NEO-BEHAVIORISM

AND SOCIAL
LEARNING
Neo-behaviourism- literally means “new form of behaviourism”
- The reason is that neo-behaviourism is influenced by both
behaviourism and cognitivism
Social learning theory- also known as social cognitive theory- it is the
theory that explains how individuals acquire complex skills and abilities
through observing the behaviour of others (Bandura)
Mwamwenda (2004) explains that social learning is based on what a
child learn in his environment as he interacts and observes others. He
believe that social learning guides how a person behaves according to
the accepted norms, values and beliefs of a particular society and this
Facilitates the successful social adjustment of the person within a
society. Bandura states that children learn social behaviour by
observing the actions of important people in their lives such as
parents, siblings, teachers, peers and television actors. These
observations are stored in the form of mental images and other
symbolic representations that help them imitate behaviour.
Bandura(1977) rejected the unidirectional view of effects of the
environment on the individual. He instead he argued that the central
theme is reciprocal determination.
Reciprocal determination- the mutual influence of the individual and
the environment on each other
Observational learning- social learning strategy that emphasises learning
by watching [Link] focuses on imitation and modelling. Observational
learning is also called modelling (Bandura)
Modelling- a type of learning in which individuals observe and then
imitate the behaviour of others
Bandura had three groups of children as study subjects. He showed a
film to the first group, where an adult acting aggressively to the one
group of children, while the other group of children were exposed to the
film of an adult who ignored the doll. The third group of children did not
see any of the two film. At the end of the experiment, each child was left
in the individual room with the doll.
Those children who had been exposed to the aggressive behaviour toward
a child, acted similarly when they were left with the doll. Those who saw
the doll being ignored acted less aggressively, while those children who
did not see any of the two films showed no aggression to the doll at all.
Bandura reached at the conclusion that observed behaviour had a
powerful influence on the observer. Albert Bandura’ s work assisted in
linking behaviourism and cognitivisim, because it combines the two
viewpoints. His work contributed significantly to the practice of cognitive-
behaviour therapy through which people can learn to control their on
behaviour. Today self control methods and modelling are used to deal with
a variety of children and adolescents’ social and emotional problems
Types of modelling
Bandura described three categories of modelling the behaviour
1. inhibitory- disihibitory effect- a type of imitative behaviour resulting either in the suppression or the appearance of
previously acquired behaviour
 inhibition- many times we learn not to do something that we already know how to do because a model we are observing
stops doing this behaviour e.g Sharon attends a new church for the first time and notice that the congregation does not clap
hands after someone has performed a special song, although she was about to clap hands she stops herself from doing it. She
inhibits herself from doing the behaviour she has don before under the same circumstances, because she has observed models
 disihibition- sometimes we learn to display a behaviour that is usually frowned on by most people, because the model that we
are observing who is displaying this behaviour is not being punished. Bandura demonstrated how the children could disinhibit
fear of dogs, he had children watch a film in which a boy was playing with a dog in a party setting. It was found that after
watching the film the children lost their fear of dogs
1. the eliciting effect- imitative behaviour in which the observer does not copy the model’ responses but simply behaves in a
related manner. E.g. if you observe your friend doing some charity work for people infected with and affected with
HIV/AIDS, it may motivate you to donate some time in taking soup to the homeless
2. the modelling effect- developing new behaviour through observing model- a small boy who observe his brother move a
kitchen chair to reach a jar of biscuits on a high shelf will probably try the same behaviour later. He will try the behaviour
he has never done before, because he observed someone else doing it.
