Behaviorism
Behaviorism is based around two main theories of behaviors: classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning
This is the theory founded by Ivan Pavlov in 1897. He taught dogs to associate a sound with receiving food and then the sound alone could make them salivate. Classical conditioning is when a neutral stimulus is associated with a stimulus that naturally elicits a behavior, and once learned, the neutral stimulus alone can produce the behavior (Stangor & Walinga, 2014).
Operant conditioning
This is the theory based on the research from Edward Thorndike and B. F. Skinner. Stangor & Walinga (2014) describe how in 1898, Thorndike placed cats in his puzzle box from which they tried to escape. They haphazardly tried ways to get out until they were successful. When they got out they were rewarded with food. He repeatedly put the cats inside the box and each time they figured out the correct way to escape and get their reward. Eventually, they immediately performed the correct behavior when placed in the box. In 1948, B. F. Skinner expanded upon Thorndike’s work with a similar scenario, although he used different animals and he defined operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is when learning new behaviors happens based on the consequences.
​
Operant conditioning, in essence, was described by Chance (2014) as a result of behaviors having consequences. Positive and negative reinforcement of the behavior make the behavior more likely to happen more often. Alternatively, positive and negative punishment make the behavior happen less often.
A cat being rewarded
Application to Learning: Motivation
Based on these behavioristic theories, a teacher should define learning outcomes, plan and design how a student can reach the defined outcomes, and provide learners with appropriate stimuli and opportunities to practice (Keramida, 2015).
People are motivated to learn somehow- either internally motivated or externally motivated.
If one is internally motivated to learn, they have a curiosity or a personal need they want to solve or overcome. They want to learn for themselves. On the other hand, external motivation is when someone is learning or doing something for a reward. A couple examples might be:
-
If you complete ten projects, you'll get a raise
-
If you complete your math worksheet, I’ll give you a lollipop
Interesting to note: Whether internally or externally motivated people can truly learn. However, it is probably going to be easier to accomplish whatever learning is desired if one is internally motivated.
Here's a bit of neuroscience about rewards and motivation:
If a person is externally motivated, and they accomplish what is necessary, there's reinforcement they received. Plus, when rewarded, people often get a hit of dopamine in the reward center of their brain. Alternatively, if a person is internally motivated and accomplishes their goal, they usually feel a sense of satisfaction at accomplishing whatever it is that they wanted to do. They will also get the dopamine when that happens- it's like their brain rewards them! Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brains that is released when we feel good or when something good happens in our environment (Chance, 2014).
Punishment - A Limitation of Behaviorism
Chance (2014) says a sufficiently strong punishment that consistently and quickly follows a behavior will reduce the frequency of the behavior.
​
However, the cognitions of the person and the extenuating circumstances that might not be observed by simply looking at antecedents, behaviors, and consequences can be critical to helping someone change their behavior. You can’t definitively say why the behavior was chosen by someone based on just an observation. It seems imperative to try to understand the full picture beyond the immediate behavior and situation. Changing consequences is not always going to be effective in changing behaviors if you don’t consider the person’s thoughts and feelings.
​
Furthermore, Chance (2014) writes how punishment doesn’t teach appropriate behaviors or responses. Plus, many people try to escape or avoid unpleasant punishment. They might do that by cheating or lying, for example.
Furthermore, Palminteri et al. (2015) writes how when a person successfully escapes punishment that, in and of itself, is a reward. The person gets good at lying, cheating, or other means of escaping punishment and that certainly was not the learning objective. Providing rewards is more effective for teaching and learning.
Interestingly, people often mess up punishment and make it less effective. If the punishment isn’t strong enough the first time, it will make the behavior much harder to extinguish (Chance, 2014). I have seen this firsthand. The first time a child has done something wrong in my classroom, many times I’ve gone very easy on them with a light consequence. The next time it happens, the punishment is a bit stronger and as this cycle repeats the punishment gets more severe. Luckily, I have learned the ineffectiveness of this and improved my classroom management strategies. Perhaps, behaviorism worked on me to change my behavior! However, Chance (2014) also talks about how judges do this same thing sometimes in the criminal justice system. When using punishment, the most effective way to extinguish a behavior is to start with a severe enough punishment from the beginning to stop the behavior in its tracks before it even gets going.
​
Also, to make a punishment effective it is important to provide an alternative way to get reinforcements in addition to the punishment (Chance, 2014). One of the problems with punishment is that it only teaches a person what not to do. So by that logic, one would have to keep trying different things and keep getting punished until they found a strategy that didn’t get them punished. A better approach would be for the punisher to teach an alternative way to get the reinforcement the person is seeking. I think this would be more pleasant for everyone. Sometimes, when punishment works, the punisher feels reinforced. However, it can also lead to feelings of guilt on the part of the punisher. Personally, I would prefer to use reinforcement strategies any day over punishment when I am teaching.
