(1) Social Constructionist Perspective

(2) Developmental Perspective

(3) Behavioral Perspective
Social Constructionist
Perspective
Social Constructionist Perspective

 Focus on how people construct:

 Meaning
 A sense of self
 A social world
Social Constructionist Perspective

Social Constructionism &

Postmodernism
 Social constructionist believe multiple
realities based on the shared subjective
realities
 Because people interact in different contexts,
their life experiences differ
 Social constructionists reject the idea that
there is some objective reality
 Hence, social constructionism is in line with
Postmodernism
Social Constructionist Perspective
Social Constructionist Perspective

 (1) Symbolic Interaction Theory

 (2) Postmodern Theories
 (3) Phenomenological Sociology
 (4) Standpoint Theory
 (5) Queer Theory
 (6) Affect Theory
 (7) Solution-Focused Practice Theory
 (8) Narrative Practice Theory
 Social Constructionist Perspective

Symbolic Interaction Theory

 George Herbert Mead (1863–1931):
 a founder of symbolic interactionism

 Human beings develop symbols and attach meaning to

the symbols
 (e.g., minorities, sexual orientations, women, child, disability,
poor, etc.)

 How to make sense of their social worlds?

 By exchanging meaning through language and symbols

 Learn ‘shared meanings’ through interactions with each

other:
 Realize how the world is classified
 Acknowledge where they are placed in the world
 Engage in these symbolic interactions

 Look for patterns of interaction between individuals

 Example of George Floyd:
 Conflict perspective:
 Focus on oppression/discrimination based on race/ethnicity
 Symbolic interactionists:
 Focus on individuals’ interactions in the protesting group;
 The signs and symbols protesters use to communicate their
message
Social Constructionist Perspective

Symbolic Interaction Theory

 The Looking Glass Self:
 The “I”-I imagine how I appear to others.
 The “Me”- I imagine their judgement of me.
 The “Generalized Other”-I develop some
feeling about myself that is a result of
imagining their judgments of me
Social Constructionist Perspective

Phenomenological Sociology
 Alfred Schutz (1899-1959)
 Postulated that it is subjective meanings that
give rise to an apparently objective social
world.
 Argued that people depend upon language
and the “stock of knowledge” they have
accumulated to enable social interaction.
 Stock of knowledge: “the total of individual
experiences” + “knowledge inherited from
other actors”
Social Constructionist Perspective

Dramaturgical Approach
 Erving Goffman (1922–1982)
 Focus on the person as an “actor”
 The self was constructed through dramatic interaction
between the individual actor and the audience.
 The actor does “impression management” which involves
presenting oneself to others in ways that are intentionally
guided and controlled by the actor.
 The “parts” people play during a “performance” are
consciously constructed by the actor in attempt to present
a self that will be accepted by others.

 Three different types of stigmas.

 Abominations of the body (physical deformities)
 Blemishes of the character (mental disorders, addictions)
 Tribal stigma (race, nationality, religion)

 People with stigma learn “stigma management.”

 However, this could lead to secrecy, anxiety, disloyalty,
and dishonesty.
Social Constructionist Perspective

Standpoint Theory
 An individual's own perspectives are shaped by his/her social
and political experiences, cultures, socioeconomic statuses,
races, genders, etc.
 Not all standpoints are equally valued:
 Humans produce knowledge through power relations that construct
and divide social groups into dominant and non-dominant categories.
 Experiences within those categories produce different, unequal
opportunities that cultivate distinct ways of knowing and being.

 A ‘Bifurcation of Consciousness’ in the non-dominant group

 Non-dominant group members can provide more complete knowledge
about reality than dominant ones because they understand the world
from both perspectives.
 The person from a higher position in the society usually sees the issues
one-sidedly whereas the person from the average or the lower levels of
the society takes the issue more practically.
 While dominant groups enjoy the privilege of remaining oblivious to
non-dominant standpoints
 The reason for this is due to the dissimilarities in circumstances in
which these two sets of people live in.

 A blend of the social constructionist and conflict perspective

Social Constructionist Perspective

Standpoint Theory (Cont.)

