EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY
REFLECTION FOR ACTION
Canadian Edition
O’Donnell, D’Amico, Schmid, Reeve, Smith
CHAPTER 6
Behavioural Learning Theory
Chapter 6 Behavioural Learning
Theory
• Themes of the chapter
– Students can learn the behaviours, skills,
and self-regulatory abilities they need to
function well in school and in life
– A behavioural approach to learning serves
as a foundation for understanding and
discussing how to increase the frequency of
desirable behaviours in students and
decrease undesirable behaviours
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Guiding Questions
• How do teachers who adhere to behavioural,
cognitive, and sociocultural approaches
describe learning?
• What kinds of learning can be described by
behavioural learning theory?
• How do different forms of reinforcement affect
behaviour and performance?
• How can teachers increase the frequency of
desirable behaviours and decrease that of
undesirable behaviours?
(continued)
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Guiding Questions (continued)
• How can teachers help students learn selfmanagement?
• How can teachers use behavioural learning
principles in instruction?
• How might teachers use behavioural learning
theory with diverse learners and learners with
special needs?
• What are some limitations of behavioural
learning theory?
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Behavioural, Cognitive, and
Sociocultural Theories of Learning
• Learning – a relatively permanent change
in behaviour or knowledge that occurs as a
result of experience
• Environment Individual Behaviour
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Behavioural, Cognitive, and
Sociocultural Theories of Learning
• Behavioural – environment/behaviour
– The environment strongly influences
behaviour
• Cognitive – individual
– Interpretation of stimuli in the environment
may vary by individual
• Sociocultural – environment/behaviour
– Influence of environment on behaviour of
individuals (includes history of practice and
expertise in the community)
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Principles of Behavioural Learning
Theory
• Contiguity – a condition in which two
events occur at the same time
• In behavioural learning this might take one
of two forms
– Classical conditioning
– Associative learning
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Classical Conditioning
Stimuli and Responses
• Unconditioned stimulus – stimuli, that, without
prior learning, produces an automatic
physiological response
• Unconditioned response – behaviour that is
produced in response to a stimulus without
prior learning, automatic physiological
response
• Conditioned response – response that is linked
to a particular stimulus through conditioning by
being paired with the stimulus
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Classical Conditioning
• The association of automatic responses
with new stimuli (pairing of stimulus and
response)
– Unconditioned stimulus/unconditioned
response
– Unconditioned stimulus/conditioned
response
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Your Turn
• Give an example from a classroom
situation, of classical conditioning
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Operant Learning Theory
• Actions by a learner, the consequences of
which influence further behaviour
– Mediated by the law of effect: phenomenon
in which behaviour that produces good
effects tends to become more frequent,
while behaviour that produces bad effects
tends to become less frequent
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Consequences
• The good or bad effects that follow a
person’s behaviour
• Influence future frequency of the behaviour
– Reinforcers: influence the person to engage
in the behaviour more often
– Punishers: cause behaviour to become less
frequent
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Reinforcement
• Reinforcer – a consequence of a
behaviour that is satisfying to the learner
– Positive reinforcer: an environmental event
that, when given, increases the frequency
of a behaviour
– Negative reinforcer: any environmental
event that, when removed, increases the
frequency of a behaviour
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Rewards
• Anything given in return for another
person’s service or achievement
– A reward functions as a reinforcer
only if the learner values it
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Rewards
• Why are extrinsic rewards prevalent in
schools?
