Assumptions of behaviorism

Behaviorists hold that learning is a passive process, with the learner as a blank slate shaped by responding to environmental stimuli [2, 1, 4]. The underlying assumptions of behaviorism are as follows:

• the focus of study should be observable behavior, not internal thought;
• the environment determines learning, not the learner;
• contiguity and reinforcement are central to learning; learning occurs by connecting and repeating external events.

Key theorists in the behaviorist perspective include Thorndike, Watson, and Skinner.