 First developed as feminist standpoint
theory
 But, can be applied all non-dominant groups

 How to fight for their rights and to

contribute to the society?
 Ex: Woman are marginalized from the men
perspective and also lesser power.
 The collective marginalized women groups
(women’s club, Women welfare organization,
and NGO for Women)
 These groups help to recognize the women in
the society and advocates for the women in
their own standpoint or perspective.
Social Constructionist Perspective

Queer Theory
 Teresa de Lauretis (1938 - )
 Deconstruct (or ‘queer’) sexuality and gender in
the wake of gay identity politics
 See sexuality as a discursive social construction,
fluid, plural, and continually negotiated rather
than a natural, fixed, core identity.
 The representation of gender is its construction

 Sexuality has been institutionalized as a binary

structure
 Hence, need to destabilize binary oppositions such as
gay/straight
 There are people who do not neatly fit into
conventional categories, such as bisexuals,
transvestites, transgendered people, and transsexuals.
Social Constructionist Perspective

Queer Theory
 Clarification of Concepts  Individual heterosexism:
 Gender Identity:  Refers to negative attitudes and behaviors
based on the belief that sexual orientations
 Refers to an individual’s deeply-felt inner sense of other than heterosexual are unnatural
being male, female, or something other or in-
between”  Homophobia:
 Sexual identity:  Refers to a more extreme feeling, defined as
 Refers to how one thinks of oneself in terms of to fear or hatred of gay people
whom one is romantically and/or sexually
attracted
 Viewed as more fluid (consistent with the Kinsey
Continuum); locations along that continuum are
not rigid
 Intersexual
 Refers to people whose genitals, chromosomes,
or hormonal systems (or some combination of
these) do not fit the standard parameters for men
or women
 Social Constructionist Perspective

Queer Theory Kinsey’s Research Finding

 Alfred Kinsey’s Study
 Found through a study of human sexual behavior from 1938 to
1956 about ‘sexual orientation’:
 Research Methods:
 The findings were based on participants’ self-report of
dreams, fantasies, and behaviors
 Findings:
 Sexual orientation is not a singular phenomenon
 Rather, it is a continuum of multiple possibilities ranging
from exclusive heterosexuality to exclusive homosexuality
(with diverse bisexual orientations in between)
 Only a small percentage of the subjects were exclusively
heterosexual or exclusively homosexual
 Most appeared to have some potential for bisexual
behavior (i.e., being sexually attracted to members of either
gender) although sexual attraction might be biased more
toward one gender than another
 Conclusion:
 The Kinsey report challenged the general assumption that
all human beings possess a heterosexual orientation
Social Constructionist Perspective

Affect Theory: Silvan Tomkins (1911-1991)

 The idea that feelings and emotions are the primary motives for human behavior, with
people desiring to maximize their positive feelings and minimize their negative ones.
 Within the theory, affects are considered to be innate and universal responses that
create consciousness and direct cognition.
 It refers to the "biological portion of emotion” (non-conscious, automatic form of
emotion)
 The "hard-wired, preprogrammed, genetically transmitted mechanisms that exist in each of us”
 When it is triggered, precipitate a "known pattern of biological event”
 The function of neural systems underlying phenomenological aspects of affective states, which
differently influence our everyday life experience

 “Emotion” is what happens to ‘affect’ once it undergoes the social processes that make
it conscious
 Sometimes ‘affect’ is used interchangeably with ‘emotions’ or subjectively experienced feeling

 Calls attention to the independent role that biology and matter play in the construction
of reality
 Both biology and social processes play important roles in creating human reality
Social Constructionist Perspective

Affect Theory
 https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMS8QEYI
QU
DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE
Developmental Perspective

 (1) Erikson’s Life-Span (Psychosocial)

Development
 (2) Piaget’s Cognitive Development
 (3) Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987):
Moral Development
Developmental Perspective

Erikson’s Life-Span (Psychosocial)

Development
 Erikson expanded the Freudian model:
 To include the entire life span
 To address ego functions as an active part of the
developing psyche

 It is more flexible and optimistic than the Freud’s

model
 Proposes progression through a series of age-
dictated roles, with changing social expectations
by the role senders at each stage
 Unlike Freud, Erikson believed that the ego played
a significant role in the mastery of psychosocial
tasks and mastery of the environment
 Erikson de-emphasized libidinal drives and Desexualized
the Oedipal conflict
Developmental Perspective

Erikson’s Life-Span (Psychosocial)

