Neo Behaviorism:

Tolman &
Bandura
 OBJECTIVES

Explain Explain Give specific

Tolman’s Bandura’s applications
purposive social of each
behaviorism. learning theory in
theory. learning.

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 Neo
Behaviorism

Tolman’s
Purposive Bandura Social-
Behaviorism Learning Theory

Goal-
Principles
Directedness

Cognitive Maps Modeling

Four Conditions
Latent Learning For Effective
Modeling

Interviewing
Variables
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 1.
Tolman’s Purposive
Behaviorism
Let’s start with the first set of slides
 Tolman’s Purposive Behaviorism

Purposive behaviorism also

referred to as Sign Learning Theory
and is often seen as the link between
behaviorism and cognitive theory.
It was founded on two
psychological views: those the
Gestalt psychologists and those of
John Watson, the behaviorist.
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 Edward Tolman
He 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.
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Tolman stated in this theory that
an organism learns by pursuing
signs to a goal, i.e., learning is
acquired through meaningful
behavior. He stressed the
organized aspect of learning:

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 “ The stimuli which are allowed in are not
connected by just simple one-to-one switches
to the outgoing responses. Rather the incoming
impulses are usually worked over and
elaborated in the central control room into a
tentative cognitive-like map of the
environment. And it is this tentative map,
indicating routes and paths and environmental
relationships, which finally determines what
responses, if any, the animal will finally make.” 8
 Stressed the relationships between
stimuli rather than stimulus-response.
He said that a new stimulus (the sign)
becomes associated with already
meaningful stimulus (the significate)
through a series of pairings; there is no
need for reinforcement in order to
establish learning.

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 Tolman’s Key Concepts
✘ Learning is always purposive and
goal-directed.
✘ Cognitive maps in rats.
✘ Latent Learning
✘ The concept of intervening
variable.
✘ Reinforcement not essential for
learning.
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 2.
Bandura’s Social
Learning Theory
 Albert Bandura
He was an influential social cognitive
psychologist who was perhaps best known for
his social learning theory, the concept of self-
efficacy, and his famous Bobo doll experiments.
Until his death on July 26, 2021, he was a
Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and
was widely regarded as one of the most
influential psychologists in history.

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Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

This theory focuses on the

learning that occurs within a
social context. It considers that
people learn from one another,
inc l u d i n g s u c h c o n c e p t s a s
observational learning,
imitation and modeling.
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 General Principles
1. People can learn by obeserving the behavior
of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.
2. Learning can occur without a change in
behavior.
3. Cognition plays a role in learning.
4. Social learning theory can be considered a
bridge or a transition between behaviorist
learning theories and cognitive learning
theories.

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How the environment reinforces nd punishes
modeling
People are often
reinforced for modeling
the behavior of others.
Bandura suggested that
the environment also
reinforces modeling.
This is in several possible
ways:

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1. The observer is reinforced by the model.
2. The observer is reinforced by a third
person.
3. The imitated behavior itself leads to
reinforcing consequences. Many
behaviors that we learn from others
produce satisfying or reinforcing results.

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4. Consequences of the model’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.

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 Contemporary social learning perspective of
reinforcement and punishment
1. Contemporary theory proposes that both
reinforcement and punishment have indirect
effects on learning, They are not the sole or main
cause.
2. Reinforcement and punishment influence the
extent to which an individual exhibits a behavior
that has been learned.
3. The expectation of reinforcement influences
cognitive processes that promote learning.
Therefore, attention pays a critical role in
learning.
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 Cognitive factors in social learning

Social learning theory has cognitive factors as

well as behaviorist factors (actually operant
factors).
✘ Learning without performance: Bandura
makes a distinction between learning
through observation and the actual
imitation of what has been learned. This is
similar to Tolman’s latent learning.

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 Cognitive factors in social learning
✘ Cognitive processing during learning:
Social learning theorists contend that
attention is a critical factor in learning.
✘ Expectations: As a result of being
reinforced, people form expectations about
the consequences that future behaviors are
likely to bring. The learner needs to be
aware, however, of the response
reinforcements and response punishment.

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 Cognitive factors in social learning
✘ Reciprocal causation: Bandura proposed
that behavior can influence both the
environment and the person. In facts each
of these three variables, the person, the
behavior, and the environment can have an
influence on each other.
✘ Modeling: There are different types of
models.
v live model- an actual person
demonstrating the behavior
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Cognitive factors in social learning
v symbolic model- a person or
action portrayed in some other
medium, such as television,
videotape, computer programs

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 Behaviors that can be learned through
modeling
Many behaviors can be learned, at least partly,
through modeling.
Aggression can be learned through models.
Research indicates that chidren can become
more aggressive when they observed aggressive
or violent models. Moral thinking and moral
behavior are influenced by observation and
modeling. This includes moral judgments
regarding right and wrong which can, in part,
develop through modeling.

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 Conditions necessary for effective
modeling to occur
Bandura mentions four conditions
that are necessary before an
individual can successfully model the
behavior of someone else:
✘ Attention- The person must first
pay attention to the model.

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✘ Retention- The observer must be able to
remember the behavior that has been
observed. One way of increasing this is
using the technique of rehearsal.
✘ Motor reproduction- ability to replicate the
behavior that the model has just
demonstrated.
✘ Motivation- final necessary ingredient for
modeling. Learners must want to
demonstrate what they have learned.
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Effects of modeling on behavior

1. Modeling teaches new behaviors.

2. Modeling influences the
frequency of previously learned
behaviors.
3. Modeling may encourage
previously forbidden behaviors.
4. Modeling increases the frequency
of similar behaviors.

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 Educational implications of social learning
theory
Social learning theory has numerous implications for
classroom use.
1. Students often learn a great deal simply by
observing other people.
2. Describing the consequences of behavior can
effectively increase the appropriate behaviors and
decrease inappropriate ones.

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 Educational implications of social learning
theory

3. Modeling provides an alternative to shaping

for teaching new behaviors. Instead of using
shaping, which is operant conditioning,
modeling can provide a faster, more efficient
means for teaching new behavior. To promote
effective modeling, a teacher must make sure
that the four essential conditions exist.
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 Educational implications of social learning
theory

4. Teachers and parents must model

appropriate behaviors and take care that they
do not model inappropriate behaviors.
5. Teachers should expose students to a
variety of other models.

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