Four factors involved in observational learning
 Attention- modelling will not take place unless the learner attend to
and correctly observes the behaviour of the model. For learning to take
place, the teacher (model) needs to get the learners’ (observers)
attention. Observers are more likely to attend to a model that they
identify with, who are similar to them. the following conclusions were
drawn about the effect of observer model similarity on observational
learning
 when children are concerned about suitability of behaviour, they are
more likely to model the behaviour of a peer than an older child or an
adult
 when children question the competence of peers, the tend to model
the behaviour of adults
 although children learn academic skills from the models of either
sex, they are more likely to perform the behaviour displayed by
models of their own sex if they believe that they are good examples
 children who have negative self-concept will more likely imitate a
peer who has overcome some learning difficulty than a peer who
perform without a fault
 Retention – learners can retain or hold onto whatever is to be learned, this
can be done through rehearsal or practice learning
 production process or motoric reproduction
Unless the learners have the ability to actually perform the task they have
learned, they may not able to show that they have learned anything
 Motivation or (incentive)- often there must be a reason for learners to
want to learn. A direct reinforcement can motivate a learners. To be effect
models teachers, parents even peers must grab the learners attention. They
must provide for the retention of learning and ensure that the learners has
the capability to learn through observation and must provide some form of
motivation as an incentive to learn
Potential power of observation
 television- immediately after children have watched a TV
programme such “karate kid”, they karate kick and wrestle their
playmates. DSTV has age restrictions and parental guidance linked to
all their movies. Parents should take the guidelines into consideration
when allowing young children to watch certain movies
 parents, teachers and other adults- adults need to consider the
behaviours that they are exhibiting in front of children who are easily
influenced
 peer- they are one of the models that are has the strongest influence,
especially with teenagers. E.g. smoking, drinking and use of drugs. It is also
called peer pressure
Social learning in classroom
Children learn a lot from observation in the classroom. Social learning that
take place in the classroom can be described as:
• the most obvious use of observation in the classroom is instruction in new
skills (e.g. maths problem, art project, science experiments)
• teacher can demonstrate logical thinking and problem-solving behaviour. A
teacher solving problems on the chalkboard , showing intellectual interest,
emotional control, respect for and interest in others, and good listening
and communication habits. Teacher who model such good
characteristics tend to encourage these same qualities in their learners.
The same for those teachers who model negative social behaviour.
Learner imitate those negative behaviour
• a lot of classroom behaviour is learned through the experience of
reward and punishment of others. It has been found that interaction
between a teacher and a learner can have an impact on the learners
watching the interaction.
• the training of certain skills depends heavily on modelling
Bandura states that failure to correctly imitate the behaviour of the
model may occur because of the following factors
 not observing the relevant activities (attention)
 incorrectly coding modelled events for memory representation
 failing to retain what was learned (retention)
 physical inability to perform (production process or motoric
reproduction)
 not enough incentive experienced (motivation)
Cognitive behaviour modification (CBM)
The last development in behavioural psychology according to Dembo
(1994) is to incorporate various cognitive processes (i.e. thoughts,
perceptions, expectancies, self-statement) within the behavioural
framework. Children and adolescents have deficient cognitive
processes that guide or control their behaviour. If the cognitions that
direct or control behaviour can be altered, behavioural change will
follow.
Cognitive behaviour modification- is the social learning strategy using
both modelling and self-instructional verbalisation
Self-instructional verbalisation – involves talking while carrying out the
behaviour
CBM techniques, as a strategy, seek to attempt in assisting learners in
their ability to control their own behaviour through goal setting,
planning, self-instruction, self-monitoring and self-reinforcement
Cognitive behaviour modification consists of two basic parts
 direct instruction or demonstration of the task learned
 teaching a set of verbalised self-instructions to carry out the task
In CBM, teachers go beyond telling learners what to do. They model the
process and teach verbalised instructions for task completion. That
means they are modelling a task, they put into words what they are
doing. For example, a teacher might demonstrate a task (science
experiment), while at the same time verbalising the steps for the
completion of the task. The learners attempts the physical steps of the
experiment but must also repeat aloud the verbalised self-instructions.
Later the learner will be able to perform the task without the teacher’s
demonstration by continuing the self-instruction softly. Eventually they
can perform the task and internalise the instructions
Activities to use in the classroom to improve the level of cognitive
behaviour modification (Elliot: 1996)
 Learning occurs from observing others even when the observer
doesn’t practice the modelled behaviour
- Film a video while a group of learners make presentation for social
studies. As they what their presentation let them criticise the quality
of their presentation, their methods, how they gained/did not gain
the interest of the class and how they could improve their
presentations
- Show a film or video of favourite story. Set up groups in the class to
critically compare the video to the written story. Is the video a true
reflection of the story in the book?
- discuss the subject of ‘heroes’ with your learners. Who are their
heroes? What makes them heroes? Are they all mostly brave? Do they
believe that a person has to give up his life to become a hero?