Hull’s Systematic Behavior Theory

Introduction;

To understand the Hull’s theory we must trace back the historical development of philosophical implications and chief assumptions of the behaviorist theories, historically we find two most prominent families of learning theories. 

One is Stimulus-Response association, and other is Gestalt field theories.

Hull’s theory basically belongs to the first family of learning theories, i-e Stimulus-response association. In the beginning of 20th century a new form of association became popular which was non-mentalist, or physiological association. The chief exponents were John B. Watson and Edward L. Thorndike.

Watson psychology was known as behaviorism while Thorndike psychology was called connectionism, although the psychological systems of Thorndike and Watson no longer advocated in their original form, but many contemporary psychologists have orientations sufficiently similar to theirs, are called Neo Behaviorist. Some leading contemporary behaviorists are E.R Guthrie, C.L Hull, B.F Skinner and K.W Spence.

Emergence of S.R Association;

The early associationists were interested in mental phenomena (John Calvin, J. Edwards).  In contrast modern associationism tends to be rooted in a different kind of interest i-e the behavior of bodies. During the first half of nineteenth century experimental psychology got it’s started with in experimental physiology. For instance physiologist Bell Muller made experiments on working of nervous system in seeing and hearing, Wilhelm Wundt was trained in medicine. He turned to medical, to physiology and from physiology to psychology. As interest in bodily functioning become apparent among many psychologists late in 19th century. This group of physiological psychologist argued that psychology could become a true science only if it switched its focus to bodily process. Thus they begin to focus their attention on objects or events which could be observed with the five senses be studied in the same manner by any number of trained investigators and led to uniform conclusion.

To a growing number of psychologist the only logical alternative to the method of introspection was to focus on observable form of behavior such behavior include not only bodily movement as seen by observer, watching a subject but also internal physical processes related to overt bodily behavior.

Gradually a large number of psychologists had come to feel that psychology in time could be come as scientific as physics. A few of person who contributed to the development of physiological psychology was Marshal Hall (1790¬¬¬––1857), worked on neural basis of reflex behavior, Pierre Flourens (1794––1867) demonstrated that different parts of the nervous system have different functions and identified the function of each part. Some of notable animal learning experiments of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were conducted by Russian psychologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849––1936). Pavlov put food before a hungry dog and sounded a bell, he found that if this procedure repeated for several times the sound alone would cause the dog to salivate.

Thorndike animal experiments, making use of chickens, dogs, and cats were possibly more comprehensive than Pavlov’s.  Thorndike’s famous laws of learning were derived mainly from his interpretation of how cats behave when placed in a cage from which they do not know how to escape until they learn.

Watson much more strongly, than Thorndike, felt the need to base psychology exclusively on the concept of physics and chemistry.

Watson drew heavily upon Pavlov’s work and became convinced that learning was as Pavlov described it namely, a process of building condition reflexes through substitution of one stimulus for another. Watson and other “pure behaviorists” rejected certain Thorndike’s ideas like “mental units”, “satisfaction” and “annoyance” which seemed to be mentalistic concepts and should be disregarded in a truly scientific psychology. Thus Watson confined his study to only those aspects of animal life which were sufficiently overt to make possible highly objective observation and measurement of them.

The Emergence of Neo-Behaviorists;

It was observed that the precise nature of neural mechanisms was largely irrelevant to an understanding of learning. A strong interest in neural physiology and the physical mechanics of S––R linkages was developed and the behavior of the organism became the focus of the analyses, instead of neural mechanism behind it.

Studies were carried out to show how S’s and R’s are linked rather than the precise operation of the physiological mechanism which lies between the S’s and R’s. this gave birth to the term Neo-Behaviorists.

Classification of Neo-Behaviorists

The neo-behaviorists may be divided in to three groups,

1. Conditioning independent of reinforcement

2. Conditioning governed by principles of reinforcement

3. The two factor theory.

C.L Hull belong the second group how focus on conditioning governed by principles of reinforcement and is known as “Deductive Behaviorism or Reinforcement theory”.

About hull Clark Hull grew up handicapped and contracted polio at the age of 24, yet he became one of the great contributors to psychology. His family was not well off so his education had to be stopped at times. Clark earned extra money through teaching. Originally Clark aspired to be a great engineer, but that was before he fell in love with the field of Psychology. By the age of 29 he graduated from Michigan University. When Clark was 34 when he received his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin in 1918. Soon after graduation he became a member of the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, where he served for 10 years. Although one of his first experiments was an analytical study of the effects of tobacco on behavioral efficiency, his life long emphasis was on the development of objective methods for psychological studies designed to determine the inderlying principles of behavior. 

Hull devoted the next 10 years to the study of hypnosis and suggestibility, and in 1933 he published Hypnosis and Suggestibility, while employed as a research professor at Yale University. This is where he developed his major contribution, an elaborate theory of behavior based on Pavlov's laws of conditioning. Pavlov provoked Hull to become greatly interested in the problem of conditioned reflexes and learning. In 1943 Hull published, Principles of Behavior, which presented a number of constructs in a detailed Theory of Behavior. He soon he became the most cited psychologist. 

