ABSTRACT
Behaviourism is based around the central notion of a response being made to a particular stimulus. Behaviourism is based upon the simple notion of a relationship between a stimulus and a response, which is why behaviourist theories are often referred to as 'stimulus-response' theories. Positive reinforcement is a powerful method for controlling the behaviour of both animals and people. The notion of shaping refers to a technique of reinforcement that is used to teach animals, or humans, behaviours that they have never performed before. To apply models of behaviourism in the classroom, it is necessary to have clear ideas of the behaviours to be encouraged and reinforced. Behaviourism, then, is based on the idea that learning is a change in behaviour and that changes in behaviour occur as a response to a stimulus of one kind or another. Behaviourists see learning as a relatively permanent, observable change in behaviour as a result of experience.
