Content: 2.

1 Behaviorist Theories 

b. Operant Conditioning 

 2.2 Cognitively Oriented Theories 

a. Piaget's Stage of Development 

b. Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development 

BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning 

By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology, and other behaviorists
were  becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical
conditioning.  Perhaps the most important of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner.
Although, for  obvious reasons, he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner. 

Definition: 

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards

and  punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes
an  association between a particular behavior and a consequence (Skinner, 1938). 

Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913). Skinner 
believed that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more 
productive to study observable behavior rather than internal mental events. The 
work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning was far too 
simplistic to be a complete explanation of complex human behavior. He believed 
that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and 
its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning. 

Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based 
on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect. According to this principle, behavior that is 
followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and behavior
followed  by unpleasant consequences is less likely to be repeated. 

Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant, that can follow behavior. 

Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor 
decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated. 
 Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a 
behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative. 

• Positive Reinforcement - strengthens a behaviour by providing consequence 

an individual finds rewarding. 

• Negative Reinforcement - The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also 

strengthen behaviour. This is known as negative reinforcement because it is 
the removal of an adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to the animal or 
person. Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour because it stops
or  removes an unpleasant experience. 

Punishers (weakens behaviour): Responses from the environment that

decrease  the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Punishment weakens
behaviour. 

There are many problems with using punishment, such as: 

• Punished behaviour is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behaviour returns when 

punishment is no longer present.  
• Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way to cope with 
problems. 
• Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviours, e.g., fear of
school. • Does not necessarily guide toward desired behaviour -
reinforcement tells you  what to do, punishment only tells you what not to do. 

Behavior Modification 

Behavior modification is a set of therapies / techniques based on operant

conditioning  (Skinner, 1938, 1953). The main principle comprises changing
environmental events that  are related to a person's behavior. For example, the
reinforcement of desired behaviors  and ignoring or punishing undesired ones. This
is not as simple as it sounds — always  reinforcing desired behavior, for example, is
basically bribery. 

Token Economy 

Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviors are reinforced with tokens 
(secondary reinforcers) and later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers). 

Tokens can be in the form of fake money, buttons, poker chips, stickers, etc. While
the  rewards can range anywhere from snacks to privileges or activities. For
example,  teachers use token economy at primary school by giving young children
stickers to reward  good behavior. 

Behavior Shaping 
 A further important contribution made by Skinner (1951) is the notion of behavior
shaping  through successive approximation. Skinner argues that the principles of
operant  conditioning can be used to produce extremely complex behavior if rewards
and  punishments are delivered in such a way as to encourage move an organism
closer and  closer to the desired behavior each time. 

Educational Applications 

In the conventional learning situation, operant conditioning applies largely to issues

of  class and student management, rather than to learning content. It is very relevant
to  shaping skill performance. 

A simple way to shape behavior is to provide feedback on learner performance, e.g., 

compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation. A variable-ratio produces
the  highest response rate for students learning a new task, whereby initially
reinforcement  (e.g., praise) occurs at frequent intervals, and as the performance
improves reinforcement  occurs less frequently, until eventually only exceptional
outcomes are reinforced.
2.2 COGNITIVELY ORIENTED THEORIES 

PIAGET’S STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT 

Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist who studied children in the
early  20th century. His theory of intellectual or cognitive development, published in
1936, is still  used today in some branches of education and psychology. It focuses
on children, from  birth through adolescence, and characterizes different stages of
development, including: 
language, morals, memory and reasoning. 

Piaget made several assumptions about children while developing his theory: 

Children build their own knowledge based on their experiences. Children

learn things on their own without influence from adults or older children.
Children are motivated to learn by nature. They don’t need rewards as
motivation. 

There are four stages in all. The stages cover a range of ages from birth to 2 years
old to  young adulthood. 

Piaget’s four stages 

Piaget’s stages are age-specific and marked by important characteristics of thought 

processes. They also include goals children should achieve as they move through a
given  stage. 
Stage  Age  Characteristics  Goal

Sensorimotor  Birth to 18 - Motor activity without use Object 

 24  months of  symbols. All things permanence
old learned are  based on
experience or trial and
error.

Preoperational  2 to 7 years old  Development of language,  Symbolic  

memory, and imagination.  thought
Intelligence is both
egocentric and intuitive.

Concrete  7 to 11 years  More logical and methodical  Operational

operational old manipulation on of symbols. thoughts
Less  egocentric, and more
aware of the  outside world
and events.

Formal  Adolescence Use of symbols to relate to   Abstract 

operational to  adulthood abstract concepts. able concepts
to make hypotheses and
grasp abstract concepts
and relationships.

There are a variety of terms Piaget used in his theory to explain cognitive
development  and how it’s achieved at different stages. 

Schema is a term he used to represent the building blocks of knowledge. You may 
think of schemas as different index cards inside the brain. Each one informs the  
individual on how to react to new information or situations. 
Assimilation is using an existing schema and applying it to a new situation or
object. Accommodation is changing approaches when an existing schema
doesn’t work  in a particular situation.
Equilibration is the driving force that moves all development forward. Piaget didn’t 
believe that development progressed steadily. Instead, it moved in leaps and 
bounds according to experiences. 

