Download Explaining Behavior with Learning Theory – The Behaviorists What

Explaining Behavior with Learning Theory – The Behaviorists
What Learning Theorists Believe
Learning theorists apply learning theory to human behavior. Their theory is also called behaviorism.
They assume that all behavior is learned and that all types of learning are based on past experience. It
may be past experience with two things being paired (classical), with consequences (operant), or with
watching others (observational). When we learn something by watching others we say that it was
learned through observational learning even if what we saw happen was an incident of classical
conditioning.
True behaviorists don't put any merit into the concept of personality. They assume our behavior is the
consequence of our experiences in various settings.
How Thoughts Mediate Learning
Regarding issues like domestic violence, drug use, etc., our learning is not limited to just classical and
operant conditioning or observational learning because we think about the things that we learn. For
example, we could all have the same experience and each learn something completely different from
the experience. What we make of our experiences is going to influence what we take from them. This is
the influence of cognitive learning which recognizes that our thoughts mediate our learning.
Examples
A good example of this is that while most abusers were abused as children, most abused children do
NOT become abusers. So most people who experience abuse do not respond with the same behavior
they learned.
With drug abuse the issue of genetics plays a role because there may be a genetic predisposition
towards abuse that is contributing to the outcome. Nonetheless, a child whose parents abused drugs
can come to the conclusion that they will never touch the stuff, or they may model their behavior after
their parents' behavior. Often this is because what they think of their parents' behavior influences their
own behavior.
Alternatives to the Learning Theory Explanation of Behavior
The explanation of behavior that I just presented is based on learning theory. (These theorists are also
called “behaviorists” or “cognitive-behaviorists.”) It is important that you realize that there are many
psychological schools of thoughts and theories. Some explain some things better than they explain
others. In fact, this is why so many schools of thought exist in psychology. Scientific research in
psychology does not completely support or refute any theory. All the schools/theories seem to have
strengths and weaknesses. This is also why most psychologists are eclectic. We keep in mind the
concepts of all or many of the schools of thoughts or theories. We will learn more about this next week
in the “personality” section of the course.
Other Explanations for Behavior
The explanation of behavior that I just presented is based on learning theory. (These theorists are also
called “behaviorists” or “cognitive-behaviorists.”) It is important that you realize that there are many
psychological schools of thoughts and theories. Some explain some things better than they explain
others. In fact, this is why so many schools of thought exist in psychology. Scientific research in
psychology does not completely support or refute any theory. All the schools/theories seem to have
strengths and weaknesses. This is also why most psychologists are eclectic. We keep in mind the
concepts of all or many of the schools of thoughts or theories. We will learn more about this next week
in the “personality” section of the course.