Learning theories

Behavioral approaches to learning

Classical Conditioning
Behaviorism as a movement in psychology appeared in 1913 when John Broadus Watson
published the classic article Psychology as the behaviorist views it.
John Watson proposed that the process of classical conditioning (based
on Pavlov’s observations) was able to explain all aspects of human psychology.
Everything from speech to emotional responses were simply patterns of stimulus and
response. Watson denied completely the existence of the mind or consciousness.

Watson believed that all individual differences in behavior were due to different experiences
of learning. He famously said:

"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, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man
and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and the race
of his ancestors” (Watson, 1924, p. 104).

Classical Conditioning Examples

Classical conditioning theory involves learning a new behavior via the process of
association. In simple terms two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned
response in a person or animal. There are three stages of classical conditioning. At each
stage the stimuli and responses are given special scientific terms:

Stage 1: Before Conditioning:

In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces anunconditioned response

(UCR) in an organism. In basic terms, this means that a stimulus in the environment has
produced a behavior / response which is unlearned (i.e. unconditioned) and therefore is
a natural response which has not been taught. In this respect no new behavior has been
learned yet.

For example, a stomach virus (UCS) would produce a response of nausea (UCR). In
another example a perfume (UCS) could create a response of happiness or desire
(UCR).
 This stage also involves another stimulus which has no effect on a person and is called
the neutral stimulus (NS). The NS could be a person, object, place, etc. The neutral
stimulus in classical conditioning does not produce a response until it is paired with the
unconditioned stimulus.

Stage 2: During Conditioning:

During this stage a stimulus which produces no response (i.e. neutral) is associated with
the unconditioned stimulus at which point it now becomes known as the conditioned
stimulus (CS).

For example a stomach virus (UCS) might be associated with eating a certain food such
as chocolate (CS). Also perfume (UCS) might be associated with a specific person (CS).

Often during this stage the UCS must be associated with the CS on a number of
occasions, or trials, for learning to take place. However, one trail learning can happen on
certain occasions when it is not necessary for an association to be strengthened over
time (such as being sick after food poisoning or drinking too much alcohol).
Stage 3: After Conditioning:

Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the unconditioned stimulus
(UCS) to create a new conditioned response (CR).

For example a person (CS) who has been associated with nice perfume (UCS) is now
found attractive (CR). Also chocolate (CS) which was eaten before a person was sick
with a virus (UCS) is now produces a response of nausea (CR).

Little Albert Experiment (Phobias)

Ivan Pavlov showed that classical conditioning applied to animals. Did it also apply to
humans? In a famous (though ethically dubious) experiment, Watson and Rayner (1920)
showed that it did.
Little Albert was a 9-month-old infant who was tested on his reactions to various stimuli. He
was shown a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey and various masks. Albert described as "on the
whole stolid and unemotional" showed no fear of any of these stimuli. However, what did
startle him and cause him to be afraid was if a hammer was struck against a steel bar
behind his head. The sudden loud noise would cause "little Albert to burst into tears.
When Little Albert was just over 11 months old the white rat was presented and seconds
later the hammer was struck against the steel bar. This was done 7 times over the next 7
weeks and each time Little Albert burst into tears. By now little Albert only had to see the rat
and he immediately showed every sign of fear. He would cry (whether or not the hammer
was hit against the steel bar) and he would attempt to crawl away.

In addition, Watson and Rayner found that Albert developed phobias of objects which
shared characteristics with the rat; including the family dog, a fur coat, some cotton wool
and a Father Christmas mask! This process is known as generalization.

Watson and Rayner had shown that classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia.
A phobia is an irrational fear, i.e. a fear that is out of proportion to the danger. Over the next
few weeks and months Little Albert was observed and 10 days after conditioning his fear of
the rat was much less marked. This dying out of a learned response is called extinction.
However, even after a full month it was still evident, and the association could be renewed
by repeating the original procedure a few times.

Classical Conditioning in the Classroom

The implications of classical conditioning in the classroom are less important than those
of operant conditioning, but there is a still need for teachers to try to make sure that
students associate positive emotional experiences with learning.
If a student associates negative emotional experiences with school, then this can obviously
have bad results, such as creating a school phobia

For example, if a student is bullied at school they may learn to associate the school with
fear. It could also explain why some students show a particular dislike of certain subjects
that continue throughout their academic career. This could happen if a student is humiliated
or punished in class by a teacher.

Critical Evaluation
Classical conditioning emphasizes the importance of learning from the environment, and
supports nurture over nature. However, it is limiting to describe behavior solely in terms of
either nature or nurture, and attempts to do this underestimate the complexity of human
behavior. It is more likely that behavior is due to an interaction between nature (biology) and
nurture (environment).
A strength of classical conditioning theory is that it is scientific. This is because it's based on
empirical evidence carried out by controlled experiments. For example, Pavlov (1902)
showed how classical conditioning can be used to make a dog salivate to the sound of a
bell.
Classical conditioning is also a reductionist explanation of behavior. This is because
complex behavior is broken down into smaller stimulus - response units of behavior.
Supporters of a reductionist approach say that it is scientific. Breaking complicated
behaviors down to small parts means that they can be scientifically tested. However, some
would argue that the reductionist view lacks validity. Thus, whilst reductionism is useful, it
can lead to incomplete explanations.
A final criticism of classical conditioning theory is that it is deterministic. This means that it
does not allow for any degree of free will in the individual. According a person has no
control over the reactions they have learned from classical conditioning, such as a phobia.
The deterministic approach also has important implications for psychology as a science.
Scientists are interested in discovering laws which can then be used to predict events.
However, by creating general laws of behavior, deterministic psychology underestimates
the uniqueness of human beings and their freedom to choose their own destiny.

References
Pavlov, I. P. (1897/1902). The work of the digestive glands. London: Griffin.
Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20,
158–177.
Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 3(1), pp. 1–14.
Watson, J. B. (1924). Behaviorism. New York: People's Institute Publishing Company.

Key Terms
STIMULUS - Any feature of the environment that affects behaviour. E.g. in Pavlov’s experiments
food was a stimulus.
RESPONSE - The behaviour elicited by the stimulus. E.g. in Pavlov’s experiments salivation was a
response.
UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS - A feature of the environment that causes a natural reflex action.
E.g. a puff of air blown into the eye causes an involuntary blink.
CONDITIONED STIMULUS - A feature of the environment that has an effect through its association
with a U.C.S. E.g. Pavlov’s dog learned to salivate at the sound of a bell.
CONDITIONED RESPONSE - The behaviour elicited by the C.S. E.g. Salivation when the bell rings.
EXTINCTION - The dying out of a conditioned response by breaking the association between the
C.S. and the U.C.S. E.g. When the bell was repeatedly rang and no food presented Pavlov’s dog
gradually stopped salivating at the sound of the bell.
SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY - The return of a conditioned response (in a weaker form) after a
period of time. E.g. When Pavlov waited for a few days and then rang the bell once more the dog
salivated again.
GENERALISATION - When a stimulus similar to the C.S. also elicits a response. E.g. Little Albert
developed phobias of objects which shared characteristics with the white rat; including the family
dog and cotton wool.
DISCRIMINATION - The opposite of generalisation i.e. the ability of the subject to tell the difference
between two similar stimuli. E.g. Eventually Pavlov’s dog learns the difference between the sound of
the 2 bells and no longer salivates at the sound of the non-food bell.

Pavlov's Dogs
by Saul McLeod published 2007, updated 2013
Like many great scientific advances, Pavlovian conditioning (aka classical conditioning) was
discovered accidentally.

During the 1890s Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov was looking at salivation in dogs in
response to being fed, when he noticed that his dogs would begin to salivate whenever he
entered the room, even when he was not bringing them food. At first this was something of
a nuisance (not to mention messy!).

Pavlovian Conditioning
Pavlov (1902) started from the idea that there are some things that a dog does not need to
learn. For example, dogs don’t learn to salivate whenever they see food. This reflex is ‘hard
wired’ into the dog. In behaviorist terms, it is an unconditioned response (i.e. a stimulus-
response connection that required no learning). In behaviorist terms, we write:
Unconditioned Stimulus (Food) > Unconditioned Response (Salivate)

Pavlov showed the existence of the unconditioned response by presenting a dog with a
bowl of food and the measuring its salivary secretions (see image below).

However, when Pavlov discovered that any object or event which the dogs learnt
to associate with food (such as the lab assistant) would trigger the same response, he
realized that he had made an important scientific discovery. Accordingly, he devoted the
rest of his career to studying this type of learning.

Pavlov knew that somehow, the dogs in his lab had learned to associate food with his lab
assistant. This must have been learned, because at one point the dogs did not do it, and
there came a point where they started, so their behavior had changed. A change in
behavior of this type must be the result of learning.
In behaviorist terms, the lab assistant was originally a neutral stimulus. It is called neutral
because it produces no response. What had happened was that the neutral stimulus (the
lab assistant) had become associated with an unconditioned stimulus (food).

In his experiment, Pavlov used a bell as his neutral stimulus. Whenever he gave food to his
dogs, he also rang a bell. After a number of repeats of this procedure, he tried the bell on its
own. As you might expect, the bell on its own now caused an increase in salivation.

So the dog had learned an association between the bell and the food and a new behavior
had been learnt. Because this response was learned (or conditioned), it is called a
conditioned response. The neutral stimulus has become a conditioned stimulus.

Pavlov found that for associations to be made, the two stimuli had to be presented close
together in time. He called this the law of temporal contiguity. If the time between the
conditioned stimulus (bell) and unconditioned stimulus (food) is too great, then learning will
not occur.

Pavlov and his studies of classical conditioning have become famous since his early work
between 1890-1930. Classical conditioning is "classical" in that it is the first systematic
study of basic laws of learning / conditioning.

To summarize, classical conditioning (later developed by John Watson) involves learning to

associate an unconditioned stimulus that already brings about a particular response (i.e. a
reflex) with a new (conditioned) stimulus, so that the new stimulus brings about the same
response.
Pavlov developed some rather unfriendly technical terms to describe this process. The
unconditioned stimulus (or UCS) is the object or event that originally produces the reflexive /
natural response.

The response to this is called the unconditioned response (or UCR). The neutral stimulus
(NS) is a new stimulus that does not produce a response.

Once the neutral stimulus has become associated with the unconditioned stimulus, it
becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS). The conditioned response (CR) is the response to
the conditioned stimulus.

References
Pavlov, I. P. (1897/1902). The work of the digestive glands. London: Griffin.
Pavlov, I. P. (1928). Lectures on conditioned reflexes.(Translated by W.H. Gantt) London:
Allen and Unwin.
Pavlov, I. P. (1955). Selected works. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House.
Environmentalism John B.
Watson
In 1878 John Broadus Watson was born to Emma and Pickens Watson. A poor family
in Greenville, South Carolina, his mother was very religious. John's father, with
whom he was closer, did not follow the same rules of living as his mother. He drank,
had extra-marital affairs, and left in 1891. Eventually John married Mary Ikes whom
he met at the University of Chicago. Together they had two children, Mary and
John. And, like his father, had affairs with a number of women. John and Mary
finally divorced and he married one of his graduate students, Rosalie Rayner (see
photo). They had two more children, James and William. John focused much of his
study of behaviorism on his children. After Rosalie's death, his already poor
relationships with his children grew worse and he became a recluse. He lived on a
farm in Connecticut until his death in 1958.

The absence of his father took it's toll on John. He rebelled against his mother and
teachers and turned to violence. John was able to turn his life back around with the
help of his teacher, Gordon Moore, at Furman University. With Moore's help, John
was able to succeed and moved on to the University of Chicago. It was there that he
became interest in the field of comparative psychology and studying animals. He
wrote his dissertation about the relation between behavior in the white rat and the
growth of the nervous system. In 1903 he received his doctorate and later became an
associate professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University.

In 1913 at Columbia University, Watson delivered a lecture entitled "Psychology as

the Behaviorist Views It." Before this speech the field of psychology was in
disagreement over the ideas of the nature of consciousness and the methods of
studying it. Many questions were raised and few answers had been given until Watson
spoke. He claimed that the problem was the use of archaic methods and inappropriate
subject matter. He cut consciousness and introspection out of the picture. Instead, he
proposed the idea of an objective psychology of behavior called "behaviorism." He
saw psychology as the study of people's actions with the ability to predict and control
those actions. This new idea became known as the behaviorists theory. During the
next few years, different ideas about behaviorism studied, one of which was Watson's.
His view of behaviorism was considered radical and was known for its extreme anti-
mentalism, it s radical reduction of thinking to implicit response, and its heavy and
somewhat simplistic reliance on conditioned reactions. Even with all the different
variations, they all had one common idea- that psychology was defined as the natural
science of behavior, objective in its study, and was a pattern of adjustment
functionally dependent upon stimulus conditions in the environment, and was
emphasized in theory and research (Wozniak). In his earlier years Watson used animal
subjects to study behavior. Later he turned to the study of human behaviors and
emotions. Until World War I he collaborated his studies with Adolph Meyer. After the
war he resumed his work at Johns Hopkins University. He wanted to develop
techniques to allow him to " �condition and control them emotions of human
subjects.' " His famous study for this was called the Little Albert Experiment in which
he theorized that children have three basic emotional reactions: fear, rage, and love.
He wanted to prove that these three reactions could be artificially conditioned in
children. Watson used a little boy named Albert to test his theory. He repeatedly
presented Albert a rat in conjunction with a sudden, loud noise to classically condition
fear of the rat.

After leaving Johns Hopkins University, Watson went into the advertising business.
He wanted to use his scientific theories of behaviorism and the emotions of fear, rage,
and love to improve the effects of advertising on the "animal" or what we know as
consumers. Watson began his training at J Walter Thompson Agency with Stanley B.
Resor. He became an ambassador and in 1924 he stepped up to become vice president
of the company. While he was there he also wrote and sold books about the control
over human emotions. Later he moved onto work for William Esty Agency until he
retired in 1945. In 1920 he published his most famous conditioning experiment;
the "Little Albert" study in which he produced, in a small child, conditioned fear
of a white rat by repeatedly presenting it paired with the loud "clanging" of a metal
bar. This conditioned fear was then shown to generalize to other white furry objects,
including a Santa mask and Watson's own white hair (Watson & Rayner, 1920). In
another well-known article (Watson, 1920), he argued that thinking -- a mental
activity that seems to involve no overt behavior -- is nothing more than subvocal
speaking. He later retracted this extreme view, however (Watson & McDougall,
1929).

Although Watson's academic star burned brightly, it was destined to be short-lived.

Like his predecessor, Baldwin, he was forced to resign his chair at Hopkins because of
a sex scandal involving his assistant, Rayner. He continued to publish books on
psychology--Behaviorism (1924) and The Psychological Care of Infant and
Child (1928)--but by the 1930s his main career interest had shifted to the advertising
business, and he ended his scholarly pursuits.

Theory
In The Ways of Behaviorism, Watson states that behaviorism is the scientific study of
human behavior. It is simply the study of what people do. Behaviorism is intended to
take psychology up to the same level as other sciences. The first task is to observe
behavior and make predictions, then to take determine causal relationships. Behavior
can be reduced to relationships between stimuli and responses, the S --- R Model. A
stimulus can be shown to cause a response or a response can be traced back to a
stimulus. All behavior can be reduced to this basic component. According to Watson,
"life's most complicated acts are but combinations of these simple stimulus- response
patterns of behavior."

Conditioning is the process of learning to react to the environment. Many behaviors

have been previously conditioned in the human species by the environment. To gain
control of a subject of study the behaviorist must know difference between what
behaviors have been preconditioned and what was inherited from past generations.
Gardner Murphy wrote in his book, An Historical Introduction to Modern
Psychology, that some "believe that all learning is simply conditioning, and that the
conditioned response is the true unit of learned behavior."

Conclusion:
1. Human psychology has failed to make good its claim as a natural science. Due to a
mistaken notion that its fields of facts are conscious phenomena and that introspection
is the only direct method of ascertaining these facts, it has enmeshed itself in a series
of speculative questions which, while fundamental to its present tenets, are not open
to experimental treatment. In the pursuit of answers to these questions, it has become
further and further divorced from contact with problems which vitally concern human
interest.

2. Psychology, as the behaviorist views it, is a purely objective, experimental branch

of natural science which needs introspection as little as do the sciences of chemistry
and physics. It is granted that the behavior of animals can be investigated without
appeal to consciousness. Heretofore the viewpoint has been that such data have value
only in so far as they can be interpreted by analogy in terms of consciousness. The
position is taken here that the behavior of man and the behavior of animals must be
considered on the same plane; as being equally essential to a general understanding of
behavior. It can dispense with consciousness in a psychological sense. The separate
observation of 'states of consciousness', is, on this assumption, no more a part of the
task of the psychologist than of the physicist. We might call this the return to a non-
reflective and have use of consciousness. In this sense consciousness may be said to
be the instrument or tool with which all scientists work. Whether or not the tool is
properly used at present by scientists is a concern for philosophy and not for
psychology.

3. The study of the behavior of amoebae have value in and for themselves without
reference to the behavior of man. Biological studies of race differentiation and
inheritance form a separate division of study which must be evaluated in terms of the
laws found there. The conclusions so reached may not hold in any other form.
Regardless of the possible lack of generality, such studies must be made if evolution
as a whole is ever to be understood. Similarly the laws of behavior of a particluar
species, the range of responses, and the determination of effective stimuli, of habit
formation, persistency of habits, interference and reinforcement of habits, must be
determined and evaluated in and of themselves, regardless of their generality, or of
their bearing upon such laws in other forms, if the phenomena of behavior are ever to
be brought within the sphere of scientific control.

4. By eliminating states of consciousness as proper objects of investigation, Watson

sought to remove the barrier of subjectivity from psychology which exists between it
and the other sciences. The findings of psychology become the functional correlates
of structure and lend themselves to explanations in physico-chemical terms.

