BEHAVIOURISM

Submitted to : Ma’am Tanzela

Group Members:

■ Asif Raza
■ Saira Jamshaid
■ Asima
■ Bashir
Behaviourism:

■ Behaviourism is the earliest language learning theory which is propounded by

J.B. Watson (1878-1957) in 1913. ... Humans learn a language through
repeating the same form and text until it becomes a habit. Children imitate the
sounds and patterns which they hear around. 
■ Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning
based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning.
Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists
believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our actions.
 FATHER OF BEHAVIORISM:
■ The term behaviorism refers to the school of psychology
founded by John B. Watson based on the belief that
behaviors can be measured, trained, and changed.
Behaviorism was established with the publication
of Watson's classic paper "Psychology as the
Behaviorist Views John B. Watson.
History of Behaviorism:
■ History of Behaviorism Ivan Pavlov • Developed the classical conditioning theory.
In this theory, a certain stimulus leads to a particular response. Edward Thorndike
(1874 - 1949) • Emphasized the role of experience in the strengthening and
weakening of stimulus response connections
■ History of Behaviorism John Watson (1878-1958) •"The more frequent a stimulus
and response to occur in association with each other, the stronger that habit will
become.“
■ History of Behaviorism B. F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) •"A response followed by a
reinforcing stimulus is strengthened and therefore more likely to occur again. “ •"A
response that is not followed by a reinforcing stimulus is weakened and therefore
less likely to occur again. "
• Theory of behaviorism:

■ Behaviorism or the behavioral learning theory is a popular concept that focuses

on how students learn. ... This learning theory states that behaviors are learned
from the environment, and says that innate or inherited factors have very little
influence on behavior. A common example of behaviorism is positive
reinforcement.
■ The behaviorist theory believes that “infants learn oral language from other
human role models through a process involving imitation, rewards, and
practice. ... When a child attempts oral language or imitates the sounds or
speech patterns they are usually praised and given affection for their efforts.
Examples of Behaviourism :

■ Behaviorists believe human beings are shaped entirely by their external

environment. ... An example of behaviorism is when teachers reward their class
or certain students with a party or special treat at the end of the week for good
behavior throughout the week. The same concept is used with punishments.
Characteristic:

■  1) Teacher controls both of the children’s behavior and the learning process.
■ 2) The teacher has clear lesson plan and step-by- step syllabus.
■ 3) English pattern are repeated through drills and choral repetition until they become
automatic.
■ 4) It is considered essential for the children to succeed as much as possible.
■ 5) Success is reinforced by praise and reward.
Advantages and Disadvantages:

■ Advantages:
■ • Shapes behavior quickly
■ • The learner adapts to the environment
■ • Behavior can be measured
■ Disadvantages:
■ • Internalized reasoning may not be an outcome
■ • The learner adapts to a poor environment
■ • Behavior measured may not be a true picture of understanding
 Types of behaviorism:

■ There are three types of behaviorism:

