Understanding Behaviourist Learning Theories

Recently Merriam and Caffarella (1991, cited by Jarvis 2000) explain that learning theories can be classified into four types –

•             behaviourist,

•             cognitive,

•             humanist and

•             social/cultural. 

However, it must be kept in mind that not all theories can be placed discretely into a category and that overlap is seen clear when discussing the theories later within this section. Also no single theory can provide us with an explanation of how individuals learn. Therefore understanding of the various theories will allow us ‘an opportunity to examine or re-examine our own beliefs and assumptions about people, knowledge, motivation, environment, assessment and many other factors associated with learning’ (Dean & Kenworthy 2000, pp. 46)

Behaviourism

Learning is very much investigated by psychologists in educational and experimental psychology. Whether we regard life in terms of a community or an individual, it relates to learning. Many of the psychological learning theories indicate that individuals are shaped or moulded by a variety of sources external to him. These theories have been derived from experimentation on animals and not humans therefore they are limiting. Some of the behaviour was also influenced by use of reward to encourage teacher’s desired objectives. These formed the basis of teaching children as well as adults thus there has been a tendency to over emphasise the behavioural approach. These theories are also unsatisfactory, as they do not consider the ‘self’ within them. In the 1800’s, the clinical psychologists did experiments on animals. They were based on either ‘trial and error’ or ‘stimulus – response’ principles.

The school of behaviourism believes that learning is a change in observable behaviour, which arises from a connection between stimulus and response. ‘By manipulation of this link the behaviour can be altered’ (McKenna 1995). Gagne’s (1985) definition of learning represents this approach clearly, ‘a change in human disposition or capability that persists over a period of time and is not simply ascribable to process of growth.’ McKenna (1995) explained the early theory, proposed by Watson, that behaviour was learned when stimulus and response are linked frequently. This was also linked to Guthrie’s theory of contiguity where ‘if a stimulus occurred at the same time as response, the response would be repeated when the stimulus subsequently occurred again.’ (McKenna 1995 pp 29) Behaviour theorists find learning to be an acquisition of new behaviour and nothing else. This, however, does not take into account all kinds of learning, as activities of the mind are not addressed. It also does not explain how some learning, like recognition of new language by children occurs, where there is no reinforcement involved. Cust (1995) criticises that mental activity or thinking is not regarded as important by behaviourists. They believe that learning is a response to the environment around the individual, which leads to building of behaviour by contiguity, repetition and reinforcement.

Connectionism

This was one of the first theories to gain recognition. Thorndike (1928) used the trial and error method to form a learning theory. He imprisoned a hungry cat in a specially constructed cage / puzzle box. A dish of food was placed outside the cage just beyond the reach of the cat. The cat could escape from the cage only if it succeeded in operating a specially constructed latch. First the cat clawed at the bars of the box – random movements that contributed to its escape – by chance it succeeded in operating the latch and escape to enjoy the food. Over a number of trials Thorndike found there was a gradual decrease of errors. Till eventually success! The cat went straight to the latch and the food.

Thorndike stresses the importance of the three laws regarding the learner’s efforts being followed by success. They are :

Law of Effect :

The bond between the stimulus and response is weakened or strengthened because of the level of emotive satisfaction that accompanies the action. The greater the pleasure obtained from the learning experience, the more learning will occur. If the learning does not produce pleasurable experience it will not produce learning. Therefore the emphasis is on the importance of the end effect of the response (McKenna 1995).

Law of Exercise :

Repetition of meaningful actions results in substantial learning. The more meaningful the act to the learner, the greater will be the resultant learning. Thus practice makes perfect, provided the action is seen to be meaningful. This is very much in support of the suggestions of Watson as discussed by McKenna (1995).

Law of Readiness :

If the organism is ready for the connection then the result is pleasurable and learning is increased, if not, then the opposite result occurs. This relates to both physiological and psychological readiness. For example, a child cannot be toilet trained unless his nervous system is sufficiently developed. In higher education, the learner will find it hard to grasp the subject matter unless he has understanding of the foundations of the subject from his school education.

He proposes ‘that is the learner discovers some act or explanation to be effective or valid it will be repeated until such time as the consequences of the action no longer produce the desired or expected results’. (cited by Jarvis 1992, pp 76) Thus the theory started with the learner – something that is very useful when considering adult learning. In fact all his three laws have an implication on the learning theories related to adult learning.

Conditioning

In contrast to the above, theories of conditioning started with the teacher. Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936) a Russian psychologist developed an extensive theory of conditioned reflexes called ‘Classical Conditioning’. It is exclusively concerned with reflexes or automatic responses, which are triggered by specific stimuli.

Pavlov used the salivary reflex – this is triggered by the sight or smell of food and is an automatic response to such a stimulus. Response refers to any action on the part of the organism. Salivary reflex response is an Unconditional response – a natural response, as it is triggered by an Unconditional Stimulus – a natural stimulus.

Food (unconditional stimulus)  Salivation (Unconditional Response)

If a buzzer (Conditional Stimulus) is used in conjunction with the food, the response remains the same. Repeated over a period of time it was found that when the buzzer (Conditional Stimulus) was activated, it was associated with food (Unconditional Stimulus) and salivation (Conditional Response) was produced. Thus the learner learns / is conditioned to associate the presentation of the reward with the stimulus that occurs just prior to the reward being presented. The response once conditioned could be produced by other stimuli similar to the conditioned response. Pavlov called this concept generalisation. Both Woolfolk & Nicolich (1980) and Lovell (1987) are of the opinion that conditioned responses and the emotional component of our attitudes are formed through classical conditioning.

