What is behaviorism?

What is Behaviorism?
Behaviorism or Conductism (as a false cognate) according to Wikipedia, is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things that organisms do—including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors. The behaviorist school of thought maintains that behaviors as such can be described scientifically without recourse either to internalphysiological events or to hypothetical constructs such as the mind. Behaviorism comprises the position that all theories should have observational correlates but that there are no philosophical differences between publicly observable processes (such as actions) and privately observable processes (such as thinking and feeling). In education, is the usage of reinforcement, positive or negative inorder to teach a specific learning behavior. According to some, this process that the behaviorists define is a very slow and gentle process to explain a phenomenon complicated as language learning.
Versions
Various branches of behaviorism include:
• Methodological: The behaviorism of Watson; the objective study of behavior; no mental life, no internal states; thought is covert speech.
• Radical:Skinner's behaviorism; is considered radical since it expands behavioral principles to processes within the organism
• Teleological: Post-Skinnerian. Focuses on objective observation as opposed to cognitive processes.
• Theoretical: Post-Skinnerian, accepts observable internal states.
• Biological: Post-Skinnerian, centered on perceptual and motor modules of behavior, theory of behaviorsystems.
• Psychological behaviorism: Arthur W. Staats' unifying approach to behaviorism and psychology.
Behaviorist in Relation to language
Behaviorist theory claims that language is a set of habits that can be acquired by means of conditioning. According to some, this process that the behaviorists define is a very slow and gentle process to explain a phenomenon complicated as language learning.What was important for a behaviorist's analysis of human behavior was not language acquisition so much as the interaction between language and overt behavior. According to Skinner humans could construct linguistic stimuli that would then acquire control over their behavior in the same way that external stimuli could. The possibility of such "instructional control" over behavior meant thatpossibilities of reinforcement would not always produce the same effects on human behavior as they reliably do in other animals. The focus of a radical behaviorist analysis of human behavior therefore shifted to an attempt to understand the interaction between instructional control and incident control, and also to understand the behavioral processes that determine what instructions are constructed and whatcontrol they acquire over behavior.
How Behaviorism impacts learning

This theory is relatively simple to understand because it relies only on observable behavior and describes several universal laws of behavior. Its positive and negative reinforcement techniques can be very effective– such as in treatments for human disorders including autism, anxiety disorders and antisocial behavior.Behaviorism is often used by teachers who reward or punish student behaviors.
Characteristics:
 Behaviorism impacts learning because it only uses observable behavior.
 It involves a stimulus and response. The behaviorist learning occurred through rote memorization and the isolation of facts.
 In behaviorist learning environment the teacher would instruct and the students would listen, no activeparticipation.
 Positive and negative reinforcement techniques of Behaviorism can be very effective.
Weaknesses
• Behaviourism theory has its limitations. It can not explain higher order thinking and is considered ineffective in its use as a learning theory.
• Intrinsic motivation will be more useful to students then behaviour driven learning.
Strengths
• While behaviourism is...