Module 7

Behaviorism: Pavlov,Thorndike,
Watson and Skinner

Aldrin I. Ijalo
BSED 2- Physical Science
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the module the student must be
able to:
 explain the basic principles of
behaviorism;
 make a simple plan applying the
primary laws of learning,
 and determine on how to use rewards
in the learning process more effectively.
 Theory of Behaviorism
Focuses of the study of observable
and measurable behavior. It
emphasizes that behavior is
mostly learned through
conditioning and reinforcement
(reward and punishment)
 Ivan Pavlov
A Russian physiologist is well
known for his work in the
classical conditioning or
stimulus substitution.
Pavlov's most renowned
experiment involved meat,
a dog and a bell.
Pavlov’s Experiment
 Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning (also known
as pavlovian or respondent conditioning)
refers to a learning procedure in which a
biologically potent stimulus (e.G. Food) is
paired with a previously neutral
stimulus (e.G. A bell).
 Pavlov also had the following findings:
1. Stimulus Generalization – once a dog has
learned to salivate at the sound of the bell, it
will salivate at the other similar sounds.

2. Extinction- if you stop pairing the bell with

the food, salivation will eventually cease in
response with the bell.
3. Spontaneous Recovery- extinguished
responses can be recovered after an elapsed
time, but will soon extinguish again if the dog
is not presented with the food.

4. Discrimination- the dog could learn to

discriminate between similar bell ( stimuli)
and discern which bell would result in the
presentation of food and which would not.
5. Higher-order conditioning- once the dog has
been conditioned to associate the bell with
food, another unconditioned stimulus, such as
light mat be flashed at the same time that the
bell is rung. Eventually, the dog will salivate at
the flash of the light without the sound of the
bell.
 Edward Thorndike
Was an American psychologist.
His theory of connectionism
gave us the original S-R
framework of behavioral
psychology. He explained that
learning is the result of
associations forming between
stimuli and responses.
 Theory of Connectionism
“ Learning have taken place when
a strong connection or bond
between stimulus and response is
formed"
 Three Primary Law
1. Law of effect-
the connection between a stimulus and
response is strengthened when the
consequence is positive ( reward) and the
connection between the stimulus and the
response is weakened when the consequence
is negative .
2. Law Of Exercise-
tells us that the more an S-R ( stimulus-
response) bond is practiced the stronger it
will become. “ practice makes perfect” seem
to be associated with this. But the law of
exercise had to be revised because of the
findings that practice without feedbacks
doesn’t necessarily enhance performance.
3. Law Of Readiness-
The more readiness the learner has to respond
to the stimulus, the stronger will be the
bond between them. When a person is
ready to respond to a stimulus and is not
made to respond, it becomes annoying to
the person.
 Principles Derived From Thorndike’s
Connectionism

1. Learning requires both practice and

rewards ( laws of effect/ exercise)
2. A series of S-R connections can be
chained together if they belong to the
same action sequence. (law of readiness
3. Transfer of learning occurs because
of previously encountered
situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the
number of connections learned.
Thank you!