Skinner (1951, cited by Gross 1992) performed his experiments on rats and pigeons. His theory is called ‘Operant Conditioning’, where the response is shaped by the reward. Every action that approaches, approximates or achieves the desired behaviour of the learner is rewarded. He also concurs with Thorndike that the end result of behaviour was important in the repetition of that behaviour and not just random response to a stimulus. The repetition of behaviour can be increased or decreased through positive or negative reinforcement. This means learning can be manipulated.

It is based on – learning at all stages of life. Children must learn social habits acceptable to the community. Adults must learn how to perform their jobs and how to meet the responsibilities of family life. Daily life is about learning as life is a succession of major and minor problems that have to be solved by learning.

Skinner used reward and punishment to influence behaviour. He stated that for any behaviour that is a Conditioned Response, to continue, it was necessary to reinforce the Conditional Stimulus by giving a reward and vice versa, if an alteration in behaviour is required. When learning a new behaviour the reinforcement has to be frequent but to maintain the behaviour intermittent reinforcement is sufficient. It is also important to remember that not all conditioning maybe intentional, or conscious, but that it occurs definitely during the process of education of adults. (Jarvis 1992) This type of learning can be seen during the process of socialisation within a workplace. The reward is being accepted within the work team and this allows for the individual to continue learning in the workplace.

Social Learning Theory

The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and modelling the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura (1977, pp 22) states: "Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action." Social learning theory explains human behaviour in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioural, an environmental influences. 

The component processes underlying observational learning are: 

• Attention - the individual notices something in the environment (this relates to modelled events like distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence, functional value, and observer characteristics like sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement).
• Retention - the individual remembers what was noticed (this relates to symbolic coding, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal).
• Motor Reproduction - the individual produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed (this relates to physical capabilities, self-observation of reproduction, accuracy of feedback).
• Motivation - the environment delivers a consequence that changes the probability the behaviour will be emitted again (this relates to external, vicarious and self-reinforcement).

Processes integral to Learning from Observation

     Attention

     Retention

Motor Reproduction

     Motivation

Figure 1

So Bandura's work draws from both behavioural and cognitive views of learning. He believes that mind, behaviour and the environment all play an important role in the learning process where the benefits of this process are :

1. The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the modelled behaviour symbolically and then enacting it overtly. Coding modelled behaviour into words, labels or images results in better retention than simply observing
2. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modelled behaviour if it results in outcomes they value.
3. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modelled behaviour if the model is similar to the observer and has admired status and the behaviour has functional value.

Information Processing Model

As suggested earlier, Gagne finds learning to be a change in human disposition or capabilities, which will persist over a period of time. Individual behaviour must change in order for learning to take place. So according to Gagne the behaviour of the individual, before and after the learning incident must be compared. He presents a teacher centred approach to learning. Teachers carry out the task of promoting learning by designing of instruction, managing of instruction, and evaluating student learning. The teacher plans and controls the events / stimulus, external to the learner. Therefore Gagne’s work is highly regarded in learning of psychomotor skills. He does not however regard the learner as completely passive, (Joyce & Weil 1986) for the learner has to make the needful connections in order to learn.

 Figure 2

Coulter (1990) describes Gagne’s learning process as :

1.            A stimulus from the environment is detected by receptors.

2.            It is sent on to sensory register.

3.            From there it is transferred to the short-term memory.

4.            Later it is moved to the long-term memory.

5.            Encoding takes place.

6.            Retrieval of information from here allows for recall.

7.            Response generator will identify appropriate action

8.            This response is related to the effectors.

Explained thus, it would appear that issues like motivation, goals, expectation and intentions of the individual are of lesser importance, opines Bigge (1982). (see figure 2)

Gagne has proposed 8 types of learning, of which 7 are placed in a hierarchy and the 8th, he feels, can occur at any level. The understanding of these levels of learning leads to the opinion that the information processing model of Gagne cannot be viewed entirely as a behaviourist approach.

             Signal Learning can occur at any level. It is a form of classical conditioning and is one of the ways in which people develop attitudes and prejudices throughout life.

             Stimulus – Response is the same as operant conditioning.

             Motor and Verbal Chaining – are at the same level. Motor chaining refers to learning of skills, while verbal chaining is rote learning. Practice is needed to achieve correctness. Reinforcement is necessary to ensure that acceptable sequence is maintained. This is synonymous with the trial and error learning as well as operant conditioning.

             Multiple Discrimination – relates to intellectual skills with the ability to distinguish between similar types of phenomena, which will allow the learner to decide which similar type is correct for any specific situation. In contrast to discrimination is the ability to classify.

             Concept Learning – Concepts are abstract notions which link similar phenomena together. As the ability to think in abstract starts from adolescence (Piaget cited by Gross 1992) the education / learning in adults will differ from learning in the children. This aspect is important and coincides with Knowles’s concept of Andragogy.

             Rule Learning – where the individual gains the ability to respond to signals by a number of responses.

             Problem Solving – is the highest order of learning and the individual is able to draw upon previously learnt rules to solve particular problem. This is similar to the cognitivism approach of this level of learning as pointed out by Woolfolk & Nicolich (1980) Simply applying the prior knowledge to solve a problem is not problem solving, for it leads to new learning.

Gagne (1985) draws on Dewey’s explanation of the problem solving approach. First, there is a problem presented to the learner. Next the learner, ‘defines the problem, or distinguishes the essential features of the situation’ (Gagne 1985, pp 178). The leaner will form a hypothesis to solve this problem from this definition. Next, this hypothesis will be verified by application, to see if the problem can be solved. If it does not then a new hypothesis will be formulated and tried. Thus the successful hypothesis is learned and new rules maybe formed.