3.1 Introduction
Behavioural psychology, or behaviourism, is the view that human minds are black boxes, which means our thinking process cannot be studied scientifically. Therefore, we should instead focus on studying observable external behaviours. Behaviourism also assumes that all behaviours are reflexes, in response to stimuli from your external environment, or products of your past experience. It is possible to predict others' behaviours, based upon just their stimuli in their immediate environment or their personal history alone.
Behaviourists believe that learning happens when our experiences result in the relatively permanent change in our behaviours or potential behaviours. We can help someone learn or shape their behaviour, by manipulating their external environment. Behaviourism in education would focus on conditioning the student to behave in a certain way through reinforcement and repetition - they do not have to understand why they should behave that way - or reflect on their behaviour. While behaviourist methods, such as operant conditioning, are highly effective in shaping behaviours and helping students excel both academically and personally, there are criticisms that this is training, as opposed to education.
Fact
Behaviourist J B Watson once said 'Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” (1930)
Source: www.goodreads.com
3.2 Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning refers to associating a stimulus that elicits a certain reflex with an originally neutral stimulus, such that the neutral stimulus alone would also elicit the same reflexive behaviour. Classical conditioning starts with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which elicits an unconditioned response (UCR) and a neutral stimulus that elicits no response. The UCS is generally a biologically potent stimulus, while the UCR is generally a biologically predisposed reflex, although it is not always the case.
Association is generally achieved by repeatedly pairing the UCS with the neutral stimulus, although, in some cases, one pairing is enough. Classical conditioning is acquired when an organism associates the UCS with the neutral stimulus. Once the conditioning is completed, the previously neutral stimulus would become a conditioned stimulus (CS), which elicits a conditioned response (CR). It is important to note that UCR and CR are the same behaviours preceded by different stimuli. UCR is a natural response, while CR is a learnt response.
Pavlov's Dogs
Ivan Pavlov was the first to study classical conditioning. He conducted an experiment by ringing a bell before feeding his dogs. After a few repetitions, the dogs started to salivate in response to the bell ringing, even when no food was present. The dogs did not need to learn to salivate in response to food, as it was a genetically- coded reflex. Therefore, salivating was a UCR to food, which was a UCS. Before conditioning, the bell did not produce any response from the dogs. By ringing the bell before presenting the dog with the food (UCS), the dogs were conditioned to associate the bell with thefood (UCS) and started salivating in its presence. The bell had become a CS, which elicited a CR:salivation.
Fact
Ivan Pavlov was not a psychologist - he was a Russian physiologist, who was studying digestion in dogs, when he noticed that the dogs salivated, when they saw their feeder, before the food was even presented to them.
Source: Nobelprize.org
Little Albert Experiment
Psychologist, John B Watson, wanted to find out if classical conditioning also applies to humans. He recruited Little Albert, a nine-month-old infant, for his ethically questionable fear conditioning experiment. Watson introduced Albert to various stimuli, such as fire, a dog, a monkey and a white rat. Albert showed no fear in response to any of these stimuli and was particularly interested in playing with the rat.
During the conditioning process, Albert was allowed to play with the rat, and Watson would make a loud noise behind him, by striking a steel bar with a hammer, every time Albert touched the rat. The loud noise triggered a fear response in Albert, and, after conditioning, he would start crying and try to crawl away, whenever he saw the rat, even when the loud noise was no longer present. Albert had an innate fear towards loud noises (UCS), which he naturally responded to with fear (UCR). Before conditioning, he did not fear the rat; however, after being exposed to the rat and the loud noise (UCS) repeatedly, he had learnt to associate the rat with the loud noise (UCS). This turned the rat, a formally neutral stimulus, into a CS, which now also elicited a fear response (CR). Little Albert
Summary Timeline:
Stimulus Control in Classical Conditioning - Stimulus Generalisation/Discrimination Stimulus generalisation is when a stimulus that was not involved in the conditioning also elicits a CR. Think back to the Little Albert experiment. After conditioning, Little Albert would react adversely to not just white rats, but also other furry objects, such as rabbits, dogs, even a Santa Claus mask with a furry beard.
On the other hand, stimulus
discrimination refers to when a stimulus that was not involved in the
conditioning does not elicit a CR. For example Little Albert did not respond
with the same fear response, when presented with other objects with hair. The
more similar the stimulus is to the CS, the more likely it is for the stimulus
to elicit the related CR. It is possible to train a
human or an animal to respond exclusively to a specific stimulus through
stimulus discrimination. For example Training a dog to distinguish between the
words 'sit' and 'stay' during obedience training.
