IB Learning Perspective Review

IB - The Learning Perspective
Introduction

The study of how humans learn has dominated behaviorism. Behaviorism developed
simultaneously in Russia and in the United States, becoming a major force in psychology
in the first part of the 20th century. Traditionalist behaviorists believed that all organisms
learn in the same way, and that all learning could be explained by the processes of
classical and operant conditioning. Psychologists working within this perspective have
investigated the ways in which behavior changes, usually using laboratory experiments,
and often using non-human animals.

In this unit students will examine the foundations of behaviorism, and then they will look
at how the learning perspective has developed over the last fifty years, taking into
consideration cognitive, biological and social factors that contribute to learning.

You need to be able to:

Describe and evaluate the cultural context and development, the conceptual framework, the
methodology, and the application of the learning model.

It was developed in the United States in the ‘50s. It was a firm contrast to Freud’s psychoanalytical
concepts because it relied solely, utterly, and firmly on empiricism (experimental method). See
“Key concepts/Ideas” and “Key theorists and their contributions”

Describe and evaluate theories and empirical studies within this perspective.

See “Key theorists and their contributions”

Explain how cultural, ethical, gender, and methodological considerations affect the
interpretation of behavior from a learning perspective.

The different learning styles of people, cultures, and genders can affect interpretation of a behavior
as some might not respond to the reward or punishment. Genders and cultures could also respond
differently to a stimulus or have a different reaction to the stimulus making the outcome of a
generalized public unclear. Also the fact that different cultures value and fear different things. If a
culture or a certain gender is taught to fear something, it will probably be easier to develop a phobia
to it and be harder to rid a person of that phobia.

Compare theories, empirical studies and the conceptual framework of this model with the other
perspectives.

Learning Psychoanalytical
People develop through conditioned with People develop through their
stimuli, rewards, and punishments developmental sexual stages
Learning focuses on behavior due to the Psychoanalytical focuses on behavior with
environment finalized or unfinalized psycho-sexual
stages
Focuses on the experimental method and Uses case studies
observational
Dreams are not empirical Dreams important in analysis
Only focuses on reason for simple behavior Mainly used for therapeutic purposes
and some predictive value of behavior
Identify and explain the strengths and limitations of learning theory explanations of behavior.
See “Strengths and weaknesses”
Explain the extent to which free will and determinism are integral in this perspective.
The learning perspective is a very deterministic science. Actually, this is one of the main
assumptions of behaviorism. Behaviorists believe that all behavior is trained, conditioned,
reinforced, and essentially reflexive. Hence, free will is basically impossible if looked at through
the lenses of an extreme behaviorist. This is because behaviorists decide to be reductionist,
reducing everything down to only observable behavior. Is this a strength or a weakness? (See also
“Strength and weakness” section)
Explain the extent to which learning can be explained by alternatives to traditional behaviorist
approaches.

Assess the extent to which cognitive, biological, and environmental factors contribute to
explanations of behavior within the learning perspective

Historical Development and Cultural Context
o Criticisms of the Psychodynamic perspective
o Emphasis on scientific study
o Darwin's influence on animal research

As most of the approaches in psychology we can also argue that we can find the
origins of the learning perspective back from the ancient Greece times. The
environmentalism / nurture, which is one of the basic thoughts expressed in the
learning perspective. This discussion about nature vs nurture continues in to all
times in Europe and it confronts with the idea of dualism (a man consists of a soul
and a body that can be studied separately) which was brought up by the French
philosopher Descartes .But more recently we can say that at the turn of the 20th
century is where we can find what most influenced the learning perspective. At this
time psychologist tended to use either the experimental study or the introspective
analysis to study their approaches. But both of them had many limitations due to the
fact that at this time they didn’t had X-rays, or EEGs and all of those advanced
researched methods. This pushed William James to come out with the idea of
functionalism (psychologists should focus on how behavior relates to its purpose).
Which leads us up to parsimony, one of the basic assumptions of the learning

perspective. What parsimony basically says is that researcher should seek the
simplest possible explanation for any event. If we look from this point of view we
can also say that the learning perspective was a reaction to introspection making it
also a reaction to psychodynamic.

