Behaviorism

1. Origin of Behaviorism

2. Structure of Stimulus - Response (and Consequence)

3. Types of Consequences– Reinforcers & Punishment

4. Task Analyses & Chaining

Evolution of Learning Theories

Recognition that one can learn by observing others

Study of mental events in a scientific

mannerStudy of mental

events in a scientific manner

Movement toward greater objectivity

and study of observable events

Attention to specific mental phenomenon

(e.g. children's reasoning)

EARLY PSYCHOLOGY

BEHAVIORISM

EARLY COGNITIVE PROCESSES(e.g. Piaget, Vygotsky)

SOCIAL LEARNING

THEORY

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Early 1900s

1920s to 1940s

1960s +

Evolution of Behaviorism

• Greek Philosophy– Plato

• Emphasizes “Ideal Forms”

• Knowledge is a rational search within the mind

• We “know” and “learn” by what our mind constructs

• Philosophy is “Rationalism”

– Aristotle (Plato’s Student)• Knowledge derives from sensory experience with the

environment

• We “know” and “learn” through our experiences as we receive stimuli from the environment via our senses

• Philosophy is “Empiricism”

Evolution of Behaviorism

• Early philosophy (prior to 1600s) held children as separate entities than adults– Prior belief was that children were treated as mini-adults– Rooted belief was that children were by nature

“corrupt(able)” and needed to be molded into well-behaving adults.

– “The Depraved Child” - prone to mischief– Puritan Teaching - impose corporal punishment and rigidity

• Two early philosophers of child psychology (during 1600s & 1700s):– John Locke (~ 1650)– Jean Rousseau (~1730)

Locke & Rousseau

• John Locke:– Philosopher during England’s Civil

War (mid 1600’s)– Philosophies of Government

• Does this sound familiar?: - “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…..life liberty and the pursuit of property….”

– Philosophies of Education

John Locke

– Mechanistic World View• Belief that humans are analogous to machines• Viewed human psychology/development as

inputs leading to outputs• To understand a human is to examine his/her

working “parts”, including the mind• Mechanistic world view is consistent with the

“new” science of Newton, Descarte, Kepler, etc.– Believed children are born neutral and are molded

by society (environment) to become productive adults

– Locke was an Empiricist (in the Aristotelian Sense)• We learn about a “real world” through what we

perceive and experience through out senses

– Children are a tabula rasa (blank slate) to which experience via the environment writes a story

– Claimed people (children) passively react to environmental stimuli

Jean Rousseau

– Organic World View• Belief that humans are organismal (a holistic

view).– To understand a human is to view his/her

interaction with the environment

– Believed children are born good and negatively molded by society

– Concerned with development of child as an unfolding process

– Claimed people (children) actively engage with or to

environmental stimuli – Concerned with how the mind reasons or

rationalizes actively with sensory input• Rationalism is analogous to Plato’s views of the

mind rationalizing about an external and real world.

John Watson

• Developmental Psychologist• Believed in Locke’s view that children

are shaped by their interaction with environment (born neutral and are molded through passive, conditional reaction to stimuli).

• 1920’s - took work of Ivan Pavlov (conditioning in animals) and applied it to babies in humans

• Developed “behaviorism”

Behavior

Student swears in class

Child uses regrouping for first time

Child sorts rocks into categories

Behavior Response

Student swears in class

Child uses regrouping for first time

Child sorts rocks into categories

Classmates and teacher abruptly pay attention

Child solves problem correctly

Child recognizes patterns

Behavior Response Consequence

• Reinforcersor

• Punishers

Student swears in class

Child uses regrouping for first time

Child sorts rocks into categories

Classmates and teacher abruptly pay attention

Child solves problem correctly

Child recognizes patterns

Classmates give child look of disgust

Teacher says, “You’ve really caught on to this”

Teacher gives child a “gold star”

• Behaviorists focus on establishing environments that maximize learning as measured via stimulus/response mechanism

• Behaviorists do not consider as important:– Affective Domain– Processing Skills– Mental Knowledge Structures– Expert vs. Novice Solving

Behaviorism Assumptions

Assumption Educational Implications

Focus on observable events Identify specific stimuli (including your own behaviors) that may be influencing the behaviors that students exhibit

Learning involves a change in behavior

Do not assume that learning has occurred unless students exhibit a change in classroom performance

Contiguity of events If you want students to associate two events (stimuli and response) with each other, make sure the events occur close together in time

Consequences of Behavior

Stimulus Added

StimulusSubtracted

Behavior Increases

Positive Reinforcement

Behavior Decreases

Consequences of Behavior

Stimulus Added

StimulusSubtracted

Behavior Increases

Negative Reinforcement

Behavior Decreases

Consequences of Behavior

Stimulus Added

StimulusSubtracted

Behavior Increases

Behavior Decreases

Presentation Punishment

Consequences of Behavior

Stimulus Added

StimulusSubtracted

Behavior Increases

Behavior Decreases

Removal Punishment

Consequences of Behavior

Stimulus Added

StimulusSubtracted

Behavior Increases

Positive Reinforcement

Negative Reinforcement

Behavior Decreases

Presentation Punishment

Removal Punishment

Common Misconceptions About Negative Reinforcement

• Negative reinforcement is when a teacher gives negative attention.

• Negative reinforcement is when a negative behavior is increased.

• Negative reinforcement is a milder form of punishment.

Distinguishing Reinforcement from Punishment

Sample 1a. Billy hates Mr. Pierce's math class. He has learned that if he acts out in class, he can get out of the class. He starts acting out more frequently in class, so that he doesn't have to be in class. What consequence is being applied to his acting out behavior?

Behavior Consequence Effect of Consequence on Behavior Acting out in class Gets out of (avoids) class More likely to act out

1b. When Billy gets kicked out of class, he is sent to the office. The secretary really likes Billy and lets him talk to her, eat candy, and help with copying. He likes this, and he now has a second reason for acting out in class. What consequence is being applied to the acting out behavior here?

2a. When the children in his math class are noisy, Mr. Ortega takes away time from their recess. This stops the children from being noisy. What consequence is being applied to their noisy behavior?

2b. Mr. Ortega tries the same thing with his reading group. When the children are noisy, he takes away recess time. In this case, the children continue to be noisy, and in fact they make more noise. What consequence is being applied here to their noisy behavior?

3a. When John participates in class, the other students laugh at him. He stops participating in class. What is happening to his class participation behavior?

3b. See if you can adjust situation 3 to make it an example of positive reinforcement for the class participation behavior.

Chaining &Task Analyses

• Ways of reducing instruction to manageable “steps” for behavior/consequence examination

• We’ll examine:– Chaining and Instructional Objectives

PBJ Sandwich

• What behaviors need to be in place in order for me to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?