Educational Psychology: Active Learning Edition PDF
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Anita Woolfolk, Ellen L. Usher
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This textbook chapter covers behavioral views of learning, including classical and operant conditioning, and their applications in education. It also explores the ethical considerations and contemporary challenges related to behavioral learning theories.
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Educational Psychology: Active Learning Edition Fifteenth Edition Chapter 7 Behavioral Views of Learning Copyr...
Educational Psychology: Active Learning Edition Fifteenth Edition Chapter 7 Behavioral Views of Learning Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Learning Objectives (1 of 2) 7.1 Define learning from a behavioral perspective, including ties to neuroscience and the processes involved in learning through contiguity, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. 7.2 Explain early views of learning through contiguity and classical conditioning and describe their implications for teaching. 7.3 Explain operant conditioning, particularly the differences and similarities between positive and negative reinforcement and presentation and removal punishment and how reinforcement schedules affect learning. Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Learning Objectives (2 of 2) 7.4 Apply behavioral approaches to modifying behavior in and out of the classroom using applied behavior analysis approaches to encourage and discourage behaviors, shaping, positive practice, contingency contracts, token reinforcement, group consequences, and the appropriate use of punishment. 7.5 Apply functional behavioral assessment, positive behavioral supports, and self-management techniques. 7.6 Evaluate contemporary challenges to behavioral theories of learning and address concerns about their application. Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Understanding Learning Learning: Process through which experience causes permanent change in knowledge or behavior – Must be brought about by experience – Not change brought about by maturation, illness, drugs, hunger, and such Cognitive psychologists emphasize change in knowledge (internal) Behavioral psychologists emphasize change in behavior (external) Behavioral learning theories: Explanations of learning that focus on external events as the cause of changes in observable behaviors Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Ethical Issues Ethical questions about application of behavioral theories Goals: – Apply strategies to academic learning ▪ Punishment—unnecessary/unethical when positive approaches might work as well – Must consider impact of a strategy on the individual student ▪ Reports of unsatisfactory progress at school may lead to increased abuse of individual student at home Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Classical Conditioning (1 of 2) Discovered by Pavlov, Russian physiologist, 1920s Observations with dogs – First, salivated when being fed – Next, learned to associate seeing food with being fed and salivated upon seeing food – Finally, began to salivate at hearing Pavlov’s footsteps Experiment with tuning fork to condition dogs to salivate – First: Sound the tuning fork (neutral stimulus); no salivation – Second: Sound fork, feed dog, dog salivates (contiguous pairing) – Many repetitions later: Salivation after tuning fork, before food – Turned neutral stimulus (sound) into conditioned stimulus (causing salivation) Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Early Explanations of Learning: Contiguity and Classical Conditioning Aristotle’s earliest explanation of learning – We remember things that are similar, contrasting, or contiguous Contiguity: Association of two events because of repeated pairing; plays a major role in classical conditioning – Stimulus: Event that activates behavior – Response: Observable reaction to stimulus – Stimulus occurs; response follows (observable reaction) Classical conditioning: Association of automatic responses with new stimuli – Learning of involuntary emotional responses such as fear Respondents: Responses elicited by specific stimuli Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Classical Conditioning (2 of 2) Discovered by Pavlov, Russian physiologist, 1920s Observations with dogs – First, salivated when being fed – Next, learned to associate seeing food with being fed and salivated upon seeing food – Finally, began to salivate at hearing Pavlov’s footsteps Experiment with buzzer to condition dogs to salivate – First: Sound the buzzer (neutral stimulus); no salivation – Second: Sound the buzzer, feed the dog (contiguous pairing) – Many repetitions later: Salivation after buzzer, before food – Neutral stimulus (buzzer) became conditioned stimulus that caused salivation (a conditioned response) Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Applying Classical Conditioning Associate positive, pleasant events with learning tasks – Create comfortable reading corner to make voluntary reading appealing Help students risk anxiety-producing situations voluntarily and successfully – Let fearful student read report to small group while seated, then while standing, then from notes, then to whole class Help students recognize differences and similarities among situations so they can discriminate, generalize appropriately – Help anxious students compare college entrance exams to any other achievement tests they have taken Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Operant Conditioning: Trying new Responses Operants: Voluntary, generally goal-directed behaviors Operant conditioning: Learning in which voluntary behavior is strengthened or weakened by consequences or antecedents Concept developed by B. F. Skinner, 1953 – Classical conditioning accounts for small portion of learned behavior; doesn’t account for acquiring new operant behaviors – Behavior sandwiched between two sets of environmental influences (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence) ▪ Antecedents: Events that precede the behavior ▪ Consequences: Events that follow it – Behavior altered by change in antecedent, consequence, or both Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Types of Consequences Reinforcements and punishments Consequences strengthen or weaken behavior – Reinforcement strengthens; punishment weakens Reinforcement: Use of consequences to strengthen behavior Behavior Reinforcer Strengthened / repeated behavior Reinforcer: Event that follows behavior and increases the chances that the