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Behavioral psychology was extremely popular and influential from the 1920s until the 1960s and became the dominant school of thought in psychology. Some researchers attribute behavioral psychology’s popularity to its objective and measurable approach, similar to those of natural sciences like physics and chemistry. Behavioral Psychology ...
- Classical Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning
- Shaping
- Extinction
- Observational Learning
- Token Economies
- Aversion Therapy
- Habituation
- Systematic Desensitization
- Conditioned Emotional Response
Classical conditioning involves teaching a student to associate two stimuli with one another. It does not require rewards and punishments, but rather repetition of an association. This was famously demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov in his Pavlov’s dog experiment, where he taught dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a bell. In the classroom, we mi...
Operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, is about learning through rewards (positive reinforcement) and punishments (negative reinforcement). For instance, if a student is rewarded with praise or a good grade for studying hard (behavior), they are likely to repeat that behavior in the future. Conversely, if a child touches a hot stove (beha...
Shaping involves slowly changing behavior over time by reinforcing behaviors that are closer and closer to the target behavior. This is also known as successive approximation. We might, for example, celebrate a language learner’s success in using simple past tense before moving onto more complex, but often more natural, past continuous tense. Succe...
Extinction refers to the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned behavior. In other words, the response has ‘gone extinct’. This tends to happen when a reward or punishment that was previously associated with a behavior is no longer provided. Over time, the association between the behavior and the reward or punishment breaks.
Observational learning is a progression of behaviorism that introduces the idea we learn not only through direct reward and punishment, but also by observing others. For example, if a child watches a sibling receive praise for doing chores, the child may also start doing chores in the hope of receiving similar praise. Developed by Albert Bandura, t...
A token economy is a behavior modification techniquethat uses rewards (tokens) as reinforcers to shape behavior. The tokens can be exchanged later for other reinforcers that are highly appealing to the recipients. By reinforcing desired behaviors with tokens, the student is more likely to exhibit that behavior again. This is based on the principles...
This therapeutic method involves pairing an unwanted behavior with discomfort in order to reduce the occurrence of the behavior. The unpleasant stimulus serves as a deterrent, essentially associating a stimulus with a learned negative consequence, which deters us from going down that path again.
Habituation occurs when a stimulus ceases to provide the same strong response as it once did, due to decreasing sensitivity to the stimulus. It differs from extinction because the stimulus doesn’t disappear. The stimulus remains, but we become so used to it that our response weakens. Habituation may happen in the classroom, for example, when a teac...
This is a therapy method used to overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders. Systematic desensitization involves gradually exposing a person to the feared object or situation in a controlled and safe way, until the fear response is extinguished. For example, a person with a fear of spiders might first think about spiders, then look at pictures of...
This is an emotional response that has been linked to a previously neutral stimulus by association. It often occurs during traumatic events and is a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. For example, if you have had a traumatic experience with a dog in the past, you may become anxious or fearful (emotional response) whenever you see a dog (now...
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Apr 16, 2024 · Behaviorism is an approach to psychology that generally focuses on observable behavior rather than thoughts and emotions. It often centers on predicting and controlling behavior based on a stimulus-and-response association. Behaviorism is known for a number of famous studies, such as the study of Pavlov’s dogs, the Bobo doll experiment, the ...
Nov 7, 2022 · John B. Watson is known as the founder of behaviorism. Though others had similar ideas in the early 1900s, when behavioral theory began, some suggest that Watson is credited as behavioral psychology's founder due to being "an attractive, strong, scientifically accomplished, and forceful speaker and an engaging writer" who was willing to share this behavioral approach when other psychologists ...
Feb 1, 2024 · Summary. Behaviorism, also known as behavioral learning theory, is a theoretical perspective in psychology that emphasizes the role of learning and observable behaviors in understanding human and animal actions. Behaviorism is a theory of learning that states all behaviors are learned through conditioned interaction with the environment.
The behavioral approach explained: Introduction to the branches of behaviorism in psychology, assumptions of the approach and an evaluation. The behavioral approach is based on the concept of explaining behavior through observation, and the belief that our environment is what causes us to behave differently or suffer illnesses.
May 13, 2018 · Behaviorism is a theory of human psychology that suggests that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. According to this approach to psychology, it is our interactions with our environments that shape what we learn, who we are, and how we act. Examples of behaviorism include theories such as classical conditioning and operant ...
