The last time I saw the footage of Skinner's pigeons I was in my second year way back in 1986! It is amazing how you forget that you know things. Isn't that the point of the cognivists? All you know is put into long-term memory until you need it. Places you visited when you were a child are suddenly brought back to life when you see a photograph that your Mom hauled out of an old shoe box.
The videos were quite helpful in explaining the concept of behaviourism. Having the pigeon's behaviour altered by rewarding it with food is clear proof that an organism's behaviour is a result of reinforcement. The pigeon is being rewarded for doing what is needed, i.e. turning left or right as the case may be.
The cognitivist video was not that helpful. All it was was a video of some people reading a presentation to an audience. They were describing particular software that incoporated e-learning and artificial intelligence. They claimed that the software would increase learning and retention in students and that it would decrease learning time. The presenters supported the cognitive learning theory stating that people learn by listening, watching, touching, reading or experiencing and then by processing and remembering.
I agree the behaviourist video was interesting and brought back memories from a long time ago. Sometimes I think they had better results with animals behaviour than we have with "thinking children"
ReplyDeleteThank you guys for your comments, i do not know why these learning theories confuses me so much. Reading your comments help me a little bit, i can comfortable say that a behaviorist will condition a child in such a way that a child behavior will be a guaranteed expected response.
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