BEHAVIOURIST APPROACHES TO LEARNING AND TEACHINGEducation Foundations, Sec., Week 5, Semester 1, 2012

Overview

What is learning? Behaviourist view of

learning Key premises and

concepts Knowledge, learning, and

motivation Applications in classroom

instructions – Explicit and direct instructions

Behaviourist approach to classroom management

Advantages and limitations

Stimulus and response mechanism

External and observable behaviour

Contiguity Classical conditioning Operant conditioning

Reinforcement and punishment

Learning as a-b-c Learning objectives

Task breakdown Modelling and thinking

aloud Practice and drilling Kinaesthetic activities Constant formative

feedback Group consequences

Token economy Contracts

What is learning?

The parrot’s learning to count/ greet Learning to smoke Learning the lyrics of the Sesame Street song Learning to ride a bike Learning English, maths, history, … Learning the times tables / a formula / an

algorithm Learning about thinking, learning, and self Learnt helplessness …

Permanent change rather than temporary

Assimilation or adaptation Due to experience rather

than natural maturation Definitions of learning

and underlying epistemologies Behavioural, psychological,

or psychical? Conscious and rational,

subconscious, or holistic?

Behaviourist view of learning

Change in behaviour

Subject to active control and shaping by external factors

Outcome-orientation

Key premises and concepts

Psychology as the science of stimulus and response

“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” (Watson,1930, p.82). John B.

Watson (1878-1958)

Focuses on objectively observable and measurable actions and behaviour

“The mentalistic problem can be avoided by going directly to the prior physical causes while bypassing intermediate feelings or states of mind. The quickest way to do this is to confine oneself to … only those facts which can be objectively observed in the behavior of one person in its relation to his prior environmental history. If all linkages are lawful, nothing is lost by neglecting a supposed nonphysical link” (Skinner, 1976, p.23).

Burrhus F. Skinner(1904-1990)

Contiguity principle Learning by association Formation of S-R relation

Pavlov’s dog experiment Involuntary (emotional or

physiological) association / responses Unconditioned association:

Neutral stimulus Unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned response

Conditioned association: Conditioned stimulus Conditioned response

Classical conditioning

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

http://schoolworkhelper.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pavlovdog.jpg

What are the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR in this ad?

Operant conditioning

Behaviour as operants rather than respondents

Thorndike’s cats

Skinner’s pigeons

Reinforcement Positive Negative

Schedule Continuous Intermittent – fixed or unpredictable

a) Intervalb) ratio

Punishment

Learning as a-b-c (antecedent-behaviour-consequence)

Knowledge, Learning, and Motivation

Knowledge: a repertoire of behaviours or behavioural capacities

Learning: formation of appropriate S-R association

Motivation: schedules of positive and negative reinforcement

Behaviourist principles of classroom instruction

Explicit and direct instructions Clear communication of learning objectives

(Kizlik, 2012; Linder-Crow, 2000)

1) Focus on student rather than the teacherBad objective statements

Good objective statements

To acquaint students with behaviourist learning theories

Students will be able to identify 3 behaviourist learning principles

To familiarise students with neo-behavourist learning theories

Students will be able to describe neo-behaviourist learning theories

Learning objectives as behavioural antecedents

2) Contain action words (verbs) of behavioural goal

Students will understand the rhythm of the poem by Edgar Allen Poe.

Students will be able to describe and demonstrate with a percussion instrument the rhythm of the poem.

Students will appreciate the composition of English words.

Students will be able to apply the rules of word composition. When asked, ‘Is cttn an English word?’, students will reply, ‘No, because it has no vowels. All English words must have at least one vowel.’

Task breakdown

Task analysis

Task analysis

Behaviour modelling Skinner’s pigeons video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erhmslcHvaw&feature=related

Thinking aloud and justify thinking rationale Explicit teaching video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h4q-bok644

Practice and drilling (first 1.5 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cwODCQ9BnU&feature=related

Using kinaesthetic movements to help retention http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yStzJjLXdxM Using paper folding to do multiplication by fractions

Monitoring and constant formative feedback Formative feedback video (2 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY0U7axgdHY&feature=related

Behaviourist approach to classroom management

Group consequences Rewards or punishments given to a

class /group as a whole for adhering to or violating rules of conduct

Good behaviour game Token economy programs

Tokens earned for academic work and positive classroom behaviour can be exchanged for desired reward.

Contracts Agreement between teacher and

student specifying behaviour and its reward or punishment

Advantages of behaviourist instructions

Effective strategies for teaching action sequences that need to be automated

Widely applied in teaching young students and students with LD

Effects in eliminating SES-related differences of school achievement

Limitations

Dependence on extrinsic forms of reinforcement

Neglect of complex thinking processes leading to behavioural performance

References

Kizlik, B. (2012) How to write learning objectives that meet demanding behavioural criteria, www.adprima.com/objectives.htm

Linder-Crow, J. (2000) Writing behavioural leaning objectives and assessment, http://www.apa.org/ed/sponsor/about/faq/objectives.pdf

Skinner, B. F. (1976) About Behaviorism, Vintage Books, New York.

Watson, J. B. (1930) Behaviorism, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.