Behavioral Theories

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Behavioral Theories

• Basic Assumptions

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• All behavior is learned. Consequently it can be
  unlearned
• Nurture (environment) is way more powerful than
  nature (genetics) in shaping personality
• The mind, conscious or unconscious, is not
  important to understanding behavior.

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Classical Conditioning Model

• Antecedents shape behavior, not consequences.
• Unconditioned stimulus----------------Unconditione
  d Response
• (food) (salivation)
• Conditioned stimulus (bell)
• Paired with unconditioned stimulus----Unconditione
  d Response
• (salivation)

Conditioned Stimulus (Bell)-----------------Condit
ioned Response (salivation)
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• So, in the classical conditioning model, behavior
  is learned from the pairing of stimuli before a
  response occurs.
• A well known example is Antabuse. An alcoholic
  takes this drug. When it is paired with alcohol,
  he vomits. Soon he makes the connection that
  alcohol makes him vomit.

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Operant Conditioning

• Behavior is learned by what happens AFTER the
  behavior occurs.
• The key paradigm is
• Stimulus------response------reinforcer
• Behavior is shaped by the reinforcer

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Heres How it Works

• Something Good Something Bad

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Remove
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Try this Example

• A baby screams and a mother picks it up. The baby
  becomes quiet. Whos behavior is being
  positively reinforced, the mothers picking up or
  the babys crying? Whos behavior is being
  negatively reinforced? What do each of the learn?

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Social Cognitive Theory

• Believes that both behavioral models do not
  adequately value the place of the mind in
  determining behavior.
• Behavior is caused by the interaction of the
  environment (stimulus), and the way the person
  sees him or herself in relation to the stimulus
  (cognition)

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• Behavior is also shaped by observation and the
  ways that the person sees others behaviors
  reinforced by the environment.
• Bandura did a famous experiment with bobo dolls.
  Children observed other children playing
  aggressively with bobo dolls. When they had their
  own opportunities to play, they showed aggressive
  behaviors as well.

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Vygotskys Cognitive Theory

• Children construct their knowledge
• They construct knowledge through interaction with
  society
• Cooperative rather than individual activities are
  key
• Culture teaches children the content of their
  thought, i.e. knowledge

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• Culture also teaches children how to think.
• Children learn from parents and teachers who
  guide problem solving
• Language is the tool of intellectual development.
• Language moves from the external to the internal.
  (Private speech)
• The zone of proximal development is the range of
  what the child can learn with help vs. without
  help