout frequent practice.

Reinforcement is the cardinal motivator. Positive reinforcerslike rewards and successes are preferable to negative eventslike punishments and failures.

Learning is helped when objectives are clear. Those who lookto behaviourism in teaching will generally frame theiractivities by behavioural objectives e.g. 'By the end of thissession participants will be able to...'. With this comes aconcern with competencies and product approaches tocurriculum.

See, also: · learning · the behaviourist orientation to learning · the cognitiveorientation to learning · the humanistic orientation to learning · thesocial/situational orientation to learning ·

References

Hartley, J. (1998) Learning and Studying. A research perspective,London: Routledge.

Hergenhahn, B. R. and Olson, M. H. (1997) An Introduction toTheories of Learning 5e, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Merriam, S. and Caffarella (1991, 1998) Learning in Adulthood. Acomprehensive guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Skinner, B. F. (1973) Beyond Freedom and Dignity, London:Penguin.

Tennant, M. (1988, 1997) Psychology and Adult Learning, London:Routledge.

Watson, J. B. (1913) 'Psychology as the behavourist views it',Psychological review 20: 158.

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© Mark K. Smith 1999

the cognitive orientation tolearning

Where behaviourists looked to the environment, thosedrawing on Gestalt turned to the individual's mentalprocesses. In other words, they were concerned withcognition - the act or process of knowing.

Many psychologists were not happy with behaviourism. There was abelief among some that there was too much of a focus on singleevents, stimuli and overt behaviour. Such criticism was especiallystrong from those who saw themselves as Gestalt psychologists(Gestalt meaning configuration or pattern in German). For them,perceptions or images should be approached as a pattern or a wholerather than as a sum of the component parts. Such thinking found itsway into psychoanalysis and into the development of thinking aboutgroup functioning (perhaps most famously in the work of KurtLewin). It also had a profound effect on the way that manypsychologists thought of learning. Where behaviourists looked to theenvironment, those drawing on Gestalt turned to the individual'smental processes. In other words, they were concerned withcognition - the act or process of knowing.

Researchers like Jean Piaget, while recognizing the contribution ofenvironment, explored changes in internal cognitive structure. Heidentified four stages of mental growth (sensorimotor,preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational).Jerome Bruner explored how mental processes could be linked toteaching (emphasizing, among other things, learning throughdiscovery). Robert M. Gagné developed a model that highlightedeight different forms of learning - behaviourists identifying only afragment of human capabilities.

James Hartley (1998) has usefully drawn out some of the keyprinciples of learning associated with cognitive psychology. As heputs it: 'Learning results from inferences, expectations and makingconnections. Instead of acquiring habits, learners acquire plans andstrategies, and prior knowledge is important' (1998: 18). Theprinciples he identifies are:

Instruction should be well-organized. Well-organized

materials easier to learn and to remember.

Instruction should be clearly structured. Subject matters are

said to have inherent structures - logical relationships between

key ideas and concepts - which link the parts together.

The perceptual features of the task are important. Learners

attend selectively to different aspects of the environment.

Thus, the way a problem is displayed is important if learners

are to understand it.

Prior knowledge is important. Things must fit with what is

already known if it is to be learnt.

Differences between individuals are important as they will

affect learning. Differences in 'cognitive style' or methods of

approach influence learning.

Cognitive feedback gives information to learners about their

success or failure concerning the task at hand. Reinforcement

can come through giving information - a 'knowledge of results'

- rather than simply a reward.


References

Bruner, J. (1960, 1977) The Process of Education, Cambridge Ma.:Harvard University Press.

Gagné, R. M. (1985) The Conditions of Learning 4e, New York: Holt,Rinehart and Winston.

Hartley, J. (1998) Learning and Studying. A research perspective,London: Routledge.


Piaget, J. (1926) The Child's Conception of the World, London:Routledge and Kegan Paul. It is difficult to know which of Piaget's 50or more books to choose here - but this and The Origin ofIntelligence in Children are classic starting points. H. E. Gruber andJ. J. Voneche (1977) The Essential Piaget: an interpretativereference and guide, London is good collection. See, also, M. A.Boden's (1979) Piaget, London: Fontana for a succinct introduction.


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humanistic orientations tolearning

In this orientation the basic concern is for human growth.We look to the work of Maslow and Rogers as expressionsof this approach.

A great deal of the theoretical writing about adult education in the1970s and 1980s drew on humanistic psychology. In this orientationthe basic concern is for the human potential for growth. As MarkTennant notes, the concern with ‘self’ is ‘a hallmark of humanisticpsychology’ (1997: 12). There was a reaction against ‘scientific’reductionism – people being treated as objects and rationalism.Instead the affective and subjective world was to be reaffirmed.Personal freedom, choice, motivations and feelings had to have theirplace.

Perhaps the best known example is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy ofmotivation. At the lowest level are physiological needs, at the highestself actualization. Only when the lower needs are met is it possible tofully move on to the next level. A motive at the lower level is alwaysstronger than those at higher levels. Tennant (1997) summarizesthese as follows:

Level one: Physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, sex, sleep,

relaxation and bodily integrity must be satisfied before the next level

comes into play.

