This document discusses three major psychological perspectives on education: behaviorism, constructivism, and humanism. It provides details on behaviorism according to Skinner and Watson, including operant conditioning, classical conditioning, and their experiments. It then explains constructivism based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development, including assimilation, accommodation, equilbrium, and schemas. Piaget's four stages of development and their educational implications are also summarized. Finally, it discusses social constructivism according to Vygotsky and the zone of proximal development.

1. Earl G. Alauro
Kornelia Krishna Chaves- Ladao
Edu 011- The Teaching Profession
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE AFFECTING EDUCATION
1. Behaviorism (learning as changes in overt behavior)
2. Constructivism (learning as changes in thinking)
3. Humanism (learning as changes in feelings, attitudes and values)
BEHAVIORISM
 It is a theory of learning that focuses on the observable effect of the environment on human
behavior.
 Behaviorist use a system of rewards and punishments to elicit desirable responses.
1. B.F. Skinner
 Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect - Reinforcement.
 Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened); behavior which is not
reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e., weakened).
 Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for
behavior in other words it is a type of learning in which an individual’s behavior is modified by its
consequences (response the behavior gets); the behavior may change in form, frequency, or
strength.
Different types of Responses to a behavior:
 Neutral operant:Responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the
probability of a behavior being repeated.
 Reinforcement (strengthens behavior) is a response / consequence that causes a behavior to
occur with greater frequency. Reinforcers can be positive or negative.
 Punishment (weakens behavior) is a response / consequence that causes a behavior to occur
with less frequency. Just like Reinforcements there can be two types of punishment: positive and
negative.
Core Tools of Operant Conditioning: Punishment & Rewards to modify behaviors
 Positive reinforcer: Favorable events or outcomes that are presented after the behavior. This
Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds
rewarding.
Example, a student submits an assignment on time, and also includes some extra information
that she gathered about the topic. The teacher, wanting to appreciate the student's efforts, awards her an
extra 5 points for her assignment.
 Negative reinforce: involve the removal of an unfavorable events or outcomes after the display of
a behavior. In these situations, a response is strengthened by the removal of something
considered unpleasant.
Example, Timmy doesn’t want to eat carrots but his parents keep trying to get him to eat them. At
dinner time, if there are any carrots on his plate he will scream and shout until they are taken off his
plate. His parents always give in to the tantrums and take away the carrots because his tantrums are
becoming increasingly severe and last longer.
 Positive Punishment: An unfavorable consequence / response following a behavior which leads
to a decrease in that behavior.
Example, Consider a scenario where a student receives a phone call in front of the whole class,
causing the lecture to abrupt. The teacher then reprimands him in front of the whole class and
adds his homework to be twice more than the rest of the students. The consequence or
punishment of receiving a phone call discourages him from repeating the action again.

2.  Negative Punishment: also known as punishment by removal, occurs when an favorable event or
outcome is removed after a behavior occurs.
Example, Consider a scenario where a student receives a phone call in the classroom, and he
picks up the call and starts talking in front of the whole class, causing the lecture to abrupt. The
teacher then seizes his cell phone, and after knowing about his indiscipline in class, his parents take
away his Xbox privileges. This is a serious consequence in the mind of a teenage student, and she is
then discouraged to from repeating the action again.
2. J.B Watsons
 Father of American Behaviorist theory
 He researched on classical conditioning
 Watson believed that all individual differences in behavior were due to different experiences of
learning.
Watson Experiment
 Watson was interested in taking Pavlov's research further to show that emotional reactions could
be classically conditioned in people.
 The participant in the experiment was a child
 Known as Little Albert
o 9 month baby
o Exposed the child to a series of stimuli including a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, masks
and burning newspapers and
o Observed the boy’s reactions
Stage 1: Before Conditioning
 In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces an unconditioned response (UCR)in an
organism.
 In basic terms, this means that a stimulus in the environment has produced a behavior / response
which is unlearned and
 therefore is a natural response which has not been taught
 Neutral Stimulus
o This stage also involves another stimulus which has no effect on a person and is called
the neutral stimulus (NS).
o The NS could be a person, object, place, etc.
o The neutral stimulus in classical conditioning does not produce a response until it is paired
with the unconditioned stimulus.
Little Albert:
The boy initially showed no fear of any of the objects he was shown.
Stage 2: During Conditioning
 During this stage a stimulus which produces no response (i.e. neutral) is associated with the
unconditioned stimulus at which point it now becomes known as the conditioned stimulus (CS).
 However, one trail learning can happen on certain occasions when it is not necessary for an
association to be strengthened over time
Little Albert:
The next time Albert was exposed the rat, Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with
a hammer.
Stage 3: After Conditioning
 Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to
create a new conditioned response (CR).
Little Albert:
Naturally, the child began to cry after hearing the loud noise. After repeatedly pairing the white rat
with the loud noise, Albert began to cry simply after seeing the rat.
Elements of Classical Conditioning:
 Neutral Stimulus: The white rat
 Unconditioned Stimulus: The loud noise
 Unconditioned Response: Fear
 Conditioned Stimulus: The white rat

