Download Behaviouristic learning theory

BEHAVIOURISTIC
LEARNING THEORY
WHAT IS
BEHAVIOURISM?
• Behaviourism is a worldview that
assumes a human behaviour could be
predicted and controlled.
• They believe that children came into this
world with a clean slate (Tabula Rasa)
and their behaviour are then shaped by
the environment whether it is positive or
negative reinforcement.
IVAN PAVLOV
(PAVLOVIAN
CONDITIONING)
• During the 1890s Russian physiologist Ivan
Pavlov was looking at salivation in dogs in
response to being fed, when he noticed
that his dogs would begin to salivate
whenever he entered the room, even
when he was not bringing them food.
• Pavlov started from the idea that there are
some things that is in the dog does not
need to learn.
• Example, dogs don’t learn to salivate
whenever they see food. In behaviourism
it is called unconditioned response.
• Unconditioned stimulus (FOOD) >
Unconditioned response (SALIVA)
• Ivan Pavlov showed the existence of the
unconditioned response by presenting a
dog with a bowl of food and the
measuring of the salivary secretions.
• The behaviour of the dog suddenly changed
when the dog had learned to associate food with
his lab assistant. A change of behaviour must be
the result of learning.
• In behaviourist terms, the lab assistant was
originally a neutral stimulus. It is called neutral
because it produces no response. What had
happened was that the neutral stimulus (the lab
assistant) had become associated with an
unconditioned stimulus (food).
• Pavlov used a tuning fork as his neutral stimulus.
Whenever he gave food to his dogs, he also rang
the tuning fork.
• So the dog had learned an association between
the tuning fork and the food and a new behaviour
had been learnt. Because this response was
learned (or conditioned), it is called a
conditioned response.
WATSON AND RAYNER
(CLASSICAL CONDITIONING)
• John Watson proposed that the process of
classical conditioning based on Pavlov’s
observations was able to explain all aspects of
human psychology.
• Everything from speech to emotional responses
are simply patterns of stimulus and response.
• Watson denied completely the
existence of the mind or
consciousness. Watson believed that
all individual differences in behaviour
were due to different experiences of
learning.
LITTLE ALBERT
EXPERIMENT (PHOBIAS)
• Little Albert was a 9-month-old infant who was tested
on his reactions to various stimuli. He was shown a
white rat, a rabbit, a monkey and various masks.
Albert described as ‘on the whole stolid and
unemotional’ showed no fear of any of these stimuli.
• However what did startle him and cause him to be
afraid was if a hammer was struck against a steel bar
behind his head. The sudden loud noise would cause
Little Albert to burst into tears.
• Watson and Rayner had shown that classical
conditioning could be used to create a phobia.
B.F SKINNER (OPERANT
CONDITIONING)
• B.F Skinner quest was to observe the relationship
between observable stimuli and response.
• He used The Skinner Box to controlled his
experiment. The Skinner Box was a contraption
that would automatically dispense food pellets
and electric shocks.
• This experiment is called operant conditioning it
can be described as behaviour adjustment as a
result of greater or lesser positive or negative
reinforcement and punishment.
• Skinner hypnotized that human behaviour were
controlled by rewards and punishment and that
behaviours can be explained by principles of
operant conditioning.
PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT
CONDITIONING.
• The main principles of operant conditioning as
defined by Skinner are reinforcement,
punishment, shaping and discrimination.
• Reinforcement: behaviour is strengthened and
thus more likely to happen again. Reinforcement
is divided into two, positive and negative
reinforcement.
• Positive reinforcement is making a behaviour
stronger by following the behaviour with a
pleasant stimulus.
• Example: rat presses the lever and receive food.
• Negative reinforcement is making a behaviour
stronger by taking away a negative stimulus.
• Example: rat presses the lever and turns off
electric shocks.
• Punishment: behaviour is weakened and thus less
likely to happen again. Punishment is divided into
two, positive and negative punishment.
• Positive punishment is to reduce a behaviour by
presenting an unpleasant stimulus when the
behaviour occurs.
• Example, if the rat previously pressed the lever and
receive food and now the rat will receive shock. The
rat will learn not to press the lever.
• Negative punishment: reducing a behaviour by
removing a pleasant stimulus when the
behaviour occurs.
• Examples, if the rat previously given food for
each lever pressed, but now receive food
consistently when not pressing the lever, the rat
will learn to stop pressing the lever.
• Shaping: technique of reinforcement used to
teach new behaviours. At the beginning,
people/animals are reinforced for easy tasks in
order to receive reinforcement.
• Example, originally the rat is given a food pellet
for one lever pressed, but we gradually
increase the number of times. It needs to press
to receive food, the rat will increase the number
of presses.
• Discrimination: learning that a behaviour will be
rewarded in one situation, but not another.
• Example, rat does not receive food from the
second lever and realizes that it will only
receive food by pressing the first lever.
ALBERT BANDURA (SOCIAL
LEARNING THEORY)
• In social learning theory Albert Bandura states
behaviour is learned from the environment
through the process of observational learning.
• Unlike Skinner, Bandura believes that humans are
active information processors and think about the
relationship between their behavior and its
consequences.
• Children observe the people around them
behaving in various ways. This is illustrated
during the famous Bobo Doll experiment.
• The experiment show that children will imitate
anything that people do to the Bobo Doll.
• Example, if an adult decided to punch the
Bobo doll, the kids will imitate the action.
• This meant in Albert Bandura’s theory, he
believe that a behaviour of a person is created
from imitating or adopting other people
behaviour.