His theory Hull believed that human behavior is a result of the constant interaction between the organism and its environment. The environment provides the stimuli and the organism responds, all of which is observable. Yet there is a component that is not observable, the change or adaptation that the organism needs to make in order to survive within it's environment. Hull explains, "when survival is in jeopardy, the organism is in a state of need (when the biological requirements for survival are not being met) so the organism behaves in a fashion to reduce that need" ( Schultz & Schultz, 1987, p 238). Simply, the organism behaves in such a way that reinforces the optimal biological conditions that are required for survival. 

Hull was an objective behaviorist. He never considered the conscious, or any mentalistic notion. He tried to reduce every concept to physical terms. He viewed human behavior as mechanical, automatic and cyclical, which could be reduced to the terms of physics. Obviously, he thought in terms of mathematics, and felt that behavior should be expressed according to these terms. "Psychologist must not only develop a thorough understanding of mathematics, they must think in mathematics" (Schultz & Schultz, 1987, p 239). In Hull's time three specific methods were commonly used by researchers; observation, systematic controlled observation, and experimental testing of the hypothesis. Hull believed that an additional method was needed, - The Hypothetico Deductive method. This involves deriving postulates from which experimentally testable conclusions could be deduced. These conclusions would then be experimentally tested. 

Hull viewed the drive as a stimulus, arising from a tissue need, which in turn stimulates behavior. The strength of the drive is determined upon the length of the deprivation, or the intensity / strength of the resulting behavior. He believed the drive to be non-specific, which means that the drive does not direct behavior rather it functions to energize it. In addition this drive reduction is the reinforcement. Hull recognized that organisms were motivated by other forces, secondary reinforcements. " This means that previously neutral stimuli may assume drive characteristics because they are capable of eliciting responses that are similar to those aroused by the original need state or primary drive" (Schultz & Schultz, 1987, p 240). So learning must be taking place within the organism. 

Hull's learning theory focuses mainly on the principle of reinforcement; when a S-R relationship is followed by a reduction of the need, the probability increases that in future similar situations the same stimulus will create the same prior response. Reinforcement can be defined in terms of reduction of a primary need. Just as Hull believed that there were secondary drives, he also felt that there were secondary reinforcements - " If the intensity of the stimulus is reduced as the result of a secondary or learned drive, it will act as a secondary reinforcement" ( Schultz & Schultz, 1987, p 241). The way to strengthen the S-R response is to increase the number of reinforcements, habit strength. 

Clark Hull's Mathematico Deductive Theory of Behavior relied on the belief that the link between the S-R relationship could be anything that might effect how an organism responds; learning, fatigue, disease, injury, motivation, etc. He labeled this relationship as "E", a reaction potential, or as sEr. Clark goal was to make a science out of all of these intervening factors. He classified his formula 

sEr = (sHr x D x K x V) - (sIr + Ir) +/- sOr

as the Global Theory of Behavior. Habit strength, sHr, is determined by the number of reinforces. Drive strength, D, is measured by the hours of deprivation of a need. K, is the incentive value of a stimulus, and V is a measure of the connectiveness. Inhibitory strength, sIr, is the number of non reinforces. Reactive inhibition, Ir, is when the organism has to work hard for a reward and becomes fatigued. The last variable in his formula is sOr, which accounts for random error. Hull believed that this formula could account for all behavior, and that it would generate more accurate empirical data, which would eliminate all ineffective introspective methods within the laboratory (Thomson, 1968). 

Although Hull was a great contributor to psychology, his theory was criticized for the lack of generalizability due to the way he defined his variables in such precise quantitative terms. "Thus, Hull's adherence to a mathematical and formal system of theory building is open to both praise and criticism" (Schultz & Schultz, 1987, p 242). 

 Learning:

We may define learning as a change in Behaviour which is more or less permanent in nature, and which results from activity, training, observation or insight. To say that learning must have taken place when there is a change in Behaviour is not enough; such a change must persist for a while. Momentary changes in Behaviour due to sensory adaptation may take place but learning is not necessarily involved.  

The constant changes in the behavior of an individual, which is not brought about by maturation and development but by his own experiences is known as learning.

Dr. Abdul Hayee defines it as “ learning is the name of change in he Behaviour by the experiences of an individual.

Nature of learning:

A deep observation of an individual shows that learning has an important place in his life. In human being, its importance further increases. Every voluntary action is known by learning. Without learning, a man can not think of his social, emotional and personal life. Learning is continues from birth and ends with death, and an individual learns from his environment through out his life.

Experiments and training gives a redial changes to thought and learning. These changes appear in man as habits, attitudes, aptitude, skills, knowledge, understanding and insight. The process of appearing these changes is known as learning. Learning is the behavioral change affected by the previous experiences and which gives new thoughts and wishes to him. 

Steps of learning:

According to Corback the steps of learning are following:

1.               Goal

Every person has a desire or need which he wants to fulfil. He gets satisfaction if he achieve his goal. He tries his best to get it and discovers new ways and approaches to it. There can be many wishes at a time but we want to get immediate satisfying needs and postpone the others.

2.               Readiness

Need and readiness has a basic place in learning. Without mental and physical readiness, learning is impossible. Readiness includes physical strength, mental preparation, experiences of past and need for learning. Affection and love should be used for readiness instead of oppression.

3.               Situation

Existent situation plays an important role in learning. If the situation does not allow a child to get the goal, he changes it and utilize his special Behaviour to get it.  