Types of Classical Conditioning
The strength of the conditioning
depends on the frequency of the pairings between the CS and the UCS and the
timing of the presentation of the stimuli. Forward conditioning is when the CS
is presented before the UCS. This is the most effective conditioning, as CS is
made to be predictive of the UCS. The following are different types of forward
conditioning: In trace conditioning, the UCS is presented after the CS is
terminated.
For example, the bell rings for a few seconds, and then the food is
presented one second after the bell stops ringing. In delay conditioning, the
presentation of CS and UCS is overlapped. For example, the bell starts ringing,
and the food is presented a few seconds later, as the bell keeps on ringing.
Simultaneous conditioning is when the CS and UCS are presented and terminated
at the same time. For example, the bell rings throughout the feeding time.
Backward conditioning is when the UCS is presented before the CS. The CR is often inhibitory in this case, as the CS is associated with the termination of the UCS. For example, the bell rings after the food is taken away. Eventually, the bell is associated with the end of the feeding time. Second-order conditioning involves two CS's. CS1 is associated with CS2, which is in turn associated with the UCS, and CS1 elicits the CR, without directly being associated with UCS. For example, the bell is paired with a light, and the light is paired with the food. After conditioning, the dog salivates, when it hears the bell.
Extinction in Classical Conditioning
After conditioning is completed,
if the CS is presented without the UCS, the association between the CS and the
UCS would gradually weaken, and the CR would eventually become 'extinct', when
the CS is no longer associated with the UCS. For example If the bell rings
repeatedly, with no food being presented, the dogs will eventually stop
salivating, in response to the bell. Reacquisition of the conditioning can be
achieved by pairing the CS with the UCS again. Reconditioning after the
extinction is also substantially faster than the initial conditioning.
Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a previously extinguished CR after
a rest period, without any intervention. For example The dog stops salivating in
response to the bell, due to extinction, but salivates again, after a few
hours, without reconditioning. The recovered CR is usually weaker than the CR
before extinction. The phenomenon of rapid reacquisition and spontaneous
recovery indicates that the CR was not unlearnt after extinction - the organism
just learnt to inhibit/suppress the CR.
Counter-conditioning/Systemic Desensitisation Counter-conditioning refers to changing an undesired response to a stimulus to a desired one. One example of counter-conditioning is aversion therapy, which aims to condition an animal or a human to associate a previously pleasant stimulus with an unpleasant sensation. For example Alcoholics may be given alcohol, along with a drug that makes them feel nauseated, in order to discourage them from consuming alcohol. On the other hand, systemic desensitisation aims to turn a previously unpleasant or fearful stimulus into a neutral or even pleasant one.
Systemic desensitisation is often used to treat phobias or anxiety. For example In order to overcome arachnophobia, looking at images of spiders, while listening to pleasant music or practising relaxation. The process often involves gradually increasing the intensity of the stimuli exposed to the client. For example, the therapy may start with images of a spider, then progress to a real spider in the same
room, when the images no longer elicit fear.
3.3 Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, refers to shaping behaviours with rewards and punishments. Like classical conditioning, operant conditioning shapes behaviour through controlling external stimuli. However, while classical conditioning shapes involuntary reflexes, by associating stimuli that produce reflexive behaviours with neutral stimuli, operant conditioning shapes goal-directed behaviours through manipulating the consequences associated with these behaviours. Thorndike's Law of Effect and Thorndike's Puzzle Box Thorndike's Law of Effect states that behaviours that lead to a favourable consequence are strengthened and are more likely to be repeated; while those that lead to an unfavourable consequence are weakened and are less likely to be repeated.
Edward Thorndike put a cat in a puzzle box. The cat needed to escape the puzzle box by pressing on a lever, in order to get a piece of food outside the box. The cat was put back into the box after succeeding in another trial. Thorndike recorded the time it took for the cat to escape in every trial and found that it gradually decreased with every trial. On the first trial, the cat did not know what behaviour would help it escape the box and took longer exploring different methods in the earlier trials.
After a few accidental but successful escapes, the cat came to learn that, by pushing on the lever, it would be rewarded with food, while other behaviours, such as pacing, scratching the bars or howling, did not result in the same favourable consequence. Therefore, it became quicker, by pressing the lever, and avoided other behaviours in later trials. Skinner Box Building on Thorndike's work, psychologist, B F Skinner, invented an operant conditioning chamber known as the Skinner Box. The box provided a controlled environment that dispensed rewards andpunishments, in response to the behaviour of an animal inside the box.
