Summary Key Concepts Case Studies: Reflect and Evaluate
Applications: Applied Behavior Analysis
n Strategies for Increasing Appropriate Behaviors n Strategies for Decreasing Inappropriate Behaviors
Classical Conditioning
Assumptions of Behavioral Learning Theories
1. Describe the basic assumptions of traditional behavioral learning theories.
2. Explain classical conditioning and its relevance to educational settings.
Operant Conditioning
n Basic Tenets of the Theory
n Using Consequences Effectively
3. Explain how reinforcement and punishment influence future behavior and how often each should be used to be effective.4. Explain how teachers can use consequences effectively.
5. Describe strategies teachers can use to increase appropriate behaviors and decrease inappropriate behaviors.
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How did you learn to write your name? How did you learn to raise your hand during class? Although most psychologists and educators might define learning as a change in either behavior or knowledge, traditional behavioral theories have focused on learning behaviors, with little focus on knowledge, mental processes, or memories.
As behavioral psychologists have studied how learning occurs, their theories traditionally have fallen into one of two categories: classical conditioning or operant conditioning. We’ll examine each of these theories separately, but first let’s consider their shared assumptions about how learning occurs:
n Learning must include a change in behavior. To show that learning has occurred, traditional behaviorists assert that new information must cause behavior to change (Watson, 1913). If one cannot determine that behavior has changed, learning has not occurred.
n Behavior occurs due to experiences in the environment. British philosopher John Locke (1632– 1704) stated that children are born as blank slates who can be taught to do, or not do, any behavior based on experiences in their environment (Locke, 1892).
n Learning must include an association between a stimulus and a response (Kimble, 2000). Stimuli are events that individuals link or associate with certain responses. Learning by associations, called contiguity learning, is important for learning the vast amount of information children and adolescents are presented with.
n The stimulus and the response must occur close together in time. Remember that time is relative. Immediate consequences are needed for young children, who view 30 minutes as an eternity. In contrast, cross-cultural studies have found that older children and adults are more likely to delay small rewards and wait much longer in exchange for larger rewards (Green, Fry, & Myerson, 1994; Rotenberg & Mayer, 1990). Although this developmental trend implies that older children and adolescents can wait longer, immediate feedback in educational settings is optimal. For example, studies repeatedly find that immediate feedback is more effective than delayed feedback with respect to performance on classroom quizzes and success with learning materials (Kulik & Kulik, 1988).
n Learning processes are very similar across different species. Rats, pigeons, and humans learn in similar ways. Because traditional behaviorists believe most learning processes are the same across species, few behavioral studies have focused on differences across ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status or other issues of diversity within the human species. According to traditional behaviorists, it does not matter whether you are Black, White, female, or male—all humans (and all animals) learn behaviors through similar mechanisms.
Can you think of examples of contiguity learning from your own experiences both in and outside school?
We are all aware of involuntary behaviors, such as the body’s many reflexes. For example, people automatically blink when an object quickly moves toward their eyes (the “you flinched” game played by children). These involuntary behaviors include two elements:
n an unconditioned stimulus, the behavior or event that evokes an automatic response (e.g., moving your hand quickly toward someone’s face); and
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Contiguity Learning.
Young children learn to associate golden arches with fast food.
Module 9 :
Behavioral
Learning
Theories
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n an unconditioned response, the automatic behavior caused by the stimulus, which can be physio logical (e.g., someone flinching when your hand approaches) or emotional (e.g., fear).
In short, we don’t learn to connect an unconditioned stimulus with an unconditioned response; rather, we inherit these involuntary behaviors.
Classical conditioning, or classical learning, is based on the pairing of these involuntary behaviors with events that do not evoke an automatic response. These events are called neutral stimuli and include shapes, behaviors, sounds, and smells. In classical conditioning, learning will occur when a neutral stimulus is paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus, as in the famous study by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936), a physiologist who was studying the digestive systems of dogs. (Note that he was not a psychologist.) In Pavlov’s study (Pavlov 1927/1960), his researchers would release the alarm on the doors to the dogs’ cages, sounding a bell, and then bring food to the dogs. After they had done this repeatedly, Pavlov noticed that the dogs started to produce saliva when the bell sounded rather than when the food was presented.
Classical conditioning states that an unconditioned stimulus (in this case, the presentation of food) and its unconditioned response (the dogs salivating automatically) can be paired with a previously neutral stimulus (a bell sounding). As a result, the previously neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus, or a learned stimulus that evokes a conditioned response, or a learned response. The dogs produced saliva (conditioned response) when they heard the bell (conditioned stimulus), not when presented with food. According to the first assumption we discussed, the change in behavior showed that learning had occurred.
While Pavlov’s study illustrates a physical response, classical conditioning also demonstrates how emotions, particularly fear, can be learned (Watson & Rayner, 1920). In one study, researchers began by placing an infant, Little Albert, in the middle of a table and then made a loud noise behind him (unconditioned stimulus, UCS), automatically producing a startled fear response (unconditioned response, UCR). A neutral stimulus—a white rat—was paired repeatedly with the loud noise. After several pairings, Little Albert learned to be afraid of the white rat and would cry and attempt to crawl away when the white rat appeared, even in the absence of the loud noise. The once neutral stimulus, the white rat, became a conditioned stimulus (CS), and the fear of the white rat became a conditioned response (CR), as depicted in Figure 9.1. Again, the change in behavior confirmed that learning had occurred. (It is important to note that current ethical guidelines would not allow similar studies to be conducted.)
