Chapter 5 Social Theories of Development and Learning

• Human Growth Development
• Year 3

Chapter 5

Social Theories of Development and Learning

Social Learning Theory

~ Children learn many things just from watching others. That is, other people serve as Behavioral Models.

        \Behavioral Models/- When a person observes the behavior of another and then imitates that behavior, he or she is modeling the behavior.

~ This is the main principle of social learning theory, proposed by Albert Bandura and his colleagues.

~ Developmental psychologists have studied observational learning of a wide range of behaviors including aggression, altruism, sex-typed behaviors, caregiver-infant attachment, and social dpendency.

Observational Learning of Behaviors and Expectancies

~ In observational learning, people learn through vicarious experiences. That is, when they see others experience rewards and punishments, they form expectations about the rewards or punishments they might receive for their own behaviors. 

Cognitive Mechanisms of Social Learning

~ Imitation in its most basic form is apparently innate. within hours of birth, infants who observe an adult opening his or her mouth or sticking out his or her tongue respond by opening their mouth or sticking out their tongues.

~ Four cognitive processes, in particular, mediate social learning: attentional processes, retention processes, production processes, and motivational processes.

Punishment

~ Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment, a common misconception.

~ One way to avoid this misconception is to focus on the different outcomes of negative reinforcement and punishment.

~ Punishemnt is the presentation of aversive stimulation following a response.

~ In Skinner's view, behaviorism is a very positive approach to student learning and development.

~ The emphasis is on catching the students doing well and reinforcing them for it.

~ Skinner suggested that when teachers use punishment, they should also provide an alternative behavior that will be reinforced.

Is punishment necessary in the classroom? why or why not?

Behavior Modification: Applied Operant Conditioning

~  One of the most important applications of operant conditioning is behavior modification.

~ The gradual reduction in reinforcement is known as fading

~Behavorial Contracting is another behavior modification option. 

Cognitive-Behavior Modification

~ Consistent with the main tenets of conditioning, classical behavior modification focuses on changing behaviors more than cognitions. 

~ Cognitive-behavior modification also attempts to change children's thinking, largely by changing the way children talk to themselves.

~ Although young children often use a self-instructional speech on their own, they also benefit from explicit instructions about how to self-verbalize.

~ Cognitive-behavior modifications typically combines instruction in self-verbalizations with other techniques, including modeling, and etc.  

Classroom Management

~ Principles of social learning theory are commonly applied in classrooms as techniques for managing student behaviors.

~Pricipals of classroom management provide teachers with guidance about how to maintain order in the classroom without creating an aversive environment, even with children who can be otherwise disruptive. 

Why is Classroom Management important?