1. Learning Theories of B. F. Skinner & Albert Bandura
Group Project Presented By:
Lauren Cross, Joseph Percevecz, and Arthur Thompson

2. B. F. Skinner Operant Conditioning
B. F. Skinner was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher.
Skinner considered free will an illusion and human action the result of consequences of the same action.
Operant Conditioning deals with operant-intentional actions that have an effect on the surrounding environment. Skinner set out to identify the processes which made certain operant behaviors more or less likely to occur.

3. Operant Conditioning Key Elements
Behaviors are influenced by environmental influences
Behavior learned through interacting with environment
A  B  C sequence
Antecedent – influence preceding behavior
Behavior
Consequence – outcome of behavior
Ex: A rat is presented a food pellet every time it hears a chime and proceeds to pulling a lever.
Antecedent is chime
Pulling lever is Behavior (operant)
Consequence is presentation of food pellet

4. Operant Conditioning Reinforcement
Skinner proposed two types:
Positive Reinforcement – consequence leads to an increase in frequency of behavior
Negative reinforcement – consequence leads to aversion of adverse behavior or condition
Reinforcement schedule
May be either continuous or intermittent
If reinforcement is removed, behavior becomes extinct
Consequences often become antecedents if behavior is adjusted

5. Albert Bandura Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura is an American psychologist, professor, and behaviorist.
Bandura states that behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.
Unlike Skinner, Bandura believes that humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behavior and its consequences.

6. Social Learning Theory Key Elements
Identification occurs with a person taking on observed behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes of another person with whom they are identifying.
Children will have a number of models with whom they identify. These may be people in their immediate world, such as parents or elder siblings, or could be fantasy characters or people in the media.
Identification is different to imitation as it may involve a number of behaviors being adopted whereas imitation usually involves copying a single behavior.

7. Social Learning Theory Reinforcement
Reinforcement can be external or internal and can be positive or negative. 
A child will behave in a way which it believes will earn approval because it desires approval. 
A child will also take into account of what happens to other people when deciding whether or not to copy someone’s actions.  This is known as vicarious reinforcement.

8. Albert Bandura Social Cognitive Theory
By the mid-1980s, Bandura's research gave a more comprehensive overview of human cognition in the context of social learning. His original theory soon became known as social cognitive theory.

9. Compare
Operant Conditioning and Social Learning are considered theories of behaviorism. They both measure learning by the observation of behavior.
B.F. Skinner did not believe in free will. He believed that all behavior can be traced to conditioning, rewards (reinforcement) or punishment (negative reinforcement).
Albert Bandura believed that one can learn from observation others and that learning did not always mean a change in behavior.
Contrast

10. Behaviorism compared to Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is a philosophy that is used to increase knowledge, develop skills, and clarify values.
Experiential learning is learning through action, learning by doing, learning through experience, learning through discovery and learning through exploration.
Experiential learning does not occur through reinforcement or imitation (like behaviorism), but through actual unconditioned experiences.

11. Operant Conditioning Activity
Procedure 1 - Select two student volunteers and instruct them to exit the classroom. Procedure 2 - Describe the activity to the class and inform them of their role. While the volunteers are in the hallway, the instructor and students will decide on a task for the volunteers to complete, such as picking up a particular object. Volunteers will enter the room one at a time. The instructor and students will work together to encourage the volunteer to complete the agreed upon task. In order to do this, they will use operant conditioning, specifically non-verbal rewards and punishments that present as applause or booing. Procedure 3 - Invite the first volunteer to enter the room. When they do, the class will use positive reinforcement in order to get them to perform the chosen task. Do not give the volunteer any instruction. Without speaking, the class with reinforce desired behavior with applause. Every time the volunteer gets closer to performing the desired task, the class will clap. If they move closer to the location of the task, the class will clap again. If they move away from performing the task or remain in one place too long, the entire class will cease to applaud and sit in silence.

12. Operant Conditioning Activity (Continued…)
Procedure 4 - Once the volunteer has performed the agreed upon task, explain to them the nature of the activity. Then, Take a moment to explain to the class the different approach you will use when the second volunteer enters the room. For this volunteer, the class will use positive punishment to encourage them to perform the desired task. Any time the volunteer does something other than move closer to the desired task, the class will boo. Again, no other verbal feedback will be given.
Procedure 5 - Invite the second volunteer to enter the classroom. As with the first volunteer, give them no verbal instructions. Use positive punishment in the form of booing to encourage the desired behavior.
Procedure 6 - Engage the class in a discussion of the activity. Which form of reinforcement was the most effective? What were some of the reactions the volunteers had? Ask the volunteers how this activity made them feel. Attempt to create a conversation about the activity and about the nature of operant conditioning.

13. Social Learning Activity
Before class the teacher needs to select four students to help with the activity. Do not inform the rest of the class about your intentions. Tell the students that they are going to accuse another student of cheating on the quiz. When you start class, hand back the graded papers and have one of the accusers raise their hand. Here is an example of the script used.
Student 1: Ms. Teacher, I saw "Name of student 3" cheating on the test.
Student 2: Yea, he cheated off my paper.
Student 3 - will be trying to declare his or her innocence.
Teacher: Thank you "names of student 1 and 2". Since you brought this too my attention you get 5 extra points on the test.
Teacher: Did anyone else see "name of student 3" cheat on the test?
Student 4: I did Ms. Teacher.
Teacher: Thank you, you also get 5 extra points.
Teacher: Class, did anyone else see the person cheat?
(If no one raises their hands)
Teacher: For 5 extra bonus points, did anyone see the student cheat?
(More then likely you will see a lot of students raise their hands)
The teacher should tell the class that no one cheated on the test and no one is getting points. Explain that this was example of social learning. When people see other people benefiting from something, they are more likely to join in with the group (even if they know that what they are doing is wrong).

14. Citations
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Groves, E. (2009). The everything classroom management book a teacher's guide to an organized, productive and calm classroom. Avon, Mass.: Adams Media.
Skinner, B. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: Macmillan.
Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Citation (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Cherry, K. (n.d.). Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory. Retrieved July 24,
Mcleod, S. (2015). B.F. Skinner | Operant Conditioning | Simply Psychology. Retrieved July 24,