■ Methodological= behavior should be studied without connection to mental
states (just behavior)
■ Psychological= Human and animal behavior is explained based on external,
physical stimuli. ...
■ Analytical/Logical=Certain behaviors will arise from particular mental states
and beliefs.
 Behaviorists believes :
■ Behaviorists believe that language behaviors are learned by imitation, reinforcement,
and copying adult language behaviors. They consider language to be determined not by
experimentation or self-discovery, but by selective reinforcements from speech and
language models, usually parents or other family members. Behaviorists focus on
external forces that shape a child's language and see the child as a reactor to these
forces.
 principle of  behaviorist theory:
■ The major principle of  behaviorist theory is the analysis  of human behavior in
observable stimulus-response  interaction as the association between them. 
■ Behaviorism emphasizes the role of environmental factors in influencing
behavior, to the near exclusion of innate or inherited factors. This amounts
essentially to a focus on learning. We learn new behavior through classical or
operant conditioning (collectively known as 'learning theory’).
■ Behaviorism described as developmental theory that measures observable
behaviors produced by a learner’s response to stimuli. From those definitions of
behaviorism from two experts , I can infer that  behaviorism is a theory that
measures observable behavior that are produced by the learner to respond to the
stimuli.
Main goal of behaviorism
■ Behaviorism is an area of psychological study that focuses on observing and
analyzing how controlled environmental changes affect behavior. The goal of
behavioristic teaching methods is to manipulate the environment of a subject —
a human or an animal — in an effort to change the subject's observable
behavior.
■ The task of psychological behaviorism is to specify types of association,
understand how environmental events control behavior, discover and elucidate
causal regularities or laws or functional relations which govern the formation of
associations, and predict how behavior will change as the environment
changes.
THERE ARE TWO MAJOR TYPES OF
CONDITIONING:
■ Classical conditioning
■ Operant conditioning
Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
■ Early work in the field of behavior was conducted by the Russian physiologist
Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936). Ivan Pavlov was the first to introduce the concept of
conditioning through his experiments with animals. His conclusions directly influenced
Watson and provided him with the original scientific basis for his beliefs.
■ In these experiments, Pavlov worked with dogs that, like most, salivated naturally in the
presence of food. Because this response is innate, the animals were displaying an
unconditioned response (salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (food). Pavlov then,
for the sake of experimentation, began to produce a bell sound at the time of each
feeding. Eventually, the dogs started to drool after hearing it and in anticipation of food,
even when none was present.
■ At the end of his experiments, Pavlov was able to condition, or teach, these dogs to
salivate in unnatural situations (after hearing a sound) to stimuli which would normally
not elicit that response (sound). In essence, Pavlov had transformed salivation into a
conditioned behavior, and the bell sound had become a conditioned stimulus.
■ Pavlov further discovered that conditioned behaviors of this type would disappear if
they failed to deliver the expected outcome; for example, if the bell was sounded
repeatedly and no food was presented, dogs would eventually stop associating the two
and their drooling response to the sound would vanish.
Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
 Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
■ Before conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus (food) produces an unconditioned
response (salivation), and a neutral stimulus (bell) does not produce a response. During
conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (food) is presented repeatedly just after the
presentation of the neutral stimulus (bell). After conditioning, the neutral stimulus alone
produces a conditioned response (salivation), thus becoming a conditioned stimulus.
Skinner and Operant Conditioning

■ B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) was an American psychologist. Like Watson, Skinner was a

behaviorist, and he concentrated on how behavior was affected by its consequences.
Therefore, Skinner spoke of reinforcement and punishment as major factors in driving
behavior. As a part of his research, Skinner developed a chamber that allowed the
careful study of the principles of modifying behavior through reinforcement and
punishment. This device, known as an operant conditioning chamber (or more
familiarly, a Skinner box), has remained a crucial resource for researchers studying
behavior (Thorne & Henley, 2005).
■ In operant conditioning, behaviors are manipulated when they are followed by either positive
or negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement increases desired behaviors by following
them with rewards. For example, if rat food is dispensed every time a rat pushes a pedal, it
will repeatedly push that same pedal to get more edible treats. The action of pushing the
pedal, the desired behavior, has been reinforced with food
■ Skinner also showed that behaviors could be altered through punishment or extinction.
Punishing behaviors after they occur, discourages them from being later repeated. For
example, if a rat was jolted with electricity when it pressed a pedal, it would begin to avoid
touching it, avoiding performing the undesirable behavior.
■ Extinction is when behaviors that were previously reinforced are later unenforced, rendering
the behaviors inconsequential and causing them to decrease in frequency over time. If the rat
that had been trained to push a pedal for food ceased receiving food for pressing it,
eventually it would press it less and less often. In time, after it has become thoroughly
discouraged by the lack of dispensed rat treats, it may stop pressing it altogether.
Skinner and Operant Conditioning
Skinner and Operant Conditioning
■ The Skinner box is a chamber that isolates the subject from the external environment
and has a behaviour indicator such as a lever or a button. When the animal pushes the
button or lever, the box can deliver a positive reinforcement of the behaviour (such as
food) or a punishment (such as noise) or a token conditioner (such as a light) that is
correlated with either the positive reinforcement or punishment.
■ BEHAVIORISM CAN PERHAPS BE BEST SUMMED UP BY THE
FOLLOWING QUOTE FROM THE FAMOUS PSYCHOLOGIST
JOHN B. WATSON:
■  "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, even beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and
race of his ancestors." --John Watson, Behaviorism, 1930.