BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE

MODULE 7: Behaviorism:
Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson,
Skinner
 Behaviorism

Classical Conditioning Connectionism Operant Conditioning

(Pavlov/Watson) (Thorndike) (Skinner)

Primary Laws Reinforcement

Law of Exercise
Shaping of Behavior
Law of Effect

Law of Readiness
• Ivan Pavlov
A Russian psychologist
who is well known for his
work in classical
conditioning or
stimulus substitution.

Experiment involved meat,

a dog and a bell.
Pavlov’s Experiment
Experiment
• Stimulus Generalization – once the dog has
learned to salivate at the sound of the bell, it will
salivate at other similar sounds.
• Extinction – if you stop pairing the bell with the
food, salivation eventually cease in response to
the bell
• Spontaneous recovery – extinguished
responses can be “recovered” after an elapse
time but it will soon extinguished again if the dog
is not presented with food.
• Discrimination – the dog could learn to
discriminate between similar bells (stimuli) and
discern which bell would result in the
presentation of food and which would not.

• Higher –Order Conditioning – once the dog

has been conditioned to associate the bell with
food, another unconditioned stimulus, such as a
light may be flashed at the same time that the
bell is rung.
• Edward L. Thorndike

Connectionism theory gave us

the original S-R framework of
behavioral psychology.

The main principle of

connectionism was that
learning could be adequately
explained without considering
any observable internal states.

“
• “Learning has taken
place when a strong
connectionism or bond
between stimulus and
response is formed”
• Law of Effect - connection between a
stimulus and response is strengthened
when the consequences is positive
(reward) and the connection between the
stimulus and the response is weakened
when the consequence is negative.

• Law of Exercise – the more S-R

(stimulus response) bond is practiced
the stronger it will become.
• Law of Readiness – the more readiness
the learner has to respond to the stimulus,
the stronger will be the bond between
them.
Principles Derived from Thorndike’s Connectionism

1. Learning requires both practice and

rewards (laws of effect/exercise)
2. A series of S-R connectionism can be
chained together if they belong to the same
action sequence (law of readiness)
3. Transfer of learning occurs because
of previously encountered
situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the number
of connections learned.
 • John Watson
First American psychologist to
work with Pavlov’s ideas. He
considered that humans are
born with a few reflexes and the
emotional reactions of love and
Classical Behaviorism rage.

All other behavior is learned

through stimulus-response
associations through
conditioning.
 Experiment on Albert

• His work did clearly show the role of conditioning

in the development of emotional responses to
certain stimuli. This may help us understand the
fears, phobias and prejudices that people
develop.

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• Burrhus Frederick Skinner

• Believed in the S-R pattern

of conditioned behavior.

• Wrote Walden Two (1948)

and Science and Human
Behavior (1953)

• Studied operant behavior

(voluntary behaviors used in
operating on the
environment
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 Operant Conditioning

• Based upon the notion that learning is a result of

change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior
are the result of individual’s response to event
(stimuli) that occur in the environment.

• Reinforcement - is the key element in

Skinner’s S-R theory.
• Reinforcer – anything that strengthen the
desired responses.

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• Positive reinforcer – any stimulus that is given
or added to increase the response.

• Negative reinforcer - any stimulus that results

in the increased frequency of a response when it
is withdrawn or removed . A negative reinforcer
is not a punishment, it is a reward.

• Punishment - consequence intended to result

in a reduced responses.

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• Extinction or Non-reinforcement: responses
that are not reinforced are not likely to be
repeated.
• Shaping behavior - successive approximation
of the behavior are rewarded.
• Behavior chaining - comes about when a
series of steps are needed to be learned.
• Reinforcement schedules – once the desired
behavioral response is accomplished,
reinforcement does not have to be 100%, but
can be maintained through partial
reinforcement schedules.
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• Fixed interval schedule - target response is
reinforced after a fixed amount of time has
passed since the last reinforcement.
• Variable interval schedule – similar to fixed
interval schedule but the amount of time that
must pass between reinforcement varies.
• Fixed ratio schedule - fixed number of correct
responses must occur before reinforcement may
recur.
• Variable ratio schedule – number of correct
repetitio9ns of the correct response for
reinforcement varies
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 Implication of Operant Conditioning

1. Practice should take the form of question

(stimulus) - answer (response) frames which
expose the student to the subject in gradual
steps.
2. Require that the learner makes a response for
every frame and received immediate feedback
3. Try to arrange the difficulty of the questions so
the response is always correct and hence, a
positive reinforcement.
4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson is
paired with secondary reinforcers such as
verbal praise, prizes and good grades.
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 Principles derived from Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

1. Behavior that is positively reinforced will

reoccur; intermittent reinforcement is
particularly effective.
2. Information should be presented in small
amounts so that responses can be reinforced
(shaping).
3. Reinforcements will generalized across similar
stimuli (stimulus generalization) producing
secondary conditioning.

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