Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov observed that he could cause a dog to salivate by training the dog to associate a ringing bell with food. Pavlov had scientifically demonstrated classical conditioning, which is “a basic form of learning in which a stimulus that usually brings forth a given response is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus. Eventually, the neutral stimulus will bring forth the response when presented by itself” [16, p. 33]. American Psychologist John B. Watson used Pavlov’s work on classical conditioning to pioneer a natural science of psychology called behaviorism. Behaviorism became the dominant force in American education in the first half of the 20th century. Despite criticisms, it still plays a role in child development, education, organizational training, and military conditioning.

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.

Thorndike’s connectionism

Edward L Thorndike saw learners as empty and passive organisms that randomly responded to external events. Thorndike proposed an S-R theory called connectionism, which held that learning results from forming connections between a stimulus (S) and a response (R), which are manifest through behavior [2]. Thorndike proposed three laws governing learning, the Law of Effect, the Law of Readiness, and the Law of Exercise [4, 1, 2], as follows:

• The Law of Effect states that S-R learning is strengthened by satisfactory results and weakened by unsatisfactory results. Rewarded behavior is learned and becomes a habit, while punished behavior is not learned.
• The Law of Readiness states that learning is enhanced when the organism is ready for the connection and inhibited when the organism is not prepared. For example, a developmentally ready child finds reward in learning the task. In comparison, the child who is not prepared finds that attempting to learn the task is a punishing waste of time.
• The Law of Exercise holds that repeating meaningful connections strengthens learning while discontinuing connections will weaken learning. For example, the more frequently Susan practices a dance, the better she will learn the dance. Likewise, Susan will start to forget the dance when she stops practicing; the longer she goes without dancing, the more she forgets.

Thorndike and other theorists revised connectionism. Pavlov added to Thorndike’s basic S-R notion reinforcement, conditioned, stimulus, and extinction. Guthrie would propose that contiguity is the only law necessary for understanding learning. Skinner would introduce operant conditioning to show how learning is a consequence of behavior [4].

Research ultimately did not support Thorndike’s laws [2]. However, connectionism laid the foundation for behaviorism. Classroom applications of Thorndike’s theory focused on two key areas [17]:

• Form good habits in learners.
• Introduce skills only when the learner is ready, is conscious of the need for the skill, and when prior and subsequent learning reinforces the skill.

Watson’s behaviorism

John B. Watson applied Pavlov’s dog conditioning experiments to humans. He proposed that psychology should “discard all reference to consciousness” and “no longer delude itself into thinking that it is making mental states the object of observation” [18, p. 7].

From Watson’s perspective, human behavior is driven by the same stimulus-response connection that causes a leg to kick when the knee is tapped by a hammer. Thus, psychology should be “a science of behavior” that never uses “the terms consciousness, mental states, mind, content, will, imagery, and the like” [18, p. 9]. In other words, human behavior is no more than stimulus-response connections that Watson could observe, predict, measure, and control. Training a child is the same as training a dog.

Baby Albert

Watson demonstrated how classical conditioning elicits an emotional response by banging a steel bar behind the head of 9-month-old Albert whenever Albert reached for a favorite pet rat. The loud noise caused “little Albert” to jump violently, fall, and bury his head into a mattress.

After a few weeks of ringing Albert’s nerves whenever Albert saw the rat, Watson removed the pipe but continued exposing the rat to Albert. Once enamored with the rat, Albert now feared the rat. Each time he saw the rat, Albert cried and attempted to escape.

Watson also demonstrated how the conditioned response generalized to similar objects. He showed how Albert had also developed a fear of a rabbit, a dog, a sealskin coat, and a Santa Claus mask [19, pp. 151-152]. Watson then claimed he could use S-R psychology to turn any baby into whatever he wanted [5].

Watson lost his standing in the academic community shortly after the “little Albert” experiment [19]. He found success as an advertising executive, conditioning people “to buy all sorts of unnecessary but appropriately associated items” [14]. Watson also wrote popular books about raising children.

Watson’s impact

Watson’s research held little direct relevance to academic learning theory [2]. But he was influential in redefining psychology from a study of consciousness to a study of behavior. This established conditioning as a strategy for studying behavior and behavior change and raising children in the 1930s and 1940s as a matter of habit training [14].

Skinner’s radical behaviorism

Extrapolating from experiments he conducted with pigeons, B.F. Skinner demonstrated how learning occurs as a consequence of behavior. Whereas classical conditioning is learning by association (SàR), operant conditioning influences learning and behavior using rewards and punishments (RàS).

Skinner proposed that a person’s behavior is instrumental in determining if learning occurs [20]. In other words, if a person experiences a pleasant outcome from a behavior, that person is likely to repeat that behavior. Similarly, if a person’s actions result in an unpleasant outcome, the person is less likely to repeat the behavior. Skinner’s framework allowed him to even explain the complexities of the personality as an individual’s history of reinforcements [4].

Skinner’s work on operant conditioning resulted in radical behaviorism, which held that external events drive all behavior. Skinner did not dismiss internal states, like feelings, emotions, and thoughts. However, he argued that “internal states are not the causes of our behavior but one of its results” [14, p. 17]. In other words, human thinking processes are not important in learning.

Applications

Behaviorist learning practices generally focus on shaping behavior through conditioning. Shaping involves identifying the goals of instruction and the student’s current behaviors, then formulating the student’s steps to achieve the goals. The teacher then moves the student through the sequence of steps using demonstrations, individual student work, and group work. The teacher provides immediate feedback as the student actively responds to the material.

Programmed instruction and contingency contracts serve as examples of behaviorist instruction practices [2], as follows:

• Programmed instruction provides training materials that are developed using behaviorist principles of learning, like computer-based instruction.
• Contingency contracts apply reinforcement principles to change behavior by serving as agreements between teacher and student detailing the goals, deliverables, and desired outcomes for the student.

Millennia of trainers and parents have used conditioning techniques to successfully train animals and children. Therefore, it is no surprise that research generally shows that behaviorist methods positively influence achievement. Schunk [2] asserted that behaviorist techniques enhance learning effectiveness in any environment. He said that “Regardless of theoretical orientation,” helping learners master the basic concepts is necessary for them to operate at higher levels of learning and performance [2, p. 82].

For example, shaping can be effective for teaching a dancer the basic positions of ballet. Once the dancers master the basic positions, they can more easily piece together the steps to learn an entire dance under the instruction of a choreographer or create a new dance alone. Likewise, the baseball coach can help a player get out of a batting slump by using conditioning to help the hitter unlearn bad habits blocking performance.

Criticisms

Behaviorism received significant criticism for being dehumanizing. For example, Edwin Locke argued that “The systematic use of reinforcement strategies leads to a demeaning and dehumanizing view of people that stunts human growth and development” [21]. Behaviorism became out of vogue because research increasingly demonstrated that people can learn by observing others and thinking logically about consequences [22]. Also, as holistic and contextual approaches to learning gained widespread acceptance in educational practice, behaviorism became increasingly shunned in education.

Reemergence

Interestingly, after generations of Dr. Spock parenting and self-esteem schooling seem to have contributed to high depression rates, low resilience, and falling performance among American youth, popular television shows like The Nanny and The Dog Whisperer seem to be causing a reemergence of shaping as an effective tool for increasing learner focus and achievement.

In addition to being a valuable tool for training animals and children, operant conditioning is widely applied to modify behavior in clinical and correctional settings, classroom management in schools, recruit training in the military, and organizational development practices in business. Emerging applications of classical and operant conditioning include training individuals suffering from bipolar disorder, autism, and Alzheimer’s to be functional without medication.

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