5. Psychology will have to neglect but few of the really essential problems with which
psychology as an introspective science now concerns itself. In all probability even this
residue of problems may be phrased in such a way that refined methods in behavior
eventually will lead to their solution.

Time Line
1878 ~ John Broadus Watson was born in Greenville, South Carolina.
1891 ~ John's father, Pickens Watson, left his family.
1899 ~ John graduated from Furman University.
1901 ~ John majored in psychology and minored in philosophy and neurology at the
University of Chicago. He married Mary Ikes.
1903 ~ John B. Watson received his doctorate from the University of Chicago.
1905 ~ Dr. Watson's first child, Mary, was born. He enrolled at John Hopkins
University
1906 ~ Watson was hired as an instructor at the University of Chicago
1907 ~ Watson was hired as an associate professor of psychology at John Hopkins
University. It was at JHU that he became known as the Founder of Behaviorism.
1913 ~ Watson gave the lecture and published the article entitled "Psychology as the
Behaviorist Views It." 1914 ~ He published Behavior: An Introduction to
Comparative Psychology.
1915 ~ Watson became the President of the American Psychological Association.
1916 ~ Dr. Watson began his study on mental illnesses. He began working in
advertising at the J Walter Thompson Agency.
. 1919 ~ Watson published Psychology From the Standpoint of a Behaviorists.
. 1920 ~ Watson was dismissed from John Hopkins University. He published the
"Little Albert" Experiment. He turned his focus to advertising.
1924 ~ Watson became Vice President of J Walter Thompson Agency. He published
Behaviorism.
1928 ~ Watson published the Psychological Care of Infant and Child.
1945 ~ He retired as Vice President of William Esty Agency.
1958 ~ Dr. John Broadus Watson burnt all of his unpublished works and died a short
time later.

Bibliography
Hothersall, David. 1995. History of Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Murphy, G. (1930). An historical introduction to modern psychology. New York, NY:
Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc.
Watson, J. (1913). Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it. Psychological Review, 20,
158-177.
Watson, J. (1928). The ways of behaviorism. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers Pub.

Edward Thorndike connectionism

by Saul McLeod published 2007
Edward Thorndike (1874 - 1949) is famous in psychology for his work on learning theory
that lead to the development of operant conditioning within behaviorism.
Whereas classical conditioning depends on developing associations between events,
operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of our behavior. Skinner
wasn’t the first psychologist to study learning by consequences. Indeed, Skinner's theory of
operant conditioning is built on the ideas of Edward Thorndike.

Thorndike (1898) studied learning in animals (usually cats). He devised a classic

experiment in which he used a puzzle box (see fig. 1) 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 would 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 favorable
consequences and they would adopt this behavior, becoming increasingly quick at pressing
the lever.
Edward Thorndike put forward a “Law of effect” which stated that any behavior that is
followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and any behavior followed by
unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped.

References
Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal intelligence: An experimental study of the associative
processes in animals.Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2(4), i-109.

Edward Lee Thorndike was a son of a Methodist minister in Lowell, Massachusetts. He became
an American pioneer in comparative psychology and was a typical late 19th century American
scientist. He grew up in an age when scientific psychology was establishing its place in academic
institutions and attracting college graduates, Thorndike being one of them. He became interested
in the field of psychology after reading William Jame's "Principles of Psychology" and after
graduating from Weslyan University enrolled at Harvard in order to study under James. His
research interest was with children, but his initial study of "mind reading" led to their
unavailability for future study. So, he developed projects that examined learning in animals to
satisfy requirements for his courses and degree. He completed a study of maze learning in
chicks, but for personal reasons, Thorndike did not complete his education at Harvard. Cattell
invited him to go to Columbia University where he continued his animal research. He switched
from chicks to cats and dogs, and made good use out of his own designed "puzzled boxes." In
1898, he was awarded the doctorate for his thesis, "Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study
of the Associative Processes in Animals", in which he concluded that an experimental approach
is the only way to understand learning and established his famous "Law of Effect".

Upon graduation, Thorndike returned to his initial interest, Educational Psychology. In 1899,
after a year of unhappy, initial employment at the College for Women of Case Western Reserve
in Cleveland, Ohio, he became an instructor in psychology at Teachers College at Columbia
University, where he remained for the rest of his career, studying human learning, education, and
mental testing.

Edward L. Throndike's pioneer investigations in the fields of human and animal learning are
among the most influential in the history of Psychology. In 1912, he was recognized for his
accomplishments and elected president of the American Psychological Association. In 1934, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science elected Thorndike as the only social
scientist to head this professional organization. Thorndike retired in 1939, but worked actively
until his death ten years later.

Theory

One of Thorndike's major contributions to the study of Psychology was his work with animals.
Through long, extensive research with these animals, he constructed devices called "puzzle
boxes." This devise is shown in figure 1. This work on animal intelligence used equipment that
became both famous and controversial. Thorndike's setup of the puzzle boxes is an example of
instrumental conditioning: An animal makes some response, and if it is rewarded, the response is
learned. If the response is not rewarded, it gradually disappears. The entire experiment was based
on animals being placed into these contraptions, and could only escape from it by making some
specific response. Such escape procedures would be pulling a sting or pushing a button.

The way his experiment worked was by placing a hungry cat into the box, then observing its
behavior as it tried to escape and obtain some food. For the most part, he noticed that the
cats obtained the food only by "trial-and-error." On a successive attempt, the mere trial-and-
error behavior decreased and the cat would escape quickly. Thorndike studied several cats, and
plotted the time it took for them to escape from the puzzle box on successive trials. These
learning curves did not suddenly improve, but rather the amount of time the animal spent in the
box gradually got to be shortened. From this, the animal did not merely realize what it had to do
to escape, but the connection between the animal's situation and the response that gradually freed
him was stamped in. With these observations, Thorndike suggested that certain stimuli and
responses become connected or dissociated from each other according to his law of effect. He
stated, "When particular stimulus-response sequences are followed by pleasure, those responses
tend to be �stamped in'; responses followed by pain tend to be �stamped out'." The final
interpretation of the law of effect was the immediate consequence of a mental connection can
work back upon it to strengthen it.

This evaluation led Thorndike to conclude that animals learn, solely, by trial and error, or reward
and punishment. Thorndike used the cat's behavior in a puzzle box to describe what happens
when all beings learn anything. All learning involves the formation of connections, and
connections were strengthened according to the law of effect. Intelligence is the ability to form
connections and humans are the most evolved animal because they form more connections then
any other being. He continued his study with learning by writing his famous Animal Intelligence.
In this he argued that we study animal behavior, not animal consciousness, for the ultimate
purpose of controlling behavior. Today, he is known for his early animal studies and the
founding principle of Instrumental Learning, "The Law of Effect".

Time Line
1874 The birth of Edward Lee Thorndike
1897 Applied for graduate program at Columbia University
1898 Awarded his doctorate
1899 Instructor in Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia
1905 Formalized the Law of Effect
1911 Published "Animal Intelligence"
1912 Elected President of American Psychological Association
1917 One of the first psychologist admitted to the National Academy of Sciences
1921 Ranked #1 as an American Men of Science.
1934 Elected President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
1939 Retired
1949 Thordike died
 Bibliography
Beniafield, John G. A History of Psychology, (Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon,
1996)
Fancher, Raymond E. Pioneers of Psychology, (New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, Inc., 1990)
Leahey, Thomas H. A History of Psychology, (New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, 1992)

Connectionism (Edward Thorndike)

The learning theory of Thorndike represents the original S-R framework of behavioral psychology:
Learning is the result of associations forming between stimuli and responses. Such associations or
"habits" become strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R pairings. The
paradigm for S-R theory was trial and error learning in which certain responses come to dominate others
due to rewards. The hallmark of connectionism (like all behavioral theory) was that learning could be
adequately explained without referring to any unobservable internal states.

Thorndike's theory consists of three primary laws: (1) law of effect - responses to a situation which are
followed by a rewarding state of affairs will be strengthened and become habitual responses to that
situation, (2) law of readiness - a series of responses can be chained together to satisfy some goal which
will result in annoyance if blocked, and (3) law of exercise - connections become strengthened with
practice and weakened when practice is discontinued. A corollary of the law of effect was that responses
that reduce the likelihood of achieving a rewarding state (i.e., punishments, failures) will decrease in
strength.

The theory suggests that transfer of learning depends upon the presence of identical elements in the
original and new learning situations; i.e., transfer is always specific, never general. In later versions of the
theory, the concept of "belongingness" was introduced; connections are more readily established if the
person perceives that stimuli or responses go together (c.f. Gestalt principles). Another concept
introduced was "polarity" which specifies that connections occur more easily in the direction in which they
were originally formed than the opposite. Thorndike also introduced the "spread of effect" idea, i.e.,
rewards affect not only the connection that produced them but temporally adjacent connections as well.

Application

Connectionism was meant to be a general theory of learning for animals and humans. Thorndike was
especially interested in the application of his theory to education including mathematics (Thorndike,
1922), spelling and reading (Thorndike, 1921), measurement of intelligence (Thorndike et al., 1927) and
adult learning (Thorndike at al., 1928).

Example

The classic example of Thorndike's S-R theory was a cat learning to escape from a "puzzle box" by
pressing a lever inside the box. After much trial and error behavior, the cat learns to associate pressing
the lever (S) with opening the door (R). This S-R connection is established because it results in a
satisfying state of affairs (escape from the box). The law of exercise specifies that the connection was
established because the S-R pairing occurred many times (the law of effect) and was rewarded (law of
effect) as well as forming a single sequence (law of readiness).
 Principles

1. Learning requires both practice and rewards (laws of effect /exercise)

2. A series of S-R connections can be chained together if they belong to the same action sequence (law of
readiness).
3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned.

References

Thorndike, E. (1913). Educational Psychology: The Psychology of Learning. New York: Teachers College
Press.

Thorndike, E. (1921). The Teacher's Word Book. New York: Teachers College.

Thorndike, E. (1922). The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan.

Thorndike, E. (1932). The Fundamentals of Learning. New York: Teachers College Press.

Thorndike, E. at al. (1927). The Measurement of Intelligence. New York: Teachers College Press.

Thorndike, E. et al. (1928), Adult Learning. New York: Macmillan

Related Websites

For more about Thorndike and his work, see:

http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/ethorndike.shtml
http://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/history/thorndike.html

[ INTRO ] [ THEORIES ] [ CONCEPTS ] [ DOMAINS ]

Skinner -
Operant Conditioning
by Saul McLeod published 2007, updated 2015
By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology and other behaviorists were
becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical conditioning.
Perhaps the most important of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Although, for obvious
reasons he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner.
Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913). Skinner believed
that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study
observable behavior rather than internal mental events.
The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic to
be a complete explanation of complex human behavior. He believed that the best way to
understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called
this approach operant conditioning.

Operant Conditioning deals with operants - intentional actions that have an effect on the
surrounding environment. Skinner set out to identify the processes which made certain
operant behaviours more or less likely to occur.

Skinner's theory of operant conditioning was based on the work ofThorndike (1905).
Edward Thorndike studied learning in animals using a puzzle box to propose the theory
known as the 'Law of Effect'.

BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning

Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on
Thorndike’s law of effect. Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect -
Reinforcement. Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened);
behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).

Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals

which he placed in a 'Skinner Box' which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box.
B.F. Skinner (1938) coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of
behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Skinner
identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior.

• Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease
the probability of a behavior being repeated.

• Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a

behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.

• Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior
being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.

We can all think of examples of how our own behavior has been affected by reinforcers and
punishers. As a child you probably tried out a number of behaviors and learned from their
consequences.

For example, if when you were younger you tried smoking at school, and the chief
consequence was that you got in with the crowd you always wanted to hang out with, you
would have been positively reinforced (i.e. rewarded) and would be likely to repeat the
behavior. If, however, the main consequence was that you were caught, caned, suspended
from school and your parents became involved you would most certainly have been
punished, and you would consequently be much less likely to smoke now.

Positive Reinforcement
Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner
box. The box contained a lever on the side and as the rat moved about the box it would
accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container
next to the lever. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of
being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured
that they would repeat the action again and again.

Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual

finds rewarding. For example, if your teacher gives you £5 each time you complete your
homework (i.e. a reward) you will be more likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus
strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.

Negative Reinforcement
The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also strengthen behavior. This is known as
negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is
‘rewarding’ to the animal or person. Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it
stops or removes an unpleasant experience.

For example, if you do not complete your homework, you give your teacher £5. You will
complete your homework to avoid paying £5, thus strengthening the behavior of completing
your homework.

Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and
then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort. As the
rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so the
electric current would be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever
after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of escaping the electric current
ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.

In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light just
before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light
came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current being switched on.

These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.

Punishment (weakens behavior)

Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or
eliminate a response rather than increase it. It is an aversive event that decreases the
behavior that it follows

Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus
like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance,
deducting someone’s pocket money to punish undesirable behavior.

Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement.

There are many problems with using punishment, such as:

 Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behavior returns when punishment
is no longer present.

 Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way to cope with problems.

 Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors, e.g., fear of school.
 Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior - reinforcement tells you what to do,
punishment only tells you what not to do.

Schedules of Reinforcement
Imagine a rat in a “Skinner box". In operant conditioning if no food pellet is delivered
immediately after the lever is pressed then after several attempts the rat stops pressing the
lever (how long would someone continue to go to work if their employer stopped paying
them?). The behavior has been extinguished.

Behaviorists discovered that different patterns (or schedules) of reinforcement had different
effects on the speed of learning and on extinction. Ferster and Skinner (1957) devised
different ways of delivering reinforcement, and found that this had effects on
1. The Response Rate - The rate at which the rat pressed the lever (i.e. how hard the rat
worked).

2. The Extinction Rate - The rate at which lever pressing dies out (i.e. how soon the rat
gave up).
Skinner found that the type of reinforcement which produces the slowest rate of extinction
(i.e. people will go on repeating the behavior for the longest time without reinforcement) is
variable-ratio reinforcement. The type of reinforcement which has the quickest rate of
extinction is continuous reinforcement.

(A) Continuous Reinforcement

An animal/human is positively reinforced every time a specific behaviour occurs, e.g. every
time a lever is pressed a pellet is delivered and then food delivery is shut off.

 Response rate is SLOW

 Extinction rate is FAST

(B) Fixed Ratio Reinforcement

Behavior is reinforced only after the behavior occurs a specified number of times. E.g. one
reinforcement is given after every so many correct responses, e.g. after every 5th response.
For example a child receives a star for every five words spelt correctly.
 Response rate is FAST

 Extinction rate is MEDIUM

(C) Fixed Interval Reinforcement

One reinforcement is given after a fixed time interval providing at least one correct response
has been made. An example is being paid by the hour. Another example would be every 15
minutes (half hour, hour, etc.) a pellet is delivered (providing at least one lever press has
been made) then food delivery is shut off.

 Response rate is MEDIUM

 Extinction rate is MEDIUM

(D) Variable Ratio Reinforcement

Behavior is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times. For examples gambling or
fishing.

 Response rate is FAST

 Extinction rate is SLOW (very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability )

(E) Variable Interval Reinforcement

Providing one correct response has been made, reinforcement is given after an
unpredictable amount of time has passed, e.g. on average every 5 minutes. An example is
a self-employed person being paid at unpredictable times.

 Response rate is FAST

 Extinction rate is SLOW

Behavior Shaping
A further important contribution made by Skinner (1951) is the notion of behaviour shaping
through successive approximation. Skinner argues that the principles of operant
conditioning can be used to produce extremely complex behaviour if rewards and
punishments are delivered in such a way as to encourage move an organism closer and
closer to the desired behaviour each time.

In order to do this, the conditions (or contingencies) required to receive the reward should
shift each time the organism moves a step closer to the desired behaviour.
According to Skinner, most animal and human behaviour (including language) can be
explained as a product of this type of successive approximation.

Behavior Modification
Behavior modification is a set of therapies / techniques based on operant conditioning
(Skinner, 1938, 1953). The main principle comprises changing environmental events that
are related to a person's behavior. For example, the reinforcement of desired behaviors and
ignoring or punishing undesired ones.

This is not as simple as it sounds — always reinforcing desired behavior, for example, is
basically bribery.

There are different types of positive reinforcements. Primary reinforcement is when a

reward strengths a behavior by itself. Secondary reinforcement is when something
strengthens a behavior because it leads to a primary reinforcer.

Examples of behavior modification therapy include token economy and behavior shaping

Token Economy
Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviors are reinforced with tokens
(secondary reinforcers) and later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers).

Tokens can be in the form of fake money, buttons, poker chips, stickers, etc. While the
rewards can range anywhere from snacks to privileges or activities.

Token economy has been found to be very effective in managing psychiatric patients.
However, the patients can become over reliant on the tokens, making it difficult for them to
adjust to society once they leave prisons, hospital etc.

Teachers also use token economy at primary school by giving young children stickers to
reward good behavior.

Operant Conditioning in the Classroom

In the conventional learning situation operant conditioning applies largely to issues of class
and student management, rather than to learning content. It is very relevant to shaping skill
performance.
A simple way to shape behavior is to provide feedback on learner performance, e.g.
compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation. A variable-ratio produces the
highest response rate for students learning a new task, whereby initially reinforcement (e.g.
praise) occurs at frequent intervals, and as the performance improves reinforcement occurs
less frequently, until eventually only exceptional outcomes are reinforced.

For example, if a teacher wanted to encourage students to answer questions in class they
should praise them for every attempt (regardless of whether their answer is correct).
Gradually the teacher will only praise the students when their answer is correct, and over
time only exceptional answers will be praised.

Unwanted behaviors, such as tardiness and dominating class discussion can be

extinguished through being ignored by the teacher (rather than being reinforced by having
attention drawn to them).

Knowledge of success is also important as it motivates future learning. However it is

important to vary the type of reinforcement given, so that the behavior is maintained. This is
not an easy task, as the teacher may appear insincere if he/she thinks too much about the
way to behave.

