This Very Short Introduction looks at the nature of learning and how it takes place. From the early experiments of Pavlov, Thorndike, and others to the most recent studies in social learning, Haselgrove discusses learning in both humans and other animals.

What is learning? How does it take place? What happens when it goes wrong?

The topic of learning has been central to the development of the science of psychology since its inception. Without learning there can be no memory, no language and no intelligence. Indeed it is rather difficult to imagine a part of psychology, or neuroscience, that learning does not touch upon. In this Very Short Introduction, Mark Haselgrove describes learning from the perspective of associative theories of classical and instrumental conditioning, and considers why these are the dominant, and best described analyses of learning in contemporary psychology. Tracing the origins of these theories, he discusses the techniques used to study learning in both animals and humans, and considers the importance of learning for animal behavior and survival.