3.  Conditioned Response: Fear
Assertive Discipline
 Systematic approach designed to assist teachers in managing an organized classroom.
 Teacher-in-charge classroom
Non-assertive: The teacher doesn’t clearly express their wants and feelings, nor do they back up
their words with the necessary positive action.
Hostile: Teachers express their wants and feelings, but in a way that “puts down” others or
abuses their rights.
Assertive: The teacher clearly and firmly communicates their needs to their students, and are
prepared to reinforce their words with appropriate actions.
CONSTRUCTIVISM
 It is a perspective on learning focused on how students actively create or construct knowledge
out of experiences.
 It is a view of knowledge and an approach to instruction, embedded in cognitive theory.
 Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our
experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates
our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning,
therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences
 Psychological Constructivism: the independent investigator
 A person learns by mentally organizing and reorganizing new information or experiences. The
organization happens partly by relating new experiences to prior knowledge that is already
meaningful and well understood.
 Cognitive Theory of Jean Piaget. Piaget described learning as interplay between two mental
activities that he called assimilation and accommodation.
 Assimilation – is the interpretation of new information in terms of pre-existing concepts,
information or ideas.
Example: A preschool child who already understands the concept of bird, for example, might
initially label any flying object with this term—even butterflies or mosquitoes. Assimilation is
therefore a bit like the idea of generalization in operant conditioning.
 Accommodation - is the revision or modification of pre-existing concepts in terms of new
information or experience.
Example: The preschooler who initially generalizes the concept of bird to include any flying
object, eventually revises the concept to include only particular kinds of flying objects, such as
robins and sparrows, and not others, like mosquitoes or airplanes.
 Cognitive Equilibrium – a concept when assimilation and accommodation work together to
enrich a child’s thinking. This is a balance between reliance on prior information and openness to
new information. This consist of an ever-growing repertoire of mental representations for objects
and experiences.
 Schema – is not merely a concept, but an elaborated mixture of vocabulary, actions and
experience related to the concept.
Example: A child’s schema for bird, includes not only the relevant verbal knowledge (like
knowing how to define the word “bird”), but also the child’s experiences with birds, pictures of
birds, and conversations about birds.
As assimilation and accommodation about birds and other flying objects operate together over
time, the child does not just revise and add to his vocabulary (such as acquiring a new word,
“butterfly”), but also adds and remembers relevant new experiences and actions. From these
collective revisions and additions the child gradually constructs whole new schemata about birds,
butterflies, and other flying objects. In more everyday (but also less precise) terms, Piaget might
then say that “the child has learned more about birds.”
LEARNING ACCORDING TO PIAGET:
Assimilation + Accommodation → Equilibrium → Schemata

