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Theories of Human 1
Running Head: THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Theories of Human Development and Classroom Relevancy: Classical and Operant
Conditioning, and Social Cognitive Learning Theory
Dorothy Strater
University of Phoenix Online
Psychology 538
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Theories of Human Development and Classroom Relevancy: Classical and Operant
Conditioning, and Social Cognitive Learning Theory
Introduction
There are several theories of human development. This paper will describe two of
these theories: Classical and Operant Conditioning, and Bandura’s Social Cognitive
Learning Theory. Each of these theories takes on a behaviorist point-of-view. Bandura’s
theory goes a step further to incorporate cognitive theories as well. These theories are
extremely useful as different behavior modification and teaching techniques. The
following sections will outline the basic concepts of each model. This is followed by a
discussion of the practical uses. Finally, the conclusions section will summarize and
discuss the pro’s and con’s of each theory.
Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning
Pavlov introduced the theory of classical conditioning. The theory is basically
this: You start with a behavior that is a consequence of the presentation of something
(e.g. food and salivation). Then you add a new thing (e.g. a bell) for several trials while
the first thing (food) is presented. Eventually, this new thing (the bell) may become so
strongly associated that it has the power to produce the old behavior (salivation). Pavlov
determined that there are four parts to such a lesson: unconditioned stimuli,
unconditioned responses, conditioned stimuli, and conditioned responses. The
unconditioned stimulus is the first thing, the food, the original cause for the behavior. The
unconditioned response is the behavior that is caused by the first thing, salivation when
the food is presented. The conditioned stimulus is the new thing that is introduced, the
bell; the thing that they are trying to make provoke the behavior. The conditioned
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response is the development of the same response to the new stimulus, salivation that is
caused by hearing the bell (when the food is not presented).
On the other hand, operant conditioning is a change in behavior that is caused by
the reinforcement of that behavior (praising a child for doing something well). The
reinforcements could be any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response
when it is withdrawn, whether it is a positive or negative reinforcement.
Bandura’s Social Cognitive and Learning Theory
Bandura suggests that learning is conducted through observing and modeling the
behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura (1977) states:
Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had
to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do.
Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling:
from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and
on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. (p. 22)
According to his theory, some important characteristics that stimulate learning are:
• Attention and observer characteristics (how much the observer can understand, how
interested the observer is, and past reinforcement)
• Retention, including mental association and organization
• Rehearsal or practice, both mentally and physically
• Motivation/Consequences, both observed (when others perform task) and
experienced
• Physical capabilities
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Bandura also includes in his theory the concept that people influence and create their own
environment. A difficult baby who cries a lot is going to make his or her caregiver
frustrated, because they have to work harder to calm the baby, so the caregiver might be
more reluctant to comfort the baby. Since Bandura includes attention, memory, and
motivation in his theory, it can be categorized as both cognitive and behavioral.
An example would be my three year old son reverting back to baby behavior since
his brother was born. He sees me pick up Xavier (his baby brother) and give him a lot of
attention every time he cries. So when Griffin is not getting enough attention from me, he
has starts to act like a baby –crying, wetting his pants, etc. Bandura calls that learning
through vicarious reinforcement. He sees someone else get rewarded for a certain
behavior, so he adopts that behavior as well.
Clinical Applications
There are several clinical applications of both theories. One example of using
conditioning is to train dogs with treats and a “clicker”. To train a dog to sit, for example,
nestle a treat in one hand. You take the treat hand, hold it above the dog’s nose, and move
it back and downward motion. He (or she) will naturally follow the treat backwards and
down, and end up sitting. As soon as his/her hind end touches the ground, you give him
the treat. He associates sitting with the treat and will eventually sit when he sees the treat.
That part of the lesson is operant conditioning (using the reward causes the dog to sit).
The next part of this lesson is classical conditioning, because it will associate a clicker
with the reward (the treat), and thus cause the dog to sit. The way you would use a clicker
is start with a treat nestled in one hand like before, and a clicker in the other hand (hidden
behind your back or in your pocket so you do not distract the dog). Get the dog to sit
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several times with the treat, and click the clicker when you give him the treat. Then,
remove the treat from the lesson and just click the clicker and the dog will sit.
An example of an application of Bandura’s theory is using a model of a person
overcoming a phobia to help someone else overcome the same phobia. Bandura actually
did experiments where people with snake phobias watched other people who pretended to
be afraid of snakes (the participants knew that these people were just pretending to be
afraid) gradually get closer and closer to the snakes. The participants who watched the
process tried it themselves and many were successful in over coming their fears by
following the process demonstrated by the actors (Bandura, 1977).
Conclusion
Table 1 displays a brief summary of each theory of human development that is
covered in this paper. The drawbacks of each of these theories are that they leave out the
unconscious, subconscious, biological and physical roles in development.
Table 1. Learning Theory Summaries Learning Style Summary
Classical Conditioning Uses a series of stimuli and responses. Old behavior is brought forth by a new stimulus through association.
Operant Conditioning Learning from the consequences of behavior (reinforcement).
Social Cognitive Behavior is learned through modeling other’s behaviors and
observing the consequences of one’s own and other people’s
behaviors (vicarious reinforcement). We think about what we
saw, we evaluate it, and vary our responses accordingly. We
affect our environment as well as learn from it.
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References
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.