Behaviorism

Chapter 9

How would you define successful mastery of your lesson objectives from a behavioral view of learning?

When I think of behaviorism I immediately think of Pavolov's dog experiment. So if we use this case as an example, a successful mastery would be that the dog demonstrated the desired response. To define successful mastery in regards to behaviorism I would say that the subject has done what you intended the outcome to be. It is very observable behavior so it is easier to measure.

Consider your CSEL intervention case study.  Are there tools from a behaviorist view for either encouraging productive behaviors or discouraging undesirable behaviors that you could apply to the case?  What are they?

This is the case I have choosen to focus on:

Elementary Education Case Study

You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom community uses within their small groups, including the roles and responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project in an acceptable manner.  You observe this group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their problems.  She gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing to the group’s learning.  She constantly interrupts others in her group.  She does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations.

Behaviorism is a learning theory that explains learning in terms of observable behaviors and how they're influenced by stimulus from the environment. The undesired behavior is that Lisa is causing problems. As the teacher you have already observed that Lisa gets angry when she doesn't get what she wants. The behaviorist teacher would then condition Lisa's responses. The teacher could then explain the rewards of behaving correctly or the consequences for bad behavior. Once those consequences were given, Lisa would be conditioned to act correctly.