Unit 3

Focus on Learning

Lesson 1 – Behaviorism: Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner

Starting Accurately

The behaviorists view learning as an observable and measurable behavior; that learning occurs
through conditioning and reinforcement (rewards and punishments). It does not give much attention to
the mind and the thought processes occurring in the mind. Contributions in the development of the
behaviorist theory largely come from Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner.

Learning Outcomes

In this module, challenge yourself to attain the following learning outcomes:

 explain the basic principles of behaviorism.

 make a simple plan applying the primary laws of learning.

 determine how to use rewards in the learning process more effectively.

Advance Organizer

Behaviorism

Connectionism
Thorndike
Classical Operant Conditioning
Conditioning Primary Laws Skinner
Watson/Pavlov
Law of Effect
Reinforcement
Law of Exercise
Shaping of
Law of Behavior
Readiness
Stimulating Learning
1. Think of a teacher that is most unforgettable to you. What kinds of rewards and punishments
did she/he applied in your class? What kinds of behaviors were these rewards and punishments for? For
your answers, use the format below.
 My Teacher (Name)
Student Behavior Rewards/Punishments
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Analysis
1. What makes this teacher unforgettable to you?
2. Were the rewards/punishments given effective? Please elaborate.

Inculcating Concepts: Behaviorism (You may answer the questions embedded in the lesson but you
need not submit to me; however some items in your unit/midterm test may be taken from these
readings).
Ivan Pavlov. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist is well known for his work in classical
conditioning or stimulus substitution. His most renowned experiment involved meat, a dog, and a bell.
Initially, Pavlov was measuring the dog’s salivation in order to study digestion. This is when he stumbled
upon classical conditioning.
His experiment is shown in the diagram below. The diagram is an illustration of classical
conditioning.
Stage 1 – Before conditioning

Bell No response
(Neutral stimulus)

Stage 2 – During conditioning

Bell (neutral
stimulus)
Paired with

Meat (Unconditioned Salivation (Unconditioned

stimulus) response)

Stage 3 – After conditioning

Bell (Conditioned Salivation (conditioned

Somehow you were conditioned to associate particular objects with your teacher. So when you
response)
stimulus)
encounter the objects, you
are also reminded of your teacher. This is an example of classical conditioning. Other findings of Pavlov
were the following:
 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 will eventually stop in response to
the bell.
 Spontaneous Recovery. Extinguished responses can be recovered after an elapsed time but will
soon extinguish again if the dog is not presented the food.
 Discrimination. The dog could learn to discriminate similar sounds and could learn which sound
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 light may be flashed at the same time that the bell is
rung. Eventually the dog will salivate at the flash of light without the sound of the bell.
Edward Thorndike. Edward Thorndike is popularly known for his connectionism theory.
According to him, learning is the result of the associations forming between stimuli (S) and responses
(R). Such associations or “habits” are strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R
pairings. Learning could take place when a strong connection or bond between stimulus and response
was formed. Thorndike’s model for S-R theory was trial and error learning. Certain responses came to be
repeated more than others because of the reward. Just like all behavioral theories, the main principle of
connectionism was that learning could be adequately explained without considering any observable
mental states. From his works Thorndike, formulated three primary laws of learning:
 Law of Effect. The connection between a stimulus and response is strengthened when the
consequence is positive (reward) and weakened when the consequence is negative
(punishment). Later, Thorndike revised this law when he found out that negative rewards
(punishments) do not necessarily weaken bonds and that some seemingly pleasurable
consequences do not necessarily motivate performance.
 Law of Exercise. The more an S_R bond is practiced, the stronger it will become. (“Practice makes
perfect”}. Like the Law of Effect, Thorndike revised the Law of Exercise when he found out that
practice without feedback does not necessarily enhance performance.
 Law of Readiness. This law states that the more ready the learner is to respond to the stimulus,
the stronger will be the bond between them. When a person is ready to respond to a stimulus
and is not made to respond, it becomes annoying to that person. For example, you are eager to
watch the movie, “Helen of Troy” in relation to your class in Literature. Suddenly, the power
goes off. How would you feel? Why? On the other hand, when you are called to stand up and
your teacher ask the question and expects you to answer immediately, what’s your feeling?
What do you think should your teacher do instead?
From Thorndike’s, Connectionism theory, the following principles have been derived:
 Learning requires both practice and rewards (laws of exercise and effect)
 A series of S-R connections can be chained together if they belong to the same action sequence
(law of readiness)
 Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered situations.
 Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned.
John Watson. He believed that humans are born with a few reflexes and the emotional reactions
of love and rage while all other behavior is learned through stimulus-response associations by
conditioning. He said,” give me a dozen children and I can make them into anything you want them to
be.” He was famous for his experiment on a young child, Albert and a white rat. ( Attn: Open this link to
read Watson’s “The Little Albert Experiment” https://www.verywellmind.com/the-little-albert-
experiment-2794994 and answer the following questions: How did he condition the child to fear the
rat? How did he help the child unlearn his fear toward the rat? What other learning principles, similar
to Pavlov, did Watson derive from his experiment?