Operant Conditioning Summary

Looking at Skinner's classic studies on pigeons’ / rat's behavior we can identify some of the
major assumptions of thebehaviorist approach.
• Psychology should be seen as a science, to be studied in a scientific manner.
Skinner's study of behavior in rats was conducted under carefully controlled laboratory
conditions.
• Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal
events like thinking and emotion. Note that Skinner did not say that the rats learned to
press a lever because they wanted food. He instead concentrated on describing the
easily observed behavior that the rats acquired.

• The major influence on human behavior is learning from our environment. In the
Skinner study, because food followed a particular behavior the rats learned to repeat
that behavior, e.g. operant conditioning.

• There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in
other animals. Therefore research (e.g. operant conditioning) can be carried out on
animals (Rats / Pigeons) as well as on humans. Skinner proposed that the way humans
learn behavior is much the same as the way the rats learned to press a lever.
So, if your layperson's idea of psychology has always been of people in laboratories
wearing white coats and watching hapless rats try to negotiate mazes in order to get to their
dinner, then you are probably thinking of behavioral psychology.

Behaviorism and its offshoots tend to be among the most scientific of the psychological
perspectives. The emphasis of behavioral psychology is on how we learn to behave in
certain ways. We are all constantly learning new behaviors and how to modify our existing
behavior. Behavioral psychology is the psychological approach that focuses on how this
learning takes place.

Critical Evaluation
Operant conditioning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviors, from the process
of learning, to addiction andlanguage acquisition. It also has practical application (such as
token economy) which can be applied in classrooms, prisons and psychiatric hospitals.
However, operant conditioning fails to take into account the role of inherited and cognitive
factors in learning, and thus is an incomplete explanation of the learning process in humans
and animals.
For example, Kohler (1924) found that primates often seem to solve problems in a flash of
insight rather than be trial and error learning. Also social learning theory (Bandura, 1977)
suggests that humans can learn automatically through observation rather than through
personal experience.
The use of animal research in operant conditioning studies also raises the issue of
extrapolation. Some psychologistsargue we cannot generalize from studies on animals to
humans as their anatomy and physiology is different from humans, and they cannot think
about their experiences and invoke reason, patience, memory or self-comfort.
References
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ferster, C. B., & Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement.
Kohler, W. (1924). The mentality of apes. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York:
Appleton-Century.
Skinner, B. F. (1948). Superstition' in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38,
168-172.
Skinner, B. F. (1951). How to teach animals. Freeman.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. SimonandSchuster.com.
Thorndike, E. L. (1905). The elements of psychology. New York: A. G. Seiler.
Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the Behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20,
158–177.
Key Terms
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT - Reward – presenting the subject with something that it likes. E.g.
Skinner rewarded his rats with food pellets.
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT - Reward – in the sense of removing or avoiding some aversive
(painful) stimulus. E.g.Skinner's rats learned to press the lever in order to switch off the electric
current in the cage.
PUNISHMENT - Imposing an aversive or painful stimulus. E.g. Skinner’s rats were given electric
shocks.
PRIMARY REINFORCERS - These are stimuli which are naturally reinforcing because they directly
satisfy a need. E.g. food, water.
SECONDARY REINFORCERS - These are stimuli, which are reinforcing through their association
with a primary reinforcer. I.e. they do not directly satisfy a need but may be the means to do so. E.g.
Money! You cannot eat it or drink it but if you have it you can buy whatever you want. So a
secondary reinforcer can be just as powerful a motivator as a primary reinforcer.

Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology, school of psychology founded in the 20th century that provided the
foundation for the modern study of perception. Gestalt theory emphasizes that the
whole of anything is greater than its parts. That is, the attributes of the whole are not
deducible from analysis of the parts in isolation. The word Gestalt is used in modern
German to mean the way a thing has been “placed,” or “put together.” There is no exact
equivalent in English. “Form” and “shape” are the usual translations; in psychology the
word is often interpreted as “pattern” or “configuration.”
Gestalt theory originated in Austria and Germany as a reaction against the
associationist and structural schools’ atomistic orientation (an approach which
fragmented experience into distinct and unrelated elements). Gestalt studies made use
instead of phenomenology. This method, with a tradition going back to Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe, involves nothing more than the description of direct
psychological experience, with no restrictions on what is permissible in the description.
Gestalt psychology was in part an attempt to add a humanistic dimension to what was
considered a sterile approach to the scientific study of mental life. Gestalt psychology
further sought to encompass the qualities of form, meaning, and value that prevailing
psychologists had either ignored or presumed to fall outside the boundaries of science.
The publication of Czech-born psychologist Max Wertheimer’s “Experimentelle Studien
über das Sehen von Bewegung” (“Experimental Studies of the Perception of
Movement”) in 1912 marks the founding of the Gestalt school. In it Wertheimer reported
the result of a study on apparent movement conducted in Frankfurt, Germany, with
psychologists Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka. Together, these three formed the core
of the Gestalt school for the next few decades. (By the mid-1930s all had become
professors in the United States.)
The earliest Gestalt work concerned perception, with particular emphasis on visual
perceptualorganization as explained by the phenomenon of illusion. In 1912 Wertheimer
discovered the phi phenomenon, an optical illusion in which stationary objects shown in
rapid succession, transcending the threshold at which they can be perceived separately,
appear to move. The explanation of this phenomenon—also known as persistence of
vision and experienced when viewing motion pictures—provided strong support for
Gestalt principles.
Under the old assumption that sensations of perceptual experience stand in one-to-one
relation to physical stimuli, the effect of the phi phenomenon was apparently
inexplicable. However, Wertheimer understood that the perceived motion is an
emergent experience, not present in the stimuli in isolation but dependent upon the
relational characteristics of the stimuli. As the motion is perceived, the observer’s
nervous system and experience do not passively register the physical input in a
piecemeal way. Rather, the neural organization as well as the perceptual experience
springs immediately into existence as an entire field with differentiated parts. In later
writings this principle was stated as the law of Prägnanz, meaning that the neural and
perceptual organization of any set of stimuli will form as good a Gestalt, or whole, as the
prevailing conditions will allow.
Major elaborations of the new formulation occurred within the next decades.
Wertheimer, Köhler, Koffka, and their students extended the Gestalt approach to
problems in other areas of perception, problem solving, learning, and thinking. The
Gestalt principles were later applied to motivation, social psychology,
and personality (particularly by Kurt Lewin) and to aesthetics and economic behaviour.
Wertheimer demonstrated that Gestalt concepts could also be used to shed light on
problems in ethics, political behaviour, and the nature of truth. Gestalt psychology’s
traditions continued in the perceptual investigations undertaken by Rudolf
Arnheim and Hans Wallach in the United States.
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget was born on August 9, 1896 in Neuchatel, Switzerland and died
September 17, 1980. He was an influential experimenter and theorist in the field of
developmental psychology and in the study of human intelligence. His father was
devoted to his writings of medieval literature and the history of Neuchatel. Piaget
learned from his father the value of systematic work, even in small matters. His
mother was very intelligent, energetic, and kind, but had a rather neurotic
temperament that made family life troublesome. Her mental health influenced his
studies of psychology and he became interested in psychoanalysis and pathological
psychology. Piaget's godfather was the Swiss scholar Samuel Cornut who nurtured in
him an interest in philosophy and epistemology during his adolescence.

Piaget grew up fast and had many interests. He became interested in mechanics, birds,
fossils of secondary and tertiary layers, and seashells when he was seven. And, at an
early age became an active scholar. He published his first paper at age ten and by the
age of 22 he had received his Ph. D. in science from the University of Neuchatel.
Then in the spring of 1919, Piaget grew restless and left for le Valais where he applied
Lipps' Statistical method to a biometric study of the variability of land mollusks as a
function of altitude. In the autumn of 1919, he took a train to Paris where he spent two
years at the Sorbonne and attended courses in pathological psychology where he
learned to interview mental patients. At this time Theodore Simon asked Piaget to
work at Binet's laboratory in Paris. There, he worked on refining Burt's reasoning test.
This is when Piaget started to investigate the way that children reason. For about two
years he analyzed the verbal reasoning of normal children by presenting them with a
variety of questions and exposing them to tasks that involved simple concrete
relations of cause and effect. At last, Piaget knew what he wanted to study. He wanted
to work in this field of inductive and experimental psychology.

He had problems publishing some of his works due to the fact that he was so young.
Throughout his life, he had many offers and advanced quickly in everything that he
did. In 1921, Piaget was invited by Claparede to become the director of research at the
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute in Geneva. Here, he could work in the field of child
psychology and guide students. He planned to study the emergence of intelligence for
the first two years and then return to the origins of mental health. The results of his
work were published in the first five books on child psychology. It was during this
time that he met Valentine Chatenay, a student of the Institute. Later he married her
and she became a constant co-worker. Piaget was asked by many countries to present
and discuss his ideas in front of university faculties and other teachers. However, he
felt there were two short-comings of his work, which limited his work to language and
expressive thought and the lack of characteristic structure-of-the-whole relative to
logical operations themselves. The thing that comforted him was the fact that he found
Gestalt psychology and that his theory was not a folly, but a splendid series of
experiments.

In 1925, Piaget, took the chair of philosophy at the University of Neuchatel. His
duties where to teach psychology, philosophy, science, a philosophy seminar, and
sociology. Also at this time, his first daughter was born. His second daughter was
born in 1927 and a boy followed in 1931. With the birth of his children he started to
spend considerable time, with the help of his wife, observing their reactions and
subjecting them to various experiments. He looked at the genesis of intelligent
conduct, ideas of objective constancy, and causality. He also noted symbolic
behaviors such as imitation and play. The main benefit that he derived from these
studies was that Piaget learned in the most direct way how intellectual operations are
prepared by sensory-motor action, long before the appearance of language. With this
knowledge he changed his method of study by modifying the direction of
conversation to objects that the child could manipulate by themselves. He discovered
that children up to the age of twelve did not believe in the constancy of material
quantity, weight, and volume of a lump of modeling clay. He had also discovered
from his own children that between the age of six to ten months, they did not possess
the notion of constancy and permanency of an object disappearing from view. He felt
that there had to be successive stages in the development of ideas of constancy which
could be studied in concrete situations rather than solely through language.

In 1929, Piaget returned to the University of Geneva where he continued his research
of child psychology on a larger scale. He also studied concrete operations and finally
discovered the operative structure-of-the-whole that he had been seeking for so long.
To do this he analyzed children four to eight years of age in the relationship of part
and whole. Piaget took on many roles during his time at Geneva and during the war,
he worked faster and harder for fear that he would never finish his work. This placed
him in the position to write on genetic epistemology. Although his plan had been to
spend five years studying children, it ended up taking him thirty years to complete his
studies.

Piaget was originally trained in the areas of biology and philosophy. He considered
himself a "genetic epistimologist" with his main interest being how one comes to
know things. Piaget felt that the difference between humans and animals was the fact
that humans are able to do reasoning through abstract symbolism. Piaget was
interested in the thought processes that underlie reasoning and felt that younger
children answered differently then their older peers due to the fact that the reasoned
differently. From this, he observed children of various ages and development
the Process of Cognitive Development which has two major aspects: the coming to
know and the stages that we move through to acquire this ability.

Piaget was an active man throughout his life. He enjoyed great fame and had many
discoveries. He started out studying mollusk and then studied his own children as they
developed. He worked at several universities in the departments of philosophy, child
psychology, and history. Today his theory of cognitive development is used in many
of the preschool and primary grade set-ups. Children in these programs are
encouraged to learn through discovery. They are supported in all the things they try
and challenged to try new things that are just beyond the child's ability but not to far
out of their reach

Theory
To Piaget, there were several factors in a child's cognitive development. He felt that
the most critical one was the interactions with a child's peers. These interactions lead
to cognitive conflicts which turned into arguing and debating with their peers. This
conflict requires the child to decenter themselves and look at the other person's point
of view. He found that children are more free to confront ideas when working with
peers compared to when they are talking to adults. Sometimes though, children find
themselves working with children at the same level of development and do not argue
so they do not make gains like they would when confronted with conflict.

After watching many children, he felt that all children went through a series
of four stages in the same order. Some children advanced through a stage faster than
other children. The first stage that he observed was from birth to two years of age.
Piaget called this the sensorimotor period. Children in this stage have a cognitive
system that is limited to the motor reflexes. Then start to build on these reflexes in
order to develop more sophisticated procedures through physical interactions and
experiences. By seven months, a child has learned about object permanency, the
knowledge that an object still exists when not in the child's view. During this stage,
the child develops simple activities to a wider range of situations and coordinates
them into lengthy chains of behavior. A child in this stage is just starting to realize
that they are in control of their movements and this allows them to develop new
intellectual abilities. They start to learn what the appropriate actions are and they
begin to work on the ability to communicate with others through sounds and words
that are simple to say. Children at this stage learn from their parents and care- givers.
They imitate what they see and hear and experiment with muscle movements and
sounds that the mouth makes.

The next stage that Piaget developed starts at about age two and lasts until the child is
about six or seven years old. This stage he called the Pre-Operational Period. During
this stage, children start to use mental imagery and language. Children here are very
egocentric. These children view things that are happening around them in only one
point of view...their's. Piaget probably found that his own children at this age could
not reason why their parents felt the way they did, but only reasoned from what the
children knew. Children in this stage think in a non-logical and nonreversible pattern.

The third stage that Piaget outlined was the Concrete Operational Stage. This stage
starts at age six or seven and last till the child is eleven or twelve years old. In this
stage, Piaget found that children are capable of taking another person's point of view
and incorporating more than one perspective simultaneously. At this stage the child
can see and reason with concrete knowledge but is unable to look at the abstract side
of things and develop all of the possible outcomes. Children in this stage can work out
story problems that do not ask for the abstract but deal with facts alone. They also
understand seven types of conservation: the conservation of number, liquid, length,
mass, weight, area, and volume. Their thought pattern is now logical and systematic
making it easier for them to find answers to simple problems.

The final stage is the Formal Operational Stage. This stage starts about eleven or
twelve and goes all the way through adulthood. People in this stage are capable of
thinking logically and abstractly as well as theoretically. They use symbols that are
related to the abstract concepts to complete problems. To Piaget, this was the ultimate
stage of development. He also believed that even though they were here, they still
needed to revise their knowledge base. Children by this stage are self motivators.
They learn from reading and trying out new ideas as well as from helping friends and
adults. Piaget believed that not everyone reaches this stage of development.

Time Line
Aug. 9, 1896-- Born in Neuchatel, Switzerland
1906--- Published first scientific paper
1911--- Started publishing on own
1917--- Published a philosophic novel, Recherch�
1918--- Doctor's degree with a thesis on mollusks of Valais
1919--- In Paris, started to study language development in children
1921--- Started to work in child psychology
1922--- Met and married Valentine Chatenay in Geneva
1924--- Published The Language and Thought of the Child
1925--- First daughter born
1926--- Published The Child's Conception of the World
1927--- Second daughter born
1927--- Published The Child's Conception of Causality
1928--- Published Judgment and Reasoning in the Child
1929--- Appointed professor of history of scientific thought at the University of
Geneva
1931--- First son born
1932--- Published The Moral Judgment of the Child
1936--- Published The Origins of Intelligence in Children
1940--- Became Director of the Psychology Laboratory
1950--- Member of the Executive Council of UNESCO
1951--- Published Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Children
1955--- Became director of International Center for Epistemology in Geneva
1958--- Published The Growth of Logical Thinking From Childhood to Adolescence
1970--- Published Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology
1971--- Published Biology and Knowledge
1972--- Defined the four stages of intellectual development
1974--- Published The Grasp of Consciousness
1980-- Died on September 17th

Bibliography
Evans, R. L. (1973). Jean Piaget: The Man and His Ideas. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
New York.

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Jean Piaget
by Saul McLeod published 2009, updated 2015
Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his job
was to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests.
He became intrigued with the reasons children gave for their wrong answers to the
questions that required logical thinking. He believed that these incorrect answers revealed
important differences between the thinking of adults and children.

Piaget (1936) described his work as genetic epistemology (i.e. the origins of thinking).
Genetics is the scientific study of where things come from (their origins). Epistemology is
concerned with the basic categories of thinking, that is to say, the framework or structural
properties of intelligence. What Piaget wanted to do was not to measure how well children
could count, spell or solve problems as a way of grading their I.Q. What he was more
interested in was the way in which fundamental concepts like the very idea of “number",
“time" “quantity", “causality", “justice" and so on emerged.
Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive
development. His contributions include a theory of child cognitive development, detailed
observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to
reveal different cognitive abilities.

Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely
less competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly
different ways compared to adults.

According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically
inherited and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge is based.

Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways:

o It is concerned with children, rather than all learners.

o It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning
of information or specific behaviors.

o It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences, rather

than a gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts, ideas, etc.

The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and
then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses.

To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as

a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an
understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they
already know and what they discover in their environment.

There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:

1. Schemas
(building blocks of knowledge).
2. Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another
(equilibrium,assimilation and accommodation).

3. Stages of Development:
 sensorimotor,
 preoperational,
 concrete operational,
 formal operational.
Schemas

Piaget (1952) defined a schema as 'a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing
component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning'.

In more simple terms Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent
behavior – a way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as
“units” of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions
and abstract (i.e. theoretical) concepts.

Wadsworth (2004) suggests that schemata (the plural of schema) be thought of as

'index cards' filed in the brain, each one telling an individual how to react to incoming
stimuli or information.

When Piaget talked about the development of a person's mental processes, he was
referring to increases in the number and complexity of the schemata that a person had
learned.
When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it
is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e. a state of cognitive (i.e. mental) balance.

Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development, and described

how they were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked mental
representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations.
The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply them when
needed.
For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The
schema is a stored form of the pattern of behavior which includes looking at a menu,
ordering food, eating it and paying the bill. This is an example of a type of schema called a
'script'. Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and
apply it to the situation.

The schemas Piaget described tend to be simpler than this - especially those used by
infants. He described how - as a child gets older - his or her schemas become more
numerous and elaborate.

