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What are the similarities between behaviorism and cognitivism
Traditional philosophies of education
Modern philosophies in education
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In this essay, I will identify the main tenets of Behaviourism, Cognitive and Humanist and state how each claims learning happens. I will analyse two principles and how they affect the way we plan and deliver learning. Furthermore, I will reflect on the impact of these insights on my own practice and professional development.
Behaviourism main theorist included Skinner, Pavlov and Thorndike who describes this theory as having a ‘stimulus and response’. Petty states, ‘learners are motivated by expected reward of some kind (such as praise or satisfied curiosity); learning will not take place without it’ (Petty, 2009:15-16). In addition, there should be immediate reinforcement otherwise this will cause a delay in learning. Another principle of behaviourism is the learning should be step by step and not all at once and by doing so the learner has successions of successes which increase their motivation that leads ‘to more complex behaviour’. Petty also states that ‘effective teachers stress key points and summarise them at the beginning and at the end of the class and, makes use of old learning in developing new learning’ (Petty, 2009:16).
Reece & Walker states the behaviourism is teacher centred and relies upon the expectation of the provision of a stimulus to produce a response however, ‘students are often seen as passive’. Therefore, without a stimulus there would be no response and is only visible externally. The teacher provides the stimulus for a response to occur, resulting in a change of behaviour that can be measured.
Skinner argues that ‘learning is accelerated by reinforcement: a stimulus that increases the probability of a response’ called ‘operant conditioning’ and it is not reliant on what triggered the response but...
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...d edition), London: Thompson Learning.
Petty, G. (2009) ‘Teaching Today’, A Practical Guide, (4th edition), Cheltenham: Nelson Thomas.
Reece, I. & Walker, S. (2007) Teaching, Training & Learning, A practical Guide (6th Edition), Tyne and Wear: Business Education Publishers Ltd.
Scales, P. (2008) ‘Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector’, Berkshire: Open University Press
Wallace, S. (2007), Achieving QTLS, ‘Teaching, Tutoring and Training in the Lifelong Learning Sector’, (3rd Edition), Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd.
http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPrinterFriendlyPub.aspx?P=CM109 (Accessed 24/11/2013)
http://www.euromedinfo.eu/behavioral-cognitive-humanist-approaches.html/ (Accessed 24/11/2013)
http://www.thequotablecoach.com/achievements/tell-me-and-ill-forget-show-me-and-i-may-remember-involve-me-and-ill-understand/ (Accessed 24/11/2013)
In 1913 a new movement in psychology appeared, Behaviorism. “Introduced by John Broadus Watson when he published the classic article Psychology as the behaviorist views it.” Consequently, Behaviorism (also called the behaviorist approach) was the primary paradigm in psychology between 1920 to 1950 and is based on a number of underlying ‘rules’: Psychology should be seen as a science; Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events, like thinking and emotion; People have no free will – a person’s environment determines their behavior; Behavior is the result of stimulus resulting in a response; and All behavior is learned from the environment. How we process these stimuli and learn from our surrounds
Behaviorism, or learning theory is one of three “grand theories” of human development. The focus of behaviorism is observable behavior, with no reference to mental processes. As a learning theory behaviorism, assumes that learning occurs via interactions with the environment, through the process of conditioning.
Behaviourism is a theory of learning which suggests that all behaviours are obtained as a result of conditioning...
Behaviourism is where a person learns through responding to stimuli so as to optimise their own situation. This means that humans have a need to learn so by adapting to a changing environment around to be able to survive. For instance a learner who has some sensory impairment will adapt their own learning styles to accommodate for this barrier by adapting method and using experience they are able to achieve the same learning outcomes as other learners.
Cooper, J (1994). Classroom Teaching Skills. 5th ed. Massachusetts: D. C. Heath and Company. p115-150.
In my reaction paper I will discuss B.F. Skinners theory operant conditioning and the ways he tested it out on animals, how it relates to humans, and how I can relate operant conditioning to my own personal life.