Burrhus Frederick Skinner (B.F. Skinner). Like Pavlov, Thorndike and Watson, Skinner (1) he
believed in the S-R pattern of conditioned behavior and (2) he excluded any likelihood of any processes
taking place in the mind. Unlike the three, Skinner studied operant behavior (voluntary behaviors
operating on the environment). In his famous works, Walden Two he talked about a utopian society
based on operant conditioning and Science and Human Behavior in which he pointed out how the
principle of operant conditioning function in social institutions such as government, law, etc. (Attn. Read
(1) B. F. Skinner: Theory, Behaviorism And Operant Conditioning .. https://psychologypedia.org/b-f-
skinner-theory-behaviorism-and-operant-conditioning/ , (2) What Is Operant Conditioning and How
Does It Work? By Kendra Cherry
https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863 , (3) Santrock, J. W. Educational
Psychology (2001). McGraw Hill
Skinner based his operant conditioning (instrumental conditioning) theory on Thorndike’s Law of
Effect. Skinner believed that changes in the behavior are the results of an individual’s response to events
(stimuli) that occurs in the environment. A response produces consequences, positive or negative. When
a particular stimulus-response(S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded) the individual is conditioned to
respond.
The key element of Skinner’s operant conditioning theory is reinforcement. Use the links above
and do the following: (1) define reinforcement, positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement (6
pts.); (2) differentiate negative reinforcement from punishment. Give examples (5 pts.).
Generalization, discrimination, and extinction, processes which are discussed in classical
conditioning are also important dimensions of operant conditioning. Remember that in classical
conditioning, generalization is the tendency of a stimulus (e.g. tuning fork) similar to the conditioned
stimulus (bell) to produce a response (salivation) similar to the conditioned stimulus. Generalization,
in operant conditioning means giving the same response to similar stimuli (e.g. a student works harder
in class gets the teacher’s praise. This will generalize to the student working harder out of class such as
working hard on homework/assignment or doing well in other subjects. In classical conditioning.
Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the reward. In operant
conditioning extinction occurs when previously reinforced response is no longer reinforced and the
response decreases (e.g. a student who needs the attention of his teacher and or his classmates
usually engaged in disruptive behavior. Directing attention to him is very reinforcing on his part. To
extinguish disruptive behavior the class should withdraw attention from the behavior.
Shaping of Behavior. Another contribution of Skinner to the psychology of learning is shaping of
the behavior. A rat in the box (Skinners Box) may take a very long time to figure out that pressing the
lever will produce food. To accomplish such behavior, successive approximations of the behavior are
reared until the animal learns the association between the lever and the food reward. For example, the
rat may be rewarded for turning to the direction of the lever, then moving towards and then brushing
against the lever and finally pressing the lever.
Reinforcement Schedules: Once the desired behavioral response is accomplished, reinforcement
does not have to be 100%; it can be maintained through what Skinner referred to as partial
reinforcement schedules which includes interval schedules and ratio schedules. In fixed interval
schedules the target response is reinforced after a fixed amount of time has passed since the last
reinforcement. (e.g. the rat in the box is given food (reinforce) every 5 minutes or 10 minutes
regardless of how many times it presses the lever). In variable interval schedules, the amount of time
that must pass between reinforcements varies (e.g. the rat may receive food not every 10 minutes but
on different time intervals. In fixed ratio schedules, a fixed number of the correct response must occur
before reinforcement may be given. (e.g. the rat is given food every time it presses the lever 5 times).
In variable fixed ratio schedule, the number of correct repetitions of the correct response varies (e.g.
the rat is reinforced after it presses the lever, 3 times, then after 10 times, etc.). Here the rat will not be
able to predict how many times it needs to press the lever before it gets food again.
Variable interval, especially variable ratio schedules produce steadier and more persistent rates
of response because the learner cannot predict when the reinforcement will come although they know
that they will eventually succeed. (e.g. People continue to buy lotto tickets even if the chance of
winning is very rare; but somehow one hits a jackpot. “The quitter never wins. . .”

