Stimulus-Response Conditioning through reinforcement Behaviorism Stimulus-Response Conditioning through reinforcement Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Behaviorism Any psychology that sees its mission as the explanation of behavior and stimuli and responses as its basic data (Kimble, 2000). Science aims at understanding publicly observable happenings in the world and the only such observable events and responses and the situation in which they occur. Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Behaviorism in an Academic Setting In an academic context, behaviorists substitute verbal behavior (e.g. responding appropriately to a question) for physical behavior. The behaviorist would interpret, for example, a student’s correct answer to a question as a sign of successful conditioning, and then continue to reinforce correct responses behaviorally by assigning good grades. Often, the form of conditioning used to achieve desirable verbal behavior is a lecture-based pedagogy (Boghossian, 2006). Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Behaviorism views the student as an unreflective responder Behaviorism views the student as an unreflective responder. In a behaviorist paradigm, the student is engaged in the educational process only in that she displays the appropriate verbal behavior (e.g. checking the correct box on a multiple choice test) (Boghossian, 2006). Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Forerunners of Behaviorism John B. Watson, an American psychologist. Watson claimed that psychology was not concerned with the mind or with human consciousness Watson's work was based on the experiments of Ivan Pavlov Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Forerunners of Behaviorism Ivan Pavlov studied animals' responses to conditioning Pavlov's best-known experiment, he rang a bell as he fed some dogs several meals Each time the dogs heard the bell they knew that a meal was coming, and they would begin to salivate. Pavlov then rang the bell without bringing food, but the dogs still salivated. They had been "conditioned" to salivate at the sound of a bell. Pavlov believed, as Watson was later to emphasize, that humans react to stimuli in the same way Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Behaviorism Today Behaviorism is associated today with the name of B.F. Skinner made his reputation by testing Watson's theories in the laboratory Skinner's studies led him to reject Watson's almost exclusive emphasis on reflexes and conditioning (Cohen, 1987). People respond to their environment, he argued, but they also operate on the environment to produce certain consequences Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Operant Conditioning Skinner developed the theory of "operant conditioning," the idea that we behave the way we do because this kind of behavior has had certain consequences in the past Skinner denied that the mind or feelings play any part in determining behavior. Instead, our experience of reinforcements determines our behavior (Cohen, 1987). For example, if your girlfriend gives you a kiss when you give her flowers, you will be likely to give her flowers when you want a kiss. You will be acting in expectation of a certain reward Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

Presuppositions of Behaviorism Behaviorism is naturalistic Behaviorism teaches that man is nothing more than a machine that responds to conditioning. Behaviorism teaches that we are not responsible for our actions Behaviorism is manipulative (DeMar, 2007) Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams

References Kimble, G. 2000. Behaviorism and Unity in Psychology. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 9(6). Boghossian, P. 2006. Behaviorism, Constructivism, and Socratic Pedagogy. Educational Philosophy and Theory. 38(6). Cohen, D. 1987. "Behaviorism," in The Oxford Companion to the Mind, Richard L. Gregory, ed. (New York: Oxford University Press. DeMar, G. (2007). Behaviorism. The Forerunner. Retrieved on April 1, 2008 from http://forerunner.com/forerunner/X0497_DeMar_-_Behaviorism.html. Behaviorism is not an ideology set in stone Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles, Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee Williams