MODULE

7:
BEHAVIORI
UNIT 3.1 BEHAVIORIST
PAVLOV, PERSPECTIVE
THORNDIKE, WATSON,

SM
SKINNER
learning
outcomes:
• explain the basic principles of
behaviorism.
• make a simple plan applying the
primary laws of learning.
• determine how to use rewards in the
learning process more eff ectively.
 behavioris
m
classical connectioni operant
conditioning
(PAVLOV/
WATSON)
sm(THORNDIK
E)
conditioning
(SKINNE
R)

PRIMARY Reinforceme

LAWS nt
Law of
Eff ect Shaping of
Behavior
Law of
Exercise

Law of
Readiness
ivan
pavlov
• A Russian
Physiologist
• Classical
Conditioning
• Experiment
Pavlov was measuring the indog’s
meat,
salivation in order to study digestion.
dog and bell.
This is when he stumbled upon 1849-
classical Conditioning. 1936
pavlov’s
experiment
pavlov’s fidings Spontaneous
Recovery
Extinguished response
Stimulus Extinction
can be "recovered"
Generalization If you stop pairing the after an elapsed time,
Once the dog has bell with the food, but will soon
learned to salivate at salivation will extinguish again if the
the sound of the bell, eventually cease in dog is not presented
it will salivate at response to the bell. with food.
other similar sounds.

Higher-Order
Discrimination
The dog could learn to Conditioning
Once the dog has learn to
conditioned to associate the bell
discriminate between similar with food, another unconditioned
bells (Stimuli) and discern stimulus, such as light may be
which bell would result in the flashed at the same time that the
presentation of food and which bell is rung. Eventually, the dog
will salivate at the flash of the
would not.
light without the sound of the
EDWARD L.
THORNDIKE
• Was an American psychologist
• His connectionism theory gave us
the original S-R framework of
behavioral psychology.
• Thorndike’s theory of
connectionism, states that
learning occurs when a strong
connection or bond between
stimulus and response is formed 1874-
1949
 THORN DIKE’S
Law of readiness
primary laws
Law of effects
states that the more
readiness the learner
states that a connection has to respond to the
between a stimulus and stimulus, the stronger
response is strengthened when be bond between
the consequence is positive them.
and the connection between
the stimulus and the response
is weakened when the result is Law of
negative. exercise
tells that the more S-R
bond is practiced the
stronger it will
become.
Principles Derived from Thorndike’s
Connectionism:
I. Learning requires both practice and rewards
( laws of effect/exercise).
II. S-R connections can be chained together if they
belong to the same action sequence (law of
readiness).
III. Transfer to learning occurs because of previously
encountered situations.
IV. Intelligence is a function of the number of
connections learned.
JOHN
WATSON
 was the first American
psychologist to work with
Pavlov's ideas. He too was
initially involved in animal
studies, then later became
involved in human behavior
research.
 Experiment on Albert.
Watson applied classical conditioning in his
experiment concerning Albert, a young child and a
white rat. In the beginning, Albert was not afraid
of the rat; but Watson made a sudden loud noise
each time Albert touched the rat. Because Albert
was frightened by the loud noise, he soon became
conditioned to fear and avoid the rat. Later, the
child's response was generalized to other small
animals. Now, he was also afraid of small animals.
Watson then "extinguished" or made the child
"unlearn" fear by showing the rat without the loud
noise.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
 Was a prominent
American psychologist
who revolutionized the
field of behaviorism.
 considered the father
1904-
of behaviorism. 1990
 Reinforcement is a
Operant conditioning is a learning
fundamental concept in
process where behaviors are modified
behavioral psychology. it
by associating stimuli with
reinforcement or punishment. It's a refers to any consequence
core concept in behavioral that strengthens or
psychology, emphasizing how increases the likelihood of a
consequences shape our actions. behavior being repeated in
the future.
POSITIVE REINFORCER NEGATIVE REINFORCER

is the encouragement of
is the act of rewarding a
certain behaviors by
positive behavior to
removing or avoiding a
encourage it to happen
negative outcome or
again in the future
stimuli.
Examples of Positive
Reinforcers
 Tangible Reinforcers
 Social Reinforcers
 Natural Reinforcers
 Token Reinforcers
 Extinction - refers to the process of
withholding or eliminating
reinforcement for a previously
reinforced behavior

Example: A dog that has been trained

to sit for a treat is no longer given the
treat when it sits. Over time, the dog
will sit less frequently, eventually
ceasing the behavior.
Non-reinforcement - is a broader term that
simply means not reinforcing a behavior. This
can include both cases where reinforcement
is withheld (extinction) and cases where
reinforcement is not available in the first
place.
Example: A child who throws a tantrum
to get a toy may not receive the toy because
the parent is not giving in to the tantrum.
HAPING OF BEHAVIOR

An animal in a cage may take a

BEHAVIORAL
very long time to figure out MEANING
that pressing a lever will
Comes about when a
produce food. To accomplish
series of steps are
such behavior, successive
needed to be learned.
approximations of the
The animal would
behavior are rewarded until
master each step in
the animal learns the
sequence until the
association between the lever
entire sequence is
and the food reward.
learned.
FIXED INTERVAL
SCHEDULES
The target response is
reinforced after a fixed
amount of time has
passed since the last
reinforcement.
Reinforcement Schedules - Once the desired
behavioral response is accomplished,
reinforcement does not have to be 100%; in
fact, it can be maintained more successfully
through what Skinner referred to as partial
reinforcement schedules. Partial
reinforcement schedules include interval
schedules, and ratio schedules.
Variable Interval Schedules. - This is
similar to fixed interval schedules but the
amount of time that must pass between
reinforcement varies.

Fixed Ratio Schedules. - A fixed number

of correct responses must occur before
reinforcement may recur.
• Variable ratio schedules and operant conditioning are
effective methods for behavior modification,
promoting gradual understanding and learning.
• Operant conditioning divides instructional materials
into manageable steps, promoting quick
reinforcement and active learning.
• Skinner's theory suggests positive reinforcement
encourages repeat behavior, while secondary
conditioning generalizes to similar stimuli. These
theories aim to provide a provocative understanding
of operant conditioning and its impact on learning.
 Thank
you very
much