Personal examples of a behaviorist style of instruction are based on the widely renowned theory by B.F. Skinner, which in the classroom can be summarized by reinf...
My Understanding of the Human Behaviour Theory: BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH Human conduct, how we act and how we react are all related to the theory of behaviourism, or the behaviourist approach. Behaviourism as a theory was first founded by John B. Watson and B.F Skinner who saw that all human behaviour is influenced and can be replaced by new, sometimes more appropriate behaviours. John B. Watson knew that by observing obvious behaviours, the reason for certain actions could be identified. This is where the term classical conditioning comes from, meaning of which is when specific influences create or bring on a certain response. B.F Skinner was the man who developed the theory of operant conditioning.
Behaviorism is a learning theory or a developmental theory that measures observable behaviors that are produced by the learner’s response to stimuli. On one end of the spectrum behaviorism is known as an attitude. At the other end, it is known as a doctrine. According to the behavioral views of human development, behaviorists argued that to focus attention on unobservable constructs, such as emotions, thoughts, or the unconscious, was an unscientific approach.(Craig & Dunn, Ex.: 2010)
Learning is defined as a “process of change that occurs as a result of an individual’s experience” (Mazure, 2006). Researchers assume that the process of learning follows certain general principles, which were developed, into the general process learning theories. These include operant conditioning and classical conditioning which has been put forward by leading psychologists like Pavlov, B.F.Skinner and Thorndike. However, in learning, operant and classical conditoning are opposed by biological constraints that state that there are limitations to the theories. Some of these biological constraints on learning will be discussed below.
The behavioral theory involves the formation of associations between stimuli and response (LT, 21). Behaviorism is expressed through conditioning, associating stimuli and responses (LT, 55). As Skinner describes the environment helps to predict the cues for how an individual will respond to a stimulus. Stimuli, response, contingencies are the three contingencies of the basis of behavioral theory. (114). An association through experiences along with trial and error is when learning often occurs. Through trial and error, successful responses are established and unsuccessful ones are abandoned (LT, 73). The shorter time between the stimuli and response the less likely the response will be established. Positive responses are
Reece, I and Walker, S (2005) Teaching, Training and Learning (5thed.) Sunderland: Business Education Publishers Limited.
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning both played a key role in the history of the study of learning, but, as argued by B.F Skinner, there are key differences to be noted between the two (Gleitman, Gross, Reisberg, 2011).
The main instance that I use behaviorism in my classroom is through positive reinforcement. I praise, praise, praise my students all day. Students who are such young learners receive much motivation when they hear praise and specific praise at that. It allows them to be eager to please their teacher and provides a sense of self-accomplishment. In my classroom, I also use a treasure chest, reward coupons and PBIS reward money as major components of positive reinforcement. At the beginning of the year, I teach my students my classroom expectations and that I expect the best from them. This includes all of their daily work, including journal writing, morning work, etc. My students know what my desired outcome is. Student’s behavioral efforts are measured and collected on a weekly basis through a behavior chart. Their assignments are measured on accuracy and completeness in order to help them recognize the importance of their effort in finishing an assignment. I utilize a rubric on many of my assignments in order to help them achieve their best. Their meeting certain standards on their weekly behavior chart allows them to receive
Behaviorism is the point of view where learning and behavior are described and explained in terms of stimulus-response relationships. Behaviorists agree that an individual’s behaviors is a result of their interaction with the environment. Feedback, praise and rewards are all ways people can respond to becoming conditioned. The focus is on observable events instead of events that happen in one’s head. The belief that learning has not happened unless there is an observable change in behavior. “The earliest and most Ardent of behaviourists was Watson (1931; Medcof and Roth, 1991; Hill 1997). His fundamental conclusion from many experimental observations of animal and childhood learning was that stimulus-response (S-R) connections are more likely to be established the more frequently or recently an S-R bond occurs. A child solving a number problem might have to make many unsuccessful trials before arriving at the correct solution” (Childs, 2004).