How do people learn? Bandura v Piaget

Constructivism and Behaviorism are two schools of thought that differ greatly in their explanation of how we as humans learn. Constructivism is the philosophy that we construct our understanding of the world through past experiences in life. Everyone creates their own "rules" and "mental models" which we use to make sense of every experience. Therefore when we learn, it is simply an embellishment to our preexisting "mental models." In order to learn, one must search for meaning, which requires understanding the whole concept and not just the components of a concept. Constructivism implies there is no one right answer, but many answers that must be customized to fit each learner as an individual.

Behaviorism, in contrast, focuses only on objectively observable behaviors, disregarding any independent activity of the mind. This philosophy defines learning as simply the acquisition of new behaviors contingent upon environmental demand. Behaviorists use conditioning as evidence of their learning acquisition theory. Classic conditioning is a form of learning that occurs when a natural reflex is programmed to respond to a stimulus. Operant conditioning is a form of learning occurring when a response to a stimulus is reinforced or punished, and the behavior is therefore stamped in or stamped out.

Although both philosophies have evidence to support their theories, many criticisms have still surfaced which is why scientists have moved away from any single school of thought into a more integrative model of learning acquisition. This integrative model suggests that there is no single way humans learn, but rather a synthesis of behaviorism and constructivism together likely explain how we acquire knowledge.