For example There was a hungry rat in a box with two buttons. It received a piece of food, when it pressed the blue button, and received an electric shock, when it pressed the red button. After a few trials, the rat was conditioned to associate the food (reward) with the blue button, and the shock (punishment) with the red button. The learnt associations encouraged the rat to press the blue button more and avoid the red button. Skinner concluded that we learn how to behave by learning which behaviours would help us earn a reward and/or avoid punishment. This also means that we can shape other people's behaviours, by administering rewards and punishments.
Reinforcement and Punishment in Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement strengthens a
behaviour, increasing the likelihood of it being repeated; punishment weakens a
behaviour, decreasing the likelihood of it being repeated. There are positive
and negative reinforcements and punishments. Positive refers to the presence of
a stimulus; negative refers to the absence of a stimulus. Positive
reinforcement refers to increasing a behaviour, by presenting a desired
stimulus in response to the behaviour. For example Pressing the lever results
in being rewarded with food.
Negative reinforcement refers to
increasing a behaviour, by removing an undesired stimulus in response to the
behaviour. There are two types of behaviours in response to negative
reinforcement: escape and active avoidance. Escape involves removing unpleasant
stimuli; such as pressing a lever, to turn off an electric shock. Active
avoidance involves avoiding future unpleasant stimuli; such as pressing a
lever, to avoid a future electric shock. Positive punishment refers to
decreasing a behaviour by presenting an undesired stimulus in response to the
behaviour; such as pressing a lever results in an electric shock.Negative punishment refers to decreasing a behaviour by removing the desired stimulus in response to the behaviour; such as pressing a lever results in food being taken away.
3.4 Reinforcement Schedules
Reinforcement schedules control how reinforcements are delivered. In a continuous reinforcement schedule, every single desired response is reinforced. For example A dog is given a treat, every time it follows the instruction to sit. Continuous reinforcement schedules are the most effective for initial learning, as the consistent pairing of behaviour and reinforcement helps the individual to associate the two. On the other hand, in a partial reinforcement schedule, the desired responses are only reinforcedsometimes. To follow are the four types of partial reinforcement schedule:
Fixed-interval schedule.
This means reinforcement occurs for the first correct response, every time a fixed time period passes, following the previous reinforcement. This schedule often sees a spike in response, just leading to when the reinforcement is anticipated, and a drop in response, immediately after the reinforcement is delivered. This is also called the scalloped response pattern. For example A test that is scheduled every four weeks would motivate the students to study more, leading up to the test, but, after the test, the students may not be motivated to study until the next test.
Variable-interval schedule
This means reinforcement occurs
for the first correct response, after a random amount of time passes, following
the previous reinforcement, which makes the time of the reinforcement less
predictable. This schedule generally produces a moderate but steady pattern of
responding. For example Students will study consistently, if their teacher
gives them surprise quizzes from time to time.
Fixed-ratio schedule
This means reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of correct responses. This schedule generally sees a high rate of responding, with quick pauses after reinforcement. For example A worker is paid £5 for every 100 envelopes they stuff.
Variable-ratio schedule
This means reinforcement occurs
after a random number of correct responses. This schedule produces a high and
persistent rate of response, in the hope that the next response would be
rewarded. For example A gambling machine that rewards the player after an
unknown amount of plays. As the player does not know how many times they have
to play before winning, they would be reluctant to quit. Like classical
conditioning, operant conditioning can become extinct, if the behaviour is no
longer reinforced. Extinction following a continuous reinforcement schedule is
more rapid than extinction following a partial reinforcement schedule.
Activity 1: Which reinforcement schedule do you prefer?
Estimated time: 10-15 minutes
Imagine a scenario in which you need to encourage a certain behaviour from a child. Think about what this behaviour is and what kind of reinforcement schedule would be appropriate.
Would you shift to a different schedule, as time progresses?
How would you prevent extinction after reinforcements stop?
Punishment
Punishment is not as effective as
reinforcement, as no desired behaviour is established. Often, punishment only
results in short-term behavioural changes, as it is just a suppression of the
behaviour; when the threat of punishment is removed, the behaviour returns.
Punishment also produces negative feelings and does not promote new learning.
However, it is useful, if the behaviour is dangerous and must be quickly
changed or suppressed. It is important to make sure that the punishment is
immediate and consistent, in order for it to be effective.
