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Social Sci LibreTexts

7: Learning

  • Page ID
    38226
    • Anonymous
    • LibreTexts
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    • 7.1: Learning by Insight and Observation
      John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner were behaviorists who believed that all learning could be explained by the processes of conditioning—that is, that associations, and associations alone, influence learning. But some kinds of learning are very difficult to explain using only conditioning. Thus, although classical and operant conditioning play a key role in learning, they constitute only a part of the total picture.
    • 7.2: Using the Principles of Learning to Understand Everyday Behavior
      The principles of learning are some of the most general and most powerful in all of psychology. It would be fair to say that these principles account for more behavior using fewer principles than any other set of psychological theories. The principles of learning are applied in numerous ways in everyday settings. In this section we will consider how learning theories are used in advertising, in education, and in understanding competitive relationships between individuals and groups.
    • 7.3: Learning by Association- Classical Conditioning
      Pavlov identified a fundamental associative learning process called classical conditioning. Classical conditioning refers to learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (e.g., a tone) becomes associated with a stimulus (e.g., food) that naturally produces a behavior. After the association is learned, the previously neutral stimulus is sufficient to produce the behavior.
    • 7.4: Changing Behavior Through Reinforcement and Punishment- Operant Conditioning
      In classical conditioning the organism learns to associate new stimuli with natural, biological responses such as salivation or fear. The organism does not learn something new but rather begins to perform in an existing behavior in the presence of a new signal. Operant conditioning, on the other hand, is learning that occurs based on the consequences of behavior and can involve the learning of new actions.
    • 7.S: Learning (Summary)


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