Behaviorism

(KB Home Page)

What is Learning? (Definition):

• Result and Process: Result - defines learning as a relatively permanent change in observable behavior as a result of experience; Process - the strengthening of the relationship between specific stimuli and desired responses (how it happens)

Major Assumptions of Behaviorism:

• Learning can be studied by focusing on stimuli and responses
• Internal processes cannot be directly observed
• Learning is a behavioral change
• We can study human learning through use of animals because humans and animals learn in the same ways
• The environment experiences we encounter shape all of our behaviors from birth
• We are born as “blank slates”

Key Terms:

• Stimulus: an event in the environment used to prompt behavior.
• Response: an observable reaction that an organism makes to a stimulus.
• Reinforcement:
• Positive Reinforcement: increases response by presenting a stimulus after the response. The reinforcement can be material (tangible), social (gesture or sign), activity (something the organism likes to do), positive feedback (a communication of correctness and guidance), and intrinsic (internal feelings)
• Negative Reinforcement: increases response through the removal of a stimulus, usually an adverse or unpleasant one
• Punishment: leads to a decrease in response based on either presenting adverse stimuli (positive punishment – Punishment I) or removing pleasant stimuli (negative punishment or punishment II) after a response.
• Shaping: the means of teaching a behavior when the free operant level is low or when the desired behavior is different in form from any response the organism exhibits. To shape a particular behavior, reinforcement is applied to the first response that in any way approximates the desired behavior and then continues until the organism is emitting it fairly frequently.  The process then reinforces only those behaviors that resemble the terminal behavior more closely, and continues until the organism’s response is the terminal behavior. This process of shaping behaviors closer and closer to the desired terminal behavior is also known as successive approximations
• Stimulus generalization: when individuals respond to another stimulus in the same way that they respond to conditioned stimuli. The more similar the new stimulus is to the conditioned stimulus, the greater the probability of generalization.
• Chaining: a process of teaching a sequence of behaviors using shaping. It is a process of reinforcing just the first response in a sequence of behaviors, then reinforcing the two responses in a row, and then reinforcing the sequence of three, until the entire sequence occurs
• Superstitious behavior: occurs when reinforcement is randomly administered. This type of reinforcement tends to reinforce whatever response has occurred immediately beforehand, and an organism will increase that response.
• Free operant level: the frequency of an operant behavior in the absence of reinforcement.  May also be known as baseline.
• Terminal behavior: the form and frequency of a desired response at the end of a planned reinforcement program, described in concrete and observable terms.

Theorists and Their Contributions:

• Ivan Pavlov (1849 - 1936):
• Classical Conditioning
• He invented five terms:
• Unconditioned stimulus, Unconditioned response, Conditioned stimulus, Conditioned response, and Extinction
• These terms came through his “salivating dogs” experiment
• John Watson (1878 - 1958): 
• “Mr. Behaviorism”
• Law of Recency stressing timing
• Law of Frequency stressing repetition
• Edward Thorndike (1874 - 1947): 
• “Law of Effect”
• Found that animals live by “Trial and Error”
• Introduced the theory of strengthening or weakening of the stimulus-response-reward connection
• “The animal is just responding, it is not thinking.”

Key Principles of the Behaviorism:

• Classical Conditioning: occurs when a stimulus that previously did not elicit a response is conditioned to elicit a physiological response when paired with an unconditioned stimulus (Pavlo’s salivating dogs).

• Operant Conditioning: learned consequences dictate the observable behaviors individuals engage in. In other words, the basic premise is that behavior is more likely to occur if it is reinforced, positively or negatively, and behavior is less likely to occur if it it punished or there is reinforcement removal. (“Skinner’s pigeons” shaped to peck the correct button and then receiving reinforcement).
• Stimulus: an event in the environment used to prompt behavior.
• Response: an observable reaction that an organism makes to a stimulus.
• Punishment: leads to a decrease in response based on either presenting adverse stimuli (positive punishment – Punishment I) or removing pleasant stimuli (negative punishment or punishment II) after a response.
• Reward, or Reinforcement: 
• Positive Reinforcement: increases response by presenting a stimulus after the response. The reinforcement can be material (tangible), social (gesture or sign), activity (something the organism likes to do), positive feedback (a communication of correctness and guidance), and intrinsic (internal feelings).
• Negative Reinforcement: increases response through the removal of a stimulus, usually an adverse or unpleasant one.

