Behaviorism Overview

Behaviorism, commonly referred to as the learning perspective, is a philosophy of psychology which views all things which organisms do (including acting, thinking, and feeling) as a behavior (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2009). Gonzales (2007) found that the primary idea behind behaviorism to be focusing on behaviors we can see. Since we can not see what goes on internally our focus must remain on observable behaviors.

Contributors

Several key people have influenced the behaviorist movement; the first being John B. Watson, the classical behaviorist. According to Public Broadcasting’s article, (1998), Watson began using the term “behaviorist” between the years of 1908 and 1912 at various psychological meetings. Watson’s behaviorist movement gained momentum in 1913 when he published “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.” This piece of work has been referred to as “The Behaviorist Manifesto” (Public Broadcasting System, 1998). Watson’s view as a behaviorist came from an objective experimental branch of natural science dealing with the prediction and control of behavior.

Behaviorism advanced with the research and writings of the most famous behaviorist, B. F. Skinner. Skinner (1978) believed that learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior come as a result of stimuli that occur in the environment. Skinner believed that if a stimulus-response pattern was rewarded the behavior would be reinforced. The key to Skinner’s theory was to positively reinforce behaviors that were desired. Skinner (1965, p. 23) said, “We are concerned, then, with the causes of human behavior. We want to know why men behave as they do.”

Major Principles

There are several important principles to the behaviorist theory that are crucial to understanding the viewpoint. According to Boothe, Davis, Spaeth & Walter (1998), you can pinpoint behaviorism by understanding that positive or negative reinforcement is critical in determining how one will behave. Repetition and consistency are essential to obtaining a desired behavior and increasing the speed of learning. One’s habits can be broken if the positive reinforcement that is connected to the behavior has been removed. Retention of what was learned can be obtained through intermittent reinforcement.

Application

To apply behaviorism remember two key words: direct instruction (a teacher-directed model of instruction) which is validated and necessary from a behaviorist point of view. One learns best by doing, there should also be behavioral objectives present, and the focus of instruction should be on the results (Wilson & Myers, 2000). Since what is observable is so important to a behaviorist; a parts to whole approach to teaching is very helpful. A part to whole approach is where the teacher takes the overall objective that is supposed to be learned and breaks it down into smaller parts. The purpose of this approach is to make it easier for the learner to grasp and retain the concepts needed for mastery. A teacher providing clear and direct instruction with subtasks supporting learning objectives are more apt to obtain the desired results. Regardless of your beliefs, behaviorism has played an important role in educational and psychological history.

References

Behaviorism. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved February 15, 2009 from http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/behaviorism

Boothe, K.A., Davis, P.M., Spaeth, C.P., & Walter, L.B. (1998). Behaviorist Theory of Learning. SIL International. Retrieved February 15, 2009 from http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/Literacy/ImplementALiteracyProgram/BehavioristTheoriesOfLearning.htm

Public Broadcasting System. (1998). Watson Launches Behaviorist School of Psychology1913. A Science Odyssey: People & Discoveries. Retrieved February 15, 2009 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dh13wa.html

Skinner, B. F. (1978). "A Brief Survey of Operant Behavior." B. F. Skinner Foundation. Retrieved February 15, 2009 from http://unjobs.org/tags/operant-behavior

Skinner, B.F. (1965). “Science and Human Behavior.” Retrieved February 21, 2009

from http://www.bfskinner.org/BFSkinner/PDFBooks_files/Science_and_Human_Behavior.pdf

Wilson, B.G. & Myers, K.M. (2000). Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments (Jonassen, D.H.,

Land, S.M., Eds.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.