Overview of Behaviorism:

Behaviorism is a school of thought in psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behaviors and their environmental influences, rather than focusing on internal mental processes. It originated in the early 20th century and had a significant impact on psychology, education, and learning theories.

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Key Researchers and Dates:

1. John B. Watson (1878-1958): Often considered the founder of behaviorism, Watson published the article "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It" in 1913, which marked the official beginning of behaviorism. He believed that psychology should only focus on observable behaviors and their stimuli and responses.

2. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936): Although not primarily a behaviorist, Pavlov's work on classical conditioning greatly influenced the behaviorist movement. He conducted experiments with dogs to demonstrate how neutral stimuli could be associated with reflexive responses, leading to the development of conditioned responses.

3. B.F. Skinner (1904-1990): One of the most influential behaviorists, Skinner introduced the concept of operant conditioning. He proposed that behaviors are shaped by their consequences, and individuals are more likely to repeat behaviors that are reinforced and less likely to repeat behaviors that are punished. His work emphasized the importance of reinforcement schedules and led to the development of behavior modification techniques.

Influence on Instructional Design:

Behaviorism influenced instructional design by emphasizing the importance of clear objectives, well-defined outcomes, and systematic reinforcement. This led to the development of behaviorally-focused teaching methods, such as programmed instruction and mastery learning.

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For corporate training behaviorism can especially applied to behavior based coaching like retail, hospitality or even sales environment. Often positive and negative reinforcements can have a profound impact specifically when it comes to repetitive or consistent behavior. Where it lack is in the soft skills or the areas where consistency isn't and option. It can still find a use but it wouldn't be my first choice as a primary learning theory in that situation.

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Instructional Design Example: An online training for simulating a manufacturing process for a specific task. The test would be designed around choosing the correct steps of the manufacturing process from start to finish, and as you progress through each example it's looking for the correct sequence of process to complete the task. It would offer feedback after each submitted attempt with the stimulus being feedback the response the acknowledgment from the participant whether it's positive or negative reinforcement.

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The positive reinforcement would be a large green check with an audio cue to let them know they were correct, and a red x with a buzzer noise if they run out of time or choose an incorrect step.