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© 1974 by the W. B. Saunders Company. Copyright
under the International Copyright Union. All rights reserved. This book is
protected by copyright. No part of it maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the
publisher. Made in the United States of America. Press of W. B. Saunders Company.
Library of Congress catalog card number 74-4580.
Last digit is the print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
DEDICATION
To my parents,
who are responsible for my existence and started me learning.
To Benita, who
makes existence pleasurable and shares in my learning.
To everyone who
is interested in the nature of existence and learning.
preface
I have several
objectives in writing this book. First, I want to show the reader how basic
principles in the psychology of learning are applicable in varying degrees from
the physiological level through complex human behavior. Most learning texts
omit physiological material and minimize discussions of applications of
learning principles to problems of human behavior. However, the physiological
literature suggests relationships and constraints that are relevant to much of
learning. Similarly, attempts to apply learning principles to various practical
problems have suggested new interrelationships among learning variables,
pointed out inadequacies in current psychological models, and provided a
proving ground for the relevance and pragmatic aspects of our knowledge of the
learning process.
In attempting to
trace learning phenomena and principles across the various levels, I have
organized the material somewhat differently from other texts. For example,
where another text might have chapters devoted to such topics as verbal learning
and behavior modification, in this text these topics have been broken down
into their constituents and are discussed under general principles such as
contiguity, holding mechanisms, and feedback. I hope such an organization
is a useful one, both for the reader just entering the field of the psychology
of learning and for the reader who has learned about the field using a different
approach.
A second objective
of this book is to provide the reader with a brief overview of the various
ways in which different learning phenomena are conceptualized by different
theorists, as opposed to selecting for the reader what I consider the best
explanation for any phenomenon. Although such an approach may be slightly
more difficult for the reader, I believe it will provide him a greater breadth
of perspectives both for understanding the current state of learning and for
better assimilation of future findings and theories.
The emphasis of this
book is more on concepts and ideas than on Specific laboratory experiments.
Specific experiments are discussed to the extent that they are unique or critical
experiments, differentiate various Points of view, or illustrate important
ideas. This book thus will supplement texts that stress discussions of the
methodology of learning or emphasize experiments.
For people interested
in applications of learning principles to problems of human behavior, particularly
clinical problems, the psychology of learning offers a number of conditioning-based
theories and therapies, Such as behavior modification, to name but one. As
powerful as I believe these approaches to be, they are far from adequate in
explaining the complexities of human behavior. As these learning-based models
expand, they must take into account such things as learning-genetic interactions,
the nature and source of individual differences in conditioning, and predispositions
for certain types of learning. From here we can develop the type of “personality
theory” that is both experimentally based and useful to the learning-oriented
practitioner in delineating the relevant variables for therapy. I suspect
that the development of such models is both highly desirable and inevitable.
Therefore I have included a chapter on personality that covers some of the
existing research and thoughts related to such models.
The final chapter,
on behavior, cognitions, and consciousness, deals with how such subjective
phenomena as consciousness, cognitions, and general awareness relate to the
relatively mechanical-behavioral model of man developed in the earlier chapters.
Some of the issues raised in this chapter are the basis for many of the major
controversies in psychology and philosophy. Many of these issues cannot currently
be resolved satisfactorily, and the assumptions one psychologist makes about
them may lead him in directions quite different from those followed by another
psychologist who makes different assumptions.
WILLIAM L. MIKULAS
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1 |
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2 |
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4 |
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7 |
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9 |
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11 |
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12 |
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14 |
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15 |
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18 |
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19 |
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21 |
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21 |
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25 |
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33 |
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33 |
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37 |
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42 |
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42 |
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Suggested readings |
44 |
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45 |
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47 |
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48 |
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55 |
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57 |
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59 |
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62 |
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63 |
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69 |
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72 |
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74 |
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78 |
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81 |
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86 |
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Some theoretical extensions |
88 |
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92 |
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93 |
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100 |
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103 |
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107 |
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108 |
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111 |
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115 |
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117 |
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118 |
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119 |
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122 |
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123 |
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128 |
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130 |
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131 |
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132 |
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137 |
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140 |
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144 |
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146 |
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149 |
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| Summary | 152 |
| Suggested readings | 154 |
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155 |
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156 |
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160 |
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162 |
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163 |
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165 |
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203 |
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215 |
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NAME INDEX |
229 |
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TOPIC INDEX |
235 |