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Running Head: THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Theories of Human Development and Classroom Relevancy: Classical and Operant

Conditioning, and Social Cognitive Learning Theory

Dorothy Strater

University of Phoenix Online

Psychology 538

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Theories of Human Development and Classroom Relevancy: Classical and Operant

Conditioning, and Social Cognitive Learning Theory

Introduction

There are several theories of human development. This paper will describe two of

these theories: Classical and Operant Conditioning, and Bandura’s Social Cognitive

Learning Theory. Each of these theories takes on a behaviorist point-of-view. Bandura’s

theory goes a step further to incorporate cognitive theories as well. These theories are

extremely useful as different behavior modification and teaching techniques. The

following sections will outline the basic concepts of each model. This is followed by a

discussion of the practical uses. Finally, the conclusions section will summarize and

discuss the pro’s and con’s of each theory.

Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning

Pavlov introduced the theory of classical conditioning. The theory is basically

this: You start with a behavior that is a consequence of the presentation of something

(e.g. food and salivation). Then you add a new thing (e.g. a bell) for several trials while

the first thing (food) is presented. Eventually, this new thing (the bell) may become so

strongly associated that it has the power to produce the old behavior (salivation). Pavlov

determined that there are four parts to such a lesson: unconditioned stimuli,

unconditioned responses, conditioned stimuli, and conditioned responses. The

unconditioned stimulus is the first thing, the food, the original cause for the behavior. The

unconditioned response is the behavior that is caused by the first thing, salivation when

the food is presented. The conditioned stimulus is the new thing that is introduced, the

bell; the thing that they are trying to make provoke the behavior. The conditioned

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response is the development of the same response to the new stimulus, salivation that is

caused by hearing the bell (when the food is not presented).

On the other hand, operant conditioning is a change in behavior that is caused by

the reinforcement of that behavior (praising a child for doing something well). The

reinforcements could be any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response

when it is withdrawn, whether it is a positive or negative reinforcement.

Bandura’s Social Cognitive and Learning Theory

Bandura suggests that learning is conducted through observing and modeling the

behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura (1977) states:

Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had

to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do.

Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling:

from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and

on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. (p. 22)

According to his theory, some important characteristics that stimulate learning are:

• Attention and observer characteristics (how much the observer can understand, how

interested the observer is, and past reinforcement)

• Retention, including mental association and organization

• Rehearsal or practice, both mentally and physically

• Motivation/Consequences, both observed (when others perform task) and

experienced

• Physical capabilities

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Bandura also includes in his theory the concept that people influence and create their own

environment. A difficult baby who cries a lot is going to make his or her caregiver

frustrated, because they have to work harder to calm the baby, so the caregiver might be

more reluctant to comfort the baby. Since Bandura includes attention, memory, and

motivation in his theory, it can be categorized as both cognitive and behavioral.

An example would be my three year old son reverting back to baby behavior since

his brother was born. He sees me pick up Xavier (his baby brother) and give him a lot of

attention every time he cries. So when Griffin is not getting enough attention from me, he

has starts to act like a baby –crying, wetting his pants, etc. Bandura calls that learning

through vicarious reinforcement. He sees someone else get rewarded for a certain

behavior, so he adopts that behavior as well.

Clinical Applications

There are several clinical applications of both theories. One example of using

conditioning is to train dogs with treats and a “clicker”. To train a dog to sit, for example,

nestle a treat in one hand. You take the treat hand, hold it above the dog’s nose, and move

it back and downward motion. He (or she) will naturally follow the treat backwards and

down, and end up sitting. As soon as his/her hind end touches the ground, you give him

the treat. He associates sitting with the treat and will eventually sit when he sees the treat.

That part of the lesson is operant conditioning (using the reward causes the dog to sit).

The next part of this lesson is classical conditioning, because it will associate a clicker

with the reward (the treat), and thus cause the dog to sit. The way you would use a clicker

is start with a treat nestled in one hand like before, and a clicker in the other hand (hidden

behind your back or in your pocket so you do not distract the dog). Get the dog to sit

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several times with the treat, and click the clicker when you give him the treat. Then,

remove the treat from the lesson and just click the clicker and the dog will sit.

An example of an application of Bandura’s theory is using a model of a person

overcoming a phobia to help someone else overcome the same phobia. Bandura actually

did experiments where people with snake phobias watched other people who pretended to

be afraid of snakes (the participants knew that these people were just pretending to be

afraid) gradually get closer and closer to the snakes. The participants who watched the

process tried it themselves and many were successful in over coming their fears by

following the process demonstrated by the actors (Bandura, 1977).

Conclusion

Table 1 displays a brief summary of each theory of human development that is

covered in this paper. The drawbacks of each of these theories are that they leave out the

unconscious, subconscious, biological and physical roles in development.

Table 1. Learning Theory Summaries Learning Style Summary

Classical Conditioning Uses a series of stimuli and responses. Old behavior is brought forth by a new stimulus through association.

Operant Conditioning Learning from the consequences of behavior (reinforcement).

Social Cognitive Behavior is learned through modeling other’s behaviors and

observing the consequences of one’s own and other people’s

behaviors (vicarious reinforcement). We think about what we

saw, we evaluate it, and vary our responses accordingly. We

affect our environment as well as learn from it.

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References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.