Out of the box: behaviourism and the mangle of practice

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychology of learning
• science and technology studies
• behaviourism
• educational research
• performativity

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, 1968).