Behaviorism

Behaviorism Overview

The core of behaviorism explores the role that the environment plays in human action and behavior. For the behaviorist, learning is a response resulting from our interactions with the environment that provides the stimuli for that learning to occur (McLeod, 2013). The Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) lectured that this relationship of the response to the stimuli has its roots in Descartes’s thinking that animal behavior was a “necessary reaction to some external stimuli” (Pavlov, 1927, para. 8). Pavlov’s experimental work with dogs in which a neutral stimulation of a metronome provoked salivation among the animals would establish the behaviorist simulation/response relationship. This association between two stimuli (metronome and food) came to be known as classical conditioning or, learning through association.

The American psychologist John B. Watson (1878-1958) advanced an understanding of classical conditioning by emphasizing that all facets of human psychology were based in the relationship of a response to a stimulus without any influence of the mind (McLeod, 2018). Watson’s experiments with Rosalie Rayner focused on human infants in which the baby was conditioned to produce an acute emotional response (Watson & Rayner, 1920). These emotional and physiological responses in classical conditioning are reflexive or, involuntary responses.

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) expanded on the understanding of conditioning through his experiments with operational conditioning. In contrast to classical conditioning, operational conditioning focuses on active, voluntary behaviors. In this framework, learning occurs as a result of an association between a behavior and its consequences. This understanding had its roots in Edward Thorndike’s Law of Effect which proposed that pleasant consequences would motivate repeated behaviors while unpleasant consequences would reduce the associated behaviors (Gray, 2011; Thorndike, 1922).

Skinner expanded on Thorndike’s work by introducing the idea of reinforcement in the learning process. This understanding was produced through experiments using a ‘Skinner Box.’ Within this construction, a rat would receive positive reinforcement through tie dispensing of a food pellet by moving a lever. This pleasant association between the lever and the food pellet would result in the repeated action of moving the lever. In similar experiments when the lever was used to dispense discomfort in the form an electrical shock, the learning associated with this interaction with the environment would result in the reduced action of moving a lever.

 

Application

One might ask how experiments with rats in puzzle boxes can connect to an approach for teaching learning in educational settings. One example of this can be in the use of a quiz to measure knowledge retention following a a learning activity. In this scenario, learners watch a video (stimulus) that reviews elements of Frank Lloyd Wight’s Fallingwater. Following the viewing, learners must take a quiz (stimulus) that reviews their comprehension of the elements described in the video. The quiz consists of a mixture of three true or false, multiple answer, and matching questions. Each submission of an answer receives either a correct or incorrect designation (response).

The pros of this approach include motivation for students to engage with the video by taking notes, multiple viewings, etc. This familiarizes learners with the content leading to stronger knowledge retention (Healy, Jones, Lalchandani, & Tack, 2017). Another positive aspect is that students might embed similar engagement with other aspects of their learning regardless of whether there is a quiz.

The cons to this approach include the responsibility on the part of the instructional designer to create quiz questions that are clear and concise that are not prone to misinterpretation. Another con is that this approach doesn’t lend itself to the more cognitive approach used in developing critical thinking (McLeood, 2017).

References

Gray, P. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.) New York: Worth Publishers.

Healy, A. F., Jones, M., Lalchandani, L. A., & Tack, L. A. (2017). Timing of quizzes during learning: Effects on motivation and retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 23(2), 128–137. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000123.

McLeod, S. A. (2013). Psychology perspectives. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html.

McLeod, S. A. (2017, February 5). Behaviorist approach. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html

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

Pavlov, I.P. (1927). Conditioned reflexes: An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex. (G.V. Anrep, Trans.). http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Pavlov/lecture1.htm.

Thorndike, E. (19). The elements of psychology. New York: A.G. Seiler. https://books.google.com/books?id=a5ja7mIy1b4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+elements+of+psychology+thorndike+pdf&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipw5et3rrpAhUNd98KHebqCHMQ6AEwAHoECAEQAg.