Behavioral theories of learning

2. WHAT IS LEARNING?
 1. A young child takes her first steps.
 2. An adolescent male feels a strong
attraction to certain females.
 3. A child feels anxious when he sees the
doctor coming with a needle.
 4. Long after learning how to multiply, a girl
realizes on her own that another way to
multiply by 5 is to divide by 2 and multiply
by 10.

3. Learning is…..
1. “a persisting change in human performance or
performance potential . . . (brought) about as a result of the
learner’s interaction with the environment” (Driscoll, 1994, pp. 8-9).
2. “the relatively permanent change in a person’s
knowledge or behavior due to experience” (Mayer, 1982, p. 1040).
3. “an enduring change in behavior, or in the capacity to
behave in a given fashion, which results from practice or
other forms of experience” (Shuell, 1986, p. 412).

4. PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL
LEARNING
 CONSEQUENCES – pleasant or unpleasant conditions
that follow behaviors and affect
the frequency of future behaviors
 REINFORCER – a pleasurable consequence that
maintains or increases a behavior
Primary Reinforcer – food, water, or other consequence
that satisfies a basic need

5. PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL
LEARNING
Secondary Reinforcer – a consequence that people
learn to value through its
association with a primary
reinforcer
Positive Reinforcer - pleasurable consequence given to
strengthen behavior
Negative Reinforcer - release from an unpleasant
situation, given to strengthen
behavior

6. PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL
LEARNING
Premack Principle – rule stating that enjoyable activities
can be used to reinforce
participation in less enjoyable activities
Intrinsic Reinforcers – behaviors that a person enjoys
engaging in for their own sake,
without any other reward
Extrinsic Reinforcers- praise or rewards given to
motivate people to engage in
behavior that they might not
engage in without them

7. PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL
LEARNING
 PUNISHMENT – unpleasant consequences used to
weaken behavior
2 PRIMARY FORMS:
1. PRESENTATION PUNISHMENT - is the use of
unpleasant consequences/aversive
stimuli to decrease the chances that
the behavior will occur again
2. REMOVAL PUNISHMENT – withdrawal of a
pleasant consequence that is re-
inforcing a behavior designed to
decrease the chances that the behavior will
occur