72 Unit 2 The Learner
if you get an occasional lower grade in history, you still believe that you
are good at the subject and try harder each time you are assigned a project.
Your behavior has been changed. Behaviorists call this “learning.”
It is easy to see why operant conditioning became so popular in
American education. Providing continuous positive reinforcement when a
new skill or behavior is learned, followed by gradual removal of the rein-
forcement, is believed to result in a permanent behavioral change. Negative
reinforcement, or punishment, can reduce unwanted behaviors.
You have probably observed the effects of behaviorism when working
with children. Encouraging children’s efforts, modeling positive behav-
iors, and maintaining a positive attitude can have a very real effect on the
behavior of children.
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Is it really that simple? Imagine that you are babysitting several active
young children. They are arguing over toys, whining, complaining, and hitting
one another. Despite all your encouragement, modeling of appropriate behav-
iors, and having a positive attitude, the children won’t behave. If all it takes is
simple positive reinforcement and punishment, why don’t children learn and
behave after positives are rewarded and negatives punished? If behaviorism
really works, why does behaviorism fail to control behaviors in adults?
Albert Bandura argued that people are very different from Pavlov’s dog.
He stated that people are much more complex. He believed that people of
all ages observe and imitate the behaviors of others, regardless of rewards
and punishments involved. People are affected by rewards and punish-
ments, but their reactions to them are fi ltered by their own perceptions,
thoughts, and motivations. Bandura called this social cognitive theory.
Social cognitive theorists believe that a child who observes a kind act
may imitate it. This kind act may be shared with a classmate. A teen may
tackle a tough geometry problem by imitating a teacher. However, the same
experiences will not have the same result on every person. Each person’s
response is based on personal reactions and how the individual processes
information. A child who observes aggressive behavior may become a
bully or a person who avoids confl ict. It all depends on the individual.
Piaget’s Cognitive Theory
While many researchers were celebrating behaviorism, some began
looking for a theory that would better explain the differences in how
people think throughout the stages of life. One of the most well known
researchers in this area was Jean Piaget, a Swiss researcher.
Piaget’s observations led him to identify four stages of cognitive devel-
opment. His studies showed that at any stage of life, thinking skills of