ABSTRACT
As was explained in the introduction to this section of the reader, there are varying ways in which psychologists attempt to explain human behaviour and this extract provides an introduction to them. Cognitive psychologists investigate how learning takes place and focus upon the ways in which the learner constructs meaning from experiences. Behaviourist psychology on the other hand is concerned with how particular organisms acquire specific behaviours.
Techniques used emphasize the influence of the environment (situation) on these behaviours. Reflexes and conditioned reflexes are seen as the basic units on which more complex actions are based. Internal mechanisms of the mind are largely ignored by extreme behaviourists as hypothetical and/or irrelevant, (Campbell, 1988)
Claxton also identifies a ‘social and personality’ tradition within psychology concerned to investigate the formation and development of attitudes and an attempt to account for differences in the ways in which individuals make sense of the world. Finally, there is the ‘humanistic’ tradition which stresses the education of the whole person, and emphasizes the importance of learning being meaningful.
