Chapter Seven Behavioral Learning Theory: Operant Conditioning Chapters – (7-11) Learning and Instruction Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-2 How do we learn? How do we effectively assess learning? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-3 Learning Theories • What is learning? – A relatively permanent influence on behavior, knowledge, and thinking skills which comes through experience. (Santrock, 2004) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-4 Historical Overview William James (1842-1910) • • Professor at Harvard University • In late 1890’s, he studied the relationship between psychology and teaching Psychology…aims to acquire "a ..body of propositions about states of mind [thoughts, feelings, and knowledge]” Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-5 Pioneers of Educational Psychology • Three Pioneers – William James – John Dewey – E. L. Thorndike Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-6 John Dewey (1859-1952) • • Est. first ed Psyc Lab in USA • “Child is an active learner” • “Children learn by doing” • “Focus of learning should be thinking” Thinking is the method of intelligent learning, of learning that employs and rewards the mind. (Democracy and Education, p. 171) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-7 E. L. Thorndike (1874-1949) • Student of William James • Schools should hone children’s thinking skills • Ed. Psy should have a scientific base and focus on measurement Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-8 Historical Background • Educational Psychology developed before the start of 20 Century • Growth spurred by pioneers from various parts of the world Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-9 Historical Overview • Wilhelm Wundt established first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Germany – study human thought • Hermann Ebbinghaus German Psychologist– in 1880’s studied memory and forgetting Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-10 Approaches to Learning – Various approaches to learning • Behavioral – behavior should be explained by observable experiences, not mental processes. – Classical conditioning; operant conditioning • Cognitive – mental processes like thoughts, feeling, motives can be studied in a scientific manner to explain learning – Social learning theory; information process theory; cognitive constructivist; social cognitive constructivist Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-11 Chronology of Dev. In Ed Psych. • Thorndike’s view – first half of 20 C. • Skinner’s view – middle of 20 Century – Behavior is the evidence of learning • Cognitive revolution – 1980s cognition is evidence of learning • Contextual View – last decades of 20 C and onward. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-12 Behavioral Approaches • Classical Conditioning – Ivan Pavlov (Russian physiologist, 1900’s) • Experiments with dogs – John B. Watson (American) • Applied this theory to children (Albert) Associative learning - no rewards or punishments Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-13 Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-14 John B. Watson (1878 to 1958) • Give me a dozen healthy infants…and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors." (1930) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-15 How Emotions Are Learned John B. Watson Little Albert – 11 month old baby Presented: White rat (CS) + Loud noise (US) Result: Albert showed fear of the rat and later generalized to beard Copyright ©2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-16 Behavioral Approaches • Operant Conditioning – E. L. Thorndike • Studied cats Law of Effect • Behaviors followed by positive outcomes are strengthened and behaviors followed by negative outcomes are weakened Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-17 Operant conditioning • Theorist – B. F. Skinner extended the work of Thorndike with rats in Skinner boxes • Basic assumption – Voluntary responses are strengthened or weakened as a result of their consequences NB: Associative learning in which there is a contingency between the response and the presentation of the reinforcer Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-18 Behavioral Approach-Key Principle • Associative Learning – A mental link is formed between two events and is evident from observable behavior. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-19 Overview • Operant conditioning • Educational applications of operant conditioning principles Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-20 Conditions that define reinforcement, punishment, and extinction Type of + Stimulus Desirable Action + = Result Present Effect on Behavior Strengthen Aversive Remove Strengthen Negative reinforcement Aversive Present Weaken Desirable Remove Weaken Desirable Withhold Weaken Type I (presentation) punishment Type II (removal) punishment Extinction Positive reinforcement Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-21 In Class Assignment Team Work Use role-playing in a teaching-learning situation, to explain and demonstrate: • Positive Reinforcement • Negative Reinforcement • Punishment Type I and Type II • Generalization and Discrimination • Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery • Be careful to ensure that your skit and explanation help us to understand the concept Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-22 Operant conditioning concepts • Positive reinforcement – Strengthening (increasing) a behavior by presenting a positive stimulus immediately after the behavior has occurred • Negative reinforcement – Strengthening (increasing) a behavior by removing a negative stimulus immediately after the behavior has occurred Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-23 Operant conditioning concepts • Presentation punishment (Type I) – Weakening (decreasing) a behavior by presenting an aversive stimulus immediately after the behavior has occurred • Removal punishment (Type II, time-out) – Weakening (decreasing) a behavior by removing a positive stimulus immediately after the behavior has occurred Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-24 Operant conditioning concepts • Extinction – When a previously reinforced behavior decreases in frequency and eventually ceases altogether because reinforcement is withheld • Spontaneous recovery – When an extinguished behavior reappears without having been reinforced Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-25 Operant conditioning concepts • Generalization – When an individual learns to make a particular response to a particular stimulus and then makes the same or a similar response in a slightly different situation • Discrimination – When an individual learns to notice the unique aspects of seemingly similar situations and thus different ways of responding Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-26 Operant conditioning concepts • Shaping – Reducing complex behaviors into several more simple behaviors – Reinforcing successive approximations to the complex behavior Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-27 Schedules of reinforcement • Fixed interval schedule – Reinforcement occurs after a specific amount of time • Variable interval schedule – Reinforcement occurs after a random amount of time Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-28 Schedules of reinforcement • Fixed ratio schedule – Reinforcement occurs after a specific number of responses • Variable ratio schedule – Reinforcement occurs after a random number of responses Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-29 Major Types of CBI Programs (Grabe & Grabe, 2004) Type of Program Purpose Drill and Practice Practice knowledge and skills learned earlier to produce fast and accurate responses Tutorial Teach new information (e.g., facts, definitions, concepts) and skills Probems-Solving Programs: Simulations and Games Teach new information and skills and provide an opportunity to apply what was learned in a meaningful context that would otherwise be unavailable because of cost, physical danger, and time constraints Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 7-30