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Behaviourist theories of learning Much of what we’ve learned so far in this chapter has related to learning behaviour. For example, I’ve mentioned attending classes, doing independent study, and working as part of a study group, all behaviours that can help you to learn. Some of the earliest psychologists were known as the behaviourists; behaviourism has its roots in the late nineteenth century, when psychologists such as Edward Thorndike and John B. Watson proposed that psychology should be studied through the observation of behaviour, rather than through the introspective methods of examining thoughts and feelings that had previously been popular. This shifted psychology into a new era, and formed the foundations for the scientific study of psychology as we recognise it today. Pavlov’s dogs and classical conditioning Learning was at the heart of the behaviourist movement, as first animal behaviourists and then psychologists carried out experiments to see how behaviour could be shaped; changes in behaviour were viewed as evidence that learning had taken place. For example, you may be familiar with Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov’s work on a type of learning known as classical conditioning. Pavlov (1927) was interested in digestive processes in dogs, and during his research, he noticed that the dogs in his laboratory started to salivate before they were given their food. To investigate why, he set up a now famous experiment, in which he rang a bell just before feeding the animals. Prior to the experiment, ringing the bell had no effect on the dogs, whereas they would naturally salivate in response to food. However, after a few trials in which the bell was rung just before Pavlov brought the food, the dogs started to salivate in response to the bell alone. Salivation here is a learned behaviour; the dogs have learned to associate the bell with the food. Rats, cats, pigeons, and operant conditioning This discovery of classical conditioning as a basic form of learning led to attempts to understand more complex behaviour. Behaviourists such as Skinner (1943) have demonstrated that animals such as rats, pigeons, cats and even octopuses can be trained to behave in ways that they would not normally, such as pressing a lever or a button to obtain food, finding their way around a maze, or solving problems, through a process known as operant conditioning. The principle of operant conditioning is that animals learn to repeat behaviours that are rewarded (for example, being given food), and to reduce behaviours that are punished (for example, being given an electric shock, or having food removed). Rewards and punishments are considered to reinforce the behaviour; Skinner’s later work showed that reward was far more effective for learning than punishment. The early work on conditioning was carried out with animals, but later studies also showed that humans learn through reinforcement too. If you have a loyalty card for your favourite shop, where you can collect points to spend on future purchases, then you have experience of this for yourself. Points on your loyalty card are rewards, and they motivate you to visit the shop more often and to spend more money; the retailer uses the principles of operant conditioning to change your behaviour. Behavioural theory suggests that we learn by associating stimuli (such as the logo of the shop, or the products you want to buy) with a response (our behaviour, such as making the purchase) and with the consequences (reinforcement of our behaviour, such as the loyalty card rewards), as shown in Figure 3.1. So how can this be related to learning at university? Can your learning be improved simply by rewarding it? And how can you use what you know to improve your own learning? Studying at university: different behaviours, same rewards Throughout your school years, you probably got used to working for grades, particularly if you were successful, and in this context, grades can be thought of as a reward for learning. Achieving high

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