Comparison between Behaviorism and cognitive psychology.

Introduction.
The process of education is one of the most important and complex of all human behaviors. Different aspects of language teaching are better treated by different psychological approaches for example, the learning of vocabulary uses information processing, the learning of structures is behaviorists, and learning training is cognitive. We consider that our fundamental philosophy of the educational process must be able to accommodate these different aspects of learning if it is to be coherent. We will examine two major psychological approaches. An understanding how these theories emerged and connected or conflicted with each other should enable the reader to evaluate their respective contributions to language teaching.

Differences

What is learning?
Behaviorists believed that learning results in observable behavioral change and is determined to a large extent by the environment. On other hand cognitive psychologists believe that learning is a mental process, not necessarily observable which can be thought of as information processing. Behaviorists ignore the basic factor which learning require is the mental abilities of learner and cognitive focused on that reality.

Process of learning..?
According to behaviorism there are three components of learning i.e. stimulus, the response, and the reinforcement. Most of the time the stimuli provide to an organism and then he\she gives response and then there is reinforcement to that response. Reinforcement in the behaviorists view is the single most important factor in learning. Reinforcement may me positive or negative. If reinforcement is positive then behavior likely to occur again but if reinforcement is negative or no reinforcement then behavior not likely to occurs again, whereas cognitive psychologists talked about issues related to human mind i.e. memory and information process theory. Cognitive psychologists believe that attention is more important for learning rather then reinforcement because attention is the process of filtering relevant data from irrelevant. They believe that more cognitive resources involve in learning a new task and ability of learning improve with the passage of time. They give a process of learning like behaviorists but totally different from them. According to cognitive psychologists when some stimulus presented to the mind of learners the stimuli are initially stored for a very brief amount of time in the sensory register if attention is given by the learner then it passed into short term memory where it recorded no longer then thirty seconds. By keeping rehearsal it and repetition it will pass into long term memory where it store forever. So behaviorist focused on environmental factors, according to them the things like response and reinforcement are more important but psychologists says that if mental abilities are lacked then successful learning will not occur, if attention is not paid then how a learner will give response? Therefore memory cant be neglected.

How the learning is modified..?

Behaviorists believe that learning results the change in observable behavior and therefore learning is modified by condition in the environment. On other hand cognitive psychologists said that learning is not modified by any condition in the environment but information is stored in our mind so it changes according to the process of maturation. The mind is viewed as constantly seeking equilibration i.e. a balance between what is known and what is currently being experienced. This is accomplished by the complementary process of assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process by which incoming information is changed or modified in our mind so that we can fit it in with what we already know. Accommodation is a process by which we modify what we already know to take into account new information, so for cognitive we modify our learning through such processes it .doesnt do anything with environmental conditions

Role of teacher

Behaviorist believes that the learning results in observable behavioral change and is largely dependent on environment. Therefore the teacher wishing to implement behaviorism will focus on specific behavior to be learn those behavior that make up the mind of learner and he/she would use appropriate rein forcers and ignores undesirable behavior. Cognitive psychology is concerned with the way in which human mind thinks and learns. Therefore they are mainly interested in mental process that is involved. Basically they focus on information processing and memory of human mind. Behaviorist teacher uses new behavioral patterns being repeated until it becomes automatic. They consider the factor of using reinforcement affecting the ability to learn and to maintain that learned behavior. Cognitive psychologist believe that learning include memory strategies such as attention, long term and short term memories of human mind, still the repetition method is used bye cognitive teachers In behaviorism the role of teacher in classroom is all in all she provide learner with stimulus material and keep on repeating until the response become correct. In Cognitivism the role of teacher in class room is mediatory, they provide them with stimulus .repeat them but able them to give attention and chose and store it in their memory. Teacher with behaviorist learning views error as not enough conditioning where as with out repetition and proper conditioning learner will make mistake.

Cognitive teachers view errors as an unsuccessful attempt they make themselves to correct and learn and explore from their mistakes. Teacher in this method dont use enough activities, there is no direct communication between teacher and a learner. Explanations of rules are generally given when the lingual item has been well practiced and the appropriate habit is acquired. Cognitive teacher have some communication between his learners.

