ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with a paradoxical state of affairs which needs to be resolved. The paradox can be stated quite simply. On the one hand the term ‘conditioning’ has become a term in our everyday language reflecting widespread belief that people’s actions, attitudes, beliefs and feelings can be profoundly influenced by processes of learning over which they have little voluntary control and of which normally they are largely unaware. On the other hand the research tradition in psychology which, since the early days of Behaviorism, has done most to strengthen this popular belief and which has provided the label conditioning’, has failed to provide good evidence to support it. There are two obvious ways of resolving this paradox: either popular belief is mistaken or psychologists studying human conditioning have failed to use appropriate methods.
