week 6

Behaviourism

behaviorism deals with the system of stimulus response. the response to a particular stimuli can be controlled via the use of positive (rewards, compliments) or negative (punishments) reinforcements which would result in the conditioning of desired behaviour. punishment is sometimes believed to be more effective in eliminating or reducing undesirable behaviour. behaviourism is more concerned whether the correct response is attained compared to the knowledge learned. the subject to be studied in behaviourism is usually placed under experimental conditions and does not require a large amount of processing ability to understand the stimulus. memorization using consistent practice and rote are principle methods of learning through behaviourism. Pavlov's Dog experiment is perhaps the most popular application of behaviourist theory. in his experiment, dogs were conditioned to start salivating in anticipation of food the when exposed to a series of different cues such as a flashing light bulb and the sounding of a bell.

Cognitivism

cognitivism views the learner as in "information processor" whose mind is a "black box" which should be unraveled and studied in order to better understand the learning ability of man. the theory replaced behaviorism in 1960s as a dominant paradigm. mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving are commonly explored and studied. according to cognitivism, knowledge is seen as a type of schema or mental representation and learning is defined as a change in the symbolic construction of schemata.
contrary to behaviorism, cognitivism argues that people are not passive in their learning but instead rational beings who think and act according to what they have learnt. behavioural changes are not merely a result of stimulus response but rather an outcome of learning and interpretation. cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind being a computer where information is input, is processed, and results in output. cognitivism would explain why people behave differently despite being in similar situations.

Socioculturalism

socioculturalism emphasises the role of society in learning through social interaction. it not only deals with a teacher-student relationship but rather includes society at large as an effective learning tool through communication and collaboration. socioculturalism eliminates hierarchy where everyone plays the role of both educator and learner in fostering a learning system maintained through effective input and output

overall, i feel that there is no ONE theory which effectively caters to the concept of learning and retention. each of the 3 camps described above portray their viewpoints according to the schools of thought they believe in. however in essence, i feel that learning is a complex multi dimensional aspect of living things and categorizing this phenomenon into either-or situations would fail to do justice to its vast nature. behaviourism, cognitivism and socioculturalism should be interwoven with one another to provide a more comprehensive view of learning.

the 3 blogs i viewed are:

http://murderdoll-nm3204.blogspot.com/

http://e-joanna.blogspot.com/

http://www.leeweiting.blogspot.com/

and the one i commented on:

http://3204muse.blogspot.com/