Behaviorism & Behaviorist
EDT 610 Instructional Design : Theories & Models
Presented By:
Latressia Barnett
Definition of BEHAVIOR
According to Webster behavior is
the actions or reactions of a person
or animal in response to external or
internal stimuli.
Behaviorist Model
BEHAVIORISM CONCEPT MAP
The Behaviorists
Originators and important
contributors:
• John B. Watson,
• Ivan Pavlov,
• B.F. Skinner,
Ivan Pavlov
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Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist whose research on the
physiology of digestion led to the development of the first
experimental model of learning, Classical Conditioning. Most of his
research was gathered studying salivating dogs. Pavlov studied
reflexes, automatic behavior that is caused by a stimulus from the
environment. Some reflexes, such as blinking your eyes when a puff
of air comes in it, or the sucking of a baby when something is put in
his/her mouth. This automatic behavior can be manipulated. This is
called conditioning. In this conditioning process, a unconditional
stimulus is given to a person. This stimulus causes a reflex on its
own. When the unconditional stimulus is now given to the person
together with a stimulus that does not cause a reflex on its own.
Thus, a unconditional stimulus is given together with a conditional
stimulus. Because the presence of the unconditional stimulus, the
reflex is caused. This process of stimulus-response is repeated for a
number of times. After a while, the unconditional stimulus is not
offered any more. Only the conditional stimulus is offered. Because
of the repeated association of the unconditional and the conditional
stimulus, the conditional stimulus will now cause the reflex on its
own. Classical conditioning is succeeded. Pavlov's theories where
very influential, in particular in the field of child psychology
John B. Watson
John B. Watson further extended Pavlov’s work and
applied it to human beings. In 1921, Watson studied
Albert, an 11 month old infant child. The goal of the
study was to condition Albert to become afraid of a white
rat by pairing the white rat with a very loud, jarring
noise (UCS). At first, Albert showed no sign of fear when
he was presented with rats, but once the rat was
repeatedly paired with the loud noise (UCS), Albert
developed a fear of rats. It could be said that the loud
noise (UCS) induced fear (UCR). The implications of
Watson’s experiment suggested that classical
conditioning could cause some phobias in humans.
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B.F. Skinner
B. F. Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning. The
organism is in the process of “operating” on the environment, which in
ordinary terms means it is bouncing around its world, doing what it
does. During this “operating,” the organism encounters a special kind of
stimulus, called a reinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer. This
special stimulus has the effect of increasing the operant -- that is, the
behavior occurring just before the reinforcer. This is operant
conditioning: “the behavior is followed by a consequence, and the
nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat
the behavior in the future.”
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Summary
Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is
essentially passive, responding to environmental
stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate (i.e.
tabula rasa) and behavior is shaped through positive
reinforcement or negative reinforcement. Both positive
reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the
probability that the antecedent behavior will happen
again. In contrast, punishment (both positive and
negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent
behavior will happen again. Positive indicates the
application of a stimulus; Negative indicates the
withholding of a stimulus. Learning is therefore defined
as a change in behavior in the learner. Lots of (early)
behaviorist work was done with animals (e.g. Pavlov’s
dogs) and generalized to humans. Behaviorism
precedes the cognitivist worldview. It rejects
structuralism and is an extension of Logical Positivism.