The illustration (above) demonstrates a child developing a schema for a dog by assimilating
information about the dog. The child then sees a cat, using accommodation compares
existing knowledge of a dog to form a schema of a cat. Animation created by Daurice
Grossniklaus and Bob Rodes (03/2002).
Piaget believed that newborn babies have a small number of innate schemas - even before
they have had much opportunity to experience the world. These neonatal schemas are the
cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are genetically programmed
into us.

For example, babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching the
baby's lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a person's finger. Piaget
therefore assumed that the baby has a 'sucking schema'.

Similarly the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a baby's
hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards something which
touches its cheek, were assumed to result operations: for example shaking a rattle would be
the combination of two schemas, grasping and shaking.

Assimilation and Accommodation

Jean Piaget (1952; see also Wadsworth, 2004) viewed intellectual growth as a process
ofadaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through:

 Assimilation
– Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.

 Accommodation
 – This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be
changed to deal with a new object or situation.

 Equilibration
– This is the force which moves development along. Piaget believed that cognitive
development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds.
Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through
assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new
information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation).

Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be
frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge
(accommodation).

Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new schema
will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it.
Example of Assimilation
A 2 year old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair on the
sides. To his father’s horror, the toddler shouts “Clown, clown” (Siegler et al., 2003).

Example of Accommodation
In the “clown” incident, the boy’s father explained to his son that the man was not a clown
and that even though his hair was like a clown’s, he wasn’t wearing a funny costume and
wasn’t doing silly things to make people laugh.
With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of “clown” and make this
idea fit better to a standard concept of “clown”.

Stages of Development
A child's cognitive development is about a child developing or constructing a mental model
of the world.

Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would
mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past
experience, or to plan future actions.

Jean Piaget was interested both in how children learnt and in how they thought.

Piaget studied children from infancy to adolescence, and carried out many of his own
investigations using his three children. He used the following research methods:

Piaget made careful, detailed naturalistic observations of children. These were mainly his
own children and the children of friends. From these he wrote diary descriptions charting
their development.

He also used clinical interviews and observations of older children who were able to
understand questions and hold conversations.

Piaget believed that children think differently than adults, and stated they go through 4
universal stages of cognitive development. Development is therefore biologically based and
changes as the child matures. Cognition therefore develops in all children in the same
sequence of stages.

Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and no stage can be missed out -
although some individuals may never attain the later stages. There are individual
differences in the rate at which children progress through stages.

Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age - although
descriptions of the stages often include an indication of the age at which the average child
would reach each stage.

Piaget (1952) believed that these stages are universal - i.e. that the same sequence of
development occurs in children all over the world, whatever their culture.

Educational Implications
Piaget (1952) did not explicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers
have explained how features of Piaget's theory can be applied to teaching and learning.

Piaget has been extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching
practice. For example, a review of primary education by the UK government in 1966 was
based strongly on Piaget’s theory. The result of this review led to the publication of
the Plowden report (1967).
Discovery learning – the idea that children learn best through doing and actively exploring -
was seen as central to the transformation of the primary school curriculum.

'The report's recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the
centrality of play in children's learning, the use of the environment, learning by discovery
and the importance of the evaluation of children's progress - teachers should 'not assume
that only what is measurable is valuable.'

Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages, the notion of
'readiness' is important. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts should
be taught. According to Piaget's theory children should not be taught certain concepts until
they have reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development.

According to Piaget (1958), assimilation and accommodation require an active learner, not
a passive one, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered.

Within the classroom learning should be student centred a accomplished through active
discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, rather than direct tuition.
Therefore, teachers should encourage the following within the classroom:

o Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it.
o Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths".

o Using collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can learn from each other).

o Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the child.

o Evaluate the level of the child's development, so suitable tasks can be set.

Evaluation of Piaget's Theory

Support
 The influence of Piaget’s ideas in developmental psychology has been enormous. He
changed how people viewed the child’s world and their methods of studying children. He
 was an inspiration to many who came after and took up his ideas. Piaget's ideas have
generated a huge amount of research which has increased our understanding of
cognitive development.

 His ideas have been of practical use in understanding and communicating with children,
particularly in the field of education (re: Discovery Learning).
Criticisms
 Are the stages real? Vygotsky and Bruner would rather not talk about stages at all,
preferring to see development as a continuous process. Others have queried the age
ranges of the stages. Some studies have shown that progress to the formal operational
stage is not guaranteed. For example, Keating (1979) reported that 40-60% of college
students fail at formal operation tasks, and Dasen (1994) states that only one-third of
adults ever reach the formal operational stage.

 Because Piaget concentrated on the universal stages of cognitive development and

biological maturation, he failed to consider the effect that the social setting and culture
may have on cognitive development (re: Vygotsky, 1978).

 Piaget’s methods (observation and clinical interviews) are more open to biased
interpretation than other methods. Because Piaget conducted the observations alone the
data collected are based on his own subjective interpretation of events. It would have
been more reliable if Piaget conducted the observations with another researcher and
compared the results afterwards to check if they are similar (i.e. have inter rater
reliability).

 As several studies have shown Piaget underestimated the abilities of children because
his tests were sometimes confusing or difficult to understand (e.g. Hughes, 1975).

 The concept of schema is incompatible with the theories of Bruner (1966) and Vygotsky
(1978). Behaviorism would also refute Piaget’s schema theory because is cannot be
directly observed as it is an internal process. Therefore, they would claim it cannot be
objectively measured.

 Piaget carried out his studies with a handful of participants (i.e. small sample size) – and
in the early studies, he generally used his own children (from Switzerland). This sample
is biased, and accordingly, the results of these studies cannot be generalized to children
from different cultures.
 For Piaget language is seen as secondary to action, i.e. thought precedes language.
The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) argues that the development of
language and thought go together and that the origin of reasoning is more to do with our
ability to communicate with others than with our interaction with the material world.

APA Style References

Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. Cambridge, Mass.: Belkapp Press.
Central Advisory Council for Education (1967). Children and their Primary Schools ('The
Plowden Report'), London: HMSO.
Dasen, P. (1994). Culture and cognitive development from a Piagetian perspective. In W .J.
Lonner & R.S. Malpass (Eds.), Psychology and culture. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Hughes , M. (1975). Egocentrism in preschool children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation.
Edinburgh University.
Keating, D. (1979). Adolescent thinking. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent
psychology, pp. 211-246. New York: Wiley.
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1945). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. London: Heinemann.
Piaget, J. (1957). Construction of reality in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence. AMC, 10,
12.
Piaget, J., & Cook, M. T. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York, NY:
International University Press.
Siegler, R. S., DeLoache, J. S., & Eisenberg, N. (2003). How children develop. New York:
Worth.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wadsworth, B. J. (2004). Piaget's theory of cognitive and affective development:
Foundations of constructivism. Longman Publishing.

Lev Vygotsky
by Saul McLeod published 2007 updated 2014
The work of Lev Vygotsky (1934) has become the foundation of much research and theory
in cognitive development over the past several decades, particularly of what has become
known as Social Development Theory.
Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of
cognition Vygotsky, 1978), as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the
process of "making meaning."

Unlike Piaget's notion that childrens' development must necessarily precede their learning,
Vygotsky argued, "learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of
developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function" (1978, p. 90). In
other words, social learning tends to precede (i.e. come before) development.

Vygotsky has developed a sociocultural approach to cognitive development. He developed

his theories at around the same time asJean Piaget was starting to develop his ideas
(1920's and 30's), but he died at the age of 38 and so his theories are incomplete - although
some of his writings are still being translated from Russian.
No single principle (such as Piaget's equilibration) can account for development. Individual
development cannot be understood without reference to the social and cultural context
within which it is embedded. Higher mental processes in the individual have their origin in
social processes.

Vygotsky's theory differs from that of

Piaget in a number of important ways:
1: Vygotsky places more emphasis on culture affecting/shaping cognitive development - this
contradicts Piaget's view of universal stages and content of development. (Vygotsky does
not refer to stages in the way that Piaget does).

(i) Hence Vygotsky assumes cognitive development varies across cultures, whereas
Piaget states cognitive development is mostly universal across cultures.

2: Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to cognitive

development (Piaget is criticized for underestimating this).

(i) Vygotsky states cognitive development stems from social interactions from guided
learning within the zone of proximal development as children and their partners co-
construct knowledge. In contrast Piaget maintains that cognitive development stems
largely from independent explorations in which children construct knowledge of their
own.
(ii) For Vygotsky, the environment in which children grow up will influence how they think
and what they think about.
3: Vygotsky places more (and different) emphasis on the role of language in cognitive
development (again Piaget is criticized for lack of emphasis on this). For Vygotsky, cognitive
development results from an internalization of language.

According to Piaget, language depends on thought for its development (i.e. thought comes
before language). For Vygotsky, thought and language are initially separate systems from
the beginning of life, merging at around three years of age, producing verbal thought (inner
speech).

4: According to Vygotsky adults are an important source of cognitive development. Adults

transmit their culture's tools of intellectual adaptation that children internalize. In contrast
Piaget emphasizes the importance of peers as peer interaction promotes social perspective
taking.

Effects of Culture: - Tools of intellectual

adaptation
Like Piaget, Vygotsky claimed that infants are born with the basic materials/abilities for
intellectual development - Piaget focuses on motor reflexes and sensory abilities.

Lev Vygotsky refers to Elementary Mental Functions –

o Attention
o Sensation

o Perception
o Memory

Eventually, through interaction within the sociocultural environment, these are developed
into more sophisticated and effective mental processes/strategies which he refers to
as Higher Mental Functions.

For example, memory in young children this is limited by biological factors. However, culture
determines the type of memory strategy we develop. E.g., in our culture we learn note-
taking to aid memory, but in pre-literate societies other strategies must be developed, such
as tying knots in string to remember, or carrying pebbles, or repetition of the names of
ancestors until large numbers can be repeated.

Vygotsky refers to tools of intellectual adaptation - these allow children to use the basic
mental functions more effectively/adaptively, and these are culturally determined (e.g.
memory mnemonics, mind maps).
Vygotsky therefore sees cognitive functions, even those carried out alone, as affected by
the beliefs, values and tools of intellectual adaptation of the culture in which a person
develops and therefore socio-culturally determined. The tools of intellectual adaptation
therefore vary from culture to culture - as in the memory example.

Social Influences on Cognitive

Development
Like Piaget, Vygotsky believes that young children are curious and actively involved in their
own learning and the discovery and development of new
understandings/schema. However, Vygotsky placed more emphasis on social contributions
to the process of development, whereas Piaget emphasized self-initiated discovery.
According to Vygotsky (1978), much important learning by the child occurs through social
interaction with a skillful tutor. The tutor may model behaviors and/or provide verbal
instructions for the child. Vygotsky refers to this as cooperative or collaborative dialogue.
The child seeks to understand the actions or instructions provided by the tutor (often the
parent or teacher) then internalizes the information, using it to guide or regulate their own
performance.

Shaffer (1996) gives the example of a young girl who is given her first jigsaw. Alone, she
performs poorly in attempting to solve the puzzle. The father then sits with her and
describes or demonstrates some basic strategies, such as finding all the corner/edge pieces
and provides a couple of pieces for the child to put together herself and offers
encouragement when she does so. As the child becomes more competent, the father allows
the child to work more independently. According to Vygotsky, this type of social interaction
involving cooperative or collaborative dialogue promotes cognitive development.

In order to gain an understanding of Vygotsky's theories on cognitive development, one

must understand two of the main principles of Vygotsky's work: the More Knowledgeable
Other (MKO) and the Zone of Proximal Development(ZPD).

More Knowledgeable Other

The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is somewhat self-explanatory; it refers to someone
who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a
particular task, process, or concept.

Although the implication is that the MKO is a teacher or an older adult, this is not
necessarily the case. Many times, a child's peers or an adult's children may be the
individuals with more knowledge or experience. For example, who is more likely to know
more about the newest teenage music groups, how to win at the most recent PlayStation
game, or how to correctly perform the newest dance craze - a child or their parents?

In fact, the MKO need not be a person at all. Some companies, to support employees in
their learning process, are now using electronic performance support systems. Electronic
tutors have also been used in educational settings to facilitate and guide students through
the learning process. The key to MKOs is that they must have (or be programmed with)
more knowledge about the topic being learned than the learner does.

Zone of Proximal Development

The concept of the More Knowledgeable Other is integrally related to the second important
principle of Vygotsky's work, the Zone of Proximal Development.

This is an important concept that relates to the difference between what a child can achieve
independently and what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a
skilled partner.

For example, the child could not solve the jigsaw puzzle (in the example above) by itself
and would have taken a long time to do so (if at all), but was able to solve it following
interaction with the father, and has developed competence at this skill that will be applied to
future jigsaws.

Vygotsky (1978) sees the Zone of Proximal Development as the area where the most
sensitive instruction or guidance should be given - allowing the child to develop skills they
will then use on their own - developing higher mental functions.
Vygotsky also views interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills and
strategies. He suggests that teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less
competent children develop with help from more skillful peers - within the zone of proximal
development.

Evidence for Vygotsky and the ZPD

Freund (1990) conducted a study in which children had to decide which items of furniture
should be placed in particular areas of a dolls house. Some children were allowed to play
with their mother in a similar situation before they attempted it alone (zone of proximal
development) whilst others were allowed to work on this by themselves (Piaget's discovery
learning).

Freund found that those who had previously worked with their mother (ZPD) showed
greatest improvement compared with their first attempt at the task. The conclusion being
that guided learning within the ZPD led to greater understanding/performance than working
alone (discovery learning).

Vygotsky and Language

Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication
purposes. Vygotsky viewed language as man’s greatest tool, a means for communicating
with the outside world.

According to Vygotsky (1962) language plays 2 critical roles in cognitive development:

1: It is the main means by which adults transmit information to children.

2: Language itself becomes a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation.

Vygotsky (1987) differentiates between three forms of language: social speech which is
external communication used to talk to others (typical from the age of two); private speech
(typical from the age of three) which is directed to the self and serves an intellectual
function; and finally private speech goes underground, diminishing in audibility as it takes on
a self-regulating function and is transformed into silent inner speech (typical from the age of
seven).

For Vygotsky, thought and language are initially separate systems from the beginning of life,
merging at around three years of age. At this point speech and thought become
interdependent: thought becomes verbal, speech becomes representational. When this
happens, children's monologues internalized to become inner speech. The internalization of
language is important as it drives cognitive development.

"Inner speech is not the interior aspect of external speech - it is a function in itself. It still
remains speech, i.e. thought connected with words. But while in external speech thought is
embodied in words, in inner speech words dies as they bring forth thought. Inner speech is
to a large extent thinking in pure meanings" (Vygotsky, 1962: p. 149).
Vygotsky (1987) was the first psychologist to document the importance of private speech.
He considered private speech as the transition point between social and inner speech, the
moment in development where language and thought unite to constitute verbal thinking.
Thus private speech, in Vygotsky's view, was the earliest manifestation of inner speech.
Indeed, private speech is more similar (in its form and function) to inner speech than social
speech.

Private speech is "typically defined, in contrast to social speech, as speech addressed to

the self (not to others) for the purpose of self-regulation (rather than communication)" (Diaz,
1992, p.62). Unlike inner speech which is covert (i.e. hidden), private speech is overt.
In contrast to Piaget’s (1959) notion of private speech representing a developmental dead-
end, Vygotsky (1934, 1987) viewed private speech as: “a revolution in development which is
triggered when preverbal thought and preintellectual language come together to create
fundamentally new forms of mental functioning" (Fernyhough & Fradley, 2005: p. 1).
In addition to disagreeing on the functional significance of private speech, Vygotsky and
Piaget also offered opposing views on the developmental course of private speech and the
environmental circumstances in which it occurs most often (Berk & Garvin, 1984).

Through private speech, children begin to collaborate with themselves in the same way a
more knowledgeable other (e.g. adults) collaborate with them in the achievement of a given
function.

Vygotsky sees "private speech" as a means for children to plan activities and strategies and
therefore aid their development. Private speech is the use of language for self-regulation of
behavior. Language is therefore an accelerator to thinking/understanding (Jerome
Bruner also views language in this way). Vygotsky believed that children who engaged in
large amounts of private speech are more socially competent than children who do not use
it extensively.
Vygotsky (1987) notes that private speech does not merely accompany a child’s activity but
acts as a tool used by the developing child to facilitate cognitive processes, such as
overcoming task obstacles, enhancing imagination, thinking, and conscious awareness.
Children use private speech most often during intermediate difficulty tasks because they are
attempting to self-regulate by verbally planning and organizing their thoughts (Winsler et al.,
2007).

The frequency and content of private speech are then correlated with behavior or
performance. For example, private speech appears to be functionally related to cognitive
performance: It appears at times of difficulty with a task. For example, tasks related to
executive function (Fernyhough & Fradley, 2005), problem solving tasks (Behrend et al.,
1992), schoolwork in both language (Berk & Landau, 1993), and mathematics (Ostad &
Sorensen, 2007).

Berk (1986) provided empirical support for the notion of private speech. She found that
most private speech exhibited by children serves to describe or guide the child's actions.

Berk also discovered than child engaged in private speech more often when working alone
on challenging tasks and also when their teacher was not immediately available to help
them. Furthermore, Berk also found that private speech develops similarly in all children
regardless of cultural background.

Vygotsky (1987) proposed that private speech is a product of an individual’s social

environment. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that there exist high positive
correlations between rates of social interaction and private speech in children.

Children raised in cognitively and linguistically stimulating environments (situations more

frequently observed in higher socioeconomic status families) start using and internalizing
private speech faster than children from less privileged backgrounds. Indeed, children
raised in environments characterized by low verbal and social exchanges exhibit delays in
private speech development.

Childrens’ use of private speech diminishes as they grow older and follows a curvilinear
trend. This is due to changes in ontogenetic development whereby children are able to
internalize language (through inner speech) in order to self-regulate their behavior
(Vygotsky, 1987). For example, research has shown that childrens’ private speech usually
peaks at 3–4 years of age, decreases at 6–7 years of age, and gradually fades out to be
mostly internalized by age 10 (Diaz, 1992).

