Although Graham (2015) identifies three different types of behaviorism, here we are concerned with what he calls psychological behaviorism. According to this type of behaviorism, human behavior can be explained by describing the stimuli in the external environment, one's responses to those stimuli, one's learning histories, and reinforcers (Graham, 2015).
In the context of teaching and learning, a teacher’s question (whether verbal, written, or graphical) would be the external stimulus. A student’s answer to said question would be the response. If the student answers correctly and receives positive reinforcement from the teacher (e.g., verbal praise, good grades, tangible reinforcers), the greater the likelihood that the student will answer correctly again in the future (the learning history).
I have had many learning experiences that were grounded in behaviorism, but one in particular that has stuck with me all these years is learning about the Native American Indian groups that lived in what is today the U.S. state of Indiana.
Indiana Academic Standard 4.1.2 states that students will be able to “Identify and describe historic Native American Indian groups that lived in Indiana at the time of early European exploration, including ways these groups adapted to and interacted with the physical environment. Examples: Miami, Shawnee, Potawatomi and Lenape (Delaware).” At the end of the unit of instruction, we were presented with a political map of the United States and asked to outline the borders of each Native American group’s territory and then label each region with the corresponding group’s name. In addition, we were asked to describe (in writing) how each group used the natural resources available to them in order to meet their needs for food, clothing, and shelter. If our maps were historically accurate and our descriptions were complete and correct, then we received positive reinforcement in the form of verbal praise and good grades. If not, then verbal praise was withheld and we received poor grades.
This learning experience was grounded in behaviorism because the content was objective and easily memorized, the teacher regularly reviewed the material (stimulus/response), the students’ mastery of the content was measured using an exam (stimulus/response), and the teacher relied heavily on the use of positive reinforcement (Behaviorism, n.d.).
Behaviorism. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/behaviorism/
Graham, G. (2015, March 11). Behaviorism. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/behaviorism/