 Discovered by Russian, Ivan Pavlov.

 It is a learning process that occurs through the

association between environmental stimulus and a
naturally ocuuring stimulus.
 Steps in Classical Conditioning:
 Neutral stimulus

 Unconditioned stimulus
 Unconditioned response

 Conditioned stimulus
 Conditioned response
 It is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and
punishments.
 Rewards cause an increase in behaviour, while punishment
decrease the behaviour.
 Aspects in Operant Conditioning:
 Positive Reinforcer
 Negative Reinforcer
 Positive Punishment
 Negative Punishment
 There is Continuous or
Partial Reinforcement.
 Critics to behaviorism:
1. “Behaviorism does not account for all kinds of learning, since
it disregards the activities of the mind.
2. Behaviorism does not explain some learning–such as the
recognition of new language patterns by young children–for
which there is no reinforcement mechanism.
3. Research has shown that animals adapt their reinforced
patterns to new information. For instance, a rat can shift its
behavior to respond to changes in the layout of a maze it had
previously mastered through reinforcements.” (1)
 How Behaviorism Impacts
Learning:
 it relies only on observable behavior and
describes several universal laws of
behavior.
 Its positive and negative reinforcement
techniques can be very effective (animals
& humans)
 Behaviorism often is used by teachers,
who reward or punish student behaviors.
 “Therapeutic techniques such as
behavioral modification and token
economies are often utilized to help
children learn new skills and overcome
maladaptive behaviors, while conditioning
is used in many situations ranging from
parenting to education.” (2)
 In 1913, he published his first famous
article, “Psychology as a Behaviorist
Views It,” were he explained his
beliefs that psychology was a science
of human behavior.

 He publicated, Behavior: An
Introduction to Comparative
Psychology, in 1914, were he
explains his belief in the importance
of using animal subjects to study
reflexes activated by heredity.

 Another important publication by John

Watson was Psychology from the
Standpoint of a Behaviorist, in 1919.
 “In 1920, John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner performed a
conditioning experiment on an infant by the name of Albert B. He
was given a white rat and his reaction was noted to be playful.
He had no fear of the white rat and was even comfortable picking
the rodent up while playing with it.

 The next time the rat was given to Albert, he did exactly the
same thing. This time, the psychologists made a loud noise using
a metal pipe and a hammer. The noise was so sudden and loud
that it made little Albert cry. They did the same thing mutliple
times. Finally, when they gave Albert the rat without the noise,
the child would cry at the mere sight of the animal.” (3)
 “Next, they introduced a white rabbit and as soon as Albert saw
the animal, he began to cry. They gave him a Santa Claus mask
which also made him cry. Little Albert was conditioned to cry at
the sight of the white rat, but in the process, he made the
connection to anything that was white and furry would lead to a
loud noise.”(3)
 This experiment proofs the Behaviorism theory and shows that
people could be conditioned to fear something and they can
even end generalizing the object.
 NS UCS UCR
White Rat Bang Crying

CS CR
White Rat Crying
 1st Basic Assumption of
Learning:
 All behavior is learned through
experiences and by interaction
with the environment.
 The learning perspective is
nurture.

 Summary of theory:
 To see of you can condition
Fear the Rat
someone to fear an object and to
see if stimulus generalization
would occur.
 Sumary of Work:
 Watson presented little albert
with a simple white rat and he
showed no fear. He then
presented the rat with a strong
bang that made him cry. The
continuous use of this bang
made littl albert condition the
banging to the rat.
 Methodology:
 Experimental test
 Ethics:
 Unethical because they made a
baby feel fear.
 There was no parental concent.
 Ther was no desintetization
after the experiment.
 Strenght:
 He was showed for the first time to the different
objects and showed no fear to them.
 Limitations:
 All testing was discontinued for 31 days
 Nothing is known of Albert’s later life.
 It is a deterministic experiment.
 It is non-reductionist because you take into consideration the
biological and environmental factors.
 “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own
specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any
one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I
might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even
beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am
going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of
the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of
years. [Behaviorism (1930), p. 82]” (4)

Give me a dozen
healthy …
Original Video Home-made video
(Jose Miguel & Jean Pierre in 10th grade)
1. http://www.funderstanding.com/content/behaviorism
2. http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/psychistory_
3.htm
3. http://www.betterlucktomorrow.com/character_sites/steve/Little%20
Albert.htm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Watson
5. http://facweb.furman.edu/~einstein/watson/watson2.htm
6. http://psychology.about.com/b/2008/02/09/257235.htm
7. http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2543/Watson-John-B-
1878-1958.html
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDoCsIgIEdA
9. http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Psych/rwozniak/watson.html