Vygotsky proposed that private speech diminishes and disappears with age not because it
becomes socialized, as Piaget suggested, but rather because it goes underground to
constitute inner speech or verbal thought" (Frauenglass & Diaz, 1985).

Classroom Applications
A contemporary educational application of Vygotsky's theories is "reciprocal teaching", used
to improve students' ability to learn from text. In this method, teachers and students
collaborate in learning and practicing four key skills: summarizing, questioning, clarifying,
and predicting. The teacher's role in the process is reduced over time.

Also, Vygotsky is relevant to instructional concepts such as "scaffolding" and

"apprenticeship", in which a teacher or more advanced peer helps to structure or arrange a
task so that a novice can work on it successfully.

Vygotsky's theories also feed into the current interest in collaborative learning, suggesting
that group members should have different levels of ability so more advanced peers can help
less advanced members operate within their ZPD.

Critical Evaluation
Vygotsky's work has not received the same level of intense scrutiny that Piaget's has, partly
due to the time consuming process of translating Vygotsky's work from Russian. Also,
Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective does not provide as many specific hypotheses to test
as did Piaget's theory, making refutation difficult, if not impossible.

Perhaps the main criticism of Vygotsky's work concerns the assumption that it is relevant to
all cultures. Rogoff (1990) dismisses the idea that Vygotsky's ideas are culturally universal
and instead states the concept of scaffolding - which is heavily dependent on verbal
instruction - may not be equally useful in all cultures for all types of learning. Indeed, in
some instances observation and practice may be more effective ways of learning certain
skills.

APA Style References

Behrend, D.A., Rosengren, K.S., & Perlmutter, M. (1992). The relation between private
speech and parental interactive style. In R.M. Diaz & L.E. Berk (Eds.), Private speech: From
social interaction to self-regulation (pp. 85–100). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Berk, L. E. (1986). Relationship of elementary school children's private speech to behavioral
accompaniment to task, attention, and task performance. Developmental Psychology, 22(5),
671.
Berk, L. & Garvin, R. (1984). Development of private speech among low-income
Appalachian children. Developmental Psychology, 20(2), 271-286.
Berk, L. E., & Landau, S. (1993). Private speech of learning-disabled and normally
achieving children in classroom academic and laboratory contexts. Child Development, 64,
556–571.
Diaz, R. M., & Berk, L. E. (1992). Private speech: From social interaction to self-
regulation. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Frauenglass, M. & Diaz, R. (1985). Self-regulatory functions of children's private speech: A
critical analysis of recent challenges to Vygotsky's theory. Developmental Psychology,
21(2), 357-364.
Fernyhough, C., & Fradley, E. (2005). Private speech on an executive task: Relations with
task difficulty and task performance. Cognitive Development, 20, 103–120.
Freund, L. S. (1990). Maternal regulation of children's problem-solving behavior and its
impact on children's performance. Child Development, 61, 113-126.
Ostad, S. A., & Sorensen, P. M. (2007). Private speech and strategy-use patterns:
Bidirectional comparisons of children with and without mathematical difficulties in a
developmental perspective. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 40, 2–14.
Piaget, J. (1959). The language and thought of the child (Vol. 5). Psychology Press.
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeships in thinking. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schaffer, R. (1996). Social development. Oxford: Blackwell.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). Thinking and speech. In R.W. Rieber & A.S. Carton (Eds.), The
collected works of L.S. Vygotsky, Volume 1: Problems of general psychology (pp. 39–285).
New York: Plenum Press. (Original work published 1934.)
Winsler, A., Abar, B., Feder, M. A., Schunn, C. D., & Rubio, D. A. (2007). Private speech
and executive functioning among high-functioning children with autistic spectrum
disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1617-1635.

Bruner
by Saul McLeod published 2008, updated 2012
The outcome of cognitive development is thinking. The intelligent mind creates from
experience "generic coding systems that permit one to go beyond the data to new and
possibly fruitful predictions" (Bruner, 1957, p. 234).

Thus, children as they grow must acquire a way of representing the "recurrent regularities"
in their environment.

So, to Bruner, important outcomes of learning include not just the concepts, categories, and
problem-solving procedures invented previously by the culture, but also the ability to
"invent" these things for oneself.
Cognitive growth involves an interaction between basic human capabilities and "culturally
invented technologies that serve as amplifiers of these capabilities." These culturally
invented technologies include not just obvious things such as computers and television, but
also more abstract notions such as the way a culture categorizes phenomena, and
language itself. Bruner would likely agree with Vygotsky that language serves to mediate
between environmental stimuli and the individual's response.
The aim of education should be to create autonomous learners (i.e., learning to learn).

In his research on the cognitive development of children (1966), Jerome Bruner proposed
three modes of representation:

 Enactive representation (action-based)

 Iconic representation (image-based)
 Symbolic representation (language-based)

Bruner's Three Modes of Representation

Modes of representation are the way in which information or knowledge are stored and encoded
in memory.

Rather than neat age related stages (like Piaget), the modes of representation are integrated and
only loosely sequential as they "translate" into each other.

Enactive
(0 - 1 years)
This appears first. It involves encoding action based information and storing it in our
memory. For example, in the form of movement as a muscle memory, a baby might
remember the action of shaking a rattle.

The child represents past events through motor responses, i.e. an infant will “shake a rattle”
which has just been removed or dropped, as if the movements themselves are expected to
produce the accustomed sound. And this is not just limited to children.

Many adults can perform a variety of motor tasks (typing, sewing a shirt, operating a lawn
mower) that they would find difficult to describe in iconic (picture) or symbolic (word) form.

Iconic
(1 - 6 years)
This is where information is stored visually in the form of images (a mental picture in the
mind’s eye). For some, this is conscious; others say they don’t experience it. This may
explain why, when we are learning a new subject, it is often helpful to have diagrams or
illustrations to accompany verbal information.

Symbolic
(7 years onwards)
This develops last. This is where information is stored in the form of a code or symbol, such
as language. This is the most adaptable form of representation, for actions & images have a
fixed relation to that which they represent. Dog is a symbolic representation of a single
class.

Symbols are flexible in that they can be manipulated, ordered, classified etc., so the user
isn’t constrained by actions or images. In the symbolic stage, knowledge is stored primarily
as words, mathematical symbols, or in other symbol systems.

Bruner's constructivist theory suggests it is effective when faced with new material to follow
a progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation; this holds true even for
adult learners. A true instructional designer, Bruner's work also suggests that a learner even
of a very young age is capable of learning any material so long as the instruction is
organized appropriately, in sharp contrast to the beliefs of Piaget and other stage theorists.

The Importance of Language

Language is important for the increased ability to deal with abstract concepts. Bruner
argues that language can code stimuli and free an individual from the constraints of dealing
only with appearances, to provide a more complex yet flexible cognition.

The use of words can aid the development of the concepts they represent and can remove
the constraints of the “here & now” concept. Basically, he sees the infant as an intelligent &
active problem solver from birth, with intellectual abilities basically similar to those of the
mature adult.

Educational Implications
For Bruner (1961), the purpose of education is not to impart knowledge, but instead to
facilitate a child's thinking and problem solving skills which can then be transferred to a
range of situations. Specifically, education should also develop symbolic thinking in
children.
In 1960 Bruner's text, The Process of Education was published. The main premise of
Bruner's text was that students are active learners who construct their own knowledge.

Bruner (1960) opposed Piaget's notion of readiness. He argued that schools waste time
trying to match the complexity of subject material to a child's cognitive stage of
development. This means students are held back by teachers as certain topics are deemed
too difficult to understand and must be taught when the teacher believes the child has
reached the appropriate state of cognitive maturity.
Bruner (1960) adopts a different view and believes a child (of any age) is capable of
understanding complex information: 'We begin with the hypothesis that any subject can be
taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of
development'. (p. 33)

Bruner (1960) explained how this was possible through the concept of the spiral curriculum.
This involved information being structured so that complex ideas can be taught at a
simplified level first, and then re-visited at more complex levels later on. Therefore, subjects
would be taught at levels of gradually increasing difficultly (hence the spiral analogy).
Ideally, teaching his way should lead to children being able to solve problems by
themselves.

Bruner (1961) proposes that learners’ construct their own knowledge and do this by
organizing and categorizing information using a coding system. Bruner believed that the
most effective way to develop a coding system is to discover it rather than being told it by
the teacher. The concept of discovery learning implies that students construct their own
knowledge for themselves (also known as a constructivist approach).

The role of the teacher should not be to teach information by rote learning, but instead to
facilitate the learning process. This means that a good teacher will design lessons that help
student discover the relationship between bits of information. To do this a teacher must give
students the information they need, but without organizing for them. The use of the spiral
curriculum can aid the process of discovery learning.

Bruner and Vygotsky

Both Bruner and Vygotsky emphasise a child's environment, especially the social
environment, more than Piaget did. Both agree that adults should play an active role in
assisting the child's learning.

Bruner, like Vygotsky, emphasized the social nature of learning, citing that other people
should help a child develop skills through the process of scaffolding. The term scaffolding
first appeared in the literature when Wood, Bruner and Ross described how tutors'
interacted with preschooler to help them solve a block reconstruction problem (Wood et al.,
1976).

The concept of scaffolding is very similar to Vygotsky's notion of the zone of proximal
development, and it's not uncommon for the terms to be used
interchangeably. Scaffolding involves helpful, structured interaction between an adult and a
child with the aim of helping the child achieve a specific goal.
'[Scaffolding] refers to the steps taken to reduce the degrees of freedom in carrying out
some task so that the child can concentrate on the difficult skill she is in the process of
acquiring' (Bruner, 1978, p. 19).

Bruner and Piaget

Obviously there are similarities between Piaget and Bruner, but an important difference is
that Bruner’s modes are not related in terms of which presuppose the one that precedes it.
Whilst sometimes one mode may dominate in usage, they coexist. Bruner states that what
determines the level of intellectual development is the extent to which the child has been
given appropriate instruction together with practice or experience. So - the right way of
presentation and the right explanation will enable a child to grasp a concept usually only
understood by an adult. His theory stresses the role of education and the adult.
Although Bruner proposes stages of cognitive development, he doesn’t see them as
representing different separate modes of thought at different points of development (like
Piaget). Instead, he sees a gradual development of cognitive skills and techniques into
more integrated “adult” cognitive techniques.

Bruner views symbolic representation as crucial for cognitive development and since
language is our primary means of symbolizing the world, he attaches great importance to
language in determining cognitive development.

RUNER AGREES WITH PIAGET BRUNER DISAGREES WITH PIAGET

1. Development is a CONTINUOUS PROCESS – not a serie

1. Children are PRE-ADAPTED to learning
stages

2. The development of LANGUAGE is a cause not a

2. Children have a NATURAL CURIOSITY
consequence of cognitive development

3. Children’s COGNITIVE STRUCTURES 3. You can SPEED-UP cognitive development. You don’t hav
develop over time to wait for the child to be ready

4. Children are ACTIVE participants in the 4. The involvement of ADULTS and MORE KNOWLEDGEAB
learning process PEERS makes a big difference

5. Cognitive development entails the 5. Symbolic thought does NOT REPLACE EARLIER MODES
acquisition of SYMBOLS OF REPRESENTATION

References
Bruner, J. S. (1957). Going beyond the information given. New York: Norton.
Bruner, J. S. (1960). The Process of education. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press.
Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31, 21-32.
Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction, Cambridge, Mass.: Belkapp Press.
Bruner, J. S. (1973). The relevance of education. New York: Norton.
Bruner, J. S. (1978). The role of dialogue in language acquisition. In A. Sinclair, R., J.
Jarvelle, and W. J.M. Levelt (eds.) The Child's Concept of Language. New York: Springer-
Verlag.
Wood, D. J., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem
solving. Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, 17(2), 89-100.

David Ausubel's Theory

The Basics
David Ausubel was a cognitive learning theorist who focused on the learning of school subjects and who
placed considerable interest on what the student already knows as being the primary determiner of whether
and what he/she learns next. Ausubel viewed learning as an active process, not simply responding to your
environment. Learners seek to make sense of their surroundings by integrating new knowledge with that
which they have already learned.
Ausubel was leery of the research on learning done in labs often using stimuli that were not typical of school
subjects. For example, at the time Ausubel was writing a large amount of the research on learning involved
having students memorize non-sense terms such as "sdrgp" or paired associates such as "table-banana"
since these were likely new and unfamiliar to learners. For Ausubel this was simply rote learning that
remained isolated from other knowledge the learner had acquired. It was not potentially meaningful while
schools subjects were potentially meaningful. Rote learning was unlike the learning of school subjects, so
Ausubel sought to study how we learn content, like school subjects, that is potentially meaningful. He wrote
often about "meaningful learning" and this is why he rejected the research on rote learning as appropriate if
we want to improve learning in schools.

The key concept for Ausubel is the cognitive structure. He sees this as the sum of all the knowledge we have
acquired as well as the relationships among the facts, concepts and principles that make up that knowledge.
Learning for Ausubel is bringing something new into our cognitive structure and attaching it to our existing
knowledge that is located there. This is how we make meaning, and this was the focus of his work.

Podcast Review

Click the above icon to hear Dr. Hannum reviewing Ausubel's theory. This was recorded during a graduate
seminar on learning theories. You can also Download podcast.

View of Learning
Here is a comprehensive set of objectives for Ausubel along with points based on these objectives:

1. Describe meaningful verbal learning and contrast it with rote learning.

Ausubel's focus was on meaningful learning rather than rote learning. To him new learning was meaningful
when it could be related in a non-arbitrary fashion to that which a person already knew. Meaning happens
when new information is taken into a person's existing cognitive structure and is related to the previously
learned content forming new connections between this new information and the existing information. This is
how meaning works according to Auusbel. Rote learning, on the other hand, happens when the new
information cannot be related to the previously learned content in any substantive manner. In essence,
there is nothing in the person's existing cognitive structure to which she or he can relate the new
information to form meaning. Thus, it can only be rotely learned. Meaningful learning sticks and becomes
the basis for learning additional information. Rote learning does not stick because it does not have these
meaningful connections. Thus, it fades from memory rather quickly.

2. Describe the difference between discovery and reception learning.

Ausubel does not see an advantage for discovery learning. To him all learning happens the same way by
being compared and contrasted with prior knowledge that exists in a person's cognitive structure. If a
person has relevant content in his or her existing cognitive structure to which the new information can be
related, then the learning can be meaningful. Likewise if the person does not have relevant content in his or
her cognitive structure, then the new information can only be learned in a rote manner. The key point here
is that the process of learning does not depend on whether the content has to be discovered by the learner
through a discovery learning process or the content is given to the learner in the final form as is done in
reception learning. In fact, Ausubel sees several limitations of discovery learning and no advantages. For
one thing, discovery learning almost certainly will take longer because the learner has to figure out what
here she has to learn and then go about the process of bringing the new knowledge in and relating it to prior
knowledge in their cognitive structures to form meaning. Another limitation is of discovery learning is that
the student may discover some information that is not so and therefore learn erroneous content.
3. Describe the process of subsumption.
Subsumption Is the process by which new previously unencountered information is brought into a students
existing cognitive structure and systematically compared and contrasted with prior knowledge and
subsequently this new knowledge takes on meaning and becomes anchored within that person's cognitive
structure.

4. Define cognitive structure. Describe its organization and describe how it is involved in the learning
process.
Cognitive structure represents both the content of that which we already know and it's organization. Our
cognitive structures are organized with the larger, more inclusive, abstract ideas and concepts at the top.
More specific information resides at lower levels within our cognitive structures. Thus the concept of animals
would reside at a higher level in a cognitive structure than the concept of household pets, and the concept of
household pets would reside at a higher level in the cognitive structure than the concept of dog. The
cognitive structure is a key concept influencing learning according to Ausubel because unless someone has
relevant prior knowledge in his or her cognitive structure to which the new information can be related the
new information can only be learned in a rote fashion and this is more prone to be forgotten.

5. Define meaningfulness and describe why material can only be potentially meaningful.
Meaningfulness refers to new information that has been brought into an existing cognitive structure and has
been related to ideas with in that cognitive structure in a substantial form. This new information to call me
when a series of connections was formed between the new information and existing information within the
cognitive structure. Because this process by which material takes on meaning is an internal process, the
instructional materials themselves can only be potentially meaningful. Meaning happens when, and only
went, a learner incorporates new information into their cognitive structure and relates that to which he or
she already knows to form new meaning. That is, learning materials themselves can only have the potential
for becoming meaningful. The meaning cannot happen until the learner incorporates and material into their
cognitive structures.

6. Differentiate among derivative, correlative, and obliterative subsumption.

We have seen that subsumption is a process by which new information is brought into an existing cognitive
structure, related to the content there, and linkages formed so that the new information becomes
meaningful and is remembered. New content can be learned, that is subsumed, in one of two fashions. The
new content can be compared with the existing content and then take on meeting. This process is called
correlative subsumption. On the other hand, the new content maybe derived from existing content and then
take on meaning. This process is call derivative subsumption. There is a third form of subsumption, called
deliberative subsumption, that does not relate to learning but rather to forgetting. In Ausubel's view,
forgetting is a process where we lose the specific details of a piece of information because it was not firmly
established in our cognitive structure. For example, we may be no longer to tell the distinction between a
yellow pine and a loblolly pine although at one point we were able to do so. We can tell they're both trees
and indeed both pine trees but we can't which is which. In essence, the distinctiveness between these two
types of pine trees has been lost or obliterated.

7. Describe progressive differentiation and how it is involved in a cognitive structure.

Progressive differentiation is a characteristic of a cognitive structure that describes how it is organized with
the more abstract concepts at the top and the more distinct concepts at lower levels. Because this is the
way our cognitive structures are organized, Ausubel believes we should teach in a fashion that begins at the
highest level of a cognitive structure and progressively distinguishes the new information from existing
information as we worked down to the lower more specific levels. This method of teaching by going from
abstract to concrete is also referred to as progressive depreciation according Ausubel. Thus the term
progressive differentiation refers to two things: 1) how our cognitive structures are organized from general
to specific and 2) the sequence in which we should teach new content starting with the more general and
then progressively distinguishing that as we go to the more specific.

