Behaviorism & Social Learning

Overview

BEHAVORISM

The behaviorist viewpoint solely focuses on observable and quantifiable actions as a means of explaining how the environment and behavior interact. The phrases “stimulus” and “response” were first used by behaviorist to describe how an individual interacts with their environment.

  • Classical Conditioning - Ivan Pavlov

    • Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

    • Unconditioned Response (UCR)

    • Neutral Stimulus (NS)

    • Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

    • Conditioned Response (CR)

  • Operant Conditioning - B.F. Skinner

    • Positive Reinforcement

    • Negative Reinforcement

    • Punishment I

    • Punishment II

SOCIAL LEARNING

The interaction between an individual and others is a component of the social learning theory. According to this viewpoint, individuals pick up a significant amount of knowledge from watching and observing the things that go on in their environment.

  • Julian Rotter

    • Behavior Potential

    • Expectancy

    • Reinforcement Value

    • Psychological Situation

    • Locus of Control

  • Albert Bandura

    • Modeling

    • Observational Learning

    • Vicarious Learning

    • Self-Efficacy

    • Learning Contracts

Relating Behaviorism & Social Learning

Both my parents and teachers growing up would use operant conditioning in order to reinforce and prevent certain behaviors. When I behaved inappropriately when I was younger, my parents would take away my phone or gave me more chores to complete. My teachers would sometimes use a treasure chest or would take away a homework assignment. Through this, I believe my parents and teachers were able to properly teach me what behaviors were appropriate to a certain extent. Before resulting to operant conditioning, they would explain why a certain behavior is or is not acceptable, however.

Behaviorism & Social Learning in My Future Career

I believe that behaviorism and social learning will be somewhat useful in my future career. Operant condition may be used once a justification for a behavior’s appropriateness or inappropriateness has been provided. These theories, however, should only be applied in situations where it is benefitting the child and the child’s development. Children do learn through watching others. It is important to be aware of this. I would need to inform parents of this so they can be mindful of their behavior around their children.

Winsor, D.L., Murrell, V.S., & Magun-Jackson, S. (Eds.) (2017). Lifespan Development: An Educational Psychology Perspective (4th ed.).