PPT BY: HEAVEN KEIAN DALIRE
Edward C. Tolman’s
Purposive
Behaviorism
About
Edward Chace Tolman
Edward Chace Tolman was an American
psychologist and a professor of psychology at
the University of California, Berkeley. Through
Tolman's theories and works, he founded what
is now a branch of psychology known as
purposive behaviorism.
Born: April 14, 1886
Died: November 19, 1959,
Tolman's purposive behaviorism RS
Purposive behaviorism has also been referred to as sign learning theory and is often
seen as the link between behaviorism and cognitive theory.
Tolman's theory founded on two psychological views those of the Gestalt theory and
those of John Watson, the behavior theory.
Tolman's believe that animal were acquiring knowledge about their surroundings
he called cognition.
Tolman's theory of learning is known by several names such as sign significance
theory, expectancy theory, purposive behaviorism or simple sign theory
Key Themes of Tolman Theory RS
Learning is purposive and goal directed.
Organisms will select the shortest or easiest path to achieve a goal.
Behavior is not mechanical. Behavior as a complete purposeful exercise.
Behavior can be modified by experience and training.
Reinforcement is not essential for learning.
Cognitive interpretation by the individual.
Tolman's Key Concepts
Goal directedness
Cognitive maps
Latent learning
Intervening variables
Reward Expectancy
Place Learning Versus Response Learning
Goal Directedness
Tolman asserted that learning is always purposive and goal
directed .He held the notion that an organism acted or
responded for some adoptive purpose.
He believes individual do more than merely respond to stimuli
they act on beliefs, attitudes, changing conditions, and they
strive toward goals.
Cognitive Maps
This is tendency to 'learn location'. In this famous experiment( rats
mazes).
He found out that organisms will select the shortest or easiest path
to achieve a goal.
This signified that somehow, rats formed cognitive maps that help
them perform well on the maze.
Latent Learning
Latent literally means hidden, and latent learning
is learning that becomes obvious only once a reinforcement is given for
demonstrating it.
Latent learning is a kind of learning that remains or stays with individual
until needed. It is learning that is not outwardly manifested at once.
According to Tolman's it can exist even without reinforcement. He
demonstrated this in his rat experiment wherein rats apparently 'Learned
the maze' by forming cognitive maps of the maze, but manifested this
knowledge of the maze when they needed to.
Intervening Variables
Intervening variables are variables that are not readily seen but
serve as determinants of behavior.
Tolman's believe that learning is mediated or is influenced by
expectation, perceptions, representations, needs and other
internal or environmental variables.
Example in his experiments with rats he found out that hunger
was and intervening variable.
Intervening Variables Examples
Motivation, attitude, knowledge, understanding,
personality, traits,
thinking, expectation, intelligence, intention.
PLACE LEARNING VERSUS RESPONSE
LEARNING
Individual does not learn specific responses to
specific stimuli as mentioned by S-R theorist but tries
to learn about the places, where things actually lie.
We learn about the overall path by visualizing a total
picture of the environment.
As per the need of the environment we change our
movements.
REWARD EXPECTANCY
We learn to expect or gain something as a result of our
efforts.
We expect a reward as a result of our performance.
Not getting or getting less than expected reward may
lead to disrupted of behavior involving frustration.
The organism has a selective preference for the
"principle of least effort", for arriving at the goal.
We select the shortest possible route to achieve the goal.
Reward Expectancy
Tolman's Experiment
Vicarious Trial and Error
Cognitive interpretation by the individual.
In Tolman's Experiment: Rats used to stop
at the choice point and look at the
alternative paths.
Tolman's Experiment
Tolman's maze Experiment
Tolman's selected three groups of rats:
Group 'a' (reward groups).
Group 'c' (delayed reward group).
Group 'b' (no reward groups).
They were kept into the maze one by one for 17 days.
The food was placed at the exit door for group 'a' rats regularly.
For group 'b' the food was placed at the exit door
after 10 days.
For group 'c' food was never placed at the exit door.
For first 10 days group 'a' rats came out from the
maze in less time than 'b' and 'c'.
But after 10 days when the food was for group 'b' they
came earlier even than group 'a'.
Experiment Process
Group I: Rewarded
Day 1-17: Every time they got to end, given food (reinforced).
Group II: Delayed reward.
Day 1-10: Every time they got to end, taken out day 11-17: Every
time they got to end, given food (reinforced).
Group III: No Reward Day 1-17: Every time they got to end, taken
out.
Conclusion
Tolman's concluded that reinforcement is not essential for
learning. Although it provides an incentive for performance.
In his studies, he observed that a rat was able to acquire
knowledge of the way through to develop a cognitive map,
even in the absence.
Tolman's believed individual do more than merely respond to
stimuli.
Conclusion
Reinforcement was not necessary learning to Occur.
Cognitive map is an internal representation of external
environmental features or landmarks
He felt behavior is mainly cognitive.
He coined the term 'Cognitive Map'.8p09
References
Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review,
55(4), 189–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0061626
Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human learning (6th ed.). Pearson.
SimplyPsychology. (2023). Tolman’s theory of purposive behaviorism.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/tolman.html
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/698739401/pptx-
20230524-091813-0000
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