Instructional Theories:

• Elicit expected responses after the presentation of stimuli (new content); 
• Use reinforcement to encourage appropriate responses; 
• Remove distractions between content and responses; 
• Present new information in small chunks; 
• Frequently test the recall of new content (stimulus-response)

References:

• “Behaviorism Concepts and Definitions” Word Document by Tiffany A. Koszalka
• http://techforinstructionfall08.wikispaces.com/Behaviorism
• http://www.pressjohn.com/schoolStuff/psychnotes/behavior5.htm

Learning Situation:

• A baseball coach is teaching his player how to properly field a ground ball. The player is having a hard time getting the simple steps down of fielding a ground ball since he has not been getting in front of the ball and the ball has been going past him each time. The coach and the player are both out on the field together with another coach hitting ground balls to them. The coach takes the glove from the player and has the other coach hit him a ground ball. He gets into the proper positioning to field the ground ball and puts his glove down in the correct spot as the ball hits directly into his glove. After a couple of times watching his coach do this, the player then tries to do what his coach just did. He holds the glove the same way as his coach did, he is in the same stance as his coach was in, and he approached the ground ball the same way. Although it wasn’t perfect the first few times, you could tell that the player was improving as some of the ground balls were finding the center of his glove. The coach would critique and make corrections after each repetition. When the player would successfully field the ground ball, the coach would cheer and tell the player he did a great job. This continues as the player practices over and over the same way his coach showed him how to field the ground ball, and the coach would critique the player and give him feedback after each repetition.
• Chaining: The success of fielding a ground ball all depends on the three steps the coach showed the player: proper stance, get in front of the ball, put your glove down. 
• Terminal Behavior: The player is wanting to field ground balls just like his coach showed him how to do it.
• Operant Conditioning: Due to the coach telling the player he is doing a great job is enabling the player to want to field the ball properly more often.
• Positive Reinforcement: When the player properly fields the ground ball the coach tells him he did a great job.
• Continuous Reinforcement Schedule: The coach tells the player that he did a great job after every throw.

Observation Checklist:

Observation	Level of Occurrence: 1 - low, 5 - high	Comments
The goal of the instruction by the coach is clear.
The instruction has resulted in a behavioral change for the player.
Terminal behaviors are evident.
Continued reinforcement of behavior occurs from the coach to his player.
Each step is mastered before moving on to the next step.
Instructor does something for an observable change in the player’s behavior.
The player is motivated because of the coach’s words of encouragement.
The player feels a sense of accomplishment.
The player can use the information gathered from the instruction by the coach later on.
Behavior is prompted by removing a stimuli.

Reflection:

  As far as informed instruction is concerned, behaviorism suggests that in order for learning to happen the instructor needs to provide an objective or a stimulus. To me, this learning theory seems like the only way a learner can grasp or learn anything, he or she must do it through observation. Though I do not agree with some of the founding theorist explanation of our minds being “blank slates” and we just learn everything from our experiences, it is interesting to have studied such a theory.

  Having learned and studied Behaviorism and all of its intricacies from its theorists to its major principles, I have a completely new way of viewing learning and how the human mind works. Also, what the brain can and cannot retain is just fascinating to me. The idea that we learn everything from our experiences is just mind boggling to me because growing up I was a firm believer that the way my parents raised me was the way I learned everything. The actions and thoughts I do and think today are because of what I learned from my parents and family who instilled certain things in my head, but come to find out, it wasn’t necessarily them telling me what to do, instead it was my own personal experiences. Now to think that this could be true is hard for me to do because I believe the brain works cognitively too, so to completely disregard the cognitive aspect of learning is something that I disagree with as far as Behaviorism is concerned.

(KB Home Page)