Development
 Human development takes place according to a series of
predetermined steps through which people proceeds as
they becomes psychologically, biologically, and socially
ready
 Each stage is characterized by a psychosocial challenge or
crisis
 Assumptions:
 The environment (where development takes places) provides the
necessary resources and presents the necessary challenges at the
proper times for the individual to move through each step
 This process of orderly development through a series of steps is
guided by “Epigenetic Principle”
 Epigenetic principle refers to “a biological blueprint that dictates how
they grow and reach maturity”
 Hence, each step takes place as part of an overall plan made up of
all the necessary to take the step
 Resolution of each crisis enables the individual to proceed to the
next stage
 This process continues until the individual has progressed through
all eight developmental stages
Developmental Perspective

Erikson’s Life-Span (Psychosocial)

Development
 Environmental Effects on Epigenetic
Unfolding:
 Although people’s growth and development is
guided by the biological principle, social
forces and expectations also influence growth
and development and help to determine how
well people adapt and adjust to their
environment

 Erikson’s quote:
 “progress through each stage is in part
determined by our success, or lack of
success, in all the previous stages”
Developmental Perspective

Erikson’s Life-Span (Psychosocial) Development

Developmental Perspective

Piaget’s Cognitive Development

 No field of cognitive development until Jean Piaget

 Piaget’s work based on interest in biology and

philosophy
 Concerned with the changes in intellectual abilities,
mental activities, and behaviors through which
knowledge of the world is obtained
 His research conclusion:
 Environment had important effect on biological development
and maturation
 Cognitive development is a process of adaptation and
ontogenetic biological development
 Knowledge is constructed through a process in which children
physically and/or mentally act on objects, images, or symbols

 Current study of moral development

 Stimulated by Piaget
Developmental Perspective

Piaget’s Cognitive Development

 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
 Based on observation of his own 3 children
and then on larger groups of children
 Assumed that:
 Stages are ‘universal’ for all cultures
 Stages are based on ‘invariant sequentially’

 Factors affecting cognitive development:

 Maturation
 physical experience
 Social interaction
 Equilibration
 Developmental Perspective

Piaget’s (1896-1980) Cognitive Development

 Cognitive development process is:
 Schema Adaptation (in case of accommodation) New Schema  Repeat the
process
 Schema:
 A mental framework or concept
 It helps individuals organize and interpret information about the world.
 Used to represent and categorize information about objects, events, actions, and
people.

 Stage of ‘Adaptation’/‘Equilibration’:
 Assimilation:
 Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.
 Accommodation:
 Change the existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.
Developmental Perspective

Piaget’s Cognitive Development

 Connection of Piaget’s theory to
Neuroscience:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=_X0mgOOSpLU
Developmental Perspective
Piaget’s Cognitive Development
 Stages
 Stage 1: Sensorimotor Period
(birth to about age 2)
 Stage 2: Preoperational Period
(ages 2-7)
 Stage 3: Concrete Operations
(ages 7-11)
 Stage 4: Formal Operations
(ages 11-15)
 Six sub-stages of gradual, progressively more complex behavior
and learning
 Reflexive (Newborn):
 respond reflexively to touch or other stimulation, often by sucking and grasping
or even smiling (which will become intentional)
 Primary circular reactions (1-4 months):
 begin to make specific movements for their own enjoyment (making sound or
movement without meaning to and enjoy how it feels; intentional thumb-
sucking, kicking, smiling)
 Secondary circular reactions: (4-8 months):
 begin to use objects to learn about the world; continue these activities again
and again; throw or drop a toy, shake a rattle, or bang objects together to make
sounds.
 Coordinating secondary circular reactions (8 - 12 months):
 begin to combine their learned abilities and reflexes to achieve goals. For
example, they might crawl to pick up a toy across the room or push aside toys
blocking the specific one they want. At this point, your baby is able to plan and
coordinate actions in response to thoughts
 Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months):
 Begin to walk; explore their world and learn even more about it through motor
coordination, planning, and experimentation.
 Symbolic/representational thought (18-24 months):
 develop symbolic thought; Object permanence (the knowledge that objects
continue to exist even when they can't be seen)
Developmental Perspective
Piaget’s Cognitive Development
 Stages
 Stage 1: Sensorimotor Period
(birth to about age 2)
 Stage 2: Preoperational Period
(ages 2-7)
 Stage 3: Concrete Operations
(ages 7-11)
 Stage 4: Formal Operations (ages
11-15)
 Operational:
 Refers to logical manipulation of information
 Main Characteristics:
 Centration:
 the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation at one time.
 Egocentrism:
the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view.

