Category: Behaviorist Theories
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
Summary: Classical conditioning is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.
Originators and Key Contributors: First described by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist, in 1903, and studied in infants by John B. Watson (1878-1958).
Keywords: stimulus-response, psychic reflexes, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned response, respondent conditioning
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Social Learning Theory (Bandura)
Summary: Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation.
Originator: Albert Bandura
Key Terms: Modeling, reciprocal determinism
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Behaviorism
Summary: Behaviorism is a worldview that operates on a principle of “stimulus-response.” All behavior caused by external stimuli (operant conditioning). All behavior can be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or consciousness.
Originators and important contributors: John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, E. L. Thorndike (connectionism), Bandura, Tolman (moving toward cognitivism)
Keywords: Classical conditioning (Pavlov), Operant conditioning (Skinner), Stimulus-response (S-R)
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GOMS Model (Card, Moran, and Newell)
Summary: The GOMS Model is a human information processing model that predicts what skilled users will do in seemingly unpredictable situations.
Originators and proponents: Card, Moran and Newell in 1983; Bonnie John et al.
Keywords: Goals, operators, methods, selection rules
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