Introduction
Another individual who propounded a behavioural perspective on learning was Edwin R. Guthrie (1886–1959), who posited learning principles predicated upon associations (Guthrie, 1940). For Guthrie, the salient behaviours were acts and movements.
Acts and Movements
Guthrie's fundamental tenets do reflect the notion of contiguity 'twixt stimuli and responses:
Guthrie (1952, p. 23):
A concatenation of stimuli which hath affected a movement shall, upon its recurrence, be disposed to be followed by that self-same movement.
And, alternatively,
Guthrie (1938, p. 37):
Stimulus patterns which are active at the epoch of a response tend, upon repetition, to elicit that response.
Movements constitute discrete behaviours emanating from muscular contractions. Guthrie did distinguish movements from acts, or grander-scale classes of movements engendering an outcome. The playing of a pianoforte and employing of a calculating engine are acts encompassing manifold movements. A particular act may be accompanied by a diversity of movements; the act may not stipulate the movements with precision. In the game of basketball, for instance, the shooting of a basket (an act) may be accomplished via a variety of movements.
Contiguity learning doth imply that a behaviour within a situation shall be repeated when that situation recurs (Guthrie, 1959); howbeit, contiguity learning is selective. At any given instant, a person is confronted with sundry stimuli, and associations cannot be forged 'twixt all of them. Rather, but a scant number of stimuli are selected, and associations are formed 'twixt them and responses. The principle of contiguity doth apply likewise to memory. Verbal cues are associated with stimulus conditions or events at the epoch of learning (Guthrie, 1952). Forgetfulness involveth new learning and ariseth from interference, wherein an alternative response is rendered to an old stimulus.
Associative Strength
Guthrie's theory doth maintain that learning transpires through the pairing of stimulus and response. Guthrie (1942) did also discourse upon the strength of said pairing, or associative strength:
Guthrie:
A stimulus pattern doth gain its full associative strength upon the occasion of its first pairing with a response. (p. 30)
He did reject the notion of associations through frequency, as embodied in Thorndike's original Law of Exercise (Guthrie, 1930). Albeit Guthrie did not suggest that persons do learn complex behaviours by performing them but once, he did believe that initially one or more movements become associated. Repetition of a situation adds movements, combines movements into acts, and establishes the act under differing environmental conditions.
The Guthrie and Horton (1946) experiment with cats was interpreted as supporting this all-or-none principle of learning. Guthrie and Horton did employ a puzzle box similar to Thorndike's. Touching a post in the centre did trigger the mechanism that sprang open the door, allowing the cat to escape. When cats initially were placed in the box, they explored it and made a series of random movements. Eventually they made a response that released the mechanism, and they escaped. They may have hit the post with a paw; brushed against it; or backed into it. The cat's last response (hitting the pole) was successful because it opened the door, and cats repeated their last response when put back into the box. The last movement became associated with the puzzle box, because it allowed the animal to escape.
Guthrie's position doth not imply that once students successfully solve a quadratic equation or write a research paper they have mastered the requisite skills. Practice links the various movements involved in the acts of solving equations and writing papers. The acts themselves may have many variations (types of equations and papers) and ideally should transfer—students should be able to solve equations and write papers in different contexts. Guthrie accepted Thorndike's notion of identical elements. To produce transfer, behaviours should be practiced in the exact situations in which they shall be called for, such as at desks, in small groups, and at home.
Rewards and Punishments
Guthrie maintained that responses necessitate not reward to be assimilated. The pivotal mechanism resides in contiguity, that is, the proximate temporal juxtaposition of stimulus and response. The response need not be inherently gratifying; a mere pairing, devoid of consequence, may yet engender learning.
Guthrie (1952) contested Thorndike's Law of Effect, positing that satisfiers and annoyers are consequential to actions; ergo, they possess no capacity to influence the acquisition of prior associations, but solely subsequent ones. Rewards may serve to forestall unlearning (forgetting) by precluding the association of novel responses with stimulus cues. In the Guthrie and Horton (1946) experiment, the reward, namely, escape from the enclosure, removed the animal from the learning milieu, thus impeding the acquisition of fresh associations within the enclosure. Likewise, punishment shall induce unlearning only should it compel the animal to assimilate an alternative response.