4. Stages of Development
Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development which reflect the increasing sophistication of
children's thought:
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)
2. Pre-operational stage (from age 2 to age 7)
3. Concrete operational stage (from age 7 to age 11)
4. Formal operational stage (age 11+ - adolescence and adulthood).
Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and child development is determined by biological
maturation and interaction with the environment. Although no stage can be missed out, there are
individual differences in the rate at which children progress through stages, and some individuals may
never attain the later stages.
Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age - although descriptions of the
stages often include an indication of the age at which the average child would reach each stage.
Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2 yrs)
The main achievement during this stage is object permanence - knowing that an object still exists, even if
it is hidden.
It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e., a schema) of the object.
Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically. This is the ability to make one thing
- a word or an object - stand for something other than itself.
Thinking is still egocentric, and the infant has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)
Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development because
it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought.
This means the child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically try things out in
the real world).
Children can conserve number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is the
understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes.
Formal Operational Stage (11 years and over)
The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and lasts into adulthood. During this
time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, and logically test hypotheses.
Educational Implications
 Piaget (1952) did not explicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers have
explained how features of Piaget's theory can be applied to teaching and learning.
 Piaget has been extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching practice. For
example, a review of primary education by the UK government in 1966 was based strongly on
Piaget’s theory. The result of this review led to the publication of the Plowden report(1967).
 Discovery learning – the idea that children learn best through doing and actively exploring - was
seen as central to the transformation of the primary school curriculum.
 'The report's recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the centrality of
play in children's learning, the use of the environment, learning by discovery and the importance
of the evaluation of children's progress - teachers should 'not assume that only what is
measurable is valuable.'
 Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages, the notion of 'readiness'
is important. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts should be taught.
According to Piaget's theory children should not be taught certain concepts until they have
reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development.

5.  According to Piaget (1958), assimilation and accommodation require an active learner, not a
passive one, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered.
 Within the classroom learning should be student-centered and accomplished through active
discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, rather than direct tuition.
Therefore, teachers should encourage the following within the classroom:
 Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it.
 Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths."
 Using collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can learn from each other).
 Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the child.
 Evaluate the level of the child's development so suitable tasks can be set.
 Social Constructivism: assisted performance
 This framework is focused on the relationships and interactions between a learner and other
individuals who are more knowledgeable or experienced.
 Early Viewpoint: Jerome Bruner, who became convinced that students could usually learn
more than had been traditionally expected as long as they were given appropriate guidance
and resources. He called such support instructional scaffolding—literally meaning a
temporary framework like the ones used to construct buildings and that allow a much stronger
structure to be built within it.
 He believed in the importance of providing guidance in the right way and at the right time.
When scaffolding is provided, students seem more competent and “intelligent,” and they learn
more.
 Lev Vygotsky, whose writing focused on how a child’s or novice’s thinking is influenced by
relationships with others who are more capable, knowledgeable, or expert than the learner.
Vygotsky made the reasonable proposal that when a child (or novice) is learning a new skill or
solving a new problem, he or she can perform better if accompanied and helped by an expert
than if performing alone—though still not as well as the expert.
 Zone of proximal development (ZPD) – is learning through assisted performance. During
learning, knowledge or skill is found initially “in” the expert helper. If the expert is skilled and
motivated to help, then the expert arranges experiences that let the novice to practice crucial
skills or to construct new knowledge.
LEARNING ACCORDING TO VYGOTSKY:
 Novice → Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) ← Expert
 In both the psychological and social versions of constructivist learning, the novice is not really
“taught” so much as simply allowed to learn. But compared to psychological constructivism, social
constructivism highlights a more direct responsibility of the expert for making learning possible.
He or she must not only have knowledge and skill, but also know how to arrange experiences
that make it easy and safe for learners to gain knowledge and skill themselves.
Classroom Applications
 A contemporary educational application of Vygotsky's theories is "reciprocal teaching," used
to improve students' ability to learn from text. In this method, teachers and students
collaborate in learning and practicing four key skills: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and
predicting. The teacher's role in the process is reduced over time.
 Also, Vygotsky is relevant to instructional concepts such as "scaffolding" and
"apprenticeship," in which a teacher or more advanced peer helps to structure or arrange a
task so that a novice can work on it successfully.
 Vygotsky's theories also feed into the current interest in collaborative learning, suggesting that
group members should have different levels of ability so more advanced peers can help less
advanced members operate within their ZPD.

