Content: 2.

1 Behaviorist Theories

b. Operant Conditioning

2.2 Cognitively Oriented Theories

a. Piaget's Stage of Development

b. Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development

BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning

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.

Definition:

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards

and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes
an association between a particular behavior and a consequence (Skinner, 1938).

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.

Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based
on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect. According to this principle, behavior that is
followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and behavior
followed by unpleasant consequences is less likely to be repeated.

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.

• Positive Reinforcement - strengthens a behaviour by providing consequence

an individual finds rewarding.

• Negative Reinforcement - The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also

strengthen behaviour. 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 behaviour because it stops
or removes an unpleasant experience.

Punishers (weakens behaviour): Responses from the environment that

decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Punishment weakens
behaviour.

There are many problems with using punishment, such as:

• Punished behaviour is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behaviour 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 behaviours, e.g., fear of
school. • Does not necessarily guide toward desired behaviour -
reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment only tells you what not to do.

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.

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. For
example, teachers use token economy at primary school by giving young children
stickers to reward good behavior.

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

Educational Applications

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.
2.2 COGNITIVELY ORIENTED THEORIES

PIAGET’S STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist who studied children in the
early 20th century. His theory of intellectual or cognitive development, published in
1936, is still used today in some branches of education and psychology. It focuses
on children, from birth through adolescence, and characterizes different stages of
development, including:
language, morals, memory and reasoning.

Piaget made several assumptions about children while developing his theory:

Children build their own knowledge based on their experiences. Children

learn things on their own without influence from adults or older children.
Children are motivated to learn by nature. They don’t need rewards as
motivation.

There are four stages in all. The stages cover a range of ages from birth to 2 years
old to young adulthood.

Piaget’s four stages

Piaget’s stages are age-specific and marked by important characteristics of thought

processes. They also include goals children should achieve as they move through a
given stage.
Stage Age Characteristics Goal

Sensorimotor Birth to 18 - Motor activity without use Object

 24 months of symbols. All things permanence
old learned are based on
experience or trial and
error.

Preoperational 2 to 7 years old Development of language, Symbolic

memory, and imagination. thought
Intelligence is both
egocentric and intuitive.

Concrete 7 to 11 years More logical and methodical Operational

operational old manipulation on of symbols. thoughts
Less egocentric, and more
aware of the outside world
and events.

Formal Adolescence Use of symbols to relate to Abstract

operational to adulthood abstract concepts. able concepts
to make hypotheses and
grasp abstract concepts
and relationships.

There are a variety of terms Piaget used in his theory to explain cognitive
development and how it’s achieved at different stages.

Schema is a term he used to represent the building blocks of knowledge. You may
think of schemas as different index cards inside the brain. Each one informs the
individual on how to react to new information or situations.
Assimilation is using an existing schema and applying it to a new situation or
object. Accommodation is changing approaches when an existing schema
doesn’t work in a particular situation.
Equilibration is the driving force that moves all development forward. Piaget didn’t
believe that development progressed steadily. Instead, it moved in leaps and
bounds according to experiences.

Piaget’s philosophy can be incorporated into any education program.

Providing chances for trial and error. Focus on the process of learning versus the
end result.
Providing children with visual aids and other props, like models, to illustrate
different ideas and concepts.
Using real-life examples to paint complex ideas, like word problems in math.
Providing chances to classify or group information. Outlines and hierarchies are
good examples and allow kids to build new ideas from previous knowledge.
 Offering problems that necessitate analytical or logical thinking. Brain teasers
can be used as a tool in this instance.