4.               Interaction

Besides situation, the interaction of different activities is also essential. The interaction of child is different from the adult. Every individual works accordingly to its own interaction.

5.               Response

To get the goal, the individual adopts different ways according to the situation. After the interaction of the situation he thinks of different ways but test taken on different aspects and adopt a way accordingly the response or result of these tests.

6.               Result or consequences

The consequences or result can effect the efforts of individual. The learning depends on the satisfaction of the individual. He learns better if he is encouraged in such activities.

7.               Reaction to failure 

Some time the result is not according to the goal. In this case, the individual thinks, evaluate and re-try or change his Behaviour and idea after the failure  

Types of learning
Following are some major types of learning
Learning by trial and errors

This method is specific for animals, but can also be used by children and adults. In this kind of learning, the learner tries to learn something without thinking over it. Some of its efforts become successful while some fail.  If the learner gets its goal after a long chain of successes and failures, and learns to do its work without any blunder and failure, this is the learning by trial and error. 

In 1896, Thorndike began his study of animals. In his well-known experiments with cats he placed a young and lively cat in the cage and put a piece of fish outside. Plenty of action on the part of cat was observed. It pushed its claws through the bars, bit the bars and tried to squeeze through them. Eventually it touched the button, which held the cage door, the door opened and the cat got out. Again this hungry cat was placed in the cage, it still attempted a “trial and error” approach to the problem, but this time there were fewer actions and the door was opened sooner. With further trials the successful movements were stamped in and useless ones eliminated, so that on being placed in the cage once more the animal got out in couple of seconds.

The essentials of trial and error are the following;

-                  the presence of stimuli e.g hunger

-                  during continous struggle the successful action one is repeated

-                  Due to continous repeats of trials the connection or interaction between stimuli and response becomes strong.

There are two types of trail and error learning;

Place learning

To find out correct place to get the goal after continous struggle is place learning. It is of two types positive adaptation, when correct situation is found to get the goal, negative adaptation, to give up the errors during the struggle.

Tool learning

In animals the place learning is helped by tools, learning e-g a captive cat in a cage when learns to lift the handle.

Learning by Insight 

In learning, problem solving is a matter of great interest to everyone connected with education. In this kind of learning, some goal has to be reached but the way is not immediately clear. The individual often makes use of the following: the observation, reasoning, generalization and what the psychologists call “ insight”. This term requires some explanation and to understand it we must go to the Thorndike experiment. It will be remembered that Thorndike believed that the cat used purely “ trial and error” approach when attempting to get out of the box to eat fish. Kohler, however, in 1927, pointed out that Thorndike’s problem was so arranged that it was hardly possible to solve them without such activity.

In his own experiments, Kohler found that a chimpanzee, after looking at a problem for a while would suddenly solve it at a first attempt without making any false moves. This Kohler called insight. Thus a chimpanzee quickly learnt, after studying the situation, how to use a box as a stool from whish to reach up to the suspended banana; but the stacking of several boxes to reach a higher object proved much more difficult for many of the animals. Even if they reached the objects, the boxes were often stacked in such a manner that they were unstable. In other words, some has sufficient insight to solve the problem geographically but even so, they could not always solve it mechanically.   

There are two types of insight;

Foresight means to see the result before time and hindsight means to get the benefit from the result after the action.

Learning by imitation

Imitation means to see a process and then repeat it in the same way. In imitation learning the ability is also needed like readiness and interest. For copying mental flexibility is needed. Monkeys have a developed form of imitation among the animals. According to some psychologists, it is done by trial and error or by wisdom. If some one is easily intimated then it is due to insight and if it is done with difficulty then it is due to trail and error. Children imitate their parents and teachers.

Learning by conditioned reflex

Every action has natural stimuli. Not only, the natural stimuli but the artificial stimulus is a also responsible for a response. When an action is related to artificial stimuli, it is called conditioning.

Russian scientist Ivon Pavlov made many experiments on his dogs in this respect. He found that saliva flowed from a dog’s mouth not only when food was placed in front of it, but also when the dog heard the approaching footsteps of the person brining food, or if it heard, a bell rung just before food was brought. Now the normal flow of saliva when food is in the mouth of dog is a reflex action and we may write:

                        Unconditioned stimuli                 unconditioned response

                        (Food in mouth)                        (Reflex action of saliva)

However, when the animal learns to associate the sound of a bell with food soon to be eaten, and commences to saliva before food is actually in the mouth, we may say that the complete sequence is:

            Conditioned stimuli                                conditioned response

            (Sound of bell or footsteps)                    (Advanced flow of saliva)

An American psychologist Watson applied this principle on human beings and the results are very useful. Watson observed that in initial stages, infants are naturally only afraid of losing their balance and from terrible noises. All the fears in the rest of their life are created because of our wrong training and indifference. He put a frog, fish, pigeon, rabbit and harmless snake near the nine month old child and observed that the child was not at all afraid of these, rather he was excited and starting play with them. After some days, he become familiar and very frank with them.

After some days, he installed a device near a child, which could produce terrible sound. Whenever the child started to play with these animals, a terrible sound was generated by this device. Since the child is already afraid of terrible sounds, he associated these sound with harmless animals and started fearing from these animals as well. This means that the child starts to fear the animals because of conditioned reflex.

