BEHAVIORISM

The concept of Behaviorism

The first learning theory "Behaviorism" was developed and expanded by J.B.Watson early in the 20th century. He insisted that psychology should be studied through rejected introspective methods and sought to restrict psychology to , observable behaviors. At the middle of 20th century, B.F.Skinner popularized behaviorism and refer to the connection between stimuli-response and positive/negative reinforcement (Culatta, 2015).

The example of a learning experience based on Behaviorism

Stimulus of the learning scenario above was “teaching in the class" and the response was “the answer of quizzes to test English vocabularies”. Positive reinforcement of the learning scenario above was “good grade” and “students can go back home without staying after school”. It was very important for us to get a good grade. Negative reinforcement of the learning scenario above was “bad grade” and “students have to take quizzes again and cannot go back home after school”. It was very important for us because most students had club activities and cram schools after school.

Stimulus of the learning scenario above was “teaching in the class" and the response was “the answer of quizzes to test English vocabularies”. Positive reinforcement of the learning scenario above was “good grade” and “students can go back home without staying after school”. It was very important for us to get a good grade. Negative reinforcement of the learning scenario above was “bad grade” and “students have to take quizzes again and cannot go back home after school”. It was very important for us because most students had club activities and cram schools after school.

Pro and Con to design learning activities based on behaviorism

Pro：As written in the article by Marisa Keramida, I can agree that we can still design learning activities based on behaviorism. For example, some teachers can design learning activities based on behaviorism to teach students specific objects such as remembering medical drug name, how to categorize plants, and judging fictional legal cases based on the specific law.

Con ：I understand that behaviorism can treat learning activities which has only single answer. On the other hand, it cannot treat learning activities such as building appropriate attitude. Therefore, judging which learning theory (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism) will fit the learning goal is very important process.

★ Please check my learning experience page before reading this paragraph.

Regarding the learning experience in my page (https://sites.google.com/view/chikakonagaoka/personal-learning-experiences) , my learning experience when I studied in Google digital workshop was based on Behaviorism. In the workshop, I needed to read texts and took small exams as multiple choice. All contents consisted of texts and multiple choices quizzes. Furthermore, many quizzes checked whether I could understand and remember linguistic information such as the characteristics of each web-services. Positive reinforcement was small badges which I could get after I could answer the quizzes correctly. Therefore, I understand this is the example of Behaviorism.

Culatta, R. (2015). Behaviorist Learning Theory. Retrieved from http://www.innovativelearning.com/teaching/behaviorism.html