Beyond Behaviorism

1
Beyond Behaviorism

• The Role of Cognitions

2
Modern Social-Cognitive Theory

• Latent Learning - Tolman et al
• Observational Learning - Bandura et al
• Perceptions and Interpretations of events - Eron,
  Anderson and Dill
• Motivating Beliefs - goals, expectations
  confidence, doubt etc. - Rotter, Bandura

3
Latent Learning

• Tolman and Honzik (1930) conducted their
  experiments with the rats.
• Group 3 demonstrated latent learning.
• Much of our learning remains latent until
  circumstances allow or require it to be expressed.

4
Observational Learning

• Albert Bandura
• Observational Learning
• Emphasizes the knowledge that results when a
  person sees a model behave in a certain way.

5
An Example

• In January of 1996 Cynthia Sikes a instrumental
  teacher and Alto Saxophone jazz musician told the
  NY Times that little girls are asking to play the
  saxophone

6
Observational Learning in Children

• Elizabeth Hanna and Andrew Meltzoff (1993) worked
  with toddlers using specially designed toys.
• They found babies who observed other babies play
  with the toys learned faster than those who did
  not.

7
So what does it all mean?

• According to social-cognitive learning theory,
  what we learn in observational learning, as in
  latent learning, is not a specific response, but
  knowledge about responses and consequences.
• This knowledge allows us to be creative and
  flexible in reaching goals.

8
The Power of Perceptions

• Social-cognitive learning theory also emphasize
  the importance of peoples perceptions and what
  they learn or how they behave.
• There is abundant evidence that movies and
  television programs are powerful in shaping
  values, attitudes, and beliefs.
• there is absolutely no doubt that higher levels
  of viewing violence on television are correlated
  with increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes
  and increased aggressive behavior (APA
  Commission on Violence and Youth, 1993)

9
TV Violence and Aggressive Behavior.

• Leonard Eron (1995) has conducted longitudinal
  research on the issue of television and violence.
• TV violence seems to lead to later violence by
  establishing, attitudes, norms of behavior and
  aggressive solutions to problems.

10
Violence and Video Games

• Craig Anderson and Karen Dill (2000) look at
  violence in video games and determine they also
  have an impact.
• The games, they note, provide a complete
  social-cognitive learning environment for
  aggression violent models, reinforcement, and
  the opportunity to rehearse aggressive behavior

11
Delinquency and Video Games
Anderson and Dill (2000)
12
Questions?

• Other psychologists believe the relationship
  between media and violence and real violence is
  not as strong as it would appear. (Bushman, 1995
  and Freedman, 1988)
• First, Children watch many different programs and
  movies.
• Critics believe that cause and effect work in the
  opposite direction.

13
Motivating Beliefs

• Motivation - in psychology it is any process that
  causes a person or animal to move toward a goal
  or away from an unpleasant situation.
• Behaviorists would say that motivation is just a
  result of reinforcers.
• Social-cognitive theory would believe that
  motivation is because of internalized and
  self-directed forces.

14
Locus of Control

• Julian Rotter (1966, 1982, 1990)
• Clients of Rotters had troubling emotions and
  irrational beliefs which led to entrenched
  attitudes affecting decisions.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy - the persons
  expectations lead to behavior that makes the
  prediction come true.

15
Locus of Control

• Predictive Formula. Behavior Potential (BP),
  Expectancy (E) and Reinforcement Value (RV) can
  be combined into a predictive formula for
  behavior
• BP f(E RV)
• behavior potential (BP) is a function (?) of
  expectancy (E) and reinforcement value(RV).
• Internal vs. External Locus of Control

16
Explanatory Style

• Martin Seligman (1991)
• Optimistic or Pessimistic Explanatory Style.
• Depends on the following

• Pessimistic Explanatory Style
• Internal (Its my fault)
• Stable (This is going to last forever)
• Global ( It effects everything I do)

• Optimistic Explanatory Style
• External (I couldnt have done anything)
• Unstable (Things will improve)
• Limited (This is only one thing in my life.)

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Optimism vs. Pessimism

• Optimism is a tremendous predictor of success.
• Optimists focus on what they can do not what they
  feel.
• Optimism is a predictor of stress recovery
  (Hurricane Andrew)

18
Self-Efficacy

• Albert Bandura
• Self-efficacy is the conviction that you can
  successfully accomplish what you set out to do.
• Research in North America, Europe and Russia
  found it effects the following
• How well tasks are performed
• Level of persistence in pursuit of goals
• Career choice
• Solution to complex problems
• Health habits
• Athletic performance
• Overall response to stress.

19
Moral Reasoning

• Is it the same as moral behavior?

20
Kohlberg and Piaget

• Kohlberg and by attribution, Piaget believed that
  children are born amoral or without morals
• Kohlberg believes moral reasoning is developed in
  a predictable way.
• Kohlberg believed there are predictable, specific
  and identifiable stages. (relates to Piagets
  stages of intellectual development)

21
Kohlberg - Piaget

• Level I Preconventional/ Premoral
• Stage 1 Obedience and punishment orientation
• Stage 2 Naively egoistic orientation
• Level II Conventional/Role conformity
• Stage 3 Good-boy/good-girl orientation
• Stage 4 Authority and social-order-maintaining
  orientation
• Level III Postconventional/Self-Accepted Moral
  Principles
• Stage 5 contractual/legalistic orientation
• Stage 6 The morality of individual principles of
  conscience.

22
The child can internalize the moral values of
his parents and culture and make them his own
only as he comes to relate to these values to a
comprehended social order and to his own goals as
a social self. Kohlberg (1964)
Kohlberg - morality is acquired in developmental
stages (These stages are precise and formal)
23
Kohlberg on Stages

• Kohlberg - structural moral stages in childhood
  and adolescence
• Each stage is a uniquely different kind of moral
  thinking- not just an increased understanding of
  an adult concept of morality
• The stages always occur in the same step by step
  sequence so that no stage is ever skipped and
  there is never a backward progression
  (regression)
• The stages are prepotent, meaning children
  comprehend all the stages below their own and
  possibly some understanding of no more than one
  stage above.

24
Kohlberg

• Children are incapable of understanding higher
  stages, regardless of encouragement, teaching or
  practice. The prefer to function at the highest
  stage they have reached.