Watson carried out further experiments and concluded that majority of the children develop these fears because of unpleasant experiences of their environment. Adults also learn similarly. 

KEYWORDS...

Learning: What goes in the process of learning? How do we learn? 

There are various theories which throw light on the phenomenon of learning. Each theory with its systematic body of knowledge explains the nature and process of learning. These theories represent broad principles and techniques of learning. These theories also put forth various methods of learning and suggest the teacher and learner to take proper steps for the effective learning.

Modern learning theories maybe classified into two broad types, namely:

A) Stimulus response- associationist type of learning theory.

B) Gestalt field or field cognitive type of learning theory.

A) S-R associationst type of theory interprets learning in terms of the change in behavior of the learner brought about by association of the response to a series of stimuli. The chief exponents of this type of theories are:

I. Edward L. Thorndike: his idea and system is called “connectionism”, “Trial and Error” or “S-R learning theories.

II. John B. Watson and Evan Petrovich Pavlov: their idea and system is known as classical condition.

III. Burrhus Frederic Skinner is called “Operant conditioning”

None of these theories are said to be complete in all aspects for explaining the phenomenon of learning. Each one of them gives partial description. For example one theory is good in explaining the learning process in one situation while the others hold equally good in the other different situations

Trial and Error or S-R Learning theory 

Thorndike put a hungry cat in a puzzle box. There was only one door for exit which could be opened by correctly manipulating a latch. A fish was placed outside the box. The smell of the fish worked as a strong motive for the hungry cat to come out of the box. Consequently the cat made every possible effort to come out. It tries to squeeze through every opening, it claws and bites at the bars or wires. In this way, it made a number of random movements. In one of the random movement, by chance the latch was manipulated. The cat comes out and got its reward response. Now it was able to open the door without any error or learnt the way of opening the door. This experiment sums up the following stages in the process of learning.

Drive:  hunger intensified with the sight and smell of the food i.e. smell of a fish.

Goal: To get the food by getting out of the box.

Block: The cat was confined in the box with a closed door.  

Random movements: the cat persistently tried to get out of the box.

Chance success: As a result of these striving and random movements, the cat, by chance, succeeded in opening the latch

Selection: (of proper movement) gradually the cat recognized the correct opening way by manipulating the latch out of its random movements

Fixation: At last the cat learned the proper way of opening the door by eliminating all the incorrect responses and fixing only right response. Now it was able to open the door without any error

Thorndike named the learning of his experiment as “Trial and Error” He maintained that the learning is nothing but the stamping in of the correct responses and stamping out of the incorrect responses  through trial and error. In trying for the correct solution the cat made so many vain attempts. It committed errors and errors before getting success. On subsequent trial, it tried to avoid the erroneous ways and repeat the correct ways of manipulating the latch. Thorndike called it “learning by selecting and connecting” as it provides an opportunity for the selection of the proper responses and connect or associate them with appropriate stimuli. In this reference Thorndike has written “Learning is connecting. The mind is man’s connection system”

Evan Patrovich Pavlov’s “Classical conditioning” learning theoryPavlov gave birth to a new theory of learning known as conditioned response theory or simply as learning by conditioning.

Experiment: 

 In one of the experiments, Pavlov kept a dog hungry for the night and then tied him on to the experimental table which was fitted with certain mechanically controlled devices. The dog was made comfortable and distractions were excluded as far as it was possible to do so. The observer kept himself hidden from the view of the dog but able to view the experiment by means of a set of mirrors. Arrangements were made to give food to the dog through automatic devices. Every time when food was presented before the dog, he also arranged for the ringing of a bell. When the food presented before the dog and the bell was rung, there was automatic secretion of saliva from the mouth of the dog. The activity of presenting the food accompanied with a ringing of the bell was repeated several times and the amount of saliva secreted was measured.

 After several trials, the dog was given no food but the bell was rung. In this case also the amount of saliva secreted was recorded and measured. It was found that even in the absence of food (the natural stimulus), the ringing of the bell (an artificial stimulus) caused the dog to secrete the saliva (natural response)

It considers the learning as a habit formation and is based on the principle of association and substitution. It is simply a stimulus-response type of learning where in place of a natural stimulus like food and water etc, the artificial stimulus like sound of the bell, can evoke a natural response. When both the artificial or neutral stimulus (ringing of the bell) and natural stimulus (food) are brought together, several times, the dog becomes habituated or conditioned to respond to this situation. There becomes perfect association between the types of stimuli presented together. As a result, after some times natural stimulus can be substituted or replaced by an artificial stimulus and this artificial stimulus is able to evoke the natural response.

Diagrammatic Presentation of the Experiment

Natural Stimulus Natural response

(Presentation of food) (Salivation)

S1 R2

S2 R2

Artificial Stimulus General Alertness

(Ringing bell)

Experiment No 2. 

In one of the experiment done by Watson, the subject was the human baby of eleven months. The baby was given a rabbit to play. The baby liked it very much and was pleased to touch its fur. He watched carefully the pleasant responses of the baby. After some times in the course of the experiment, a loud noise was produced to frighten the baby. As soon as the baby touched the rabbit the baby was frightened. Each time when he wanted to touch the rabbit, the loud noise was produced and he gave fear response.

From these experiments, Watson and Pavlov concluded that all type of learning can be explained through the process of conditioning. What is this process?

