Behaviorist Theory

Introduction

Behaviourism is an approach to psychology and learning that emphasizes observable

measurable behaviour. The behaviourist theory of animal and human learning focuses only
on objectively observable behaviours and discounts mental activities. Behaviour theorists
define learning as a more or less permanent change in behaviour.

Theoretical Assumptions
The theoretical assumptions underlying the Behaviourist Theory are as follows:

●​ Language learning is a habit formation resembling the formation of other habits.

In other words, Language is learned in the way in which other habits are
learned.
●​ Language learning is nothing more than the acquisition of new behaviour or
knowledge. It takes place when experience or practice causes a change in a
person's knowledge or behaviour.
●​ Language learning is an external event because it involves an observable change
in behaviour brought about by the stimuli coming from the environment. It does
not involve any unobservable change in mental knowledge. All behaviours can
be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or
consciousness.
●​ Only human beings have the capacity for language learning. They acquire a
language as discrete units of habits, independently trained, not as an integrated
system.

Background of the Theory

The behaviourist school of thought ran concurrent with the psychoanalysis movement in
psychology in the 20th century. The Behaviourist Theory was first introduced in 1913 by the
American psychologist John B. Watson. Watson is credited by some with coining the term
"behaviourism". Watson’s view was largely influenced by the research of the Russian
physiologist Ivan P. Pavlov during the early 1900s. The most influential version of this theory
is put forward by B. F. Skinner in 1959. His version of Behaviourism is best known as Radical
Behaviourism. Skinner, sought to give ethical grounding to behaviourism, relating it to
pragmatism.​
Types of Behavioural Learning
Experiments by the behaviourists identify conditioning as a universal learning process.
Conditionings are primarily of two types, each yielding a different behavioural pattern:​

1.​ Classical conditioning: This conditioning was first described by the Russian
physiologist Ivan Pavlov, in 1903 through his experiment on dogs. The general idea
of Pavlov’s experiment is this: Pavlov presented dogs with food to examine their
salivary response. He rang a bell just before serving the food. At first, the dogs did
not salivate until the food is served. However, when the bell was rung at repeated
feedings, the sound of bell alone caused the dogs to salivate.

Thus in classical conditioning an unconditioned stimulus (food) is paired with a

conditioned stimulus (bell). When they repeatedly occur in pair, the conditioned
stimulus acquires the capacity to produce a conditioned response (salivation).
Subsequently, the conditioned stimulus alone can produce a conditioned response.

Subsequently, it was studied in infants by John B. Watson. Like Pavlov, he was

originally involved in animal research but later became involved in the study of
human behaviour. Watson believed that humans are born with a few reflexes and the
emotional reactions of love and rage. All other behaviour is established through
stimulus-response associations through conditioning.

Watson demonstrated classical conditioning in an experiment involving a young child

(Albert) and a white rat. Originally, Albert was unafraid of the rat; but Watson
created a sudden loud noise whenever Albert touched the rat. Because Albert was
frightened by the loud noise, he soon became conditioned to fear and avoid the rat.
The fear was generalised to other small animals. Watson then extinguished the fear
by presenting the rat without the loud noise. Some accounts of the study suggest
that the conditioned fear was more powerful and permanent than it really was.

2.​ Instrumental or Operant Conditioning: Expanding on Watson’s basic

stimulus-response model, Skinner developed a more comprehensive view of
conditioning, known as operant conditioning. Skinner’s model was based on the
premise that effective language behaviour consists of
producing responses (behaviours) to the correct stimuli (situation). When
a response is followed by a reinforcer (reward) then it is conditioned to occur again.
Thus operant conditioning was used by Skinner to describe the effects of
the consequences of a particular behaviour on the future occurrence of the
behaviour. Reinforcement and punishment are the core ideas of operant
conditioning:
●​ Reinforcement: A reinforcer is a stimulus (encouraging activity) that
increases the frequency/occurrence of a response it follows. The act of
following a response with a reinforcer is called
reinforcement. Reinforcement (prize) can be classified into the following
types:

Positive Reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is the encouragement

of a desired response (behaviour) by a pleasant stimulus. It increases
the probability of the reoccurrence of the same response to the same
situation. For example: If the child produces an alternative which is
appropriate to the situation, the mother will reward him/her with
some sign of approval (such as smiles, hugs, or food). This approval or
reward will encourage him to repeat the same response to the same
situation.

Negative Reinforcement: Negative reinforcement is the

discouragement of an undesired response (behaviour) by an
unpleasant stimulus. It decreases the probability of the reoccurrence
of the same response to the same situation. For example: If the child
produces an utterance which is inappropriate to the situation, he/she
will not be rewarded. Consequently, the child will not repeat the same
response to the same situation.

●​ Punishment: Punishment is used to erase undesirable behaviours by

presenting a distressing stimulus when the behaviour
occurs. Punishment can be classified into the following types:

Positive Punishment: An undesirable stimulus is received after a

behaviour occurs. For example, if the learner fails to follow the class
then he will be given detention.

Negative Punishment: A desirable stimulus is lost or removed after a

behaviour occurs. For example, if the learner fails to follow the class
rules then he will not be given any recess hour.

​
Thus, it is quite visible that the Behaviourist Theory (as propounded
by Skinner) is represented as a “stimulus – response – reinforcement”
chain. For better understanding, this chain can be demonstrated in the
following illustration:
 The Behaviourist Theory explains two major aspects. It firstly explains
how the child produces speech. It secondly explains how he/she
understands speech. Positive and negative reinforcement contain
various adult utterances which function as discriminating stimuli for
the production of the child’s responses (behaviours). When the child
hears these adult utterances he/she tries to imitate them to produce
his/her speech. The child earns the ability to understand a speech
when he/she becomes able to produce an utterance which is
appropriate to the situation.

Drawbacks
Although sound in many ways, the theory is not free from limitations. The shortcomings of
this theory are as follows:

1.​ the Behaviourist Theory completely ignores the inborn aspect of human knowledge.
2.​ the theory puts over-emphasis on the role of imitation and ignores completely the
creativity of the child, making him/her somewhat passive viewer than actor in the
process of language acquisition.
3.​ the Behaviorist Theory seems to be somewhat mechanical in nature, since the child
is considered a passive object.
4.​ it cannot develop the child’s problem-solving skills. The child may find himself/herself
in a situation where the stimulus to the correct response does not occur. In such
cases, the child won’t be able to respond.
5.​ it fails to explain how the child understands utterances he/she has never heard
before, or he/she produces new and unique utterances.
6.​ the Behaviourist Theory cannot explain how the child proceeds in his/her journey of
language acquisition at such a young age.

Conclusion
The Behaviourist Theory came under fierce attack when Chomsky proposed his Innate
Theory in 1959. Chomsky’s theory strongly proved that the child is not a tabula rasa; rather
he is born with an innate capability to learn language. Nevertheless, along with all of its
limitations, the Behaviourist Theory was able to govern the direction of the psychological
explanation of language acquisition quite productively. After its emergence, this theory was
passively accepted by the influential Bloomfieldian structuralist school of linguistics and
produced some well-known models of foreign language teaching, most notably, the Audio
Lingual Method. For many years, the concepts from the Behaviourist Theory formed the
basis of most of the learning theory applied in child rearing and in classrooms. Parents and
teachers still find that, in many instances, individuals do learn when provided with the
appropriate blend of stimulus, reinforcement, and punishments. Especially with small
children and simpler tasks, behaviourist principles are often effective. Thus, the contribution
of the Behaviourist Theory as an explanation of child language development cannot be
overlooked altogether.