Behaviourism, Cognition and Information-Processing Theory - Essay Example

Three Learning Theories and the Process of Child’s Learning Contents Behaviourism Theory 1 Cognition Theory 3 Information-processing Theory 5 An Observation of a Child’s Learning Activity 6 Explanations of Children’s Behavior by Three Theories 7 Conclusions 8 References 9 Three Learning Theories and the Process of Child’s Learning Infancy and toddlerhood are seen as important periods in the human lifespan (McKechnie, 2006). Their learning in these early stages of development will shape what type of a person, such as lawyer, doctor, merchant, etc (Watson, 1925). Therefore, many theorists have developed learning theories explaining how children learn in their early stages of development. Among the theorists, there are three famous schools that explain child learning. In light of searching for the learning theories and their application, this study sets threefold objective. They are: (1) To discuss the main principles of the three chosen theories, (2) To briefly present observation findings, (3) To analyze the child’s learning activity in the light of the selected three main theories. This study is organized as follows. Section I explains behaviorism theories. Section II describes the cognition theory. Section III presents information-processing theory. Section IV studies an observation on children learning activity. Section V applies learning theories to observations of children learning process. Section VI concludes. Behaviourism Theory Behaviourists were early schools of thought on child learning theories (e.g., Skinner, 1987, 1953, and 1950; Watson, 1925, etc.). Behaviourists viewed learning as (1) an adaptive process through which experience modifies pre-existing behaviour and understanding, (2) the pre-existing behaviour and understanding may have been present at birth, acquired though maturation, or learned earlier, and (3) relatively permanent changes in our behaviour. There are two main assumptions of behaviourists; (1) one should always seek simplest possible explanation for any event, and (2) one should define concepts in terms of observable events, and this led naturally to focus on “stimuli” and “responses”. In every observation of learning made, these two essential elements must be observed, (1) stimuli which refers to any event, situation, object, or factor that may affect behaviour: for the behaviourists, a measurable change in the environment ;and (2) response means any reaction to a stimulus, whether overt or mental, in research, the behaviour which is measured. The response can be categorized into two, (1) reflexes—an unlearned response that can be triggered by specific environmental stimuli, and (2) voluntary responses—a response which is controlled by the individual rather than being triggered by specific stimulus as reflexes are. With these assumptions, the behaviourists specify three important elements in learning process in their observations, namely (1) relatively permanent, (2) change in behaviour, and (2) results from practice or experience. Among many theorists, this study discusses operant conditioning by Skinner (1953). His theory explains that reinforcement can shape behaviour of human and animals. He argues that behaviours are learnt through the process of modelling. He proposed three kinds of reinforcements, namely (1) positive reinforcement—praise/reward increases behaviour, (2) negative reinforcement—punishment decreases behaviour, and (3) partial reinforcement—behaviour is not reinforced each time. Later his operant learning theory was criticized by many developmentalists for too much emphasis on behaviour shaped by external stimuli and ignorance on importance of cognitive contributors to social learning. Bandura (1977, 1986, 1992) argues that operant learning may be more suitable to apply to learning of animals. However, unlike animals, human beings are cognitive beings who are likely to think about relationships between their behaviour and its associated consequences. In addition, operant learning theory emphasizes external stimuli rather than internal forces such as instincts, or biological factors. Moreover, habits resulted from operant learning can emerge and disappear over a lifetime. In short, the behaviour theories sees person as passive and external stimuli as active elements in the learning process. Cognition Theory Cognitive psychologists, arguing operant learning views of behaviorists, believe that internal events within a person are more important than stimuli in environment in understanding behavior of human beings. The internal events are defined as mediational process or mediators. In other words, it can be viewed as a process or event within the individual which comes between a stimulus and response (Glassman, 2000). Among cognitive psychologists, founder Piaget (1950) and Vygotsky (1986) contributed significantly to the knowledge body of cognition theory. Piaget (1950) made two assumptions; (1) all children pass through stages of development in the same sequence without skipping any, and (2) the stages are the same for everyone irrespective culture thus they are universal. Principles of his learning theory are: (1) learning is a function of development, (2) there is an absolute continuity of all developmental processes,(3) development proceeds through a continuous process and this continuity is achieved by a continuous unfolding, and (4) each