Behaviorism

What is behaviorism?

Learning Theory Overview

*note: all references + further readings on behaviorism are listed at the end of this page.

Behaviorism represents a theoretical attempt by psychologists, particularly Ivan Pavolov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner, to respond to prior theories of learning propagated in the 1800s that focused on evaluating and understanding learning as mainly introspective theories, rather than identifiable outcomes or quantifiable demonstrations of knowledge gain (Watson). Overall, behaviorism believes that the way animals learn, and the way people learn, is virtually the same.

Classical Conditioning (by Pavlov and Watson):

Perhaps the most well-known example of early behaviorist learning theory is through the experiment of "Pavlov's Dog". Psychologist Ivan Pavlov used his dog to demonstrate his theory of classical conditioning. He rang a bell immediately preceding each time he gave his dog food, until his dog learned to salivate simply at the ringing of the bell/metronome (even without food being introduced). The demonstration/behavior of the dog salivating at the ringing of the bell, even when no food is present is an example of learning, according to behaviorist theory: there is a specific, quantifiable action that has been learned through the introduction on a regular basis by a teacher of the bell ringing, followed by food being introduced, to the point that the behavior takes place in connection with the teacher's actions.

John B. Watson furthered Pavlov's work, emphasizing the importance of objective means of measurement, specifically behavior change to indicate true learning.

Overall, classical conditioning is a somewhat "reductionist" approach to learning, because "complex behavior is broken down into smaller stimulus-response units of behavior" (McLeod 2018)

Operant Conditioning (by Skinner):

Psychologist B.F. Skinner further expanded upon the work of conditioning advanced by Pavlov and Watson, focusing on the role of external stimulus (the "teacher"/teaching) and its subsequent effects through behavior and actions ("learning"). If a teacher has properly taught information to a learner, that will be demonstrated through that learner's behavior change. Skinner stated that "knowledge is action, or at least rules for action" (152). Skinner also developed the theory of "operant conditioning", where the " best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences" (McLeod 2018). He developed this theory to include not simply rewards and punishments, like classical conditioning, but to include additional components, such as positive reinforcement, "providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding", and negative reinforcement, "removal of an adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’", which is closely related to punishment, which is meant to "eliminate a response", rather than simply reinforce it negatively or positively (McLeod 2018).

Behaviorism's Presence Today:

Behaviorist theory is one that is prevalent in many school systems and even within online learning today: it is focused on a system of rewards and punishments. It relies on purely objective means to understand if knowledge has been gained within a learner, rather than focusing on any internal mental thought processes or perspectives the learner may have. Perhaps the most obvious example of how reliant the current school system in the U.S. is on behaviorist theory is the over-reliance on standardized testing and grades as indicators of success, as incentives for schools to receive funding and for students to receive praise and recognition.

Image description: variously-colored smiley-face stickers.

Image from Creative Commons.

behaviorist learning Scenario

Learning Scenario: In an office environment, I would lead a learning experience where staff are taught information about the positive benefits of greeting others, smiling, and being friendly to colleagues each morning upon entering the office (stimulus), with the desired behavior being staff regularly greeting each other as the first thing they do (response) upon entering the office. Behaviorism would dictate that the way to measure if this knowledge were actually gained would be to provide rewards (positive reinforcement) on a regular basis for modified behavior.

I would provide everyone 50 stickers upon entering the office--they would have to give out a sticker to every person who greeted them (observable, positive reinforcement through praise). Whoever amassed the most stickers each month would receive a gift card (positive reinforcement)--which would indicate they understood the reasons why greeting colleagues every morning is important, and that they retained the knowledge.

Employees would continue the action provided the monthly gift card reward continued; the competition for this reward would be the negative reinforcement (one would not receive a gift card if they did not greet enough people/act on the stimulus and then response in the desired fashion)--with the end goal being that, even without the gift card, they would continue to greet colleagues as part of their regular routine as soon as they entered the office (the stimulus for the behavior), and perpetuate the behavior, because they themselves had demonstrated the knowledge, regularly received benefits from acting on the knowledge, and got to a point of practicing the conditioned response.

What are the pros and cons of behaviorism as a learning theory?

PROS

  1. There is a high chance of marked behavior change if the instructional design has effective positive and negative reinforcements.
  2. It is simple to focus on results/desired behavior and work just one step backward (meaning, the only requirement for effective design is finding a positive or negative reinforcement vehicle).

CONS

  1. There is no guarantee that people will sustain behavior change without the reinforcement--and it is impossible to maintain positive/negative reinforcement indefinitely.
  2. There is no opportunity to understand the "why" of what is actually causing the original undesired behavior--it is not a compassionate way to respond to the behavior, which is likely rooted in more than just lack of knowledge. You're responding to the behavior, not the person (Teaching Tolerance 1).

REFERENCES

McLeod, S. A. (2018, Aug 21). Classical conditioning. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

McLeod, S. A. (2018, Jan, 21). Skinner - operant conditioning. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

Skinner, B. F. (1976). About Behaviorism. New York: Vintage Books

Teaching Tolerance, Southern Poverty Law Center (2016). Reframing Classroom Management: A Toolkit for Educators. Retrieved from https://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/TT_Reframing_Classroom_Managment_Handouts.pdf.

Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3(1), pp. 1–14.