Behaviorism is a term that can be used to discuss the behavior of an individual over a period of time. However, our behavior is the result of our automatic actions on a daily basis. Most of the things that we do are done automatically because we do these things on a regular basis.
As I watched the video on Classical Conditioning, I realized that anyone can be conditioned to have a certain response if the right conditions are met. If we reflect on Pavlov's dog, we will realize that the dog salivated when he saw food. Over time, he was conditioned to associate the bell with food even though the food was absent.
Connection to my own experience:
Each morning, when I wake up, the first place that I go is the bathroom so that I can begin getting ready for my day. I don't think about going anywhere else when I wake up because I have gone to the restroom at the beginning of each and every day. Basically, I am a creature of habit.
Connection to an experience outside of my own:
In the classroom, students are conditioned to come in and have a seat. So as students come in, they take their seats and they face forward as they prepare for the morning lecture. But in each class, Lester put his books down and he remains standing even after the teacher arrives. As time goes on, the teacher has to condition Lester so that he will know that he must sit down in class and not jump around. Over time, Lester begins to come into the classroom and he takes his seat. The teacher does not have to condition him because his behavior has improved over time.
Hi Antoinette! I could relate to your connection of behaviorism to your own experience. I had not actually thought of that as an example of this learning theory at work until I read your post. I can only imagine how many more examples of this occur in our daily routines. James (2008) must be right when he claims "ninety-nine hundredths, or, possibly, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of our activity is purely automatic and habitual" (p. 42). How then, I wonder, do we go about incorporating new habits or breaking harmful ones?
ReplyDeleteAs far as your connection to an experience outside your own, I found your example interesting. I wonder what other behaviors we have been taught through this form of learning. How might a student respond when they previously have been conditioned to come in and sit at his or her desk and face front, but are now enrolled in a physical education class where no desks or chalk board is present to engage in his or her previous routine? What if that same student goes from his or her P.E. class to an English class, will his or her behavior change again? How might behaviorism account for this type of code switching?