6.  HOW CONSTRUCTIVISM IMPACTS LEARNING
 Curriculum–Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardized curriculum. Instead, it
promotes using curricula customized to the students’ prior knowledge. Also, it emphasizes
hands-on problem solving.
 Instruction–Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making connections
between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors tailor their teaching
strategies to student responses and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict
information. Teachers also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive
dialogue among students.
 Assessment–Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing.
Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role
in judging their own progress.
 In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different
teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use
active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and
then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing.
The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides
the activity to address them and then build on them.
 Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping
them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the
constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives them ever-broadening
tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn HOW
TO LEARN.
Curriculum begins with the parts of
the whole. Emphasizes basic skills.
Curriculum emphasizes big
concepts, beginning with the whole
and expanding to include the parts.
Strict adherence to fixed curriculum
is highly valued.
Pursuit of student questions and
interests is valued.
Materials are primarily textbooks and
workbooks.
Materials include primary sources of
material and manipulative materials.
Learning is based on repetition. Learning is interactive, building on
what the student already knows.
Teachers disseminate information to
students; students are recipients of
knowledge.
Teachers have a dialogue with
students, helping students construct
their own knowledge.
Teacher's role is directive, rooted in
authority.
Teacher's role is interactive, rooted
in negotiation.
Assessment is through testing,
correct answers.
Assessment includes student works,
observations, and points of view, as
well as tests. Process is as
important as product.
Knowledge is seen as inert. Knowledge is seen as dynamic, ever
changing with our experiences.
Students work primarily alone. Students work primarily in groups.

7. What are the benefits of constructivism?
1. Children learn more, and enjoy learning more when they are actively involved, rather
than passive listeners.
2. Education works best when it concentrates on thinking and understanding, rather than
on rote memorization. Constructivism concentrates on learning how to think and
understand.
3. Constructivist learning is transferable. In constructivist classrooms,
students create organizing principles that they can take with them to
other learning settings.
4. Constructivism gives students ownership of what they learn, since
learning is based on students' questions and explorations, and often
the students have a hand in designing the assessments as well.
Constructivist assessment engages the students' initiatives and personal investments
in their journals, research reports, physical models, and artistic representations.
Engaging the creative instincts develops students' abilities to express knowledge
through a variety of ways. The students are also more likely to retain and transfer the
new knowledge to real life.
5. By grounding learning activities in an authentic, real-world context, constructivism
stimulates and engages students. Students in constructivist classrooms learn to
question things and to apply their natural curiosity to the world.
6. Constructivism promotes social and communication skills by creating a classroom
environment that emphasizes collaboration and exchange of ideas. Students must
learn how to articulate their ideas clearly as well as to collaborate on tasks effectively
by sharing in group projects. Students must therefore exchange ideas and so must
learn to "negotiate" with others and to evaluate their contributions in a socially
acceptable manner. This is essential to success in the real world, since they will
always be exposed to a variety of experiences in which they will have to cooperate
and navigate among the ideas of others.
HUMANISM
• Humanism emerged as different approach
• Humanists refuse to accept the idea that behaviour
is determined by the environment
Humanist psychologists emphasize:
• Independence
• individual dignity
• A conscious capacity to develop personal
competence
INFLUENTIAL THEORISTS
• Abraham Maslow “growth is a rewarding and exciting
process”
• Carl Rogers- clinical psychologist - congruence,
empathy, respect
MASLOW’S HEIRARCHY OF NEEDS is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model
of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.
 Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some
needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be
the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what
motivates us, and so on.

8.  This five-stage model can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four levels
are often referred to as deficiency needs (D-needs), and the top level is known as growth or being
needs (B-needs).
 Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet.
Also, the motivation to fulfill such needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are
denied. For example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.
 Maslow (1943) initially stated that individuals must satisfy lower level deficit needs before
progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. However, he later clarified that satisfaction of a
needs is not an“all-or-none” phenomenon, admitting that his earlier statements may have given
“the false impression that a need must be satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges”
(1987, p. 69).
 When a deficit need has been 'more or less' satisfied it will go away, and our activities become
habitually directed towards meeting the next set of needs that we have yet to satisfy. These then
become our salient needs. However, growth needs continue to be felt and may even become
stronger once they have been engaged.
 Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person.
Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest
level called self-actualization.
 Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-
actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure to meet lower level needs.
Life experiences, including divorce and loss of a job, may cause an individual to fluctuate
between levels of the hierarchy. Therefore, not everyone will move through the hierarchy in a uni-
directional manner but may move back and forth between the different types of needs.
Educational applications
 Maslow's (1962) hierarchy of needs theory has made a major contribution to teaching and
classroom management in schools. Rather than reducing behavior to a response in the
environment, Maslow (1970a) adopts a holistic approach to education and learning. Maslow looks
at the complete physical, emotional, social, and intellectual qualities of an individual and how they
impact on learning.
 Applications of Maslow's hierarchy theory to the work of the classroom teacher are obvious.
Before a student's cognitive needs can be met, they must first fulfill their basic physiological
needs. For example, a tired and hungry student will find it difficult to focus on learning. Students
need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted within the classroom to progress and
reach their full potential.