Assumptions
• Empiricism (The view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of
knowledge.)
• Determinism (The philosophical doctrine that every state of affairs, including every
human event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedent states of
affairs.)
• Parsimony (In learning perspective they are all the things that can be seen, behaviorists
do not infer, they observe.)
• Though we are born with a genetic endowment which is the root of our
instinctual behaviors, the majority of behavior is learned from the environment
after birth.
• Psychology should investigate the laws and products of learning.
• Behavior is determined by the environment, since we are the total of all our
past learning experiences, free will is an illusion.
• Only observable behaviors should be studied if psychology is to be objective.
• There is an innate predisposition to learning.
• Learning can take place in the absence of reinforcement.

The main idea of the learning perspective is to focus on the relationship between the
environment and behavior. The learning perspective mainly does not pay much attention to
internal invents such as biological or cognitive processes. Because of the idea of
Parsimony, this principle only seeks for processes that can be observe directly and simply.
Also because the learning perspective concentrates on the explanation of how human
learns, this perspective particularly focuses on the idea of associationism. Which supports
the idea that human learns by associating and making connections between ideas and
events. Learning: changes in behavior as a result of experience.

Key Concepts and Ideas
• Animals can be conditioned to be in o Classical and operant conditioning
anyway o The Law of Effect (Thorndike)
o Operant conditioning, and o Social Learning Theory (Bandura;
classical conditioning. Berkowitz)
• Social learning theory introduced insight, o Learned helplessness (Seligman)
latent learning, and models o Instinctual drift (Breland &
• Insight: When, after encountering a
Breland)
problem for some time, new ideas arise in
order to solve it
• Latent Learning: Concepts may be
learned but not used until reinforcer is
added.

• Models: Subjects learn from watching
other people and copying the ways they
behave.
•

Overview: Perhaps the most well known Behaviorist is B. F.
Learning can be defined as the process leading to Skinner (1904-1990). Skinner followed much of
relatively permanent behavioral change or Watson’s research and findings, but believed that
potential behavioral change. In other words, as internal states could influence behavior just as
we learn, we alter the way we perceive our external stimuli. He is considered to be a Radical
environment, the way we interpret the incoming Behaviorist because of this belief, although nowadays
stimuli, and therefore the way we interact, or it is believed that both internal and external stimuli
behave. John B. Watson (1878-1958) was the first influence our behavior.
to study how the process of learning affects our
behavior, and he formed the school of thought Behavioral Psychology is basically interested in how
known as Behaviorism. The central idea behind our behavior results from the stimuli both in the
behaviorism is that only observable behaviors are environment and within ourselves. They study, often
in minute detail, the behaviors we exhibit while
worthy of research since other abstraction such as controlling for as many other variables as possible.
a person’s mood or thoughts are too subjective. Often a grueling process, but results have helped us
This belief was dominant in psychological learn a great deal about our behaviors, the effect our
research in the United Stated for a good 50 years. environment has on us, how we learn new behaviors,
and what motivates us to change or remain the same.

Key Theorists and Their Contributions
Ivan Pavlov He was the first experimenter to research classical conditioning. In what
started as a simple, physiological experiment with a dog, turned out to be the
discovery of what came to be known as conditioning, more specifically,
classical conditioning.

-He was performing some experiments on a dog, and found that he
could “condition” the dog to salivate on the sound of a bell. After
repeatedly ringing the bell, and introducing food. Eventually, the bell alone
was sufficient to make the poor pup drip.
James Watson He was the pioneer psychology theorist that translated the ideas of Pavlov’s
classical conditioning to humans.

-His famous work is little Albert. He conditioned poor little Albert
to reject white fluffy things by continually including LOUD NOISES upon
the introduction of the white fluffy thing. Soon enough, the fluffy white thing
alone would make little Albert upset. This research introduced the idea of
stimulus generalization. Not only the white bunny (for example) would
scare the poor baby. White fluffy pillows, etc could also raise fear from Al.
Watson was confident that if you gave him a child, he could make him into

anything (criminal, business man, etc.)

B.F. Skinner He brought a new face into the world of behaviorism. Operant
Conditioning is very similar to classical conditioning. But in include
reinforces. After a response occurs, due to a certain stimulus, reinforces
(positive or negative) are inserted that will increase or diminish the
probability that the behavior may occur again.

