2. What is behaviorism all about?
âą Behavioral psychology is the study of
external behavior
âą Behavior is objective and observable,
where as what goes on in oneâs mind can
never really be known or measured (the mind
is a âblack boxâ)to a behaviorist!
âą Behavior is the response of an organism to
stimuli.
3. History of Behaviorism
âą Pavlov (1927),
a Russian
physiologist
discovered
classical
conditioning in
dogs.
4. Classical Conditioning
âș Explains some learning of involuntary
emotional and physiological responses.
âDog drooling when it smells food and later
when it hears a bell.
âș Itâs important for us as teachers to
understand since school is often the
cause of unintentional learning through
classical conditioning, especially anxiety.
âTest anxiety conditions us to have general
school anxiety.
8. Classical Conditioning
âą basic learning process discovered
by Pavlov that involves repeatedly
pairing a neutral stimulus with a
response-producing stimulus until
the neutral stimulus triggers the
same response
9. Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
Before Conditioning
Unconditioned
Stimulus
Unconditioned Response
Neutral Stimulus No Response
10. Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
During Conditioning
Unconditioned
Stimulus
Neutral
Stimulus
Unconditioned
Response
11. Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
After Conditioning
Conditioned
Stimulus
Conditioned
Response
12.
13. More Examples of Classical Conditioning
âș Kids who often get strep throat, after much
swabbing of their throat, begin to gag as soon as
they see the doctor with the swab.
âș Hearing a teacher, roommate, boyfriend/girlfriend
say to you, âWe need to talkâ. Upon hearing this
phrase your stomach âfluttersâ.
âș The point is, we learn to associate a stimulus
with a response, and eventually our body does this
automatically in the presence of the stimulus.
In CC, the response is involuntary.
15. Classical Conditioning âŠ..
âș Classical conditioning can face âextinctionâ,
where the learning is undone.
âThis can happen naturally (the dog stops getting
meat when music is played)
âOr can happen through some type of therapy in
the case of severe anxiety reactions
âș Ex: people who are afraid to flyâŠ.
âș Remember: Classical conditioning is more
than forming an association â it is an
involuntary, physiological response
16. Classical Conditioning in the Classroom
âș Playing soothing music, dimming the lights
to calm and relax students
âș Unintentional classical conditioning:
âTest anxiety
âMath anxiety
âPublic speaking anxiety
âGeneral school anxiety
17. B.F. Skinner (1904 â1990)
âą American psychologist - influential from the 1930âs -
60âs â developed âOperant Conditioningâ
âą Skinner was interested in education
â He believed that behavior is sustained by
reinforcements or rewards, not by free will.
âą Famous for the Skinner box & the teaching machine
âą Often worked with pigeons
& rats and applied what he learned
with these animals to human learning.
18. Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
âș This involves conditioning voluntary,
controllable behaviors, not the
automatic physiological responses in
Classical Conditioning
âș With Operant Conditioning the
Response comes before the Stimulus
(the opposite of CC)
R S
19. Operant Conditioning
âș Teachers can deliberately use operant
conditioning with their students (training)
âș How someone reacts to our behaviors
determines whether or not we continue the
behavior
âif we are rewarded for something we will likely
do it again - do you do this as a teacher?
21. Consequences for Behaviors
âș Positive Reinforcement â You behave in a certain
way that results in a reward, and as a result, you
are more likely to repeat that behavior
âș Negative Reinforcement â You behave in a certain
way that results in the removal of something
unpleasant, and as a result you are more likely to
repeat that behavior (ex: doing a paper early)
âIn both cases, something happened that you saw as
âgoodâ and as a result, you exhibited the behavior
more.
22. Consequences for Behaviors
âș Punishment â A consequence that follows a
behavior so that you do the behavior less
often in the future.
âPunishment can involve adding something
(paying a fine, staying after school) or involve
removing something you like (losing recess
time, leaving your friends)
âIn both cases, adding something or removing
something, you perceive it as âbadâ and as a
result, you exhibit the behavior less.
23. Differences Between Negative
Reinforcement & Punishment
âș Negative reinforcement: Something unpleasant
is removed & as a result you are more likely to
do it again
âSomething happened that was âgoodâ
âș Punishment: A consequence happens that you
donât like and you are less likely to do it again.
The punishment can add something or take
something away.
