ABSTRACT
Although often labelled obsolete and ethically dubious, twentieth-century behaviourist principles of learning have been central to the development of instructional technology and the design of modern learning environments. Using Andrew Pickering’s philosophy, this article addresses behaviourism as a mangle of practice to highlight the conceptual and non-human agency involved in research on learning, and to analyse how these forms of agency allow scientific knowledge to travel from experimental research settings to teaching.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
ORCID
Antti Saari http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3777-6948
Notes
1. Martin Seligman, a central figure in the development of positive psychology, started his career in behaviourist laboratory experiments on animals (see e.g. Seligman, Maier, & Geer, Citation1968).