An Assignment on

Behavioral psychology

Submitted by

Abish Dahal

LC00016000024

Fourth semester

Nepal Business College

Author Note

This research paper was prepared for Psychology, BBA-3763, taught by Mr. Samir Singh Sudanshu,

professor at Nepal Business College, Janpath, BuddhabiharMarg, Biratnagar, Nepal

 BEHAVIORISM

Behaviorism is the conceptual framework underlying the science of behavior. The science
itself is often referred to as the experimental analysis of behavior or behavior analysis. Modern
behaviorism emphasizes the analysis of conditions that maintain and change behavior as well as the
factors that influence the acquisition or learning of behavior.
Behaviorists also offer concepts and analyses that go well beyond the common-sense
understanding of reward and punishment. Contemporary behaviorism provides an integrated
framework for the study of human behavior, society, and culture.
An important class of behavior is selected by its consequences. The term operant refers to
behavior that operates upon the environment to produce effects, outcomes, or consequences.
Operant behavior is said to be emitted because it does not depend on an eliciting stimulus. Examples
of operant behavior include manipulation of objects, talking with others, problem solving, drawing,
reading, writing, and many other performances. Consequences select this behavior in the sense that
specific operant’s occur at high frequency in a given setting. For instance, at the pub, a student
shows high probability of talking to his friends about sports. Presumably, this behavior occurs at
high frequency because his friends have previously shown an interest in such conversation.
The behavior of an individual is therefore adapted to a particular setting by its history of
consequences.
Contingencies of reinforcement
Behaviorists often focus on the analysis of environment-behavior relationships. The
relationship between operant behavior and its consequences defines a contingency of reinforcement.
A contingency of reinforcement is the probability that a reinforcing event will follow operant
behavior. When a person turns the ignition key of the car (operant), this behavior usually results in
the car starting (reinforcement). Turning the key does not guarantee, however, that the car will start;
perhaps it is out of gas, the battery hass run down, and so on. Thus, the probability of reinforcement
is high for this behavior, but reinforcement is not certain. The behavior analyst is interested in how
the probability of reinforcement is related to the rate and form of operant behavior. For example,
does the person continue to turn the ignition key even though the car doesn’t start? Qualities of
behavior such as persistence, depression, and elation reflect the probability of reinforcement.
 The Matching Theory
Matching theory is an important contribution of modern behaviorism. In contrast to theories of
rational choice proposed by economists and other social scientists, matching theory implies that
humans may not try to maximize utility (or reinforcement). People (and animals) do not search for
the strategy that yields the greatest overall returns; they equalize their behavior to the obtained rates
of reinforcement from alternatives. Research suggests that matching (rather than maximizing)
occurs because humans focus on the immediate effectiveness of their behavior.

Applied behaviour analysis and education

The application of behavior principles to improve performance and solve social problems is
called applied behavior analysis.. Principles of behavior change have been used to improve the
performance of university students, increase academic skills in public and high school students,
teach self-care to developmentally delayed children, reduce phobic reactions, get people to wear seat
belts, prevent industrial accidents, and help individuals stop cocaine abuse, among other things.
Behavioral interventions have had an impact on such things as clinical psychology, medicine,
education, business, counseling, job effectiveness, sports training, the care and treatment of animals,
environmental protection, and so on. Applied behavioral experiments have ranged from
investigating the behavior of psychotic individuals to designing contingencies of entire institutions.
One example of applied behavior analysis in higher education is the method of personalized
instruction. Personalized instruction is a self-paced learning system that contrasts with traditional
lecture methods that often are used to instruct college students. In a university lecture, a professor
stands in front of a number of students and talks about his or her area of expertise. There are
variations on this theme (e.g., students are encouraged to be active rather than passive learners),
basically the lecture method of teaching is the same as it has been for thousands of years.
Dr. Fred Keller (1968) recognized that the lecture method of teaching was inefficient and in
many cases a failure. He reasoned that anyone who had acquired the skills needed to attend college
was capable of successfully mastering most or all college courses. Some students might take longer
than others to reach expertise in a course, but the overwhelming majority of students would be able
to do so. If behavior principles were to be taken seriously, there were no bad students, only
ineffective teaching methods.
In a seminal article, titled ‘‘Good-bye, teacher. . . ,’’ Keller outlined a college teaching
method based on principles of operant conditioning. Keller’s personalized system of instruction
(PSI) involves arranging the course material in a sequence of graduated steps (units or modules).
 Each student moves through the course material at his or her own pace and the modules are
set up to ensure that most students have a high rate of success learning the course content. Some
students may finish the course in a few weeks, others require a semester or longer.
Course material is broken down into many small units of reading and (if required)
laboratory assignments. Students earn points (conditioned reinforcement) for completing unit tests
and lab assignments. Mastery of lab assignments and unit tests is required. If test scores are not
close to perfect, the test (in different format) must be taken again after a review of the material for
that unit. The assignments and tests build on one another so they must be completed in a specified
order.
Comparison studies have evaluated student performance on PSI courses against the
performance of students given computer-based instruction, audio-tutorial methods, traditional
lectures, visual-based instruction, and other programmed instruction methods. College students
instructed by PSI outperform students taught by these other methods when given a common final
examination. Despite this positive outcome, logistical problems in organizing PSI courses such as
teaching to mastery level (most students get an A for the course), and allowing students more time
than a semester to complete the course, have worked against widespread adoption of PSI in
universities and colleges.
Conclusion
Modern behaviorism emphasizes the context of behavior and reinforcement. The biological
history of an organism favors or constrains specific environment-behavior interactions. This
interplay of biology and behavior is a central focus of behavioral research. Another aspect of context
concerns alternative sources of reinforcement. An individual selects a specific option based on the
relative rate of reinforcement. This means that behavior is regulated not only by its consequences
but also by the consequences arranged for alternative actions.
Finally, applied behavior analysis, as a technology of behavior change, is having a wide
impact on socially important problems of human behavior.