GRADUATE STUDIES

PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION

Behaviorism
Philosophy of Education
Key Historical Figure

KAYE G. OBSID
 Behaviorism

• Behaviorism was a movement in

psychology and philosophy that
emphasized the outward behavioral
aspects of thought and dismissed the
inward experiential, and sometimes
the inner procedural, aspects as well.
 Behaviorism

• It has sometimes been said that “behave is

what organisms do.” Behaviorism is built on
this assumption, and its goal is to promote the
scientific study of behavior.

• consists of reflexes and behaviors learned

through conditioning,
 • Behaviorists believe human beings are
shaped entirely by their external
environment. If you alter a person's
environment, you will alter his or her
thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The system
is based on rewards and punishments.
 Behaviorists believe that if teachers provide
positive reinforcement, or rewards, whenever
students perform a desired behavior, they will
learn to perform the behavior on their own.
The same concept applies to punishments.
• Behaviorists think people act in response
to internally or externally generated
physical stimuli. They basically consider
human nature to be the product of one's
environment.
An example of behaviorism is when teachers reward
their class or certain students with a party or special
treat at the end of the week for good behavior
throughout the week. The same concept is used with
punishments. The teacher can take away certain
privileges if the student misbehaves.
 KEY HISTORICAL FIGURE

Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936). John B. Watson (1878–1958) B.F Skinner 1904-1990

KEY HISTORICAL FIGURE

• Early work in the field

of behavior was
conducted by the
Russian
physiologist Ivan
Pavlov (1849–1936).
KEY HISTORICAL FIGURE

• John B. Watson (1878–
1958) was an influential
American psychologist
whose most famous
work occurred during
the early 20th century
at Johns Hopkins
University.
KEY HISTORICAL FIGURE
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
 Skinner invented the operant conditioning chamber,
popularly referred to as the Skinner box

A picture of an Operant
Conditioning Chamber or
Skinner Box. This device
allowed experimenters
to study conditioning
principles and
understand
reward/punishment
mechanisms in
psychological research.
Watson and Skinner believed that if they were
given a group of infants, the way they were
raised and the environment they put them
would be the ultimate determining factor for
how they acted, not their parents or their
genetics.
• https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism
/

• https://learn-u.com/lesson/behaviorism/
• https://opentext.wsu.edu/psych105/chapter/6-
2-a-short-history-of-learning-and-behaviorism/