Behaviour Theories

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov (26 September 1849-27

February 1936)
Russian physiologist
Classical conditioning - a type of learning that had a
major influence on the school of thought in
psychology known as behaviorism.
Behaviorism is based on the assumption that
learning occurs through interactions with the
environment.
Environmental changes may be thought of

as stimuli. Behavioral events may be thought of
as responses.
Focuses on involuntary, automatic behaviors.
Human behavior can be shaped by past
experiences.
Behavior modification is possible through
conditioning.
Pavlovs dog experiment

While studying the role of saliva in dogs digestive
processes, he stumbled upon a phenomenon he
labeled psychic reflexes.
His attention then turned from saliva to
behaviorism
Examples
In the classroom
Teachers can use classical conditioning to quiet
down the students
Example:
First day of class, students walk into class and teacher sits
at desk
Teacher goes towards board when ready to teach and
children quiet down
Second day of class, students are chatty when the teacher
goes to the board. Teacher asks to be quiet.
Third day of class, students are automatically quiet when
the teacher walks to the board
In the classroom
Teachers can use classical conditioning to quiet
down the students
Example:
First day of class, the teacher turns on the projector to do
their lesson and students quiet down
Second day of class, the students are still chatty when the
projector turns on. The teacher must ask them to quiet
down
Third day of class, the students quiet down when the
projector is turned on
Students will be conditioned in a positive

manner
Students will learn the expectations of their
teachers
Students will learn the expectations of their
school
John B. Watson
BY: CHIEW HUA HOON
John B. Watson (January 9, 1878

September 25, 1958)
The father of behaviorism.
Watson conducted research on animal

behavior, child rearing, and advertising.
Refers to the school of psychology that

based on the belief that behaviors can be
measured, trained, and changed.
Behaviorism
Known as behavioral psychology, is a

theory of learning based upon the idea that
all behaviors are acquired through
conditioning.
Conditioning occurs through interaction
with the environment.
Behaviorists believe that our responses to
environmental stimuli shape our behaviors.
It suggests that only observable behaviors
should be studied, since internal states
such as cognitions, emotions, and moods
are too subjective.
"Give me a dozen healthy infants,

well-formed, and my own specified
world to bring them up in and I'll
guarantee to take any one at
random and train him to become
any type of specialist I might select
-- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchantchief and, yes, even beggar-man
and thief, regardless of his talents,
penchants, tendencies, abilities,
vocations, and race of his
ancestors."
--John Watson,
Suggests, strict behaviorists believe that

any person could potentially be trained to
perform any task, regardless of things like
genetic background, personality traits, and
internal thoughts (within the limits of their
physical capabilities).
There are two major types of conditioning:

a) Classical conditioning
b) Operant conditioning
"Little Albert"
experiment
was a famous psychology experiment

conducted by behaviorist John B. Watson
and graduate student Rosalie Raynor.
Watson was interested in taking Pavlov's
research further to show that emotional
reactions could be classically conditioned in
people.
A child that Watson and Rayner called
"Albert B.", but is known popularly today as
Little Albert.
They exposed the child to a series of stimuli

including a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, masks
and burning newspapers and observed the boy's
reactions.
Initially, he showed no fear of any of the objects
that he was shown.
The next time Albert was exposed the rat, Watson
made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a
hammer.
Naturally, the child began to cry after hearing the
loud noise. After repeatedly pairing the white rat
with the loud noise, Albert began to cry simply
after seeing the rat.
Watson and Rayner wrote:

"The instant the rat was shown, the
baby began to cry. Almost instantly he
turned sharply to the left, fell over on
[his] left side, raised himself on all
fours and began to crawl away so
rapidly that he was caught with
difficulty before reaching the edge of
the table.
Elements of Classical
Conditioning in the Little Albert
Experiment
The Little Albert experiment presents and

example of how classical conditioning can
be used to condition an emotional response.
Neutral Stimulus: The white rat

Unconditioned Stimulus: The loud noise
Unconditioned Response: Fear
Conditioned Stimulus: The white rat
Conditioned Response: Fear
Stimulus Generalization in the

