Behaviourism — Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner

Overview

Behaviourism is one of the most heavily tested theories in the Child Development and Pedagogy section of MP TET. It explains learning as a change in observable behaviour resulting from stimulus-response associations—without needing to look inside the "black box" of the mind. For a classroom teacher, behaviourist principles translate directly into everyday strategies: reinforcement, punishment, drill-practice, and habit formation.

Three names dominate this topic: **Ivan Pavlov** (classical conditioning), **Edward Thorndike** (connectionism / trial-and-error), and **B.F. Skinner** (operant conditioning). MP TET questions typically ask you to match the psychologist with the correct experiment, identify the type of conditioning in a classroom scenario, or recall Thorndike's laws. Master the distinctions and you can score full marks on 2–3 questions easily.

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Key Concepts

• **Behaviourism's core assumption:** Learning is the formation of associations between stimuli and responses; internal mental states are not necessary to explain behaviour.

• **Classical Conditioning (Pavlov):** A neutral stimulus, when repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus, eventually produces a conditioned response on its own. Learning here is *involuntary* and *reflexive*.

• **Operant Conditioning (Skinner):** Behaviour is shaped by its consequences—reinforcement increases behaviour; punishment decreases it. Learning here is *voluntary* and *goal-directed*.

• **Thorndike's Connectionism:** Learning is a trial-and-error process; correct responses get "stamped in" by satisfaction, wrong responses get "stamped out" by discomfort.

• **Reinforcement vs Punishment:** Reinforcement (positive or negative) *strengthens* behaviour; punishment (positive or negative) *weakens* behaviour. Confusing these is a common exam trap.

• **Schedules of Reinforcement (Skinner):** Continuous vs intermittent; fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-interval—each affects response rate and resistance to extinction.

• **Extinction:** When the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus (classical) or when reinforcement stops (operant), the learned response fades.

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Key Facts / Must-Remember Points

| Psychologist | Experiment / Setup | Key Term(s) | |--------------|-------------------|-------------| | **Pavlov** | Dog + bell + food | Classical conditioning, UCS, UCR, CS, CR | | **Thorndike** | Cat in puzzle box | Trial-and-error, Law of Effect, Law of Exercise, Law of Readiness | | **Skinner** | Rat/pigeon in Skinner Box | Operant conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, shaping |