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Behaviorism
Stimulus-Response
Conditioning through reinforcement
Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
Behaviorism

Any psychology that sees its mission as the
explanation of behavior and stimuli and
responses as its basic data (Kimble, 2000).
Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
Behaviorism in an Academic
Setting

In an academic context, behaviorists
substitute verbal behavior (e.g. responding
appropriately to a question) for physical
behavior. The behaviorist would interpret, for
example, a student’s correct answer to a question
as a sign of successful conditioning, and then
continue to reinforce correct responses
behaviorally by assigning good grades. Often, the
form of conditioning used to achieve desirable
verbal behavior is a lecture-based pedagogy
(Boghossian, 2006).
Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee

Behaviorism views the student as an
unreflective responder. In a behaviorist
paradigm, the student is engaged in the
educational process only in that she displays
the appropriate verbal behavior (e.g.
checking the correct box on a multiple
choice test) (Boghossian, 2006).
Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
Forerunners of Behaviorism
John B. Watson, an American psychologist.
 Watson claimed that psychology was not
concerned with the mind or with human
consciousness
 Watson's work was based on the
experiments of Ivan Pavlov

Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
Forerunners of Behaviorism
Ivan Pavlov studied animals' responses to
conditioning
 Pavlov's best-known experiment, he rang a
bell as he fed some dogs several meals

Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
Behaviorism Today
Behaviorism is associated today with the
name of B.F. Skinner
 made his reputation by testing Watson's
theories in the laboratory
 Skinner's studies led him to reject Watson's
almost exclusive emphasis on reflexes and
conditioning (Cohen, 1987).

Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
Operant Conditioning
Skinner developed the theory of "operant
conditioning," the idea that we behave the
way we do because this kind of behavior has
had certain consequences in the past
 Skinner denied that the mind or feelings play
any part in determining behavior. Instead,
our experience of reinforcements determines
our behavior (Cohen, 1987).

Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
Presuppositions of
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is naturalistic
 Behaviorism teaches that man is nothing
more than a machine that responds to
conditioning.
 Behaviorism teaches that we are not
responsible for our actions
 Behaviorism is manipulative (DeMar, 2007)

Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee
References
Kimble, G. 2000. Behaviorism and Unity in Psychology. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 9(6).
Boghossian, P. 2006. Behaviorism, Constructivism, and Socratic Pedagogy. Educational Philosophy and Theory. 38(6).
Cohen, D. 1987. "Behaviorism," in The Oxford Companion to the Mind, Richard L. Gregory, ed. (New York: Oxford
University Press.
DeMar, G. (2007). Behaviorism. The Forerunner. Retrieved on April 1, 2008 from
http://forerunner.com/forerunner/X0497_DeMar_-_Behaviorism.html.
Barbara Boyd-Parker, Dana Giles,
Andrea Jenkins-Mann, and Tracee