25/9/2014 FROM BEHAVIORISM PSY6015 COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORIES SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

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1 FROM BEHAVIORISM According to behaviorism Learning is defined as an immediate change in behavior Only reinforced behaviors will be performed Ignore what is happening in the black box Our environment completely control our behaviors PSY6015 COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORIES Lecture 3 Social Learning Theories FROM BEHAVIORISM However, consider the following case: Tommy once saw his father ending an argument with his mother by hitting her. One week later, when Tommy is having some arguments with his friends, he tried to solve the issue by hitting his friends. He was immediately punished by the teacher. Even though his hitting behaviors were punished every single time and were never reinforced, he continued hitting people. However, he dared not hit people at home, in which his father would beat him up. FROM BEHAVIORISM In this situation Learning does not result in immediate change in behavior The behavior is never reinforced Our minds play a role in the learning process We do have some control on our behaviors and our environment SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Also known as social cognitive theory cognitive because it takes our cognition into consideration People never get reinforced/punished for every single behavior on the earth Yet, we learn to do/not to do certain behaviors We learn by observing others PRINCIPLES People can learn by observing others behaviors and the consequences of that result Tommy learned hitting people from his father Learning can occur without an immediate change in behavior Tommy did not demonstrate the learned behavior immediately Cognition plays important role in learning People can have considerable control over their actions and environment Tommy did not hit people at home, because he knew that he would be beaten up by his father 1

2 RECIPROCAL CAUSATION Environment, person, and behavior interact and affect each other Although the environment does influence us, we (person) also affect our environment Innate tendency: children with ADHD will elicit more punishment from the environment Beliefs: if you belief in practice makes perfect, you will likely to work harder RECIPROCAL CAUSATION Environment Person Behavior ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS People are innately equipped to imitate others behaviors Babies imitate adults facial expression People are usually reinforced for imitating others Generalized imitation Babies get reinforced for imitating parents facial expressions The observer is reinforced by the model A teacher praises students for following her in reading a poem The observer is reinforced by a third person A little girl gets praise for imitating her sister in dressing herself The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences You learn playing music by watching others, and the process of playing music is reinforcing by itself Consequences of the model s behavior affect the observer s behavior vicariously John saw Sam got reinforced for help cleaning the desk, John would be more likely to clean the desk in the future BANDURA S EXPERIMENT BANDURA S EXPERIMENT The Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1965) Three groups of children Group 1: watched a video in which an adult acted aggressively to a doll and then get reinforced Group 2: watched a video in which an adult acted aggressively to a doll and then get punished Group 3: watched a video in which an adult acted aggressively to a doll without consequences The three groups were then allowed to interact with the doll Later on, the three groups were given incentive for reproducing the aggressive behaviors 2

3 BANDURA S EXPERIMENT Implications Children learn aggressive behaviors by observing others Watching aggressive behaviors being reinforced result in increased reproduction of misbehaviors Ignoring aggressive behaviors have same effect as reinforcing misbehaviors Even when the observed aggressive behavior is punished, it is still acquired, just that the learn choose not to demonstrate that Learning involves a mental (rather than behavioral) change People can learn a behavior but not performing e.g., watching the punished-aggressive behaviors Certain cognitive processes are essential for learning to occur Paying attention, mentally rehearsing, forming mental representations A slightly different version THE COGNITIVE PROCESSES Learners must be aware of existing responseconsequence contingencies If a learner is not sure which part of the behavior is reinforced, he/she is less likely to learn that behavior Explicitly state what behavior is desirable/undesirable Learners form expectations for future responseconsequence contingencies Learners perform a behavior when they expect that the behavior will be reinforced If you see others get reinforced for a certain behavior, you also expect yourself to be reinforced for the same behavior Learners also form beliefs about their ability to perform various behaviors Efficacy expectations: beliefs about whether they themselves can execute particular behaviors successfully If you do not think that you can learn playing hockey, you don t learn that even after you have observed others playing Outcome and efficacy expectations influence cognitive processes that underlie learning What is not examined is usually not learned effectively The nonoccurrence of expected consequences is an influential consequence in and of itself If you expect a behavior to be reinforced while it does not, it can be punishing Accompany with strong negative emotions e.g., expecting an A but only getting a B in a course Recalling the Bobo doll experiment: Ignoring aggressive behavior is reinforcing! 3