 parallel play:
 play in the same room as other children but they play next to others rather than with
them.
 Symbolic Representation:
 the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than
itself.
 Pretend (or symbolic) Play:
 pretend to be people they are not (e.g. superheroes, policeman)
 Animism:
 inanimate objects (such as toys and teddy bears) have human feelings and
intentions
 Artificialism:
 certain aspects of the environment are manufactured by people (e.g. clouds in the
sky).
 Irreversibility:
 inability to reverse the direction of a sequence of events to their starting point.
Developmental Perspective
Piaget’s Cognitive
Development
 Stages
 Stage 1: Sensorimotor Period
(birth to about age 2)
 Stage 2: Preoperational Period
(ages 2-7)
 Stage 3: Concrete Operations
(ages 7-11)
 Stage 4: Formal Operations
(ages 11-15)
 Distinguished by the primacy of reason over perception
 Gain cognitive operations necessary for logical thought:
 Reversibility:
 ability to reverse an action in their mind
Compensation:

 Refers to a property defined by the logical consequences of combining more than one

operation or more than one dimension.
able to decenter their perceptions and focus on more than one aspect at a time
 Seriation:

 the ability to arrange items according to their increasing or decreasing size
Classification:
 the ability to group objects into categories and subcategories according to their
characteristics
 Transitivity:
 ability to understand reciprocal concepts such as if A is greater than B, then B is less than
A
 Conservation:
 recognition that properties of an object do not change when its appearance is altered
Developmental Perspective
Piaget’s Cognitive Development
 Stages
 Stage 1: Sensorimotor Period
(birth to about age 2)
 Stage 2: Preoperational Period
(ages 2-7)
 Stage 3: Concrete Operations
(ages 7-11)
 Stage 4: Formal Operations (ages
11-15)
 Begin to use deductive logic, or
reasoning from a general principle to
specific information
 Abstract thought and scientific reason
emerge
 Able to reason from hypothetical data
 Greater importance attached to a
language-based system of
representation
Developmental Perspective

Important to Watch These Videos for Quiz 3

 1. Experiences Build Brain Architecture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN
NsN9IJkws
 2. Serve and Return Interaction Shapes
Brain Circuitry: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_5u8-QSh
6A

 3. Toxic Stress Derails Healthy

Development: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVwFkcOZH
Jw
Developmental Perspective

Piaget’s Cognitive Development

 Conservation task: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnArvcWaH
6I

 Egocentrism: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDJ0qJTLo
hM
 Watch these Videos at Home for Your
Learning
 Jean Piaget: Developmental 4-Stage Model Summary Table

Stage Key Features

Sensorimotor (0-2) Object permanence
6 Different Stages:
1) Impulsive and reflex actions (sucking)
2) Circular or repetitive action (kicking, grasping)
3) Practicing circular or repetitive action for their consequences
(kicking to shake the crib)
4) Coordinates schemes and applies them to new situations (pulling a
handkerchief to reach a toy underneath)
5) Continue to experiment but with more novelty and variation of
patterns
6) Invent new means of doing things by thinking
Preoperational (2-7) Centration, Egocentrism, Parallel play, Symbolic Representation, Pretend (or
symbolic) Play, Animism, Artificialism Irreversibility
Concrete Operational (7- Reversibility, Compensation, Conservation, Seriation, Classification,
11) Transitivity

Formal Operational (11-15) Abstract Reasoning

Developmental Perspective

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987):

Moral Development
 Moral development is a long and complex
process
 No direct association between age and moral
maturity
 Moral development is in part an outgrowth of
Piaget’s work
 Advancement through stages motivated by
two factors:
 (1) Cognitive disequilibrium that develops through
the progressive awareness of one’s own
inadequacies in moral reasoning
 (2) Advances in perspective that result from an
increased capacity to understand others’ viewpoints
Developmental Perspective

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987):

Moral Development
 In all societies, there is an expectation that people conform to
social and cultural norms/rules regarding acceptable behavior and
ethical conduct
 Theories of moral development describe the qualitative changes in
moral reasoning:
 It occurs as people grow and mature from childhood to adulthood

