Introduction
At the turn of the 20th century, much like today, psychologists and researchers were concerned with the scientific evidence and the scientific basis of learning. Unlike mental events that have to be inferred, which had been an earlier focus, behavior became the focus of attention in the early part of the century because it was observable and therefore measurable. The behavioral family of theories of learning which were to dominate work in the United States for the next 60 years, explain learning in terms of environmental events. While much of the early behavioral work was developed with animals, later applications included language and social skills training for students with disabilities, clinical applications such as reducing smoking, drinking, and weight reduction, and classroom applications in areas such as programmed instruction, behavior management, and curriculum-based instruction and criterion referenced testing. While cognitive approaches have become much more dominant in the latter part of the 20th century, behavioral theories are still reflected in many classrooms, work settings, and even in the larger society.

Learning Objectives for This Unit
Describe the assumptions of behaviorism
Explain how Classical Conditioning works
Explain how Operant Conditioning works
Describe the different types of reinforcement and punishment
Describe the types of schedules of reinforcement
Apply the principles of behaviorism to solve problems in educational settings
Explain the role of feedback in learning
Apply the theoretical principles to teaching and learning problems

Learning Strategies For This Unit
Review the slides before you start the readings. (HINT: print out the slides to write down notes as you read and bring them to class.)
View the Unit 3 lectures recorded on Voicethread
Complete the readings in the order listed in the syllabus, writing down a one or two sentence synthesizes of major ideas (use the Note-taking scaffold)
Answer these questions:
What are some examples from everyday life where behavioral principles are applied?
What kinds of performance problems in organizations might be resolved from a behavioral perspective?
What questions do you have about the use and application of behavioral approaches?
Think how the principles of behaviorism apply in the context of your organizational problem. Write down your notes and bring them to class.

Advance Organizer For Next Class
Where does behaviorism as a theory “fail” to explain all forms of learning?
How does social cognitive theory explain what behaviorism does not?
Which features of social cognitive theory make it a powerful one in understanding learning and motivation?
How is self-regulation addressed in social cognitive theory?