IST 520 ON SP18 Group Project 1

Jonathan Watts, Karen Curie, Kelleth Chinn

Talking Paper – Selected Learning Theory

PURPOSE: To provide colleagues with information on Behaviorism

1. Principal Elements and Ideas Related to the Theory

a. According to behaviorism, all behaviors consist of a response to a stimulus in the current

environment, or are response to events in an individual’s history.

b. Behaviorist theory supports the idea that learning occurs through repetition, and can be
shaped by reinforcement and punishment (operant conditioning).

2. Social Conditions/Economic/ Technological Context

● Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)- developed in the fifties with drill and kill activities,
followed traditional behaviorist principles. It was not widely successful due to tech
problems, lack of quality software, and high costs.
● Military found CAI highly effective
● World War II used these principles to train the masses
● ClassDojo (Behavior management software) - has elements of Behaviorism such as
positive reinforcements tied to specific behaviors
3. Positive Contributions (Positive ways it impacts learning)

● Behaviorist principles help instructional designers think about making the learning
enjoyable. If students relate positive feelings toward learning, they will be motivated
● Dividing learning into smaller, more manageable chunks
4. Criticisms and who made them (Source)

● Bandura - not everything can be explained by outside influence- (bridge between

behaviorist and cognitivist behavior theory)
● Behaviorism focussed too much on external behaviors and not enough on the internal
processing and emotions
● Noam Chomsky - behaviorism doesn’t address language and “higher mental processes”
(Chomsky, 1967)
● Noam Chomsky - “We cannot predict verbal behavior in terms of the stimuli in the
speaker’s environment, since we do not know what the current stimuli are until he
responds” (Chomsky, 1967)
● A lot of behaviorist experiments deal with animals with few considering how these
principles apply to humans
5. Major Contributors/their contributions/years of major contributions

● Ivan Pavlov (1893)

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 ○ Classical conditioning, experiments with dog, food, bell which led to conditional
reflex
○ Repetition of a behavioral pattern makes it automatic
○ Major contributions from 1870-1915 (1904 Nobel Prize)
● John B Watson (1913)
○ behaviorism is the study of human behavior, provide the basis for prediction and
control of human beings
○ Coined the term “Behaviorism”
○ Major contributions from 1903-1930 (1930 Behaviorism)

● Thorndike (1905)
○ Law of Effect - “more complicated behavior was influenced by anticipated
results, not by a triggering stimulus as Pavlov had supposed” (Naik, 1998)
○
● Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner (1948)
○ Free Will is an illusion - all behaviors are responses to stimuli
○ focused on voluntary or operant behavioral conditioning
○ focused on stimulus leads to a positive response to create a behavioral change.
○ learned responses to an environment
○ Major contributions from 1938-1974 (1938 Behavior of Organisms)

6. Collective Team Position on Situations of Application

● Behaviorism applies best to non-cognitively demanding scenarios

● With repetetive tasks or behavioral expectations with one clear desired response,
behaviorism can support this conditioning
● For behavior interventions and analysis, behaviorist principles help to explain avoidance
behaviors or other undesireable behaviors in the classroom

Draft Rubric
Mapping Cognitive Science Against Learning Theories

Accounted
For?
Y = Yes
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 Element of Motivation N= No Comments
NA = Not
Applicable
? = Cannot
Determine
Presentation
The theory considers whether Focusses more on creating
material is relevant to needs and N a connection between
goals of the learner stimulus and response.
Irrelevant material,
presented with
reinforcement, will still
produce the desired
response.
The theory includes As long as the
consideration as to whether reinforcement is positive
material and/or N enough, boring material
presentation/stimulus is novel, is (stimuli) will still produce
something new and interesting to the desired response
the learner
The theory concerns itself with Little attention is paid to
the presentation approach being N the intrinsic thoughts of the
intrinsically learner
pleasant/interesting/stimulating
/ thought provoking
The theory informs with respect Some behaviorists have
to areas such as wording, visuals, Y theorized that genetic
audio, language being factors may lead to
manageable and useable to the auditory or visual stimuli
receiving group or individual being more effective in
producing a response to
certain individuals or
animals

Practice
The theory supports Repeated practice is key to
opportunities being provided to behaviorism to develop a
develop proficiency in application Y strong correlation between
of the skill, knowledge, ability or stimuli and response
concept
The theory supports practice See above
activities, to include repetition Y
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 and spiraling, designed to
develop automaticity in
responses and execution if
appropriate
The theory requires that practice
is relevant to needs and goals of
the learner
The theory covers self-
assessment or assessment by
other means that evidences that
the Learner can see that
skill/competency acquisition is
taking place
The theory requires practice
activities that are within or
slightly above the learner’s
competency level
The theory requires that practice
be designed to lead to correct
response.
Production and Posting
The theory encourages
application of the skill,
knowledge/ability or concept
being learned
The theory encourages
publication of whatever is
produced by the learner to group
for peer view and learning
Participation/Collaboration
Theory supports synchronous or
asynchronous review of posted
The theory focusses more
N on creating the connection,
and not on its relevance to
the learner
The theory is not interested
in the individual realizing
their own learning through
N self-assessment
For more complex
Y behaviors, this theory
would break up activities
into smaller manageable
chunks and build slowly
upon each other
Repetetive correct practice
Y is key. Otherwise, more
time will be spent
accomplishing the same
objective
Application of the skill is
Y evidence that the
connection between
stimulus and response
exists.
This is unrelated to the
N connection of
stimulus/response
This theory is not
N concerned with social
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products
Theory promotes a Community of
Practice/Wisdom/Knowledge
Theory supports some form of
accountability with respect to
who is contributing and how they
are contributing to knowledge
sharing
Theory accounts for variation in
task readiness and ability to
contribute to group effort to meet
goals
In terms of theory, does the
theory provide for collaboration?
knowledge construction
This theory is not
N concerned with social
knowledge construction
This theory is not
N concerned with social
knowledge construction
This theory is not
N concerned with social
knowledge construction
N This theory does not
explore any collaborative
elements, unless they are
included as part of the
stimulus to elicit a
response by the learner