BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE

Theory Of Behaviorism
Focuses on the study of observable
and measurable behavior. It
emphasizes that behavior is mostly
learned through conditioning and
reinforcement(rewards and
punishment. It does not give much
attention to the mind, and the
possibility of thought processes
occurring in the mind.
IVAN PAVLOV- a Russian
physiologist is well known for his
work in Classical Conditioning or
Stimulus Substitution. Pavlovs
most renowned experiment
involved meat, a dog and a bell.
Initially, Pavlov was measuring the
dogs salivation in order to study
digestion. This is when he stumbled
upon classical conditioning.

PAVLOV also had the following

findings:
Stimulus Generalization
once the dog has learned to
salivate at the sound of the bell, it
will salivate at other similar
sounds.
Extinction if you stop pairing
the bell with the food, salivation
will eventually cease in response to
the bell.
Spontaneous Recovery
extinguished responses can be
recovered after an elapsed time,
but will soon extinguish again if the
dog is not presented with food.
Discrimination the dog could
learn to discriminate between
similar bells(stimuli) and discern
which bell result in the
presentation of food and which
would not.
Higher-Order Conditioning
once the dog has been conditioned
to associate the bell with food,
another unconditioned stimulus,
such as a light may be flashed at
the same time that the bell is rung.
Eventually the dog will salivate at

the flash of the light without the

sound of the bell.

Thorndike Theory on
Connectionism
-Connectionism Theory gave
us the original S-R framework
of behavioral psychology. More
than a hundred years ago he
wrote a text book entitled,
Educational Psychology. He
was the first one to use this
term. He explained that
learning is the result of
associations forming between
stimuli and responses.
-stated that learning has taken
place when a strong
connection or bond between
stimulus and response is
formed.
THREE PRIMARY LAWS:
LAW OF EFFECT
Part I: A connection
between stimulus and the
response is strengthened
if the consequence of such
a connection is a
satisfying state of affairs.
Part II: A connection
between stimulus and the
response is weakened if

the consequence of such a

connection is a annoying
state of affairs.
Revised law of Effect:
An unpleasant situation /
punishment need not
necessary decrease the
strength of S-R connection.
LAW OF EXERCISE
Part I (Law of Use) :
Connections between a
stimulus and a response
are strengthened as they
are used.
Part II (Law of Disuse):
Connections between
stimulus and response are
weakened when practice
is discontinued, or if the
neural bond is not used.
Revised law of
exercise:
Mechanical use /
disuse does not necessarily
lead to effective learning /
total forgetting.
LAW OF READINESS
This states that, the more
readiness the learner has to
respond to the stimulus, the

stronger will be the bond

between them. When a person
is ready to respond to a
stimulus and is not made to
respond, it becomes annoying
to the person.
PRINCIPLES DERIVED
FROM
THORNDIKES
CONNECIONISM:
1. Learning requires both
practice and rewards(law
of effect/exercise).
2. A series of S-R
connections can be
chained together if they
belong to the same action
sequence(law of
readiness).
3. Transfer of learning occurs
because of previously
encountered situations.
4. Intelligence is a function
of the number of
connections learned.
BURRHUS FREDERICK
SKINNER
-Father of Operant
Conditioning
OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant Conditioning is based

upon the notion that learning
is a result of change in overt
behavior.
Changes in behavior are the
result of an individuals
response to events(stimuli)
that occur in the environment.
REINFORCEMENT
To strengthen, and is used in
psychology to refer to anything
stimulus w/c strengthens,
encouraging the designated
behavior, or increase the
probability of a specific
response
Is the key element in Skinners
S-R theory.
The concept of
reinforcement means
getting the work completed by
giving some
incentives/rewards to the
certain person.
Reinforcer is anything that
strengthens the desired
response.
TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT
Positive Reinforcer- Is any
stimulus that is given/added to
increase the response.

Negative Reinforcer- Is any

stimulus that results in the
increased frequency of a
response when it is
withdrawn/re-moved.
Negative reinforcer is not a
punishment, in fact it is a
reward.
Punishment Reinforcer- Is
a consequence intended to
result in reduced responses.

A schedule of reinforcement is
basically a rule stating which
instances of a behavior will be
reinforced. In some case, a
behavior might be reinforced
every time it occurs.
Sometimes, a behavior might
not be reinforced at all.
Four schedules of partial
reinforcement:
1.Fixed Interval Schedules

Extinction/NonReinforcement- Responses
that are not reinforced are not
likely to be repeated.

- The target response is

reinforced after a fixed amount
of time has passed since the
last reinforcement.

SHAPING of BEHAVIOR

2.Variable Interval
Schedules

Shaping is a method
of operant conditioning by
which successive
approximations of a target
behavior are reinforced.
Shaping is used when the
target behavior does not exist.
BEHAVIORAL CHAINING
Come about when a series of
steps are needed to be
learned.
REINFORCEMENT
SCHEDULES

- This is similar to fixed to

fixed interval schedules, but
the amount of time that must
pass between reinforcement
varies .
3. Fixed Ratio Schedules
- a fixed number of correct
responses must occur before
reinforcement may recur.
4. Variable Ratio Schedules
- the number of correct
repetitions of the correct

response for reinforcement

varies.
IMPLICATIONS OF OPERANT
CONDITIONING
1. Practice should take the
form of
question(stimulus)-answer
(response) frames w/c
expose the student to the
subject in gradual steps
2. Require that the learner
makes a response for
every frame and receives
immediate feedback
3. Try to arrange the difficult
of the questions so the
response is always correct
and hence, a positive
reinforcement.
4. Ensure that good
performance in the lesson
is paired w/ secondary
reinforcers such as verbal
praise, prizes and good
grades.
Principle derived from
skinners operant
conditioning:

1. Behavior that is positively

reinforced will reoccur;
intermittent reinforcement
is particularly effective.
2. Information should be
presented in small
amounts so that
responses can be
reinforced (shaping)
3. Reinforcements will
generalize across similar
stimuli (stimulus
generalization) producing
secondary conditioning.