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LEARNING THEORIES
Cognitive vs. Behavioral
By Wesley Salazar
COGNITIVISM
• Cognitivism focuses on an unobservable change in mental knowledge.
Cognitivism came about as a rejection of the behaviorist views. Psychologists
believed that mental events, or cognitivism, could no longer be ignored. (Cunia)
• Cunia states that, “Some learning processes may be unique to human beings…
[and that]… Individuals are actively involved in the learning process.”
• Some of the general educational implications of cognitive theories state that:
• “As children grow, they become capable of increasingly more sophisticated
thought.
• People organize the things they learn.
• New information is most easily acquired when people can associate it with things
they have already learned.
• People control their own learning.” (Cunia)
BEHAVIORISM
• The theory that human and animal behavior can be explained in terms of
conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or feelings, and that psychological
disorders are best treated by altering behavior patterns. (Oxford Dictionary)
• Some of Cunia’s behaviorism theory assumptions state that:
• “Learning processes can be studied most objectively when the focus of
study is on stimuli and responses.
• Learning involves a behavior change.
• Organisms are born as blank slates.
• Learning is largely the result of environmental events.” (Cunia)
WILHELM WUNDT
COGNITIVE THEORIST
WILHELM WUNDT
• Wilhelm Wundt was a German physiologist and psychologist, who is widely
credited as the founder of experimental psychology. He is also known as one
of the greatest and most influential psychologists of all time.
• Wilhelm Wundt was the son of a Lutheran minister. He was born at Neckarau,
Baden in 1832. Wundt received a medical degree at the University of
Heidelberg in 1856. He also attended the Universities of Tübingen and Berlin.
• Wilhelm Wundt died on August 31, 1920 in Grossbothen, Germany. He was 88
years old.
WUNDT CONTRIBUTIONS
• 1858 - Wilhelm Wundt wrote Contributions to the Theory of Sense Perception
where he introduced the usage of experimental methods in psychology, this
minimized the role of rational analysis.
• Wundt investigated the experiences of consciousness, such as sensations,
ideas and feelings, and wrote one of the most influential works in the history
of psychology, Principles of Physiological Psychology.
• Wundt also explored the fundamental concepts related to apperception
and introspection.
• In 1879, Wundt built the first psychological laboratory ever as well as
publishing the first journal of psychology, Philosophical Studies in 1881.
(Famous Scientists)
EDWARD LEE THORNDIKE
BEHAVIORAL THEORIST
EDWARD LEE THORNDIKE
• Edward Lee Thorndike was born August 31, 1874 in Williamsburg,
Massachusetts.
• He got interested in psychology after reading The Principles of Psychology
written by William James.
• 1895 – Thorndike graduated from Wesleyan University with a bachelor of
science degree, and later on enrolled at Harvard University.
• He later moved on to Columbia University where he studied under the
guidance of psychologist James McKeen Cattell.
• 1898 – Thorndike earned his Ph.D. from Columbia. In the year 1900, Thorndike
took a job as a psychology professor at the Teachers College at Columbia
University, where he would continue to teach for the rest of his career.
• He died on August 9, 1949. (Cherry)
THORNDIKE CONTRIBUTIONS
• Thorndike became strongly associated with the American school of thought
known as functionalism.
• Thorndike is known as the father of modern day educational psychology,
and published several books on the subject.
• In 1912, Thorndike was elected president of the American Psychological
Association and became one of the very first psychologists to be admitted
to the National Academy of Sciences.
• Thorndike is best known for his famous animal experiments and for the law of
effect. (Cherry)
SUMMARY
• The law of effect principle developed by Edward Thorndike suggests that
responses followed by satisfaction will become strengthen and therefore
more likely to reoccur in the future. On the other hand, if the situation is
followed by discomfort, the connections to the situation will become weaker
and the behavior of response is less likely to occur in the future. (Cherry)
• Wundt studied the structure of the human mind using introspection. He
believed in reductionism, where consciousness could be broken down to its
basic elements without sacrificing any of the properties of the whole. This
theory is known as Structuring. (McLeod)
WORKS CITED
• (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/behaviourism
• Cherry, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesmz/p/edward-thorndike.htm
• Cunia, E. C. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://erincunia.com/portfolio/MSportfolio/ide621/ide621f03production/lear
ningtheory.htm
• McLeaod, S. (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/wundt.html