Download Learning Approach (Behaviorist Model)

Learning Approach (Behaviorist
Model)
Environment! Environment Is Everything!
Does NOT focus on
•Personality
•Drives
•Motivators
•Feelings (although they recognize fear and anxiety)
•Thought processes (like memory)
Parsimony
• The simplest explanation of behavior is the
best.
• (This opposes Freud and people that search
for ‘deeper meaning’ or people that study
feelings/motivations etc…)
Thorndike’s law of effect
• An organism will perform a behavior if the
effect is pleasing (satisfying) to the
organism.
• Learning depends on the behavior and its
consequences.
• Does not explain WHY behaviors are
satisfying or unsatisfying.
John B. Watson
• Said that he could make an infant develop
into anything he wanted by shaping the
environment.
• Said that LEARNING IS THE PRIMARY
INFLUENCE on behavior.
Reflexes
• Can’t control them. Physiological (body)
responses.
• Pupils dilate
• Jump/startle response
Classical Conditioning
• A body response to a stimulus that is not
common or biological…
• The response is a ‘reflex’ or PHYSICAL
response.
Classical Conditioning
• Bad smell: reflex at first… avoidance or
fear after…
• Wasp sting: reflex at first… avoidance or
fear after…
• Large group presentation: reflexes might be
quiet voice… blurred vision… breathing
troubles… these lead to avoidance or
anxiety.
Operant conditioning.
• A BEHAVIOR that results from a stimulus.
The organism has a choice to do the
behavior.
Schedules of reinforcement
tomorrow!