BEHAVIOURIST THEORY

Pavlov (1897), Watson and Rayner (1920), Thorndike (1905), Skinner (operant conditioning and shaping, 1936), Bandura (cognitive behaviourist, 1963), B.F. Skinner (free will is an illusion, 1971)

INVENTOR

Reinforcement & punishment Behaviour is the result of stimulus response

ABOUT THEORY

PROS -Observable behavior is observable &

measurable. E.g. we can infer whether changes have been made in students understanding from behavioral change. -It is easily implemented. For example, such things as positive verbal reinforcement, or that look of Im tired of your nonsense take little time or effort and usually bring about the desired behavior quickly.

CONS -Some of our most important goals for

students learning involve changes in internal (cognitive, affective) things which cannot be directly observed. -Does not account for other ways of learning that do not involve positive/negative reinforcement.

Purpose of psychology: To predict, given the stimulus, what reaction will take place; or, given the reaction, state what the situation or stimulus is that has caused the reaction (Watson, 1930)

-Too deterministic (little free-will)

ACTIVITY : 1. The lesson is presented (stimulus).
2. The student responds (response).

All behaviour is learnt from the environment. We learn new behaviour through classical or operant conditioning.

3. The response is evaluated and appropriate feedback is given (feedback). 4. Optional reinforcement is given (reinforcement).