Understanding Childrens Behaviour. The purpose of this writing is to explore the theoretical perspectives of Operant Conditioning Theory developed by B.F. Skinner, Classical Conditiong Theory of I.Pavlov and Social Learning Theory developed by A.

Humera Ali

ALI07244459

Unit 7 - Task 1

Understanding Children’s Behaviour

1.1 Theories of I.Pavlov, BF. Skinner and A. Bandura

Three prominent researchers, I.Pavlov, B.F. Skinner and A.Bandura, have developed theories which provide differing perspectives and explanations regarding the learning behaviour of individuals. The purpose of this writing is to explore the theoretical perspectives of Operant Conditioning Theory developed by B.F. Skinner, Classical Conditiong Theory of I.Pavlov and Social Learning Theory developed by A.Bandura. An overview of theories is presented, followed by a discussion of their similarities and differences.

I.Pavlov (1849-1936)

Key Point- I.Pavlov was the first experimenter to research classical conditioning. In what started as a simple, physiological experiment with a dog, turned out to be the discovery of what came to be known as conditioning, more specifically, classical conditioning. He was performing some experiments on a dog, and found that he could “condition” the dog to salivate on the sound of a bell. After repeatedly ringing the bell, and introducing food. Eventually, the bell alone was sufficient to make the poor pup drip.

Compare and Contrast - Classical conditioning is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. He did not necessarily agree with behaviourism or behaviourists

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

Key Point - B.F. Skinner brought a new face into the world of behaviourism. Operant Conditioning is very similar to classical conditioning. But in include reinforces. After a response occurs, due to a certain stimulus, reinforces (positive or negative) are inserted that will increase or diminish the probability that the behaviour may occur again. His famous work is the Skinner box where he would condition, pigeons, mice, and even his own daughter to learn anything he wanted them to.

Compare and Contrast - B.F. Skinner’s theory of Operant Conditioning has at its foundation a desire to demonstrate a “cause and effect” relationship between behaviour and reinforcement and focuses on predicting and controlling behaviour in observable ways (Skinner, 1953, p. 23). Skinnerian theory (unlike social learning theory), neglects motivational and cognitive variables as contributors to human behaviour. Skinner Theory represent psychological perspectives that are quite different than those that preceded them, perspectives that are more mechanistic and more grounded in empirical methods of knowledge gathering.

A. Bandura (1925)

Key Point - A. Bandura gave us the concepts of Social Learning. With the help of the bobo doll experiment he showed us how there can be latent learning that is not seen until a reinforcer is included. Little babies learned to either hit, or not hit a bobo doll, but only the ones that saw the “model” receive no reinforcement or positive reinforcement for beating up the doll actually engaged in that activity. He also came up with the concept of insight learning, which dealt with monkeys finding ingenious ways to arrive to a solution (getting a banana). In Social Learning Theory A.Bandura (1977) states ‘behaviour is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways‘.

Compare and Contrast- Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modelling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviourist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation. Bandura (1977) states that ‘it is necessary for any comprehensive theory of human behaviour to recognize that something goes on inside an organism that affects its response to stimuli, often guides its behaviour, and influences the value of reinforces. Bandura’s theory emphasize the use of concepts that can be measured, and the experimental manipulation of variables.

Skinner and Bandura belong to a group of theorists called the behaviourists, or learning theorists. The behaviourists have played an important role in our understanding of language development. One main premise of behaviourism is that if

behaviours are rewarded, they will be repeated, but behaviours that are ignored or punished will decrease. For example, when a child says ’Da, da’ for the first time, we

promptly get very excited and repeat the sounds to the child, reinforcing the behaviour

so the child is more likely to try to reproduce it. Behaviourists focus on the process of

how language is ...

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behaviours are rewarded, they will be repeated, but behaviours that are ignored or punished will decrease. For example, when a child says ’Da, da’ for the first time, we

promptly get very excited and repeat the sounds to the child, reinforcing the behaviour

so the child is more likely to try to reproduce it. Behaviourists focus on the process of

how language is acquired. The emphasis is on environmental factors of imitation, learning and conditioning.

