Download CI 512: Learning Theory Summaries 001.T/Th.AM Behaviorists 1

CI 512: Learning Theory Summaries
001.T/Th.AM
Behaviorists
1.
Name of Theory and Key Theorists
-Behaviorism
-Skinner (Operant Conditiong), Thorndike, Pavlov/Watson (Classical Conditioning),
Bandura (Social Cognitive Theory)
2.
What does it mean to Learn?
-To adopt a new relatively enduring behavior / A change in behavior
Pavlov/Watson - a learned reflex to a certain stimulus
Skinner - action that result in certain reinforcements
3.
How do we learn?
-Watson: We are capable of anything regardless of who our ancestors are.
Claims that Nurture (environment) is everything.
“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.”
(Watson, 1925, p.82). Behaviorism. New York: Norton.
Pavlov/Watson vs. Skinner: “Operant Conditioning is different from Classical Conditioning in
that the behaviors studied in Classical Conditioning are reflexive (for example, salivating).
However, the behaviors studied and governed by the principles of Operant Conditioning are nonreflexive (for example, gambling). So, compared to Classical Conditioning, Operant
Conditioning attempts to predict non-reflexive, more complex behaviors, and the conditions in
which they will occur. In addition, Operant Conditioning deals with behaviors that are performed
so that the organism can obtain reinforcement”
(http://www.alleydog.com/101notes/conditioning.html)
4.
What is the role of the learner? Active - Passive
The role of the learner is passive (responding to the environment).
5.
What is the role of the teacher? Authority/Director - Facilitator/Guide - Consultant
The role of the teacher is to observe and either reward or punish the learner depending on the
behaviors performed. For the behavior to continue the teacher needs to reinforce the response
intermittently so that the learner cannot know when they will be reinforced. Teachers are
essentially behavior modifiers.
6.
What characterizes the learning activities that would be seen in the classroom?
In the classroom, we see this learning theory practices by rewarding correct answers with
immediate positive feedback. If the correct answer is given, the learner can move on to the next
item, “but if the answer is wrong, a ‘remedial’ example or question is presented. As Skinner
pointed out, the machine only presents material that the student is ready to learn (in the sense that
the student got right all the steps that went before). The right answer, and ‘the machine, like a
private tutor, reinforces the student for every correct response, using this immediate feedback not
only to shape his behavior most efficiently but to maintain it in strength” (28). During a lesson,
we an educator can use behaviorism as motivation to understand difficult concepts in a subject
area. “To get students to respond, I will positively reinforce any answers that are remotely close.
Students are praised for their effort and willingness to answer. (social rewards, Mayer p 249.)
As the day or lesson goes on, the answers or responses need to be more accurate to receive
reinforcement. In this example, the stimulus (S) is the encouragement or words of praise, the
response (R) is the students hand being raised, and the reinforcers are the continued praise and
encouragement” (Brad Frey, Lesson 3,
http://www.google.com/search?q=classroom+examples+of+operant+conditioning&ie=utf8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a). Classic conditioning
would place more emphasis on the stimulus, where as operant conditioning focuses more on the
reflex/reaction to enhance learning in the classroom.
7.
žWhat are the ‘buzz words’ – key terminology – associated with the theory?
Nature: We are who we are based off of our genetics.
Nurture: We are who we are based upon our upbringing.
Classical conditioning: (Watson) A simple form of learning in which a stimulus that initially
had no effect of the individual comes to elicit a response through its association with a stimulus
that already elicits the response.
Operant Conditioning: (Skinner) A learner’s behavior becomes either more or less probable
depending on the consequences it produces.
Positive Reinforcement: (Skinner) Something added to a situation to reinforce an action.
Negative Reinforcement: occurs when a behavioral tendency is strengthened when something
negative or unpleasant is removed from the situation or escaped or avoided after the behavior
occurs
Negative Punishment - occurs when something unpleasant is removed from the situation
following the behavior
Human agency: (Bandura) Ways in which people deliberately exercise cognitive control over
themselves, their environments, and their lives. (For Lukas)
8.
