Psychological

Foundation
Erica P. Abraham
Discussant
 Psychology

• Deals with how humans

learn and behave.
 Foundation

• It is the basis/ beginning

• Principle of something
 John Locke
• Compared children’s
mind to blank slate or
tabula rasa.
 3 Major groups of Learning
Theories

Behaviorist Theories
Cognitive Theories
Humanistic Theories
 Behaviorist Theory
• Focuses on stimulus response
and reinforces;
• Studies conditioning,
modifying, or shaping behavior
through reinforcement and
rewards.
 Behaviorism
• Thorndike (Connectionism)
• Pavlov and Watson (Classical
Conditioning)
• B. F Skinner (Operant
Conditioning)
 Edward L. Thorndike
(1874 – 1949)

Connectionism
 Defined learning as a connection or
association of an increasing number
of habits. Three Laws of Learning
 1. Law of Readiness
2. Law of Exercise
3. Law of Effect
 Law of Readiness
• The more the readiness the
learner has to respond to
stimulus the stronger the
bond between them.
Good
Reader
(response)
 Law of Exercise
• The more stimulus-response
bond is practice the stronger it
will become.
Jimmy why
don’t you
practice
calculating But I don’t want to practice
numbers?
• “Practice makes perfect”
• But practice without
feedback does not
necessarily enhance
performance.
 Law of Effect
• The connection between stimulus
to response is bond if the
consequence is positive.
• The connection between stimulus
to response is weakened if the
consequence is negative.
And

And
 Ivan Pavlov
(1849-1936)

He is best known for his

experiment with salivating dogs.
• Introduced the Theory of
Classical Conditioning
•  Eliciting
an unconditioned response
by using previously neutral stimuli.

• Unconditioned stimuli create reflexes

that are not “learned,” but are
instinctual.
• Emphasized that learning was
observable or measurable, not
cognitive.
• Believed the key to learning was in
conditioning a child from an early
age based on Pavlov’s methods.
 Nurture vs. Nature

• Watson’s theories strengthened

the argument for the influence of
experiences as opposed to
genetics.
• R-S relationship
 B. F. Skinner
(1904 – 1990)
• B.F. Skinner was one of the most influential
American psychologists.
His work led to the development of the Theory
of Operant Conditioning.
The idea that behavior is
determined or influenced by its
consequence.
Respondent vs. Operant behavior
• Respondent behavior is the elicited
response tied to a definite stimulus.
• Operant behavior is the emitted
response seemingly unrelated to any
specific stimuli
• Types of reinforcers (stimuli)
• Primary – stimuli fulfilling basic human drives
such as food and water.
• Secondary – personally important, such as
approval of friends or teachers, winning money,
awards, or recognition.
• Secondary reinforcers can become primary. Due to
the wide range of secondary reinforcers, Skinner
referred to them as generalized.
THANKYOU!!!