B.F. Skinners contributions to the psychological world were great in theory and action. The last thing that B. F. Skinner was learning was that, to speed up the response acquisition during operant conditioning is to reinforce successive approximations to desired responses. This approach was called shaping. We might first reward the rat for turning toward the response bar. Once the rat has learned this behavior, we might withhold reinforcement until the rat moves towards the bar.
Instead, he suggested, we should look only at the external, observable causes of human behavior. Skinner used the term operant to refer to any "active behavior that operates upon the environment to generate consequences". In other words, Skinner's theory explained how we acquire the range of learned behaviors we exhibit each and every day. Bandura – Social Learning Theory The social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura has become perhaps the most influential theory of learning and development. While rooted in many of the basic concepts of traditional learning theory, Bandura believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning.
Skinner studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a “Skinner Box” which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box. What is Classical Conditioning? Classical conditioning is the way we develop responses to certain stimuli that are not naturally occurring, e.g. when we touch a hot stove our reflex is to pull our hand back. It does so instinctively and no learning is involved, it is merely a survival instinct.
Classical conditioning refers to the process of learning through association. This involves an animal or a human learning to associate something new with something that naturally causes a response eventually making the new thing cause the same response itself. A key example found within psychology for the process of classical conditioning would be that of Pavlov’s dog experiment. Pavlov was initially doing experiments on dogs and salivating and noticed that when the dogs heard his footsteps, they begin to salivate involuntarily. This is due to them learning to associate the sound of Pavlov’s footstep with food.
UNIT 8: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE P1: EXPLAIN THE PRINCIPAL PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES BEHAVIOURIST Behaviourists argue that we can see a ‘prediction and control of behaviour’ in animals. Meaning we can predict and control the behaviour of both humans and animals. Behaviourists believe we are born as ‘blank slates’ and all behaviour is learnt, meaning that we learn how to act, or re-act in certain situations. The behaviourist approach suggests that all behaviours are learnt, so if someone is an aggressive person then they have learnt to act this way through conditioning. This involves two forms of conditioning which are classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
This theory was formed from the Russian psychologist by the name of Ivan Pavlov from the years of 1849 through to the year of 1936. He worked with dogs in order to work out their digestive system. The dogs would be attached to a harness and then Pavlov would attach monitors to their stomachs and mouths in order to monitor salivation levels. One day Pavlov noticed one day as a laboratory assistant bought in food the dog began to produce saliva before he had actually ate the food. This came across as unusual to Pavlov; he studied this and learnt that the dog would produce saliva because he would associate food with the laboratory assistant; he developed this theory in the following way.
Example a Person being told to hold a book (stimulus) would respond by holding the book. This stimulus response theory forms the basis of conditioning which suggests learning in humans and animals can take place through the association of a response with particular stimuli. It also assumes that we are all born as a blank slate also known as tabula rasa and so equal at birth. It is environmental factors rather than genetic or biological differences that make people behave differently. This approach is based on the concept of explaining behaviour through observation, and the belief that out environment is what causes humans to behave differently or suffer illnesses.
where behaviourism is concerned there many different types of conditioning such as classical conditioning which is the stimulus and response theory this backs up the idea that behaviour is taught which Ivan Pavlov demonstrated in different experiments. he proved that you can teach teaching something to associate another thing with an other for example in his dog experiment he taught the dog to associate getting his food when the bell rang which made him dribble because he know his food was coming. In this case the bell was conditioned stimulus and the dribbling was the
Through Skinner’s research, it helped prove that the most relevant was nurture because through conditioning and repetition one could teach animals to behave predictably. Another reason why I think the environment (nurture) has more influence on ones personality than heredity (nature), is because of John Watson. John Watson was an American psychologist and established the psychological school of behaviorism. With Watson’s “Little Albert” experiment, he helped prove that personality was molded by life experiences. In the experiment Watson took a nine month old boy, named Albert, and exposed him to a white rat.
However, SLT emphasises the role of imitation. We watch others and if they are rewarded for their behaviour, we are likely to copy it ourselves. One valid point for the learning theory is that we do learn therough reinforcement and association. Pavlov’s dog experiment found that dogs were not only responding to a biological need (hunger), but also a need developed by learning. He called this classical conditioning.