BEHAVIORISM

            CONTRIBUTORS

1. Ivan Pavlov

* A Russian physiologist is well known for his work  inclassical conditioning or stimulus substitution.

Pavlov’s Experiment

*Ringing the bell(neutral stimulus) caused no response from the dog.

*Placing the food(unconditioned stimulus) in front of the dog initiated salivation(unconditioned response).

*The bell was rung a few seconds before the dog was presented with food.

*After conditioning, the ringing of the bell(conditioned stimulus) alone produce salivation(conditioned response).

Stimulus Generalization.The process by which a conditioned response transfers to other stimuli.

Extinction.Refers to the process by which conditioned responses are lost.

Spontaneous Recovery.Extinguished responses can be “recovered” after an elapsed time, but will soon extinguished again if the dog is not presented with food.

Discrimination.The process by which we learn not to respond to similar stimuli in an identical manner.

Higher-Order Thinking.Another  US, 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.

 B. Edward Lee Thorndike

* His Connectionism Theory gave us the original S-R framework of behavioural psychology.

* Explained that learning is the result of associations forming stimuli and responses.

Three Primary Laws

Law of Effect.Stated that the connection between stimulus and response is strengthened when the consequence is positive and the connection between thee stimulus and the response is weakened when the consequence is negative.  

Law of Exercise.The more an S-R bond is practiced the stronger it will become. “Practice makes perfect” seem to be associated with this.

Law of Readiness.The more the readiness the learner has to respond to the stimulus, the stronger will be the bond between them.

Principles Derived from Thorndike’s Connectionism

1. Learning requires both practice and rewards
2.  Series of S-R connections can be chained together if they belong to the same action sequence
3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned.

C .Burrhus Frederick Skinner

Operant Conditioning

*Learning is a result of change in overt behaviour.

*When a particular Stimulus-Response(S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond.

Reinforcement.Key element in Skinner’s S-R theory.Anything that strengthens the desired response. There is a positive reinforcer and a negative reinforcer.

Positive reinforce. Any stimulus that is given or added to increase the response.

Negative response.Any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response when it is withdrawn or removed.

Punishment. A consequence intended to result in reduced responses.

Extinction or non-reinforcement.Responses that are not reinforced are not likely to be repeated.

Shaping Behavior. An animal on a cage may take a very long time to figure out that pressing a lever will produce food. To accomplish such behavior successive approximations of the bahavior are rewarded until the animal learns the association between the lever and the food reward.

Behavioral Chaining

It come about when the series of steps are needed to be learned. Each step must be mastered until the entire sequence is learned.

Reinforcement Schedule

Once the desired behavioral is accomplished, reinforcement does not have to be 100%; in fact it can be maintained more successfully. Partial reinforcement schedules includes interval schedule and ratio schedules.

Fixed Interval Schedule

The target response is reinforced after a fixed amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement.

Variable Interval Schedules

This is similar to fixed interval schedules, but the amount of time that you must pass between reinforcement varies.

Fixed Ratio Schedules

A fixed number of correct responses must occur before reinforcement may occur.

Variable Ratio Schedules

The number of correct repetitions of the correct response for reinforcement varies.

Implication of Operant Conditioning

• Practice should take the question(stimulus)- answer(response) frames which expose the student to the subject in gradual steps
• Require that the learner makes a response for every frame and receives immediate feedback.
• Try to manage the difficulty of the questions so the response is always correct and hence, a positive reinforcement.

Principles Derived From Skinner’s operant Conditioning

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