It is a learning process by means of which artificial stimulus is able behave like a natural stimulus when both natural and artificial stimulus are presented together. In this type of learning, association plays a great role since the individual responds to an artificial stimulus because he associates it with the natural stimulus

Operant conditioning 

Burrhus Frederick Skinner (1904-1990) was born in Susquehanna Penensyvanian railroad town closed to the New York State border.

At school and College, skinner was interested in literature and biology and considered becoming a poet and novelist. However he becomes interested in psychology after reading books by Pavlov and Watson. He enrolled at the psychology department at Harvard University gaining a Ph.D degree in psychology in 1931. In1948 he joined psychology department in Harvard University there he remained professionally active until his death in 1990.

During World War II Skinner participated in a government research project, the result of which were not made public until 1959. He had been conditioning pigeons to pilot missiles and torpedoes. The pigeons were so highly trained that they could guide a missile right down into the smokestack of navel destroyer

Skinner’s Experiments regarding ‘ operant conditioning’

B.F Skinner conducted a series of experiment with animals. For conducting the experiments with rats, he designed a special apparatus known as Skinner’s Box. It was a much modified form of the puzzle box used by Thorndike for his experiments with cats. The darken sound proof box mainly consists of a grid floor, a system of light or sound produced at the time of delivering a pallet of food in the food cup, a lever and a food cup. It is arranged so that when a rat (hungry or thirsty) presses the lever the feeder mechanism is activated, a light or a special sound is produced and a small pallet of food or small drops of water is released into the food cup. For recording the observation of the experiments, the lever is connected with a recorder system which produces a graphical tracing of the lever pressing against the length of the time the rat is in box.

To begin with, Skinner, in one of his experiments, placed a hungry rat in the box. In this experiment pressing of the bar in a desirable way by the rat could result in the production of a click- sound acted as a cue or signal indicating to the rat if it respond by going to the food cup, it will be rewarded. The rat was rewarded for each of his proper attempts for pressing the lever. The lever press response having been a rewarded, was repeated and when it occurred, it was again rewarded which further increased the probability of the repetition of the lever press response and so on. In this way ultimately the rat learned the act of pressing the lever as desired by the experimenter

For doing experiments with pigeons Skinner made use of another specific apparatus called ‘pigeon box’. A pigeon in this experiment had to peck at a lighted plastic key mounted on the wall at head high was subsequently rewarded by receiving grain. With the help of such experiments, Skinner put forward his theory of operant conditioning for learning not only the simple responses like pressing of the lever but also for learning the most difficult and complex series of responses pressing of the lever or latch but also for learning the most difficult and complex series of responses.

Although classified and included in the category of conditioning, operant conditioning differs a lot from the classical conditioning advocated by Watson and Pavlov. The most outstanding difference lies in the order related with the initiation and response i.e. stimulus response mechanism. In classical conditioning the organism is passive. It must wait for something to happen for responding. The presence of a stimulus for evoking a response is essential. The behavior can not be emitted in the absence of a cause. The child expresses fear when he hears a loud noise; the dog waits for food to arrive before salivating. In each of such instances, the subject has no control over the happening. He is made to behave in response to the stimulus situations. Thus, the behavior is said to be initiated by the environment, the organism simply responds.

Skinner revolted against ‘no stimulus no response’ mechanism in the evolution of behavior. He argued that in practical situation in our life we can not wait for things to happen in the environment. Man is not a victim of the environment. He may often manipulate the things in the environment with his own initiative. Therefore, it is not always essential that there must be some know stimulus or causes of evoking a response. Quite often, most of our responses could not be attributed to the known stimuli. The organism itself initiates the behavior. A dog, a child, or an individual ‘does” something ‘behaves’ in some manner, it ‘operates’ on the environment and in turn environment responds to the activity. How the environment responds to the activity, rewarding or not, largely determines whether the behaviour will be repeated, maintained or avoided.

From where Skinner got the cue for such ideas in a question that can arise at this stage. Definitely it was from the studies and observations of an earlier psychologist named Thorndike. Through his experiments, for propagating his famous trial and error theory of learning. Thorndike concluded that the rewards of a response (like getting food after chance success through the randomized movements) lead to the repetition of an act and the strengthening of S-R associations. These conclusions made Skinner begin a series of experiments to find the consequences of the rewards in repeating and maintaining behavior. Based on the findings of his experiments, he concluded that “behavior is shaped and maintain by its consequences”. It is operated by the organism and maintained by itself. The occurrence of such behavior was named as operant behavior and the process of learning, that plays the part in learning such behavior, was named by him as operant conditioning

Some concepts used by Skinner for bringing out his theory of learning---------- Operant conditioning.

Operant:  Skinner considers an operant as a set of acts that constitutes an organism’s doing something e.g raising its head, walking about, pushing a lever, etc

Reinforcer and Reinforcement;

The concept of reinforcement is identical to the presentation of a reward. A reinforcer is the stimulus whose presentation or removal increases the probability of a response re-occurring. Skinner thinks to two kinds of reinforcers—positive and negative.

