The Psychology of Learning

By Kendra Cherry
Updated May 06, 2016

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 the 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 was 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 conditioning and
operant conditioning.
Let's learn a bit more about the psychology of learning.
What is 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.
What is 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 View 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 twentiethcentury. While behavioral approaches remain important today, the later part of the century was
marked by the emergence of humanistic psychology, biological psychology and cognitive
psychology.
Learn more in this brief overview of behaviorism.
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. Learn more
about how classical conditioning works as well as some of the fundamental principles of
classical conditioning.
Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a learning process in which the probability of 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. 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.
5. Influential People in the Psychology of Learning

The following are some of the major figures associated with learning and the behavioral school
of psychology.

Edward Thorndike

Ivan Pavlov

John B. Watson

B.F. Skinner

Albert Bandura

6. Key Learning Terms

Classical Conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus

Unconditioned Response

Conditioned Response

Fixed-interval Schedule

Fixed-ratio Schedule

Variable-interval Schedule

Variable-ratio Schedule

Behaviorism

Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

Negative Reinforcement

Punishment

Positive Punishment

Negative Punishment