About Chapter 6: What is Learning? By Jill Singleton-Jackson

I was recently fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to update Chapter 6 in The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View. This is the chapter on Learning. I have always loved teaching this topic to my introduction to psychology students, so I was thrilled to get to be involved with the updating of the content of this chapter knowing that it would be used by others to teach this critical concept in Psychology. I went to graduate school in the early 1980s, and in my program Behaviorism wielded quite a dominant voice in our courses and training. So, as a graduate student I was very much immersed in the principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning and all the application of these principles to many, many fields in psychology (e.g., human factors, therapy, education, parenting). Learning is an established principle in the field, and there is no domain of psychology that is not touched by learning. This chapter is foundational for understanding not just Behaviourism as it stands historically – and wow -- it is super significant historically, but this chapter is also critical for students to understand the progression of topics that range from personality to social psychology to psychological disorders as they progress from Introductory Psychology into the many areas and specialties they will study. And even if Introductory Psychology is the only psychology course that a student ever takes, the principles of learning are applicable to all of us in our everyday life and how we manage both our own behaviours and our interactions with others.

This chapter is not just for psychology majors – it’s for everyone. So many things we take for granted today as “everyone knows that” were groundbreaking discoveries by the psychologists we associate with learning: Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, Maccoby, Bandura, Köhler, and others. Another thing I enjoyed about working on this chapter was looking into the history of some of these “founding fathers” of learning and behaviorism to understand how they came to discover the things they added to the field. I was able to add teaching notes about four of these scientists to the chapter, which is a new feature in this addition of the text. And while we are always testing theories and looking to disprove not speak of “truth” in psychology, it is undeniable that so many of the principles of learning resulting from the early 1900s work of Pavlov are still part of the curriculum of every Introductory Psychology course and every Introductory Psychology textbook that I have used in my over 30 years of teaching: that’s impressive staying power!

When looking into the historical background of learning to help me ground my updates for this chapter, I ran across numerous statements about how Skinner’s discoveries forever changed the way we study psychology and understand human behaviour. When I teach, I make that statement to my students. Then I make it again and wait in a moment of silence for that to really sink in with them. I always tell them how it gives me chills to realize what one psychologist did for the world, and how privileged I am to get to teach this to them and how privileged they are to get to learn about it. I tease my students that we are all running around in a world that is a big Skinner box a lot of the time full of levers and lights and food pellets (literally and figuratively!), and I challenge them to prove me wrong. I push them to look at the things they do that are the result of classical conditioning. We have a lot of fun with this, and it spurs many “ah ha!” moments and great discussions.  I believe that it helps to achieve what I really want my students to take away from the chapter on learning and from their course with me in general: these things you are learning are about YOU! They are about your life. They apply right now to the behaviours you and your friends and family are engaging in, and they will always apply. And no matter if they never take another psychology course, I want my students to never forget this chapter and how important the topic of learning is. This chapter on learning explains so much about why we do what we do and why we see what we see in others. In my experience, academic and practical, it is impossible to understand human behavior or say that we have even a passing knowledge of psychology if we don’t understand classical and operant conditioning and observational learning. I know that might sound like a “big” statement; but I stand by it. I hope that you and your students will enjoy Chapter 6: What is Learning? as much as I enjoyed contributing to it.

Jill Singleton-Jackson, Chapter 6

Dr. Jill Singleton-Jackson is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Windsor. She is also the Associate Dean of Student Experience and Inter-Faculty Programs for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. She is very grateful to have this role at her university as it allows her to have input into the development and promotion of Indigenization and decolonization and anti-racism initiatives. Dr. Singleton-Jackson moved to Canada from the United States in 2003 and is now a dual citizen. She is also a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma on her mother’s side. Dr. Singleton-Jackson received her BA in Psychology from Oklahoma State University. She earned her MA in Community Psycxhology from Wichita State University, and she received her PhD in Higher Education from the University of North Texas. Dr. Singleton-Jackson has won teaching awards at the university and provincial level, and she has been coordinating the Introductory Psychology courses at Windsor since 2014. Dr. Singleton-Jackson is a proponent of the transformative nature of education and strives to see her students first as individuals and then as students. Additionally, she is committed to making her classroom a safe and welcoming place for all so that trust and learning can occur. Dr. Singleton-Jackson’s research focus is on the role of mentors in the classroom. Jill has been practising yoga for 15 years, she has twin daughters who are endlessly entertaining, and she loves dogs, horses, and travel.