BEHAVIORISM

Sutera, Zach
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Behaviorism

Zach Sutera

Educational Psychology

10 April 2017

Behaviorism

Behaviorism has dated back as early as 1913 with multiple contributors including John B.

Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, E.L. Thorndike, and Albert Bandura. All of these men

believed in this idea of behaviorism. They all agreed that behaviorism is when a learner is

essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli (Behaviorism - Learning Theories).

Imagine if our children would always act out bad every time something went wrong? As teachers

or parents it is our job to show children what the proper behavior is. Behaviorism is the theory

that human behavior can be explained in terms of conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or

feelings, and focuses on objectively observable behaviors.

B.F. Skinner found a new type of behaviorism. He founded radical behaviorism. Radical

behaviorism is different from the regular methodological behaviorism. According to Simply

Psychology, Radical behaviorism accepts the view that organisms are born with innate

behaviors, and thus recognizes the role of genes and biological components in behavior

("Behaviorism | Simply Psychology"). Methodological behaviorism is said to be affected by the

environment around us where radical behaviorism is said to be born with us.

Scientists have concluded that methodological behaviorism is learned from the

environment. According to Simply Psychology, when we are born our mind is tabula rasa, or a
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blank slate. What this means is that we learn our behaviors, and that we arent born with them.

We learn our behaviors through the environment and operant conditioning through

reinforcements. For example, if a child is behaving well in school they will get a sticker. When

they get that sticker in the future, they will know it was because of the good behavior. They will

try to keep doing that good behavior to get the sticker. This is an example of learning from the

environment.

Behaviorism is seen in the classroom on a daily basis. Teachers need to use

reinforcements to keep getting the behaviors that they want. Reinforcements are a great way to

keep the good behaviors coming and keep the bad behaviors away. Children can be much more

successful in the classroom when good behaviors are going on. It is a much easier environment

to learn in when children are behaving properly.

Applying this to students in the classroom is actually easy than one might think. First, the

teacher must understand the operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a method of learning

that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an

association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior (Cherry).

Behaviorism ties a lot into operant conditioning. Using positive and negative

reinforcements increases the likelihood of increasing the behavior that you want out of the child.

The same goes with punishment. By using negative and positive punishment, you are trying to

increase or stop the behavior. Using these methods engrains it in the childs brain that these are

the behaviors that are acceptable or unacceptable. By repeating these methods, it becomes a habit

for the student. When it becomes a habit for the student, they keep doing it and doing it without

having to do it for rewards or praise.

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Positive reinforcements are giving the student something positive after a good behavior.

An example of a positive reinforcement would be giving a student an A for writing an awesome

paper. This positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that the same behavior will continue

in the future.

It is very important to support the praise with evidence. The teacher needs to prove to the

student that the right behavior is very important. The teacher needs to explain to the student why

it is important. Once they know why it is important they can begin to understand how and why

that is the correct behavior to have in the classroom.

According to seattlepi, when offering praise opt for a specific statement such as, "you

really showed mature insight right there" as opposed to a vague statement such as nice work.

This is an important step in the growth of the student. It helps the student realize that they made a

mature decision right there. Saying simple things like that could go a long way for a maturation

process for a child.

Negative reinforcements are when a response increases as the result of the removal of a

stimulus. An example of negative reinforcement would be you nag on your child to do their

homework. Then they do their homework so you stop nagging.

Positive punishment involves presenting an unfavorable outcome or event following an

undesirable behavior, making the behavior less likely to happen in the future. An example of

positive punishment would be during a meeting or while in class, your cell phone starts ringing,

you are lectured on why it is not okay to have your phone on. By lecturing the student this would

increase the chance that the same thing wont happen in the future.
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Finally, negative punishment happens when a certain desired stimulus/item is removed

after a particular undesired behavior is exhibited, resulting in the behavior happening less often

in the future. An example of this type of punishment would be two siblings get in a fight over

who gets to go first in a game or who gets to play with a new toy; the parent takes the game/toy

away.

Incorporating weighted grades into the classroom can be a beneficial way of behaviorism.

If students know that the test is worth 30 percent of their grade and the homework is only worth

10, they would try harder on the test because it is more important. Additionally, you should

give students ongoing feedback to point out what theyre doing well and where they

need improvement (Writer). In order for a child to grow academically, it is very

important for them to get feedback. Positive and negative feedback are very

important. The children need to know the difference between right and wrong.

All of these are ways to improve classroom behavior. The teacher can implement these

principles into his or her classroom and would start to see results right away. Reinforcements are

simple ways to get the right behaviors that you want in the classroom. Behaviorism is an

important part of the classroom. All children learn better when the classroom is manages

properly.

In conclusion, behaviorism is very important in the classroom and plays a

huge part in schools. It is very important for students to know right from wrong.

Behaviorism implements positive and negative reinforcement and also positive and

negative punishment. Using these types of methods in schools will improve the

students behaviors but also their success in school. Behaviorism is the theory that
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human behavior can be explained in terms of conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or

feelings, and focuses on objectively observable behaviors.

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References

Behaviorism - Learning Theories. (2007). Learning Theories. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from

https://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html

Behaviorism | Simply Psychology. (2017). Simplypsychology.org. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html

Cherry, K. (n.d.). Operant Conditioning: What You Need to Know. Retrieved April 13, 2017,

from https://www.verywell.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863

Writer, L. G. (n.d.). How to Use Behaviorism in a Classroom. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from

http://classroom.synonym.com/use-behaviorism-classroom-8156621.html

(2017). Education.seattlepi.com. Retrieved 13 April 2017, from

http://education.seattlepi.com/apply-behaviorist-philosophy-classroom-3322.html