A. Bandura, like Skinner was a behaviourist. Behaviourists believed that learning is gradual and continuous; that development is a sequence of specific conditional behaviours. The main emphasis is on the environment, not heredity. Bandura’s social learning theory focuses on the imitation of behaviours by children, imitating caregivers and peers, thus learning much about

society and how it operates.

1.2 Behaviour Genetics

Human behaviour is influenced both by the genes that we inherit and the environment in which we live. With the significant advances in our knowledge of genetics and publication of the draft sequence of the human genome, the focus of research has moved once again towards understanding the biological contribution to behaviour. Some researchers are attempting to locate specific genes, or groups of genes, associated with behavioural traits and to understand the complex relationship between genes and the environment. This is called research in behavioural genetics. In contrast to research into the genetic basis of diseases and disorders, researchers in behavioural genetics investigate aspects of our personalities such as intelligence, sexual orientation, susceptibility to aggression and other antisocial conduct, and tendencies towards extraversion and novelty-seeking.

Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) was the first scientist to study heredity and human behaviour systematically. Human behavioural genetics, a relatively new field, seeks to understand both the genetic and environmental contributions to individual variations in human behaviour. Research in behaviour genetics has shown that almost all personality traits have both biological and environmental bases. One such trait is intelligence. An alternative approach on which biology leaves its signature is Evolutionary Psychology. Behaviour genetics is a field in which variation among individuals is separated into genetic versus environmental components. The most common research methodologies are family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies.

It is important to note that there is no single gene for intelligence, personality traits, behaviour, or even height. Rather, such complex characteristics are polygenic, i.e., they are influenced by multiple genes. The research methodologies mentioned do not tell us which genes are involved, only the relative influence of all genes as opposed to environment. Also, heritability (genetic influence) is a population value; knowing that height, for example, is 90 percent heritable does not tell us that 90 percent of any one person's height is due to genetic influences. Three models of genetics transmission

from parents to children exist, one passive model and two evocative models (D. Reiss, 2006).

Behaviour genetics is a scientific field that examines the relationship between personality and genetics. Most studies on behaviour genetics rely on twin studies, which compare identical and fraternal twins. Twin studies indicates moderate genetic influence, heritability estimates for most traits are about 40% and are not influenced by the environmental factors shared by twins. The estimated heritability for the personality measures were much lower than those obtained in studies of identical and fraternal twins, which suggests that twin studies have exaggerated the degree of genetic variation in personality.

Behaviour genetics studies of individual’s personality make one thing abundantly clear: genes are important, and unique environment is important, but shared environment is not important at all (Eysenck, 2000). This conclusion could be devastating to theories such as psychoanalysis that place a premium on how parents treat their children (assuming that parents tend to treat all their children alike).

1.3 Stages of development

Intimate interactions from early life serve as the basis upon which relationships later in life are formed. Environmental contingencies to which individuals must adapt are rooted in these relationships. In an attempt to adapt to other people's styles of relating, one must adjust his or her own behaviours (Baldwin, 1992).

J. Piaget

According to Piaget's stage theory, children progress through a sequence of qualitative transformations, advancing from simple to more complex levels of thought. Piaget believed these transformations to be universal, innately programmed shifts in a child's perception and understanding of the world. He proposed four main stages of cognitive development: The first was the Sensory Motor Stage, which occurs in children from birth to approximately two years. The Pre-operational Stage is next, and this occurs in children aged around two to seven years old. Children aged around seven to eleven or twelve go through the Concrete Operational stage, and adolescents go through the Formal Operations Stage, from the age of around eleven to sixteen or more.

Piaget has been, and continues to be, an important influence on how we think about children’s thinking skills. He was important because he saw children as active participants in their own learning. Vygotsky also saw children’s thinking developing in stages, but he emphasised the social and cultural influences on a child’s learning.

L. Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory relates to both cognitive and social development.

While this Russian theorist died in 1934, his work only found a broader audience in the 1990s. Vygotsky developed his theories around the same time as Piaget yet he emphasised the importance of relationships and interactions between children and more knowledgeable peers and adults. He believed that children’s cognitive understandings were enriched and deepened when they were ‘scaffolded’ by parent, teachers or peers (Berk, 1996).

Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky did not see the child as a solitary discoverer of knowledge, but as learning within social interactions that involve communicating. Vygotsky therefore also emphasised the role of language in the development of thinking processes. Like Piaget, he saw children as active partners in their own learning, and increasingly so as their ability to interact with others develops. He therefore emphasised the importance of language development, learning and teaching to the child’s cognitive development.

E. Erikson

Erikson built upon Freud’s work, identified eight stages. He believed that in each stage we face a crisis that needs to be resolved in order for us to develop socially and emotionally. Each stage has a positive or negative outcome, though we tend not to be at either end of the spectrum. The outcome of the stage is determined by our environment, and the care giving strategies or experiences to which we are exposed.

J. Bowlby and M. Ainsworth

According to the Bowlby and Ainsworth (1991), the love between a mother and an infant is the result of an attachment bond formed during the first year of life. Interactions between a child and his or her mother form behavioural patters that are reflected in later relationships. An example of the development of personality as a result of this bond can be seen in the securely attached infant. As a result of sensitivity and responsiveness on the part of the caregiver, an infant may develop a "secure" attachment style ( Ryckman, R., 2004). Infants who develop "secure" personality types feel confident and at ease when relating to others. They learn how to take turns, how to lead and follow, and how to express and receive. The attachment bond serves as a prototype and provides the earliest pattern for warm and close relationships (McAdams, 2005, pp. 140-143).

Freud

A human being's first intimate relationship is the mother-child relationship. According to Freud (1949), a human being's first encounter with intimate behaviour is with his or her mother during the act of breast-feeding. "The act of sucking is the most primitive manner of knowing the innermost self of another, and to suck the other into one's innermost" (Baum, W.M.2005, p. 139). During infancy, the baby obtains nourishment and pleasure from sucking at the mother's breast, thus reducing tension caused by the hunger drive. Engagement in such a tension-relieving activity during this early stage serves as the prototype for relationships that develop later on in life. Life-stage-related changes in stress, tension, and needs are based on the outcome of such coping attempts formed during infancy. The need for security and comfort play an important role in shaping the interactions with caregivers (Baum, W.M. 2005 , pp. 71-81).

Conclusion

In addition to Piaget's stage theory of cognitive development, Freud has proposed stage theories of psychosexual/personality development and Erikson has proposed psychosocial/identity development. These theories claim that children proceed through universal, age-specific stages of growth. Bowlby, Ainsworth, Erikson, and Freud contend that children's early attachment to their primary caregiver (e.g., mother, father) during the first few years of life sets the foundation for their later social emotional development.

Intimate relationships formed during infancy, childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood give rise to continuing relationships, and ultimately to individual development. These life stages are associated with richer bodies of knowledge about intimacy than any other (Nixon D, Aldwinckle M 2003) .

1.4 Maslow’s Hierarchy

Psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" and his subsequent book, Motivation and Personality. This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfil basic needs before moving on to other needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is most often displayed as a pyramid. The idea of using a hierarchy pyramid helps us to lay out the stages of need, starting with the base of the pyramid, which looks at physiological needs. As we work our way up the pyramid, the needs start to become more complex, and include safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and finally, at the very top, we have self-actualization. Like Carl Rogers, Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person to achieve individual potential.

Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behaviour. Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are deficiency needs, meaning that arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is important in order to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences. Maslow termed the highest-level of the pyramid as growth needs. Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person.

REFERENCES

Baum, W.M. (2005) Understanding behaviourism: Behaviour, Culture and Evolution. Blackwell.

Boeree, George C.(2006) “Abraham Maslow, 1908-1970.” Personality Theories.

Nixon D, Aldwinckle M (2003) Exploring: Child Development from three to six

years 2nd edition. Social Science Press, Katoomba.

Reiss, D. (2006). Mechanisms linking genetic and social influences in adolescent development: Beginning a collaborative search. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 6, 100-105.

Ryckman, R. (2004). Theories of Personality. Belmont, California: Thomson/Wadsworth.

WOOD D (2008) How Children Think and Learn (4th edition) Oxford; Blackwell Publishing.