A behaviorist theory, operant conditioning, and a cognitivist theory, Piaget’s theory of stages of cognitive development, have multiple similarities and differences. A behaviorist theory is based on the fundamental idea that behaviors that are reinforced will tend to continue, while behaviors that are punished will eventually end. Piaget’s Stage Theory of Cognitive Development is a description of cognitive development as four distinct stages in children. These stages are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal.
The term operant conditioning was coined by B. F. Skinner. His approach was to “focus on the external, visible causes of behavior, rather than try to unpack the internal thoughts and motivations” (Skinner, 1958, p. 48). Skinner understood that reinforcements come in two forms such as negative and positive forms. The negative reinforcements typically are characterized by the removal of an “undesired or unpleasant outcome after the desired conduct” (Alexander, 1996, p. 119). Skinner hypothesized that the response is strengthened as something considered negative is removed. On the other hand, the positive reinforcements are favorable outcomes or events that are given to the person after the desired behavior such as in the form of rewards or praises. Skinner suggested that, to reach these goals, the “reinforcement is for the person’s behavior to increase” (Casas, 2002, p. 133). On the other hand, there are positive and negative reinforcement. The two forms of punishment are Punishment I and Punishment II. In contrast, punishment is when the increase of something unwanted attempts to cause a decrease in the behavior that may follow. The negative punishment is characterized by when a “favorable outcome or event is removed after an undesirable behavior occurs” (Matson, 2012, p. 9). Differently, the positive punishment is when unfavorable outcomes or events are given in order to weaken the response that follows. Skinner believed the goal of “punishment is for the behavior to decrease” (Passos, 2012, p. 106). In operant conditioning, a voluntary response is then followed by a reinforcing stimulus. This way, the voluntary response such as studying for an exam, is more likely to be done by the person.
The development of B. F. Skinner's learning theory of operant conditioning explains the concept of optimization in learning which has a “distinction between short-term and long-term of the overall learning strategies” (Edwards, 1970, p. 214). Operant conditioning can be defined as a process that attempts to modify a person’s behavior through the “use of positive and the negative reinforcement” (Ramirez, 2013, p. 76). Through operant conditioning, a single person makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence. An example can be a parent awarding their child with money for having good grades. Another example is when a teacher awards points to students who are well behaved but the students eventually realize that when they voluntarily better behaved, that they automatically assume they earn more points.
Jean Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development has many theories compared to Skinner’s behavior theory of operant conditioning. As a psychologist and biologist, Piaget observed his own children in how they processed the making sense of the world around them. He then eventually developed a four-stage model of how a person’s mind processes the new information they have encountered. Then Piaget theorized that children process through four stages and they all do so in the same order. Piaget stages are sensorimotor stage from birth to 2 years old, preoperational stage from ages 2 through 4, concrete operations from ages 7 through 11, and finally the formal operations from ages 11 through 15. During the first stage, the infants build an understanding of themselves and reality of how things work by “interacting with the environment around them” (Bailey, 1987, p. 28). Children are able to differentiate between themselves and other objects. Their learning takes place by assimilation like organizing information by absorbing the information into existing schema. Then the child accommodates as when an object cannot be assimilated and the schemata have to be modified to include the object. In the preoperational stage, the “child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and certainly needs concrete surrounding of physical situations” (Juarez, 1982, p. 11). Now, objects are classified in simple ways, especially by important features of the object. During the third stage, concrete operations, as physical experience accumulates, accommodation is increased. This is when the child begins to think conceptually and abstractly, which then creates a logical structure that explains her or his physical experiences. The last stage is the formal operations stage. This is when cognition reaches its final form and “the child no longer requires concrete objects to make rational judgments” (White, 2009, p. 56). The child is capable of hypothesizing and using deductive reasoning. His or her ability for abstract thinking is similar to an adult’s.
As discussed, there are multiple similarities and differences between B. F. Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning and Jean Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development. These two men were two of the most influential human development theorists of the twentieth century. The two men approached the question of learning development from very different angles. Skinner worked from a learning perspective and he saw human development as a continuous process which may change a person’s behavior in response to their experience and adaptation to their environment. Piaget, on the other hand, took a cognitive approach. He was concerned with the evolution of people’s mental structures from birth to the age of 15. Where Skinner saw development in quantitative terms, like the changes in the amount a person learned, Piaget held that development occurred in four different stages in which qualitative changes like in how the person thinks. He believed this enabled the person to construct her-his world.
Behaviorism theory and Piaget’s theory of cognitive development both deal with the person’s reaction to their environment. Regardless, neither takes into account the effect society has on the learner. To both the behaviorist and the cognitivist, learning is a process that occurs within the person. Educators have a great deal to learn from both Piaget’s theories and the behaviorism theory. Skinner was greatly interested in how his work influenced the educational field. To him, “the goal of psychology should be practical…making education enjoyable as well as more effective” (Lieberman, 2000, p. 20). While Piaget did not write much about education, his work has had a tremendous influence in the educational field.
Differences between the two are much more obvious. Piaget worked with cognitive structures like the theoretical process entirely in the mind and entirely unseen by others. Skinner’s behaviorism did not take into account an individual’s development because he believed that reinforcement affects behavior at any age as reinforcement will always affect one’s behavior. Piaget, on the other hand, made the concept of development a cornerstone of his theory. The differences between behaviorism and cognitive development are most evident in their practical application although the analyses are strikingly different; each theory provides a viable insight.