Neo Behaviorism

OBJECTIVES
⚫ Explain Tolman’s purposive behaviorism
⚫ Explain Bandura’s social learning theory
⚫ Give specific applications of each theory in
teaching
 Neo Behaviorism

Tolman’s Bandura
Purposive Behaviorism Social Learning Theory

Goal-Directedness Principles

Cognitive Maps Modeling

Latent Learning Four Conditions

for Effective
Modeling
Intervening
Variables
Activity
1. Solve Maze A. Enter on the left side and exit at
the top
Solve Maze B. Enter on the top and exit on the
left side.
Analysis
1. How did you solve Maze A? What strategy did you
use?
2. Was it easier to solve Maze B? Why?
Tolman’s Purposive Behaviorism
Purposive behaviorism has been referred to as
Sign Learning Theory
Tolman believed that learning is a
cognitive process. Learning involves
forming beliefs and obtaining knowledge
about the environment and then
revealing that knowledge through
purposeful and goal-directed behavior.
Tolman’s theory
Tolman stated in his Sign theory that an organism
learns by pursuing signs to a goal. He stressed the
organized aspect of learning. “The stimuli which are
allowed in are not connected by just simple one-to-one
switches to the outgoing responses. Rather the incoming
impulses are usually worked over and elaborated in the
central control room into a tentative cognitive-like map of
the environment. And it is this tentative map, indicating
routes and paths and environmental relationships, which
finally determines what responses, if any, the animal will
finally make.”
Tolman’s Key Concepts
-Learning is always purposive and
goal-directed. He believed
individuals do more than merely
respond to stimuli; they act on beliefs,
attitudes, changing conditions, and
they strive toward goals. He saw
behavior as holistic, purposive, and
cognitive
-
⚫ Cognitive maps in rats. In his famous experiment,
one group of rats was placed at random starting locations
in a maze but the food was always in the same location.
Another group of rats had the food placed in different
locations which always required exactly the same
pattern of turns from their starting location. The group
that had the food in the same location performed much
better than the other group, supposedly demonstrating
that they had learned the location rather than a specific
sequence of turns. This is tendency to “learn location”
signified that rats somehow formed cognitive maps that
help them perform well on the maze. He also found out
that organisms will select the shortest or easiest path
to achieve a goal.
-Latent Learning is a kind of learning that remains
or stays with the individual until needed.
-The concept of intervening variable.
Intervening variables are variables that are not
readily seen but serve as determinants of
behavior. Tolman believed that learning is
mediated or is influenced by expectations,
perceptions, representations, needs and other
internal or environmental variables.
-Reinforcement not essential for learning.
Tolman concluded that reinforcement is not
essential for learning, although it provides an
incentive for performance.
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory focuses on
the learning that occurs within a
social context. It considers that
people learn from one another,
including such concepts as
observational learning, imitation and
modeling.
General Principles Of Social
Learning Theory
1. People can learn by observing the behavior of
others and the outcomes of those behaviors.
2. Learning can occur without a change in
behavior. Behaviorists say that learning has to
be represented by a permanent change in
behavior, in contrast , social learning theorists
say that because people can learn through
observation alone, their learning may not
necessarily be shown in their performance.
Learning may or may not result in a behavior
change.
3. Cognition plays a role in learning. Over
the last 30 years, social learning theory
has become increasingly cognitive in its
interpretation of human learning.
Awareness and expectations of future
reinforcements or punishments can have
a major effect on the behaviors that
people exhibit.
4. Social learning theory can be considered
a bridge or a transition between
behaviorist learning theories and
cognitive learning theories.
How the Environment reinforces and
punishes Modeling
People are often reinforced for modeling
the behavior of others. Bandura suggested
that the environment also reinforces
modeling. This is in several possible ways:
1. The observer is reinforced by the model.
2. The observer is reinforced by a third person.
3. The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing
consequences. Many behaviors that we learn from
others produce satisfying or reinforcing
results.
4. Consequences of the model’s behavior affect the
observer’s behavior vicariously. This is known
as reinforcement. This is where the model is
reinforced for a response and then the observer
shows an increase in that same response.
Bandura illustrated this by having students
watch a film of a model hitting an inflated
clown doll. One group of children saw the
model being praised for such action. Without
being reinforced, the group of children began to
also hit the doll.
Cognitive Factors in Social
Learning
1. Learning without performance: Bandura makes a
distinction between learning through observation
and the actual imitation of what has been
learned. This is similar to Tolman’s latent learning.
2. Cognitive processing during learning: Social learning
theorists contend that attention is a critical factor
in learning.
3. Expectations: As a result of being reinforced, people
form expectations about the consequences that
future behaviors are likely to bring.
 4. Reciprocal causation: Bandura proposed that
behavior can influence both the environment and
the person. In fact, each of these three variables, the
person, the behavior and the environment can have an
influence on each other.
5. Modeling: There are different types of models:
a. Live model-actual person demonstrating the behavior
b. Symbolic model- can be a person or action portrayed
in some other medium, such as television, videotape,
computer programs.
Behaviors can be learned
through Modeling
Aggression can be learned through models.
Research indicates that children become more
aggressive when they observed aggressive or violent
models.
Moral thinking and moral behavior are
influenced by observation and modeling. This includes
moral judgments regarding right and wrong which
can, in part, develop through modeling.
Conditions necessary for
Effective Modeling to Occur
1. Attention- the person must first pay attention to the
model.
2. Retention- the observer must be able to remember
the behavior that has been observed. One way of
increasing this is using the technique of rehearsal .
3. Motor reproduction- the ability to replicate the
behavior that the model has just demonstrated.
4. Motivation – this is the final necessary ingredient
for modeling to occur.
5. Different people will reproduce the same
behavior differently.
Effects of Modeling on
Behavior:
-Modeling teaches new behaviors.
-Modeling influences the frequency of
previously learned behaviors.
-Modeling may encourage previously
forbidden behaviors.
-Modeling increases the frequency of
similar behavior
Educational Implications of
Social Learning Theory
1. Students often learn a great deal simply by observing
other people.
2. Describing the consequences of behavior can
effectively increase the appropriate behaviors and
decrease inappropriate ones.
3. Modeling provides an alternative to shaping for
teaching new behavior. To promote effective
modeling, a teacher must make sure that the four
essential conditions exist: attention, retention.
Motor reproduction, and motivation.
4. Teachers and parents must model appropriate
behaviors and take care that they do not model
inappropriate behaviors.
5. Teachers should expose students to variety of other
models.
Journal Writing
From the topic, “Neobehaviorism: Tolman and Bandura”,
I learned that