• Many teachers believe that learners need
some added external gain to give them the
motivation they lack
– However, when the rewards are no longer
offered, the effectiveness of external
rewards declines and the once-contingent
behaviour quickly returns to the previous
level
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Patterns of Reinforcement
• Continuous reinforcement – reinforcement
that is provided after every performance of
a behaviour
• Variable schedules – reinforcement only
some of the time
– Interval schedule: a schedule of
reinforcement based on time
– Ratio schedule: a schedule of reinforcement
base on the number of behaviours
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Four Variable Schedules
•
•
•
•
Fixed interval schedule
Fixed ration schedule
Variable interval schedule
Variable ratio schedule
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Punishment
• Punisher – a consequence of behaviour
that reduces the possibility of the
behaviour’s recurrences
– Positive punisher – any environmental
event that, when given, decreases the
frequency of a behaviour
– Negative punisher – any event that, when
removed, decreases the frequency of a
behaviour
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Negative Punishers to Suppress
Behaviour
• Response cost – each occurrence of the
undesirable behaviour will cost the student
some attractive resource
• Time-out – a procedure in which the
teacher directs the student to leave a
highly reinforcing environment and go to
one that offers little or no reinforcement
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Four Negative Side Effects
of Punishment
• Punishment teaches aggression
• Punishment produces negative emotions
• Punishment undermines the quality of the
interpersonal relationship
• Punishment often exacerbates
misbehaviour
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Ways to Promote Good behaviour
• Help students achieve academic success
• Use behavioural contracting
• Encourage positive reinforcement of
appropriate behaviour
• Use individual and group counseling
• Encourage disciplinary consequences that
are meaningful to students and have an
instructional/reflection component
• Provide social skills training
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Your Turn
• Describe a situation in the classroom when
you can use a positive reinforcer and
another when you can use a negative
reinforcer
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Applied Behaviour Analysis
• Discriminant stimuli – antecedent cues that
allow the learner to predict the likelihood of
reinforcement
A: B
C
• A (antecedent cue) sets the stage for B
(behaviour) that causes C
(consequences)
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Behavioural Learning Theory and
Diverse Learners
• The more that teachers differ from their
students, the greater the likelihood that
they will have different definitions of
desirable and undesirable behaviours
• Creating a respectful classroom can be
made more difficult when students see
differences all around them
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Behavioural Learning Theory and
Special Needs Students
• Teachers need to give special needs
students positive behavioural supports
• If a child misbehaves in a classroom he or
she cannot be removed if parents can
prove the behaviour was related to the
child’s disability
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Increasing Desirable Behaviours
• Shaping – reinforcement of gradual
approximations of the desired behaviour
• Incentive – environmental event that attracts
a person toward a particular course of action
• Prompts – physical, verbal, or other assists
that help a person perform a desired
behaviour that he or she would be unlikely to
perform without such assistance
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Downsides of Rewards
• Undermine intrinsic motivation
• Interfere with learning
• Hinder autonomous self-regulation
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Decreasing Undesirable Behaviours
•
•
•
•
•
•
Verbal reprimands
Response cost
Differential reinforcement
Inductive reasoning
Observational learning
Scaffolding/tutoring
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Why Do Students Misbehave?
• Teachers might not have provided
interesting activities, asked challenging
questions, and known how to engage
students in learning
• Students might find themselves in
environments that don’t meet their needs
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Promoting Self-Management
• To promote self-management, students must
be taught :
–
–
–
–
–
Goal setting
Self-instruction
Self-observation
Self-evaluation
Self-consequences
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Classroom Management
• Create a positive climate by:
– Organizing the physical environment in ways
that will promote desirable behaviour
– Establishing expectations for desirable
behaviour
– Creating caring, inclusive classrooms
• Also, by promoting the following conditions
and providing more time for learning
– Positive social behaviour
– Positive relationships
– Cooperation among students
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Contracts and Contingencies
• Create contracts with students to promote
new behaviours
• Create a group contingency program with
reinforcements and punishments affecting
the entire class
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Influences of Behavioural
Learning on Instruction
• Mastery learning – all students can
achieve a set of educational objectives
with appropriate instruction and enough
time to learn
– Feedback and knowledge of results are
important to mastery learning
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Instructional Technology
• Behavioural learning theory has influenced
some aspects of the design of software
and computer-assisted instructional
programs, such as those that provide drill
and practice
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
Limitations of Behavioural
Learning Theory
• Cannot adequately explain complex learning
• Relies on segmentation of curricular into
chunks, but this is not always possible for
some curricular content, therefore cannot
always measure outcomes discretely in
many domains
• Complex thinking skills cannot be taught
through behavioural programming
• Overreliance on tangible reinforcement can
have negative effects
Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition
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Educational Psychology, Canadian Edition