Level two: Safety needs call for a predictable and orderly world. Ifthese are not satisfied people will look to organize their worlds toprovide for the greatest degree of safety and security. If satisfied,people will come under the force of level three.

Level three: Love and belonginess needs cause people to seek warmand friendly relationships.

Level four: Self-esteem needs involve the desire for strength,achievement, adequacy, mastery and competence. They also involveconfidence, independence, reputation and prestige.

Level five: Self-actualization is the full use and expression of talents,capacities and potentialities.

Self actualizers are able to submit to social regulation without losingtheir own integrity or personal independence; that is they mayfollow a social norm without their horizons being bounded in thesense that they fail to see or consider other possibilities. They mayon occasion transcend the socially prescribed ways of acting.Achieving this level may mean developing to the full stature of whichthey are capable. (Tennant 1997: 13)

Learning can, thus, be seen as a form of self-actualization, itcontributes to psychological health (Sahakian 1984 in Merriam andCaffarella 1991: 133). Yet while self actualization may seen as theprimary goal, other goals (linked to the other stages) are alsoaround. These include a sense of accomplishment and thecontrolling of impulses (Maslow 1970: 439)

Much criticism has been levelled at this model. For example,

Do lower needs really have to be satisfied before higher onescome into play? People may well put physiological needs onone side to satisfy the need for love, for example.

Are we all propelled to the sorts of qualities that Maslowidentifies with ‘self actualization’? To what extent are thesequalities culturally-specific?

The idea of a hierarchy of needs, the identifying of different needs,and the notion of self-actualization did, however, exert a powerfulhold over adult education writers like Malcolm Knowles. Humanisticpsychology’s positive view of people and their ability to control theirown destiny, and the seemingly unlimited possibilities for individualdevelopment provided some hope for educators.

Perhaps the most persuasive exploration of a humanistic orientationto learning came from Carl Rogers. His passion for education thatengaged with the whole person and with their experiences; forlearning that combines the logical and intuitive, the intellect andfeelings; found a ready audience. ‘When we learn in that way’, hesaid, ‘we are whole, utilizing all our masculine and femininecapacities’ (1983 20). He saw the following elements as beinginvolved in significant or experiential learning.

It has a quality of personal involvement—the whole person inboth feeling and cognitive aspects being in the learning event.

It is self-initiated. Even when the impetus or stimulus comesfrom the outside, the sense of discovers of reaching out, ofgrasping and comprehending, comes from within.

It is pervasive. It makes a difference in the behaviour, theattitudes, perhaps even the personality of the learner.

It is evaluated by the learner. She knows whether it is meetingher need, whether it leads toward what she wants to know,whether it illuminates the dark area of ignorance she isexperiencing. The locus of evaluation, we might say, residesdefinitely in the learner.

Its essence is meaning. When such learning takes place, theelement of meaning to the learner is built into the wholeexperience. (Rogers (1983: 20)


References

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.:Prentice Hall.

Maslow, A. (1968) Towards a Psychology of Being 2e, New York:Van Nostrand. See, also, A . Maslow (1970) Motivation andPersonality 2e, New York: Harper and Row.


Rogers, C. and Freiberg, H. J. (1993) Freedom to Learn (3rd edn.),New York: Merrill. . See, also, H. Kirschenbaum and V. L.Henderson (eds.) (1990) The Carl Rogers Reader, London:Constable.


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the social/situationalorientation to learning

It is not so much that learners acquire structures or modelsto understand the world, but they participate inframeworks that that have structure. Learning involvesparticipation in a community of practice.

Social learning theory 'posits that people learn from observing otherpeople. By definition, such observations take place in a social setting'(Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 134). Within psychology, initially itwas behaviourists who looked to how people learned throughobservation. Later researchers like Albert Bandura looked tointeraction and cognitive processes. One thing that observation doesis to allow people to see the consequences of other’s behaviours.They can gain some idea of what might flow from acting in this wayor that.

Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous,if people ha d to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to

inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior islearned observationally through modeling: from observing othersone forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on lateroccasion s this coded information serves as a guide for action.(Bandura 1977: 22)

Attending to a behaviour; remembering it as a possible model orparadigm; and playing out how it may work for them in differentsituations (rehearsal) are key aspects of observational learning.

Symbols retained from a modelling experience act as a template withwhich one’s actions are compared. During this rehearsal processindividuals observe their own behaviour and compare to theircognitive representation of modelled experience. (Hergenhahn 1988quoted in Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 135)

In this model behaviour results from the interaction of theindividual with the environment.

A more radical model - situated learning - has been put forward byLave and Wenger (1991). Rather than looking to learning as theacquisition of certain forms of knowledge, they have tried to place itin social relationships – situations of co-participation. As William F.Hanks puts it in his introduction to their book: ‘Rather than askingwhat kind of cognitive processes and conceptual structures areinvolved, they ask what kinds of social engagements provide theproper context for learning to take place’ (1991: 14). It not so muchthat learners acquire structures or models to understand the world,but they participate in frameworks that that have structure. Learninginvolves participation in a community of practice.

