Educational Theories - Behaviorist; Cognitive; Constructivis

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The three theories you are researching are the key theories that have been used as models guiding educational practice, theory and research.

Behaviorist Theories:

The first listed Behaviorist is the one that has been around the longest going back to John B. Watson. He is often referred to as the father of behaviorism setting the stage for behaviorism, which as Kendra Cherry states "soon rose to dominate psychology" (Cherry, nd). Watson believed in order for psychology to move forward then psychology would have to deal with variable that could be empirically defined. Not speculation but empirical, observable behaviors becoming the primary characteristic of behaviorism. My personal opinion is this is when psychology became a science since they were no longer merely speculating but using empirical evidence.

Strengths of the behaviorist theory:

Some of the principals of this theory would certainly have to weigh in as being among its strengths beginning with repetition; small, concrete, progressively sequenced tasks, and reinforcement (both positive and negative). (Lefrancois, 1988).

Applications of the behaviorist theory:

According to Dr. Christopher Heffner "the biggest strength of behaviorism and the resulting social learning and social cognitive theories are their ease of application to real world examples." (2002). since information gathered by the actual observation of behavior is factual not just conceptual then to actually apply them is easier. Applications of the behaviorist theory can be found in many places such as the classroom; the workplace and in therapy.

Work impact.

The biggest influence in the workplace this theory has is most likely on attendance. Take the time clock for example. You are rewarded or punished based on you accurately punching in at the prescribed time. Point systems are used in some agencies to reward attendance, customer service, and production just to name a few. ...