Individual Essay

If learning can be defined as a process that willl cause permanent change in an

individuals knowledge and behaviour (Woolfolk, 2010), how would a behariourist define
learning? From the behaviourism perspective, learning occurs when the change of ones
behaviour is observable (Woolfolk, 2010). It is either through associating neutral stimulus
with unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response (Slavin, 2012) which can be
seen in the classical conditioning or through manipulating the consequences to achieve
the desired behaviour (Slavin, 2012) which is the main principle of the operant
conditioning. Although behaviourism is a learning theory that was developed during the
1920s- 1950s, it still has its applicability in the current learning process in the classroom.
Through the observation during the English lesson conducted by Madam Kee Joon Chin
with her class, class 4K, it was apparent that behaviorism was applied extensively during
her lesson. There were scenarios that portrayed repetition and drills, association and
discrimination as being emphasized in the classical conditioning, while reinforcement
and punishment in the operant conditioning.
In behaviourism, it is believed that the desired bahaviour can be reinforced and
strengthened through repetition and drills (Behaviourism, 2014). The elements of
repetition and drills were evident during Madam Kees lesson as she was giving her
pupils a variety of methods to recite the same poem for several times. The methods
included reading aloud session, recital of poem with some gestures and finally a group
competition. Besides, behaviourism also suits learning that requires prompt reaction with
definite response (Behaviourism, 2014). Madam Kees lesson had reflected upon this
type of learning when the pupils were required to perform the body gestures while they
were reciting the poem. During this session, the pupils would have to be able to
memorize and change into different gestures according to the lines that they recited and
the best way to teach was through repetition and practices, which were applied by
Madam Kee. The result turned up to be quite satisfying as the pupils were certain about
the gestures and the timing for them to perform those gestures during the group
competition, which was the last drill for the poem. In short, the use of repetition and drills
proposed by behaviourism was applied in the classroom and the outcome had reflected
the effectiveness of behaviourism in the teaching and learning process.
As classical conditioning involves the process of relating a reflex response with a
new stimulus, the main concept concerned is undoubtedly is the concept of association.

Similar to Pavlovs experiment whereby the dog salivates as it associates the sound of
the tuning fork with the food, the concept of association has its implications in the
teaching and learning process in the classroom. In terms of classical conditioning, it
mainly influences emotional behaviour (Huitt, 1997). Thus, the implications of classical
conditioning in the classroom revolve around creating a positive learning environment to
help the pupils to overcome their fear (Cherry, 2014). This can be done through
associating positive and pleasant events with the learning tasks (Woolfolk, 2010). In
order to get her pupils to have positive attitude towards the learning of English language,
Madam Kee had added some interesting body gestures into the poem during the lesson
and she invited her pupils to follow her movement. Her objective was achieved as the
pupils were elated and they were very enthusiastic in performing the actions.
Furthermore, it could be seen that Madam Kee put more emphasis on group competition
rather than individual competition as she got all the girls to cooperate as a team and the
boys as another team. This was certainly appropriate as according to Woolfolk (2010),
individual competition may lead some pupils to bear some negative emotional responses
in which the pupils may associate it with other learning too. Through the group
competition, Madam Kee had indirectly confronted some of the shy students with an
anxiety-producing situation in a more relaxed manner. With this, the pupils were able to
learn the new association in a pleasant circumstance (Cherry, 2014) by relating positive
emotions with performing in front of the class. Therefore, it can be concluded that
behaviourism had been exploited throughout the lesson through the application of the
concept of association.
Besides association, stimulus discrimination and generalization are also the
essences of classical conditioning. Discrimination can be referred as the learning to
understand that some responses may not be applicable to certain stimuli (Krause,
Bochner, Duchesne, & McMaugh, 2010). While for generalization, it simply means that
behaviour or concept are transferred from one stimulus to the other stimuli (Slavin,
2012). These concepts can have profound influences in the classroom education. The
concept of discrimination was evident during Madam Kees lesson. As the poet of the
poem Clap Your Hands is Pamela Gidney, Madam Kee asked the pupils to think of a
fruits name that was similar to the name of the poet. The pupils were able to give the
answer, which was pomelo. Through this, the pupils were given the opportunity to
analyse and to distinguish the differences between these two concepts despite their
similarities in word structure and spellings. Hence, it is proven that the concept of

