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Intergenerationallearningincontemporaryeducation…
theoreticalperspectivesof/approachestolearninggivenabove.Inthefollowing
subchapters,theywillbecharacterizedmoreclosely.
1.1.1.Thebehaviouristapproachtolearning
ThebehaviouristviewoflearningwasdevelopedbyEdwardThorndike
(1911,1931),whopresentedatheoryoflearningthatincorporatedtheconse-
quencesofbehaviourintheformofhowthebehaviourwasreinforced.Thorn-
dikethendevelopedhis[lawofeńect’,whichstatedthatbehavioursthatare
rewardedtendedtorecur,whilebehavioursthatarepunishedornotrewarded
tendedtoweakenthecharacter.Later,Thorndike(1931)refnedhislawofeńect
toreflectthefactthathefoundthatpunishmentdidnotweakenthestimulus-re-
sponseconnection,butratherledsubjectstoavoidthesituation,orinitiated
feelingsofanxietyorfear.Thesignifcanceofthistothestudyoflearningwas
summarisedbyThorndikehimselfasKwemayincreaseourconfdenceinposi-
tiveratherthannegativelearningandteaching”(Thorndike1931:46).
Nowadays,behaviourismisperceivedasascientifcapproach,shapedon
thebasisofpsychologyandfrstappearingintheUnitedStatesatthebeginning
ofthe20thcentury.TheleadingrepresentativesofbehaviourismareEdward
Thorndike(1874–1949),IvanPavlov(1849–1936),B.F.Skinner(1904–1990),
JohnWatson(1878–1958),andClarkHull(1884–1952).Theysoughttodevelop
atheoryofthepreservationoforganismswithoutconsideringwhatmightbe
happeningintheirminds,whichtheyconsideredunscientifc.Instead,the
behaviourists,aimingtoexplainhumanbehaviour,madelearningthecentral
concept.FollowingDarling’sideathatmanisacontinuationofanimals,they
assumedthatthewayinwhichbothpeopleandanimalslearnissimilar,and
involvesexperiencesgleanedfromtheenvironment.Tofurtherexaminethis
theory,theyusedstrictresearchmethodsculledfromthenaturalsciences.The
resultwasthestatisticalrecognitionoftherelationshipbetweenobjectivelymea-
surablestimuliandthereactionstheytrigger.Pavlovandotherbehaviourists
thenusedthesameresearchmethodsintheirownscientifcwork.Theresult
was,amongstotherthings,thetheoryofconditionedreflexes,alsoknownas
thephysiologyofhighernervousfunctions.Theyassumedthatlearningtakes
placeintheneuralsystem.Iflearningcausesachangeinthebehaviourofthe
individual,thereasonisachangeinthewaytheirneurons(themostimpor-
tantcellsinthehumannervoussystem)arecommunicating.Fromabiological
pointofview,learningisthecreationofnewconnectionsbetweennervecells
inthebrain,orthestimulationoftheseconnections.However,knowingwhatis
happeningbetweenneuronsisoflittlehelpifitisnotembeddedinabroader
context,asitdoesnotcreateabroaderpictureandassuchisnotsubjectable
tointerpretation.Takingtheneuraltheoryoflearningasabasisbehaviourists
havedevelopedtwomaintheoriesofhowinformationfromtheenvironmentis
processed,explainingtherelationshipwithchangesinthebehaviouralpotential
oftheindividual.Thesetwotheoriesalsoconstitutetwomethodsofresearchon