Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• Reinforcement Theory (Skinner, 1968 Gropper,
  1983) views learning as the formation of
  stimulus-response associations.
• Such designs dictate learning paths directed
  toward defined objectives and measurable
  performance criteria.

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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• Stimulus-Response (S-R) associations formed
  through conditioning.
• Classical Conditioning a neutral stimulus is
  paired (presented contiguously in space and time)
  with one that is known to produce a response
  until the neutral stimulus alone begins to elicit
  the response.
• Operant Conditioning subject produces a
  particular response under prescribed conditions
  before rewards are provided. Response is
  instrumental in producing the reward.

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Classical Conditioning

• Pavlovian Response
• A dog is presented with a juicy steak and begins
  salivating.
• A bell is rung each time this occurs.
• This is repeated several times.
• Then the original stimulus is removed the
  steak.
• Then only the bell remains to evoke the response
  the dog salivates upon hearing the bell

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Classical or Operant Conditioning?
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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• When a stimulus reliably evokes a response, the
  response is under stimulus control. The subject
  must first discriminate the controlling stimulus
  from competing stimuli and generalize its
  relevant features to other contexts (Underwood,
  1966).

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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• Prompting, cueing and fading are used to
  establish stimulus control.
• Prompts and cues act as supporting stimuli which
  explicitly direct learners to relevant aspects of
  a lesson.
• Fading happens when the stimulus that evokes the
  response is gradually removed or reduced, so that
  the behaviour continues with less reliance on
  reinforcement.

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Foundations of Behaviourism

• Stimuli presented as a consequence of responses
  can act as reinforcers if they closely follow a
  response.
• Positive and negative reinforcement are designed
  to increase desired responses and shape
  appropriate behaviour.

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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• Reinforcement can be continuous (after each
  response or amount of time) or intermittent
  (periodical).
• Intermittent reinforcement can be after a fixed
  or variable number of responses (a ratio
  schedule) or affter a fixed or variable amount of
  time has lapsed (an interval schedule).
• Both schedules have different effects on how
  associations are made, how behaviour is shaped
  and the durability of conditioned responses.

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Schedules of Reinforcement
Reinforcement Contingent Upon
Responses
Time
Regular Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio
Fixed Interval
Irregular Reinforcement
Variable Ratio
Variable Interval
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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• Reinforcement and feedback are often incorrectly
  considered synonymous.
• Feedback generally includes information related
  to accuracy of a response and has response
  correction valuereinforcement may not.

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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• Individual S-R associations can be linked
  together to produce networks of S-R chains.
• S-R chains provide the behavioural explanation
  for the ability to perform complex tasks and
  solve untaught problems.

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Foundations of Radical Behaviourism

• Motivation seen as learners becoming motivated to
  seek stimuli and make responses leading to
  positive consequences, and avoiding stimuli and
  responses that engender negative consequences.

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Applications of Radical Behaviourism

• Objective specification (instructional
  expectations expressed as desired behaviours)
• Empirical testing (constant review and revision
  during lesson development)
• Self-Pacing (cornerstone of CBI borrowed from
  programmed instruction)

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Applications of Radical Behaviourism

• Overt responding (basis of interactive systems)
• Immediate feedback (typical component, despite
  growing evidence favoring other strategies)
• Controlled sequencing (usually linear or simple
  response-based branching through lesson)
• Small step size (lessons usually divided into
  small "chunks")

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Applications of Radical Behaviourism

• Low error rates (feedback, prompting and
  confirmation used to produce low error rates)
• Prompting (screen cues, contextual cues, help
  menus-- formal and thematic prompting)
• Confirmation (K-O-R applications)
• Behaviour modification