behavior will occur again – If behavior persists, consequences are reinforcing it Two types of reinforcement: Positive or negative Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Positive and Negative Reinforcement Positive: Strengthening behavior by presenting (adding) a desired stimulus after the behavior – Peers laugh when child falls out of chair; child likes laughter attention and repeats behavior – Bad behavior reinforced by teacher’s negative attention ▪ Child likes attention, repeats bad behavior, gets more attention Negative: Strengthening behavior by removing (subtracting) an aversive stimulus when the behavior occurs – Child fears giving report, “gets sick,” escapes giving report ▪ Aversive stimulus removed (task of giving report) ▪ Strengthens behavior; child repeats behavior of getting sick Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Punishment Process that weakens or suppresses behavior Behavior Punisher Weakened / decreased behavior Presentation punishment: Decreasing behavior by adding an aversive stimulus following the behavior Removal punishment: Decreasing behavior by removing a pleasant stimulus following the behavior Distinguish negative reinforcement and punishment – Reinforcement (both and ) increases behavior – Punishment suppresses behavior Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Neuroscience of Reinforcement and Punishment Diverse theories about why reinforcement and punishment work – Do reinforcers satisfy needs or reduce tension? Growing knowledge about areas of brain involved with learning new behaviors – Parts of the cerebellum are involved in simple reflex learning – Other brain parts are involved in learning to avoid painful stimulation Some systems of the brain signal “liking,” others are involved with motivation (how much we “want” something) – Brain chemical dopamine and other opiate-like chemicals are involved with liking a reinforcer Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Reinforcement Schedules Continuous reinforcement schedule: Presenting a reinforcer after every appropriate response (predictable) – Effective when one is learning a new behavior Intermittent reinforcement schedule: Presenting a reinforcer after some but not all responses (effective in maintaining behavior) – Interval schedule (fixed or variable): Reinforcement based on length of time between reinforcers – Ratio schedule (fixed or variable): Reinforcement based on number of responses between reinforcers Encourage persistence with variable/unpredictable schedules Extinction—disappearance of a learned response – Occurs if the usual reinforcer is withheld long enough Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Antecedents and Behavior Change Antecedents: Events preceding behaviors Stimulus control: Capacity for presence/absence of antecedents to cause behaviors – Skinner’s pigeons peck, get food when light is on (not when light is off) Teachers’ use of cues in the classroom – Effective instruction delivery: Instructions that are concise, clear, specific, and communicate expected result (Table 7.2 in textbook) ▪ Statements (better than questions), close proximity, eye contact, praise, direct/descriptive instruction, pause for compliance, praise – Cueing: Stimulus that “sets up” desired behavior ▪ Rather than correcting behaviors after student errors/violations Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Putting It All Together: Applied Behavior Analysis Applied behavior analysis: Application of behavioral learning principles to understand and change behavior Steps in classroom application of applied behavior analysis – Clearly specify behavior to be changed and the goal – Observe, note current behavior (frequency, causes, surroundings, time of day) – Plan specific intervention; use antecedents, consequences, or both – Keep track of results and modify plan if necessary ABAB design used in applied behavior analysis research Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Methods for Encouraging Behaviors Reinforcing with teacher attention – Adult attention: Powerful, generally effective reinforcement for children – Praise students for good behavior – Ignore misbehavior (differential reinforcement) Guidelines for using praise appropriately – Clear and systematic; tied directly to appropriate behavior – Sincere, not evaluative; praise action/effort, not person – Based on individual abilities and limitations; focused on student’s progress, not comparison to others – Attributed to effort and ability, not to luck, extra help, easy material – Reinforcing to the individual, not used to influence the class – Recognition of genuine accomplishment of met goal (not for less) Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Selecting Reinforcers: The Premack Principle Principle named for David Premack, 1965 States that a more-preferred activity can serve as a reinforcer for completing a less-preferred activity – Sometimes called Grandma’s rule: First, do what I want you to do, then do what you want Less-preferred behavior must happen first Ideas for reinforcers in classroom application of rule – Time to talk, sit with friend, use computer, make a video, play games, test/homework exemption Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Shaping Shaping (successive approximations): Reinforcing each small step of progress toward a desired goal or behavior – Reinforce progress rather than waiting for perfection – Especially useful when student cannot perform task to gain reinforcement, but can perform part of task Process involves task analysis (breaking task hierarchically into basic skills and subskills) – Provides logical sequence of steps leading toward final goal – Teacher sees where student struggles with subskill during sequence and helps student succeed Time-consuming and not practical if success can be attained through simpler cueing Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Applying Operant Conditioning: Encouraging Positive Behaviors Quickly recognize positive behavior in ways that students value When students tackle new material/skills, give plenty of reinforcement After behaviors are established, give reinforcement on unpredictable schedule to encourage persistence Use Premack principle to identify effective reinforcers Use cueing to help establish new behaviors Make sure All students receive some praise, privileges, rewards when they do something well Establish a variety of reinforcers Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Contingency Contracts, Token Reinforcement, and Group Consequences Contingency contract: Between teacher and student specifying what