Psychology

Psychological theories are important aspects in understanding human behavior. Theories provide a guideline in understanding of individuals character and behaviors which is very crucial in psychological studies. This paper will look at the different theories in summary as put forward by the different proponents including Pavlov, B. F. Skinner, Watson, and Bandura. These individuals came up with various theoretical frameworks describing the human behavior using different measures.
Ivan Pavlov is credited with the classical conditioning theory. He was a Russian physician and a researcher focusing mainly on the study of the digestive system. In his classical conditioning experiment, Pavlov used to measure the amount of saliva coming from a dog each time a bell was rung before the food was presented to the dog. Classical conditioning involves the presentation of a neutral stimulus together with another stimulus of significance. The neutral stimulus usually does not result in an overt behavioral response from the individual. To Pavlov, neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS). The significant stimulus that is necessary for the invoking the natural or rather reflexive response is referred to as the unconditioned stimulus (US) and the resulting response called unconditioned response (UR). When the CS and the US are repeatedly associated, the individual will usually produce a reflexive response to the CS and this response is usually referred to as conditioned response (CR) (Hall, 1998). Classical conditioning is therefore a reflexive type of learning in which case a stimulus is associated with the ability to generate a response that was originally generated by another stimulus (Learning Theories.com, 2008).

B.F. Skinner came up with the operant conditioning theory in which emphasis was put on the reinforcement. Skinner used the term operant to mean any kind of behavior that operated upon the environment in order to invoke a consequence (Cherry, 2010). According to Skinner, changes of behavior in an individual are to be realized from the way the individual responds to environmental stimuli. Therefore the reinforcing stimulus has the capability of increasing the occurrence of a behavior that comes in precedence of the reinforcer. Skinner is famous for his Skinner box experiment that composed of rats having been put in a cage. The cage had a barpedal which was pressed food pellets were released in the cage. At first the rats accidentally pressed the pedals and food pellets were released which led to repetitive behavior that led to more food pellets being released. In operant conditioning, a behavior that is followed by reinforcement usually increases the probability of that behavior being repeated (Boeree, 2006).

John B. Watson is famously regarded as the father of behaviorism. His experiment involved a child whom he referred to as Little Albert and he made scary noise behind the childs noise each time the child was happily playing with a rat. The child eventually became afraid of the rat altogether but initially he was not afraid of the rat. Watson created a new stimulus-response link in the sense that the child became afraid whenever he saw white and furry objects that resembled the rat in the experiment (Harris, 2010). This experiment can be likened to the classical conditioning but the difference arises with the fact that the fear behavior can not be extinguished once it has been developed in individuals. Unlike the classical conditioning where de-conditioning may occur studies have shown that fear responses in individuals tend to be permanent. Though Little Albert was removed from the hospital before Watson and his associates carried out a de-conditioning experiment, subsequent studies have indicated that de-conditioning could not have been achieved. Watson believed that through the controlled laboratory studies, learning could effectively be studied. Manipulation of the learners environment was crucial to nurturing development (Net Industries and its Licensors, 2010).

Observational learning is a theory that was put forward by Albert Bandura. Observation theory is also referred to as the social learning theory and usually occurs when an individual observes and emulates the behavior of a model. Observation learning is regarded as a very powerful means of social learning. This usually involves the cognitive processing of the information that is displayed by the models. Learning occurs through the information that is conveyed to the individuals via verbal, text, or through actions portrayed by live or symbolic models. Observational learning usually occurs in the process involving attention and memory that is directed in a manner to establish a conceptual representation of the action that has been modeled. Albert Bandura believed that the mind, behavior, and the environment were crucial in the learning process. In his studies, he demonstrated that children were capable of changing their behavior through simple observation of the others. Bandura dismissed other behaviorists as being too simplistic. His experiment with children and the dolls famously referred to as the bobo doll studies culminated into the observational learning (Bandura, 1986).

Conclusion
The theoretical frameworks that have been discussed above were and are still important to the study of psychology as they formed the basis on which human behavior can be studied. Theories are very important to any discipline as they offer the guiding principles onto which the discipline is based. It is therefore important to note that Pavlov, Skinner, Watson, and Bandura made major contributions to the study of psychology as a discipline and in its development.