What do the critics say?
a) Skinner’s view on the nature of science was narrow
b) Models are inadequate to explain phenomena met in linguistics
c) Does not take into account cognition (neuroscience)
d) Methods do not explain how animals behave in their natural environment
(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/#2)
-Bandura Claims that humans are cognitive beings whose active precessing of information
plays a critical role in their learning, behavior, and development. (Social cognitive theory, 1977,
1986, 1989, 2000, 2006)
1
Cognitivism: Jerome Bruner, Joseph Schwab,
Paul Hirst
Gestalt, Wolfgang Kohler
2
-Information processing
-Computer metaphor
Learning a skill set now that can be applied to
future situations. (Human construction designed to
make sense of experience)
To learn something is to understand it in a way that
permits many other things to be related to it
meaningfully.
Learning things now by understanding the structure
of the subject matter so that the student will be able
to use the knowledge in the future.
To learn is to mentally and/or
physically manipulate meaningful
elements until a mental connection
can be made between all of them.
3
Both through our cognitive abilities and our social
setting. We build on our experiences and test new
theories/skills and continue to apply and develop
our skill set.
We learn by making connections between
information--an example they used was like
cataloguing information in a library, making sure
everything is cross referenced to that when it is
needed, it can be accessed through multiple
mediums.
We are able to learn because our
eyes and ears can see and hear
wholes and patterns. The physics of
our nervous system allows insight,
and then learning, to occur.
4
I’m going to say closer to active.
The learner is active, making connections between
what they know and what they are learning.
The learner takes on a very active
role.
5
The teacher is like a guide to help students make
mental connections between what they know and
what they are “learning”.
The teacher is a facilitator to the student, asking
questions that aid the student in connecting what
they know with the new material.
From the example, the teacher’s only
job is to make sure the students
have all the elements to make their
own connection needed for learning.
6
Experiments/problems that build on each other.
Start with a known piece of information and
students are asked further questions that can be
deduced from and drawn upon from that initial
knowledge.
Problems, examples and experiments designed to
engage the student as well as help them gain
perspective (understand the structure) of the
The student would be given all the
pieces needed to solve a problem
and the end result would be
understood. But the teacher would
not assist the student any further in
finding a solution.
material.
7
Mental maps
Webbing, structure, network,
Short term to long term memory
8
It is not clear that a discipline has one, well-defined
structure.
Not all subject areas fit into the “structure model” of
learning/organization. The separation of
concepts from methodology within each subject-the authors argue that they are too intertwined for
that to happen let alone be an effective educational
tool.
“organization”, “configuration”,
“meaningful patterns”, “organized
wholes”, Aha Moment
Psychological Constructivist – Piaget
2. What does it mean to Learn?
● Learning is constructing cognitive structures.
● Accommodation and assimilation of new ideas leads to new structures/schema.
● At any time in the process of building cognitive structures (growing up), children
interact and react to things that they have come across before. If it is something
new there will be a “disequilibration” and the child will have to build new cognitive
structures to gain equilibrium again.
3. How do we learn?
● We learn in stages.
● Sensorimotor stage happens from birth to about two years old. This involved
actively exploring the environment around you, internalize the environment and
how it reacts to your actions.
● The preoperational stage happens from ages two to seven. There is no abstract
thought at this stage. Children have difficulty understanding things that are not in
front of them and making observations about anything that is not on the surface.
(I like the ball of clay example).
● The concrete operation’s stage happens from seven to eleven. Logical
structures are constructed. Children are able to have more abstract thought.
● The formal operations stage happens from eleven to fourteen or fifteen. Children
will interact with their environment in a way that there cognitive structure has
done in the past.
● Post-formal thought relates to wisdom.
4. What is the role of the learner? Active - Passive
● Learners play an active role.
● They are responsible for building the cognitive structure with the information
given to them and through their experiences, and no teacher can implant the new
schema.
● Contrast to social constructivism where learner and teacher are both responsible
(social dimension).
5. What is the role of the teacher? Authority/Director - Facilitator/Guide - Consultant
● Teacher is a facilitator/director.
● Teacher presents challenges to student’s equilibrium that relate to developing
interests of learner.
● Teachers ask questions and guide the student through solving the problem they
are faced with.
6. What characterizes the learning activities that would be seen in the classroom?
● Classroom activities are more like workshops and group activities that are
student lead and teacher supervised.
● The teacher explains the goal of the lesson, gives the students the tools needed
and then lets them manipulate their environment to solve the problem and gain
knowledge.
7. What are the ‘buzz words’ – key terminology – associated with the theory?
● Adaptation: Adapting to the world through assimilation and accommodation.
● Assimilation: Taking material into their mind from the environment and changing
or building new cognitive structures to fit into the environment.