Piaget’s philosophy can be incorporated into any education program. 

Providing chances for trial and error. Focus on the process of learning versus the 
end result. 
Providing children with visual aids and other props, like models, to illustrate 
different ideas and concepts. 
Using real-life examples to paint complex ideas, like word problems in math.
Providing chances to classify or group information. Outlines and hierarchies are 
good examples and allow kids to build new ideas from previous knowledge.
 Offering problems that necessitate analytical or logical thinking. Brain teasers
can  be used as a tool in this instance. 

Cons of Piaget’s theory 

There are some criticisms of Piaget’s stages. In particular, researchers in the  1960s
and 1970s argued that Piaget may have underestimated children’s abilities  by
using confusing terms and particularly difficult tasks in his observations. In other 
studies, children have been successful with demonstrating knowledge of certain 
concepts or skills when they were presented in a simpler way. 
Piaget’s theory also expects children of a certain stage to primarily be at that stage
across the board with all tasks presented to them. Other researchers uncovered 
that there is a range of abilities with cognitive tasks. In other words, some
children  may excel or struggle in one area over another. 
Piaget’s theory also explains that trying to teach children particularly advanced 
concepts would be unsuccessful. Yet in some cases, children may be able to
learn  advanced ideas even with brief instruction. Children may be more
adaptable and  competent than Piaget’s stages give them credit for 
Last, Piaget primarily examined white, middle-class children from developed 
countries in his work. As a result, his findings may be skewed to this subset of  
people, and may not apply as directly to other groups or locations. 

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development 

The concept, zone of proximal development was developed by Soviet psychologist

and  social constructivist Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934). 

The zone of proximal development (ZPD) has been defined as: 

"the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by 

independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined  
through problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable 
peers" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). 

Vygotsky believed that every person has two stages of skill development: 

a level they can achieve by themselves 

a level they can achieve with the help of an experienced mentor or

teacher He referred to the level an individual can achieve with help as their

ZPD.

The ZPD can be broken into three stages. Think of them as a series of overlapping
circles: Tasks the learner can do without assistance. This category includes everything
a  person can do without help from a more experienced individual. 
Tasks the learner can do with assistance. This category includes tasks a person 
can’t work through by themselves but can work through with help, also known as 
their ZPD. 

Tasks the learner can’t do with assistance. The final category includes tasks that  are
too difficult to perform even with an instructor’s help. For example, a young  child
might be able to spell out their own name by themselves but might need help 
from someone else to write the complete alphabet. The task is above their skill 
level and outside their ZPD. 

Zone of proximal development ‘scaffolding’ 

Instructional scaffolding is a method of teaching that helps a student learn a new

skill. It  involves a more knowledgeable person guiding a student through a task
that’s in their  ZPD. As a learner’s ability to complete a skill improves, the instructor
should lessen the  amount of aid they provide. The concept can be applied in the
classroom to a variety of  subjects, including language, math, and science. 

Teachers can use scaffolding by using techniques like: 

modeling 
providing examples 
working one-on-one with students 
using visual aids 

Scaffolding can also be used outside the classroom. Many coaches may use
scaffolding  in sports to teach athletes new motor skills. 

Scaffolding provides a student with a supportive learning environment where they

can  ask questions and receive feedback. The following are some benefits of
scaffolding a  student: 

motivates the learner 

minimizes frustration for the learner 
allows the learner to learn quickly 
provides a personalized teaching experience 
allows for efficient learning
The following are examples of questions you could ask a learner while scaffolding
them  to help them with their learning: 

What else could you do here? 

When you do this, what happens? 
What do you notice? 
What could we do next? 
Why do you think that happened? 
Who can be a ‘more knowledgeable other’? 
How Vygotsky Impacts Learning? 

Many psychologists, including Piaget and Bandura, have assessed the cultural
influences  on learning, however, only Vygotsky claims that they are inherently
woven together. He  felt that studies should be analyzing the individual within the
society and not the individual  itself. Only then could you observe the level of growth,
as it is social interaction itself that  promotes mental development. While morals,
values, and thoughts are believed to be  influenced by society, the process of
learning is not seen as something that is mimicked.  Vygotsky outlined that
interactions with others created growth by making connections  between concepts.
To summarize, Vygotsky’s views on cognitive development can be  grouped into four
main points, outlined as follows: 

the relationship between the student and the teacher is central to learning;
society and culture influence the attitudes and beliefs of a student
towards  learning and education; 
language is the primary tool used in the development of learning in children, 
including the transfer of sociocultural influences; and 
students benefit greatly in programs that are student-led, as they can use
the  social interaction to grow towards their potential level of development. 

Piaget vs. Vygotsky 

Lev Vygotsky developed his theory on child development at the same time Piaget
was  developing his own theory. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that children develop
through  stages. Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky believed that learning and development
were tied to social interactions and culture. Whereas Piaget believed that children
learn through  doing, Vygotsky believed that they learn through being shown. 

References: 

https://www.healthline.com/health/zone-of-proximal-

development https://www.healthline.com/health/piaget-

stages-of-development 

https://educationaltechnology.net/vygotskys-zone-of-proximal-development-
and scaffolding/ 

https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html