The following are the principles derived from Skinner’s operant conditioning:

 Behavior that is positively reinforced will reoccur, intermittent reinforcement is particularly

effective,
 Information should be presented in small amounts so that behavior can be reinforced
(“shaping”),
 Reinforcement will be generalized across similar stimuli (“stimulus generalization”) producing
secondary conditioning.

Tips to increase desirable behavior and to decrease undesirable behavior (Santrock, 2001)
Increasing desirable behavior.
 Choose effective reinforces. Not all reinforces are the same for every child. So find out what
reinforces work best with which children. Natural reinforces like praise and privileges are
generally recommended over material rewards such as money, candy or stars. Activities are
commonly used by teachers as reinforces. Named after David Premack, the Premack Principle
states that a high-probability activity can serve as a reinforce for a low probability activity
(e.g. a teacher may say. “When you complete your writing assignment, you can play a game
on a computer”).
 Make the reinforce contingent and timely. Teachers must give reinforcement only after the held
performs the particular behavior. Behavior analysts recommends that teachers make “If. . .
then” statements. (e.g. John, if you finish ten math problems, then you can go out and play.
 Use the best schedule of reinforcement (see your notes on reinforcement schedules),
 Consider contracting. This is putting reinforcement contingencies in writing. A teacher and child
might agree on a contract.

Decreasing undesirable behaviors. Paul Alberto and Anne Troutman (1995) recommended the
following:

 Use differential reinforcement. The teacher reinforces the behavior that is more appropriate or
that which is incompatible with what the child is doing (e.g. reinforce a child for learning
activities on a computer rather than playing games with it);
  Terminate reinforcement which involves withdrawing positive reinforcement from a child’s
inappropriate behavior (e.g. withdrawing teacher’s attention from a student inappropriate
behavior --- yelling, criticizing, threatening a student;
 Remove desirable stimuli from the student using time out and response cost strategies. Time out
is taking the student away from positive reinforcement; response cost is removing desirable
stimuli/taking away a positive reinforcement from a student as when the student loses certain
privileges (e.g. taking away the privilege of being a class monitor);
 Present aversive stimuli (punishment).

Application (Group Activity)

1. Choose a topic you want to teach. Think of the ways you can apply the three primary laws of
learning while you teach. Follow the format below: (15 pts.)

Topic__________________________ Grade/Year level___________________

Primary Law How You would Apply the Primary Law

Law of Readiness
Law of Effect (Indicate how you will use
positive/negative reinforcement
Law of Exercise

2. One tip to increase desirable behavior among pupils is the use of contracting. Give one (1)
example of a learning contract of work (homework/assignment) between the teacher and the pupil.

References

1. Aquino, A. M. (2010). Facilitating human learning. Quezon City, Phil. Rex Book Store

2. Lucas, M.R. & Brenda Corpuz. (2014). Facilitating learning: A metacognitive approach. Quezon
City, Phil. Lorimar Publishing

3. Santrock, J. W. Educational Psychology (2001). Mass. USA. McGraw Hill

4. “The Little Albert Experiment” https://www.verywellmind.com/the-little-albert-experiment-
2794994
5. B. F. Skinner: Theory, Behaviorism And Operant Conditioning .. https://psychologypedia.org/b-
f-skinner-theory-behaviorism-and-operant-conditioning/

6. Kendra Cherry. What Is Operant Conditioning and How Does It Work

https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863