discrimination is very crucial in preventing the pupils to overgeneralize the concept that
they have learnt in the classroom, which was well presented during Madam Kees
lesson.
On the other hand, operant conditioning highlights the power of consequences in
strengthening or weakening voluntary behaviour (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne, &
McMaugh, 2010). In terms of operant conditioning, consequences are divided into two
types, which are reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement can be defined as the
consequences that are aimed to strengthen the behaviour (Woolfolk, 2010) while
punishment is the consequences that are aimed to weaken the behaviour (Woolfolk,
2010). Reinforcement can be further divided into positive reinforcement, which involves
rewarding and negative reinforcement which involves the removal of an aversive
stimulus. Positive reinforcement was present during Madam Kees lesson whereby she
gave some compliments and she aksed the whole class to give each team a round of
applause after their performance. In accordance with Thorndikes law of effect, if the
behaviour has a satisfying outcome, the behaviour will have a higher possibility to be
strengthened and repeated and vice versa (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne, & McMaugh,
2010). By having Madam Kees praise and recognition from the class, the pupils might
feel satisfied and they might be motivated to perform and therefore learn more in the
future. Moreover, reinforcement must have the value of contigency whereby
reinforcement will be given only if the target behaviour is achieved (Krause, Bochner,
Duchesne, & McMaugh, 2010). This could be the reason why Madam Kee seldom gave
praises during the lesson as the pupils might not achieve her standard of the target
behaviours except for the group competition. In short, the application of behaviourism
was apparent during the lesson through the practice of positive reinforcement.
Punishment can be carried out in different forms such as presentation
punishment and removal punishment in order to suppress unwanted behaviour.
Presentation punishment makes use of the aversive stimuli or what we call as
unpleasant consequences to weaken the behaviour (Slavin, 2012). Removal punishment
refers to the removal of the pleasant consequences, such as loss of privileges and time
out (Slavin, 2012). During Madam Kees lesson, presentation punishment was applied in
the form of warning. This was to weaken or eradicate the pupils behaviour in making
noise and also in completing the exercises in a lackadaisical manner such as the pupils
handwriting. As punishment only results in aggression and hostility among the students

(Krause, Bochner, Duchesne, & McMaugh, 2010) and it only works for a shorter period
(Slavin, 2012), it is advisable to avoid punishment and if necessary, take the mildest
form. For Madam Kee, she never uses physical punishment and she takes a milder way,
which is verbal warning so that it will not lead to the pupils aggressive reactions. Hence,
it is apparent that punishment was applied during the lesson to weaken the pupils
unwanted behaviour.
To sum up, the application of behaviourism was evident throughout the teaching
and learning process as the concepts of repetition and drills, association, discrimination,
reinforcement and punishment were presented by Madam Kee during her lesson. This
had undoubtedly made an impact on the pupils as they were able to perform after
several practices. They were able to enjoy the poem and the group competition due to
their ability to associate positive feelings towards the tasks and they are capable of
differentiating between Pamela and pomelo. Finally, the application of reinforcement and
punishment were meant to strengthen or weaken the behaviour. The lesson had
certainly brought up the strengths of behaviourism, but bear in mind that there are
certain limitations in this learning theory (Woolfolk, 2010) that eventually lead to the
development of the other learning theories such as cognitivism and social
constructivism.
(1352 words)

References

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http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/Ludescher/LAcquisition/Behaviourist/seite6.htm#K
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Cherry, K. (2014). Introduction to classical conditioning. Retrieved September 23, 2014,
from About.com:
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/classcond.htm
Huitt, W. (1997). An introduction to classical (respondent) conditioning. Retrieved
September 23, 2014, from Educational Psychology Interactive:
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/behavior/classcnd.html
Krause, K.-L., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2010). Educational
psychology for learning & teaching. Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia Pty
Limited.
Slavin, R. (2012). Educational psychology: theory and practice. Boston: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.