Week 4
During this weeks lecture we were disscuing learning theories.
The idea of behaviorism was developed in the late nineteenth/ early twentieth century by John Watson. Pritchard, 2008 defines behaviorism as “a theory of learning focusing on observable behaviors which discount any mental activity. Learning is defined simply as the acquisition of new behaviour” (Pritchard, 2008). Behaviorism is based around the idea of a reaction being made to a particular stimulus and it also offers teachers the power to determine the pre-conditions for learning and to make more effective methods of learning for behaviorism procedures such as repetition, reinforcement, shaping and modelling are used.
Behaviorist call this method of learning, conditioning. during the lecture today we learnt that there are two different types of conditioning classical and operant conditioning.
Classical Conditioning– Pavlov
Classical conditioning was developed by Ivan Pavlov in 1902. During the lecture we discussed the Pavlov’s Dogs experiment. This experiment conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, showing that behaviour had been successfully modified. This association between a neutral stimulus and a response is called classical conditioning. arguing that behaviour can be measured and thought cannot.
Four stages in the process of his classical conditioning
- Acquisition
- Extinction
- Generalisation
- Discrimination
Operant conditioning Skinner
Above is a picture of The ‘Skinner Box’. it experimented on rats and pigeons, and demonstrated how Animals could earn food by making simple responses (pressing a lever). The animal learnt that in order to get food it must press the lever. Skinner acknowledged the processes of the mind but considered it simply more productive to study observable behaviour (Wollard,2010)
Skinner’s basic principles of operant conditioning:
- The reinforcer must follow the response
- The reinforcer must follow immediately
- The reinforcer must be impactful
- The reinforcer must be consistent
- The reinforcer must be contingent on the response
(Wollard, 2010)
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