Contiguity constitutes a cardinal feature of scholastic learning. Flashcards aid pupils in the assimilation of arithmetic facts. Students acquire the association of a stimulus (e.g., 4 x 4) with a corresponding response (16). Foreign-language vocables become associated with their English equivalents, and chemical symbols with their elemental designations.
Habit Formation and Change
Habits are understood to be learned dispositions towards the repetition of past responses (Wood & Neal, 2007). Inasmuch as habits represent behaviours established in connection with a multitude of cues, pedagogues desiring propitious conduct in their pupils ought to associate school regulations with a surfeit of such cues. The dictum, “Treat others with respect,” must needs be conjoined with the classroom, the computer laboratory, the corridors, the refectory, the gymnasium, the auditorium, and the playground. Through the application of this precept in each of these environments, the students’ respectful deportment towards their peers shall become habitual. Should the students harbour the notion that the practice of respect is requisite solely within the confines of the classroom, the habituation of respectful conduct shall remain unachieved.
| Method | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold | Introduce a feeble stimulus. Incrementally amplify the stimulus, ensuring it remains below the threshold necessary to provoke the undesirable response. | Commence the introduction of academic content in brief intervals for juveniles. Progressively augment the duration of these sessions, but avoid protraction to the point of engendering frustration or tedium. |
| Fatigue | Compel the child to execute the undesired response repeatedly in the presence of the stimulus. | Furnish a child, prone to the creation of paper aeroplanes in class, with a copious stack of paper, directing him to fashion each sheet into such a plane. |
| Incompatible response | In the presence of the stimulus, enjoin the child to execute a response incompatible with the undesired response. | Pair cues associated with the media centre with reading, rather than volubility. |
The keystone to behavioural change resides in the “finding of the cues that instigate the action and the practice of an alternative response to these cues” (Guthrie, 1952, p. 115). Guthrie delineated three methodologies for the alteration of habits: threshold, fatigue, and incompatible response (Table 3.2). Albeit these methodologies diverge in certain respects, they all present cues for an habitual action, whilst simultaneously precluding its performance.
In the threshold method, the cue (stimulus) for the habit under modification (the undesired response) is introduced at a level so attenuated as to not elicit the response; ergo, it remains below the threshold level requisite for the said response. The stimulus is then gradually introduced with ever-increasing intensity, until it is presented at its full strength. Were the stimulus introduced at its zenith of intensity from the outset, the ensuing response would invariably be the behaviour earmarked for alteration (the habit). For instance, certain children evince an aversion to the gustatory properties of spinach, culminating in its outright rejection. To redress this habit, parents might initiate the introduction of spinach in diminutive morsels or in conjunction with a foodstuff palatable to the child. With the passage of time, the quantity of spinach consumed may be progressively amplified.
In the fatigue method, the cue for engaging in the behaviour is transmuted into a cue for its avoidance. Here, the stimulus is introduced at its apogee of strength, and the individual performs the undesired response until the point of utter exhaustion. The stimulus, thusly, metamorphoses into a cue for the abstention from the response. To amend a child’s proclivity for the recurrent ejection of playthings, parents might direct the child to perpetuate the act of throwing until it no longer affords gratification (some limitations are requisite!).
Breaking Habits
Guthrie’s principle of contiguity proffers practical suggestions concerning the means of breaking habits. One application of the threshold method pertains to the temporal duration juveniles dedicate to academic pursuits. The attentional capacities of many young children are ephemeral, thereby circumscribing the period for which they can sustain engagement with a given activity. Most activities are scheduled to endure no longer than 30–40 minutes. However, at the commencement of the academic year, attentional spans swiftly wane, often precipitating behavioural anomalies. To apply Guthrie’s theory, a pedagogue might, at the year’s inception, limit activities to a duration of 15–20 minutes. Over the ensuing weeks, the pedagogue could progressively increment the temporal investment students dedicate to a solitary activity.
