Instructional Science 13 (1984) 141-158 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in the Netherlands FROM BEHAVIOURISM TO COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURISM TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: STEPS IN THE EVOLUTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN* 141 ROBBIE CASE and CARL BEREITER Center for Applied Cognitive Science, Ontario Institutefor Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada MSS IV6 ABSTRACT The recent history of instructional technology is traced, starting with the work of Skinner, moving on to the task analytic approach of Gagn~, and following through to contemporary efforts associated with the "cognitive revolution." It is suggested that an understanding of the process of cognitive development may enable us to build on and improve earlier approaches, by adapting them more directly to students' current levels of cognitive development, and by ensuring that we do not overtax their information processing capabilities. To illustrate and support this claim, a number of recent instructional studies are cited, some of which have utilized classic developmental tasks, and some of which have utilized conventional classroom material. The cornerstone of behaviourist learning theory was the idea that be- haviours are learned (become habitual) as a result of reinforcement. This idea was not sufficient to form the basis for an instructional technology, however, because it dealt with the strengthening of behaviours already in the repertoire of the learner, whereas the central concern of instructional technology is to pro- mote new learning. Although the early behaviourist theories advanced by Wat- son and Thorndike were influental as a source of general principles that teachers might apply, it was mainly through the work of Skinner (1954) that a genuine behaviourist technology of instruction began to develop. The crucial concept that made an instructional technology possible was the concept of shaping or successive approximations. By reinforcing behavioural variations that were in *Presented at the conference for Educational Technology in the 80's Caracas, Venezuela, June 14-18, 1982. 0020-4277/84/$ 03.00 © 1984 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.