Behaviorism
BEHAVIORISM
Behaviorism is a learning theory by B.F. Skinner that states that animals and humans can be conditioned with positive or negative reinforcements to perform an desired behavior. A positive reinforcement is a stimulus that encourages a behavior. Of course, negative reinforcements are stimuli that encourages a behavior, once it is removed. Operant conditioning, as termed by Skinner is the changing of a behavior because of the consequences of doing that behavior. The behavior is changes once a positive reinforcement has been given.
B.F. SKINNER
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990) is an American psychologist and is the father of behaviorism. In 1953, Skinner created the teaching machine after visiting his daughter's math class. The teaching machine gave students random math problems and immediate feedback after each problem. The immediate feedback would quickly let students know if they are right or wrong and from there, students could practice and rework the problems they missed. Skinner's theory has been instrumental within education.