Behaviorism Essay -- Psychology Psychological Essays

Background and Description of Behaviorism in Relation to acquireThe background of behaviorism is associated with many scientists. Behaviorism started back in cd BC with Aristotle. Aristotle believed in association and that the objects being associated are similar, or opposite, or near each other. Then, behaviorism came into play with Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. He studied the behavior of dogs and how they would salivating (conditioned reflex) when shown just the food for thought dish without food (conditioned stimulus or conditioned response). Next, John B. Watson wrote a book called Behavior, where he described psychology as the process where behavior can be predicted and controlled. Watson also studied how learning can be achieved through a repeated stimulus and specific responses. Edward Thorndike described behaviorism as a description of a mans mind is that it is his connection system, adapting the responses of thought, feeling, and challenge that he makes to the sit uation that he meets. Thorndike also studied how the law of termination and law of exercise affects a persons learning abilities. In other words, if an individual is positively reinforced, without punishment, and if a stimulus was followed by a response with repeated practice, stronger learning would coin place. One of the main behaviouristic that will be discussed is B.F. Skinner. Skinner studied what individuals do and dont do in relation to behavior. He also believed that the actions that people take are in response to whatever happened to them in their past. Skinner came up with the idea of operant conditioning. In operant conditioning, the organisms behavior (response) is controlled by the use of positive reinforcement (stimulus) (Behaviorism As a ... ...orida Harcourt Brace & Company.Nnedu, Cordelia. (1997, November 19) Auburn University Educational Foundations, Leaderships, and Technology. EM 600 Behaviorism. Retrieved on October 29, 1999 from the World massive nett htt p//www.auburn.edu/academic/education/eflt/beh.htmlOrmrod, Jeanne, E. (1995). Human Learning. New Jersey Prentice-Hall, Inc.Shrock, Sharon, A.(1995). A Brief History of Instructional Development. In G. Anglin (Ed.), Instructional technology Past, stick in and Future (p. 15-16). Englewood, CO Libraries Unlimited, Inc.White, Andy. (1995) Theorist of Behaviorism. Retrieved on October 29, 1999 from the World Wide Web http//www.coe.missouri.edu/t377/btheorists.htmlUHCL Home Page Behaviorism As A Learning Theory. (1995, June 13) Retrieved on October 29, 1999 from the World Wide Web http//inst.cl.uh.edu/inst5931/Behaviorism.html