9.  Maslow suggests students must be shown that they are valued and respected in the classroom,
and the teacher should create a supportive environment. Students with a low self-esteem will not
progress academically at an optimum rate until their self-esteem is strengthened.
Carl Rogers
 Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanistic psychologist who agreed with the main assumptions
of Abraham Maslow, but added that for a person to "grow", they need an environment that
provides them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen with
unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to and understood).
 Without these, relationships and healthy personalities will not develop as they should, much like a
tree will not grow without sunlight and water.
 Rogers believed that every person could achieve their goals, wishes, and desires in life. When, or
rather if they did so, self actualization took place. This was one of Carl Rogers most important
contributions to psychology, and for a person to reach their potential a number of factors must be
satisfied.
 Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and maintained
that we behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation. "As no one else can
know how we perceive, we are the best experts on ourselves."
 Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have one basic motive, that is the tendency to self-
actualize - i.e., to fulfill one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human-beingness' we can.
 Rogers believed that people are inherently good and creative. They become destructive only
when a poor self-concept or external constraints override the valuing process. Carl Rogers
believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence.
 This means that self-actualization occurs when a person’s “ideal self” (i.e., who they would like to
be) is congruent with their actual behavior (self-image). Rogers describes an individual who is
actualizing as a fully functioning person. The main determinant of whether we will become self-
actualized is childhood experience.
The Fully Functioning Person
1. Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions accepted. Negative feelings are not
denied, but worked through (rather than resorting to ego defense mechanisms).
2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding prejudging
and preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate the present, not always looking back
to the past or forward to the future (i.e., living for the moment).
3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted. People’s
own decisions are the right ones, and we should trust ourselves to make the right choices.
4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk-taking are features of a person’s life. A person does not
play safe all the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek new experiences.
5. Fulfilled life: a person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new challenges
and experiences.
For Rogers, fully functioning people are well adjusted, well balanced and interesting to know. Often such
people are high achievers in society. Critics claim that the fully functioning person is a product of
Western culture. In other cultures, such as Eastern cultures, the achievement of the group is valued
more highly than the achievement of any one person.
Principles of Humanistic Education
There are five basic principles of humanistic education:
1) Students should be able to choose what they want to learn. Humanistic teachers believe that students
will be motivated to learn a subject if it's something they need and want to know.
2) The goal of education should be to foster students' desire to learn and teach them how to learn.
Students should be self-motivated in their studies and desire to learn on their own.

10. 3) Humanistic educators believe that grades are irrelevant and that only self-evaluation is meaningful.
Grading encourages students to work for a grade and not for personal satisfaction. In addition,
humanistic educators are opposed to objective tests because they test a student's ability to memorize
and do not provide sufficient educational feedback to the teacher and student.
4) Humanistic educators believe that both feelings and knowledge are important to the learning process.
Unlike traditional educators, humanistic teachers do not separate the cognitive and affective domains.
5) Humanistic educators insist that schools need to provide students with a non-threatening environment
so that they will feel secure to learn. Once students feel secure, learning becomes easier and more
meaningful.
Summary:
The five basic principles of humanistic education can be summarized as follows:
1) Students' learning should be self-directed.
2) Schools should produce students who want and know how to learn.
3) The only form of meaningful evaluation is self-evaluation.
4) Feelings, as well as knowledge, are important in the learning process.
5) Students learn best in a nonthreatening environment.
REFERENCES:
https://www.simplypsychology.org
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03394321
https://www.slideshare.net/zahraBayani/humanism-vs-constructivism