William G. Huitt
Educational Psychology Interactive
Last rev: June 2012
Behavioral Learning Theory
Focus: Direct connection of environmental
stimuli to overt behavior of organism
Biological Maturation: Recognized as existing,
but not considered relevant to describe
learning.
Behavioral Learning Theory
Learning: defined as “the relatively permanent
change in behavior brought about as a result of
experience or practice.”
While learning is an internal event, it is not
recognized as learning until it is displayed by
overt behavior.
Behavioral Learning Theory
Represented as an S-R paradigm; organism is
treated as a “black box.”
Stimulus
(S)
Organism
Response
(O)
(R)
Behavioral Learning Theory
Assumption: Direct connection between stimuli
and overt behavior
• Contiguity: association learning
• Classical conditioning: involuntary behavior
• Operant conditioning: voluntary behavior
Contiguity Theory
Major theorist: E. R. Guthrie
Basic principle: any stimulus and response
connected in time and/or space will tend to be
associated.
Contiguity Theory
Examples:
Baseball player
associates particular
wrist band with
hitting home runs
Contiguity Theory
Examples:
Student associates
study technique
with making good
grades
Contiguity Theory
Guthrie’s theory: one of the foundations for the
development of more cognitively-oriented
neural network theory
Classical Conditioning Theory
First type of learning discovered within
behaviorist tradition (hence the name classical)
Major theorist: Ivan Pavlov—Russian scientist
trained in biology and medicine (as was his
Austrian contemporary, Sigmund Freud)
Classical Conditioning Theory
Pavlov studied digestive system of dogs
Classical Conditioning Theory
Pavlov studied digestive system of dogs
Became intrigued with the observation that
dogs deprived of food began to salivate when
one of his assistants walked into the room
Classical Conditioning Theory
Pavlov studied digestive system of dogs
Found that dogs were learning to associate two
stimuli:
• One that automatically and reflexively
elicited a response
• One that was attended to
by the organism
Operant Conditioning
The study of the impact of consequences on
voluntary behavior.
Major theorists
– Edward Thorndike
– John Watson
– B. F. Skinner
Dominant learning paradigm
in USA psychology from the
1930s to the 1950s
Operant Conditioning
Classical conditioning: S-R paradigm
Operant conditioning: R-S paradigm
Response
(R)
Organism
Stimulus
(O)
(S)
In both cases, organism is
treated as a “black box.”
Behavioral Learning Theories
Contiguity theory: stimuli and responses are
associated, sometimes in somewhat random ways
Classical conditioning: stimulus “elicits” the
response.
Operant conditioning: “emitted”
response followed by stimulus that
changes the likelihood the response
will occur again (i.e., increases or
decreases)
Behavioral Learning Theories
To learn more about classical conditioning.
To learn more about operant conditioning.