What is behaviourism?

The three basic assumptions of behaviourism:

Behaviourism is a learning theory that describes learning
through the relationship between stimulus, response and
reinforcers. Learning is defined as a relatively permanent
change in observable behaviour as a result of
experience. The process involves strengthening the
relationship between specific stimuli and a desired
response. Put simply, behaviourism argues that children
develop language from what they hear around them
and that they learn from imitation, reinforcement and
correction.
behaviourism
When was behaviourism first introduced?
Behaviourism was first introduced in 1897 when Ivan
Pavlov published the results of his experiment on
conditioning (Pavlov’s Dogs) after he originally was
studying digestion in dogs.
1. Learning is manifested by a change in
behaviour.
2. The environment shapes behaviour.
3. The principles of contiguity (how close in time
two events must be for a bond to be formed) and
reinforcement (any means of increasing the
likelihood that an event will be repeated)
For behaviourists, learning is the acquisition of
new behaviour through conditioning.

According to behaviourism, how How does behaviourism work?

According to B.F. Skinner and the behaviourists, 4-6 6-9 10-12 18-24
does a child acquire language? language learning is a process known as months months months months

According to the behaviourist theory of operant conditioning. Operant means that it is a babbling
focused
first words
2-word
babbling phrases
language acquisition suggests that voluntary behaviour, it is a result of learner’s free
children learn language as they do any will and it is not forced by any outside person or
other behaviour: they mimic the language thing. Conditioned behaviour is behaviour which
2-3 4-5 5-7 9+
patterns of those around them, responding is the result pf repeated training. The learner
years years years years
to the rewards and punishments that demonstrate the new behaviour first as a
3-word nearly understand understand
follow from the correct and incorrect response to a reward or punishment system and phrases in complete complex all forms of

practices. finally as an automatic response. order syntax language language

The history of Edward thorndike (1905)

behaviourism
Ivan pavlov (1897)
Ivan Pavlov developed the classical
conditioning theory after originally
studying digestion in dogs. In classical
conditioning, a response that is
automatically produced by one
stimulus becomes associated, or linked,
with another stimulus that would not
normally produce this response.
Edward Thorndike emphasised the role
of experience in the strengthening and
weakening of stimulus response
connections and formalised the Law of
Effect, which states that "responses
that produce a satisfying effect in a
particular situation become more likely
to occur again in that situation, and
responses that produce a
discomforting effect become less likely
to occur again in that situation.
John watson (1920)
John Watson introduced the term
behaviourism and stressed the
importance of repetition: "The more
frequent a stimulus and response occur
in association with each other, the
stronger the habit will become”. He
also performed a conditioning
experiment on an 11 month old boy
called “Little Albert” to test the notion
that fears can be acquired through
classical conditioning.
B.F. SKINNER (1940ʼS+)
From the 1940’s, B.F. Skinner revised the
ideas of Pavlov and Watson into what he
called ‘operant conditioning’. He viewed
babies and children as “empty vessels”
which language had to be ‘put in. to’.
Skinner paid particular attention to
reinforcement, both positive and negative
and its effects. He also noticed that the
predictability and removal of a reinforcer
was important. He stated that “A response
followed by a reinforcing stimulus is
strengthened and therefore more likely to
occur again.” and “A response that is not
followed by a reinforcing stimulus is
weakened and therefore less likely to occur
again.” Skinner proved his operant
conditioning theory through “The Skinner
Box” experiment.
albert bandura (1977)
Albert Bandura agrees with the
behaviourist learning theories of
classical and operant conditioning,
however, he adds two important ideas
of his own:
1. Mediating processes occur between
stimuli & responses.
2. Behaviour is learned from the
environment through the process of
observational learning.
These ideas created a modified
behaviourist model called the
cognitive model which can
scientifically study internal behaviour.
 DOES THE BEHAVIOURISM THEORY SUPPORT NATURE VS NURTURE LEARNING?
Yes. Behaviourists fall squarely on the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate. According to “radical
behaviourists” like John Watson, what determines the intelligence, temperament and other personality
characteristics of a child, is the environment in which the child is raised. Genetic predisposition is unimportant.
One of Watson’s most famous quotes is “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified
world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of
specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, beggar-man and thief, regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”

child language acquisition theories

Innatism (Chomsky)
Noam Chomsky theorised that the
mechanism of language acquisition
is derived from the innate process.
Innate is something which is already
there in mind since birth. The theory
proposed by Chomsky is proven by
the children living in the same
linguistic community.
Behaviourism (b.f. skinner)
B.F Skinner’s theory was based on
his beliefs of how behaviour and
actions could be controlled by
their consequences. He believed
that positive reinforcement was
successful within children’s
education as it encouraged them
to try their best and complete
work to their best potential.
Interactionism (vygotsky)
Lev Vygotsky’s theory of language
development focused on social
learning and the zone of proximal
development (ZPD). The ZPD is a level
of development obtained when
children engage in social interactions
with others; it is the distance between
a child’s potential to learn and the
actual learning that takes place.
 reference list
https://prezi.com/tqcwnimurhih/behaviourism/
https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html
https://www.verywellmind.com/behavioral-psychology-4157183
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/uodedueportfoliosm/2015/11/05/language-acquisition-
skinner-and-chomsky/
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/processing-the-environment/language/v/theories-of-
language-development
http://web.mst.edu/~rhall/ed_psych/behaviorism.html
https://medium.com/@llanirfreelance/first-language-acquisition-development-theories-nature-vs-
nurture-27170818a6a6
https://sites.google.com/site/ide621knowledgebaseriley/behaviorism/behaviorism-infographic-1
http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/Ludescher/LAcquisition/Behaviourist/seite11.htm
https://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/behaviorism/
https://www.slideshare.net/satyapermadi/behaviorism-48084225
https://msu.edu/~yorkrobe/Webb/Final/lt_behaviorism.htm
http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/conditioning/history_behaviorism.htm
https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863
https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/how-is-language-learned-according-to-the-144887
https://www.docsity.com/en/behaviorist-theory-of-language-acquisition/5200479/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-hostos-childdevelopment/chapter/human-language-
development/