Behaviourism is a learning theory that considers language to be a learned behaviour or habit which we acquire through a process of stimuli-response and positive reinforcement or punishment. Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, and B.F. Skinner are considered the pioneers of this theory. They considered learning as a matter of “habit formation.” For them, effective learning was a matter of reinforcing good habits, while errors were seen as bad habits. This article explores the foundations and key concepts of behaviourism theory.
1- Behaviourism and Operant Conditioning by Skinner
Skinner posited that learning happened through a three-step reinforcement cycle. This cycle starts with a stimulus, which triggers a response in the organism—in our case, humans. If the response was correct, it was to be reinforced positively; however, if the response was incorrect, it was to be punished or negatively reinforced.
He invented the “operant conditioning chamber,” a maze with levers, where rats and pigeons were put in order to study them. The process involved the animals trying to get out of the maze by going through it. At some points, there were levers that the animals were supposed to press. If they pressed the right lever, they got food (positive reinforcement), but if they pressed the wrong one, they got an electric shock (negative reinforcement). Over time, the animals learned to press the correct lever and stay away from the wrong ones.
Operant conditioning: the use of pleasant consequences to control the occurrence of a behaviour. Skinner said, “the reinforced actions are more likely to be repeated.”
Skinner understood language as a series of habits to be acquired. He denied that the mind or internal cognitive processes could have any kind of role in learning because, to him, internal processes could not be observed. They were rendered ineffective to analyze. Instead, he posited that we should focus on the overt observable effects of those mental states and study them as proof of learning.
Contrary to Watson, who focused on the stimulus that produced a response, Skinner focused on the behaviour (or the operant) and how it was reinforced. Positive reinforcement (praise, rewards, etc.) strengthens behaviour or increases the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated. Negative reinforcement or punishment pushes a child away from a behaviour.
2- Classical Conditioning by Pavlov :
Pavlov observed that if a piece of meat was placed in or near the mouth of a hungry dog, the latter would salivate because the meat provoked this response automatically.
- The piece of meat is referred to as an unconditioned stimulus.
- This response of salivating is referred to as an unconditioned response.
- Other stimuli, such as a bell, will not produce salivation because these stimuli have no effect on the response in question. They are referred to as neutral stimuli.
Pavlov’s experiment showed that if a previously neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and gains the power to prompt a response similar to that produced by the unconditioned stimulus. In other words, after the bell and the meat are presented together, the ringing of the bell alone causes the dog to salivate. This response is referred to as Classical Conditioning.
3- The Law of Effect by Thorndike:
In many of his experiments, Thorndike placed cats in boxes from which they had to escape to get food. He observed that over time, cats learned how to get out of the box more and more quickly by repeating the behaviour that led to escape and not repeating the behaviours that were ineffective. Thorndike developed his Law of Effect, which states that “if an act is followed by a satisfying change in the environment (favourable effect), the likelihood that the act will be repeated in similar situations increases,” and vice versa.
