Lesson 4:

Neo- Behaviorism
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
Distinguish behaviorism by Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike, and skinner to Neo-
Behaviorism by Tolman and Bandura:

Relate the salient features of Tolman’s purposive behaviorism and Bandura’s

social-cognitive theory to actual teaching; and

Analyze detailed lesson plans using the principles of Tolman’s purposive

behaviorism and Bandura’s social-cognitive theory.
 Tolman’s Purposive Behaviorism

• Purposive learning encapsulates Edward Tolman’s theory. He insisted

that all behavior is directed because of a purpose. Hence, all behaviors
are focused on achieving some goals by cognition-an intervening
variable. For tolman, a behavior is never merely the result of mindless S-
R connections.

• He further believed that “mental processes are to be identified in terms of

the behaviors to which they lead” In other words, his intervening
variables are tied to observable behaviors.
Another distinctive feature of the purposive
behaviorism is the coining of the term “cognitive
map.” According to Tolman, it is a mental illustration
of the layout of the environment. It is believed that
everything in our cognitive map influences our
intearaction with the environment. Hence, making our
cognitive map more detailed and comprehensive
helps facilitate our learning.
Tolman’s Other Salient Principles

Behavior is always
purposive.

Behavor is
Cognitive.

Reinforcement establishes
and confirms expectancies.
 Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Under the social learning theory, learning occurs within the social context and by
observing and copying other’s behavior or imitation ( Akers & Jensen, 2006,). Albert
Bandura is the proponent of this theory, where modeling is a crucial component. Modeling
refers to a change in one’s behavior by observing models ( Rosenthal & Bandura, 1978).
Historically, modeling was equated with imitation, but modeling is a more inclusive consent
( Mussen, 1983 ).

Bandura’s theory is also called the social-cognitive theory because of the influence of
cognition in his theory.
 The following are the fundamental principles of social learning theory:

One may learn without changing his Learning takes place by imitating a
An observing person will always react to Acquiring and performing
the one being imitated depending on

or her behavior . model. whether the model is rewarder or punished. behavior are different.

This is in contrast to what other That model possesses characteristics If the model receives rewards, Bandura made a demarcation line
behaviorists discussed earlier; that a learner finds attractive and between performing and acquiring a
desirable. the imitator copies the behavior; behavior.

Learning may be
Interaction is vital for succesful Learning may be
social learning. Leaning is self regulated. acquired vicariously.
reinforced by the model or
by others.

Vicarious learning is
Social learning may occur succesfully Bandura noted that self-regulation occur when Compliments coming from the
acquired from observing
when learners interact with their co- individuals observe, assess, and judge their model may strengthen the
the consequences of
behavior against their standards, and subsequently
learners and models. ( Mourlam, 2013 ) reward and punish them.
other’s behavior. occurrence of the behavior.
 Components of Successful Modeling
• Attention- To meaningfully perceive relevant behaviors, one should pay attention. At any given
moment, one can attend too many activities.

• Retention- Paying attention to something should result in retention that requires cognitively,
organizing, rehearsing, coding, and transforming modeled information for storage in memory.

• Production- To strengthen learning through observation, one needs to translate the visual and
symbolic conceptions into observable behavior.

• Motivation- Influencing observational learning is motivation. Individuals perform actions they

believe will result in rewarding outcomes and avoid acting in ways they think will be responded to
negatively (Schunk, 1987).
 Experience

● Tolman advanced that learning is goal directed. This goal is

specific, but for some children, it is distant and might be viewed as
too complicated. To ensure that all students achieve the overall
goal, as a teacher later, you may set short-term goals each day by
saying, “Today we are going to work on these five words. By the
end of class time, I know that you will be able to spell these five
words.”