MODULE 7:

BEHAVIORISM
UNIT 3.1 BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE
IVAN PAVLOV
EDWARD L. THORNDIKE
JOHN B. WATSON
BURRHUS FREDERICK SKINNER

Cherry Y. Osteria
EDUC3A
INTRODUCTION
The theory of behaviorism focuses on the study of
observable and measurable behavior. It emphasizes that
behavior is mostly learned through conditioning and
reinforcement (reward and punishment). It does not give much
attention to e mind and the possibility of thought processes
occurring in the mind. Contributions in the development of the
behaviorist theory largely came from Pavlov, Watson,Thorndike
and Skinner.
ADVANCE ORGANIZER
Behaviorism

Classical Conditioning Connectionism Operant Conditioning

(Pavlov/Watson) (Thorndike) (Skinner)

Primary Laws
Reinforcement
Law of Effect
Shaping of Behavior
Law of Exercise
Law of
Readiness
IVAN PAVLOV
A Russian psychologist , is well
known for his work in classical
conditioning or
stimulus substitution.
Pavlov most renowned
experiment involved meat, a dog
and a bell.Initially,
Pavlov was measuring the
dog's salivation in order to study
digestion. This is when he
stumbled upon
classical conditioning.
Pavlov ff. Findings:
• Stimulus
Generalization
• Extinction
• Spontaneous
Recovery
• Discrimination
• Higher-Order
• Conditioning
CLASSICAL CONDITION
EDWARD L.
THORNDIKE
Connectionism theory gave
us the original S-R
Framework of behavioral
psychology. More than hundred
years ago he wrote
a text book entitled,
Educational Psychology. He was
the first one to use this term. He
explained that
learning is the result of
associations or "habits" become
strengthened or weakened by the
nature and
CONNECTIONISM
THEORY
which states that behavioral responses to specific
stimuli are established through a process of trial and
error that affects neural connections between the
stimuli and the most satisfying responses.
 THREE PRIMARY LAWS:
1. Law of effect- states that a connection between a stimulus and
response is strengthened when the consequence is
positive (reward) and the connection between the
stimulus and the response is weakened when the
consequence is negative.
2. Law of Exercise- This tells us that the more an S-R(Stimulus
response) bond id practiced the stronger it will become. "Practice
makes perfect" seem to be associated with this.
3. Law of Readiness- This states that the more readiness the
learner has to respond to the stimulus, the
stronger will be the bond between them.
PRINCIPLES DERIVED FROM
THORNDIKE'S CONNECTION:
• Learning requires both practice and rewards
• A series of S-R connections can be chained together if they
belong to the same action sequence (law of readiness)
• Transfer of Learning occurs because of previously
encountered situations.
• Intelligence is a unction of the number of connections
learned.
 JOHN
WATSON
Was the first American
psychologist to work with
Pavlov’s ideas. He too was
initially involved in animal
studies, then later became
involved in human behavior
research. He considered that humans
are born with a few reflexes and the
emotional
reaction of love and rage.
 LITTLE ALBERT EXPERIMENT
Elements of Classical Conditioning in the
Little Albert Experiment

The Little Albert experiment presents and

example of how classical conditioning can
be used to condition an emotional response.

• Neutral Stimulus: The white rat

• Unconditioned Stimulus: The loud noise
• Unconditioned Response: Fear
• Conditioned Stimulus: The white rat
• Conditioned Response: Fear
BURRHUS FREDERICK
SKINNER
The work of Skinner was
rooted in a view that
classical conditioning
was far too simplistic to be a
complete explanation of
complex
human behavior. He
believed that the best way to
understand behavior is to look
at the
causes of an action and
its consequences. He
called this approach
operant conditioning.
 OPERANT
CONDITIONING
Operant Conditioning deals with
operant - intentional actions that
have an effect on the surrounding
environment. Skinner set out to
identify the processes which made
certain operant behaviors more
or less likely to occur.

Skinner's theory of operant

conditioning was based on the work
of Thorndike (1905). Edward
Thorndike studied learning in
animals using a puzzle box to
propose the theory known as
the 'Law of Effect'.
 B.F. Skinner (1938) coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of
behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response.
Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior.

1. NEUTRAL OPERANTS - Responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease
the probability of a behavior being repeated.

2. REINFORCERS- Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a

behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.

• POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT. strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an

individual finds rewarding.
The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also strengthen behavior. This is known as
• NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is
‘rewarding’ to the animal or person
Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behavior returns when punishment is no
longer present.

3. PUNISHERS- Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior
being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.