The Advantages of Behaviorism

Cognitive teaching theories are predicated on the idea that the student has a mind.  I do not mean this merely glibly; it is a central tenet of cognitive teaching strategies.  Behaviorism, on the other hand, makes no such leap of faith.  And, in my opinion, that is to its credit.  Now, if you were to push me, as a behaviorist, to answer the question honestly, "Do I believe that my students have minds?"  then, eventually, I would have to say, "Yes.  I honestly believe that my students have minds."  However, as soon as I make that admission, I have to begin to ascribe qualities and tendencies to those minds.  And, being the kind of person that I am, that means more or less making the claim that my students' minds in some fashion resemble my own.   That is to say, that, on some level, we must share the same beliefs, convictions, prejudices, facts, and the whole set of propositions that combine to make up this mysterious thing that we call a "mind."  And we know, from experience, that is a fatal mistake for any teacher to make.