Educ 1-A Discrimination

Behaviorist Perspective - The dog could learn to discriminate between

similar bells (stimuli) and discern which bell
Behaviorism: Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson, Skinner
would result in the presentation of food and
which would not.

Theory of Behaviorism High-Order Conditioning

- Focuses on the study of observable and
measurable behavior.
- Emphasizes that behavior is mostly learned
through conditioning and reinforcement.
Ivan Pavlov
- A Russian physiologist well known for his work
in classical conditioning or stimulus
substitution.
- 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 salivate at the flash of light without the
sound of the bell.
Edward L. Thorndike

Stage 1 – Before Conditioning - Connectionism theory

- Explained that learning is the result of
Bell (neutral stimulus) No response
associations forming between stimuli (S) and
Stage 2 – During Conditioning responses (R).

Bell (neutral stimulus)

Connectionism
Meat (unconditioned stimulus) Salivation - States that learning has taken place when a
(unconditioned strong connection or bond between stimulus
response) and response is formed.
Stage 3 – After Conditioning
Three Primary Laws of Thorndike:
Bell (conditioned stimulus) Salivation
1. Law of Effect
(unconditioned
 States that a connection
response)
between a stimulus and
Stimulus Generalization response is strengthened when
the consequence is positive
- Once the dog has learned to salivate at the
(reward) and the connection
sound of the bell, it will salivate at other similar
between the stimulus and the
sounds.
response is response is
Extinction weakened when the
consequence is negative.
- If you stop pairing the bell with the food,
 Revised: negative rewards
salivation will eventually cease in response to
(punishment) do not
the bell.
necessarily weaken bonds, and
Spontaneous Recovery that some seemingly
pleasurable consequences do
- Extinguished responses can be “recovered”
not necessarily motivate
after an elapsed time but will soon extinguish
performance
again if the dog is not presented with food.
2. Law of Exercise
 The S-R (stimulus-response)
bond is practiced, the stronger
it will become.
 Practice makes perfect
 3. Law of Readiness
 The more 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
(laws of effect/exercise).
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
- The first American psychologist to work with
Pavlov’s ideas.
- Considered that humans are born with a few
reflexes and the emotional reactions of love and
rage.
Experiment on Albert.
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. Watson then
“extinguished” or made the child “unlearn” fear by
showing the rat without the loud noise.
Burrhus Frederick Skinner
- Studied operant behavior (voluntary behaviors
used in operating on the environment).
Operant Conditioning
o 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.
Reinforcement
- the key element in Skinner’s S-R theory
Reinforcer
- anything that strengthens the desired response.
Positive reinforcer
o any stimulus that is given or added to
increase the response
Negative reinforcer
o any stimulus that results in the
increased frequency of a response
when it is withdrawn or removed.
Punishment
o a consequence intended to result in
reduced responses.
Extinction or Non-reinforcement: responses that are
not reinforced are not likely to be repeated.
Shaping of Behavior
- successive approximations of the behavior until
the animal learns the association between the
lever and the food reward.
Behavioral Chaining
- comes about when a series of steps are needed
to be 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.
Fixed Interval Schedules
- the target response is reinforced after a fixed
amount of time has passed since the last
reinforcement.
Variable Interval Schedules
- similar to fixed interval schedules but the
amount of time that must pass between
reinforcement varies.
Fixed Ratio Schedules
- a fixed number of correct responses must occur
before reinforcement may recur.
Variable Ratio Schedules Sign theory

- the number of correct repetitions of the correct
response for reinforcement varies.
Implications of Operant Conditioning:
1. Practice should take the form of question
(stimulus) – answer (response) frames
which expose the student to the subject in
gradual steps.
2. Require that the learner makes a response
for every frame and receives immediate
feedback.
3. Try to engage the difficulty of the questions
so the response is always correct and
hence, a positive reinforcement.
4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson
is paired with secondary reinforcers such
as verbal praise, prizes and good grades.
- An organism learns by pursuing signs to a goal
Tolman’s Key Concepts
1. Learning is always purposive and goal-
directed.
2. Cognitive maps
 Organisms will select the
shortest or easiest path to
achieve a goal.
3. Latent Learning
 A kind of learning that remains
or stays with the individual
until needed.
4. Intervening Variables
 Variables that are not readily
seen but serve as determinants
of behavior.

Reinforcement is not essential for learning.

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.

Neo Behaviorism: Tolman and Bandura

Neo behaviorism

- Has aspects of behaviorism but it also reaches

out to the cognitive perspective.

Edward Tolman

- Purposive Behaviorism

Purposive Behaviorism

- Sign Learning Theory

- The link between behaviorism and cognitive
theory