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The Start of it All
Behaviorism grew out of the ideology of the American Progressive Movement which was often associated with political reform. This movement is a natural evolution of the liberal philosophies that began with John Locke and put into practice by Thomas Jefferson. One of the aims is to bring the benefits of science to the challenges of social needs. -
Sympathy Scale
Another sociologist named Franklin Henry Giddings contributed to the birth of behaviorism. He created “sympathy scale” which contained all the elements that behaviorism needed. It was defined in terms of observable and measurable behavior. -
Classical Conditioning of Pavlov
Pavlov`s idea of behaviorism was best represented in his experiment on dogs. He believed that there are some things that a dog does not need to learn. In summary, behaviorism Involves learning to associate an unconditioned stimulus that already brings about a particular response (i.e. a reflex) with a new (conditioned) stimulus, so that the new stimulus brings about the same response. -
Period of transitions / Period of Chaos
While Giddings sympathy scale was on the phase of transition, John Dewey, William James, and other American philosophers and psychologists were breaking with their German mentors. • James Angell, who had studied under both Dewey and James, had a huge influence on Watson (the first to give a full definition of behaviorism). -
Watson Opens the Gate to Behaviorism
Watson wrote a book “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It” in 1913, which for the first time behaviorism was given definitive goals, methods and parameters. One of the most memorable of Watson’s views on the nature of behaviorism was the dictum that its focus was on the causes and control of human behavior. -
Enter BF Skinner
Skinner believed that at all behavior is controlled mechanistically, and convinced him of the value of orderly well-controlled experiments. From this view Skinner kept on doing a behavioral experiment until he was able to come up with Operant Behaviorism. An operant was a consequence in a three-tiered reinforcement schedule: a stimulus, a response, and the resulting reinforcing stimulus, (or consequence). He experiment was about a pigeon box.(feedback and reinforcement) -
Benefits of Behaviorism
The benefits of behaviorism are: large gains in test scores, programmed instruction puts learners in control and can be adapted for athletics and other aptitudes. -
Intervening Variable by Edward Tolman
Tolman, was credited with having been the first to have clearly formulated the concept of the intervening variable within the behavioral tradition (1935; 1938; 1948). He believed that there is something going on inside the organism that mediates the link between what is perceived and what behaviour is performed. -
Critiques of Behaviorism
Many criticize behaviorism. For them, Behaviorism does not account for processes taking place in the mind that cannot be observed.It advocates for passive student learning in a teacher- centered environment. It views knowledge as one size fits all and it is given and absolute.It also does not promote high-level thinking and is not very compatible with EDTC( teachers not always in control of technology.) -
Link between Behaviorism and Cognitivism
At this point, the behaviourist's were beginning to move away from seeing all behaviour as caused by environmental events, and towards an acceptance of there being 'things within an organism' that played a role too. From both the schools of Hull and Tolman, psychologists began to conceive of there being internal processes within an organism that 'mediate' the link between environmental stimulus and the organism's overt response. -
Cognitivism - In response to Behaviorism
Cognitivism grew in response to Behaviorism. It focuses on the inner mental activities – opening the “black box” of the human mind is valuable and necessary for understanding how people learn. Knowledge is stored cognitively as symbols. It can also be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions. The studies focused on the mental processes that facilitate symbol connection. -
One of the most influential cognitive psychologist (Jean Piaget)
Piaget`s theory of human development was outlined in terms of functions and cognitive structures. Functions are inborn biological processes that are alike for every one and stay unchanged throughout our lives. Functions serves to construct internal cognitive structures.He also added that there are specific stages of learning and each stage involves the acquisition of new skills and rest upon the successful completion of the preceding one. -
Compleat Educator (Jerome Bruner)
Jerome Bruner has made a meaningful influence in education and to the development of curriculum theory. His theory looked to environmental and experiential factors which are in contrast to Piaget. He proposed that intellectual ability developed in stages through step-by-step changes in how the mind is used. -
Process models of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin)
According to study.com the Atkinson-Shiffrin modal model of memory was first developed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968. Atkinson and Shiffrin believed that once information enters the brain, it must be either stored or maintained. Atkinson & Shiffrin proposed that information is stored into three distinct memory systems: the sensory register, short term memory, and long term memory. -
Benefits of Cognitivism
In cognitivism, learners set their own goals and motivate themselves to learn. While the teacher facilitates learning by providing an environment that promotes discovery and assimilation/accommodation. Most importantly in cognitive theory it gives emphasis on making knowledge meaningful and helping learners organize and relate new information to existing knowledge in memory. -
Limitations of Cognitivism
It is meant to apply to learning in cognitive domain but not applicable to motor skills or attitudes. -
Link between Cognitivism and Constructivism
According to Ertmer & Newby, the philosophical assumptions underlying both the behavioral and cognitive theories are primarily objectivistic; that is: the world is real, external to the learner. A number of contemporary cognitive theorists have begun to question this basic objectivistic assumption and are starting to adopt a more constructivist approach to learning and understanding: knowledge “is a function of how the individual creates meaning from his or her own experiences”. -
Philosophical Founder (John Dewey)
Dewey believes that school should not focus on repetitive, rote memorization. He proposed a method of "directed living" – meaning students should engage in real-world, practical workshops in which they would demonstrate their knowledge through creativity and collaboration. He also believes that students should be provided with opportunities to think from themselves and articulate their thoughts. He was also known for the idea that education to be grounded in real experience. -
The Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)
Vygotsky died in 1934 but his works were published along with Dewey in the year 1980‘s. According to him Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and, later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). (cited from http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism) -
Strength of Constructivism
In this theory, the strengths are:1) Emphasis is on the collaborative nature of learning and the importance of cultural and social context.2) All cognitive functions are believed to originate in, and are explained as products of social interactions.3) Learning is more than the assimilation of new knowledge by learners; it was the process by which learners were integrated into a knowledge community.(http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism) -
The Importance of Constructivism
According to Gray‘s research result, Constructivism approach is important because we are living in a changing world. This approach be used to create learners who are autonomous, inquisitive thinkers who question, investigate, and reason.In this theory, it frees teachers to make decisions that will enhance and enrich students' development".Students are the creator of their own learning. http://www.saskschoolboards.ca/old/ResearchAndDevelopment/ResearchReports/Instruction/97-07.htm -
Influence of Learning Theories
UNESCO defined learning as a process that brings together personal and environmental experiences and influences for acquiring, enriching or modifying one’s knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, behaviour and world views. The different learning theories had a great impact or influence in today's curriculum development. Educators had come up with a variety of teaching-learning methods and strategies on how to address diverse learners because of these significant learning theories.
