Learning theory: Behaviour

Learning theory: Behaviour

• 1.
  Learning Theory: Behaviourism •From 2014 when I was studying towards a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, we learned that behaviourism is the well-known theory that operates under the premise of “stimulus-response”. It advocates that all behaviour is caused by external stimuli, also called the operant conditioning. In other words, a learner’s behaviour can be defined or explained without really considering internal mental states, capacity or consciousness. This is a situation where a teacher is the alpha and omega of the learners’ learning progression. • This theory is a worldview that believes a learner is essentially passive and a receptor in the learning process, responding to environmental stimuli, that is responding to what he or she is taught in class by the teacher. It assumes that the learner starts off as a clean paper that is ready to be written by the teacher (i.e. tabula rasa) and behaviour is modelled through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement, Watson, J. B. (2013).
• 2.
  Positive and NegativeReinforcement • Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behaviour will happen again. In contrast, punishment (both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent behaviour will happen again. Positive indicates the application of a stimulus; Negative indicates the withholding of a stimulus. Learning is therefore defined as a change in behaviour in the learner. Lots of (early) behaviourist work was done with animals (e.g. Pavlov’s dogs) and generalized to humans, Pavlov, I. P., and Anrep, G. V. (2003). • I personally feel that this theory is not good for the 21st century learners where information is abundant. When I was a teacher I strongly disagreed with the theory because it made them zombies that, we as teachers, can simply bombard with information. I was teaching the FET (Grades 10 to 12) and applying behaviourism was a mission because teenagers generally are at the exploration stage where they are curious to learn without teachers applying “stimulus-response” principle as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, E. L. Thorndike (connectionism), Bandura, Tolman (moving toward cognitivism) suggests.
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  References • References: • Skinner,B. F. (2011). About behaviourism. Vintage. • Watson, J. B. (2013). Behaviourism. Read Books Ltd. • Pavlov, I. P., & Anrep, G. V. (2003). Conditioned reflexes.
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  Contact details • Mr.Mlungisi Professor Lukhele • Student Number: 13393716 Cellphone number: 076 354 3314 Email address: [email protected] Declaration: I declare that this website and information contained therein is solely of my own, and assistance was solicited with regard to creating the website and publishing powerpoints on slideshare from peers..