Behaviorism and Cognitive Development Theory
Please read the following chapters/sections in your text:
Chapter 6: “Learning”
Section 6.1 – What is Learning? through Section 6.4 – Observational Learning
Section 6.4 – Observational Learning
Chapter 9: “Lifespan Development”
Section 9.1 – What is Lifespan Development?
Section 9.2 – Life Span Theories
In this unit, you are examining how people learn information and how they develop. Behaviorism is a school of thought in psychology that attempts to explain learning through different types of associations and conditioning. Think about how this type of learning occurs in your own life, as well as developmental theories.
Please respond to the following:
Describe things that you have learned through the process of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. How did you learn them?
Identify an oppressed population in our society and describe how nature/nurture influences have impacted them.
Identify one theorist of development (Piaget, Erikson, Freud, or Kohlberg) and explain why this person's theory makes the most sense to you.
U-6 Discussion Psychology
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Behaviourism provides valuable insights into associative learning and conditioning in psychology. It examines various approaches to learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning (Spielman, Jenkins, & Lovett, 2020). Associating a phone ring with the need to answer it is an example of classical conditioning. Moreover, operant conditioning alters behaviour based on its results: actions followed by rewards are repeated, while discouraged behaviours are not. Bandura emphasized the importance of observational learning, in which people learn by imitating others and assuming their actions will have the same results (Rumjaun & Narod, 2020). These mechanisms demonstrate the significant influence of environment and experience on human behaviour.
Historically, the African American (AA) population in the United States has been oppressed by the system, with environmental and genetic factors playing significant roles. Although there are no biologically (natural) innate differences in potential or aptitude a...