1. Behaviorism

2. What is behaviorism all about?
Behavioral psychology is the study of external behavior
Behavior is objective and observable, where as what goes on in one’s mind can never really be known or measured (the mind is a “black box”)
Behavior is the response of an organism to stimuli

3. History of Behaviorism
Pavlov (1927), a Russian physiologist discovered classical conditioning in dogs.

4. Classical Conditioning
Explains some learning of involuntary emotional and physiological responses.
Dog drooling when it smells food and later when it hears a bell
It’s important for us as teachers to understand since school is often the cause of unintentional learning through classical conditioning, especially anxiety.
Test anxiety conditions us to have general school anxiety

5. Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
Before Conditioning
Unconditioned Stimulus
Unconditioned Response
No Response
Neutral Stimulus

6. Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
During Conditioning
Unconditioned
Response
Neutral
Stimulus
Unconditioned
Stimulus

7. Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
After Conditioning
Conditioned
Response
Conditioned
Stimulus

9. Examples of Classical Conditioning
Kids who often get strep throat, after much swabbing of their throat, begin to gag as soon as they see the doctor with the swab.
Hearing a teacher, roommate, boyfriend/girlfriend say to you, “We need to talk”. Upon hearing this phrase your stomach “flutters”.
The point is, we learn to associate a stimulus with a response, and eventually our body does this automatically in the presence of the stimulus. Our response is involuntary.

10. Classical Conditioning …..
Classical conditioning can face “extinction”, where the learning is undone.
This can happen naturally (the dog stops getting meat when music is played)
Or can happen through some type of therapy in the case of severe anxiety reactions
Ex: people who are afraid to fly….
Remember: Classical conditioning is more than forming an association – it is an involuntary, physiological response

11. B.F. Skinner (1904 –1990)
American psychologist - influential from the 1930’s - 60’s – developed operant conditioning
Skinner was interested in education
He believed that behavior is sustained by reinforcements or rewards, not by free will.
• Famous for the skinner box & the teaching machine
• Often worked with pigeons
& rats and applied what he learned
with these animals to human learning

12. Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
This involves conditioning voluntary, controllable behaviors, not the automatic physiological responses in Classical Conditioning
With Operant Conditioning the Response comes before the Stimulus (the opposite of CC)
R S

13. Operant Conditioning
Teachers can deliberately use operant conditioning with their students (training)
How someone reacts to our behaviors determines whether or not we continue the behavior
if we are rewarded for something we will likely do it again - do you do this as a teacher?

14. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Positive Reinforcement
Presence of Pleasant Stimulus
Behavior
Increases
Negative Reinforcement
Absence of Unpleasant Stimulus
Presence of Unpleasant Stimulus
Behavior
Decreases
Punishment

15. Consequences for Behaviors
Positive Reinforcement – You behave in a certain way that results in a reward, and as a result, you are more likely to repeat that behavior
Negative Reinforcement – You behave in a certain way that results in the removal of something unpleasant, and as a result you are more likely to repeat that behavior (ex: doing a paper early)
In both cases, something happened that you saw as “good” and as a result, you exhibited the behavior more.

16. Consequences for Behaviors
Punishment – A consequence that follows a behavior so that you do the behavior less often in the future.
Punishment can involve adding something (paying a fine, staying after school) or involve removing something you like (losing recess time, leaving your friends)
In both cases, adding something or removing something, you perceive it as “bad” and as a result, you exhibit the behavior less.

17. Differences Between Negative Reinforcement & Punishment
Negative reinforcement: Something unpleasant is removed & as a result you are more likely to do it again
Something happened that was “good”
Punishment: A consequence happens that you don’t like and you are less likely to do it again. The punishment can add something or take something away.
Something happened that was “bad”

18. Shaping New Behaviors
Shaping is a process of reinforcing a series of responses that increasingly resemble the desired final behavior
When a desired behavior occurs rarely or not at all, we use shaping
First reinforce any response that in some way resembles the desired behavior, then one that is closer etc.
Think of animal training or the hyper kid who can’t sit in his chair in class – do things in small steps

19. More Critiques …
Behaviorism doesn’t account for anything that isn’t an observable behavior
There has to be more going on than what is observable - doesn’t there?
Behaviorism only accounts for learning through direct experience with the environment (not observational learning)

20. Check yourself… Can you come up with classroom examples of:
Classical Conditioning (use all the right labels)
Operant Conditioning (again, use all the right labels)
Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Punishment