Role of Teacher
Behaviorist view that the role of learner is very passive as a teacher is a dominant personality in the class. There are no activities on their behalf. As we can judge from this that teachers give a prompt and the learners are required to complete the sentences with out making them understanding of meanings. According to EIPA a piagetian approach to cognitive development that information enters the mind to stimulate cognitive development through perception of sound, visual perception and touch. Behaviorists believe that learner starts like a clean slate and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Cognitive learners are required to use their mantel strategies like to think, categories and hypothesis to work out in their learning.

Behaviorist leaning learner would be passive in his communication while he is an active listener as well as active direction follower. Cognitive leaning learner is thought to be active learner using various mental approaches in order to be learned. They can learn of a great deal from exploring, making mistakes and self correcting. A behavioral approach that positive behavior can be increased by the use of positive reinforces and negative reinforces. Strict behavior does not encourage in cognitive psychology.

?Area of interest
Behaviorist's area of interest is human behavior. For them learning occurs when there is a change in behavior and habits of behavior are shaped by things or events on the .environment. There is focus on conditioning the learner's behavior In Cognitive psychology area of interest is human mind. For them learning is a mental .process. It is based on the thought process behind the behavior

Method of Teaching in behaviorism

In Behaviorism a teacher's main objective is to provide learners the correct stimuli to condition the students into desired end product. Behaviorism's teachers are possessors of knowledge and it is their duty to convey facts and desired behaviors to students. Teachers control learner's behavior through evaluation, repetition, and reinforcement techniques. First a teacher should set a goal and to reach the goal teacher must evaluate the learners to establish a starting point for instruction. After setting a goal, teacher should make reaching that goal broke down into small sequential steps. Each step should be accompanied by repetition in the in the form off drill and practice, evaluation and reinforcement. Drill and practice with continuous reinforcement is essential in this method because more a stimulus response bond is practiced and feedback is provided the stronger it becomes. Responses followed by Positive reinforcement are more likely to recur in the future. Moreover reinforcement should be served as a motivational tool; once a skill is mastered it should be reduced to a .variable schedule Another type of reinforcement is given by punishment, in other words we can say it Negative reinforcement. It creates a negative association for the students with that behavior (doing mistakes, or violating rules) there by reducing the likelihood of its recurrence. Non-reinforcement can also be a tool for decreasing or increasing the .response

Method of teaching in Cognitive psychology

In cognitive teaching approach the focus is on the attention of students. Teachers in such method are concerned with the way in which learners take in information, .process it and act upon it 1Cognitive teachers' objective is to help learners acquire new knowledge by using* techniques which enable them to bring their "attention" to the information presented by stimuli, "encode" the information by attaching it to previously acquired information within the short- term memory, and finally store learn information in and "retrieve" learned information with the long-term memory. Cognitivist teachers use processing strategies so the students can learn information and retain it once it is .learned In cognitive theory techniques or processing strategy like mnemonic devices could be effective in shifting information from shot term memory into long term memory. Cognitivism also supports the idea of attaching new knowledge to prior knowledge in order to ease its commitment to long term memory. Moreover link word method and .advance organizers can be effective processing strategies for teachers to utilize :Some more differences Behaviorists believe that learning process is essentially the same for all learners,< .whether child or adult, human or animal Cognitive psychologists believe that human and animal differ in fundamental ways, with human using cognitive process not present in animals. And adults learn .differently from children due to their developed cognitive ability .Behaviorism revolves around the teacher and cognitivism revolves around students<

Some similarities between behaviorism and Cognitive psychology

.In both theories Knowledge is acquired under a system< 2* Cognitivism, like behaviorism, emphasizes the role that environmental conditions< .play in facilitating learning .Both theories emphasize the role of practice with corrective feedback< Transfer (when a learner learns how to apply knowledge in different contexts) in< .cognitvism works in the same way as in Behaviorism Both use feedback Behaviorists for "reinforcement" and Cognitivists to "guide and< ."support mental connections Both use learner/ task analysis. Behaviorists to see what the learner already knows< and what reinforcers should be most effective. Cognivists to determine the learner's .predisposition to learning and how to design the most effective learning experience

References (1 http://techforinstructionandassessment.wikispaces.com/Cognitivism (2 http://elearningnews.edublogs.org/2007/03/23/all-about-behaviorism-cognitivismconstructivism-comparing-critical-features-from-an-instructional-design-perspective/ertmer-newby-1993 Psychology for Language Teachers: a Social Constructive Approach by (3 Marion Williams and Robert L. Burden