Behavioral Theory

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Behavioral Theory
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Operant Conditioning - Skinner

• All behaviors are accompanied by certain
  consequences and the consequences that follow
  behavior are either pleasant and desirable or
  adverse
• Voluntary responses of animals and humans are
  strengthened when they are reinforced and
  weakened when they are either ignored or punished
• Assumes that while behavior appears on the
  surface to be random, it is governed by a set of
  laws

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Operant Conditioning - Skinner
Present
Remove
Negative Reinforcement (Undesirable stimuli)
Positive Reinforcement (Desired stimuli)
Strengthen behavior
Presentation Punishment Type I (Undesirable
stimuli)
Removal Punishment Type II (Desired stimuli)
Weaken behavior
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Reinforcement

• Positive Reinforcement - Strengthen a target
  behavior by presenting a positive reinforcement
  after the behavior occurs think of positive as
  "adding" add stimulus to strengthen behavior
• Negative Reinforcement - Strengthen a target
  behavior by removing an aversive stimulus after
  the behavior occurs remove stimulus to
  strengthen behavior
• Three procedures that reduce the probability of a
  particular behavior being repeated
• Punishment - presentation of an averse stimulus
  such as scolding or spanking
• Time-out - temporarily removing the opportunity
  to receive positive reinforcement
• Extinction - behavior ceases as a result of
  withholding positive reinforcement

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Educational Application - Skinner

• Be clear about what is to be taught
• 2. Teach first things first
• 3. Allow students to learn at their own rate
• 4. Program the subject matter
• present small amounts of specially designed
  written material to the student in a
  predetermined sequence
• provide prompts to draw out the desired response
• call for the response to be repeated for mastery
• immediately reinforce correct responses

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Behavior Modification

• Shape behavior by ignoring undesirable responses,
  reinforcing desirable responses.
• Techniques
• Shaping
• Token Economies
• Contingency Contracting
• Extinction, Time-out, and Response cost
• Punishment

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Shaping

• Select the target behavior
• Reinforce successive approximations of the target
  behavior each time they occur
• Reinforce the newly established behavior each
  time it occurs
• Reinforce the target behavior on a variable
  reinforcement schedule

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Token Economy

• A token is something that has little or no
  inherent value but can be used to "purchase"
  things that do have inherent value
• A flexible reinforcement system used to
  strengthen behavior in the classroom
• Effective in reducing behaviors, such as talking,
  being out of one's seat, and fighting

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Contingency Contracting

• Use of a contract to agree on a mutually
  acceptable form of reinforcement

Extinction, Time-out and Response Cost

• Use to weaken or eliminate undesirable behavior,
  by removal of the stimulus

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Social Learning Theory

• De-emphasizes the role of reinforcement in
  learning by attributing initial changes in
  behavior to the observation and imitation of a
  model
• Also called Observational Learning

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Social Learning Theory - Bandura

• Types of observational learning
• Inhibition
• Learning NOT to do something because the model
  refrains from the behavior
• Disinhibition
• Learning to do something that is normally
  disapproved because the model does it without
  consequences, or with positive consequences
• Facilitation
• We are prompted to do something we normally
  wouldnt do
• The resistance to the action is lack of
  motivation, NOT social disapproval
• True Observational Learning
• Learning a NEW behavior pattern by watching
  someone else

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Processes in Observational Learning
Students who have seen the behavior modeled are
more likely to be successful and
confident!!! Attention - Effects of
Observer-model Similarity

• Children concerned about appropriateness of
  behavior, more likely to model peer's behavior
• Children concerned about competence of peers will
  model the behavior of an adult
• Children are more apt to model same sex models
• Children with past learning problems more likely
  to model a peer who has overcome learning
  problems
• Production -
• Select and organize response elements
• Refine response based on informative feedback

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Observational Learning (cont.)

