The purpose of this course is to provide students with a grounding in important principles of learning, such as conditioning, extinction, generalization, and discrimination. The behavioral approach of B.F. Skinner is predominant throughout the course, although the concepts of important learning theorists such as Thorndike, Tolman, and Hull are also presented. In addition, the philosophical underpinnings of a learning-based model of human behavior and the complex questions of freedom and determinism raised by modern behaviorism are addressed in the course.
Foundations Program
This course fulfills a Foundations Program requirement.
Semester Offered
Fall
Spring even years