1. GIVE ME A CHILD
AND I’LL SHAPE HIM
INTO ANYTHING
BF SKINNER
(1904-1990)
BEHAVIOURISM
2. Why Behaviourism?
• Psychology is a science of behaviour
• It must use objective methods
• It can use animals or human participants
• It discards consciousness and instead the focus is
on stimulus-response links
• It should ultimately predict and control behaviour
• If humans are just another species, we should be
able to study them the same way.
3. Ivan Pavlov • (1849-1936)
• Famous for
classical
conditioning
• Trained a dog to
salivate when it
heard a bell ring
• Research based on
reflexes found in
nature
4. John Watson • (1878-1958)
• Famous for “Little
Albert” experiment
• Conditioned an 18
month old boy to fear
rats
5. B.F. Skinner
• Famous for the
‘Skinner Box’
• Experimented with
operant
conditioning on
rats and pigeons
7. A rat presses a
lever and receives
food
If the rat previously
pressed the lever
and received food
and now receives a
shock, the rat will
learn not to press
the lever
A rat presses a
lever and turns off
the electric shock
If rat now receives
food consistently
without pressing
the lever, the rat
will learn to stop
pressing the lever
Consequences
Positive Reinforcement Positive Punishment
Negative Reinforcement Negative Punishment
9. During the WWII, Pigeons were used in guiding
long distance missiles
10. Behaviourism
• A learner responds to environmental stimuli without
his/her mental state being a factor in the learner’s
behavior
• Individuals learn to behave through conditioning
• No difference between people and animals – both
learn based on reinforcement
• Behavior is shaped through reward or punishment
for certain responses
• Creativity and independent thinking are not
important to teaching
11.
12. Classroom Implications
• According to Behaviourist theory, learning occurs when a
learner is actively engaged and immediately rewarded.
• Active learning is seen to make the learning experience
enjoyable and relatable
• Reward betters the relationship between teacher and
learners.
13. Major Criticism Against Behaviorism:
• The initial implication of Behaviourism for teaching was
to introduce programmed manuals.
• If the answer was correct they were praised. If incorrect
they were instructed to begin again.
• The use of Praise-must take into consideration
personality types or it can be crippling for many learners
• This was accepted as too mechanical and ignorant of
meaning
14.
15.
16. Learners At the Academy:
• Encouraged to bring their culture into the Academy and share
it with others, thereby enriching the culture of the Academy,
as a whole.
• Care will be taken to ensure that the learners value their
backgrounds with pride
• Expected to engage with democratic processes so that they
become empowered citizens and leaders with an in-depth
understanding of democracy
• Empowered to make responsible choices which are based on
evidence and reason, and involve careful consideration of
their wider implications for others
• Expected to develop as reflective, self-regulating learners who
relish challenge.
Major problem with this theory is the disregard for intrinsic motivation, mental thinking and consciousness.
Think of an unconditioned response as completely natural and a conditioned response as something that we learn.
Quite extreme-He did an experiment with an 18month boy by showing a white rat that was accompanied by a loud sound till he learnt to fear rats.
Skinner believed we have a mind but it is simply more productive to study observable behaviour rather internal mental events
Best way to understand behaviour is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences-this approach is called operant conditioning
An apparatus for studying conditioning in animals(rats and pigeons) in which the animal is isolated and provided with a lever or switch which it learns to use to obtain a reward, such as a food pellet, or to avoid punishment, such as an electric shock
Positive reinforcement-making a behaviour stronger by following the behaviour with a pleasant stimulus.
Negative reinforcement is making a behaviour stronger by taking away a negative stimulus
Positive punishment-reducing a behaviour by presenting an unpleasant stimulus
Negative reinforcementReducing a behaviour by removing a pleasant stimulus
Conditioning is the center of learning
Behaviourists are interested in measurable changes in behaviour.
-Reward good Behaviour and enforce it and punish bad behaviour to wean peopleaway from what is ‘negative’ or ‘bad’. Reward charts and systems are effective methods of reinforcement and ringing a bell or turning off lights to quiet children down.
-Classroom learning best occurred when pupils formed relationships between themselves and what they are trying to learn.
-Praise breaks away from the monotonous relationship of teacher and pupil which exists in classrooms and breaks down a power barrier. Although it can be difficult in a class of thirty pupils, any small form of praise can show the pupil that their efforts are recognised and that they are as much a part of the classroom as much as anybody else- link it to stars and fb likes
-The benefits of Behaviourism appear strong but it has been seen to be a limiting theory and unable to adequately capture the complexities of pupil learning and behaviour.
And we still use manuals and guides that automatically limit us- or we don’t look beyond once we start using it.
This suggests that praise may not necessarily be the best basis for learning for everyone and should be undertaken with caution. praise should not be used as a bribe
Activities such as recognising objects, sorting through them to form an order are classed as ‘mentalist’ activities; they occur in the head and this cannot be ignored. It is insufficient to claim that learning occurs purely as a reaction to external stimuli. Cannot account for the way that information is processed once we have been confronted by the stimuli. Struggles to account for the learning that takes place without reinforcement, such as the learning of a language.
-Learning should not stop and praise should not be used as a bribe. Learning should be reward in itself.
-The more responsibility the learner has for their learning, the greater the intrinsic reward
-An increase in student’s sense of personal country can lead to greater self responsibility, achievement motivation and learning
To juxta pose what we want learners at the Academy to be and how we can foster it vs what our classes are that seem to reflect behaviourist ideas-we need a more humanist approach to learning like makiguchi or a radical like Paulo Freire- a mixed approach to teaching
