LEARNING THEORIES

LEARNING THEORIES

1. BEHAVIOURISM

   • CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
     • Classic Studies
       • Pavlov - Dogs
         • Demonstrated classical conditioning on dogs
           • Dogs were conditioned so that a neutral stimuli such as a bell would elicit a conditioned response such as salivation
         • Reductionist approach lacks validity
         • Inspired later research and theories of Watson
       • Watson and Rayner - Little Albert
         • Showed the creation of phobias through classical conditioning
         • Unethical - distress caused to Albert
         • Proved that concepts of conditioning previously demonstrated on animals was applicable to humans too
         • Incomplete explanation of phobias
           • Flanagan and Cardwell (2017: 105) write 'not everyone who is bitten by a dog develops a phobia of dogs'
     • Reductionist approach
       • Incomplete explanations
     • Deterministic - assumes a peron has no free will
     • Explains many types of behaviour
       • Phobias
       • Attachment
       • Anxiety
       • Moral development
     • Led to behavioural therapies
     • Behaviour is learned from the environment
     • Supports nurture over nature
   • Science based
     • According to Gross (2012) behaviourists have 'belief in the importance of empirical methods, especially the experiment'
   • OPERANT CONDITIONING
     • Explains many types of behaviour
       • Addiction
       • Language development
       • Learning process
     • Doesn't consider heredity or cognitive factors
       • Gross (2012) said Skinner thought behaviour attributed to cognitions 'can be more effectively explained in other ways'
     • Deterministic
       • McLeod (2017) suggests Skinner believed 'Free will is an illusion'
     • Classic studies
       • Skinner Box
         • Not all learning is experienced through trial and error
         • Controlled laboratory conditions
           • Variables can be controlled to give conclusive results
           • Replicable study
       • Thorndike - Law of Effect
         • Introduced the concept of reinforcement
         • Research inspired Skinner
     • Humans learn through personal experience
   • Use of Animal testing
     • Unlike animals, human behaviour is governed by conscious decisions
   • Only concerned with observable behaviour

2. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

   • Classic studies
     • Bandura - Bobo Doll
       • Laboratory conditions
         • Low ecological validity
       • Davenport (1994: 286) suggests, children thought they were modelling 'appropriate behaviour'
       • Were participants too young to be able to distinguish between hostile and instrumental aggression?
       • Matched pairs design reduces participant variables
       • No interaction between child and adult models
         • Non-typical social situation
       • According to McLeod (2014) a study by Cumberbatch suggests the likelihood of imitating aggressive behaviour because of 'the novelty value of the doll'.
       • Identified vicarious reinforcement
         • Flanagan and Cardwell (2017: 140) suggest 'individuals learn about the likely consequences of behaviour by observing others'
   • Humans learn through observation
   • Successfully demonstrated the effect of observed violence on children
   • Considers the role of cognition in deciding whether to imitate a behaviour
   • Only explains behaviour where there was a model to imitate
   • Believes the main influence on behaviour is environment
     • Does not fully consider the role of nature
   • Does not explain all behaviour such as thoughts or emotions