8. Define anchorage.
Anchorage is the term Ausubel uses to refer to the process of bringing new information into a cognitive
structure, comparing it with information that already exists in that cognitive structure, and forming new
relationships between this new information and the existing information to produce meaningful learning.

9. Describe the process of forgetting.

As previously noted, Ausubel refers to forgetting as a process by which we lose the specifics of a piece of
previously learning information. That is to say that the anchors that held the new information in place and
related it to other knowledge are no longer there. Because of this the previously learned piece of information
has lost its distinctiveness and been subsumed into a larger category. Thus we would no longer be able to
identify a particular type of skin rash as we once could but rather could only say that it's a rash. That
particular type of skin rash has been a obliterative subsumed to use Ausubel's term.

10. Describe why meaningfully learned materials are retained longer than rotely learned materials.
Meaningfully learning materials are retain much longer because they have more connections with other
pieces of knowledge within our cognitive structure and because these connections are more stable. By
definition rotley learning materials do not have a strong network of connections with other content in a
cognitive structure and because they are not firmly linked in with existing knowledge they are lost much
more quickly than meaningfully learned materials.

11. Describe how a cognitive structure is both a dependent and independent variable in learning.
A cognitive structure is a dependant variable because it is changed through the process of learning when
new information is acquired and brought into a cognitive structure and new relationships are established
within that cognitive structure. This is an outcome of learning and thus represents a dependent variable. A
cognitive structure is also an independent variable in that the most important influence on learning is
whether someone has sufficient information organized in a stable fashion within their cognitive structure to
which the new information can be related. If a person has relevant information in their cognitive structure to
which the new material could be related, then meaningful learning can happen. If they don't have
information in their cognitive structure to which the new information can be related, then it cannot be
meaningfully learned. In this sense a cognitive structure is an in de pent variable because it is the cause of
learning.

12. Identify the principle variables that influence meaningful learning.

The most important variable influencing learning is the extent to which a student has existing knowledge in
their cognitive structure to which the new material to be learned to be related in a non-arbitrary fashion.
Thus, a student's prior knowledge is the key variable influencing meaningful learning. Another variable that
influences learning is whether the doing content is presented in a direct expository fashion through receptive
learning as opposed to discovery learning in which a student has to first figure out what here she is to learn
and then go about the process of learning or subsuming it. Another variable that influences learning is
whether the material is taught in a general to specific sequence to facilitate progressive differentiation.

13. Describe progressive differentiation and integrative reconciliation as they relate to instructional
materials.
As previously noted progressive differentiation is the process of introducing new content at its highest level
of generality or abstraction and then progressively getting more specific about that content as you compare
it with other content that exists within a person's cognitive structure. Instructional materials should follow
the same sequence. That is when a new concept is introduced the instructional materials should first
described the new content's relationship with prior knowledge in a person's cognitive structure in the most
abstract, general terms. Then as the instructional materials continues it should become more specific and
give more detail to progressively distinguish the new content from the existing knowledge so that learners
see the uniqueness of the new content. Thus, instructional materials should progressively differentiate the
contest they introduce. The point of progressive differentiation is to show and preserve the uniqueness of
the new content so that it is not confused with the existing content. An opposing process is also important in
learning and should also be a part of the design of instructional materials. This process is just the reverse of
progressive differentiation. In this process, called integrative reconciliation, the new material is compared
with the existing knowledge to show similarities, not differences. In essence, progressive differentiation
points out differences, or contrast, while integrative reconciliation points out similarities, or comparisons. By
using these opposing processes in the design of instruction mercurial you can at the same time maintain the
distinctness of a new idea through progressive differentiation and also show the similarities of this idea with
other known ideas through integrative reconciliation.

14. Define advance organizers and describe why they influence learning.
Advance organizers are introductory passages they precede instructional materials that introduce new
content. Advance organizers are short passages, typically just a few sentences, and at a higher level of
abstraction than the learning passages that will follow. The point of an Advance organizer is to stimulate
that part of the cognitive structure under which the new information should reside. In essence, an advanced
organizer gives students a heads-up about where the new material should fit into their cognitive structures.
An advanced organizer is not an objective because it does not indicate what the student will learn nor what
she or he will be able to do after they've completed the instruction. An advance organizer is also not a
summary or overview presented at the beginning because an advance organizer does not contain the same
information in the body of the text that follows. It is to a condensed version of the new content. Rather the
advanced organizer is at a higher level of abstraction and inclusiveness.

15. Describe readiness for learning.

Ausubel's emphasis was on meaningful learning not rote learning. In his view learning will will be meaningful
if the student has pre-existing knowledge in his or her cognitive structure to which the new material can be
related. Thus, a student is ready to learn some specific content when they have sufficient pre-existing
knowledge knowledge in their cognitive structure to which the new material could be related. For Ausubel,
unlike Piaget or Bruner, readiness to learn does not relate to some stage of development but rather to the
existence of specific prerequisite knowledge in their cognitive structures.

16. Describe the importance of practice in learning, how/why it works, and placements of practice trials.
Recall that Ausubel views learning as a process of subsumption In which new information is brought into a
cognitive structure, compared and contrasted with the current information that resides in that structure, and
then the new information is incorporated and becomes a part of the student's cognitive structure. Practice is
essential to this part of the learning process because it provides the opportunity for the students to compare
and contrast the new information with that which they already know so that they can subsumed the new
information into their cognitive structures. Practice works because it provides the occasion for students to
strengthen the relationship of the new information with information already in their cognitive structure and
thus ensure that the new information is sufficiently anchored so it doesn't disappear. Practice matters in this
theory, but so does the placement of the practice. Stronger learning results from practice that is spread out
over time rather than bunched together and happening all at once. It produces stronger learning when a
student is provided an opportunity to practice new learning on multiple occasions.

17. Distinguish between Ausubel and behaviorists in terms of their explanation of why practice works.
Practice is a very important feature of learning for the behaviorists like Skinner, and practice is also an
important feature of learning for a cognitive theorist like Ausubel. However, their understanding of why
practice works and how it works to influence learning is quite different. In Skinners behavioral theory
practice is important because learning happens only when a behavior is reinforced. Practice, then, provides
the opportunity for the behavior to be omitted and for reinforcement to occur thus ensuring learning.
Practice does nothing more then provide the opportunity for reinforcement, which in their theory is what
causes learning to occur. In Ausubel's cognitive theory the importance of practice is to provide opportunity
for the internal processing by which new information is brought into a cognitive structure, sorted out, and
connected with other information so that it becomes anchored in a meaningful manner and thus learned.

Status
Ausubel published his major book about learning theory, "Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View," in
1968 with a second edition in 1978. He was an early cognitive theorist at a time behaviorism was the
dominate theory influencing education. For a variety of reasons, Ausubel never received the recognition and
acclaim that should have been his.

Many of his ideas found their way into the mainstream of educational psychology, but he seemed to miss
out on the credit. For example, Ausubel should be crediting with creating advance organizers that are
common in textbooks today. He also emphasized starting with the "big picture" or fundamental structure of
a subject and filling in the details later. This approach is widely practiced today but stood in stark contrast to
the behavioral notion of starting with the smallest bits of content and building from there. Ausubel stressed
that the most important thing influenced learning is what the student already knows, that is, the content of
his or her cognitive structure. Today we try to match instruction to the student's pre-existing knowledge so
that it will be meaningful. Pure Ausubel here!

While Ausubel's name is not widely recognized in education, his ideas have a continuing impact. He helped
break us from the lock-step approach to teaching that came from behaviorism. He got us considering what
was going on internally within learners' brains when we were trying to teach them. He saw learning as an
active process, not a passive experience. He wanted us to engage the stud
Bandura - Social Learning Theory
by Saul McLeod published 2011, updated 2016
In social learning theory Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the behaviourist learning
theories of classical conditioningand operant conditioning. However, he adds two important
ideas:
1. Mediating processes occur between stimuli & responses.
2. Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.
Observational Learning

Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. This is illustrated during the
famous Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1961).

Individuals that are observed are called models. In society, children are surrounded by many
influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV, friends within
their peer group and teachers at school. Theses models provide examples of behavior to observe
and imitate, e.g. masculine and feminine, pro and anti-social etc.

Children pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their behavior. At a later
time they may imitate (i.e. copy) the behavior they have observed. They may do this regardless
of whether the behavior is ‘gender appropriate’ or not, but there are a number of processes that
make it more likely that a child will reproduce the behavior that its society deems appropriate for
its sex.

First, the child is more likely to attend to and imitate those people it perceives as similar to itself.
Consequently, it is more likely to imitate behavior modeled by people of the same sex.

Second, the people around the child will respond to the behavior it imitates with either
reinforcement or punishment. If a child imitates a model’s behavior and the consequences are
rewarding, the child is likely to continue performing the behavior. If parent sees a little girl
consoling her teddy bear and says “what a kind girl you are”, this is rewarding for the child and
makes it more likely that she will repeat the behavior. Her behavior has been reinforced (i.e.
strengthened).
Reinforcement can be external or internal and can be positive or negative. If a child wants
approval from parents or peers, this approval is an external reinforcement, but feeling happy
about being approved of is an internal reinforcement. A child will behave in a way which it
believes will earn approval because it desires approval.

Positive (or negative) reinforcement will have little impact if the reinforcement offered
externally does not match with an individual's needs. Reinforcement can be positive or
negative, but the important factor is that it will usually lead to a change in a person's
behavior.
Third, the child will also take into account of what happens to other people when deciding
whether or not to copy someone’s actions. A person learns by observing the consequences
of another person’s (i.e. models) behaviour e.g. a younger sister observing an older sister
being rewarded for a particular behaviour is more likely to repeat that behaviour
herself. This is known as vicarious reinforcement.

This relates to attachment to specific models that possess qualities seen as rewarding.
Children will have a number of models with whom they identify. These may be people in
their immediate world, such as parents or older siblings, or could be fantasy characters or
people in the media. The motivation to identify with a particular model is that they have a
quality which the individual would like to possess.

Identification occurs with another person (the model) and involves taking on (or adopting)
observed behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes of the person with whom you are
identifying.

The term identification as used by Social Learning Theory is similar to the Freudian term
related to the Oedipus complex. For example, they both involve internalizing or adopting
another person’s behavior. However, during the Oedipus complex the child can only
identify with the same sex parent, whereas with Social Learning Theory the person (child or
adult) can potentially identify with any other person.

Identification is different to imitation as it may involve a number of behaviors being adopted,

whereas imitation usually involves copying a single behavior.

Mediational Processes
SLT is often described as the ‘bridge’ between traditional learning theory (ie. behaviourism)
and the cognitive approach. This is because it focuses on how mental (cognitive) factors are
involved in learning.
Unlike Skinner, Bandura (1977) believes that humans are active information processors and
think about the relationship between their behavior and its consequences. Observational
learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work. These mental factors
mediate (i.e. intervene) in the learning process to determine whether a new response is
acquired.
Therefore, individuals do not automatically observe the behaviour of a model and imitate it.
There is some thought prior to imitation and this consideration is called mediational
processes. This occurs between observing the behaviour (stimulus) and imitating it or not
(response)

There are four mediational processes proposed by Bandura:

1. Attention: For a behaviour to be imitated it has to grab our attention. We observe

many behaviours on a daily basis and many of these are not noteworthy. Attention is
therefore extremely important in whether a behaviour has an influence in others imitating
it.

2. Retention: The behaviour may be noticed, but is it not always remembered which
obviously prevents imitation. It is important therefore that a memory of the behaviour is
formed to be performed later by the observer. Much of social learning is not immediate
so this process is especially vital in those cases. Even if the behaviour is reproduced
shortly after seeing it, there needs to be a memory to refer to.
 3. Reproduction: We see much behaviour on a daily basis that we would like to be able
to imitate but that this not always possible. We are limited by our physical ability and for
that reason, even if we wish to reproduce the behaviour, we cannot. This influences our
decisions whether to try and imitate it or not. Imagine the scenario of a 90-year-old-lady
who struggles to walk watching Dancing on Ice. She may appreciate that the skill is a
desirable one, but she will not attempt to imitate it because she physically cannot do it.

4. Motivation: The rewards and punishment that follow a behaviour will be considered
by the observer. If the perceived rewards outweighs the perceived costs (if there are
any) then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated by the observer. If the
vicarious reinforcement is not seen to be important enough to the observer then they
will not imitate the behaviour.

Critical Evaluation

The social learning approach takes thought processes into account and acknowledges the role that they
play in deciding if a behaviour is to be imitated or not. As such, SLT provides a more comprehensive
explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes.

Some criticisms of social learning theory arise from their commitment to the environment as the chief
influence on behaviour. It is limiting to describe behavior solely in terms of either nature or nurture, and
attempts to do this underestimate the complexity of human behavior. It is more likely that behavior is
due to an interaction between nature (biology) and nurture (environment).

Learning theory is not a full explanation for all behaviour. This is particularly the case when there is no
apparent role model in the person’s life to imitate for a given behaviour.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura, A. Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through the imitation of aggressive
models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-582

Information Processing
by Saul McLeod published 2008
At the very heart of cognitive psychology is the idea of information processing.
Cognitive psychology sees the individual as a processor of information, in much the same
way that a computer takes in information and follows a program to produce an output.

Cognitive psychology compares the human mind to a computer, suggesting that we too are
information processors and that it is possible and desirable to study the internal mental /
mediational processes that lie between the stimuli (in our environment) and the response
we make.

Basic Assumptions
The information processing approach is based on a number of assumptions, including:

(1) information made available by the environment is processed by a series of processing

systems (e.g. attention, perception, short-term memory);

(2) these processing systems transform or alter the information in systematic ways;

(3) the aim of research is to specify the processes and structures that underlie cognitive
performance;

(4) information processing in humans resembles that in computers.

Computer - Mind Analogy

The development of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s had an important influence on
psychology and was, in part, responsible for the cognitive approach becoming the dominant
approach in modern psychology (taking over from behaviorism).

The computer gave cognitive psychologists a metaphor, or analogy, to which they could
compare human mental processing. The use of the computer as a tool for thinking how the
human mind handles information is known as the computer analogy.
Essentially, a computer codes (i.e. changes) information, stores information, uses
information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information processing was
adopted by cognitive psychologists as a model of how human thought works.

For example, the eye receives visual information and codes information into electric neural
activity which is fed back to the brain where it is “stored” and “coded”. This information is
can be used by other parts of the brain relating to mental activities such as memory,
perception and attention. The output (i.e. behavior) might be, for example, to read what you
can see on a printed page.

Hence the information processing approach characterizes thinking as the environment

providing input of data, which is then transformed by our senses. The information can be
stored, retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”, with the results being
behavioral responses.

Cognitive psychology has influenced and integrated with many other approaches and areas
of study to produce, for example, social learning theory, cognitive neuropsychology and
artificial intelligence (AI).

Information Processing & Attention

When we are selectively attending to one activity, we tend to ignore other stimulation,
although our attention can be distracted by something else, like the telephone ringing or
someone using our name.

Psychologists are interested in what makes us attend to one thing rather than another
(selective attention); why we sometimes switch our attention to something that was
previously unattended (e.g. Cocktail Party Syndrome), and how many things we can attend
to at the same time (attentional capacity).

One way of conceptualizing attention is to think of humans as information processors who

can only process a limited amount of information at a time without becoming overloaded.
Broadbent and others in the 1950's adopted amodel of the brain as a limited capacity
information processing system, through which external input is transmitted.

The Information Processing System

Information processing models consist of a series of stages, or boxes, which represent
stages of processing. Arrows indicate the flow of information from one stage to the next.

* Input processes are concerned with the analysis of the stimuli.

* Storage processes cover everything that happens to stimuli internally in the brain and can
include coding and manipulation of the stimuli.

* Output processes are responsible for preparing an appropriate response to a stimulus.

Critical Evaluation
A number of models of attention within the Information Processing framework have been
proposed including:

Broadbent's Filter Model (1958), Treisman's Attenuation Model (1964) and Deutsch and
Deutsch's Late Selection Model (1963).
However, there are a number of evaluative points to bear in mind when studying these
models, and the information processing approach in general.

These include:

1. The information processing models assume serial processing of stimulus inputs.

Serial processing effectively means one process has to be completed before the next
starts.

Parallel processing assumes some or all processes involved in a cognitive task(s) occur
at the same time.

There is evidence from dual-task experiments that parallel processing is possible. It is

difficult to determine whether a particular task is processed in a serial or parallel fashion as
it probably depends (a) on the processes required to solve a task, and (b) the amount of
practice on a task. Parallel processing is probably more frequent when someone is highly
skilled; for example a skilled typist thinks several letters ahead, a novice focuses on just 1
letter at a time.
2. The analogy between human cognition and computer functioning adopted by the
information processing approach is limited. Computers can be regarded as information
processing systems insofar as they:

(i) combine information presented with stored information to provide solutions to a

variety of problems, and

(ii) most computers have a central processor of limited capacity and it is usually
assumed that capacity limitations affect the human attentional system.

BUT -

(i) the human brain has the capacity for extensive parallel processing and computers
often rely on serial processing;

(ii) humans are influenced in their cognitions by a number of conflicting emotional and
motivational factors.

3. The evidence for the theories/models of attention which come under the information
processing approach is largely based on experiments under controlled, scientific conditions.
Most laboratory studies are artificial and could be said tolack ecological validity.

In everyday life, cognitive processes are often linked to a goal (e.g. you pay attention in
class because you want to pass the examination), whereas in the laboratory the
experiments are carried out in isolation form other cognitive and motivational factors.
Although these laboratory experiments are easy to interpret, the data may not be applicable
to the real world outside the laboratory. More recent ecologically valid approaches to
cognition have been proposed (e.g. the Perceptual Cycle, Neisser, 1976).