Once learning—or a change in behavior—has occurred, the behavior can be expanded on, altered, or eliminated. These additional learning opportunities are referred to by traditional behavioral theorists as generalization, discrimination, and extinction, respectively.
n Generalization: Conditioned learning can be expanded beyond a specific stimulus to other, similar stimuli. After conditioning with the white rat, Little Albert was presented with a white rabbit and more quickly learned to fear the rabbit as well—he generalized the meaning of “white rat” to the white rabbit.
n Discrimination: Species can learn to differentiate between similar but different stimuli. For example, Little Albert could have been taught to discriminate between white rabbits and white rats by being presented with white rabbits without the loud noise. Little Albert would have learned to distinguish, or discriminate, between the animals.
n Extinction: If the conditioned stimulus is paired repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus, the previously learned behavior will disappear or become extinct. Consider the example of Pavlov’s dogs. Researchers could have presented the bell repeatedly without food. Eventually, the dogs
Behavioral Perspective. Behaviorists assume that learning pro cesses are very similar between animals and humans.
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Before conditioning Conditioning After conditioning
Figure 9.1: Watson’s Classical Conditioning of Little Albert. A once neutral stimulus, the white rat, became a conditioned stimulus (CS). Fear of the white rat became a conditioned response (CR).
UCS
UCR
Neutral stimulus
No response
No reaction
Cymbals crashing
Startled fear response
White rat
White rat White rat
+
UCS CR
CS
Startled fear response Startled fear response
would no longer respond to the bell by producing saliva. The conditioned response would have become extinct.
Although classical conditioning is widely used in modern psychology in the areas of cognitive science and neuroscience, there are fewer examples of how it may be applied in classroom settings (Rescorla, 1988). However, classical conditioning can affect students’ emotional states regarding teachers, schools, and academic subjects. (Remember that emotions are automatic responses.) For example, a child who has been harassed and victimized on the playground by other children may begin to associate recess with fear. High school students may associate a teacher who is critical and harsh with feelings of humiliation or may associate the subject matter with fear and inferiority (e.g., math anxiety). In contrast, students may associate a teacher who is positive and supportive with feelings of pride and may learn to associate the subject matter with pleasure and happiness. Many other examples, including test anxiety and school phobia, illustrate how specific situations, people, and events often come to be associated with certain emotions.
Can you think of examples from your educational experiences that might have led to feelings of anxiety or fear about a particular subject? What might have been the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response in those experiences?
Operant conditioning, like classical conditioning, includes a pairing of events. However, operant conditioning does not depend on involuntary behaviors such as physiological responses or emotional states. Rather, it includes new, voluntary behaviors such as raising your hand in class.
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Basic Tenets of the Theory
Operant conditioning originated with Edward Thorndike (1874–1949), who, like many behaviorists, was conducting experiments with animals. The results of his experiments led to the law of effect, which states that behaviors associated with good consequences (satisfiers) are more likely to occur again in the future, whereas behaviors associated with bad consequences (annoyers) are less likely to occur again (Thorndike, 1898). For example, when a child is praised for class participation (good consequence), he or she is more likely to participate in the future. In contrast, when a child is laughed at or humiliated by the teacher or by other students when he or she attempts to participate in class (bad consequence), that child is less likely to participate in the future. B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) expanded on these ideas to form the ABCs of learning (Skinner, 1953). The antecedent (A) occurs prior to the behavior (B) and leads to the consequence (C) of the behavior. Remember, from the assumptions stated earlier, that the antecedent, behavior, and consequence must occur close together in time.
Antecedents can be cues or prompts. Cues refer to nonverbal events that signal that a behavior is expected. For example, many kindergarten teachers use the nonverbal cue of shutting off the lights (A) to signal children to quiet down and return to their seats (B). Similarly, many middle schools and almost all high schools use a bell (A) to cue students that a new class period has begun. Teachers’ nonverbal cues are very important for maintaining classroom management and increasing the level of student performance (Woolfolk & Brooks, 1985). Prompts typically are verbal reminders that accompany a cue. The first few times the kindergarten teacher turns off the lights, he or she also says “Please quietly sit down in your seats.” Prompts may be particularly effective in teaching students with special needs. For example, studies have found that prompts can be used effectively to teach children with autism how to initiate conversations during play activities (Shabani et al., 2002; Taylor & Levin, 1998).
The consequence (C) of the behavior can either increase or decrease the behavior in the future. Reinforcement is a consequence of a behavior that increases the future occurrence of that behavior. When a teacher praises a student for participating in class and the student considers the praise good, he or she is likely to participate again—in order to receive more praise. Punishment is a consequence of a behavior that decreases the future occurrence of that behavior. Most children, after participating in class, would consider being laughed at and humiliated by their teacher and peers a bad thing, making them less interested in participating in the future—in order to avoid such consequences.
Reinforcement and punishment can occur by adding (+) something desirable or by taking away (–) something undesirable, as summarized in Table 9.1.
n Positive reinforcement is adding (+) something that is desired by the individual, such as praise, candy, or wanted attention.
n Negative reinforcement is taking away (–) something undesired by the individual, such as an annoying noise, an unpleasant chore, or unwanted attention.
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