A positive reinforcer is any stimulus the introduction or presentation of which increase the likelihood of a particular behavior. Food, water etc, are classified as positive reinforcers. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus the removal or withdrawal of which increases the likelihood of a particular behavior. Electric shock, loud noise etc, are said to be negative reinforcers

is the reinforcement operation schedule of gambling devices. Here rewards are unpredictable and keep the players well-motivated thou Operant: Skinner considers an operant as a set of acts that constitutes an organism’s doing something e.g., raising its head, walking about, pushing a lever, etc.

Reinforcer and Reinforcement: The concept of reinforcement is identical to the presentation of a reward. A reinforcer is the stimulus whose presentation or removal increases the probability of a response re-occurring. Skinner thinks of two kinds of reinforcers_____Positive and Negative.

A positive reinforcer is any stimulus the introduction or presentation of which increase the likelihood of a particular behavior, food and water are classified as positive reinforcers. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus the removal or withdrawal of which decreases the likelihood of a particular behavior. Electric shock, a loud noise, etc are said to be negative reinforcers.

The schedules of Reinforcement: Skinner put forward the idea of planning of schedules of reinforcement of conditioning the operant behavior of the organism.

1. Continuous Reinforcement Schedule:  It is hundred percent reinforcement schedules where provision is made to reinforce or reward every correct response of the organism during acquisition of learning. For example, a student may be rewarded for every correct answer he gives to questions or problems put by the teacher.

2. Fixed Interval Reinforcement Schedule:  In this schedule the organism is rewarded for a response made only after a set of interval of time e.g., every 3 minutes or every 5 minutes. How many times he has given correct response during this fixed interval of time does not matter, it is only on the expiry of the fixed interval that he is presented with some reinforcement.

3. Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule: In this schedule the reinforcement is given after a fixed number of responses. A rat, for example, might be given a pallet of food after a certain number of level presses. The child solves five sums and he gets a chocolate.

4. Variable Reinforcement Schedule: when reinforcement is given at varying  intervals of time or after a varying number of responses, it is called a variable reinforcement schedule. In this case reinforcement is intermittent or irregular. The individual does not know when he is going to be rewarded and consequently he remains motivated throughout the learning process in the wait of reinforcement. For example the card game and gambling, try and try again slogan, In classroom teaching learning VR schedule operates when student is not allowed to reinforce each time he raises his hand to answer a question, but the more often he raises his hand, the more likely he is to called upon by the teacher. Good marks and promotion may come at unpredictable time.

Defining Operant Conditioning. Operant conditioning refers to a kind of learning process where a response is made more probable or more frequent by reinforcement. It helps in the learning of operant behavior, the behavior that is not necessarily associated with a known stimuli.

The difference between the two types of conditioning 

Classical respondent conditioning Operant conditioning

1. It helps in the learning of respondent behavior.

2. It is called type S conditioning to emphasize the importance of the stimulus in eliciting desired response.

3. In this type of conditioning beginning is being made with the help of specific stimuli that bring certain responses.

4. Here strength of conditioning is usually determined by the magnitude of the conditioned response i.e. the amount of saliva 

5.we present the ucs regardless of whether the CRoccurs

6. in classical conditioning stress is laid on the time control

7. classical conditioning is stimulus oriented

8. Respondent behavior is internal and has a secret , secret quality about it

1. It helps in the learning of operant behaviour.

2. It is called R type conditioning because of the emphasis on the response.

3. Here beginning is made with the responses as they occur naturally or unnaturally shaping them into existence.

4. here strength of conditioning is shown by the responses i.e.,. the rate with which an operant response occurs as a result of some reinforcement

5. We present the stimulus only if only the organism makes the desired response.

6. place of motivation and reward is stress

7. Operand conditioning is response oriented.

8. Operand is external behaviour, it is the behaviour with which the organism operates on environment

                                        Realism

 By_Dr.sultan Muhammad khan

Objects of our senses are real in their own right. Mind and external world are in interaction. Matter is prior to mind. Matter existed long before the mind become aware of it and it will continue to exist even when the mind ceases to exist. There is no mind without life and no life without matter.” The world is as it is, no matter what man thinks about it:

According to Aristotle, the real world is the world of sense and form(organization of ideas) and matter is inseparable. The exponents of this theory are Aristotle, Brondy, Herbert and Locke

Aims of education:

Realists place emphasis on “ character building” as an aim of education. It refers to regard to moral, social, religion, aesthetic, economic and political values.

The chief objective of education for realists is the good life I-g to except the challenge of life, to accept pain and pleasure as part and parcel of life. Not to be disappointed by the sorrows of life and not eb enjoy with happiness. When moderation is adopted in all works of life, the result will be good individual who will make up a good society.

The educative process:

The teacher:

According to realists, the teacher should posses the following characteristics:

1.               help students to lead a balanced life

2.               to develop their potentials

3.               to show regard to moral, social and religious values

4.               to give knowledge of the world

5.               help them to exercise self-control

The pupil

The individual personalities is formed by true principles

1.               Self-determination:

The individual himself is going to determine his place in the society. To think about his future decides about his job and perform responsibilities towards family, school and community

2.               Self-realization

Every individual realizes his potentialities and develops himself the qualities of character

3.               Self-integration

It means to integrate ones self in an intelligent way to the world to make ones contribution to life. Some integrate themselves through religion and some through social science.

There is no doubt that the individual has a unique mind, sometimes his actions are determined by outside forces. He has to learn to adjust with his environment.