Attention has been studied largely in isolation from other cognitive processes, although
clearly it operates as an interdependent system with the related cognitive processes of
perception and memory. The more successful we become at examining part of the cognitive
system in isolation, the less our data are likely to tell us about cognition in everyday life.

4. The Models proposed by Broadbent and Treisman are 'bottom-up' or ‘stimulus driven’
models of attention.Although it is agreed that stimulus driven information in cognition is
important, what the individual brings to the task in terms of expectations/past experiences
are also important. These influences are known as 'top-down' or 'conceptually-driven'
processes. For example, read the triangle below:
Expectation (top-down processing) often over-rides information actually available in the
stimulus (bottom-up) which we are, supposedly, attending to. How did you read the text in
the triangle above?

Further Information
Attention Audio Broadcasts

Listen to a MIT undergraduate lecture on Attention.

All broadcasts require Real Audio Player.
Publications Online

James, William. (1890). The principles of psychology. Chapter 11. Attention

References
Broadbent, D. (1958). Perception and Communication. London: Pergamon Press.
Deutsch, J. A., & Deutsch, D. (1963). Attention: Some Theoretical
Considerations. Psychological Review, 70, 80–90
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive Psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Treisman, A. (1964). Selective attention in man. British Medical Bulletin, 20, 12-16.

Erik Erikson
by Saul McLeod published 2008, updated 2013
Erik Erikson (1950, 1963) does not talk about psychosexual Stages, he discusses
psychosocial stages. His ideas were greatly influenced by Freud, going along with Freud’s
(1923) theory regarding the structure and topography of personality.
However, whereas Freud was an id psychologist, Erikson was an ego psychologist. He
emphasized the role of culture and society and the conflicts that can take place within the
ego itself, whereas Freud emphasized the conflict between the id and the superego.
According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly
social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of
identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future.

Erikson extends on Freudian thoughts by focusing on the adaptive and creative

characteristic of the ego, and expanding the notion of the stages of personality
development to include the entire lifespan.
Erikson proposed a lifespan model of development, taking in five stages up to the age of 18
years and three further stages beyond, well into adulthood. Erikson suggests that there is
still plenty of room for continued growth and development throughout one’s life. Erikson puts
a great deal of emphasis on the adolescent period, feeling it was a crucial stage for
developing a person’s identity.

Like Freud and many others, Erik Erikson maintained that personality develops in a
predetermined order, and builds upon each previous stage. This is called the epigenic
principle.

The outcome of this 'maturation timetable' is a wide and integrated set of life skills and
abilities that function together within the autonomous individual. However, instead of
focusing on sexual development (like Freud), he was interested in how children socialize
and how this affects their sense of self.

Psychosocial Stages
Erikson’s (1959) theory of psychosocial development has eight distinct stages. Like Freud,
Erikson assumes that a crisis occurs at each stage of development. For Erikson (1963),
these crises are of a psychosocial nature because they involve psychological needs of the
individual (i.e. psycho) conflicting with the needs of society (i.e. social).

According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality
and the acquisition of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic strengths which the ego
can use to resolve subsequent crises.

Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further
stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. These stages,
however, can be resolved successfully at a later time.

1. Trust vs. Mistrust

Is the world a safe place or is it full of unpredictable events and accidents waiting to
happen?
Erikson's first psychosocial crisis occurs during the first year or so of life (like Freud's oral
stage of psychosexual development). The crisis is one of trust vs. mistrust.

During this stage the infant is uncertain about the world in which they live. To resolve these
feelings of uncertainty the infant looks towards their primary caregiver for stability and
consistency of care.

If the care the infant receives is consistent, predictable and reliable, they will develop a
sense of trust which will carry with them to other relationships, and they will be able to feel
secure even when threatened.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope. By developing a sense of trust, the
infant can have hope that as new crises arise, there is a real possibility that other people will
be there are a source of support. Failing to acquire the virtue of hope will lead to the
development of fear.

For example, if the care has been harsh or inconsistent, unpredictable and unreliable, then
the infant will develop a sense of mistrust and will not have confidence in the world around
them or in their abilities to influence events.

This infant will carry the basic sense of mistrust with them to other relationships. It may
result in anxiety, heightened insecurities, and an over feeling of mistrust in the world around
them.

Consistent with Erikson's views on the importance of trust, research

by Bowlby and Ainsworth has outlined how the quality of the early experience
of attachment can affect relationships with others in later life.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
The child is developing physically and becoming more mobile. Between the ages of 18
months and three, children begin to assert their independence, by walking away from their
mother, picking which toy to play with, and making choices about what they like to wear, to
eat, etc.

The child is discovering that he or she has many skills and abilities, such as putting on
clothes and shoes, playing with toys, etc. Such skills illustrate the child's growing sense of
independence and autonomy. Erikson states it is critical that parents allow their children to
explore the limits of their abilities within an encouraging environment which is tolerant of
failure.

For example, rather than put on a child's clothes a supportive parent should have the
patience to allow the child to try until they succeed or ask for assistance.
So, the parents need to encourage the child to becoming more independent whilst at the
same time protecting the child so that constant failure is avoided.

A delicate balance is required from the parent. They must try not to do everything for the
child but if the child fails at a particular task they must not criticize the child for failures and
accidents (particularly when toilet training). The aim has to be “self control without a loss of
self-esteem” (Gross, 1992). Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of will.

If children in this stage are encouraged and supported in their increased independence,
they become more confident and secure in their own ability to survive in the world.

If children are criticized, overly controlled, or not given the opportunity to assert themselves,
they begin to feel inadequate in their ability to survive, and may then become overly
dependent upon others, lack self-esteem, and feel a sense of shame or doubt in their own
abilities.
3. Initiative vs. Guilt
Around age three and continuing to age five, children assert themselves more frequently.
These are particularly lively, rapid-developing years in a child’s life. According to Bee (1992)
it is a “time of vigor of action and of behaviors that the parents may see as aggressive".

During this period the primary feature involves the child regularly interacting with other
children at school. Central to this stage is play, as it provides children with the opportunity to
explore their interpersonal skills through initiating activities.

Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and initiate activities with others. If given
this opportunity, children develop a sense of initiative, and feel secure in their ability to lead
others and make decisions.

Conversely, if this tendency is squelched, either through criticism or control, children

develop a sense of guilt. They may feel like a nuisance to others and will therefore remain
followers, lacking in self-initiative.

The child takes initiatives which the parents will often try to stop in order to protect the child.
The child will often overstep the mark in his forcefulness and the danger is that the parents
will tend to punish the child and restrict his initiatives too much.

It is at this stage that the child will begin to ask many questions as his thirst for knowledge
grows. If the parents treat the child’s questions as trivial, a nuisance or embarrassing or
other aspects of their behavior as threatening then the child may have feelings of guilt for
“being a nuisance”.
Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their
creativity. Some guilt is, of course, necessary, otherwise the child would not know how to
exercise self control or have a conscience.

A healthy balance between initiative and guilt is important. Success in this stage will lead to
the virtue of purpose.

4. Industry (competence) vs. Inferiority

Children are at the stage (aged 5 to 12 yrs) where they will be learning to read and write, to
do sums, to do things on their own. Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s
life as they teach the child specific skills.

It is at this stage that the child’s peer group will gain greater significance and will become a
major source of the child’s self esteem. The child now feels the need to win approval by
demonstrating specific competencies that are valued by society, and begin to develop a
sense of pride in their accomplishments.

If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious
and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is
restricted by parents or teacher, then the child begins to feel inferior, doubting his own
abilities and therefore may not reach his or her potential.

If the child cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding (e.g. being
athletic) then they may develop a sense of inferiority. Some failure may be necessary so
that the child can develop some modesty. Yet again, a balance between competence and
modesty is necessary. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of competence.

5. Identity vs. Role Confusion

During adolescence (age 12 to 18 yrs), the transition from childhood to adulthood is most
important. Children are becoming more independent, and begin to look at the future in
terms of career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The individual wants to belong to a
society and fit in.

This is a major stage in development where the child has to learn the roles he will occupy
as an adult. It is during this stage that the adolescent will re-examine his identity and try to
find out exactly who he or she is. Erikson suggests that two identities are involved: the
sexual and the occupational.
According to Bee (1992), what should happen at the end of this stage is “a reintegrated
sense of self, of what one wants to do or be, and of one’s appropriate sex role”. During this
stage the body image of the adolescent changes.

Erikson claims that the adolescent may feel uncomfortable about their body for a while until
they can adapt and “grow into” the changes. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue
of fidelity.

Fidelity involves being able to commit one's self to others on the basis of accepting others,
even when there may be ideological differences.

During this period, they explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based upon
the outcome of their explorations. Failure to establish a sense of identity within society ("I
don’t know what I want to be when I grow up") can lead to role confusion. Role confusion
involves the individual not being sure about themselves or their place in society.

In response to role confusion or identity crisis an adolescent may begin to experiment with
different lifestyles (e.g. work, education or political activities). Also pressuring someone into
an identity can result in rebellion in the form of establishing a negative identity, and in
addition to this feeling of unhappiness.

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation

Occurring in young adulthood (ages 18 to 40 yrs), we begin to share ourselves more
intimately with others. We explore relationships leading toward longer term commitments
with someone other than a family member.

Successful completion of this stage can lead to comfortable relationships and a sense of
commitment, safety, and care within a relationship. Avoiding intimacy, fearing commitment
and relationships can lead to isolation, loneliness, and sometimes depression. Success in
this stage will lead to the virtue of love.

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation

During middle adulthood (ages 40 to 65 yrs), we establish our careers, settle down within a
relationship, begin our own families and develop a sense of being a part of the bigger
picture.

We give back to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and
becoming involved in community activities and organizations.
By failing to achieve these objectives, we become stagnant and feel unproductive. Success
in this stage will lead to the virtue of care.

8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair

As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior citizens, we tend to slow down our
productivity, and explore life as a retired person. It is during this time that we contemplate
our accomplishments and are able to develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a
successful life.

Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or feel
that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and develop
despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to look
back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept death without
fear.

Critical Evaluation
Erikson is rather vague about the causes of development. What kinds of experiences must
people have in order to successfully resolve various psychosocial conflicts and move from
one stage to another? The theory does not have a universal mechanism for crisis
resolution.

Indeed, Erikson (1964) acknowledges his theory is more a descriptive overview of human
social and emotional development that does not adequately explain how or why this
development occurs. For example, Erikson does not explicitly explain how the outcome of
one psychosocial stage influences personality at a later stage.

One of the strengths of Erikson's theory is its ability to tie together important psychosocial
development across the entire lifespan.

Although support for Erikson's stages of personality development exists (McAdams,

1999), critics of his theory provide evidence suggesting a lack of discrete stages of
personality development (McCrae & Costa, 1997).
References and Further Reading
Bee, H. L. (1992). The developing child. London: HarperCollins.
Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
Erickson, E. (1958). Young man Luther: A study in psychoanalysis and history . New York:
Norton.
Erikson, E. H. (Ed.). (1963). Youth: Change and challenge. Basic books.
Erikson, E. H. (1964). Insight and responsibility. New York: Norton.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
Erikson, E. H., Paul, I. H., Heider, F., & Gardner, R. W. (1959). Psychological issues (Vol.
1). International Universities Press.
Gross, R. D., & Humphreys, P. (1992). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour.
London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. SE, 19: 1-66.
McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5(2),
100.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa Jr, P. T. (1997). Personality trait structure as a human
universal. American Psychologist, 52(5), 509.
How to cite this article:
McLeod, S. A. (2013). Erik Erikson. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-
Erikson.html

Carl Rogers
by Saul McLeod published 2007, updated 2014
Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanistic psychologist who agreed with the main
assumptions of Abraham Maslow, but added that for a person to "grow", they need an
environment that provides them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure),
acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to
and understood).
Without these, relationships and healthy personalities will not develop as they should, much
like a tree will not grow without sunlight and water.

Rogers believed that every person can achieve their goals, wishes and desires in life.
When, or rather if they did so, self actualization took place. This was one of Carl Rogers
most important contributions to psychology and for a person to reach their potential a
number of factors must be satisfied.

Self Actualization
"The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize, maintain, and enhance
the experiencing organism” (Rogers, 1951, p. 487).
Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and
maintained that we behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation. "As no
one else can know how we perceive, we are the best experts on ourselves."
Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have one basic motive, that is the tendency to
self-actualize - i.e. to fulfill one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human-
beingness' we can. Like a flower that will grow to its full potential if the conditions are right,
but which is constrained by its environment, so people will flourish and reach their potential
if their environment is good enough.

However, unlike a flower, the potential of the individual human is unique, and we are meant
to develop in different ways according to our personality. Rogers believed that people are
inherently good and creative. They become destructive only when a poor self-concept or
external constraints override the valuing process. Carl Rogers believed that for a person to
achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence.

This means that self-actualization occurs when a person’s “ideal self” (i.e. who they would
like to be) is congruent with their actual behavior (self-image). Rogers describes an
individual who is actualizing as a fully functioning person. The main determinant of whether
we will become self-actualized is childhood experience.

The Fully Functioning Person

Rogers believed that every person could achieve their goals, wishes, and desires in life.
When they did so self-actualization took place. For Rogers (1961) people who are able be
self-actualize, and that is not all of us, are called fully functioning persons. This means that
the person is in touch with the here and now, his or her subjective experiences and feelings,
continually growing and changing.

In many ways Rogers regarded the fully functioning person as an ideal and one that people
do not ultimately achieve.

It is wrong to think of this as an end or completion of life’s journey; rather it is a process of

always becoming and changing.

Rogers identified five characteristics of the fully functioning person:

1. Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions accepted. Negative feelings
are not denied, but worked through (rather than resorting to ego defence mechanisms).
 2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding
prejudging and preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate the present, not
always looking back to the past or forward to the future (i.e. living for the moment).

3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted.
People’s own decisions are the right ones and we should trust ourselves to make the
right choices.

4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk taking are features of a person’s life. A person
does not play safe all the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek
new experiences.

5. Fulfilled life: person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new
challenges and experiences.

For Rogers, fully functioning people are well adjusted, well balanced and interesting to
know. Often such people are high achievers in society. Critics claim that the fully functioning
person is a product of Western culture. In other cultures, such as Eastern cultures, the
achievement of the group is valued more highly than the achievement of any one person.

Personality Development
Central to Rogers' personality theory is the notion of self or self-concept. This is defined as
"the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself".
The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person. The self is our inner
personality, and can be likened to the soul, or Freud's psyche. The self is influenced by the
experiences a person has in their life, and out interpretations of those experiences. Two
primary sources that influence our self-concept are childhood experiences and evaluation
by others.
According to Rogers (1959), we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are
consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-
self. The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or
congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of
incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is
denied or distorted in the self-image.

The humanistic approach states that the self is composed of concepts unique to
ourselves. The self-concept includes three components:

Self worth (or self-esteem) – what we think about ourselves. Rogers believed feelings of
self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child
with the mother and father.
 Self-image – How we see ourselves, which is important to good psychological health.
Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality. At a simple
level, we might perceive ourselves as a good or bad person, beautiful or ugly. Self-
image has an effect on how a person thinks, feels and behaves in the world.

Ideal self – This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and
ambitions in life, and is dynamic – i.e. forever changing. The ideal self in childhood is not
the ideal self in our teens or late twenties etc.

Self Worth and Positive Regard

Carl Rogers (1951) viewed the child as having two basic needs: positive regard from other
people and self-worth.

How we think about ourselves, our feelings of self-worth are of fundamental importance
both to psychological health and to the likelihood that we can achieve goals and ambitions
in life and achieve self-actualization.

Self-worth may be seen as a continuum from very high to very low. For Carl Rogers (1959)
a person who has high self-worth, that is, has confidence and positive feelings about him or
herself, faces challenges in life, accepts failure and unhappiness at times, and is open with
people.

A person with low self-worth may avoid challenges in life, not accept that life can be painful
and unhappy at times, and will be defensive and guarded with other people.

Rogers believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from
the interaction of the child with the mother and father. As a child grows older, interactions
with significant others will affect feelings of self-worth.

Rogers believed that we need to be regarded positively by others; we need to feel valued,
respected, treated with affection and loved. Positive regard is to do with how other people
evaluate and judge us in social interaction. Rogers made a distinction between
unconditional positive regard and conditional positive regard.

Unconditional positive regard is where parents, significant others (and the humanist
therapist) accepts and loves the person for what he or she is. Positive regard is not
withdrawn if the person does something wrong or makes a mistake. The consequences
of unconditional positive regard are that the person feels free to try things out and make
mistakes, even though this may lead to getting it worse at times. People who are able to
 self-actualize are more likely to have received unconditional positive regard from others,
especially their parents in childhood.

Conditional positive regard is where positive regard, praise and approval, depend upon
the child, for example, behaving in ways that the parents think correct. Hence the child
is not loved for the person he or she is, but on condition that he or she behaves only in
ways approved by the parent(s). At the extreme, a person who constantly seeks
approval from other people is likely only to have experienced conditional positive regard
as a child.

Congruence
A person’s ideal self may not be consistent with what actually happens in life and
experiences of the person. Hence, a difference may exist between a person’s ideal self and
actual experience. This is called incongruence.
Where a person’s ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar, a state of
congruence exists. Rarely, if ever, does a total state of congruence exist; all people
experience a certain amount of incongruence.

The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional positive regard. Carl Rogers

believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of
congruence.

According to Rogers, we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent
with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self.

The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent
we are and the higher our sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of
incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is
denied or distorted in the self-image.
Incongruence is "a discrepancy between the actual experience of the organism and the self-
picture of the individual insofar as it represents that experience.

As we prefer to see ourselves in ways that are consistent with our self-image, we may
use defense mechanisms like denial or repression in order to feel less threatened by some
of what we consider to be our undesirable feelings. A person whose self-concept is
incongruent with her or his real feelings and experiences will defend because the truth
hurts.

