Behaviorism in the Classroom
What is Behaviorism?
Behaviorism emphasizes the objective, scientific analysis of observable behaviors. It states that external stimuli trigger behaviors. Through behaviorism, one can either use operant conditioning or classical conditioning. Classical conditioning was the first named by Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov showed it by presenting a dog with food first, and then presenting the food with the sound of a bell. The dog then learned to associate the bell with food and would salivate to the sound of the bell. Operant conditioning was presented by B.F. Skinner. He presented the idea of rewards or reinforcements and response. For example, positive punishment would be adding a stimulus to decrease a behavior. The “positive or negative” means either adding to taking away a stimuli, and the “punishment or reinforcement” means whether you are trying to increase or decrease a behavior. He thought this could be used well for children to make peaceful society.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/behavioral-psychology-4157183-FINAL-5d8248854be64e34a9f4792179e6c998.png)
In this diagram, just focus on learning through association (classical conditioning) and Rewards and Punishment (Operant conditioning).
How I have used Behaviorism
In my senior year of high school, I did a student teaching internship through the Teacher Academy. This was run through the community college and I recieved college credit for it. These were actual teaching internships since they were run through the community college, so we were treated like real college students and we would teach the class like a real student teacher. I found that it was hard to get the class to raise their hands for questions. I think it may have had to do with them being in middle school and I really not being that much older than them. Anyway, I had to find a way for them to raise their hands. One day I realized the answer- candy. I would raise my hand and answer a question for a candy reward any day. So, I brought in candy and began to hand it out to those who did raise their hands. Because I was giving a reward for a behavior, this increased the behavior of raising hands. This is considered Positive Reinforcement because I was presenting a positive stimulus to reinforce a behavior. I would consider it a great way to increase a behavior.
Hey Hannah,
Your post on behaviorism was really intriguing and it made me think of a time in which I had to use the opposite which you stated was negative reinforcement. I took away the stimulus to try and increase and project better behavior. I experienced it this summer as a counselor at a sleep-away camp for 9 and 10 year old girls. The job of a camp counselor is hard to take on especially when it involves the youngest girls. At times it is often very difficult to get the kids to listen since they are always so energetic and playful. Sometimes when the kids would misbehave to a certain extent, I would be forced to pull them out of certain activities. I did this as a way to show how bad behavior can often lead to disciplinary action. Their fun can be taken away if they do not cooperate. Eventually they learned that in order to not lose their activity privileges they must start showing better behavior and listening.
Hi Hannah,
I think your post on behaviorism was very interesting, and it reminded me of that one episode of the office, where Jim would ring a bell, and every time after he rang the bell he offered Dwight an altoid. As this became a pattern everyday, Jim continued to do this until one day, he rang the bell and did not offer a mint, while Dwight put his hand out expecting one. This is an example of behavioralism because Jim had trained Dwight to associate the sound of a bell with receiving a mint, which is extremely similar to the project that Ivan Pavlov did.