Behaviorism: Dead or Alive?

As much as we try to deny it, modern education is built around behaviorist learning theory.  If you go into any lunchroom, teachers are most likely not talking about the learning of the students, but rather the behavior.  According to Standridge (2002) behavior is must be directly observed to be counted.  She also asserts that behaviorism is based upon: “Changes in behavior that result from stimulus-response associations made by the learner.”  If you are one who does not believe that behaviorism is not alive and well in a classroom, take a bag of candy into a middle school classroom and see what you can get them to do.

All day every day, we run our classes based on Skinner’s idea of operant conditioning.  As Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011) explains, we use: “Reinforcement of desirable behaviors . . . [and] punishment of undesirable behaviors.”  This is generally done in the manner of “holding carrots.”  Some examples may be: getting music, sitting by your friend, no homework, a good grade, piece of candy, etc.  We bargain with students every day to come up with things that will reinforce the behaviors and answers we want to see. 

Even though: “Reinforcement is the cardinal motivator” (Smith, 1999) in most classes, punishment is also alive and well.  As a current substitute, this unfortunately seems to be the one I reach for when a class gets rowdy.  Holding the class after, detention, picking up trash; each teacher has their own favorite deterrent for behavior they deem undesirable.

So far, all I have talked about is the typical “behavior” associated with lunchroom chatter.  However, in a science class, I find behaviorism as a must.  No matter how hard I have tried, constructivist learning theories just do not help with reinforcing how to hold a microscope.  First, you threaten financial consequences for dropping a microscope.  You may reinforce proper technique by allowing students access to the best specimens, while simultaneously making students who use improper technique start over and try again.  Getting more into learning strategies, if you want students to use the specified steps of the scientific method (even if you initially taught it using other learning theories and strategies), there are few things more effective than drill and practice.

Let me also discuss grades as a whole.  Contrary to popular belief, grades have two purposes.  The first, more widely acknowledged purpose is to tell the student (and others) how well they are learning the content.  However, at the daily level, these are the primary rewards and punishments we have as teachers.  Why else would students stay after school for several hours the day before grades are due to get a good grade?  They are either afraid of the consequences or motivated by the rewards.

In terms of technology, Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011) makes a good case that programmed instruction, as defined by Skinner: “Is ubiquitous with online learning.”  Technology has not done away with behaviorist learning theory, but revitalized it.  In this very program, we have taken quizzes where you choose between answers and get immediate reinforcement or remediation for our answers.  When working with any piece of technology there is a certain series of steps involved for everything we do.  Do them right, and the task will be completed as desired.  Do them out of order (or have no idea what to do) and you will wind up frustrated (and cursing at Bill Gates . . . we have all been there).  Despite our belief that behaviorism is outdated and long gone, it is actually alive and well.  In fact, the technology that we so praise and rely on may actually be bringing back behaviorism rather than move us away from it.

One final note after pondering Pavlov’s experiments (in Standridge, 2002); do our students not salivate at the sound of the lunch bell?

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Behaviorist learning theory [DVD]. Bridging Learning Theory Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Smith, K. (1999). The behaviourist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm

Standridge, M.. (2002). Behaviorism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved March 7, 2012 from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/