 Moral development is generally viewed as an important aspect of

socialization (i.e., the process by which children learn to conform to
societal norms and rules)
 Through socialization, these rules become internalized, and children come
to incorporate these rules into their own personal values
 Once rules are internalized, children are no longer dependent on external
sources of rewards or punishment to ensure conformity

 Changes in moral reasoning are dependent on changes in cognitive

development
 Hence, there is also a corresponding assumption of “Invariant sequentiality”
 As children mature, ‘cognitive egocentrism’ is gradually replaced by ‘social
reasoning’ developed through interaction with others
 Children begin to display reciprocity by considering the intentions,
viewpoints, and situations of others
Developmental Perspective

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987):

Moral Development
 Preconventional (age birth to 9)
 Conventional (age 9 to 15)
 Postconventional (age 16 and up: most
adults do not achieve this level)
Developmental Perspective
Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987):
Moral Development
 Preconventional (age birth to 9)
 Conventional (age 9 to 15)
 Postconventional (age 16 and up)
 Stage 1: Obedience and punishment orientation (avoid
punishment; unaware of the motives or intentions of
others in judging actions)
 Stage 2: Naively egoistic orientation (seek rewards)
Children do the right thing to satisfy their own egocentric needs

with little regard for the needs of others; beginning sense of
reciprocity in social interactions, as children learn that if they
behave in a certain way, they can get their needs met
Developmental Perspective
Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987):
Moral Development
 Preconventional (age birth to 9)
 Conventional (age 9 to 15)
 Postconventional (age 16 and up)
 Stage 3: good boy/nice girl orientation (gain approval/avoid disapproval)
 Children now become concerned about the opinions that others hold about them and
they want to be seen as “good” people
Children begin to understand the concept of intent; rule breaking is seen as less

serious if the intention of the actor was good
 Stage 4: authority-maintaining morality (conformity to rules)
 People want to avoid criticism from authority figures. To avoid guilt and shame from
criticism, they conform to the social order rather than to individual standards
 Stepping outside of a two-person relationship and considering the larger perspective
of societal laws and rules in determining their course of action
 Show respect for social institutions and support the prevailing social order
Developmental Perspective
Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-
1987): Moral Development
 Preconventional (age birth to 9)
 Conventional (age 9 to 15)
 Postconventional (age 16 and up:
most adults do not achieve this level)
 Stage 5: contractual legalistic orientation (Social contract)
 People choose moral percepts to guide their lives based on the morality of contracts.
 The contracts that are fair and just should be followed
 Those that are based on externally imposed laws that compromise human rights should be
challenged and modified
 Distinctions between legality and morality begin to emerge, and there is greater flexibility in moral
beliefs
 Emphasis is placed on democratically accepted law and consensus as well as an understanding of
the greater good and the potential to modify an unjust social contract
 Stage 6: Universal ethical principle orientation (Individual principles conscience)
 The emergence of truly autonomous morality based on individual conscience
 Moral guidelines are based on abstract principles (e.g., justice, compassion, equality, and human
dignity)
 The development of true conscience based on such principles transcend any legal formulations
that conflict with these larger moral guidelines
Developmental Perspective

 Life Span/Cycle Perspective

 Most often used in discussing human
behavior at the individual level
 Can also be applied to families, groups,
organizations, and communities
 Sometimes used interchangeably with life
cycle or stage theories about human
behavior
 Broader or less linear than traditional life-
cycle or stage-based theories
Developmental Perspective

Life Span/Cycle Perspective

 In the life span perspective, human development is :
 Largely varies from individual to individual.
 Depending on interactions between phases in an individual’s life course (e.g., childhood and old age) and experiences (e.g., education and
health)
 Is a life-long process
 Is multi-dimensional.
o Concerned with the biological, cognitive, socio-emotional and spiritual aspects.
o Hence, professionals in the field of psychology, sociology, anthropology, neuroscience and medical research are all concerned with human
development with a common goal of expanding their understanding of development in the course of the lifespan.
 Is multidirectional
o Some features of development increase while others are decreasing.
 Is plastic
 It means that the capacity to change/assume different paths depending on the living conditions of an individual
 E.g., the condition of a child experiencing intellectual retardation may be reversed by the administration of proper diet and positive experience.
 Is historically-embedded
 i.e., historical conditions can influence development
 It is contextual
 This is because a person incessantly responds to and acts on context. Such contexts may include the biological constitution of an individual,
physical environment, and social, historical, and cultural contexts.
Developmental Perspective