• Retention - (example of retention)
• Jim is entering his pin number at the ATM
  machine Susie is watching Jim enter the number,
  Bill is looking away politely
• Susie observes that watching as someone enters
  their pin number is rude
• Jim is entering his pin number Susie and Bill
  are looking away
• Motivation - Reinforcement
• Direct Individual watches model, imitates
  behavior, and is reinforced or punished by the
  model or someone else
• Vicarious Observer anticipates a reward for
  certain behavior because someone else has been so
  rewarded
• Self Individual strives to meet personal
  standards and does not care about the reactions
  of others

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NOTES, RESEARCH STUDIES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES
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Token Economy

• Definition
• A token economy is a flexible reinforcement
  system used to strengthen behavior in the
  classroom.
• A token is something that has little or no
  inherent value but can be used to "purchase"
  things that do have inherent value.
• Properties that a token should have in the
  classroom
• 1. Their value should be readily understood
• 2. They should be easy to dispense
• 3. They should be identifiable as property of a
  particular child
• 4. They should require minimal book keeping
  duties for the teacher
• 5. They should be dispensed in a manner which
  will divert as little attention as possible from
  academic matters
• 6. They should be dispensed frequently enough to
  insure proper shaping of desired behavior
• Results
• "A base rate of disruptive behavior was obtained
  for seven children in a second-grade class of 21
  children. Rules, Educational Structure, and
  Praising Appropriate Behavior while Ignoring
  Disruptive Behavior were introduced successively
  none of these procedures consistently reduced
  disruptive behavior. However, a combination of
  Rules, Educational Structure, and
• Praise and Ignoring nearly eliminated disruptive
  behavior of one child. When the Token
  Reinforcement Program was introduced, the
  frequency of disruptive behavior declined in five
  of the six remaining children. Withdrawal of the
  Token Reinforcement Program increased disruptive
  behavior in these five children, and
  reinstatement of the Token Reinforcement Program
  reduced disruptive behavior in four of the five.
  Follow-up data indicated that the teacher was
  able to transfer control from the token and
  back-up reinforcers to the reinforcers existing
  within the educational setting, such as stars and
  occasional pieces of candy. Improvements in
  academic achievement during the year may have
  been related to the Token Program, and attendance
  records appeared to be enhanced during the Token
  phases. The Token Program was utilized only in
  the afternoon, and the data did not indicate any
  generalization of appropriate behavior from the
  afternoon to the morning."
• These results show that token economies can work
  and do work in the classroom to reduce undesired
  behavior but the teacher can rely on the tokens
  for ever he or she at one point must remove the
  token and the student should continue the desired
  behavior.
• WORKS CITED
• Agras, Stewart. Behavior Modification Principles
  and Clinical Applications. Little, Brown and
  Company Inc. New York, 1972.
• Gentry, Doyle. ed. Applied Behavior Modification.
  Mosby Company. New York, 1975.
• Mikulas, William. Behavior Modification an
  Overview. Harper and Row Publishers. New York,
  1972.
• O'Leary, K.D., et. al. Journal of Applied
  Behavior Analysis. Vol. 2. P. 3-13, 1969.

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Bobo Doll Experiment -Bandura, Ross, and Ross
(1963)

• A control group of preschoolers
• Watched no model
• Three other groups of preschoolers
• Watched Bobo doll being verbally and/or
  physically abused by either a live model, a
  filmed model, or a female dressed in a cat
  costume
• All children allowed to play with attractive toys
• Children then placed in a playroom with less
  attractive toys, including Bobo doll
• Children were irritated at being removed from
  attractive toys prone to aggression
• Groups that witnessed the aggression showed
  aggression towards Bobo doll by modeling the
  behaviors witnessed
• Group that did not witness aggression did not
  show aggression to Bobo doll
• I. Operant conditioning Instrumental
  conditioning also known as operant conditioning
  holds the belief that our actions are
  "instrumental" in producing whatever pleasant or
  painful consequences follow a. II. Positive
  Reinforcement, b. Negative Reinforcement, c.
  Punishment (Time-out Extinction)
• Positive Reinforcement brings pleasant
  consequences,
• a. Rewards concrete rewards (money, toys,
  stickers, candy, etc.) and intangible rewards
  (affection, praise, attention, etc.)
• b. E.L. Thorndike's Law of Effect
• c. Positive reinforcement strengthens either by
  giving praise or recognition to the student after
  the behavior has occurred
• III. Negative Reinforcement removes something
  unpleasant from the immediate situation.
• a. This may be relief from pain or the removal
  of some barrier that is keeping us from obtaining
  something we want.
• b. Negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior
  by removing whatever barrier is in the way or
  causing us difficulty.
• IV. When punishment occurs our tendency to repeat
  whatever action or behavior may have been is
  weakened.
• a. Punishment may include spanking, scolding, to
  the removal of something pleasant.