-His famous work is the Skinner box where he would condition,
pigeons, mice, and even his own daughter to learn anything he wanted them
to.

Albert Bandura He gave us the concepts of Social Learning. With the help of the bobo doll
experiment he showed us how there can be latent learning that is not seen
until a reinforcer is included. Little babies learned to either hit, or not hit a
bobo doll, but only the ones that saw the “model” receive no reinforcement
or positive reinforcement for beating up the doll actually engaged in that
activity. He also came up with the concept of insight learning, which dealt
with monkeys finding ingenious ways to arrive to a solution (getting a
banana).

John Watson, Edward Thorndike, B F Skinner, Ivan Pavlov, Albert Bandura, Martin Seligman, Edward C.
Tolman, Wolfgang Kohler.

Attitude Toward Determinism
Behaviorism thoroughly embraced the idea of determinism. Key researchers such as Watson,
and Skinner believed that the environment could be changed to mold an individual to behave in
any way they please. In the rough words of James Watson “Give me 5 babies and I’ll make one
a businessman, a cook, a football star, an actor, and a criminal. The definition of determinism
is: The philosophical doctrine that every state of affairs, including every human event, act, and
decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedent states of affairs. Behaviorism states that
everything is learned due to the environment. Thus, determinism is a key idea. It happens to be
one of the learning perspective’s main assumptions.

The learning perspective view towards behavior does not support determinism. As we already know
determinism is the idea that our behavior is innate, and in most of the cases it is believed that it is
something that we are born with so it is not able to learn it but just it develops inside of us. One
example of a perspective that supports this idea will be the biological perspective, since it focus more
on how the organisms of the humans dictates our behavior. But in the learning perspective, we can
argue that it does not supports the idea of determinism in anyways since it focus on how we learn our
behaviors. One of the basic assumptions that we looked at in the beginning of the paper, states

Learning: changes in behavior as a result of experience. Also the learning perspective focuses on how
the environment takes control over our learning. We can see this on Bandura’s social learning theory
as well as the classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

In social learning theory we looked at how children learn their behavior by modeling the adults
or social models. In classical conditioning we looked at how the stimulus from the outside can dictate
our behaviors. And in operant conditioning we saw how we are likely to do certain behaviors
depending on its outcomes.

Therefore we can see and conclude that the social learning theory does not support at all the
determinism idea of the human’s behaviors.

Methods
• Experimental – scientific method
• Observation – direct and effect
• Interview – surveys etc.
• Verbal Protocol – thinking aloud
• Reliability - external and internal
• Ecological validity
• Use of animals in research
• Ethical considerations

Applications
(Where and how is this perspective used with specific examples)
o One example of classical One special and very powerful example of classical
conditioning in use is in animal conditioning is taste aversion. Taste aversion is a
training. Pet trainers today mostly case where an organism learns to have an aversion
use classical conditioning to train to the taste or smell or other characteristics of
animals, as it is more humane than some food or drink. For example, after consuming
previous methods. Many trainers too much alcohol, it’s not unusual for someone to
use a small clicking device that associate the smell or even sight of the alcohol
they click while giving the animal with the sickness that resulted from consuming the
a treat. That animal then associates alcohol.
the clicking sound with the treat,
much like Pavlov’s dogs.

· Another application of classical conditioning
works with advertising. For example, many beer
o Bullying reduction programs ads prominently feature attractive young women
o Systematic desensitization wearing bikinis. The young women
(Unconditioned Stimulus) naturally elicit a

(Wolpe)
favorable, mildly aroused feeling (Unconditioned
Response) in most men. The beer is simply
associated with this effect. The same thing applies
with the jingles and music that accompany many
advertisements.

