NEO-BEHAVIORISM:
TOLMAN AND
BANDURA
TOLMAN'S
NEO-BEHAVIORISM
PURPOSIVE
BEHAVIORISM
BANDURA
SOCIALLEARNING
THEORY
Goal- Directedness
Cognitive Maps
Latent Learning
Intervening Variables
Principles
Modeling
Four Conditions for
Effective Modeling
TOLMAN’S PURPOSIVE
BEHAVIORISM
Tolman believed that learning is a cognitive
process. Learning involves forming beliefs and
obtaining knowledge about the environment
and then revealing that knowledge through
purposeful and goal-directed behavior.
Tolman’s system was called purposive
behaviorism because it studies behavior as it
is organized around purposes.
EDWARD CHACE TOLMAN SPENT MOST OF HIS PROFESSIONAL
LIFE ON THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT
BERKELEY • HIS MAJOR WORK WAS PURPOSIVE BEHAVIORISM
IN ANIMALS AND MEN PUBLISHED IN 1932.
TOLMAN’S KEY CONCEPTS
Learning is always purposive and goal-directed Individuals act on beliefs, attitudes,
changing conditions, and they strive towards goals. Tolman saw behavior as holistic,
purposive, and cognitive.
Cognitive map Learning the location of reward. Once an individual has learned where a
given kind of reward is located, that location can often be reached by means other than
those originally used.
Example: A shopper finds an interesting store while exploring a city on foot. The shopper can
then return to the store either by car or bus.
Latent Learning Latent learning is a kind of learning that remains or stays with the individual
until it needed. It is a learning that is not outwardly manifested at once. According to
Tolman it can exist even without reinforcement.
Example: • Rats spent several nights in mazes with- out being fed. • ½ found their way to the
goal box without reinforcement. • They develop cognitive maps without rewards.
TOLMAN’S KEY CONCEPTS
• The concept of intervening variable Learning is mediated or is influenced by expectations,
perceptions, representations, needs and other internal or environmental variables.
Example: hunger was the intervening variable with rats
• Reinforcement not essential for learning. Tolman concluded that reinforcement is not
essential for learning although it provides an incentive for performance.
Example: Rat was able to acquire knowledge of the way through a maze even in the absence of
reinforcement.
BANDURA’S SOCIAL
LEARNING THEORY
Social learning theory focuses on the learning
that occurs within a social context. It considers
that people learn from one another by
observational learning, imitation, and modeling.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
• People can learn by observing the behavior of others.
• Learning can occur without a change in behavior.
• Cognition plays a role in learning.
• It is a bridge or a transitions between behaviorist learning theory and cognitive learning
theory.
HOW THE ENVIRONMENT REINFORCES
AND PUNISHES MODELLING
1. The observer is reinforced by the model.
Example: student who changes dress to fit in with a certain group of students has a strong likelihood of being
accepted and thus reinforced by that group.
2. The observer is reinforced by a third person. – The observer might be modeling the actions of someone else.
Example: an outstanding class leader or student. The teacher notices this and compliments and praises the observer
for modeling such behavior thus reinforcing that behavior
3. The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences. Many behaviors that we learn from others produce
satisfying or reinforcing results.
Example: A students observe how the extra work a classmate does is fun. This student in turn would do the same
extra work and also experience enjoyment.
4. Consequences of the model’s behavior affect the observer’s behavior vicariously. – This is known as vicarious
reinforcement. This is where the model is reinforced for a response and then the observer shows an increase in that
same response.
Example: a model hitting an inflated clown doll. One group of children saw the model being praised for such action,
so the children began to also hit the doll.
CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL LEARNING
PERSPECTIVE OF REINFORCEMENT AND
PUNISHMENT
• Both reinforcement and punishment have indirect effect on learning.
• Influence the extent to which an individual exhibits a behavior that has
been learned.
• The expectation of reinforcement influences cognitive processes that
promote learning.
COGNITIVE FACTORS IN SOCIAL
LEARNING
1. Learning without performance: a distinction between learning through
observation and the actual imitation.
2. Cognitive processing during learning: attention is the critical factor for learning.
3. Expectations: people form expectations about the consequences that future
behaviors are likely to bring
4. Reciprocal causation: the three variables, the person, the behavior, and the
environment can have an influence on each other.
5. Modeling: there are different types of modes: live model – actual
demonstration symbolic model - person or action portrayed in othe medium
(television, videotape, computer programs)
CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR EFFECTIVE
MODELING TO OCCUR
• Attention – the person must pay attention to the model
• Retention – the observer must the able to remember the behavior
• Motor reproduction – the ability to replicate the behavior
• Motivation – learner must want to demonstrate what they have learned
EFFECTS OF MODELING ON BEHAVIOR
• Modeling teaches new behavior.
• Modeling influences the frequency of previously learned behaviors.
• Modeling may encourage previously forbidden behavior.
• Modeling increases the frequency of similar behavior.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL
LEARNING THEORY
• Students often learn a great deal simply by observing other people.
• Describing the consequences of behavior can effectively increase the appropriate behaviors and decrease
inappropriate ones.
• Modeling provides an alternative to shaping for teaching new behaviors.
• Teachers and parents must model appropriate behaviors.
• Teachers should expose students to a variety of other models.
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