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• Positive reinforcement brings pleasant
  consequences. Pleasant consequences may include
  concrete rewards (money, toys, stickers, candy,
  etc.) and intangible rewards (affection, praise,
  attention, or the satisfaction that comes with
  having successfully completed a challenging
  task). E.L. Thorndike's Law of Effect states
  "that organisms tend to repeat those responses
  that are followed by satisfying states of affairs
  (rewards)." With positive reinforcement a
  behavior is strengthened either by giving praise
  or recognition to the student after the behavior
  has occurred.
• Negative Reinforcement removes something
  unpleasant from the immediate situation. This may
  be relief from pain, the ending of arguments or
  cries or the removal of some barrier that is
  keeping us from obtaining something we want. With
  negative reinforcement a behavior is strengthened
  by removing whatever barrier is in the way or
  causing us difficulty.
• When punishment occurs our tendency to repeat
  whatever action or behavior may have been is
  weakened. Punishment may include any unpleasant
  consequence, from a spanking or a scolding to the
  removal of something pleasant such as not
  watching a favorite TV show or playing outside.
• Two types of punishment are (1) Time-Out where a
  behavior is decreased or eliminated by
  temporarily removing the student from class
  participation, for example and (2) Extinction
  when responses that are not reinforced decrease
  in frequency or may even be eliminated such as
  ignoring. Thorndike's Law of Effect which
  contained two facets (1) in which rewards
  increase the likelihood of responses which
  preceded them and (2) punishments decreased the
  likelihood of responses which preceded them.
  Therefore, punishment either decreases or
  eliminates a particular behavior.
• Bibliography
• Hall, Elizabeth Hoffman, Lois Schell, Robert
  Scott, Paris (1988). Fifth Edition Developmental
  Psychology Today. McGraw-Hill, Inc.
• Schwartz, barry (1978). Psychology of Learning
  Behavior. New York W.W.Norton and Company, Inc.
• Walters, Gary C. Grusec, Joan E. (1977).
  Punishment. San Francisco W.H. Freeman and
  Company.

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Violence Studies

• Desensitization to Violence Study
• Drabman and Thomas, 1974
• Two groups One group saw violent western movie
  One group saw no movie
• Forty-four boys and girls
• Third and fourth graders
• Children asked to babysit two younger children
• Younger children displayed on the television
• Two children showed highly aggressive behavior to
  one another
• Babysitters actions
• Group that had seen violent movie waited to go
  get an adult
• Group that had not seen violent movie went to get
  adult immediately
• Long range Effects of Television Violence Study
• William Belson
• Two groups One group watched excessive amounts
  of television during childhood One group watched
  below average quantities of television
• 1,565 teenage boys
• Group that watched excessive television committed
  crimes, such as rape and assault 49 more often
  than other group
• Group that watched below average amount
  television less likely to commit crimes

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Violence Studies (cont.)

• Conclusions
• Children who witness violent behavior on
  television are very likely to
• Imitate it
• See it as normal
• Commit various violent crimes
• Television violence undoubtedly causes
  aggressive behavior in children
• The basis behind the idea that media aggression
  will cause aggressive behavior in children is
  Banduras observational learning theory.
  Specifically, it is the idea that people,
  especially children, will model what they
  observe. In each of the above three studies, a
  group of children witnessed a model acting
  aggressively and not being punished for it, and
  another group of children saw no model. In each
  case, the children who had witnessed the
  aggressive behavior modeled it, while the
  children who had not witnessed the behavior did
  not act aggressively. In addition, Bandura
  conducted a number of variations of the Bobo Doll
  experiment which included rewards and punishment,
  and the results were virtually unchanged.
  Whatever the circumstances, the majority of
  children still modeled the aggressive behavior.
• Bibliography
• "Albert Bandura Social Cognitive Theory." 4pp.
  Online. Internet. 4 April 1998.
• Boeree, George C. "Albert Bandura." 4pp. Online.
  Internet. 7 April 1998.
• "Does Violence on Television Cause Aggressive
  Behavior?" 6pp. Online. Internet. 4 April 1998.
• Hummel, John. "Observational (Social) Learning."
  Educational Psychology Interactive Observational
  Learning. 2pp. Online. Internet. 7 April 1998.