Theories of

Learning
 Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Theory

 Late 1800s and early 1900s

 Pavlov observed that if meat powder was placed in or

near the mouth of a hungry dog, the dog will salivate.

 The meat powder is referred to as an

 unconditioned stimulus.

 Salivation occurred automatically in the presence

of meat, this response called unconditioned

response.
 Neutral stimulus (ringing of the bell) paired with
an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus
becomes a conditioned stimulus and gains the
power to prompt a response similar to that
produced by the unconditioned stimulus.

Several Principles of Classical Conditioning

 Stimulus Generalization
 Discrimination

 Extinction
 B. F. Skinner Operant Conditioning
Theory
 Focused on the relation between behavior and
its consequences.
 The use f pleasant and un pleasant
consequences to change behavior is often
referred to as operant conditioning
 reinforcement is defined as any behavioral
consequence that strengthens( that is,
increases the frequency of) a behavior.
• Positive reinforcers are events that are
presented after a response has been
performed and that increases the behavior or
activity they follow.
• Negative reinforcers are escapes from
unpleasant situations or ways of preventing
something unpleasant from occurring.
• Primary reinforcers are those that satisfy
basic human needs.
• Secondary reinforcers are those that require
reinforcing power because they have been
associated with primary reinforcers.
Social Learning Theory

 It is a major outgrowth of the behavioral

learning theory tradition and developed by
Albert Bandura
 Focuses to a much greater degree on the
effects of cues on behavior and in internal
mental processes, emphasizing the effects of
thought on action and action on thought
Four Phases
 Attention. An observer must attend to and
recognize the distinctive features of the
model’s response because mere exposure
to a
model does not ensure acquisition of
behavior.
 Retention. Reproduction of the desired
behavior implies that a student symbolically
retains the observed behavior.
 Motor reproduction processes.
symbolic coding produces internal
models of the
environment that guide the observer’s
 Motivational Processes. Although an
observer acquires and retains the ability to
perform modeled behavior, there will be no
overt performance unless conditions are
favorable.