Learning is the process by which the body incorporates new knowledge or skills into its repertoire through experience. It is the way by which we acquire, generalize, contextualize or vary our behavior and our way of seeing reality.

There have been multiple theories and currents of thought that have dealt with the learning process, with different paradigms emerging that have been opposed throughout history. Two of the most recognized have been and continue to be behaviorism and constructivism .

Behaviorism: learning as association

Behaviorism is one of the best known and most widespread paradigms of psychology throughout history, having had a notable influence on various dimensions of psychology such as clinical and educational psychology.

Born at a time in history when currents based on unprovable theoretical assumptions predominated, behaviorism was born as an attempt to base knowledge of human behavior on empirical criteria that can be contrasted experimentally .

This current explains the behavior from the learning of behavioral patterns derived from the association between the different possible stimuli, in which elements that by themselves generate a damage or a well-being are linked with others when being in contact in space and time, getting to acquire the characteristics of the first one and provoking in the organism the same reactions. Later, the individual can come to generalize these associations to similar stimuli and situations .

Behaviorism therefore tries to work from totally objective variables, so its methodology is based on the collection of information from experiments in which both the stimuli and the response are directly evidenced as physiological information or even observation.

Throughout the history of Psychology, there are numerous authors who worked on this current or who gave it birth, some of the main ones being Pavlov, Skinner or Watson.

The behavioural model

Behaviorism maintains a strictly mechanistic point of view and proposes that behavior is governed by clear and invariable laws . It is considered that the environment is the only one responsible for human or animal behaviour, leaving the individual as a totally passive entity that receives the information from the environment and learns to act by associating this information or stimuli with adaptive responses.

The mind, although recognized as part of the learning process, is seen as an inaccessible element that cannot be known. The main elements to take into account are the stimuli, the responses, the association between both and the possible reinforcements or punishments derived from the behaviour finally carried out.

In classic behaviorism it is considered that in the acquisition of knowledge and behavior the subject will be a passive and reactive entity , capturing the stimulation and linking it to the appetite or aversion to end up responding accordingly. Learning is acquired through the repetition of the associations between stimuli, so that the focus on education will be based on repetitive training and memorization.

With regard to the world of education, the teacher or educator has a very important role, being the one who provides the information through the use of reinforcement or avoidance of punishment. Learning is considered to be established when the responses given by the individual are those considered correct to the stimulation given by the environment, having become accustomed to giving it in the face of appropriate stimuli.

Constructivism: learning as creation of meaning

Despite the fact that many of the behaviorism is based on empirical data, the mere association is not enough to explain how learning takes place and other phenomena such as the importance of beliefs, motivations and emotions in the acquisition of knowledge, being the mental processes of individuals ignored. This would change with the arrival of cognitivism , which would focus on analysing the processing of information, and with time of constructivism as a different way of understanding learning.

Constructivism views learning as a process of acquiring and consolidating information based on the mental processes of the learner. The subject is an active element in this process, annexing information or modifying his mental schemes based on the experiences he lives, trying to give the world around him a meaning. As can be glimpsed in its name, for this theoretical current, learning is achieved through the construction and reconstruction of structures whose foundations are previous knowledge, and whose element of union with the new knowledge is the capacity to give them a meaning within the system.

Thus, if one learns it is not simply because one acquires external information, but because from examining the characteristics of what is new one will extract a meaning proper to that information. Subsequently, what has been learned, what has been understood and what has been given meaning, can be generalized if

Moreover, when it comes to learning, there are no single laws, but rather aspects such as the abilities, level of attention and desire to learn of the person or entity that is learning, as well as the fact that the material to be learned must be adaptive and useful for the subject in question.

The role of context in constructivism

For this current, the environment and stimuli are indeed important, but the interaction between the person’s external and internal variables is considered to be paramount. In learning situations , what is known as the interactive triangle is taken into account, which refers to the interaction maintained between the characteristics of the learner, the material to be learned and the person or thing that transmits the information. These three elements will affect each other and may or may not allow the learner to acquire the material in a meaningful way.

The instructor’s role is not to direct, but to provide guidance so that the trainee is able to draw his own conclusions from reality. Such guidance contributes to the learning process generating a shared and adaptive meaning for the environment. Relevant and adapted aids must be provided so that those who acquire knowledge can start to do so and as they begin to master the material these must be removed (in a process called scaffolding). In this way, the individual can reach his or her maximum potential, going beyond what he or she can learn on his or her own thanks to external help.

At present, constructivism is the predominant theoretical trend as far as pedagogical practice is concerned, based on authors such as Piaget and especially Vygotsky.

Main differences

As we have seen above, there are many aspects in which the two theories differ. Some of the most remarkable are the following.

1. Active or passive role

One of the main differences is that while behaviorism sees the individual as a passive entity at the time of acquiring knowledge, constructivism considers that in fact the activity of the subject is the most important thing when it comes to learning .

2. The importance of interaction

Related to the above, while for behaviorism the most relevant thing for learning is the environment or setting as a set of stimuli to which the subject has access for constructivism all the components of the process and not only the learnable are necessary, being the interaction between person and environment what produces learning.

3. Different methodologies

For behaviorism, the objective of learning is to produce an observable modification of behavior, while constructivism considers that the achievement to be undertaken is to create new meanings, whether they are directly observable or not .

4. The role of the educator

They also differ in that while for constructivism the role of the educator or transmitter of information is that of guide and support for behaviourism the role must be hierarchical and directive.

5. Differences in teaching

The method for learning will also be different: for behaviorism the ideal is the continuous repetition of the association between stimuli, producing a more memorized learning, while constructivism is based on creating meanings from the union between the old and the new making the learning meaningful for the person who performs it.

Common points between both perspectives

Although behaviorism and constructivism have many elements that differentiate them from each other, they share some aspects in common.

In both currents of thought, behaviour is seen as a product of lifelong learning, focusing its methodology on practices that contribute to the acquisition and improvement of individuals’ adaptive capacities.

Also, because of the importance of learning for both behaviorism and cognitivism, both paradigms have been applied at a practical level in the world of education and skills and knowledge training.

Finally, in both cases we work from data and constructs based on empirical data supported by experience.