BEHAVIORIST

PERSPECTIVE
BEHAVIORISM
 IVAN PAVLOV

He is a Russian physiologist, is well known for his work in

classical conditioning or stimulus substitution. Pavlov’s most
renowned experiment involved meat, a dog and a bell.
Initially, Pavlov was measuring the dog’s salivation in order to
study digestion.
 PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENT
Before conditioning, ringing the bell (neutral stimulus)
caused no response from the dog. Placing food
(unconditioned stimulus) in the front of the dog initiated
salivation (unconditioned response). During conditioning,
the bell was rung a few seconds before the dog was
presented with food. After conditioning, the ringing of the
bell (conditioned stimulus) alone produced salivation
(conditioned response). This is classical conditioning.
 FINDINGS OF PAVLOV
Stimulus Generalization- Once a 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
would result in the presentation of food and which would
not.
High-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 at the flash of the light without the sound of the bell.
 EDWARD L. THORNDIKE

Thorndike’s Connectionism theory gave us the

original S-R framework of behavioral psychology.
He explained that learning is the result of
associations forming between stimuli (S) and
response (R).
 CONNECTIONISM
The main principle of connectionism was the learning
could be adequate explained without considering any
unobservable internal states.
It states that the learning has taken place when a
strong connection or bond between stimulus and
response is formed.
He came up with three primary laws : Law of Effect,
Law of Exercise, and law of Readiness.
 LAW OF EFFECT
It states that a connection between a stimulus and
response is strengthened when the consequence is
positive (reward) and the connection between the
stimulus and the response is weakened when the
consequence is negative.
(revised this law)
Reward and Punishment
 LAW OF EXERCISE
This tells us that the more an S-R (stimulus-
response) bond is practiced the stronger it
will become.
“Practice makes perfect.”
 LAW OF READINESS
This states that the more readiness the
learner has 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. 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.
 JOHN WATSON
He was the first American psychologist to work with Pavlov’s
ideas.
He too initially involved in animal studies, then later became
involved in human behavior research.
 EXPERIMENT ON ALBERT
Watson applied classical conditioning in his experiment
concerning Albert, a young child and a white rat. In the
beginning, Albert was not afraid of the rat; but Watson made a
sudden loud noise each time Albert touched the rat. Because
Albert was frightened by the loud noise, he soon became
conditioned to fear and avoid the rat. Later, the child’s
response was generalized to other small animals. Now, he was
also afraid of small animals. Watson then “extinguished” or
made the child “unlearned fear by showing the rat without the
loud noise.
 BURRHUS FREDERICK SKINNER

Skinner’s work differs from that of the tree

behaviorist before him in that he studied
operant behavior.
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
It is based upon the notion that learning is a
result of change in overt behavior. Changes in
behavior are the result of an individual’s response to
events (stimuli) that occur in the environment. A
response produces consequences such as defining
word, hitting a ball, or solving math problem. When a
particular Stimulus- Response (S-R) pattern is
reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to
respond.
Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning, pioneered by

American psychologist B. F. Skinner,
is the process of shaping behavior
by means of reinforcement and
punishment. This illustration shows
how a mouse can learn to maneuver
through a maze. The mouse is
rewarded with food when it reaches
the first turn in the maze (A). Once
the first behavior becomes
ingrained, the mouse is not rewarded
until it makes the second turn (B).
After many times through the maze,
the mouse must reach the end of the
maze to receive its reward (C).
Reinforcement
- is the key element in Skinner’s S-R theory.
A Reinforcer is anything that strengthens the
desired response. There is a positive reinforcer
and a negative reinforcer.
1. Positive Reinforcer – any stimulus that is given or
added to increase the response.

Example: Is when a teacher promises extra time in the

play area to children who behave well during the
lesson.
A mother who promises a new cellphone for
her son who gets good grades. (including: verbal
praises, star stamps and stickers)
2. Negative Reinforcer – any stimulus that results in
the increased frequency of a response when it is
withdrawn or removed. It is not punishment, in fact it
is a reward.
Example:
A teacher announces that a student who gets an
average grade of 1.5 for the two grading periods will
no longer take the final examination. (the negative
reinforcer is “removing” the final exam, which we
realize is a form of reward for working hard and
getting an average grade of 1.5)
 NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT VS
PUNISHMENT
Punishment
- is a consequence intended to result in reduced
responses.
Example: Student who always come late is not allowed to join
a group work that has already began (punishment) and,
therefore, loses points for that activity. (The punishment was
done to reduce the response of repeatedly coming to class
late.
Extinction or Non- Reinforcement
- these are responses that are not
reinforced are not likely to be repeated. For
example, ignoring a student’s misbehavior
may extinguish that behavior.
Shaping of 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 behaviors, successive
approximations of the behavior are rewarded
until the animal learns the association between
the lever and food reward . To begin shaping, the
animal may be rewarded for simply turning in the
direction of the lever, then for moving toward the
lever, for brushing against the lever, and finally
for pressing the lever.
Behavioral chaining
- Comes about when a series of steps are needed to
be learned. The animal would master each step in
sequence until the entire sequence is learned. This
can be applied to a child being thought to tie a
shoelace. The child can be given reinforcement
(rewards) until the entire process of tying the shoelace
is learned.
Reinforcement schedules
- Once the desired behavioral response is
accomplished, reinforcement does not have to
be 100%; in fact, it can be maintained more
successfully through what skinner referred to as
partial reinforcement schedules. Partial
reinforcement schedules include interval
schedules and ratio schedule.
Fixed Interval Schedules
- The target response is reinforced after a
fixed amount of time has passed since the
last reinforcement. Example , the bird in a
cage is given foo (reinforcer) every 10
minutes, regardless of how many times it
presses the bar.
Variable Interval Schedules
- this is similar to fixed interval schedules
but the amount of time then must pass
between reinforcement varies. Examples,
the bird may receive food (reinforcer)
different intervals, not every ten minutes.
Fixed Ratio Schedules
A fixed number of correct responses must
occur before reinforcement may recur.
Example, the bird is given food (reinforcer)
every time it presses the bar 5 times.
Variable Ratio Schedules
The number of correct repetitions of the correct
response for reinforcement varies. Example, the bird
is given food (reinforcer) after it presses the bar 3
times, then after 10 times, then after 4 times. So the
bird will not be able to predict how many times it
needs to press the bar before it gets food again.
Variable interval ( variable ratio schedules
produce steadier and more persistent rates of
response)
This is because the learners cannot predict when the
reinforcement will come although they know that they will
eventually succeed. An example of this is why people continue
to buy lotto tickets even when an almost negligible
percentage of people actually win. While it is true that very
rarely there is a big winner, but once in a while somebody hits
the jackpot (reinforcement) People cannot predict when the
jackpot can be gotten (variable interval) so they continue to
buy tickets (repetition of response).
Skinner Box
American psychologist B. F.
Skinner designed an
apparatus, now called a
Skinner box, that allowed him
to formulate important
principles of animal learning.
An animal placed inside the
box is rewarded with a small
bit of food each time it makes
the desired response, such as
pressing a lever or pecking a
key. A device outside the box
records the animal’s
responses.
 IMPLICATIONS OF OPERANT
CONDITIONING
1. Practice should take the form of question (stimulus0- answer
(response) frames which expose the students 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 difficulty of the questions so he response is
always correct and hence, a positive reinforcement.
4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson is paired with
secondary reinforces such as verbal praise, prizes and good
grades.
 PRINCIPLES DERIVED FROM SKINNER’S
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.
THANK YOU