The threshold method finds further application in the tutelage of printing and handwriting. When children first embark upon the formation of letters, their movements are ungainly, and they exhibit a deficiency in fine motor coordination. The interlinear distances on a page are intentionally capacious, permitting the facile accommodation of letters within the designated space. Were paper bearing narrower lines introduced prematurely, the students’ letters would encroach upon the borders, potentially engendering frustration. Once the students demonstrate proficiency in the formation of letters within the wider confines, paper with narrower lines may be employed to facilitate the refinement of their skills.
Pedagogues must exercise judiciousness in the application of the fatigue method. Consider a hypothetical, Jason, who derives pleasure from the creation of paper aeroplanes and their aerial conveyance across the confines of the room. His pedagogue might sequester him from the classroom milieu, furnish him with an ample stack of paper, and enjoin him to commence the fabrication of paper aeroplanes. Subsequent to Jason’s creation of several aeroplanes, the activity should forfeit its allure, and paper shall no longer serve as a cue for the creation of aeroplanes.
Certain students exhibit a predilection for rapid ambulation within the gymnasium upon their initial entry into the physical education class. To employ the fatigue method, the physical education instructor might simply permit these students to perpetuate their rapid ambulation subsequent to the commencement of the class. Ere long, they shall succumb to fatigue and discontinue their running.
The incompatible response method may be judiciously employed with students prone to volubility and misbehaviour within the media centre. Reading stands as an activity incompatible with volubility. The media centre instructor might solicit the students to locate compelling tomes and peruse them whilst within the centre. Assuming the students derive gratification from the selected tomes, the media centre shall, with the passage of time, evolve into a cue for the selection and perusal of books, rather than for conversational exchanges with fellow students.
A pedagogue of social studies observes that certain students are habitually inattentive during instruction. The pedagogue apprehended that the exclusive utilisation of the chalkboard and slides during lectures proved excessively monotonous. Subsequently, the pedagogue initiated the incorporation of supplementary elements into each lesson, encompassing experiments, cinematic excerpts, and debates, in an earnest endeavour to actively engage the students and elevate their interest in the course of study.
In the incompatible response method, the cue for the undesired behaviour is paired with a response incompatible with the undesired response; that is, the two responses cannot be performed simultaneously. The response to be paired with the cue must be more attractive to the individual than the undesired response. The stimulus becomes a cue for performing the alternate response. To cease the habit of snacking whilst observing televised broadcasts, individuals ought to maintain their manual faculties occupied (e.g., through the practice of needlework, painting, or the solution of crossword puzzles). Over a period, the act of watching television shall metamorphose into a cue for engagement in an activity distinct from snacking. Systematic desensitisation (as delineated supra) similarly avails itself of incompatible responses.
Punishment is inefficacious in the alteration of habits (Guthrie, 1952). The infliction of punishment subsequent to a response is impotent to affect the stimulus–response association. Punishment administered during the performance of a behaviour may disrupt or suppress the habit, but shall not alter it fundamentally. Punishment fails to establish an alternate response to the stimulus. Indeed, the menace of punishment may even prove invigorating and bolster the habit. It is preferable to amend deleterious habits through the replacement thereof with desirable ones (i.e., incompatible responses).
Guthrie’s theoretical framework eschews cognitive processes, and thus is not esteemed as a viable learning theory in contemporary pedagogy. Nonetheless, its emphasis on contiguity is apropos, insofar as current theories accord prominence to contiguity. In cognitive theories, a pivotal tenet is that individuals must comprehend the relationship subsisting between a stimulus (situation, event) and the appropriate response. Guthrie’s conceptions regarding the modification of habits are likewise intellectually stimulating and furnish sound, overarching guidance for any individual desirous of cultivating more propitious habits.