The curriculum:

The purpose of curriculum will be to have mastery of information, to develop respect for values and to develop habits of logical thinking and hard work. Subject of study will include

i.                 Courses in natural sciences based on physics, Chemistry and Biology

ii.               Courses in social sciences based on Psychology. Philosophy, Literature, Biography and Religion

iii.             Vocational courses will include learning of skills

Methods of teaching:

1.               Problem solving and experimental methods are emphasized

2.               Importance is given to discussion, activity and audio-visual approach

3.               Motivation and interest will be essential parts of teaching

CAUSES OF EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE/UNFAIR MEANS

Education System:

          The education system is the instrument a society uses to equip all its people to lead productive public lives and full personal lives according to their talent and interest. This system must be such that gifted individuals have full opportunity to develop their skills; it must give scope for the training of a leadership group and at the same time provide for the development of all the vocational abilities needed for the creation of a progressive and democratic society.

          The quality of education that we impart to our youth and the priority at which we rate it contribute largely to the formation of the attitudes they carry over into public life.  So whatever kind of seed we sow in the classroom, the manner in which we nurture it and the  strength which it imbibes in its various stages of growth will all determine the harvest that the nation will reap in the form of its educated youth coming out of the schools, colleges and universities. The imprints of these institutions of learning will become indelible marks clearly visible in all fields of our national life; be it a clerk in an office, a soldier in the battle field, a school master in a village school, a University Professor, a bureaucrat running the administration in a seat of power. This great impact of education on the national character is understandable once we recognise both the short term as well as long term power education wields over all who go through its process. Historical evidence proves that nations were made or unmade, battles lost and won, revolution wrought, so much so that entire empires collapsed or emerged due to the educational systems of various peoples of the World. Ancient Greece and Rome at the peak of their political glory were also the seats of learning and a source of intellectual guidance and inspiration for the entire known world, but when intellectual decadence struck, it attacked the very fabric of society and Greece and Rome were no more.

Examination System:

              Examination is the pivotal point around which the whole system of education revolves and the success or failure of the system of examination is indeed an indicator of the success or failure of that particular system of education. It would be pertinent to examine the present system of examination with a view to determine as to whether it actually serves the purposes it purports to serve. The two basic assumptions of any examination worth the name are that (a) it should be valid and (b) it should be reliable. The two are distinct concepts.  An examination is said to be valid if it performs the functions which it is designed to perform.  The concept of reliability, of course, refers to consistency of measurement. In actual fact, the prevailing system of examination and its mode of conduct defy both these assumptions. The system has degenerated to an extent that its validity and reliability are questionable. Examination is no longer regarded as a test for evaluating the performance or judging the scholastic attainment of students. The reason being that there is a complete breakdown of the whole system of examination, almost all over the country, and at all level of education.

              The use of unfair means in examination has assumed a plague some proportion. Barring a few institutions, elsewhere in the country, the educational establishments are experiencing an ever increasing trend towards the use of unfair means in examinations. Such establishments are unable to stop this drive. The concerned governments -- Federal as well as Provincial -- though fully aware of the problem, have failed to take effective steps towards eradicating this evil. The intensity and pervasiveness of this problem can be gauged from the fact that apart from the students, some parents too positively intervene and help and facilitate their children in their cheating adventures. The use of unfair means in examinations in certain areas has indeed become a thriving business for the examination mafia.

What is examination malpractice?

Examination malpractice is defined as a deliberate wrong doing contrary to official examination rules designed to place a candidate at an unfair advantage or disadvantage.

Examination malpractice is any illegal act committed by a student single handedly or in collaboration with others like fellow students, parents, teachers, supervisors, invigilators, printers and anybody or group of people before, during or after examination in order to obtain undeserved marks or grades.

The malpractices that is commonly committed in examination:

Range from leakage of question papers to copying, changing answer books, impersonation, misconduct in examination centre, approaching invigilators/examiners, making false entries in award list/ examination registers and issuing fake certificate/degrees etc.

        Such acts may be broadly categorised as follows

        1-     Allotment of choice examination centre.

        2-     Appointment of choice invigilating staff.

        3-     Leaking information about question papers, identification of invigilating staff and paper setters/examiners.

   4-     Bribing/influencing/terrorising examination staff, invigilators and paper setters/examiners.

      5-     Possessing cheating material (written/printed/electronic device etc) or copying from such material.

        6-     Giving/receiving assistance to copy in examination centre.

        7-     Miss-representation/impersonation.

        8-     Changing/replacing roll numbers and answer books.

        9-     Disclosing candidates' identity in answer books.

      10-    Misconduct, carrying offensive weapons, refusing/resisting the lawful orders of supervisory staff, creating disturbance, instigating other candidates, threatening or assaulting the invigilating staff, impeding the progress of examination, in or outside the examination.

        11-    Smuggling answer books in or outside the examination centre.

        12-    Addition to answer books after examination.

        13-    Manipulating marks through fictitious entries in award list/examination register.

       14-    Sale of examination centre to organised gangs where cheating/unfair means are arranged.

      15-    Helping the candidates to use unfair means in any form and by any one in or outside the examination centre.

        16-    Helping the candidates in viva voce, practical examination.

        17-    Attempting or abetting the commission of any of the afore-said acts.

        18-    Any other act considered dishonest, unfair, corrupt etc. 

