Activity 2 - Behaviourism - pros and cons

First, provide a brief description of a learning scenario in which behaviorism is the primary learning theory that drives the activity.  This could be something you have experienced firsthand, or an example you create. Remember, behaviorism is focused on an observable behavior.

• learning new vocabulary 
• ability to learn basic vocabulary in chunks
• practicing a basic, fundamental physical skill 
• hitting a baseball
• skating cross overs 
  

List the stimulus and the response in the learning scenario.  Describe the types of positive and negative reinforcement in your example. You may want to list the behavior you would observe in order to know if someone learned. 

• examples
• matching pictures with words
• matching sound with text  
• positive reinforcement? 
• immediate checkmark 
• negative reinforcement?
• attempted match is denied .. and words return to original location

List what you believe to be at least one pro and one con of developing instruction that is grounded in behaviorism.

• pros
• immediate / accurate feedback can be given so learner knows if they are making progress
• easily marked (automatically)  
• well suited for building a basic body of knowledge quickly  (memorization); terms, vocabulary, concepts
• cons
• can be prone to becoming mechanical and thus becoming quickly boring
• discourages lateral thinking, alternative solutions
• discourages discrimination / critical review of application according to complex situation  
• when to use X