ABSTRACT
Theories As early as the 1940s Tolman’s work on learning had suggested that a purely behaviourist view (as described in the previous chapter) was not sufficient because it ignored the contribution of thought processes to learning. Tolman began to talk of ‘purposive behaviour’ and ‘expectations’, both of which terms emphasise the importance of thoughts and perceptions (i.e. cognition) in determining behaviour. For example, a study by Tinkelpaugh (1928) showed that if a monkey that was accustomed to receive a banana as a reward had a piece of lettuce substituted instead while its attention was distracted, it showed unmistakable signs of frustration, appearing to look for the banana and sometimes shrieking at the experimenter.