4 MODELING How modeling affects behaviors Teaches new behavior Influences the frequency of previously learned behaviors Vicarious reinforcement makes behaviors more likely May encourage previously forbidden behaviors Disinhibition e.g., You know that swearing is a bad behavior. However, when you see people s swearing behaviors result in good outcomes (getting along well with others), your tendency to swear may increase. Increases the frequency of similar behaviors TYPES OF MODELS Live model An actual person demonstrating a particular behavior Symbolic model A person or character portrayed in a book, film, TV show, game, etc Verbal instructions Descriptions of how to behave only EFFECTIVE MODELS In order to let learners to learn more effectively, the model would better be With high perceived similarity A low-achieving student will be more likely to gain confidence in doing a particular academic task when he/she sees another lowachieving student succeeded in doing With high competence You would probably make reference to A grade papers, instead of C grade papers, when doing your assignments With prestige and power Teenagers are more likely model idols than an average adult BEHAVIORS THAT CAN BE LEARNED THROUGH MODELING Academic skills Usually through cognitive modeling e.g., thinking aloud Aggression The Bobo doll experiment! Social skills Children learn how to appropriately interact with others by observation In cases where observational learning is not enough, explicit teaching may be needed CLASSROOM EXERCISE Gregg, Natalie, please wait to be given permission before you speak out in class, you comment to two of your students as they whisper to each other. They stop, and Christine, who has been looking at you out of the corner of her eye as she whispers to Dawn, also stops. 1.Explain Gregg s and Natalie s behavior. 2.Explain Christine s behavior. 3.Which modeling outcome is best illustrated by Christine s behavior? 4.Suppose you had said nothing to Gregg and Natalie. What would have been the likely outcome for them, Christine, and the rest of the class? SELF-EFFICACY Self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy Self concept Who am I? Self-esteem How good am I as a person? Self-efficacy How well can I do such-and-such? More specific, evaluative judgment about oneself 4

5 SELF-EFFICACY Effects of self-efficacy Choices of activities Students who believe that they can run fast will join the athletic team, while those who believe that they can sing well join the choir Goals People with higher self-efficacy set higher goals to themselves Effort and persistence People with higher self-efficacy pay more effort and are more likely to persist when they encounter obstacles Learning and achievement People with high self-efficacy usually learn better But unrealistically high self-efficacy can be harmful SOURCES OF SELF-EFFICACY Mastery experience Previous successes (failure) increases (decreases) self-efficacy However, history without failure may not be good Vicarious experience If a similar other has succeeded in a particular task, you will have higher self-efficacy in that task Competent vs. coping model Social persuasion Whether others believe that you can do it Be both constructive and realistic Physiological status Anxiety and stress lower self-efficacy SELF-REGULATION Children, through repeated observations of others, build up some internal standards for appropriate vs. inappropriate behaviors STEPS FOR SELF-REGULATION Goal setting Setting a standard for yourself first e.g., I need to lose 10kg in this three months! If they can act according to their internal standards, they will gain more control over the course of their lives Self-instructions Tell yourself what to do e.g., I need to control my diet and do more exercises Five steps for teaching children to self-instruct Cognitive modeling overt, external guidance overt selfguidance faded, overt self-guidance covert self-instruction STEPS FOR SELF-REGULATION Self-monitoring Observe your own behaviors e.g., record the calories intake and the duration of exercising, keep track of the body weight, etc Assess whether you are on track The process itself maybe reinforcing May also observe relevant antecedent/consequences Self-reinforcement Reward yourself for your accomplishment APPLICATION OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Students can learn by simply observing others Explicitly stating behavior-consequence relationship Alternative for shaping new behaviors Importance of role model Self-reflection Think about ways to improve e.g., if you know that you tend to eat a lot when you watch TV, you may considering cutting your TV watching time 5

6 APPLICATION OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY APPLICATION OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Exposure to a variety of models to enhance learning Self-efficacy is important Realistic expectation Self-regulation helps RECAP EXERCISES Write down 4-5 key concepts covered in this topic (with some elaborations) and share with the friend next to you! REFERENCES Eggen, P. D. & Kauchak, D. P. (2014). Educational psychology: Windows on classrooms (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human learning (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson