Behaviorism Key Ideas

Deterministic- The way you act is determined by external stimuli provided by the culture in which you live.Observable- Over time the individual develops a “behavioral repertoire” (Steinberg, 1980) that can be used to predict behavior.Controllable- Desirable behaviors can be brought about by incentives; undesirable behaviors can be eradicated by consequences or punishment.

John B. Watson Watson changed the focus of psychology from introspection, to environmentalism.The principles of learning would account for the largest share of behavioral development and are exercised almost exclusively through environmental learning opportunities provided for children. (reflected in cultural diversity & learning studies)

John B. WatsonHe believed that environmental shaping of behavior began prenatally, and focused his studies on infants and children. He demonstrated the conditioned response in the case of “Little Albert”(Watson, 1925), who was exposed to an alarming noise and a rat at the same time, and developed not only a fear of rats, but transferred the fear to all furry objects.

John B. Watson

Credited with “Definitional standards for stimuli and response and criteria for making objective and reliable observations can be traced back to Watson and continue to characterize acceptable investigatory practices today.”(Horowitz, 1992)

E.L. ThorndikeFirst scientific theory of learning- Theory of Connectionism

 Comprehensive analogy of human learning- Three volume work, Educational Psychology ( 1913a, 1913b, 1914 )

 Initial work with animal learning in laboratory setting- cat in box experiment”

 

Thorndike’s Theory of Connectionism

Law of Effect 

If Situation + Response is followed by a positive consequence then the connection between the Situation + Response is strengthened.

 If Situation + Response is followed by a negative consequence then the connection between the Situation + Response is weakened.

In Thorndike’s words:“When a modifiable connection between an situation and a response is made and is accompanied or followed by a satisfying state of affairs, that connection’s strength is increased: When made or accompanied or followed by an annoying state of affairs, the strength is decreased.” (Thorndike, 1913b) Note: Thorndike(1932) later modified the Law of Effect when research showed that while positive consequences strengthened connections, negative consequences did not necessarily weaken them.

“Spare the reward, spoil the child” by E.L. Thorndike

The Big IdeaConsequences of behavior effect behavior, responses resulting in satisfying consequences are learned.

Behavioral theories explain learning in terms of environmental events.

Operant Conditioning

As an organism is operating in its environment, it happens upon a reinforcing stimulus, or reinforcer. This reinforcer then causes the organism to continue the operant, or event that occurred right before the stimulus. If an operant is no longer followed by a reinforcer, extinction of the operant behavior will occur.

InventionsOperant conditioning chamber or “Skinner Boxes”- rats would press on a bar to receive a food (positive reinforcement), or could be set up to give an electric shock (negative reinforcement).

- pigeons would peck to receive food if a light was on, but not receive food when a light was off.Extinction of the operant behavior occurs when you stop giving the rat a food pellet as a reward for pushing the pedal.Cumulative recorder –records the rate of response of the animal in the operant conditioning chamberAir Crib – a crib that maintained constant temperature and humidity, easy to clean.

Operant Conditioning Chambers

Schedules of ReinforcementContinuous Reinforcement – every time the rat does the correct behavior, it is reinforced with food.

Fixed Ratio Schedule – there is a fixed ratio between correct behaviors and reinforcement, i.e., 5 pedal pushes to one food pellet.

Fixed Interval Schedule – rat can push the pedal at least once or possibly many more of times per every 30 seconds, but will get only one food pellet.

Variable Schedules – variable ratio means you change the amount of pedal pushes needed to receive the food pellet, and variable interval means you change the time period.

Shaping

Shaping can be used to help an animal to behave in a manner that it would never do in its ordinary daily patterns.Shaping occurs when a reward is given if the animal does a behavior that is even slightly close to the desired behavior. Then, as the animal continues to exhibit the behavior that closer and closer resembles the desired action, rewards are given. Eventually, the desired behavior will exist. (ie. Pigeons that bowl or play ping pong.)

Learning Hierarchies:

Learning is a process; you must know and understand lower level skills before advancing to higher level skills.  Therefore to teach a skill a teacher must first identify its prerequisite skills and make sure that the students posses them.

Robert M. GagneThe 9 Events of Instruction: These guidelines will allow teachers to reach optimal conditions of

learning: Gaining Attention Informing the learner of the objective Stimulating recall of prerequisite learning Presenting new material Providing learning guidance Eliciting performance Providing feedback about correctness Assessing performance Enhancing retention and recall