Description
In chapter five, Slavin discusses
behavioral and social theories of learning. Behavioral learning theories, “focus
on the ways that pleasurable or unpleasant consequences of behavior change individuals’
behavior over time and the ways individuals model their behavior on that of
others” (Slavin, 2012, p. 97). Social learning theories, “focus on the effects
of thought on action and of action on thought” (Slavin, 2012, p.97). Slavin includes
information from researchers Ivan Pavlov (late 1800s to early 1900s) and B.F.
Skinner (1948) who conducted experiments to understand how people and animals
learn. Developed by Albert Bandura in 1973, Slavin explains Bandura’s finding
that the social learning theory focuses more, “on the effects of cues on behavior
and on internal mental processes” (Bandura 1997, 2006; Slavin, 2012, p.112).
Analysis
Two
of the most important researchers remembered for their behavioral learning
theories are Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. Pavlov and his colleagues studied
the process of classical conditioning using dogs and the timing and rate of
their salivation. When placing meat in front of the dog, the dog would
salivate. This is considered an unconditioned stimulus because, “the meat
provoked this response automatically without any prior training or conditioning”
(Slavin, 2012, p. 99). The dog’s salivation is an unconditioned response
because the salivation also occurred automatically, without training, in the
presence of meat. Pavlov included a neutral stimulus, the ringing of a bell. The
neutral stimulus has no effect on the response in question, the timing and rate
in which dogs salivate. However, when pairing the bell with the meat during the
conditioning, the bell becomes a conditioned response. When the bell rings and
the meat is presented, the dog salivates. This salivation is still an
unconditioned response. After conditioning, because the dog is used to hearing
the bell when the meat is presented, the dog begins to salivate just by hearing
the bell. The dog’s response is now a conditioned response.
Skinner
proposed the idea of operant conditioning which explains behaviors based on
pleasant and unpleasant consequences. Slavin states, “if an individual’s
behavior is immediately followed by pleasurable consequences, the individual
will engage in that behavior more frequently” (Slavin, 2012, p. 99). Skinner
used rats and the “Skinner box.” Within the box was a rat, a bar that was easy
enough for a rat to press and it would dispense a pellet of food, and a water
dispenser. First, the rat accidentally pressed the bar but eventually the rat
would press it more often to get the food. Skinner’s experiment was conducted
in a controlled environment in which the experimenter would change the number
of bar presses it took for the rat to receive food. This allowed them to record
the behavior of the rat each time they changed the consequence the rat would
receive for the pressing the bar.
Part of
behavioral learning is understanding the consequences of one’s behavior.
According to Slavin, “a reinforcer is any consequence that strengthens a behavior”
(Slavin, 2012, p. 101). There are two categories that reinforcers fall in to;
primary and secondary reinforcers. Primary reinforcers are things such as food,
water, security, etc. These reinforcers satisfy basic human needs. Secondary
reinforcers acquire their value by being associated with primary reinforcers. Slavin
uses the example of money and a young child. “Money has no value to a young
child until the child learns that money can be used to buy things that are
themselves primary or secondary reinforcers” (Slavin, 2012, p. 101). There are
also positive and negative reinforcers. Positive reinforcers in school may
include grades, praise, and rewards. However, some behavior can be strengthened
if the reinforcer allows the student to get out of doing something that is
unpleasant to them. This would be considered a negative reinforcer. Other reinforcers
include intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcers. Intrinsic reinforcers are anything
that someone enjoys doing. For example, if someone likes to sing and they have
a passion for singing, they are going practice their singing without any reason
other than its something they enjoy. Extrinsic reinforcers include, “praise or
rewards given to motivate people to engage in a behavior that they might not
engage in without it” (Slavin, 2012, p. 103). For example, some schools have a “Four
Sport Award.” Students may try a sport they wouldn’t normally play just to get
the award.
Albert
Bandura felt that Skinner’s research missed the impact of modeling – “learning
from others’ successes and failures” (Skinner, 2012, p. 112). Bandura felt that
more people learned by modeling rather than from a consequence. He includes
four phases in his analysis of observational learning:
1. Attentional
phase – pay attention to a model
2. Retention
phase – model the behavior they want students to imitate and then give students
a chance to practice or rehearse
3. Reproduction
– students try to match their behavior to the model’s behavior
4. Motivational
phase – students will imitate a model because they believe that doing so will
increase their own chances to be reinforced.
(Slavin, 2012, p. 112)
Many teachers use the
concept of vicarious learning in their classrooms. Slavin states, “When one
student is fooling around, teachers often single out others who are working
well and reinforce them for doing a good job” (Slavin, 2012, p. 113). It is
hoped that when students who are off task see this they will get back on task.
Self-regulation is
another important concept in social learning theory. During self-regulation,
you judge yourself based on the job you did. “Bandura (1997) hypothesized that
people observe their own behavior, judge it against their own standards, and reinforce
or punish themselves” (Slavin, 2012, p. 114).
Reflection
How did you feel about the concept?
How might you use what you learned to become a better
teacher?
How might you handle a situation or activity
differently based on this learned information?
If this event sparked additional questions, what are
they and what action(s) will you take to address them?
During
my first year of teaching, I had a student who was on a behavior plan. If he
reached certain goals by the end of the week, he got a bag of chips and free
time in the gym. In my mind I thought, “Is this a joke? Why should he get that
when students who are on their best behavior do not get those same rewards?” Reading
this chapter reminded me of that situation and how conflicting it can be at
times to decide how to react when students are misbehaving. In my sixth period
class this year, I had a handful of students who were academically low,
students who were on grade level but cause major class disruptions, and students
who were low and major class disruptions. As I was reading this chapter, I was
constantly thinking about those students and the reinforcers I gave them and
probably shouldn’t have. Most days I was just trying to eliminate the
disruptions so I could reach at least some of my students. However, this was a
big mistake. Negative reinforcers include behaviors that are strengthened due
to its consequence being an escape from an unpleasant situation (Slavin, 2012,
p.101). The moment I told a student to step outside or go to the office, it
became almost an everyday thing. They wanted to work in the hallway or they
wanted to go to the office so they could get out of their classroom duties as a
student. One student in particular did this due to her inability to read and comprehend.
She was also repeating the sixth grade.
In the
future, I will definitely implement reinforcers such as praise, attention,
grades and recognition, calling home, privileges, and activity reinforcers. One
thing I also have to remember is that fair is not always equal. This is a
saying I’ve heard many times by previous professors I’ve had. I truly believe in
the saying but I don’t always remember it, especially in the heat of a moment situation
with students with behavior challenges. I also have to remember that some students
do not have good modeling examples outside of school and they bring what they
learn from home into the classroom. I think this is another reason why positive
reinforcers are so important.
Questions
that I now have are the following: How do I decide what reinforcer to use? How do
I determine when I should send a student to the office or try something else? At
what point do I no longer allow the disruptions to continue and something has
to give? I feel like I am fighting with myself. I know the student wants to get
out of class so I am not going to let them leave but they are causing major
disruptions. How do I decide what to do? I am hoping these answers will come
with experience and continued support from other teachers. I also believe that
taking more time to get to know my students may help with this as well.
Reference
Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory
and Practice (12th ed.). NY, NY: Pearson.
No comments:
Post a Comment