Always carefully consider the research when utilizing punishment as a means to change behaviors.
Instructional Design Implications
When utilizing the behaviorism theory in teaching, the teacher needs to provide stimuli and opportunities for the learner to show the desired behavior and then reinforce that behavior and learning.
First, define learning objectives.
Defining learning objectives means to identify the behaviors the learner will show to demonstrate they have learned the knowledge or skills desired (McLeod, 2003). This process also usually includes identifying the assessment that will be needed to demonstrate this (Keramida, 2015).
​
Burton el al. (2004) describes how defining objectives is critical. Once the objective and the desired behavior are identified, then an instructor can design learning activities that will set students up to perform those behaviors. Additionally, it is good practice to share the expectations for performance with students.
​
Next, Burton el al. (2004) goes on to write about how the instructional environment needs to be created. The teacher will want to create opportunities for the student to perform the desired behavior in response to certain situations. The response needs to be practiced and reinforced.
Types of Learning Activities
Often when utilizing this theory of learning students will be doing repetitive activities that require memorization. Additionally, if the learning objective involves categorizing something or drag-and-drop activities with immediate feedback and reinforcement for correct answers, behaviorism techniques could help a student learn (Keramida, 2015). Alternatively, there might be drill style activities in which correct answers are rewarded with points (Greenwood, 2017). Clearly in these examples, correct answers are being rewarded. Repetition, in these ways, is often used in education (Burton el al., 2004). However, it needs to be cautioned that a correct response does not always mean that learning has happened in a meaningful way (Greenwood, 2017).
When designing learning activities in this way, there might be some trial and error, much like Thorndike’s cats had to do to figure out how to get out of the box (Keramida, 2015). This can be frustrating so one might also try to direct a learner towards the correct answers so they get rewarded frequently (Greenwood, 2017). In order to assist and provide this sort of guidance, small steps and small bits of knowledge or skills should be presented in a logical way for learning to happen (Burton el al., 2004). The instructor would not want a learner to become frustrated or overwhelmed or feel punished and give up because nothing was working! Providing this guidance and assistance can encourage them to continue learning because they will get rewarded.
Many educational games can rely on behaviorist theories as well, in which correct answers are rewarded within the game with points, badges, or something else game-relevant (Greenwood, 2017). Keramida (2015) also talked about gamification and the relationship to behaviorism. Unsurprisingly, earning points or lives and moving up leaderboards can be reinforcing. That can be incredibly motivating for people and that is critical in learning.
​
In instructional design, many of these behavior-based activities can be self-paced, which can be great from some learners (Burton el al., 2004). For example, a learner can only move on in the game or with the activity when correct answers are given (Keramida, 2015). A student will practice and receive frequent feedback until they have mastered that learning (Greenwood, 2017).
​
Keramida (2015) writes about how these types of activities, of course, assume that there is only one possible correct answer to give. That is fine for some types of learning. However, skills that require problem-solving, using strategies, analysis, or evaluation cannot be taught and assessed using behaviorism models.
Rewards in Instructional Design
Often rewards that are given in educational settings include grading and praise. If one is utilizing behaviorism, they should design the course so that learning and correct behavior are reinforced immediately in order to be effective (Burton el al., 2004). This could be praise from an online instructor or a positive grade or programmed response to an activity that will reinforce the behavior (Keramida, 2015). One must keep in mind however, not everyone finds punishments and reinforcements to be of the same severity. A low quiz grade, for example, might make someone work harder and retake the quiz while someone else might actually be satisfied with a barely passing grade and be reinforced for the low amount of effort they put into their class. Behaviorism doesn't take into account so many aspects of what helps humans learn, like their thought processes or their social environment.
References
Burton, J. K., Moore, D. M., & Magliaro, S. G. (2004). Behaviorism and instructional technology. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology, 3–36. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers
​
Chance, P. (2014). Learning and behavior. (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
​
Greenwood, J. (2017). Behaviorism. Instructional Design. https://instructionaldesign.io/learning-theories/behaviorism/
​
Keramida, M. (2015, May 28). Behaviorism in instructional design for eLearning: When and how to use it. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/behaviorism-in-instructional-design-for-elearning-when-and-how-to-use
​
McLeod, G. (2003). Learning theory and instructional design. Learning Matters, 2(3), 35-43.
Palminteri, S., Khamassi, M., Joffily, M., & Coricelli, G. (2015). Contextual modulation of value signals in reward and punishment learning. Nature Communications, 6, 8096. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9096
Stangor, C. and Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/