Applying Learning Theory to Life
PSY 331
Catherine Vivi
Ashford University
Instructor: Steven Peters
February 9, 2015
Applying Learning Theory to Life
Epistemology, or in other words, the theory of knowledge, is the study of knowledge, what it is, how we acquire it, and our justifiable beliefs that are included in that study. Generally, the study of knowledge is done through a philosophical method. There are four basic theories of learning; those are behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and humanism; this paper will address these four theories of learning, in addition, we will address principles of learning, schema and scaffolding, adaption, metacognition, and strategies to ensure learning success.
The term behaviorism refers to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson. Behaviorism theory is based on the idea that behaviors can be measured, trained, and changed. In D. A. Lieberman’s book Psychology of learning (2012, Ch. 2.3), he states, “Watson believed that psychologists should be concerned with overt behavior rather than the hidden processes of the mind, and he argued for a greater concern with practical applications”. This this theory believes that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Behaviorism attempts to measure through observation of behavior, using the observations to control behavior through conditioning.
The term cognitivism refers to the school of psychology based on how the brain processes information and memory. Cognitivism
Behaviorism is a psychological approach that combines the elements of theory, philosophy and methodology. Behaviorism refers to that school of psychology that was founded by Watson. It was basically based on the assumption or belief that it is possible to change, train and measure behaviors (Drisoll, 2000). Behaviorism is a psychological school of thought that was established when Watson published his classic paper "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It" (1913). The terms behaviorism is, therefore, that psychological perspective whose its explanations about learning are actually based on the relationship that exists between the events in the environment and behaviors that can be observed rather than on internal processes. It came up in the early 20th century basically as a reaction to the "mentalistic" psychology, which often was incapable of making predictions that rigorous experimental methods could be a test (Watson, 2008).
Behaviorism is a type of psychology and a theory of learning. Behaviorism mainly involves experimentation and observation. It doesn’t look into internal thoughts like thinking or emotions. What behaviorism believes that people have no free will and our surrounding and our environment determine our behavior. As we release our very first breath to this world, our brain is in a blank state. Which is ready to learn from what surrounds us in our environment. So behaviorism deals with the behavior modification.
Behaviorism is defined as,” a school of psychology that takes the objective evidence of behavior (as measured responses to stimuli) as the only concern of its research and the only basis of its theory without reference to
Psychologists today like John B. Watson who wrote Behaviorism, believe that all human behavior is a result of conditioning. Therefore humans can be taught to act any way the manipulator wants them too. Behaviorism, a school of psychology, founded by John B. Watson, is the concept that all behavior stems from a form of conditioning. This conditioning could be being betrayed and thrown in jail, or having you father murdered. In Watsons’s book Behaviorism, Watson states:
It emphasizes on observable behaviors rather than on unconscious inner states. Behaviorist believe that human behaviors are molded by experience and that we are the result of what we have learned from our environment. The behaviorist approach gives two ways as to how people learn from their environment: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is when two stimuli (environmental factors) are linked together to produce a new learned response. Operant conditioning is learning from the consequences of behavior. A lot of the studies in behaviorism consist of controlled experiments as it is believed that behavior can be reduced to learned stimulus-response units. Behaviorism assumes that humans are born with a blank slate and are therefore born equal. They believe that it is environmental factors that make us different as opposed to biological factors. Behaviorist believe that cognitions, emotions, and moods are too subjective and that only observable behaviors should be studied. They believe that any person could be trained to perform any task with the right
The behaviourist perspective is a scientific approach within psychology which claims that we are blank slates at birth and all human behaviour is learnt.Behaviourism was developed by John Watson in America in the early 1900s, (Cullis, T1999). Behaviourists focus on external conditions, learning and experience
John B Watson created the theory of Behaviorism. (Culatta, 2015) Behaviorism has a major impact on my learning style. The instructor dictated how I will learn with the assignments that are given to me. By the instructor grading the paper, I am writing, as an A through F, positive or negative, will change by behavior to adapt to the circumstances of the class and what the instructor wants
Behaviorism is the theory that human and animal behavior can be explained in terms of conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or feelings, and that psychological disorders are best
Kimble, (2000) defined behaviorism as any psychology that views its necessity as the understanding of behavior and accepts stimuli (situations and responses). That if behaviorism wants to be a science it must take on some form of that approach aiming at comprehending observable events in the world, and the only such events available to psychology are responses and the situations in which the occur.
“Behaviorism is predominantly concerned with evident and measurable aspects of human behavior. In defining behaviour, behaviourist-learning theories emphasise changes in behavior that result from stimulus-response links made by the learner. Behaviour is directed by stimuli. An individual selects one response instead
Behaviorism is the idea that all behaviors are absorbed through some form of conditioning, and behaviorists generally believe that all behaviors can be changed, trained, or even measured. So what does this mean? It means psychologist are challenging the thoughts that people are born innately good, by exploring the ideas that a person can be persuaded to behave a certain way simply by different forms of conditioning.
An apparent advantage of behaviorism is that it has the ability to clearly define behavior and measure changes in behavior. According to the law of parsimony, the fewer assumptions a theory makes, the more credible it is. Therefore, behaviorism looks for simple explanations of human behavior from a very scientific viewpoint. One of the main assumptions from the humanistic approach is that humans have free will and not all behaviour is determined but behaviourists feel quite differently about this concept. Behaviourism was founded by John B. Watson in the year 1913. Watson once said “Psychology as a behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is … prediction and control.” Watson had hoped to eliminate internal mental states such as the unconscious since he believed that it was non-existent since it is unobservable. This is one reason why Freud criticizes behaviorism since it does not take the influence of
In closing, Behaviorism focuses on observable actions rather than the internal aspects of individuals. Behaviorists believe that it is the environment rather than thoughts and emotion that affect an individual's behavior. Together both John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner shaped both the school of Behaviorism and the world of Psychology in general.
John B. Watson founded behaviorism in the early 1900s. Behaviorism can be defined as “a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable
This essay will compare and contrast three key theories of learning; Behaviourism, Cognitive Learning Theory and Constructivism.