Effects of Examination malpractice:

§  Discourage good candidates from studying hard:

Good candidates are tempted to believe ‘if u cannot beat them, join them’ especially as they see other candidates get away with their corrupt behaviors. This   behavior may be contagious as more and more candidates tend to join in examination malpractice. They believe that even if they are caught, they will get away with it and the end will justify the means

·        Denies innocent students’ opportunity for admission:

Many good students have been denied admission by the corrupt ones who through examination malpractice have better scores and grades. The best brains that could help in research and development are likely to be thrown out or frustrated while seeking admission

·        Delays the processing of examination scores and grades:

Every year, many students are caught for engaging in various examinations malpractices which needs to be investigated before results are released. Though some results are withheld pending the determination of the cases, some are decided before results are released. This extends processing time.

·        Dissatisfies candidates:

Candidates who possess certificates they cannot defend are dissatisfied. They have psychological problems arising from the way they acquired their certificates. In some instances, they will not be bold to present the certificates because they can be presented with tasks that will require them to defend the certificates

·        Decreases job efficiency:

This has a serious implication on the gross domestic product of the country. It also has effect on the general quality and standard. Imagine the havoc of a half backed medical doctor could wreck on human lives. What about teachers who cannot competently handle the subject they are trained to teach. There is a chain effect of examination malpractices on the educational system and the society as a whole.

 

Causes of examination malpractices/unfair means:

The malpractices in examination have mainly contributed to the overall deterioration of the standard of education in our country.

The malpractices are commonly committed in examination at the pre-conduct, conduct and evaluation stages.

Different agents are involved and cause examination malpractice.

v Malpractices on the part of BISE

§  Allotment of choice examination centers

§  Appointment of choice invigilating staff

§  Supervisory staff is unfairly selected on the basis of nepotism .They are not devoted to their duties.

§  Poor paper setting: paper setters are mostly untrained and unaware of modern approaches to assessment. The exam papers are hardly representative of the entire curriculum.

§  Scoring of papers: Examiners hardly receive any instructions for scoring the papers, they prefer to check the papers at home and that most markers mark one paper in only 5 to 10 minutes.

§  Low salary level for invigilators and examination officials. They are provided with very low facility.

§  Examination centers are without rules .There is no check who should be allowed and who should not be allowed.

§  Pre planned seating arrangements.

v Parents involvement:

§  Approach invigilating staff

§  Provide bribe and gifts

§  Nepotism also helps them allot

v Material publication:

There are model papers and, guess paper guides available in the market with ready made answers.

v Negligence of invigilators:

Teachers/supervisors are non-vigilant during supervision. They allow mobile, peon, chowkidar, watchman to provide cheating to students.

v High stakes of examination:

§  Students freely commit unfair means by the force of pistol and klashankove

 

 

v Students personal factors:

§  Inadequate preparation and desire to pass at all cost. Poor preparation promotes poor performance.

§  Affected by the previous experiences/ Friends provide them encouragement.

§  Supported by society

§  Supported by parents

§  High parental expectations.

v Lack of school resources:

§  Overcrowded examination centers

§  Not enough space

§  Poor seating arrangement

§  No observational strategies

v Defunct security:

§  Police also provide help and unable to ensure security

§  Law enforcing agencies not dealt with impersonation act etc set the culprit free after taking bribe.

§  Laxity in prosecuting offenders

§  Lack of serious penalty for past offenders.

 

v Teachers role:

·        Gross inadequacy of qualified teachers in our schools

·        Lack of devotion to their profession

·        Unawareness towards teaching learning objectives

·        Not properly trained, no capacity building

·        Not providing moral training to students

The resort to copying and use of other unfair means/ malpractices in examinations is a serious problem. This problem is symptomatic of a disease in our educational system which is eating into the vitals of our society. This malaise is harmful for the moral and intellectual development of our youth. It is afflicting the ethical and social fabric of our society. This state of affairs must not last for long. There is a dire need for taking measures to put an end to this evil. One way of dealing with the problem is to introduce effective and comprehensive legislation, providing for stringent penalties against the use of unfair means in examinations. This step was taken recently in our neighbouring country India, where in the State of U.P., an Act, called the "UP Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 1992 was promulgated to deal with the rising menace of cheating in examinations.

 

Management of  malpractices in examination:

Ø More than one set of question paper in each subject should be generated to create uncertainty as to which paper will be finally used in the examination.

Ø Multiple sets of question paper may also be used to ensure that all the students do not get the same question paper.

Ø Question paper may contain space for answering the question thus eliminating the need for separate answer book.

Ø At present highest attention is paid to the performance of students in the terminal examinations. This induces a tendency of last hour preparation in great hurry leaving no scope for digesting the knowledge. Learning is a continuous process and hence evaluation of learning outcome must be done on a continuous basis.

Ø Give magisterial powers (including right to arrest) to examination board officials.

Ø Conduct frequent and unannounced visits to examination centres.

Ø Conduct a public awareness campaign to highlight the importance of integrity of the examination system.

Ø Not writing names on answer scripts. Writing fictitious roll numbers that will be substituted later with the real candidate’s number.

Ø Adequate sitting arrangement should be provide during exams to discourage cheating.

Ø National and international examination board and organization should share information on new threats to examination security and procedures for counteracting malpractice.