Paradigms of Learning

Psychologists have identified several distinct methods, or paradigms, through which learning takes place, and different paradigms are suited to explaining responses of different levels of complexity. The simplest form of learning is called conditioning, of which there are two major kinds: classical conditioning, first investigated by Ivan Pavlov, and instrumental or operant conditioning, first investigated by B.F. Skinner. Beyond these two conditioning paradigms, psychologists also study observational learning (learning by watching others), cognitive learning (learning that involves a change in what a person knows rather than just what they do), verbal learning (the human-specific acquisition and association of words and language material), and skill learning (the gradual, practice-based development of smooth, efficient, complex performance). Each of these paradigms is ex …