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Psychology of learning

Research on how experience changes behavior and what organisms learn, framed through connections, conditioned reflexes, cognitive maps and learned relations among events.

Also called: learning theory, learning and conditioning

Core subfieldDevelopment

Type of entry: Core subfieldA long-standing main area of research in psychology. Types are editorial labels, not an official classification.
Cluster: Development and learningChange across life, learning, schooling and behavior analysis.
Sources opened: 4 of 40 read as a full page, 4 as selected text or an abstract, 0 not verified.
Independent review: Admitted after correctionsClaude Code reviewer agent, separate from the writer, 2026-10-21. 8 claims checked against 4 sources opened by the reviewer.

What it studies

The psychology of learning asks how experience changes behavior and what is learned. The sources opened here frame the question in several ways: as connections between situations and responses, as conditioned reflexes, as cognitive maps, and as learned relations among events. These framings come from different traditions and do not form one theory.

History and people

Edward Thorndike's 1911 book Animal Intelligence, in its first chapter, argued for studying behavior alongside consciousness. Ivan Pavlov's Conditioned Reflexes, in a 1927 translation by G. V. Anrep, insisted on strictly objective methods. In 1948 Edward Tolman published 'Cognitive Maps in Rats and Men' in Psychological Review, and Robert Rescorla argued in American Psychologist (volume 43) that conditioning is the learning of relations among events.

People and documented roles

Edward L. Thorndike. Author of Animal Intelligence (1911 text)
- Argued in Chapter I that psychology should study behavior as well as consciousness, treating an animal as a bundle of connections between situation and response. [1]
Ivan P. Pavlov. Author of Conditioned Reflexes (1927 English translation)
- Described recording all external stimuli acting on an animal when a reflex reaction appeared, and insisted on strictly objective methods. [2]
Edward C. Tolman. Author of 'Cognitive Maps in Rats and Men' (1948)
- Contrasted stimulus-response and cognitive-map accounts of learning and reported rat experiments on latent learning and related phenomena. [3]
Robert A. Rescorla. Author of a review on Pavlovian conditioning in American Psychologist, volume 43; University of Pennsylvania
- Argued that conditioning is the learning of relations among events rather than simple stimulus pairing. [4]

The sources are four primary or review papers by named authors, so only those authors are listed, each as author of a documented work. They do not document other researchers, women scholars, other contributors, or establish a single origin for the area.

Dated milestones

1911Publication. Year.Thorndike's Animal Intelligence, Chapter I, as dated on the York University page; this guide did not establish whether this is the first appearance of the text. [1]
1927Publication. Year.English translation of Pavlov's Conditioned Reflexes, Lecture I, by G. V. Anrep, as dated on the York University page. [2]
1948Publication. Year.Tolman's 'Cognitive Maps in Rats and Men' appears in Psychological Review. [3]

Methods

Pavlov describes recording every external stimulus acting on the animal when a reflex appeared. Thorndike describes observing what an animal does in different circumstances and what helps and hinders its learning. Tolman reports maze experiments with rats on latent learning and vicarious trial and error. Rescorla organizes the study of conditioning around three questions: the circumstances that produce learning, the content of that learning, and how learning affects behavior.

Training and applications

The sources opened here are primary papers and one review of laboratory research, so they do not document applications. Learning research is linked to educational psychology and behavior analysis, which have separate profiles. This guide states no training routes or credentials for the psychology of learning.

Boundaries and limits

The sources show disagreement between traditions as well as continuity. Rescorla argues that older textbook descriptions of Pavlovian conditioning are inadequate, and he contrasts a reflex tradition from physiology with an associative tradition from philosophy. The dates above belong to individual publications, not to the start of the field, and four sources cannot represent the whole area.