Lave and Wenger illustrate their theory on observations of differentapprenticeships (Yucatec midwives, Vai and Gola tailors, US Navyquartermasters, meat-cutters, and non-drinking alcoholics inAlcoholics Anonymous). Initially people have to join communitiesand learn at the periphery. As they become more competent theymove more to the ‘centre’ of the particular community. Learning is,thus, not seen as the acquisition of knowledge by individuals somuch as a process of social participation. The nature of the situationimpacts significantly on the process.

Learners inevitably participate in communities of practitionersand… the mastery of knowledge and skill requires newcomers tomove toward full participation in the sociocultural practices of acommunity. "Legitimate peripheral participation" provides a way tospeak about the relations between newcomers and old-timers, and

about activities, identities, artefacts, and communities of knowledgeand practice. A person’s intentions to learn are engaged and themeaning of learning is configured through the process of becoming afull participant in a sociocultural practice. This social process,includes, indeed it subsumes, the learning of knowledgeable skills.(Lave and Wenger 1991: 29)

In this there is a concern with identity, with learning to speak, actand improvise in ways that make sense in the community. What ismore, and in contrast with learning as internalization, ‘learning asincreasing participation in communities of practice concerns thewhole person acting in the world’ (Lave and Wenger 1991: 49). Thefocus is on the ways in which learning is ‘an evolving, continuouslyrenewed set of relations’ (ibid.: 50). In other words, this is arelational view of the person and learning.

As Tennant (1997: 77) argues, this orientation has the definiteadvantage of drawing attention to the need to understand knowledgeand learning in context. However, situated learning depends on twoclaims:

It makes no sense to talk of knowledge that isdecontextualized, abstract or general.

New knowledge and learning are properly conceived as beinglocated in communities of practice (op cit.).

Questions can be raised about both of these claims. It may be thatlearning can occur that is seemingly unrelated to context or lifesituation. Second, there may situations where the community ofpractice is weak or exhibits power relationships that seriously inhibitentry and participation.

This said, the idea of situated learning does provide significantpointers for practice. Here I want to highlight three:

Learning is in the relationships between people – AsMcDermott (in Murphy 1999:17) puts it:

Learning traditionally gets measured as on the assumption that it isa possession of individuals that can be found inside their heads…[Here] learning is in the relationships between people. Learning is inthe conditions that bring people together and organize a point ofcontact that allows for particular pieces of information to take on arelevance; without the points of contact, without the system of

relevancies, there is not learning, and there is little memory.Learning does not belong to individual persons, but to the variousconversations of which they are a part.

Educators work so that people can become participants incommunities of practice – they need to explore with people incommunities how all may participate to the full. There is astrong link here with the long-standing concern amonginformal educators for association.

There is an intimate connection between knowledge andactivity - Learning is part of daily living. Problem solving andlearning from experience become central processes (althoughsitutated learning is not the same as ‘learning by doing’ – seeTennant 1997: 73).

Other psychologists have looked beyond the focus on humaninteraction to the geography or terrain of learning. 'People appear tothink in conjunction or partnership with others and with the help ofculturally provided tools and implements' (Salomon 1993: xiii). Inother words, there is a need to explore the extent to which learning(or intelligence) lies in the resources to which people have access.These might be obvious resources like libraries and internet access,but it can also involve the use of tools like pencils and pens. In thisview, as Gardner (1999: 24) puts it, 'intelligence is better thought ofas "distributed" in the world rather than "in the head"'. Some ofthose advocating the importance of distributed cognition place astronger focus on distribution than others. They argue that while theindividual is significant, psychological analysis should focus on thejoint, socially mediated activity in a cultural context (see Salomon1993: xv for a discusssion). Others, like Salomon and Gardner, arguethat '"solo" and distributed cognitions are still distinguishable fromeach other and are taken to be in an interdependent dynamicinteraction (ibid.: xvi).

See, also: · learning· the behaviourist orientation to learning · the cognitiveorientation to learning · the humanistic orientation to learning · thesocial/situational orientation to learning

References

Bandura, A. (1977) Social Learning Theory, Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice Hall.

Gardner, H. (1993) Intelligence Reframed. Multiple intelligences forthe 21st century, New York: Basic Books.

Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning. Legitimateperipheral participation, Cambridge: University of CambridgePress.


Murphy, P. (ed.) (1999) Learners, Learning and Assessment,London: Paul Chapman. See, also, Leach, J. and Moon, B. (eds.)(1999) Learners and Pedagogy, London: Paul Chapman. 280 + viiipages; and McCormick, R. and Paetcher, C. (eds.) (1999) Learningand Knowledge, London: Paul Chapman. 254 + xiv pages.

Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education,London: Routledge.

Salomon, G. (ed.) (1993) Distributed Cognitions. Psychological andeducational considerations, Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.


Tennant, M. and Pogson, P. (1995) Learning and Change in theAdult Years. A developmental perspective, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Wenger, E. (1999) Communities of Practice. Learning, meaning andidentity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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the behaviourist orientation to learning

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learners acquire structures

cambridge university press

learning involves participation

social learning theory

mental processes

cognitive processes

distributed cognitions