Behaviorism

(1913)
LEARNING THROUGH STIMULUS ->
RESPONSE & REWARD SYSTEMS
 History of Behaviorism
• First proposed by American psychologist John Watson in 1913 who built upon the connectionism
theory of Edward Thorndike (which stated that all learning was a case of trial and error) as well as
Thorndike’s concepts of Operant Conditioning
• B.F. Skinner becomes better-known in the field and practice of behaviorism because of the published
research, articles, and book (Verbal Behavior, 1957). His experiments on rats used his own operant-
conditioning theory to support the school of behaviorism.
• Behaviorism was an influential force in teaching pedagogies and linguistic and cognitive studies during
the mid-twentieth century. Watson retired before the behavioristic theory would take hold globally.
• Behaviorism receives a great deal of criticism from Noam Chomsky following the release of Skinner’s
book and is eventually found to be flawed and in need of revision because it does not apply to ALL
learning and language acquisition.
 Key Terms to Know
• Stimulus – any outside force that stimulates a response
• Response – the behavior or action that occurs when a stimulus is applied
• Operant – a response or group of responses that produces a common effect on the environment
• Positive – something new added to the learning environment (does not mean good or pleasant)
• Negative – something taken away from the learning environment (does not mean bad or
unpleasant)
• Reinforcer – the result that drives the individual to repeat the associated behavior (creating a new
operant or group of operants
• Punishment – the result that drives the individual to eliminate a behavior (causing behavior
extinction)
 What is it?
• Behaviorism is a learning theory that stems from the field of psychology in the early
twentieth century and relies on the concept that all learning happens using rewards
and consequences (reinforcements/reinforcers) to build or modify behavior.
• The stimulus->response model is applied somehow in every case of application,
whether intended or not.
• In linguistics it applies only to spoken language (or signed language in some modern
applications, but not in its contemporary emergence) and is a habit-formation theory,
meaning it treats language only as a learned habit. Think about teaching a dog a new
trick through repetitive positive and negative reinforcements, following a path of:
imitation-reinforcement-practice-repetition
 What does it look like?
• Skinner boxes used operant conditioning to exhibit the concepts of behaviorism
• In these experiments, B.F. Skinner placed rats in a box with a lever installed
that, when pushed/pulled, released the positive reinforcer, food.
• In order to teach the rats to push/pull the lever, Skinner gave the rats an electric
shock (a stimulus) and created an involuntary response that caused the rats to
move around the cage in discomfort/pain.
• When the rat pushed/pulled the lever, the shock would stop, and the positive
(added) reinforcer of food would be released. The rats learned to push/pull the
lever (a new operant) to receive food.
 What does it look like in humans?
• Example of positive reinforcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Mk_peB1yiKo
 Important distinction
• Behaviorism deals with operant conditioning not classical conditioning.
This means that the behaviors that occur in behavioristic theory and
practice are considered voluntary responses to outside operants (the items
or stimulus that trigger the voluntary response). Even in the case of
experimentation by shock treatment, eventually the behavior is something
the subjects exhibit voluntarily.
• Classical conditioning, which predates operant conditioning in science
fields, deals only with involuntary responses. Think of Pavlov conditioning
his laboratory dogs to involuntarily salivate at the sound of a bell.
 In Summary
• Behaviorism is more than a language acquisition theory. It is a learning theory that treats language
solely as a means of communication and states that all behaviors we acquire and/or exhibit is
learned just as an animal learns to do tricks. This belief can be true in some cases, meaning
language CAN be learned through stimulus->response systems or reward systems, but it is NOT
the primary reason we learn language.
• Behaviorism can be applied more to second language acquisition or to the mimicry we build in our
language that matches our community members, such as parents/guardians, family, friends,
authority figures, and so on. In other words, while it is not the foundational theory of first
language acquisition, operant conditioning concepts can be used to apply behavioral
reinforcements can be used to help us learn language preferences of others in our community and
thus allow us to better communicate using community-specific discourse.
 Using the Operant Conditioning Charts to Apply
Your Knowledge
• Identify two (2) subjects in whom you would like to create/build or
extinguish a behavior (dogs, siblings, parents, significant others)
• Identify the behavior you would like to create/build or extinguish in
each of your subjects
• Identify the positive and negative reinforcements and punishments you
think may provide you your desired results (Remain school
appropriate or so comically dark that we all know you are joking)
• Fill in the charts accordingly