The Behaviorist Theory in the classroom

1. LEARNING THEORY:
Behaviorism
Amanda P.

2. KEY PEOPLE
 “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-
formed, and my own specified world to bring
them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one
at random and train him to become any type of
specialist I might select --
doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief
and, yes, even beggar-man and
thief, regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocati
ons, and race of his ancestors.”
John Watson.
1930
 John B. Watson,
 Ivan Pavlov,
 B.F. Skinner,
 E. L. Thorndike (connectionism),
 Bandura,
 Tolman (moving toward cognitivism)

3. KEY POINTS
 What is Behaviorism?
 This is a learning philosophy that states the learner
starts off as a “clean slate” and their behavior is
shaped through positive or negative reinforcement
 Either positive or negative punishment decreases
the likelihood that the behavior will happen again
 Learning is defined in this theory as a change in
behavior in the learner
 Most of the original testing for this theory was done
on animals

4. TWO TYPES OF CONDITIONING
 1) Classical Conditioning- a technique used in
training in which a naturally occurring stimulus is
paired with a response. Then a previously neutral
stimulus is paired with the natural stimulus.
Eventually, the previously neutral stimulus starts to
evoke the response without the presence of the
naturally occurring stimulus. They become the
conditioned stimulus and the conditional response


5.  2) Operant Conditioning- this is a method of
learning that uses rewards and punishments for
behavior. Through this conditioning, an association
is made between a behavior and a consequence for
that behavior.

6. THE TEACHER’S ROLE
 The teacher will either give the students praise or a
punishment depending on their behavior. It is
important for students to know what behavior is
expected of them and what consequences will
follow, whether positive or negative. The teacher
can let the students use the computer as a reward
for good behavior.

7. THE STUDENTS ROLE
 The students will learn what kind of behavior is
expected in the classroom by their choices. If they
hit another student and get called to the principal’s
office and negatively punished, hopefully the
student will be afraid of that consequence and not
make that choice again. Also if the student does all
of their work and is quiet in class they can be
allowed to use the class iPad or other fun piece of
technology as a positive reward.
 Example with animals

8. WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE THEORY FOR
YOUR OWN TEACHING
 I believe I will use this theory in my own classroom.
I will use behavior cards (green, yellow, and red)
and make sure the students know that certain
behavior is expected of them and if they decide to
break the rules their will be a punishment. I will also
use positive reinforcement for when students follow
the rules to ensure they know good behavior equals
praise and rewards.

9. WORKS CITED
 http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html
 http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsycholo
gy/f/behaviorism.htm
 http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/images/c/cf/Behavi
orism_2.gif
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0
8/John_Watson_behaviorist.jpg
 http://teflworldwiki.com/images/5/58/Behaviourist.jp
g