phase entails the repetition of processes of the previous level in a different form of mental organization. Unlike the operant view of Skinner (1950), Piaget (1950) views knowledge which (1) is not being absorbed passively from the environment but, (2) is being constructed through interactions and experiences between the mental structures and the environment. In his cognitive theory, there are four stages for knowledge processing, (1) input, (2) perception, (3) learning and memory, (4) retrieval, and (5) thinking. Piaget (1950) develops a cognitive development framework in which every child passes through four major stages of cognitive development; (1) the sensiorimotor state, (2) preoperational stage, (3) the concrete operational stage, and (4) the formal operational stage. He argues that no child can skip any of the four stages listed in order because every stage builds more complex way of thinking based on previous stages (see table 1). However, Vygotsky (1986) argues that children do not pass through the four stages in order. In his view, children’s learning is affected by guidance and encouragement of competent peer. In his theoretical framework, there are three developmental zones for children; (1) the zone of child’s level of potential development (with help), (2) the zone of proximal development in which help can be given, and (3) the zone of child’s level of actual development (without any help). He suggests that the zone of proximal development for children are important for them because guidance and encouragement can be given to children by their experienced peer or adult in order to develop a skill. Approximate age Stage Brief description Birth to two years Sensorimotor Infants use basic motor abilities to make sense and explore their environment. At birth they have only reflexes when gradually become complex Sensorimotor co ordinations. Two to seven years Preoperational Children acquire symbolic representation and they try to understand and explore the world through this skill. They respond to objects according to the way things appear –egocentric characteristic. They think that everyone sees the world the same way they see the world Seven to eleven years Concrete operational Children use mental activities that they are components of logical thought. Egocentrism disappear and reasoning is the main characteristic of that stage. Eleven years and beyond Formal operational Thinking and reasoning is now systematic and becomes more abstract. Table 1. Piaget’s stages of cognitive development Information-processing Theory Information-processing theory originally based on a framework of computers which received information, operates them, and process solutions, inferences, and so on. In the information-processing theorists’ view, human brain is compared with a computer that receives information, operates on, and converts to an output which may be answers, references, or solutions to problems (Klahr, 1992). What both theories of Piaget and information-processing theory shares in common is that they believe in biological maturation which is influential and important on cognitive growth. What the two theorists disagree is the connections between biological and cognitive growth. Information-processing theorists argue that information processing is enabled by the maturation of the brain and nervous system (Klahr, 1992). Assumptions of information-processing theorists are; (1) cognitive development as age related changes that occur in the mind’s hardware—the brain and central nervous system, and (2) software—mental process such as attention, perception, memory, and problem solving. Information-processing theorists argue that choice of strategies by people is influenced by previous experiences, skills, cultures, kinds of problems, and instructions given. In addition, they also argue that unlike Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, the information-processing is a continuous process with no stages (Siegler and Munakata, 1993). However, this theory is criticized by other developmentalists on its undermining the richness of human diversity and emotions. People cannot process information like computers do in everyday life. An Observation of a Child’s Learning Activity McKechnie (2006) conducted a library baby story time programs in two public libraries. Some of his observations are recorded as follows: “Louise (8 months) is smiling in anticipation of the page turning. Librarian turns the page. Librarian and Moms roar like a lion. Louise excitedly waves her arms up and down all the while smiling broadly. While Louise could not yet talk or even roar like the adults in the room, her smiles and body movements speak clearly to her engagement with this shared story reading. Anticipation, an emergent literacy skill, is evident in Louise’s smile. While she was not yet able to speak, Louise “roared” in her own way through her energetic arm waving. In a similar fashion, Mark (17 months) and David (15 months) danced their way through a story. They are dancing around in the middle room. Mark is signing, twirling, and making a galloping movement. Other children move in and out of the middle of the room as the dance goes on. Suzanne (15 months) is carrying a name tag and she takes it over to Daniel’s Mom. Suzanne looks at the nametag in her hand, then very deliberately points to the nametag Daniel’s Mon is wearing. Daniel’s Mom says, “You are right. It is like my