Carl Rogers Quotes

"When I look at the world I'm pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic."

"The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to
judge it" (Rogers, 1961, p. 351).

"I have gradually come to one negative conclusion about the good life. It seems to me that
the good life is not any fixed state. It is not, in my estimation, a state of virtue, or
contentment, or nirvana, or happiness. It is not a condition in which the individual is
adjusted or fulfilled or actualized. To use psychological terms, it is not a state of drive-
reduction, or tension-reduction, or homeostasis" (Rogers, 1967, p. 185-186).

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination" (Rogers,
1967, p. 187).

References
Rogers, C. (1951). Client-centered therapy: Its current practice, implications and theory.
London: Constable.
Rogers, C. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships as
developed in the client-centered framework. In (ed.) S. Koch, Psychology: A study of a
science. Vol. 3: Formulations of the person and the social context. New York: McGraw Hill.
Rogers, C. R. (1961). On Becoming a person: A psychotherapists view of psychotherapy.
Houghton Mifflin.

Rogers, C. R., Stevens, B., Gendlin, E. T., Shlien, J. M., & Van Dusen, W. (1967). Person to
person: The problem of being human: A new trend in psychology. Lafayette, CA: Real
People Press.

The Key to Classroom Management

Robert J. Marzano and Jana S. Marzano
By using research-based strategies combining appropriate levels of dominance and cooperation and an
awareness of student needs, teachers can build positive classroom dynamics.
Today, we know more about teaching than we ever have before. Research has shown us that teachers' actions in
their classrooms have twice the impact on student achievement as do school policies regarding curriculum,
assessment, staff collegiality, and community involvement (Marzano, 2003a). We also know that one of the
classroom teacher's most important jobs is managing the classroom effectively.
A comprehensive literature review by Wang, Haertel, and Walberg (1993) amply demonstrates the importance of
effective classroom management. These researchers analyzed 86 chapters from annual research reviews, 44
handbook chapters, 20 government and commissioned reports, and 11 journal articles to produce a list of 228
variables affecting student achievement. They combined the results of these analyses with the findings from 134
separate meta-analyses. Of all the variables, classroom management had the largest effect on student achievement.
This makes intuitive sense—students cannot learn in a chaotic, poorly managed classroom.
 Research not only supports the importance of classroom management, but it also sheds light on the dynamics of
classroom management. Stage and Quiroz's meta-analysis (1997) shows the importance of there being a balance
between teacher actions that provide clear consequences for unacceptable behavior and teacher actions that
recognize and reward acceptable behavior. Other researchers (Emmer, Evertson, & Worsham, 2003; Evertson,
Emmer, & Worsham, 2003) have identified important components of classroom management, including beginning the
school year with a positive emphasis on management; arranging the room in a way conducive to effective
management; and identifying and implementing rules and operating procedures.
In a recent meta-analysis of more than 100 studies (Marzano, 2003b), we found that the quality of teacher-student
relationships is the keystone for all other aspects of classroom management. In fact, our meta-analysis indicates that
on average, teachers who had high-quality relationships with their students had 31 percent fewer discipline problems,
rule violations, and related problems over a year's time than did teachers who did not have high-quality relationships
with their students.
What are the characteristics of effective teacher-student relationships? Let's first consider what they are not. Effective
teacher-student relationships have nothing to do with the teacher's personality or even with whether the students view
the teacher as a friend. Rather, the most effective teacher-student relationships are characterized by specific teacher
behaviors: exhibiting appropriate levels of dominance; exhibiting appropriate levels of cooperation; and being aware
of high-needs students.
Appropriate Levels of Dominance
Wubbels and his colleagues (Wubbels, Brekelmans, van Tartwijk, & Admiral, 1999; Wubbels & Levy, 1993) identify
appropriate dominance as an important characteristic of effective teacher-student relationships. In contrast to the
more negative connotation of the term dominance as forceful control or command over others, they define dominance
as the teacher's ability to provide clear purpose and strong guidance regarding both academics and student behavior.
Studies indicate that when asked about their preferences for teacher behavior, students typically express a desire for
this type of teacher-student interaction. For example, in a study that involved interviews with more than 700 students
in grades 4–7, students articulated a clear preference for strong teacher guidance and control rather than more
permissive types of teacher behavior (Chiu & Tulley, 1997). Teachers can exhibit appropriate dominance by
establishing clear behavior expectations and learning goals and by exhibiting assertive behavior.

Establish Clear Expectations and Consequences

Teachers can establish clear expectations for behavior in two ways: by establishing clear rules and procedures, and
by providing consequences for student behavior.
The seminal research of the 1980s (Emmer, 1984; Emmer, Sanford, Evertson, Clements, & Martin, 1981; Evertson &
Emmer, 1982) points to the importance of establishing rules and procedures for general classroom behavior, group
work, seat work, transitions and interruptions, use of materials and equipment, and beginning and ending the period
or the day. Ideally, the class should establish these rules and procedures through discussion and mutual consent by
teacher and students (Glasser, 1969, 1990).
Along with well-designed and clearly communicated rules and procedures, the teacher must acknowledge students'
behavior, reinforcing acceptable behavior and providing negative consequences for unacceptable behavior. Stage
and Quiroz's research (1997) is instructive. They found that teachers build effective relationships through such
strategies as the following:
 Using a wide variety of verbal and physical reactions to students' misbehavior, such as moving closer to offending
students and using a physical cue, such as a finger to the lips, to point out inappropriate behavior.
 Cuing the class about expected behaviors through prearranged signals, such as raising a hand to indicate that all
students should take their seats.
 Providing tangible recognition of appropriate behavior—with tokens or chits, for example.
 Employing group contingency policies that hold the entire group responsible for behavioral expectations.
 Employing home contingency techniques that involve rewards and sanctions at home.
 Establish Clear Learning Goals
Teachers can also exhibit appropriate levels of dominance by providing clarity about the content and expectations of
an upcoming instructional unit. Important teacher actions to achieve this end include
 Establishing and communicating learning goals at the beginning of a unit of instruction.
 Providing feedback on those goals.
 Continually and systematically revisiting the goals.
 Providing summative feedback regarding the goals.
The use of rubrics can help teachers establish clear goals. To illustrate, assume that a teacher has identified the
learning goal “understanding and using fractions” as important for a given unit. That teacher might present students
with the following rubric:
4 points. You understand the characteristics of fractions along with the different types. You can accurately describe
how fractions are related to decimals and percentages. You can convert fractions to decimals and can explain how
and why the process works. You can use fractions to understand and solve different types of problems.

3 points. You understand the basic characteristics of fractions. You know how fractions are related to decimals and
percentages. You can convert fractions to decimals.

2 points. You have a basic understanding of the following, but have some small misunderstandings about one or
more: the characteristics of fractions; the relationships among fractions, decimals, and percentages; how to convert
fractions to decimals.

1 point. You have some major problems or misunderstandings with one or more of the following: the characteristics of
fractions; the relationships among fractions, decimals, and percentages; how to convert fractions to decimals.

0 points. You may have heard of the following before, but you do not understand what they mean: the characteristics
of fractions; the relationships among fractions, decimals, and percentages; how to convert fractions to decimals.

The clarity of purpose provided by this rubric communicates to students that their teacher can provide proper
guidance and direction in academic content.

Exhibit Assertive Behavior

Teachers can also communicate appropriate levels of dominance by exhibiting assertive behavior. According to
Emmer and colleagues, assertive behavior is
the ability to stand up for one's legitimate rights in ways that make it less likely that others will ignore or circumvent
them. (2003, p. 146)

Assertive behavior differs significantly from both passive behavior and aggressive behavior. These researchers
explain that teachers display assertive behavior in the classroom when they
 Use assertive body language by maintaining an erect posture, facing the offending student but keeping enough
distance so as not to appear threatening and matching the facial expression with the content of the message being
presented to students.
 Use an appropriate tone of voice, speaking clearly and deliberately in a pitch that is slightly but not greatly elevated
from normal classroom speech, avoiding any display of emotions in the voice.
 Persist until students respond with the appropriate behavior. Do not ignore an inappropriate behavior; do not be
diverted by a student denying, arguing, or blaming, but listen to legitimate explanations.
Appropriate Levels of Cooperation
Cooperation is characterized by a concern for the needs and opinions of others. Although not the antithesis of
dominance, cooperation certainly occupies a different realm. Whereas dominance focuses on the teacher as the
 driving force in the classroom, cooperation focuses on the students and teacher functioning as a team. The
interaction of these two dynamics—dominance and cooperation—is a central force in effective teacher-student
relationships. Several strategies can foster appropriate levels of cooperation.

Provide Flexible Learning Goals

Just as teachers can communicate appropriate levels of dominance by providing clear learning goals, they can also
convey appropriate levels of cooperation by providing flexible learning goals. Giving students the opportunity to set
their own objectives at the beginning of a unit or asking students what they would like to learn conveys a sense of
cooperation. Assume, for example, that a teacher has identified the topic of fractions as the focus of a unit of
instruction and has provided students with a rubric. The teacher could then ask students to identify some aspect of
fractions or a related topic that they would particularly like to study. Giving students this kind of choice, in addition to
increasing their understanding of the topic, conveys the message that the teacher cares about and tries to
accommodate students' interests.

Take a Personal Interest in Students

Probably the most obvious way to communicate appropriate levels of cooperation is to take a personal interest in
each student in the class. As McCombs and Whisler (1997) note, all students appreciate personal attention from the
teacher. Although busy teachers—particularly those at the secondary level—do not have the time for extensive
interaction with all students, some teacher actions can communicate personal interest and concern without taking up
much time. Teachers can
 Talk informally with students before, during, and after class about their interests.
 Greet students outside of school—for instance, at extracurricular events or at the store.
 Single out a few students each day in the lunchroom and talk with them.
 Be aware of and comment on important events in students' lives, such as participation in sports, drama, or other
extracurricular activities.
 Compliment students on important achievements in and outside of school.
 Meet students at the door as they come into class; greet each one by name.

Use Equitable and Positive Classroom Behaviors

Programs like Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement emphasize the importance of the subtle ways in which
teachers can communicate their interest in students (Kerman, Kimball, & Martin, 1980). This program recommends
many practical strategies that emphasize equitable and positive classroom interactions with all students. Teachers
should, for example,
 Make eye contact with each student. Teachers can make eye contact by scanning the entire room as they speak
and by freely moving about all sections of the room.
 Deliberately move toward and stand close to each student during the class period. Make sure that the seating
arrangement allows the teacher and students clear and easy ways to move around the room.
 Attribute the ownership of ideas to the students who initiated them. For instance, in a discussion a teacher might
say, “Cecilia just added to Aida's idea by saying that . . . .”
 Allow and encourage all students to participate in class discussions and interactions. Make sure to call on students
who do not commonly participate, not just those who respond most frequently.
 Provide appropriate wait time for all students to respond to questions, regardless of their past performance or your
perception of their abilities.
Awareness of High-Needs Students
Classroom teachers meet daily with a broad cross-section of students. In general, 12–22 percent of all students in
school suffer from mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders, and relatively few receive mental health services
(Adelman & Taylor, 2002). The Association of School Counselors notes that 18 percent of students have special
 needs and require extraordinary interventions and treatments that go beyond the typical resources available to the
classroom (Dunn & Baker, 2002).
Although the classroom teacher is certainly not in a position to directly address such severe problems, teachers with
effective classroom management skills are aware of high-needs students and have a repertoire of specific techniques
for meeting some of their needs (Marzano, 2003b). Figure 1 (p. 10) summarizes five categories of high-needs
students and suggests classroom strategies for each category and subcategory.
 Passive students fall into two subcategories: those who fear relationships and those who fear failure. Teachers can
build strong relationships with these students by refraining from criticism, rewarding small successes, and creating a
classroom climate in which students feel safe from aggressive people.
 The category of aggressive students comprises three subcategories: hostile, oppositional, andcovert. Hostile
students often have poor anger control, low capacity for empathy, and an inability to see the consequences of their
actions. Oppositional students exhibit milder forms of behavior problems, but they consistently resist following rules,
argue with adults, use harsh language, and tend to annoy others. Students in the covert subcategory may be quite
pleasant at times, but they are often nearby when trouble starts and they never quite do what authority figures ask of
them. Strategies for helping aggressive students include creating behavior contracts and providing immediate
rewards and consequences. Most of all, teachers must keep in mind that aggressive students, although they may
appear highly resistant to behavior change, are still children who are experiencing a significant amount of fear and
pain.
 Students with attention problems fall into two categories: hyperactive and inattentive. These students may respond
well when teachers contract with them to manage behaviors; teach them basic concentration, study, and thinking
skills; help them divide tasks into manageable parts; reward their successes; and assign them a peer tutor.
 Students in the perfectionist category are driven to succeed at unattainable levels. They are self-critical, have low
self-esteem, and feel inferior. Teachers can often help these students by encouraging them to develop more realistic
standards, helping them to accept mistakes, and giving them opportunities to tutor other students.
 Socially inept students have difficulty making and keeping friends. They may stand too close and touch others in
annoying ways, talk too much, and misread others' comments. Teachers can help these students by counseling
them about social behaviors.

Figure 1. Categories of High-Needs Students

Category Definitions & Source Characteristics Suggestions

Behavior that avoids the Fear of Provide safe adult and peer
domination of others or the pain relationships:Avoids interactions and protection from
of negative experiences. The connection with others, is aggressive people. Provide
child attempts to protect self from shy, doesn't initiate assertiveness and positive self-talk
criticism, ridicule, or rejection, conversations, attempts to training. Reward small successes
Passive possibly reacting to abuse and be invisible. quickly. Withhold criticism.
neglect. Can have a biochemical Fear of failure:Gives up
basis, such as anxiety. easily, is convinced he or
she can't succeed, is easily
frustrated, uses negative
self-talk.

Behavior that overpowers, Hostile: Rages, threatens, Describe the student's behavior
dominates, harms, or controls or intimidates others. Can clearly. Contract with the student to
Aggressive
others without regard for their be verbally or physically reward corrected behavior and set
well-being. The child has often abusive to people, animals, up consequences for uncorrected
 taken aggressive people as role or objects. behavior. Be consistent and
models. Has had minimal or Oppositional:Does provide immediate rewards and
ineffective limits set on behavior. opposite of what is asked. consequences. Encourage and
Is possibly reacting to abuse and Demands that others agree acknowledge extracurricular
neglect. Condition may have a or give in. Resists verbally activities in and out of school. Give
biochemical basis, such as or nonverbally. student responsibilities to help
depression. Covert:Appears to agree teacher or other students to foster
but then does the opposite successful experiences.
of what is asked. Often
acts innocent while setting
up problems for others.

Behavior that demonstrates Hyperactive:Has difficulty Contract with the student to

either motor or attentional with motor control, both manage behaviors. Teach basic
difficulties resulting from a physically and verbally. concentration, study, and thinking
neurological disorder. The child's Fidgets, leaves seat skills. Separate student in a quiet
symptoms may be exacerbated frequently, interrupts, talks work area. Help the student list
Attention by family or social stressors or excessively. each step of a task. Reward
problems biochemical conditions, such as Inattentive: Has difficulty successes; assign a peer tutor.
anxiety, depression, or bipolar staying focused and
disorders. following through on
projects. Has difficulty with
listening, remembering,
and organizing.

Behavior that is geared toward Tends to focus too much Ask the student to make mistakes
avoiding the embarrassment and on the small details of on purpose, then show acceptance.
assumed shame of making projects. Will avoid projects Have the student tutor other
mistakes. The child fears what if unsure of outcome. students.
will happen if errors are Focuses on results and not
Perfectionist discovered. Has unrealistically relationships. Is self-
high expectations of self. Has critical.
possibly received criticism or lack
of acceptance while making
mistakes during the process of
learning.

Behavior that is based on the Attempts to make friends Teach the student to keep the
misinterpretation of nonverbal but is inept and appropriate physical distance from
signals of others. The child unsuccessful. Is forced to others. Teach the meaning of facial
Socially misunderstands facial be alone. Is often teased expressions, such as anger and
inept expressions and body language. for unusual behavior, hurt. Make suggestions regarding
Hasn't received adequate appearance, or lack of hygiene, dress, mannerisms, and
training in these areas and has social skills. posture.
poor role modeling.

Source: Marzano, R.J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action (pp. 104–105). Alexandria,
VA: ASCD.
School may be the only place where many students who face extreme challenges can get their needs addressed.
The reality of today's schools often demands that classroom teachers address these severe issues, even though this
task is not always considered a part of their regular job.
In a study of classroom strategies (see Brophy, 1996; Brophy & McCaslin, 1992), researchers examined how
effective classroom teachers interacted with specific types of students. The study found that the most effective
classroom managers did not treat all students the same; they tended to employ different strategies with different
types of students. In contrast, ineffective classroom managers did not appear sensitive to the diverse needs of
students. Although Brophy did not couch his findings in terms of teacher-student relationships, the link is clear. An
awareness of the five general categories of high-needs students and appropriate actions for each can help teachers
build strong relationships with diverse students.
Don't Leave Relationships to Chance
Teacher-student relationships provide an essential foundation for effective classroom management—and classroom
management is a key to high student achievement. Teacher-student relationships should not be left to chance or
dictated by the personalities of those involved. Instead, by using strategies supported by research, teachers can
influence the dynamics of their classrooms and build strong teacher-student relationships that will support student
learning.

References

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Counseling, 5(4), 235–248.

Brophy, J. E. (1996). Teaching problem students. New York: Guilford.

Brophy, J. E., & McCaslin, N. (1992). Teachers' reports of how they perceive and cope with problem
students. Elementary School Journal, 93, 3–68.

Chiu, L. H., & Tulley, M. (1997). Student preferences of teacher discipline styles. Journal of Instructional
Psychology, 24(3), 168–175.

Dunn, N. A., & Baker, S. B. (2002). Readiness to serve students with disabilities: A survey of elementary
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