{"id":2257,"date":"2013-04-05T15:54:48","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T15:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/infed.org\/mobi\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2025-08-18T14:53:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:53:00","slug":"the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"The behaviourist orientation to learning"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The behaviourist orientation to learning. The behaviourist movement in psychology has looked to the use of experimental procedures to study behaviour in relation to the environment.<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">John B. Watson, who is generally credited as the first behaviourist, argued that the inner experiences that were the focus of psychology could not be properly studied as they were not observable. Instead he turned to laboratory experimentation. The result was the generation of <em> the stimulus-response model<\/em>. In this the environment is seen as providing stimuli to which individuals develop responses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>In essence three key assumptions underpin this view:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Observable behaviour rather than internal thought processes are the focus of study. In particular, learning is manifested by a change in behaviour.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The environment shapes one&#8217;s behaviour; what one learns is determined by the elements in the environment, not by the individual learner.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The principles of contiguity (how close in time two events must be for a bond to be formed) and reinforcement (any means of increasing the likelihood that an event will be repeated) are central to explaining the learning process. (Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 126)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Researchers like Edward L. Thorndike build upon these foundations and, in particular, developed a S-R (stimulus-response) theory of learning. He noted that that responses (or behaviours) were strengthened or weakened by the consequences of behaviour. This notion was refined by Skinner and is perhaps better known as operant conditioning &#8211; reinforcing what you want people to do again; ignoring or punish what you want people to stop doing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In terms of learning, according to James Hartley (1998) four key principles come to the fore:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Activity is important<\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. Learning is better when the learner is active rather than passive. (&#8216;Learning by doing&#8217; is to be applauded).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Repetition, generalization and discrimination are important notions<\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. Frequent practice &#8211; and practice in varied contexts &#8211; is necessary for learning to take place. Skills are not acquired without frequent practice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Reinforcement is the cardinal motivator<\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. Positive reinforcers like rewards and successes are preferable to negative events like punishments and failures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Learning is helped when objectives are clear. <\/span> <\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Those who look to behaviourism in teaching will generally frame their activities by behavioural objectives e.g. &#8216;By the end of this session participants will be able to&#8230;&#8217;. With this comes a concern with <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.infed.org\/biblio\/b-comp.htm\">competencies<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.infed.org\/biblio\/b-curric.htm\"> product approaches to curriculum. <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>See, also: <a title=\"Learning theory: models, product and process\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/learning-theory-models-product-and-process\/\">learning<\/a> \u00b7<a title=\"The behaviourist orientation to learning\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning\/\"> the behaviourist orientation to learning<\/a> \u00b7 <a title=\"The cognitive orientation to learning\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/the-cognitive-orientation-to-learning\/\">the cognitive orientation to learning<\/a> \u00b7 <a title=\"Humanistic orientations to learning\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/humanistic-orientations-to-learning\/\">the humanistic orientation to learning<\/a> \u00b7 <a title=\"The social\/situational orientation to learning\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/the-socialsituational-orientation-to-learning\/\">the social\/situational orientation to learning<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>References<\/h4>\n<p>Hartley, J. (1998) <em>Learning and Studying. A research perspective<\/em>, London: Routledge.<\/p>\n<p>Hergenhahn, B. R. and Olson, M. H. (1997) <i>An Introduction to Theories of Learning<\/i> 5e, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.<\/p>\n<p>Merriam, S. and Caffarella (1991, 1998) <em>Learning in Adulthood. A comprehensive guide<\/em>, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.<\/p>\n<p>Skinner, B. F. (1973) <em>Beyond Freedom and Dignity<\/em>, London: Penguin.<\/p>\n<p>Tennant, M. (1988, 1997) <i>Psychology and Adult Learning<\/i>, London: Routledge.<\/p>\n<p>Watson, J. B. (1913) &#8216;Psychology as the behavourist views it&#8217;, <i> Psychological review<\/i> 20: 158.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Acknowledgement: <\/strong>The picture &#8211; server farm &#8211; is by sugree and is reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Licence. See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/sugree\/3024637789\/\"> http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/sugree\/3024637789\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to cite this article: <\/strong>Smith, M. K. (1999) &#8216;The behaviourist orientation to learning&#8217;, <i>The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. <\/i>[<a title=\"The behaviourist orientation to learning\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning\/\">https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning\/<\/a>. Retrieved: <span style=\"color: #888888;\">insert date<\/span>].<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a9 <a href=\"https:\/\/markksmith.net\/\"> Mark K. Smith<\/a> 1999\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The behaviourist orientation to learning. The behaviourist movement in psychology has looked to the use of experimental procedures to study behaviour in relation to the environment. John B. Watson, who is generally credited as the first behaviourist, argued that the inner experiences that were the focus of psychology could not be properly studied as they &#8230; <a title=\"The behaviourist orientation to learning\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about The behaviourist orientation to learning\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30385,"parent":0,"menu_order":243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"class_list":["post-2257","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The behaviourist orientation to learning - infed.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/infed.org\/dir\/welcome\/the-behaviourist-orientation-to-learning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The behaviourist orientation to learning - infed.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The behaviourist orientation to learning. 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