PSY-FPX6110 goes deep into the theoretical mechanisms of learning itself — classical and operant conditioning, social learning theory, and cognitive learning models — at a level beyond an introductory survey.
Behaviorist learning theories
PSY-FPX6110 covers classical conditioning (Pavlov) and operant conditioning (Skinner) in depth, including reinforcement schedules and their differential effects on learning persistence, and critically examines behaviorism's strengths and genuine limitations as a complete account of learning.
Social and cognitive learning theories
The course covers Bandura's social learning theory (learning through observation and modeling) and cognitive learning theories emphasizing internal mental processes (schema, information processing) that behaviorism's purely external, observable-behavior focus doesn't fully capture.
Key topics in PSY-FPX6110
- Classical conditioning (Pavlov) and operant conditioning (Skinner)
- Reinforcement schedules and their effects on learning persistence
- Bandura's social learning theory: observation and modeling
- Cognitive learning theories: schema and information processing
- Critically evaluating behaviorism's strengths and limitations
- Applying multiple learning theory traditions to explain complex behavior
Working on your PSY-FPX6110 competency assessments?
Our psychology experts build PSY-FPX6110-level FlexPath assessments with genuine learning theory depth.
Worked example: reinforcement schedules and persistence
- Continuous reinforcement: Every correct response is rewarded — produces fast initial learning but behavior extinguishes quickly once reinforcement stops
- Variable ratio reinforcement: Rewards occur unpredictably after a varying number of responses — produces slower initial learning but remarkably persistent behavior, highly resistant to extinction
- Real-world example: Slot machines use variable ratio reinforcement specifically because it produces such persistent behavior despite inconsistent reward
- Lesson: The pattern of reinforcement, not just its presence, dramatically shapes how persistent a learned behavior becomes
Get Help With PSY-FPX6110
FlexPath learning theory competency assessments.
Place Your OrderView All ServicesRelated courses
Frequently asked questions
Continuous reinforcement (rewarding every correct response) teaches a new behavior quickly because the connection between behavior and reward is completely predictable and immediate, but this same predictability means the behavior extinguishes relatively quickly once reinforcement stops, since the organism quickly notices the reward is no longer coming. Variable ratio reinforcement (rewarding after an unpredictable number of responses) teaches more slowly because the connection is less immediately obvious, but it produces behavior that's remarkably resistant to extinction, because the organism has learned that rewards come unpredictably, meaning the absence of a reward after any given response doesn't clearly signal that reinforcement has permanently stopped — this is exactly why gambling behavior, reinforced on a variable ratio schedule, is notoriously difficult to extinguish even after long losing streaks, a real-world example PSY-FPX6110 uses to illustrate this principle's practical, sometimes concerning implications.
Classical and operant conditioning explain learning through an organism's direct experience — being exposed to a conditioned stimulus, or directly receiving reinforcement or punishment for a specific behavior — but Bandura's research demonstrated that learning can also occur through observation alone, without the observer directly experiencing any reinforcement or punishment themselves, as famously shown in his Bobo doll studies where children who simply observed a model behaving aggressively later imitated that aggressive behavior even without any reinforcement for doing so. PSY-FPX6110 teaches social learning theory as a significant expansion of the strictly behaviorist account because it incorporates cognitive processes (attention, retention, motivation) that behaviorism's pure focus on directly observable stimulus-response relationships didn't fully address, showing that humans (and some other species) learn extensively through watching others, not only through their own direct reinforcement history.