Behaviorism is the theory that human behavior can be measured, trained, and changed through conditioning techniques without reference to internal mental states. Key figures who developed behaviorism include Ivan Pavlov, known for classical conditioning experiments with dogs, and B.F. Skinner, who discovered operant conditioning through experiments rewarding pigeons with food. In behaviorism, learning is viewed as an objective process where behaviors are shaped through reinforcement or punishment. This theory influenced classroom practices where teachers reward students for desired behaviors like sitting quietly.

1. BEHAVIORISM
By: BG

2. WHAT IS BEHAVIORISM
“The prediction and control of human behavior
in which introspection and/or independent
thinking play no essential part of its teaching
methods.”
Behaviors can be measured, trained, or changed
Was discovered during the time of modernism
Everything was measured in terms of science.
Behaviorists believe human learning is an
objective and branch of natural science.

3. KEY PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH
BEHAVIORISM
Ivan Pavlov
 Famous for his behavioral
experiments with dogs
 Taught dogs to salivate when he rang a
bell.
 Provided a stimulus of food and
achieved his desired reflex which was
the dog salivating.
 This was eventually named classic
conditioning: the natural reflex that occurs in
response to a stimulus.
 Won the Nobel Prize in Physiology
in 1904

4. KEY PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH
BEHAVIORISM
 B.F. Skinner
 Discovered and described operant
conditioning.
 Learning is controlled.
 Shapes behavior through
reinforcement.
 Conducted experiments with
pigeons.
 Rewarded the pigeons when they
acted in a desired manner.
 Was able to teach the pigeons how to
dance with this technique.

5. KEY PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH
BEHAVIORISM
Albert Bandura
 Famous for studying social
learning
 Focused on motivational factors and
self-regulatory tools that add to a
person’s behavior.
 Discovered two important factors
of social learning:
 Observational modeling
 Watching someone and then mimicking the
observed behavior.
 Self-efficacy
 A personal observation about one’s perceived
ability to feel, think, and motivate oneself to
learn.

6. KEY POINTS OF BEHAVIORISM
 Operant Conditioning
 A method of learning that occurs through rewards and
punishments for behavior.
 An association is made between a behavior and a consequence
for that behavior.
 Classic Conditioning
 A technique used in behavioral training in which a naturally
occurring stimulus is paired with a response.
 Conditioned stimulus
 Previously neutral stimulus that comes to arouse a conditioned response.
 Conditioned response
 Learned response to the previously neutral stimulus.

7. CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS: WHAT THE
TEACHER DOES UNDER THIS THEORY
Teachers can use this theory to teach the
student to do what they want them to do
When a student sits quietly at their desk while
everyone else is talking, give them a candy.
When a student is using the internet to
research for their project during free time and
others are playing games online, reward them
with a free homework pass.

8. CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS: WHAT THE
STUDENT DOES UNDER THIS THEORY
 The student is influenced from this theory
because when they do something good they are
rewarded.
 If a student is raising their hand while other students
are shouting out and the teacher rewards them with a
candy, the students who did not get a candy will see
that when they do the right thing they get rewarded and
will want to do the same.
 If a student volunteers and correctly uses the Smart
Board in class and the teacher rewards them with a
free homework pass, they will want to continue to use
technology the right way so they can have more passes
to not do their homework.

9. WHAT I THINK OF THE THEORY FOR
TEACHING
I think this theory is important with
many aspects of teaching, especially
with younger kids. The students love
to know they are doing the right
thing, and when they are
rewarded, they want to continue to
make the teacher happy and to
continue being rewarded.