● Accommodation: The changes made to ones mind by assimilating. Assimilation
and Accommodation go together. You can’t have one without the other.
● Classification: Grouping things together by common features.
● Class inclusion: Understanding that some groups of objects can be sub-sets of a
larger classificaton.
● Conservation: Realizing that some objects stay the same even when they look
different.
● Egocentrism: An early stage in development and belief that you are the only
person in the world and the inability to see beyond that.
● Operation: The process of working things out in your head. Only learners in the
later stages of development perform operation.
● Schema: A set of perceptions, ideas and/or actions in your mind that go together.
● Stage: A period in a child’s life where certain things are understood but not
others.
8. What do the critics say?
● Does not account for social interaction
● Stage based but not lifespan focused.
● Generalized but not contextual.
Works cited:
● http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm
● Phillips, D.C. & Soltis, J.F. (2004). Perspectives on learning, 4th Ed. New York:
Teachers College Press.
Social Constructivism
Essential Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Name of Theory and Key Theorists
Dewey: Pragmatism: John Dewey, William James, and Charles Sanders Pierce.
Vygotsky: Social Development Theory: Lev Vygotsky
What does it mean to Learn?
Dewey: Because he considered thinking and learning to be evolutionary capacities, Dewey
suggested that learning occurrs when a problem is identified and solved.
Vygotsky: Learning has occurred when Internalization is complete. I have learned how to use a
pencil, for example, when I can use it to draw my own sketches, rather than simply duplicate
what others have drawn.
How do we learn?
Dewey: Learning begins when a problem is identified. The process then continues as the mind
attempts to further clarify the problem using prior knowledge and observations of the situation.
This leads to a plan for testing a solution to the problem. If the hypothesized solution works,
Dewey would then say that learning has taken place. The best setting for this practical problemsolving is in communication and collaboration with a community of learners
Vygotsky: Through interaction with our culture and other people in the culture who give us
feedback. People need to talk about a new concept to understand it.
What is the role of the learner? Active ---- Passive
Dewey: Learner must actively participate in groups.
Vygotsky: Active. Interaction over Observation, interaction is extremely important
What is the role of the teacher? Authority/Director ---- Facilitator/Guide/Consultant
Dewey: Facilitator/Guide. Provide tasks that stimulate thinking and to participate with the
students in a common experience. In no case should the teacher simply tell the students new
ideas. It is a reciprocal interaction between teacher and students and the teacher encourages the
student to be an active participant in their learning.
Vygotsky: Facilitator, Guide, Consultant. Teacher provides the scaffolding (see below) for
continued learning without directly revealing the answers.
What characterizes the learning activities that would be seen in the classroom?
Dewey: Students engaged in meaningful activity where they had to work with others.
Vygotsky: Classroom discussions where students share their knowledge to create new learning.
When children are younger, they should be able to observe and use the zone of proximal
development (explained below).
ž What are the ‘buzz words’ – key terminology – associated with the theory?
Dewey:
Experiential Education: Learning through direct experience.
8.
Theory of Experience: Understanding how experience impacts learning. Based on the concepts of
continuity and interaction.
Continuity: People are impacted by previous experiences.
Interaction: Past experiences interact with current situations.
Vygotsky:
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) -- the range of tasks a child cannot accomplish alone but
can accomplish through the guidance of teachers, parents, or classmates
Scaffolding -- the level of support a child receives in their ZPD
Cultural Mediation -- the interaction of a child with other people (i.e., parents), the child learns
the habits of mind of their culture, including language and other symbolic meanings that affect
the construction of their knowledge
Internalization -- the acquisition of a child of the shared knowledge of their culture.
Internalization is “knowing how”, like riding a bicycle.
Guided Participation -- the interaction of a learned guide and the student. Example: learning to
tie your shoe, or learning to rig a sailboat
More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) -- anyone/thing that has a better understanding or higher
ability level than the learner
What do the critics say?
Dewey: Much of the criticism of Dewey’s work focuses around the his perceived support for the
use of public education as a political tool and the opinion that his philosophy has been the source
for the breakdown of America’s classrooms and educational institutions.
Vygotsky: Soviet opponents (his career began about the time of the Bolshevik Revolution)
criticized him, putting the Communist regime on watch for him. Former students criticized him
but later retracted the criticisms. Worldwide, the general criticism is that he put too much
emphasis on the role of language in thought. Also, “learned helplessness” can occur if those who
help the child learn help too much.