Behaviorism

Learning Theory Overview

Behaviorism is a learning theory that is based on scientist Ivan Pavlov’s discovery that dogs can be trained to salivate on hearing a bell. Pavlov was doing an experiment on why dogs salivate when he noticed that dogs started salivating when they heard the researchers approaching. The footsteps of the researcher was the stimulus that caused the dogs to salivate (the response). Pavlov tested this theory again only using a bell as the stimulus. This also caused the dogs to salivate. Pavlov called this classical conditioning, but it is often also referred to as stimulus-response theory. Pavlov won a Nobel Prize for this groundbreaking discovery in 1904.

John Broadus Watson (more readily knows as J.B. Watson) was a psychologist that felt that Pavlov’s discovery could be applied to other situations and he started the school of behaviorism within the field of psychology. Watson went on to write and publish an article on Behaviorism titled Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It in 1913. In this article, Watson outlined the elements of Behaviorism and explained that the focus should be on external behavior of people and their reactions to certain situations instead of on what they are thinking.

Behaviorism was further enhanced when B.F. Skinner added to the theory of Behaviorism and suggested that rather than considering just classic conditioning, that learning is a process and that behavior could be modified by reinforcement or punishment.  Skinner called this Operant Conditioning.

When using Behaviorism in the development of adult learning courses, it is often used for basic skills when there is a single correct answer or when it is a task-based skill that the participant needs to learn. Occasionally Behaviorism in courses is structured as question (stimulus) and answer (response) frameworks where questions gradually get more difficult; but it can also include guided practice and regular reviews of the material. Behaviorist methods also use both positive reinforcement (praise and rewards) and negative reinforcement (taking away a privilege or making a participant take a unit over again). 

Example Behaviorism Project

Learning Scenario

A government client is developing a software tool for grant applicants to use when submitting their applications to show the value that their project will bring to the community.  In this case behaviorism will be the primary learning theory to use when the participants (applicants) learn how to use the software.  The training would review how to gather the information needed to input into the software and how to enter the information into the software.

Observable Behavior

Participants would be given a series of scenarios with information and would then input the information into the software.  Then the score they get at the end of each scenario would be an indicator of whether they accomplished the task correctly. 

Stimulus

Based on the explanation of drill and practice provided in the Applying Learning Theory to Mobile Learning article I would have participants drill and practice to recall facts and procedures needed to fill in the forms on the software based on the scenario.

Response

Participants correctly fill out the software based on specific scenarios.

Positive Reinforcement

The positive reinforcement that would be provided if participants got the correct answer on the scenario, they would receive positive reinforcement and would be able to move onto the next scenario.  When they finish each of the scenarios, they would get a certificate.

Negative Reinforcement

The negative reinforcement that participants would get for providing the wrong answer would be that they would need to run through the scenario again to see where they made a mistake and redo it.  This would also help them learn the software better and how to find their own mistakes.

Pros

• One pro is that the participants would get the opportunity to practice what they had just learned, which would reinforce the key points.
• Another pro would be that the information could be chunked to enhance learning.

Cons

• Since it is practice/drill, there is not always an opportunity to try different ways of doing things, which may discourage critical thinking or problem-solving skills.
• Students may become discouraged and may give up.

References

Driscoll, M. and van Barneveld, A. (2015 June) TD at Work. Applying Learning Theory to Mobile Learning. Retrieved from https://www.td.org/magazines/applying-learning-theory-to-mobile-learning

Meacham, M. (2019). We Think Therefore We Learn. Retrieved from https://www.td.org/insights/we-think-therefore-we-learn

Shackleton-Jones, N. (2013). How We Learn. Retrieved from https://learningtechnologies.td.org/e-learning/how-we-learn/

Skinner, B.F. (2014).  Science and Human Behavior (PDF). Cambridge, MA: The B.F. Skinner Foundation. p. 70. Retrieved 27 May 2019.

Photo Reference:

Delberghe, J.P. (2019). Unsplash. Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/@jipy32