The theorists that will be discussed are Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, and Clark Hull. These theorist all had different branches in the study of behavioral learning.

Pavlov is known for Classical Conditioning.

• Classical conditioning is a learning process that suggests that pairing a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus together will produce a new learned response.
• The neutral stimulus does not produce a response until it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus, but the unconditioned stimulus naturally produces a response on its own.
• When the neutral stimulus pairs up with the unconditioned stimulus they create a conditioned stimulus and then a response is created.
• The more frequently the stimulus and response is paired with each other the stronger the stimulus response habit will be.

Skinner is known for Operant Conditioning.

• Operant conditioning  is a learning process that suggests that learning is the result of a behavior being reinforced.
• A response that is followed by a reinforcer is strengthened and is more likely to reoccur.
• A reinforcer is a stimulus or event that increases the regularity of a response.
• There are two types of reinforcement
  1. Positive Reinforcement- increase response by presenting a stimulus after the response. Can be materialistic, social, activity, positive feedback, or an internal feeling.
  2. Negative Reinforcement- increases response through the removal of stimuli. This is usually unpleasant.
• There are two types of punishment
  1. Punishment 1 (positive punishment) – decrease of a response based on presenting negative stimuli.
  2. Punishment 2 (negative punishment) – removing pleasant stimuli after a response.
• There are three important conditions to operant conditioning
  1. Reinforcement must follow the responses.
  2. Reinforcement must follow the response immediately.
  3. Applying reinforcement must be consistent.

Hull is known for Intervening Variables.

• Intervening variables describes a variable that mediates the relationship between a stimulus and response.
• Hull suggested that the stimulus-response connection depends on both the kind and the amount of reinforcement.
• Habits are stimulus-response connections based on reward.
• According to Hull, responses participate in habit formation, where the process is progressive, and reward is an crucial condition.
• He also suggested that learning occurred when reinforcement of behaviors resulted in meeting some type of survival need.

Behaviorism is a learning theory.

• This theory states that learning is a relatively permanent change in observable behavior as a result of experience.
• It also involves strengthening the relationship between specific stimuli and desired responses.

Key Principles

1. Principles of learning should apply equally to different behaviors and different species. This is called equipotentiality, which means that all creatures learn in the same way.
2. The learning process can be studied most objectively when the focus of study is on stimuli and responses. Focusing on what can be observed and measured.
3. Internal processes are largely rejected from behaviorism study because they can not be directly observed and measured.
4. The environment should be manipulated to maximize potential for learning and to minimize the potential for distraction.
5. Organisms are born as blank slates on which environmental experiences and events condition us to respond.

Important Vocabulary 

• Stimulus: an event in the environment used to prompt behavior.

• Response (behavior): an observable reaction that an organism makes to a stimulus.

• Reinforcement: leads to an increase in response.

• Punishment: leads to a decrease in response based on either presenting negative stimuli or removing pleasant stimuli after a response.
• Free operant level (Baseline): initial incidence of a behavior before the learning event.

• Terminal behavior: expected behavioral response as a result of the learning event.

• Superstitious behavior: occurs when reinforcement is randomly administered. This type of reinforcement tends to reinforce whatever response has occurred immediately beforehand, and an organism will increase that response.

• Shaping: process of shaping behaviors closer and closer to the desired terminal behavior. Is also known as successive approximations.

• Chaining: a process of teaching a sequence of behaviors.

• Extinction: Decrease in response due to lack of reinforcement.