John B Watson's Theory Of Classical Conditioning

Learning is defined by psychology as the process of acquiring, through experience, new and relatively enduring information or behaviors. But how do we learn? Behaviorism, founded by psychologist John B Watson, has broken learning down into three main theories; classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. These theories break the learning process down into a series of associations, reinforcements, punishments, and observations. Classical conditioning was discovered not by a psychologist, but by a Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. While studying dogs digestive systems, Pavlov made an observation that would lay the foundation for classical conditioning. Every day the dogs were fed by his lab assistants who wore white coats. Pavlov noticed that within a short time, as soon as the dogs saw the white lab coats, they began salivating in the expectation of food. Intrigued by this, Pavlov conditioned the dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a bell. Pavlov’s dogs showed how an association can be formed between a neutral stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Psychologist John B Watson performed one of the most well-known experiments in the study of classical conditioning, the “Little …show more content…
This phrase illustrates the main theory behind observational learning; that people learn through observing the actions of those around them. In children, they are particularly susceptible to picking up the habits of their caregivers and family members. Albert Bandura illustrated this theory during his famous Bobo Doll Experiment. During this experiment, children were shown a video of an adult punching, kicking, yelling, and throwing a doll around. When presented with a doll, the children who viewed the video were more likely to beat up the doll than those who had no seen the video. While classified as a behavioral theory, Bandura describes observational learning as a social cognitive