Behaviorism (also called the behaviorist approach) was
Essentially,
the primary concept in psychology between 1920 to
1950 and is based on a number of underlying
assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral
analysis.
Behaviorism is a theory of animal and human learning
that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors
and discounts mental activities. Behavior theorists define
learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new
behavior.
Behaviorism as an approach of learning
The behavioral view generally assumes that the outcome
of learning is a change in behavior, and it emphasizes
the effects of external events on the individual.
(Woolfolk, 2016)
Behavioral approaches
Learning—functional behavioral assessments
Positive behavior support
Self- management
3 main concepts (learning processes)
Contiguity
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Contiguity- The principle of contiguity states that
whenever two or more sensations occur together often
enough, they will become associated.
Classical conditioning
Unconditional stimulus- is one that unconditionally,
naturally and automatically triggers a response.
Conditional stimulus- is a previously neutral stimulus
that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned
stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned
response.
Unconditional response- is the unlearned response that
occurs naturally in reaction to the unconditioned
stimulus.
Conditional response- is the learned response to the
previously neutral stimulus.
Discovered in the 1920s by Ivan Pavlov.
Contiguity learning process plays a major role in
classical conditioning. (Contiguity developed to become
classical conditioning).
Focuses on the learning of involuntary emotional or
physiological responses such as fear, increased muscle
tension, salivation, or sweating (respondents).
Occurs when a natural reflex responds to a stimulus. The
most popular example is Pavlov’s observation that dogs
salivate when they eat or even see food.
animals and people are biologically “wired” so that a
certain stimulus will produce a specific response.
Classical conditioning in the classroom
 Unintentional Classical Conditioning:
– Exams Phobia
– Mathematics Phobia
– Public Speaking Phobia
– School Phobia
Operant conditioning- Occurs when a response to a
stimulus is reinforced. Basically, operant conditioning is
a simple feedback system: If a reward or reinforcement
follows the response to a stimulus, then the response
becomes more probable in the future.
Operant behavior- Classical conditioning describes
only how existing responses might be paired with new
stimuli; it does not explain how new operant behaviors
are acquired. (Skinner 1953)
The learning process involved in operant behavior.
Operant Behavior appears when people actively
“Operate” on their environment.
Operant Conditioning appears when a response to a
stimulus is reinforced.
Consequences
Types of reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement: Something is added to increase
desired behavior (giving something good).
Negative Reinforcement: Something is removed to
increase desired behavior (taking away something bad). 
Interval Schedule
Fixed Interval - Reinforcement after a set period of
time.
•Weekly Quiz. •Preparing for class to start every day.
•Feeding your pets every morning.
Variable Interval - Reinforcement after varying lengths
of time.
•Pop Quizzes •Telling students that their projects that
they are working on will be graded in “a few days”. 
Ratio Schedule
Fixed Ratio - Reinforcement after a set number of
responses.
•For every 10 A's your child gets on homework, he gets
to pick out a new toy. •Receiving an advanced colored
belt in karate after meeting the requirements at each
stage.
Variable Ratio - Reinforcement after a varying number
of responses.
•Students being called upon at random when raising their
hands. •Maintaining a high level of academic
performance because of occasional praise from a
respected teacher.  punish their students. When students behave well, the
Recommendations for reinforcement
- Reinforce immediately following the desired behavior.
- Make the reinforcement process informational.
- Try reinforcement before punishment if possible.
- Use reinforcement to shape behavior.
 Punishment involves decreasing or suppressing
behavior. A behavior followed by a punisher is less
likely to be repeated in similar situations in the future. In
other words, it is decreasing the frequency of behavior.
Types of punishment
Positive/Presentation Punishment: Something is added
to decrease undesired behavior (giving something bad).
Negative/Removal Punishment: Something is removed
to decrease undesired behavior (removing something).
Recommendations for Punishment
- Kindly unpleasant.
- Short in duration.
- Applied as soon as possible after the behavior.
- Choose punishment strong enough to discourage the
behavior but not overly severe.
- Explain why the behavior is unacceptable.
- Teach and reinforce desirable alternative behaviors.
Shaping- Especially useful for complex behaviors.
Shaping helps students develop new responses a little at
a time; so it is useful for building complex skills,
working toward difficult goals and increasing
persistence and endurance.
It should not be used if success can be attained through
simpler methods; because shaping is a time consuming
process.
Shaping allows you to build a desired behavior in steps
and reward those behaviors that come progressively
closer to the one you have selected as the final goal.
As the student masters each sub-step, you require that
s/he move to the next increment in order to receive an
award or reinforcement.
Generalization - Is a behavior that spreads from one
situation to similar one.
Example : A baby will call Daddy “ Dada”. (When the
baby sees any man, the baby calls out “Dada”.)
Discrimination- Is the reverse of generalization. Some
stimuli have pleasant consequences and some do not.
Example : A baby gradually learns that only one person
responds with a smile when called “Dada”.
General Classroom Application
Teachers use Behaviorism to manage their classroom.
Teachers could use operant conditioning to reward or
teacher will reward them. While misbehaving students
will be punish.
Through this theory, the students will learn what
behaviors are appropriate or not:
If the student received a bad behavior mark because of
talking during the class time. That will teach the student
that talking while the teacher is teaching and explaining
is not an appropriate behavior.
The students could also be classically conditioned to
behave a certain way in a classroom:
-If students realize that they always have a pop quiz
when their teacher carrying a red colored folder, they
will learn to prepare for a pop quiz at the sight of the red
colored folder even if there is no a pop quiz.
Strengths of behaviorism
Behaviorism is based on observable behaviors.
Effective therapeutic techniques that supported by
researches in changing maladaptive or harmful behaviors
in both children and adults.
Straightforward, Comprehensive and precisely defined.
High applied value and Testable.
Had a strong impact on modern psychological thought.
Criticism of behaviorism
It does not account for all kinds of learning, since it
disregards the activities of the mind.
Too narrow a description of human experience and
personality.
Certain behaviors are hard to condition.
Internal thoughts and feelings can’t be ignored.
Much work done with animals, not people – may not
translate since humans have more complex systems of
thought and action.
Conclusion
At the end, we can tell that Behaviorism theory is useful
in the classroom for both teachers and students.
For Teacher: to reinforce positive/negative or punish
students based on their behavior and to shape specific
students behaviors.
For Students: to increase appropriate behavior while
bad behavior will be ignored and unrepeated.