• Life Span/cycle Perspective

• Newman & Newman
1) Need to understand the whole person (we
function in an integrated manner).
2) Need to study the major internal developments
(physical, social, emotional, and thinking
capacities and their interrelationship)
3) Behavior must be analyzed in the context of
relevant settings and personal relationships.
Developmental Perspective

Life Course Perspective

 Life course perspective is similar with life span
perspective in a sense that:
o Bothe advocate taking a long-term, multilevel, contextual,
and dynamic view of aging

o Differences:
o Life span theories:
o Draw attention to the length of the life of an ‘individual’ and
to the idea that processes and trajectories of development
and aging are lifelong (Lerner, 2002)
o Interested primarily in understanding microlevel processes
within the aging individual (e.g., the aging brain and mind)
o Life course theories:
o Differentiate between subgroups in society and focus on the
social path-ways that define the sequence of events,
transitions, roles, and experiences in the lives of individuals
(Alwin & Wray, 2005)
o Typically analyze the macrolevel processes that
characterize the influence of groups, organizations, and
institutions on the individuals within them
BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
Behavioral Perspective

 Believes that the person is like animal.

Humans are similar to rats, pigeons,
dogs, monkeys, etc.
 All animals learn via similar processes
 As animals learn or perish; humans must
learn or fail
 Maladaptive behavior for both animals and
humans is extinguished
 Environmental factors cause changes in
patterns of both animal and human behavior

 Believes that the social environment is

like a laboratory in psychology
department.
Behavioral Perspective

 Emphasize the role of environmental

factors in influencing behavior, to the
near exclusion of innate of inherited
factors.
 Human behavior is seen as almost entirely
determined through learning that takes place
as a result of reinforcement of our behaviors
by others or as a result of our observation of
behaviors modeled by others.
 The reinforcement or modelling necessary for
learning behaviors comes exclusively from the
environment
 Hence, it uses a psychological approach,
which is in contrast to the psychoanalytic
theory
Behavioral Perspective

 Example of environmental factors in  Class Activity

influencing behavior  Describe briefly what Jane Elliott’s experiment
 https://www.youtube.com/watch? is.
v=X97JTH7UCq4  Describe what you learned from her
experiment.
 Describe some strategies you want to choose
when the environment is giving you undue
negative messages.
Behavioral Perspective
 Almost all behavior is learned through:
 Classical conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 Observational learning
 A learning process that occurs through
associations between an environmental
stimulus and a naturally occurring
stimulus.
 Based on Pavlov’s observations
 Everything from speech to emotional
responses were simply patterns of stimulus
and response.
 Denies completely the existence of the mind
or consciousness.
 Believes that all individual differences in
behavior were due to different experiences of
learning.
 Behavioral Perspective
 Almost all behavior is learned
through:
 Classical conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 Observational learning
 Learning Process
 Stage 1: Before Conditioning:
 A stimulus in the environment has produced a behavior / response which is
unlearned (i.e. unconditioned stimulus [UCS]) and therefore is a natural response
unconditioned response (UCR) which has not been taught.
 Ex. a perfume (UCS) could create a response of happiness or desire (UCR).
 Stage 2: During Conditioning:
 A stimulus which produces no response (i.e. neutral) is associated with the
unconditioned stimulus at which point it now becomes known as the conditioned
stimulus (CS). Often during this stage the UCS must be associated with the CS on
a number of occasions, or trials, for learning to take place.
 Ex. Perfume (UCS) might be associated with a specific person (CS).
 Stage 3: After Conditioning:
 Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the unconditioned
stimulus (UCS) to create a new conditioned response (CR).
 Ex. A person (CS) who has been associated with nice perfume (UCS) is now found
attractive (CR).
Behavioral Perspective

 Almost all behavior is learned Key Terms

through:
 Classical conditioning  Stimulus:
 Operant conditioning  Any feature of the environment that affects behavior.
 Observational learning E.g., in Pavlov’s experiments food was a stimulus.

 Response:
 The behavior elicited by the stimulus. E.g., in Pavlov’s
experiments salivation was a response.

 Unconditioned Stimulus:
 A feature of the environment that causes a natural
reflex action. E.g., a puff of air blown into the eye
causes an involuntary blink.

