... change. From a behaviorist perspective, learning itself should be defined as something that can be observed and documented; in other words, it should be defined as a change in behavior. This definition can especially be useful for teachers. To illustrate, consider this scenario: Your students look at you attentively as you explain a difficult concept. When you finish, you ask, "Any questions?" You look around the room, and not a single hand is raised. "Good," you think, "they all understand." But do your students understand? On the basis of what you've just observed, you really have no idea whether they do or not. Only observable behavior changes-perhaps an improvement in test scores, a greater frequency of independent reading, or a reduction in hitting and kicking-can ultimately tell us that learning has occurred. Thirdly, learning is most likely to take place when stimuli and responses occur close together in time. For stimulus-response ...

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