1. Behaviorism
By Nate Underwod

2. Table of Contents
• What is behaviorism?
• A little more about those who
founded behaviorism!
• Classroom Application and
Importance!
• Classroom Use and My Teaching
Goals!
All Finished??

3. Behaviorism…
• The idea that anything a learner
(student) does; including acting,
thinking, or feeling, is considered a
behavior
• Primarily concerned with observable
and measurable aspects of human
behavior
• Use of rewards and punishments are
common
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4. Behaviorism (cont.)
• Founded by John Watson and B.F. Skinner
• There are 2 different types of conditioning:
classical and operant
• Classical conditioning: when they train the
mind to bring response from a stimulus that
previously brought a different response
• Operant conditioning: use of the punishment
and reward system to achieve desired
behaviors
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5. John B. Watson
• John Watson is considered to be the Father of
Behaviorism
• Lived from 1878 until 1958
• He believed that behaviors were created by
stimuli with specific responses
• B. F. Skinner is recognized as another founder
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6. More Key Figures
• Ivan Pavlov(1849-1936)
– Studied reflexes and conditioning as a form of
learning
– Studied the effects of an environment on a learner
– His work was often cited in Watson’s research
• Clark Hull (1884-1952)
– Furthermore researched behaviorism while
drawing off of Pavlov and Watson’s findings
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7. Practical Classroom Application
• Contracts: agreement between students and
teachers of what behavior is acceptable
• Consequences: occur immediately after a
behavior (positive of negative)
• Positive Reinforcement: example… smiling for a
correct answer.
• Negative Reinforcement: giving a homework pass
to students with perfect attendance
• Extinction: working to remove a behavior from
the classroom (ex. talking during class)
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8. Why its important in the Classroom!
• It is rewarding for both the students and the
instructors
• The students work to achieve positive results
which leave them better off, and with higher
grades
• When I was a student, I found the reward and
punishment system to be the most productive
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9. My Use of Behaviorism
• I feel that behaviorism will be very important in
my classroom, because if I do not positively
reinforce a desired behavior, then it may end of
extinct.
• I plan to use the contract method because it will
set the ground rules and goals for the year early
on.
• Punishment will also be key, because that is what
it took for me to really learn from my mistakes
when I was in 4th grade myself
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10. Teaching Goals
• By using the methods, I don’t only aim to
achieve excellence in the classroom, but also
out of the classroom.
• That extra effort to effect the students outside
of the classroom as well, is where you can
really leave a lasting impression on a young
students life.
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11. Hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about
Behaviorism and my application of it in the
classroom…
Don’t forget to check out my review word search
for a fun treat! 
• http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/
606569/behaviorism.htm