 Conditioned Stimulus:
 A feature of the environment that has an effect
through its association with a U.C.S. E.g., Pavlov’s dog
learned to salivate at the sound of a bell.
Behavioral Perspective

 Almost all behavior is learned Key Terms

through:
 Classical conditioning  Conditioned Response:
 Operant conditioning  The behavior elicited by the C.S.
 Observational learning  E.g., Salivation when the bell rings.

 Extinction:
 The dying out of a conditioned response by breaking the
association between the C.S. and the U.C.S.
 This happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer
paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
 E.g., When the bell was repeatedly rang and no food
presented Pavlov’s dog gradually stopped salivating at the
sound of the bell.

 Spontaneous Recovery:
 The return of a conditioned response (in a weaker form)
after a period of time following extinction.
 E.g. When Pavlov waited for a few days and then rang the
bell once more the dog salivated again.
Behavioral Perspective
 Almost all behavior is learned
through:
 Classical conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 Observational learning
Key Terms
 Generalization:
 When a stimulus similar to the C.S. also elicits a
response.
 E.g., if a dog is conditioned to salivated to the sound
of a bell, it may later salivate to a similar sounding
bell.
 Discrimination:
 The opposite of generalization i.e. the ability of the
subject to tell the difference between two similar
stimuli.
 E.g., Eventually Pavlov’s dog learns the difference
between the sound of the 2 bells and no longer
salivates at the sound of the non-food bell.
Behavioral Perspective

 Almost all behavior is learned through:  Operant Conditioning:

 Classical conditioning  Involves learning through the consequences
 Operant conditioning of behavior.
 Observational learning
 Positive and negative reinforcement
 B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
 Both internal and external stimuli influence
human beings’ behavior
 Behavior which is reinforced tends to be
repeated (i.e. strengthened) –Positive
Reinforce
 Behavior which is not reinforced tends to die
out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened) –
Negative Reinforce
Behavioral Perspective
 Almost all behavior is learned through:
 Classical conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 Observational learning
Key Terms
 Positive Reinforcement:
 Presenting the subject with something that it
likes to repeat/increase the behavior
 E.g., Skinner rewarded his rats with food
pellets when they finished a mission.
 Negative Reinforcement:
 Reward – in the sense of removing or
avoiding some aversive (painful) stimulus.
 E.g., Skinner's rats learned to press the lever
in order to switch off the electric current in
the cage.
 Punishment:
 “Imposing” an aversive or painful stimulus.
e.g., Skinner’s rats were given electric shocks.
Behavioral Perspective

 Almost all behavior is learned through: Key Terms

 Classical conditioning  Primary Reinforcers:
 Operant conditioning  These are stimuli which are naturally reinforcing
 Observational learning because they directly satisfy a need.
 E.g., food, water.

 Secondary Reinforcers:
 These are stimuli, which are reinforcing through their
association with a primary reinforce
 They do not directly satisfy a need but may be the
means to do so.
 E.g., Money! You cannot eat it or drink it, but if you have
it, you can buy whatever you want. So a secondary
reinforcer can be just as powerful a motivator as a
primary reinforcer.

 Shaping:
 In shaping, the form of an existing response is gradually
changed across successive trials towards a desired
target behavior by rewarding exact segments of
behavior.
Behavioral Perspective

 Almost all behavior is Observational Learning:

Includes concepts such as observational learning, consequences and their
learned through:

functions (reinforcing, informative, motivational), components of modeling
(attentional processes, retention processes, reproduction processes),
 Classical conditioning modeling types (abstract, creative), and types of models (live, symbolic)
 Albert Bandura:
 Operational  exemplary role model was interested in overt and covert learning

conditioning 
processes, and interested in evidence-based practice
Asserts that individuals engage in self-observation  make self-judgments

 Observational learning about competence and mastery  act on the basis of these self-
judgments
 Assumptions
 Individual development is best understood in terms of a person’s learning
history
 People use cognitive processes to generate novel behavior
 Development is gradual and dependent on learning opportunities not on
predictable stages
 Current problems are explained by reference to learning experiences
 Root metaphors
 Learning involves imitating or modeling others
 The learner is like a semiautomatic camera
 Applications:
 To policy realm (television violence), to education via modeling programs,
and to therapy