student must do to earn particular reward or privilege – Figure 7.2 in textbook offers an example Token reinforcement system: Tokens earned for academic work and positive classroom behavior can be exchanged for reward – Rewards such as small toys, school supplies, free time Group consequences: Reward/punishment given to whole class for adhering to or violating rules of conduct – Good behavior game: Class divided into teams; each team gets demerit points for breaking agreed-upon behavior rules Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Handling Undesirable Behavior Consider why students disrupt or break rules; address problems When problems persist, use the following possible solutions – Negative reinforcement: Use something aversive to get students to achieve goal, then remove aversive stimulus – Positive practice overcorrection: Practicing correct responses immediately after errors – Reprimands: Criticisms for misbehavior; rebukes ▪ Should be done quietly, privately to be effective – Response cost: Punishment by loss of reinforcers – Social isolation/time out: Briefly remove disruptive student ▪ Controversial; Follow guidelines by Dadds and Tully, 2019 Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Some Cautions About Punishment Can have social-emotional and motivational consequences Studies show ineffectiveness of punishment; physical punishment is particularly ineffective and harmful Two-pronged goal: Carry out punishment and suppress undesirable behavior; make clear what student should do instead Guidelines for using punishment – Structure situation to use negative reinforcement, not punishment – Keep it mild, brief; pair it with doing the right thing – Be consistent in application of punishment – Focus on students’ actions, not on their personal qualities – Adapt the punishment to the infraction; ignore minor misbehaviors Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Current Applications: Functional Behavioral Assessment General reasons students act out – Receive attention, gain desired item/activity or sensory stimulation – Escape attention, escape demanding/boring task, escape painful or disturbing sensory stimulation Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) tries to discover “why” – Obtain information about antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to identify the reason/function of the behavior – Map the A-B-Cs of the situation – Analyze to determine what functions the behavior serves FBA observation guide (Figure 7.4 in textbook): List time, antecedent event, exact behavior, and consequences; analyze Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Reaching Every Student: Positive Behavior Supports Interventions designed to replace problem behaviors with new actions that serve the same purpose for the student – Based on functional behavioral assessment – Examples: Teach student to ask for help or request a break Precorrection: Tool for PBS (preventive strategy) – Identify context for student’s misbehavior – Specify alternative expected behavior – Modify situation to make problem behavior unlikely – Rehearse expected positive behaviors; reinforce PBS used successfully in school-wide programs – Three-tier prevention and intervention approach Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Self-Management Student responsible for learning, changing own behavior Goal setting – Student sets specific goals, makes them public (goals for self- direction, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and more) Monitoring and evaluating progress – Student often monitors own progress toward goal – Student maintains chart, checklist, other record of frequency or duration of behaviors in question – Student self-evaluates; judges quality of own progress; self- corrects or improves work; compares improvements to the standards again Self-reinforcement : Student controlling own reinforcers – Denies self a reward until goal is met; then reinforces with reward Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Applying Operant Conditioning: Student Self-Management Introduce system to parents/students in positive way Help families and students establish reachable goals – Suggest goals such as beginning homework early Give families ways to record, evaluate progress – Divide work into easily measured steps – Provide models of good work when needed – Give families a record form or checklist Encourage families to check accuracy of student records and help child develop forms of self-reinforcement – Start with frequent checkups, then fewer checkups Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Challenges and Criticisms Albert Bandura challenges behaviorism, develops new theories Social learning theory—learning through observation of others Distinguishes between enactive and observational learning – Enactive: Learn by doing, experiencing consequences – Observational: Learn vicariously; observe and imitate others Distinguishes between learning and performance – One can know and wait for the appropriate situation to perform the learning or wait for an incentive Bandura’s later work—Social cognitive theory Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Criticisms of Behavioral Methods Debate about whether students should be rewarded for learning One view: Students are punished by system of rewards – Seen as a controlling system that decreases students’ interest in material and limits intrinsic motivation Other view: Learning should be rewarding – Rewards increase intrinsic motivation, bolster confidence; some students may not learn without rewards Proper use of behavioral strategies – Help students learn academically, grow in self-sufficiency Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Behavioral Approaches: Lessons for Teachers Principles teachers can use that apply to all people – No one eagerly repeats behaviors that have been punished or ignored – When actions lead to consequences that are positive, those actions are likely to be repeated – Teachers often fail to use reinforcement to recognize appropriate behavior ▪ Instead, they respond to inappropriate behavior – Praise must be sincere recognition of real accomplishment to be effective – Students can learn to be more self-managing Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Copyright This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work and materials from it should never be made available to students except by instructors using the accompanying text in their classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials. Copyright © 2023, 2020, 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved