Contents

Learning through Association ................................................................................................................. 1 Table 1.1.................................................................................................................................................. 2 Little Albert experiment .................................................................................................................. 3 Behaviourism ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Learning through Association

In both classical conditioning and operant conditioning, experience plays a direct role in learning, either through association, reinforcement, or punishment. Yet another type of learning is learning through observation and imitation, called observational learning. While experience is certainly a great teacher, you needn't experience everything for yourself in order to learn. You can watch the behavior and actions of others and learn from their experiences. In fact, this type of learning is very powerful and prevalent in children, though adults also participate in observational learning. Because children are greatly affected by observational learning, telling a child to do as you say, not as you do, is not going to produce the behavior you want. The drive to model a parent's behavior is much stronger than the drive to take verbal orders, even if punishers or reinforces are involved with the warning. Observational learning is strongly associated with the psychology behind Albert Bandura and his famous Bobo doll experiment that you read about earlier in Chapter 2. As you may recall, children in the experiment saw adults beating up a Bobo doll in a video. Some of the adults were rewarded, some were punished, and some received no consequence for the behavior. Bandura demonstrated that while the children who saw the adults being rewarded for beating up the doll were more likely to later repeat the behavior, all of the children learned to hit and kick the doll. Bandura later explained that there are four key cognitive processes at work during observational learning. First, you must be paying attention to the behavior of the person who is modelling the actions. Next, you need to

be able to remember the behavior that was demonstrated. Third, you must be able to turn your observations into actions that you are able to repeat. Finally, you need to be motivated to imitate the behavior you observed earlier. So, you are far more likely to perform an action if you saw someone else being rewarded for the same behavior.

Table 1.1

School

Neutral Stimulation

Shouting

Stimulus

Fear

Response

Shaping behaviour through a series of steps e.g. dogs behaviour You want to change the behaviour; make it extinct; unlearn; reverse process You stop the response; start stopping the association You teach the child that school is not fear even though he had a bad experience; if you shout with the child again, if you are going to introduce the association once more, then the child will start remembering again. Extinction is not completely forgetting. The child can hear or see something and will associate it with the

shouting despite the fact that you tried to make the child forget through fun activities Phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities

Little Albert experiment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBfnXACsOI&feature=related It this experiment it was ultimately the loud noise that scared him away; this fear was learnt; nature was stronger than genetics; according to this theory the white mouse represented fear which was linked to noise. This theory feels that fear is learned through association. The mother had the right to withdraw the child because he developed stimulus generalizations; he feared anything white and fury. This caused the child a lot of distress and anxiety.

Behaviourism
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and Ill guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. --John Watson, Behaviourism, 1930 Behavioral psychology, also known as behaviorism, is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. According to behaviorism, behavior can be studied in a systematic and observable manner with no consideration of internal mental states.

 Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioural training in which a naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a response. Next, a previously neutral stimulus is paired with the naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the previously neutral stimulus comes to evoke the response without the presence of the naturally occurring stimulus. The two elements are then known as the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response. Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. Many critics argue that behaviourism is a one-dimensional approach to understanding human behavior and that behavioural theories do not account for free will and internal influences such as moods, thoughts and feelings.

Behaviourism does not account for other types of learning, especially learning that occurs without the use of reinforcement and punishment. People and animals are able to adapt their behavior when new information is introduced, even if a previous behavior pattern has been established through reinforcement. Behaviourism is based upon observable behaviours, so it is easier to quantify and collect data and information when conducting research. Effective therapeutic techniques such as intensive behavioural intervention, behavior analysis, token economies and discrete trial training are all rooted in behaviourism. These approaches are often very useful in changing maladaptive or harmful behaviours in both children and adults. Reinforcement is something that makes you do something over and over again negative/ positive reinforcement- something that increases your behaviour it could be positive or negative Classical conditioning- it is through association Operant conditioning- it is through the consequence

Behaviour pass exams perfectionist joker

Reinforcement reward personal satisfaction to make others laugh

Token economy- the children who have most stars gets a gift. So this works depending on the immediacy. It shouldnt be on a long period. How immediate the reinforcement is, is very important. The child cannot wait since they do not have the concept of time. The younger the child, the quicker the reinforcement should be. The disadvantages that can occur are: the child will work for the stars not for the actual idea of good behaviour. The child will deviate from the whole concept of good behaviour. The parents could also become very competitive. Always be ready to justify your answer. An example of a chart that can be hung up in class is the following:

Outstanding Very good Ready to learn Attention Teacher take action

Some techniques to use are: being prefect or reading in order to promote even better behaviour Hanging a master piece on the wall; to promote their drawing effecting their pride and self-esteem