BEHAVIORIST APPROACH

Behaviorist theories of learning seek scientific, demonstrable explanations for simple behaviors. For these reasons, and since humans are considered to resemble machines, behaviorist explanations tend to be somewhat mechanical in nature.

For many years, these concepts from behavioral 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 stimuli, rewards, negative reinforcement, and punishments. Especially with small children and simpler tasks, behavioral principles are often effective.

They make use of one or both of two principal classes of explanations for learning: those based on contiguity simultaneity of stimulus and response events and those based on the effects of behavior reinforcement and punishment                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Behaviorism traces its roots to the early part of the 20th century, a time when many psychologists emphasized self-analysis of mental processes introspection or the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud. In contrast, researchers like Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson began to develop a framework which emphasized observable processes environmental stimuli and behavioral responses. The result was a new approach, behaviorism, which grew in popularity for some fifty years, becoming the dominant framework for experimental research. While its restrictions