Evidence behind the claims

In Chapter I of Animal Intelligence (1911 text), Edward L. Thorndike argues that psychology should study behavior as well as consciousness and proposes observing what an animal does in different circumstances and what helps and hinders its learning.
History and peopleDocumented in the sourceSource: [1]Where: Chapter I, argument and method paragraphs
Thorndike describes an animal as a bundle of original and acquired connections between situation and response.
What it studiesDocumented in the sourceSource: [1]Where: Chapter I, sentence beginning 'One of the lower animals is so obviously a bundle'
In Lecture I of Conditioned Reflexes (1927, translated by G. V. Anrep), Ivan P. Pavlov rejects subjective inquiry in favor of strictly objective methods and describes recording all the external stimuli acting on the animal when a reflex reaction appeared.
MethodsDocumented in the sourceSource: [2]Where: Lecture I, discussion of method
In 1948 Edward C. Tolman contrasted a stimulus-response account of learning, which he likened to a telephone switchboard, with a cognitive-map account in which learning builds up maps in the nervous system that guide behavior.
What it studiesDocumented in the sourceSource: [3]Where: Opening sections of the paper
Tolman supports the cognitive-map view with rat experiments on latent learning, vicarious trial and error, searching for the stimulus, hypotheses and spatial orientation.
MethodsDocumented in the sourceSource: [3]Where: Sections reporting the experiments
Robert A. Rescorla's article in American Psychologist, volume 43, argues that describing conditioning as one stimulus acquiring the ability to evoke another's response through pairing is inadequate, and that conditioning is now described as the learning of relations among events so the organism can represent its environment.
History and peopleDocumented in the sourceSource: [4]Where: Abstract, American Psychologist 43(3), 151-160
Rescorla frames the study of Pavlovian conditioning around the circumstances producing learning, the content of learning, and the effects of learning on behavior.
MethodsDocumented in the sourceSource: [4]Where: Page 2, paragraph beginning 'Of course, textbook descriptions vary' and the following paragraph
Rescorla contrasts a reflex tradition coming from physiology, in which Pavlov worked, with an associative tradition originating in philosophy that sees conditioning as learning about relations among events.
Boundaries and limitsDocumented in the sourceSource: [4]Where: Page 2, paragraph beginning 'Of course, textbook descriptions vary'

Where it appears

University examples

Examples show documented structures. They are not a ranking, a census, or a statement about admission or licensing.

In the Psy101 course

OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 6.1: What Is Learning?Chapter 6, Learning. Topic reading. The section discusses this topic.Opened the section: it defines learning as a relatively permanent change from experience and introduces three forms of learning.
OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 6.2: Classical ConditioningChapter 6, Learning. Topic reading. The section discusses this topic.Opened the section: it centers on Pavlov's experiments and classical conditioning.
OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 6.3: Operant ConditioningChapter 6, Learning. Topic reading. The section discusses this topic.Opened the section: it covers operant conditioning, Thorndike's law of effect and Skinner's experiments.

This is course relevance only. It is not evidence for the historical or practice claims on this page.See the full course map.

Sources and inspection

4 of 4 sources were opened and read at the level shown. A source marked as not verified supports no claim on this page by itself.

[1]
Animal Intelligence, Chapter I: The Study of Consciousness and the Study of BehaviorClassics in the History of Psychology, York University (text of Thorndike's 1911 volume), 1911. Original publication. Supports the history.Selected text readRead the page heading and a summary of Chapter I through the fetch tool; the page shows no publisher line and the later chapters on experiments were not read.
[2]
Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex, Lecture IClassics in the History of Psychology, York University (Pavlov, translated by G. V. Anrep), 1927. Original publication. Supports the description of methods.Selected text readRead a summary of Lecture I through the fetch tool; the remaining lectures were not read.
[3]
Cognitive Maps in Rats and MenPsychological Review, 55(4), 189-208 (transcription in Classics in the History of Psychology, York University), 1948. Original publication. Supports the description of methods.Selected text readRead a summary of the argument and the listed experiments through the fetch tool; the full text was not read.
[4]
Pavlovian Conditioning: It's Not What You Think It IsAmerican Psychologist, 43(3), 151-160 (author Robert A. Rescorla, University of Pennsylvania), undated. Review article. Supports the definition of the area.Selected text readRead the first two pages as rendered pages: abstract, opening argument and the section on circumstances producing conditioning; the remaining pages were not read. The pages show the journal, volume, issue and page range but no year; the year in the file name is not used. The file is a course copy hosted at Stanford.

Independent source review: Claude Code reviewer agent, separate from the writer, 2026-10-21. Verdict: Admitted after corrections. Of 8 claims checked, 7 were supported as written, 1 were reworded and 0 were removed.