Behaviorism

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, (1849- James B. Watson (1878-1958). B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
1936)

Influential Behaviorists
Behaviorist theorists believe that behavior is
shaped deliberately by forces in the
environment and that the type of person and
actions desired can be the product of design.
In other words, behavior is determined by
others, rather than by our own free will.
 What is behaviorism
• This theory implies that the learner
responds to the environmental stimuli
without his/her mental state being a
factor in the learner's behavior.
 What is behaviorism
•Behavior is objective and observable, where as
what goes on in one’s mind can never really be
known or measured (the mind is a “black box”)
•Individuals learn to behave through conditioning
• Two types of Conditioning :
1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning
 CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING
 Classical Conditioning
• Natural reflex that occurs in response to a
• stimulus
• A naturally occurring stimulus is placed with a
neutral stimulus allowing the neutral stimulus to,
in time, evoke a natural reflex

• Explains some learning of involuntary emotional and

physiological responses.
– Dog drooling when it smells food and later when it hears a bell
 History of Behaviorism

• Pavlov (1927),
experiment on dogs’
salivation response
Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
Before Conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response

Neutral Stimulus No Response

Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
During Conditioning

Neutral Unconditioned
Unconditioned
Stimulus Response
Stimulus
Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
After Conditioning

Conditioned Conditioned

Stimulus Response
 Classical Conditioning …..
• Classical conditioning can face “extinction”,
where the learning is undone.
– This can happen naturally (the dog stops getting
meat when music is played)
• Remember: Classical conditioning is more
than forming an association – it is an involun-
tary, physiological response
Examples of Classical Conditioning
• Hearing a teacher say to you, “We need to talk”.
Upon hearing this phrase your stomach “flutters”.

The point is, we learn to associate a stimulus

with a response, and eventually our body does this
automatically in the presence of the stimulus.
Our response becomes involuntary.
Classical Conditioning in the Classroom

• Playing soothing music, dimming the

lights to calm and relax students

• Unintentional classical conditioning:

– Test anxiety
 OPERANT
CONDITIONING
B.F. Skinner (1904 –1990)
• American psychologist - influential from the
1930’s - 60’s–developed operant conditioning
• Skinner was interested in education
– He believed that behavior is sustained by
reinforcements or rewards, not by free will.
• Often worked with pigeons
& rats and applied what he learned
with these animals to human learning
 Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
• Learner is able to make a connection with the
consequences associated with his/her behav-
ior through positive and negative reinforcement
and punishment
• it involves conditioning voluntary, controllable
behaviors, not the automatic physiological
responses in Classical Conditioning
 Operant Conditioning
• Teachers can deliberately use operant
conditioning with their students (training)

• How someone reacts to our behaviors

determines whether or not we continue the
behavior
– if we are rewarded for something we will likely
do it again - do you do this as a teacher?
Consequences for Behaviors
• Positive Reinforcement – You behave in a certain way
that results in a reward, and as a result,
you are more likely to repeat that behavior

• Negative Reinforcement – You behave in a

certain way that results in the removal of
something unpleasant, and as a result you are
more likely to repeat that behavior
(ex: doing a paper early)
– In both cases, something happened that you saw as “good” and as
a result, you exhibited the behavior more.
 Consequences for Behaviors
• Punishment – A consequence that follows a
behavior so that you do the behavior less
often in the future.
– Punishment can involve adding something (paying a
fine, staying after school) or involve removing some-
thing you like (losing recess time, leaving your friends)
– In both cases, adding something or removing some-
thing, you perceive it as “bad” and as a result, you ex-
hibit the behavior less.
Differences Between Negative Re-
inforcement & Punishment
• Negative reinforcement: Something
unpleasant is removed & as a result you are more
likely to do it again
– Something happened that was “good”
• Punishment: A consequence happens that you don’t like
and you are less likely to do it again. The punishment
can add something or take
something away.
– Something happened that was “bad”
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Positive Presence of Pleasant
Reinforcement Stimulus Behavior
Increases
Absence of Unpleasant
Negative
Stimulus
Reinforcement

Presence of Un- Behavior

Punishment pleasant Stimulus Decreases
 Classroom Implications
What the teacher does under this theory

o A teacher uses behaviorism to manage his/her

classroom

o Teacher could use operant conditioning to

reward or punish his/her students
 Classroom Implications
What the students do under this theory

o a student learns what behaviors are or

not appropriate

o A student could also be classically

conditioned to behave a certain way in the
classroom