Behaviorist

1. (30 points) Study and listen to the opening 16 measures of the second movement of Beethoven’s “Pathetique” sonata.  Write two relatively brief posts.  In the first post describe how you would teach a student to play the work using the behaviorist/stimulus response approach.  In the second post describe how you would  teach a student to play the work using the cognitivist/gestalt approach.

Beethoven Pathetique Sonata

Beethoven Pathetique Music

A behaviorist teacher tends to focus on simple learning situations.  They also think that behavior changes are due to the manipulation of environmental factors.  They believe that learning is a "bond" between a stimulus and a behavior.  A behaviorist teacher who is teaching the second movement to Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata would keep these things in mind as they develop their lesson plan.  

The behaviorist teacher would compare the features of this piece to a piece that the student already knows.  The students might already know correct fingerings to another one of Beethoven's pieces.  They will then learn this piece that might use the same notes but utilize a different fingering for the piece.  The student might still wish to draw upon the fingering techniques of the old piece.  

The behaviorist teacher might use a listening example for the students.  The listening example of the second movement of the Pathetique Sonata would be the environmental stimulus and how the student takes that listening example and utilizes it within their performance would be the response to the stimulus.