Behaviorism Theory

of Reading
Catherine Ciucci &
Savannah Latimer
 Principle of Behaviorism Theory Model of Reading
Behaviorism
● “Learning should not be conceived as growth or development”
● Behaviors are learned as a result of physiological and environmental happenings - conditioning
● Learning comes from a repeated pairing of stimulus and response while using rewards and punishments
● Bottom - Up approach
*The goal of the research was to determine the behaviors involved in reading so that learner can be conditioned (trained) to
produce those behaviors.

Reading is broken down into constituent parts and are then practiced and reinforced.

Reading is programmed.
 Aligning Behaviorism Theory Model of Reading With
Historical Eras
● According to Alexander & Fox, the Behaviorism Theory Model of Reading best falls under the Conditioned
Learning Era
● Beginning Research of Reading
○ Rise Birth Rates
○ America’s New Role as a Global Leader
● New Look on the Process of Learning to Read
○ Flesch arguments against Look-Say Method
○ Children’s Language Learning = Animal Behavior
● Height of Skinnerian Behaviorism
■ Reading as an Acquired Behavior
■ Learning to Read could be broken down into parts
■ Practice and Reinforcement (Rewards and Punishments)
■ Problems seen as Deficiencies
■ Little focus on Growth and Development
■ Little Cognitive Involvement
● Reading as a Perceptual Activity
● Before a Major Dissatisfaction with Behaviorism
Conditions that prompted Behaviorism Models of Reading
● Post World War II there was a rise in populations, resulting in an increase in school populations.
○ Lead to a rise in number of children with reading difficulties
● “The outcome was a growing public pressure on the educational community to find an answer to the
“problem” of reading acquisition”
● Why Johnny Can’t Read - And What You Can Do About It by Rudolf Flesch
○ “Attacked” look and say methods
○ Phonics based instruction
○ Lead to controlled vocabulary instruction and synthetic phonics drill and practice
 Leading Researchers of Behaviorism Research of Reading
● The Spark- Rudolf Fleusch
○ Why Johnny Can’t Read - And What You Can Do About It
○ Established the Effectiveness of Phonics-Based Learning
● The Inspiration- B. F. Skinner
○ One of the most influential American psychologists
○ Skinnerian behaviorism
■ Behavior is determined by consequences that can be reinforced or diminished
● The Strengthener- David Hume
○ Empiricist- A person who supports the theory that all knowledge is based on experiences derived from the
senses
○ Desired Results Require Conditioning (Training)
● The Challenger- William James
○ “Human Thought Mattered in Human Action”
■ Introspection and Self-Questioning
○ Reading = “Mindful Habit”
■ Psychology (Introspection) vs. Physiology (Observation)
How Did Models of Behaviorism Reading Prompt New Areas
of Research About Reading Processes and/or Instruction?

● Behaviorisms still influences educational practices today

● Sparked Interest in the Reading Process

○ Cornell University’s Project Literacy program

● Groundwork for Phonics Instruction

Visual Representation