Little Albert Experiment
In addition to demonstrating that emotional

responses could be conditioned in humans,
Watson and Rayner also observed that
stimulus generalization had occurred.
After conditioning, Albert feared not just the
white rat, but a wide variety of similar white
objects as well.
His fear included other furry objects
including Raynor's fur coat and Watson
wearing a Santa Claus beard.
Edward
Thorndike
Introduction
Edward Thorndike (1874 - 1949) is famous in
psychology for his work on learning theory that

lead to the development of operant conditioning
within behaviourism.
Whereas classical conditioning depends on
developing associations between events, operant
conditioning involves learning from the
consequences of our behaviour.
Thorndike states this situation as the Law of
Effect. He devised a classic experiment in which
he used a puzzle box to empirically test the laws
of learning.
He placed a cat in the puzzle box, which was
encourage to escape to reach a scrap of fish placed

outside.
Thorndike put a cat into the box and time how long
it took to escape. The cats experimented with
different ways to escape the puzzle box and reach
the fish.
Eventually they would stumble upon the lever which
opened the cage. When it had escaped it was put in
again, and once more the time it took to escape was
noted.
In successive trials the cats would learn that
pressing the lever would have favourable
consequences and they would adopt this behaviour,
becoming increasingly quick at pressing the lever.
Once a connection is made the strength of that
connection is depended on what follows. A reward

will strengthen that behaviour and a punishment will
weaken the behaviour.
Thorndike added that rewards are more important
than punishment as it creates a schemata that doing
certain actions can gain benefits and increases
efficiency and effectiveness.
When you win
When you lose
The law of effect principle developed by Edward
Thorndike suggested that responses closely

followed by satisfaction will become firmly attached
to the situation and therefore more likely to reoccur
when the situation is repeated.
Conversely, if the situation is followed by
discomfort, the connections to the situation will
become weaker and the behaviour of response is
less likely to occur when the situation is repeated.
While this theory does not account for the entirety
of human understanding, because it does not take
into account internal states, it has been applied to
nearly every sector of human life, with its main
focuses in education and psychology.
Other Laws
Law of Readiness:
Second law of learning or the Law of Action Tendency, which

means that learning takes place when an action tendency is aroused
through preparatory adjustment, set or attitude. If one is not
prepared to learn, learning cannot be automatically instilled in him.
Law of Exercise:
This means that drill or practice helps in increasing efficiency and

durability of learning and according to Thorndike's S-R Bond
Theory, the connections are strengthened with trail or practice
and the connections are weakened when trial or practice is
discontinued.
Learning to drive a motor-car, typewriting, singing or memorizing a
poem or a mathematical table, and music etc. need exercise and
repetition of various movements and actions many times.
IMPLICATIONS IN EDUCATION
Practice leads a man towards maturity. Practice is the
main feature of trial and error method. Practice helps
in reducing the errors committed by the child in
learning any concept.
The effects of rewards and punishment also affect the
learning of the child. Thus, the theory lays emphasis on
the use of reward and punishment in the class by the
teacher.
In this theory more emphasis has been laid on
motivation. Thus, before starting teaching in the
classroom the students should be properly motivated.
The teacher can improve his teaching methods making
use of this theory. He must observe the effects of his
teaching methods on the students and should not
hesitate to make necessary changes in them, if
required.
ASPECTS
John Watson
Ivan Pavlov
Edward Thorndike
Basic
Principles
people's
reactions in
situations were
determined by
how their
overall
experiences
had
programmed
them to react.
Behavior is
modified from
environmental
factors.
Stated main laws

concerning operant
conditioning which
was the law of
exercise, and the
law of effect
Use of
animals in
studying
Yes (Rats)
Yes (Dog)
Yes (Cat)
Focus and
aims
behaviourism
is a flawed
basic
assumptions
about man and
his relationship
to the
environment
Focuses on
involuntary,
automatic
behaviours
Operant
conditioning
involves learning
from the
consequences of
our behaviour.
ACTIVITY TIME!
I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you

wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish
you wish to wish.
How much caramel can a canny cannonball cram in a
camel if a canny cannonball can cram caramel in a
camel?
How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the
trash,
And your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't
hash,
then your situation's hopeless, and your system's gonna
crash!
25 SECONDS

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Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov (26 September 1849-27

Environmental changes may be thought of

Pavlovs dog experiment

Students will be conditioned in a positive

John B. Watson (January 9, 1878

The father of behaviorism.

Watson conducted research on animal

Refers to the school of psychology that

Known as behavioral psychology, is a

"Give me a dozen healthy infants,

Suggests, strict behaviorists believe that

There are two major types of conditioning:

was a famous psychology experiment

They exposed the child to a series of stimuli

Watson and Rayner wrote:

The Little Albert experiment presents and

Neutral Stimulus: The white rat

Stimulus Generalization in the

In addition to demonstrating that emotional

psychology for his work on learning theory that

He placed a cat in the puzzle box, which was

encourage to escape to reach a scrap of fish placed

Once a connection is made the strength of that

connection is depended on what follows. A reward

When you win

When you lose

The law of effect principle developed by Edward

Thorndike suggested that responses closely

Second law of learning or the Law of Action Tendency, which

This means that drill or practice helps in increasing efficiency and

Stated main laws

I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you

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