2. “The prediction and control of human behavior in which
introspection and/or independent thinking play no
essential part of its teaching methods.”
“Human learning is purely an objective and
experimental branch of natural science.”
3. B.F. Skinner (1904-1990): the leading advocate of
behaviorism.
Operant conditioning: learning that is controlled
and results in shaping behavior through reinforcement
of stimulus response patterns.
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936): discovered classical
conditioning
Classical conditioning: a reflexive or automatic type
of learning in which stimulus acquires the capacity to
evoke a response that was originally evoked by another
stimulus.
4. Humans learn through positive reinforcement.
Humans and animals both learn through a system of
positive and negative rewards.
Human beings are shaped by their environment.
5. Teachers can use this theory in the classroom through
positive reinforcement to encourage students behaviors
to connect learning with reward.
Ex: When a student completes an assignment correctly,
they get rewarded with a good grade and/or a special
privilege.
6. Many computer programs and educational software
provide positive reinforcement to reward correct
answers by using special sounds and graphics.
7. Students under this theory will learn to behave through
a teacher’s positive reinforcement. Students will then
begin to behave in a certain way because they are
working towards that positive reinforcement from their
teachers. Overtime, students will be able to behave in a
desirable way without any positive reinforcement.
8. Students will want to complete the computer program
successfully in order to see the hidden picture from the
choosing the correct answer. Therefore, they will be
pushed to get a good grade on the assessment.
9. We think this theory would work really well the in the
classroom because students look to the teacher for
guidance. By giving a student a treat, a smile, a
compliment, etc. they will be excited to do well on an
assignment in order to get their reward.
Some students don’t see the need to act a certain way
unless they get something good out of it.
