This paper gives an introduction to behaviorism and learning theory. It gives the historical background for the development of behavioral learning theory, beginning with Watson, and then Skinner, the most well-known of behaviorists (Personality, Synopsis - Learning, 2002). Behavioral psychology looks at how behavior results from stimuli from the environment and from within ourselves. Learning is a process which leads to relatively permanent behavioral changes. The paper points out that while Watson believed that only observable behaviors were worthy of research because other abstractions were too subjective, Skinner believed internal states could influence behavior. Behavioral learning theories look at what makes people react the way they do to external and internal stimuli.
Social learning theory moved away from behavioral theory's dependence on rewards, and looked at the fact that people sometimes exhibit certain behaviors without any external reward or reinforcement being given (Personality Synopsis - Social, 2002). Social learning theory deals with the idea that internal thoughts can be rewarded the same way as external behaviors are rewarded. Julian Rotter broke away from the animal models of behaviorism to suggest that people engage in behaviors not just for the reward but because of something he called Behavior Potential. This is defined as how much a person expects to get in terms of reward for an action, and how much this reward means to them. People are not likely to exert a great effort if there is no reward at the end of it. Whereas behaviorism leads to engaging in behavior in a trial-an-error fashion, social learning theory suggests people learn from similar experiences and apply this knowledge to the current situation.
"Personality Synopsis." 23 September 2002. 24 November 2004.
"Personality Synopsis." 23 September 2020. 24 November ...