2. CHAPTER 4 Behavioural views of learning

3. Identify three characteristics that distinguish classical from operant conditioning Describe the Premack principle and give an example of its use in everyday life Describe how a teacher can use antecedent-behaviour- consequence (A-B-C) information to manage behaviour Chapter objectives

4. Give an example of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) in the classroom Explain the relationship between observation of violence on film, video or computer games and children’s behaviour Explain the difference between behaviourism and social learning theory Chapter objectives (2)

6. Behaviourism: external factors lead to a response that becomes a learned behaviour Learning: permanent or relatively permanent changes in individuals that results from instruction or experience Behaviour: actions that are observable and measurable Behavioural explanations of learning

7. Contiguity: association of two events closely paired or that repeatedly occur at similar times Stimulus: condition or event that activates the senses Response: reaction to a stimulus Tabula rasa: the notion of the infant as a blank slate Behavioural explanations of learning (2)

8. Association of an automatic response with a stimulus Principles of classical conditioning: – Unconditioned stimulus and response – Conditioned stimulus and response – Discrimination, generalisation and extinction Classical conditioning

9. Pavlov’s Dog

10. Steps in conditioning a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell

11. Built on Pavlov’s work Explained behaviour in terms of S-R associations Infants born with innate reflexes and emotional reactions As they develop other S-R associations are formed Watson and behaviourism

12. Positive impact on research methodology Principles used by therapists to modify behaviour Strengths of classical conditioning

13. Not all behaviour fits the model Some actions initiated by the organism Starting point for instruction not always obvious Limitations of classical conditioning

14. FROM CLASSICAL TO OPERANT CONDITIONING

15. Use of positive and negative consequences to strengthen or weaken voluntary behaviour Concerned with conscious, intentional or voluntary behaviour Behaviour leads to a positive or negative outcome, and to learning Operant conditioning

16. Associationism: Learning as the formation of associations between stimulus and response Effect of rewards on behaviour Cats and the puzzle box Trial and error learning Law of effect Law of exercise Thorndike, trial-and-error learning and the law of effect

17. Classical conditioning failed to account for behaviours that individuals initiate spontaneously Skinner and operant conditioning

18. Operants: voluntary actions, usually goal directed Respondents: elicited or reflex reactions to a specific stimulus Reinforcement: increasing or strengthening the likelihood of a behaviour recurring through use of contingent feedback Principles of operant conditioning

19. Behaviour is an ongoing chain of activity involving events that immediately precede behaviour and follow it The A-B-C of operant conditioning Antecedent Behaviour Consequence

20. Reinforcement: an event that strengthens behaviour: –Positive reinforcement –Negative reinforcement Types of reinforcers: –Primary reinforcers –Secondary reinforcers Understanding consequences

21. Premack principle or Grandma’s rule Extinction: reduction and cessation of a response following the withdrawal of reinforcement Punishment: weakening or reducing behaviour through contingent use of aversive objects or events – Postive punishment – Negative punishment Other reinforcers

22. Continuous reinforcement Intermittent reinforcement: – Ratio schedules – Interval schedules Reinforcement schedules

23. Operant Conditioning: Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous – Reinforce after every response  light switch Fixed-interval – Reinforce after a set period of time  quiz every Friday Variable-interval – Reinforce after varying lengths of time  pop quiz Fixed-ratio – Reinforce after set number of responses  gold stars Variable-ratio – Reinforce after varying number of responses  slot machines

24. Distinguishing between negative reinforcement and punishment ActionAim To increase behaviour (that is, use reinforcement) To decrease behaviour (that is, use punishment) Give somethingPositive reinforcement; for example, ‘You’ve finished all your classwork, now you can have some computer time! Punishment; for example, ‘You haven’t stopped talking all class, so you have to stay inside at break.’ Take something away Negative reinforcement; for example, ‘If you finish your homework, you don’t have to wash the dishes.’ Punishment; for example, ‘You haven’t finished what I asked you to do, so you can’t play football this week’

31. Shaping: Reinforcement of gradual approximations to the desired or target behaviour Chaining: When one action functions both as reinforcer for the previous action and as stimulus for the next Cueing: Using specific stimulus to elicit desired response Prompting: Providing additional stimulus to elicit desired response Helping students learn through operant conditioning

32. Task analysis: Breaking a task into a series of manageable steps so as to assist learning Modelling: A form of prompting that involves demonstrating desired response for someone to imitate Fading: The gradual removal of prompts Helping students learn through operant conditioning

33. Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) uses behavioural principles to change behaviour Primary focus is on behaviour that is observable and quantifiable Applied behaviour analysis

34. Teaching programmes based on ABA programmes include: Precision teaching Mastery learning Direct instruction DISTAR Applied behaviour analysis (2)

35. Simple but effective strategies particularly with young children Useful for teaching action sequences that become automatic Useful for managing disruptive behaviour Strengths behavioural approaches

36. Neglects cognitive processes contributing to learning Concerns about dependence on extrinsic reinforcement Ethical issues concerning punishment and aversive techniques limitations of behavioural approaches

37. Social learning theory: extends behavioural explanations of learning recognises the contribution of personal factors to the learning process provides an explanation of human behaviour in terms of cognitive, environmental and behavioural influences Social learning theory and observational learning

38. Learning through observation: – Learning can occur without reinforcers Reciprocal determinism: – The interactive, complementary system formed by people and environments – Behaviour is the product of reciprocal interaction between internal influences, external influences and the behaviour itself Social learning theory and observational learning (2)

39. Extends behavioural theories Includes internal and external factors that influence learning Highlights learner’s active role Highlights the power of learning by observation and imitation Strengths of social learning theory

40. Unclear why some behaviours imitated and not others Difficult to determine long-term impact of observation Distinguishing between positive and negative modelling is difficult Limitations of social learning theory

41. Behavioural explanations of learning: – classical conditioning – operant conditioning Social learning theory and observational learning Chapter review