James Lacy, MLS, is a fact checker and researcher.
Psychologists often define learning as a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience. The psychology of learning focuses on a range of topics related to how people learn and interact with their environments.
One of the first thinkers to study how learning influences behavior was psychologist John B. Watson who suggested that all behaviors are a result of the learning process. The school of thought that emerged from Watson’s work was known as behaviorism. The behavioral school of thought proposed studying internal thoughts, memories, and other mental processes that were too subjective.
Psychology, the behaviorists believed, should be the scientific study of observable behavior. Behaviorism thrived during the first half of the twentieth century and contributed a great deal to our understanding of some important learning processes.
Are you preparing for a big test in your psychology of learning class? Or are you just interested in a review of learning and behavioral psychology topics? This learning study guide offers a brief overview of some of the major learning issues including behaviorism, classical, and operant conditioning.
Let’s learn a bit more about the psychology of learning.
Learning
Learning can be defined in many ways, but most psychologists would agree that it is a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience. During the first half of the twentieth century, the school of thought known as behaviorism rose to dominate psychology and sought to explain the learning process.
The three major types of learning described by behavioral psychology are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism was the school of thought in psychology that sought to measure only observable behaviors.
Founded by John B. Watson and outlined in his seminal 1913 paper Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It, the behaviorist standpoint held that psychology was an experimental and objective science and that internal mental processes should not be considered because they could not be directly observed and measured.
Watson’s work included the famous Little Albert experiment in which he conditioned a small child to fear a white rat. Behaviorism dominated psychology for much of the early twentieth century. While behavioral approaches remain important today, the latter part of the century was marked by the emergence of humanistic psychology, biological psychology, and cognitive psychology.
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.
For example, in Pavlov’s classic experiment, the smell of food was the naturally occurring stimulus that was paired with the previously neutral ringing of the bell. Once an association had been made between the two, the sound of the bell alone could lead to a response.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is a learning process in which the probability of a response occurring is increased or decreased due to reinforcement or punishment. First studied by Edward Thorndike and later by B.F. Skinner, the underlying idea behind operant conditioning is that the consequences of our actions shape voluntary behavior.
Skinner described how reinforcement could lead to increases in behaviors where punishment would result in decreases. He also found that the timing of when reinforcements were delivered influenced how quickly a behavior was learned and how strong the response would be. The timing and rate of reinforcement are known as schedules of reinforcement.
Observational Learning
Observational learning is a process in which learning occurs through observing and imitating others. Albert Bandura’s social learning theory suggests that in addition to learning through conditioning, people also learn through observing and imitating the actions of others.
Basic Principles of Social Learning Theory
As demonstrated in his classic “Bobo Doll” experiments, people will imitate the actions of others without direct reinforcement. Four important elements are essential for effective observational learning: attention, motor skills, motivation, and memory.
Influential People
The following are some of the major figures associated with learning and the behavioral school of psychology.
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Observational learning, also known as social learning or modeling, is a form of learning in which people acquire new behavior by watching someone else perform that behavior. The person performing the behavior is known as the model, and the learner is known as the observer. The pioneer of observational learning research is Albert Bandura, who published an important study on it in which he demonstrated that children could learn violent play behaviors by watching a demonstration of violent play.
It is important to note that observational learning is not the same thing as imitation. In imitation, an observer mimics a modeled behavior. In observational learning, behavioral changes are acquired, which means that the observer may take up a new behavior or stop a behavior, depending on how the behavior is presented by the model, and the change is retained.
The new behavior is more likely to be demonstrated if the model is someone who is viewed as an authority figure. For example, children seeing behavior modeled by a child of the same age may not acquire it, but if it is modeled by an older child or an adult, especially one who is seen as a role model in some way, the children will be more likely to pick up the new behavior.
Several components are involved in observational learning. The first is paying attention; the observer has to focus on the model to learn. Next is the ability to retain the information acquired, and to reproduce it. Finally, there must be a motivation for a behavioral change, either in the form of a motivation demonstrated by the model, or in the environment.
For example, if a child sees an older child praised for doing something, that child may replicate the behavior, or if a child sees another child being punished for displaying a particular behavior, the likelihood of reproducing that behavior declines. Likewise, if a child is in an environment where new behaviors tend to be punished, the child will be less likely to reproduce modeled behavior, fearing punishment, while children in an environment where new behaviors are praised will be more likely to reproduce modeled behavior.
Observational learning research has shown that reinforcement and punishment can moderate not necessarily the demonstration of behavior, but the likelihood of reproducing modeled behavior. This may sound like a small distinction, but it can actually be important, because it demonstrates that people can acquire behavior and information without directly being rewarded for specific behaviors. Observational learning appears to be especially common in early childhood, and may be a natural response to learning to navigate in a world which contains a huge volume of new information.
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a wiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a wiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
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Discussion Comments
Suntan12 – That is so true. This is why we need to know what is going on in our children’s lives and get to know their friends really well because their friends have a lot of influence.
I do know that if you have a good relationship with your children and they have healthy self esteem they will tend to seek out like minded friends. It is only when they suffer from a self esteem issue that they seek friends that are toxic. suntan12 February 24, 2011
Oasis11 – I agree with you. I also think that this is how kids get hooked on smoking and drugs and become promiscuous when they are young because they are modeling behavior of kids that they aspire to be like.
They usually do not have any positive role models which is why the peer group is so influential. This is also why groups like Big Brothers and Big Sisters are so important because they help kids at risk model positive behavior and see alternatives to the negativity that they may see.
It has been reported that girls that come from a home with an absentee father seek love from boys and may become promiscuous.
Boys that grow up without a father figure also develop identity issues and may channel their anger in illegal activity that leads to jail because no one is around to point them in the right direction.
Dr. Phil recently stated that the same sex parent has the biggest influence on the child of the same sex. This is why if we do not offer positive role models and limit television programming our children will find their own role models through vicarious observational learning and end up with a troubled life. oasis11 February 22, 2011
Afterall – I agree that a young child learns a lot from play.
I wanted to add that my concern involves social observational learning of negative behavior. I think that children particularly preteen and teens are most susceptible to peer pressure and can be very impressionable when they observe kids their age engaging in activities that are inappropriate but are portrayed as cool on television or in schools.
For example, we see that young girls are dressing very provocatively which is inappropriate for their age. I recently went to an Abercrombie and Fitch kids store and was appalled at a pair of denim shorts that was merchandised on a table.
They looked like underwear which is sad because these young girls are modeling the behavior of older girls by wearing provocative attire because they wanted to be accepted as cool. The store is clearly sending this message with its merchandise. afterall February 22, 2011
Many believe that children begin observational learning very shortly after birth. While they can learn in classrooms, it is also suggested that a child should not go to preschool because he or she can learn at least as much through play, either outside, with parents, or with other children.
