The Behaviourist Perspective of

Learning and its Implications

to Instructional Media and
Technology

LESTER NAME BROD C. ABELITA

Behavior…………………

• objective and observable

According to Behaviorists, we are born as:

• “blank slates”/ tabula rasa

• “lumps of clay”
• Stimulus- anything in an environment that one
can respond
• Response- any behavior or action
• Reinforcement- another reaction
• Learning- permanent change in behavior due
to experience
• The central belief of a behaviourist is that
students learn through reinforcement -
constant feedback that tells them whether
what they are doing is right or wrong.
How do we learn
behaviors?
Three Theories on Learning behavior

• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Observational Learning (modeling)
Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov – Russian Psychologist

• A stimulus – response model

• Unconditioned stimulus – a natural stimulus,
such as food.

• Unconditioned response – such as salivating

to the sight of food
Neutral Stimulus – such a bell
Associate the bell with the food, (ring bell
present food)
Conditioned stimulus – the bell
Conditioned response – salivating to the sound
of the bell.
Operant Conditioning Developed by B.F.
Skinner
• a system of rewards and punishment
• Reinforcement is anything that increases the
likelihood that a behavior will be repeated.
• Positive reinforcement – anything that is
experienced as positive: affection, food, money,
good grades.

• Negative reinforcement – unpleasant or unwanted

reinforcement that increase the likelihood that a
behavior will be repeated.
• Instructional media and technology has
also employed Behaviorist perspective,
especially Operant Conditioning.
• Programmed Instruction is a teaching strategy that
developed and grew along with advances in
technology. Drill and practice software is helpful for
specific content, such as multiplication tables or
second language vocabulary, that must be learned to
a level of automaticity. Games and gamification also
make use of Operant Conditioning principles.
A great example of Behaviorism in a purer
sense in Educational Technology is the
website BrainPop and ClassDojo.
 Implications of Operant Conditioning
1. Practice should take the form of question (stimulus) - answer
(response)
2. Require that the learner make a response for every frame and
receive immediate feedback
3. arrange the difficulty of the questions so the response is always
correct and hence a positive reinforcement
4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson is paired with
secondary reinforcers such as verbal praise, prizes and good
grades.
Observational Learning

• Also known as Modeling.

• Learning by observation and imitation.

• Developed by Albert Bandura.

Technology
• many software programs provide rewards,
such as mini-games for answering questions
correctly
• using computer time (which is exciting for
students) as a reward will provide positive
feedback and integrate technology to the class
With technology
• Many computer programs reward the student when an answer is
correct or a goal is reached.
• Children use the internet to play math games and quiz their
selves on books they have read. Many times they receive a
physical prize from the school for getting so many points in
these games.
• Technology has enthused children to like learning and under the
behaviorist theory children are working for their reward while
doing something they like and avoiding punishment.
Thank You!