Comparative Analysis of Behaviourist Approach and Cognitive Approach - Essay Example

Learning can broadly be defined as a ‘relatively permanent change in behavior’ (Burns, R., 2002) through observable activities and internal processes of perception. The comparative perspective of the psychology of learning primarily relies on the observation of behavioral activities of others that prompt others to improve and improvise one’s actions to optimize the performance outcome. When the observations provoke some mental processing to come to some inference, the approach is defined as a cognitive approach. Thus, the varying reactions of the observations and behavioral patterns due to external objects give rise to theories to explain learning processes. The two major psychological approaches to learning are behaviorism and cognitive approach which would be compared to understand the wider implications of the approaches that are used at various levels of interaction.

Behaviourist Approach
The theory of Behaviourism asserts that one sees and experiences the world in its physical entirety and one responds as per the law of nature which is constant for everyone. The principles of natural laws are based on cause and effect. Grippin and Peters claimed that this approach focuses on three vital ingredients of behavior: observation of behavior; environmental paradigms that influence the behavior; and the principles of continuity and reinforcement that facilitate the learning process (Grippin & Peters, 1984).

Cognitive approach
The cognitive approach is an amalgamation of philosophical thoughts and scientific theories that try to rationalize the working of conscious and unconscious thoughts of a man and co-relate them with his subsequent actions and reactions. The theory of cognition, thereby, tries to explain why and how events take place and the subsequent patterns of behavior of man under certain conditions involving emotional and metaphysical reactions. The role of the brain and conscious and unconscious activities of the mind is seen to be responsible for the general behavior of man. The cognitive theory, therefore, defines the brain and the mind as two independent entities that work in tandem to produce actions and reactions of man, to an event.

Comparative analysis
Perception or observable behavior of an object and imagination of the same, have been classified as two different activities of the brain because where perception has been linked with the sensory organs, imagination can cross the limitation of the sensation and visualize the object beyond the realm of its physical reality. Perception is the interpretation and understanding of objective reality and its accuracy depends on the cognitive processing and subsequent attention span of the memory. According to experts cognitive processing is selective as well as limited and hence the same object is perceived differently by different people.

Behavioral scientists and philosophers through the ages have tried to explain human behavior for the wider welfare of the human race. While it is true that rational and irrational behaviors are the outcome of an individual’s perception of things or issues, it is equally true that there are factors that have considerable influence on the decision power of the man. It is, therefore, important to analyze the factors that have a significant impact on the human psyche that prompts or promotes the process of rational or irrational thinking. Watson has stated that human behavior is intrinsically linked to a cause. Hence, man reacts differently in different circumstances. Human behavior can be explained by studying the circumstances or the phases of man’s life because ‘individuals adapt or mold themselves depending on the situation, setting, and people’ (Evans & Rilling, 2000). One’s behavior, therefore, is always linked to a cause.

While it is true that one reacts as per the perception of the event, it is equally true that one’s reactions are also influenced by the manipulations of the information that is retained in the memory of the brain (Winn & Snyder, 1996). The ‘selective memory’ ensures that part of the information is not included in the reaction to an event. Hence our judgment of events is largely dependent on the memory that stores information about that event.

According to cognitive theory, the conscious and unconscious working of our mind is strongly co-related with our experience of objective reality. Our conscious mind understands and interprets the sensations according to the partial or total recall of the events. On the other hand, the subconscious mind may or may not interpret the event with the same degree of accuracy. Activities of the subconscious mind are often visible in our dream sequences. They also become intrinsically involved in actions that require an automatic response to a set of events that are repeated.

One can therefore say that the working of the brain and the conscious and unconscious acts are complex to understand. Scientists and psychologists have tried to demystify the working of brains but the anomalies of our subconscious mind still need to be researched and probed to explain the intangible reactions of our perceptions and memories. Read More