3.5 Social Learning Theory and Operant Conditioning
Albert Bandura extended the
operant conditioning to social learning. He argued that we do not need to be
personally rewarded or punished, in order to learn via operant conditioning, as
we can learn from observing other people's behaviours and decide whether to
imitate their behaviour, by observing the consequences of it. Bandura recruited
a group of children for his Bobo Doll experiment. He put the children into
three groups: the control group, the model-rewarded group and the
model-punished group. The children in the control group watched an adult
behaving aggressively towards an inflatable Bobo Doll, such as throwing the
doll in the air, kicking it across the room and hitting it in the head with a
wooden mallet.
The children in the model-rewarded group were shown the same scenario, but, after the aggression was over, a second adult appeared, to reward the aggressor with sweets and soft drinks. The children in the model-punished group were shown the same scenario, but the second adult scolded and spanked the model for behaving badly. Next, all the children were left alone in a playroom with several toys, including a Bobo doll and a mallet, and their behaviours were observed for a period of ten minutes. While the control group and the model-rewarded group showed an equal level of aggressiveness towards the Bobo doll, the model-punished group showed significantly less aggressive behaviours. At a later stage, the children were asked to reproduce the behaviour of the model and were rewarded for each act of aggression that they displayed.
The children all produced the same number of aggressive acts, regardless of the group to which they belonged. Bandura's findings demonstrate that, while direct reinforcement is still more effective, it is not necessary for learning, as the expectation of a reinforcement or a punishment alone is enough to shape our behaviours. The social learning theory advances our understanding of how people learn through the observation and interpretation of other people's experiences. It deviates from the behaviouristic stimulus-response model - which views learners as passive responders to stimuli - and describes them as active processors of information in their environment.
3.6 Learnt Helplessness
Learnt helplessness is the conditioned belief that you have no control over your situation. It occurs when an organism endures a painful stimulus repeatedly, with no way of escaping or avoiding it. Eventually, they will believe that their attempts to improve their situation will always be futile. Once the conditioning is completed, even if the organism is provided with opportunities to escape or avoid their unpleasant situation, they would either not be able to do so or would not have the motivation to do so. Learnt helplessness was first studied in dogs by psychologist Martin Seligman. In the first phase of his study, three groups of dogs were strapped down with harnesses.
Group A and Group B received random intervals of shocks. While both Group A and Group B were presented with a lever, only Group A could stop the shocks by pressing the lever, while, for Group B, the shocks appeared to be stopped at random times, and pressing the lever did nothing. The control group, Group C, did not receive any shocks. In the second phase of the study, the dogs were put in a shuttle box, divided down the middle into two sides - one side was electrified and the other side was not. The dogs were placed in the electrified side but could easily jump to the other side of the shuttle box, in order to escape the shock.
Both Group A and Group C quickly learnt to jump over the barrier, in order to escape the shock. However, the dogs in Group B simply laid down and passively accepted the shocks, despite being provided with the same opportunity to escape them. The results of the experiment were such because, in the first phase of the study, the dogs in Group B had been conditioned to think that their actions would never help them escape the shocks, and, therefore, they stopped trying to improve their situation in the second phase, even though they could easily have escaped. Learnt helplessness can have detrimental effects on your mental health and wellbeing. It can be applied to different conditions and behaviours, such as clinical depression, shyness, domestic violence, addiction, academic achievement and poverty.
Activity 2: How would you deal with Learnt Helplessness in education?
Estimated time: 10 minutes
Imagine a child who is struggling with maths. How would you help them avoid learnt helplessness?
How would you praise them, if they got a calculation right?
Would you call them 'smart' or 'hard-working'?
If they gave a wrong answer, what would you say, to encourage them?
Finally, what would you do, if they have already decided that there is nothing that they coulddo, in order to improve their maths?
Module Summary
In this module, you gained an overview of behavioural psychology and how it views behaviours as passive responses to external stimuli. You also learnt how this point of view can be applied to education via two forms of associative learning. You started your understanding of classical conditioning, a form of learning through associating two stimuli, through the works of Ivan Pavlov and John B Watson. You then you explored the different types of classical conditioning. You also learnt that classical conditioning can be suppressed but not undone by extinction and that recovery from extinction is rapid and sometimes does not even require reconditioning. You also learnt about the practical application of classical conditioning in therapy for conditions such as addiction and phobias. Following this, you were introduced to operant conditioning, the shaping of behaviour through rewards and punishments, through the works of Edward Thorndike and F B Skinner. You learnt there are different types of reinforcement and punishment and different types of reinforcementschedules. We then moved on to Albert Bandura's social learning theory, which explains how our expectation of reward and punishment can affect the way in which we learn through observation and imitation. Finally, we discussed how learnt helplessness is the belief that we have no control over our situations and explained its devastating effects on our lives.
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