Ethical Issues
Their choice of method - especially verbal • Learning styles
protocol
• Maybe you're not a social person
• Confusion of the participant
• Right to withdrawal
• Cultural difference between participant and
observer • Experiments that require intrusive devices, like
the cutting of the corpus callosum, make it
• Behavior that the participant’s culture may difficult for the participant withdrawal afterwards
deem as normal, might be considered unusual
by the observer’s, or vice versa. • Deceiving the participant

• Gender issues “The researcher must decide what can be
published without consent and must be aware that
the people studied will not be able to recall
everything they have divulged or done during the
experiment”

Evaluation of the Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Weaknesses

Strictly empirical using scientific method as Does not account for acquisition of first language
means of information
• Does not account for random behavior
• Applicable to training simple animal and • Does not account for interaction between
human behaviors people
• Gave information about insight in all
animals As we can see from all the description of the
• Methods could be used in school to teach perspective, we can understand that the learning
students perspective is manly based on the de idea of looking
at the interactions between an organism and its
environment. But because this perspective
concentrates too much on analyzing what we can see
from the outside it lacks to study consciousness and
internal subjective states. Some critics say that
treating the organism like a black box means that one
ignores the mental processes that are central to human
behavior. But many behaviorist responded to this by
simply saying that such events are scientifically
unknowable, and in case do not cause behavior. But
today we know that those things are not scientifically
unknowable because today we have many
technologies such as the CAT scan etc. to investigate
what is happening inside the organism which dictates
some of our behaviors. Also the learning perspective
does not believe that behavior is determined, but by
ignoring some stuff that are going inside our body just
because we are not able to see them does not
necessary mean that it doesn’t exist. Also in cases
where the root of the problem is a brain damage or
some damage in an organism, the cause of the
abnormal behavior can’t be fully describe by the
learning perspective. On the other hand we can also
argue that many of the experimental methods that are
used in the research of the learning perspective are
based on animal research so we can’t generalize the
same results that we get for a rat the same for a
human. Many of the weaknesses of this perspective is
based on the fact that the learning perspective focuses
too much in the idea of parsimony.
• Behaviorism was very scientific, with high levels of reliability.
• The approach is reductionist - explaining a great deal of phenomena using only a few
simple principles.
• It has many practical applications which have been very effective.
• Heavy reliance on animal research - discounts the qualitative difference between humans
and non-human animals.

• Ignores important mental processes involved in learning.
• Highly deterministic.
• Questionable ecological validity
•

Key Terms
anticipatory feelings of sickness elicited by cognitive
a mental representation in the brain of the layout of
nausea stimuli that are associated with map
an environment and its features
receiving chemotherapy treatments
classical learning in which a neutral stimulus continuous
every occurrence of the operant response results in
conditioning acquires the ability to produce a reinforceme
delivery of the reinforcer
response (Ivan Pavlov) nt
cognitive a kind of learning that involves fixed-
learning mental pro a kind of learning that interval
a reinforcer occurs following the first response that
involves mental processes alone; schedule
occurs after a fixed interval of time
may not require rewards or overt
behavior
conditioned feeling fear or pleasure when fixed-ratio
emotional experiencing a stimulus that initially schedule a reinforcer occurs only after a fixed number of
response accompanied a painful or pleasant responses made by the subject
event
conditioned new response elicited by a imprinting
inherited tendencies or responses that are displayed
response conditioned stimulus; similar to the
by newborn animals encountering certain stimuli
(CR) unconditioned response
conditioned a formerly neutral stimulus that has insight
a mental process marked by the sudden solution to a
stimulus (CS) acquired the ability to elicit the
problem; the "ah ha" phenomenon
same response as UCS does
contiguity explains classical conditioning as negative
removing a reinforcing stimulus (allowance) after
theory occurring because two stimuli are punishment
response; decreases chances of response recurring
paired closely together in time
discriminatio learning to make a particular negative
an aversive stimulus whose removal increases the
n response to some stimuli but not to reinforceme
likelihood of the preceding response occurring again
others nt
extinction failure of a conditioned stimulus to partial
a situation in which responding is reinforced only
elicit a response when repeatedly reinforceme
some of the time
presented without the UCS nt
generalization tendency for a stimulus that is positive
similar to the original conditioned reinforceme the presentation of a stimulus that increases the
stimulus to elicit the same nt probability of a behavior occurring again
response
law of effect if actions are followed by a preparedne
pleasurable consequence or ss an innate or biological tendency of animals to
reward, they tend to be repeated (prepared recognize and attend to certain cues and stimuli
(E. L. Thorndike) learning)
learning a relatively enduring or permanent punishment
a consequence that occurs after behavior and
change in behavior that results
decreases chance of that behavior occurring again
from experience with stimuli
neutral some stimulus that produces a reinforceme
a consequence that occurs after behavior and
stimulus response, but does not produce the nt
increases the chance of that behavior occurring again
reflex being tested
preparedness biological readiness to associate schedule of
a rule that determines how and when the occurrence
some combinations of conditioned reinforceme
of a response will be followed by a reinforcer
and unconditioned stimuli nt
spontaneous tendency for the conditioned shaping
a rule that determines how and when the occurrence
recovery response to reappear after being
of a response will be followed by a reinforcer
extinguished
stimulus explains classical conditioning as a superstitiou any behavior that increases in frequency because of

