Behaviourism

LEARNING THEORIES

For the purposes of this manual we focus on the so-called modern learning theories namely, Behaviourism, Gestalt theory, Cognitivism and Constructivism.

Behaviourism

In the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin published his well-known work, The Origin of Species. Scientists soon realized that although humans may differ in many ways from other

members of the animal kingdom, they do (at least as far as biological aspects are concerned

) share many similarities with them. Studying biological processes in animals could therefore shed some light on the same processes in humans. Scientists interested in psychological processes soon followed the trend.

Thorndike

Around the turn of the twentieth century, Edward Thorndike attempted to develop an objective experimental method to study the behaviour of cats and dogs. He designed a so-called ‘puzzle box’ in which an animal was placed. Each puzzle box had a lever or mechanism that would release the door lock if the lever or mechanism was pressed. The animal had to learn to press the lever or mechanism to open the box.

Thorndike noticed that he could measure animal intelligence by using this equipment. He was particularly interested in discovering whether animals could learn through imitation or observation.

He noticed that when an animal found itself in a problem situation it had encountered before, it was more likely to perform the same action that had earlier brought the desired reward.

The reward of being freed from the box strengthened the association between the stimulus (being placed in a closed box) and an appropriate action. Thorndike concluded that rewards act to strengthen stimulus-response associations. This basic principle he applied to humans by claiming that humans develop a myriad of stimulus-response associations.