nametag”. Explanations of Children’s Behaviors by Three Theories Above mentioned children’s behaviors can be explained by three theories of children learning. From the perspective of behaviorists, these children are influenced by external stimuli, in this case, the librarian and mothers who are reading story. These children behavior is the results of the external stimuli. When observing the behavior of Louise, her behavior of waving her arm when she saw the librarian and her mom turning pages of story book. From cognition psychologist’ view, especially referring to Piaget’s (1950) cognition theory, these children, named Louise, Suzanne, Mark, and David are in the stage of sensorimotor because they are under a year old. In that stage, infants use basic motor abilities to make sense and explore their environment. At birth they have only reflexes when gradually become complex sensorimotor co ordinations. For example, Louise waved her arms as she learns Librarian and her mom turns pages. She seems to use basic motor abilities to make sense while observing two persons’ behavior in her environment. Suzanne’s behavior of pointing out her nametag can be explained by cognition theory. She is making sense by comparing her nametag with Daniel’s mom and pointing out the nametag of Daniel’s mom. From the perspective of information-processing theorists, these children learning can be explained by comparing to a conceptual framework of computer processing. For example, Louise received information of turning pages of story reader and place in her brain. Next her brain processes this information of turning pages, operates them, and provides solution that they are turning pages. Then this solution results in her behavior of waving her arms. For Suzanne, she receives nametag information of Daniel’s mom, operates them in her brain, and produces solutions that her nametag is similar to that of Daniel’s mom. This same processing may not be occurred gain, if Suzanne is hungry for milk or she is sleepy. Conclusions In conclusion, this research thoroughly reviews three theories of learning, behaviorism, cognition, and information-processing theory which are important for toddlers and babies. These theories can be applied to children learning. However each of them is not perfect theories as they are criticized for their weaknesses by the successive theorists. Behaviorists attempt to explain children learning by observing children behavior and stimuli in their external environments. They view children as being influenced by the stimuli. Cognition theorists criticize behaviorists that their view of passively learning of children in their environment. Cognition theorists explain children’s behavior by four stages of children development through which all children must pass through. They also view children’s learning as a process which includes (1) input, (2) perception, (3) learning and memory, (4) retrieval, and (5) thinking. Information-processing theorists explain that the information processing of a computer can be compared with a child’s brain. When children learn, their brain process information and then they behavior accordingly to results of information processing. Therefore, caution must be taken when applying these learning theories to real situations. In my opinion, a holistic view of these three theories is better able to explain children learning behavior. Each of them could not explain well enough but when integrating three of them will explain much more of children’s learning behavior. References Bandura, A., (1977) Social Learning Theory, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A., (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A., (1992) Perceived self efficacy in cognitive development and functioning, Educational Psychologist, 28, 117-148. Glassman, W.E., (2000) Approaches to psychology (3rd edition),Buckingham: Open University Press. Klahr, D., (1992) Information-procession approaches to cognitive development, In M.H. Bernstein and M.E., Lamb (eds), Developmental psychology: an advanced textbook (3rd edition) pp. 273-335, Hillsdale: Erlbaum. McKechine, L., (2006) Observations of Babies and Toddlers in Library Settings. Librarytrends, Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 190-201. Piaget, J.J., (1950) The psychology of intelligence, New York: Norton. Piaget, J.J., (1952) The origins of intelligence, New York: International Universities Press. Piaget, J.J., (1964). The early growth of logic in the child, London: Rutledge and Kegan Paul. Piaget, J.J., (1966) The psychology of the child, New York: Free Press. Piaget, J.J., (1970) Science of education and the psychology of the child, London: Rutledge Kegan Paul. Shaffer, D.R., (1999) Developmental Psychology: Childhood and adolescence (5th edition), NY: Cole Publishing Company. Siegler, R.S., and Munakata, Y., (1993) Beyond the immaculate transition: Advances in the understating of change, Newsletter of the Society for Research in Child Development. Skinner, B.F.,(1950) Are theories of learning necessary? Psychological Review, 57, 193-216. Skinner, B.F.,(1953) Science and human behaviour, New York: Macmillan. Skinner, B.F.,(1987) Behaviourism, Skinner on. In R.L. Gregory (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Mind, New York: Oxford University Press. Vygotsky, L., (1986) Thought and language, Cambridge: MA: MIT Press. Watson, J.B., (1925) Behaviourism, New York: Norton. ***** Read More