2. Major contributors to Behaviorism
• Ivan Pavlov : He didn’t necessarily agree with Behaviorism, but his
work with classical conditioning is a main point of Behaviorism
(Pavlov’s dog).
• B.F. Skinner : Strong promoter of Behaviorism. Worked with
operant conditioning. Eventually went further and created Radical
Behaviorism.
• John B. Watson : He actually established the psychological school
of behaviorism. Famous for using classical conditioning on a
human baby named “Little Albert”.
3. Key points of Behaviorism
• Learners are shaped by their environment.
• At birth a baby is a clean slate or unmolded
clay.
• Behaviorism is based on stimulus-response.
• All behavior is caused by external stimuli. For
example Pavlov’s dog.
• The learner is changed or molded by positive
reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
4. How Behaviorism can be used by teachers
• Have the students sign a contract. If the contract is broken then they are punished.
Sign a technology contract (if they break anything or use it incorrectly)
• Use positive reinforcement by smiling or complimenting after a correct answer.
Reward them with time to play on the computer before class.
• Use negative reinforcement (in a positive way). For example if all homework is
turned in on time drop the lowest grade.
• Use punishment by sending kids who fight to the dean’s office. Students who get
in trouble lose computer privileges.
5. How Behaviorism affects the students
• Student must abide by their contract. If they don’t they lose technology privileges.
• Positive reinforcement encourages students to do good and makes them feel good.
Rewards students with extra computer time.
• Negative reinforcement encourages students to turn their homework in on time and they
get better grades because of it.
• Punishment keeps the students in line. Taking away their free time on computers until
their attitude improves.
6. What I would use from Behaviorism for my
own teaching
• The positive reinforcement seems like a great idea. Encouraging and building your
students self-esteem is never a bad thing.
• The negative reinforcement is nice (even if it sounds bad) it gives students a extra
incentive to turn homework on time.
• The contract does not appeal to me. This is because I don’t think students take it
seriously.
• Behaviorism really seems to revolves around reward and punishment. Which I
don’t want to focus on to much because it can become counter productive.