substitution neural bonding of a neutral and an s behavior
accidental pairing with the delivery of a reinforcer
unconditioned stimulus
systematic procedure in which a person variable-
a reinforcer occurs following the first response after a
desensitizatio eliminates anxiety-evoking stimuli interval
variable amount of time has gone by
n by relaxation; counterconditioning schedule
taste-aversion associating sensory cues (smells, variable-
learning tastes, sound, or sights) with ratio
a subject must make a variable or different
getting sick, then avoiding those schedule
cues
unconditione an unlearned, innate, involuntary
d response physiological reflex that is elicited
(UCR) by the unconditioned stimulus
unconditione some stimulus that triggers or
d stimulus elicits a physiological reflex, such
(UCS) as salivation or eye blink

1. EXAM SHORT ANSWER and ESSAY QUESTIONS
2.

a. Outline one psychological question which may be explained
using the learning perspective. [3 marks]
b. Evaluate the effectiveness of the learning perspective
explanation of the psychological question identified in part (a).
[5 marks]
May 2003

3. “Theories challenging traditional learning theory make the assumption
that learning is more than a series of stimulus-response associations.”
With reference to this statement, assess the extent to which cognitive
and/or biological factors contribute to explanations of behavioural
change within the learning perspective. [20 marks] May 2003
4. Identify and evaluate one contribution of the learning perspective to
the scientific study of behaviour. [8 marks] Nov 2003

5. Consider ways in which the learning perspective has produced
recommendations for change in lifestyles. [20 marks] Nov 2003

6. “An assumption can be defined as a belief or idea that psychologists
studying behaviour from a particular perspective hold in common.”
a. Outline one assumption from the learning perspective. [3
marks]
b. Explain how one empirical study from the learning perspective
illustrates the assumption you have identified in part a). [5
marks]
May 2004

7.
a. Outline one explanation of learning from the traditional
behaviourist approach. [6 marks]
b. The learning perspective still offers explanations of behavioural
change. To what extent have cognitive or biological factors

extended traditional explanations of behaviour within the
learning perspective? [14 marks]
May 2004

8.
a. Describe one study in which environmental factors contribute to
explanations of behaviour within the learning perspective. [4
marks]
b. Explain how the findings of the study described in part a) have
helped psychologists to understand behavioural change. [4
marks]
Nov 2004

9.
a. Some research studies within the learning perspective are seen
as ethically contentious. With reference to such research
studies, describe relevant ethical considerations. [8 marks]
b. To what extent have ethical considerations affected the
interpretation of behaviour within the learning perspective? [12
marks]
Nov 2004

10. Describe how one historical or cultural condition helped to give rise to
the learning perspective. [8 marks] May 2005

11.
a. Use empirical studies to illustrate two research methodologies
used within the learning perspective (e.g. experiments,
observations, case studies). [10 marks]
b. Compare the strengths and limitations of two methodologies
used in the learning perspective. [10 marks]
May 2005

12.
a. Identify one assumption from the learning perspective. [2
marks]
b. Explain how one assumption from the learning perspective is
illustrated by one theory or study. [6 marks]
Nov 2005

13. Examine the extent to which the concept of free will relates to the
learning perspective. [20 marks] Nov 2005

14. “The influence of biological factors has extended traditional
behaviourist explanations of behaviour within the learning
perspective”.
Explain this statement making reference to one relevant study from
the learning perspective. [8 marks] May 2006

15. Assess the effectiveness of learning perspective explanations for either
one psychological or one social question. [20 marks] May 2006

IB Learning Perspective Review

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