Bruner and the Process of Thought

Whereas Skinner has presented a behaviorist-associationist account of learning, borrowing heavily from Watson and Thorndike, Bruner’s position is more consistent with the cognitive gestaltist position. For example, Bruner insists that the final goal of teaching is to promote the “general understanding of the structure of a subject matter.” When the student understands the structure of a subject, he sees it as a related whole. “Grasping the structure of a subject understands it in a way that permits many other things to be related to it meaningfully.”  These are hardly the words of a behaviorist associationist. Bruner stresses the importer—and he constantly aims his message at the working classroom teacher—to help promote conditions in which the student can perceive the structure of a given subject. When learning is based on a structure, it is more long-lasting and less easily forgotten. The student who once studied biology, for example, may forget many of the details over the years, but these details can be more easily and quickly reconstructed if the general structure is still there.

Bruner calls his position a theory of instruction, not a learning theory. He feels that a learning theory is descriptive; that is, it describes what happens after the fact. A theory of instruction, on the other hand, is prescriptive; it prescribes in advance how a given subject can best be taught. If a learning theory tells us that children at age six are not yet ready to understand the concept of reversibility, a theory of instruction would prescribe how best to lead the child toward this concept when he is old enough to understand it.

Bruner’s theory has four major principles: motivation, structure, sequence, and reinforcement.

 Bruner’s First Principle: Motivation

Bruner’s first principle specifies the conditions that predispose an individual toward learning. What are the critical variables, especially during the preschool years, that help motivate and enable the child to learn? Implicit in Bruner’s principles is the belief that almost all children have a built-in “will to learn.” However, Bruner has not discarded the notion of reinforcement. He believes that reinforcement, or external reward, may be important for initiating certain actions or for making sure they are repeated. The insists, however, that it is only through intrinsic motivation that the will to learn is sustained. Bruner is far more concerned with intrinsic motivation than with what he believes to be the more transitory effects of external motivation.

Perhaps the best example of intrinsic motivation is curiosity. Bruner believes that we come into the world equipped with a curiosity drive. He feels this drive is biologically relevant, that curiosity is necessary to the survival of the species. Bruner suggests that young children are often too curious, that they are unable to “stick with” any one activity. Their curiosity leads them to turn from one activity to another in rapid succession, and it must therefore be channeled into a more powerful intellectual pursuit. Games like Twenty Questions help develop a sense of curiosity discipline in the child.

Another motivation we bring into the world with us is the drive to achieve competence. Children become interested in what they are good at, and it is virtually impossible to motivate them to engage in activities in which they have no degree of competence.

Finally, Bruner lists reciprocity as a motivation, that is built into the species. Reciprocity involves a need to work with other cooperatively, and Bruner feels that society itself developed as a result of this most basic motivation.

The Exploration of Alternatives

According to Burner, the intrinsic motivations are rewarding in themselves and are therefore self-sustaining. How can the teacher take advantage of this in the classroom situation? Bruner’s answer is that teachers must facilitate and regulate their students’ exploration of alternatives. Since learning and problem-solving demand the exploration of alternatives, this is at the very core of the issue and is critical in creating a predisposition to the long-term pursuit of learning.

The exploration of alternatives has three phases: activation, maintenance, and direction.

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Category: Psychology