âSomething happened that was âbadâ
24. Shaping New Behaviors
âș Shaping is a process of reinforcing a series of
responses that increasingly resemble the desired
final behavior
âș When a desired behavior occurs rarely or not at
all, we use shaping
âFirst reinforce any response that in some way
resembles the desired behavior, then one that is
closer etc.
âThink of animal training or the hyper kid who canât sit
in his chair in class â do things in small steps
25. Operant Conditioning
âș learning process in which behavior is
shaped and maintained by manipulating
its consequences
âș Operant conditioning involves voluntary
behaviors.
âș Operants are actions upon the
environment, which may lead to
reinforcement or punishment
29. Reinforcement
âș anything that strengthens a response or
increases ( ) the chance that it will
occur
âș almost anything can act as a reinforcer â
food, sex, vacation, etc.
âș Remember: Reinforcement INCREASES
( ) behavior.
30.
31. Positive Reinforcement
âą Positive consequence that increases
the chance of desired behavior
because something is added (+) or
presented.
âą Can be thought of as a reward
âą Represented by: + positive (+),
reinforcement ( )
33. Negative Reinforcement
âș Works to increase behavior but
does this by removing an
unwanted stimulus
âș Think of negative sign (-),
REMOVING unwanted stimulus
âș EX: Beeping noise from car â buckle
seatbelt â noise goes away â noise
is the negative reinforcement to put
on seatbelt.
34.
35. Shaping - gradually molding a desired
behavior by reinforcing responses that are
similar or close to the final desired
behavior
38. Positive Punishment (+ )
âșdecreases behavior by adding
an unpleasant stimulus
âșRemember, think positive as in
plus sign (+), adding something
âșEX: spanking, a prison
sentence, or criticizing
someone
39. Operant conditioning. Having received a face full of
quills, a young coyote has probably learned to avoid
porcupines!
40. Negative Punishment
âș decreases behavior
by removing a pleasant
stimulus ( - )
âą EX: taking away car keys
to punish a teenager
(works to decrease future
behavior)
41. Negative Reinforcement v.
Punishment
âșMany people confuse negative
reinforcement and punishment.
âșNegative Reinforcement always
increases behavior
âșPunishment always decreases
behavior.
43. Practice Problems
âș When you were still together, you and
your ex used to love the same hit song.
Now when you hear that song, you feel
sad.
âșCC or OC?
âșCC!
44. Practice Problems
âș Jose did not like to do his homework. One
day his mom told Jose that he could play
video games for an hour after his homework
was done. Jose completed his homework
more often as a result.
âș CC or OC?
âș OC!
45. âș A fourth grade teacher who was very strict
and scary used to wear a strong, rose-scented
perfume. The smell of roses now makes you
very nervous.
âș CC or OC?
âș CC!
46. âș Jane came home late and her parents
took away her car privileges for a week.
In the future, Jane made sure to come
home on time.
âș CC or OC?
âș OC!
47. âș One night you bought a meal deal at
McDonaldâs, you arrived home to find a
burger, fries, colas, and three roaches in the
bag. Now, even the sight of the McDonaldâs
logo makes you sick to your stomach.
âș CC or OC?
âș CC!
48. âș Clare studies hard and gets an A on her
Biology test. The teacher praises her in
front of the class. As a result, Clare stops
studying earns a failing grade on the next
two exams.
âș CC or OC?
âș OC!
49. âșMike was more likely to return his
rental DVDâs on time after the video
store raised their late charges.
âșCC or OC?
âșOC!
50. Critiques of Behaviorism
âą External rewards may diminish intrinsic motivation
âStudies where participants work on an interesting task
(ex: puzzles) - experimental group is given a reward when
finished while the control group is not.
â After initial period, during a non-rewarded time
participants are given a choice between continuing to work
on the task or switching to another activity. Typical result is
that participants in the experimental group spend less time
on the activity than the control group. This is taken as
indicating that reward reduces intrinsic motivation. Pizza
Hut used to give away free pizza to kids who read a certain
number of pages. This practice was discontinued as it
actually eroded students intrinsic motivation to read!
51. More Critiques âŠ
âș Behaviorism doesnât account for anything that
isnât an observable behavior
âThere has to be more going on than what is
observable - doesnât there?
âș Behaviorism only accounts for learning
through direct experience with the
environment (not observational learning)
52. âș Based on your experience and observations,
write and reflect on at least one classroom
example related to the teaching of mathematics
for each below:
âClassical Conditioning
âPositive Reinforcement
âNegative Reinforcement
âPositive Punishment
âNegative Punishment
âShaping