Cons of Piaget’s theory

There are some criticisms of Piaget’s stages. In particular, researchers in the 1960s
and 1970s argued that Piaget may have underestimated children’s abilities by
using confusing terms and particularly difficult tasks in his observations. In other
studies, children have been successful with demonstrating knowledge of certain
concepts or skills when they were presented in a simpler way.
Piaget’s theory also expects children of a certain stage to primarily be at that stage
across the board with all tasks presented to them. Other researchers uncovered
that there is a range of abilities with cognitive tasks. In other words, some
children may excel or struggle in one area over another.
Piaget’s theory also explains that trying to teach children particularly advanced
concepts would be unsuccessful. Yet in some cases, children may be able to
learn advanced ideas even with brief instruction. Children may be more
adaptable and competent than Piaget’s stages give them credit for
Last, Piaget primarily examined white, middle-class children from developed
countries in his work. As a result, his findings may be skewed to this subset of
people, and may not apply as directly to other groups or locations.

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development

The concept, zone of proximal development was developed by Soviet psychologist

and social constructivist Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934).

The zone of proximal development (ZPD) has been defined as:

"the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by

independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined
through problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable
peers" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86).

Vygotsky believed that every person has two stages of skill development:

a level they can achieve by themselves

a level they can achieve with the help of an experienced mentor or

teacher He referred to the level an individual can achieve with help as their

ZPD.

The ZPD can be broken into three stages. Think of them as a series of overlapping
circles: Tasks the learner can do without assistance. This category includes everything
a person can do without help from a more experienced individual.
Tasks the learner can do with assistance. This category includes tasks a person
can’t work through by themselves but can work through with help, also known as
their ZPD.

Tasks the learner can’t do with assistance. The final category includes tasks that are
too difficult to perform even with an instructor’s help. For example, a young child
might be able to spell out their own name by themselves but might need help
from someone else to write the complete alphabet. The task is above their skill
level and outside their ZPD.

Zone of proximal development ‘scaffolding’

Instructional scaffolding is a method of teaching that helps a student learn a new

skill. It involves a more knowledgeable person guiding a student through a task
that’s in their ZPD. As a learner’s ability to complete a skill improves, the instructor
should lessen the amount of aid they provide. The concept can be applied in the
classroom to a variety of subjects, including language, math, and science.

Teachers can use scaffolding by using techniques like:

modeling
providing examples
working one-on-one with students
using visual aids

Scaffolding can also be used outside the classroom. Many coaches may use
scaffolding in sports to teach athletes new motor skills.

Scaffolding provides a student with a supportive learning environment where they

can ask questions and receive feedback. The following are some benefits of
scaffolding a student:

motivates the learner

minimizes frustration for the learner
allows the learner to learn quickly
provides a personalized teaching experience
allows for efficient learning
The following are examples of questions you could ask a learner while scaffolding
them to help them with their learning:

What else could you do here?

When you do this, what happens?
What do you notice?
What could we do next?
Why do you think that happened?
Who can be a ‘more knowledgeable other’?
How Vygotsky Impacts Learning?

Many psychologists, including Piaget and Bandura, have assessed the cultural
influences on learning, however, only Vygotsky claims that they are inherently
woven together. He felt that studies should be analyzing the individual within the
society and not the individual itself. Only then could you observe the level of growth,
as it is social interaction itself that promotes mental development. While morals,
values, and thoughts are believed to be influenced by society, the process of
learning is not seen as something that is mimicked. Vygotsky outlined that
interactions with others created growth by making connections between concepts.
To summarize, Vygotsky’s views on cognitive development can be grouped into four
main points, outlined as follows:

the relationship between the student and the teacher is central to learning;
society and culture influence the attitudes and beliefs of a student
towards learning and education;
language is the primary tool used in the development of learning in children,
including the transfer of sociocultural influences; and
students benefit greatly in programs that are student-led, as they can use
the social interaction to grow towards their potential level of development.

Piaget vs. Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky developed his theory on child development at the same time Piaget
was developing his own theory. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that children develop
through stages. Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky believed that learning and development
were tied to social interactions and culture. Whereas Piaget believed that children
learn through doing, Vygotsky believed that they learn through being shown.

References:

https://www.healthline.com/health/zone-of-proximal-

development https://www.healthline.com/health/piaget-

stages-of-development

https://educationaltechnology.net/vygotskys-zone-of-proximal-development-
and scaffolding/

https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html