Primer on Learning and Conditioning

Primer on Learning and Conditioning: A Quantitative Approach is a succinct, practical, and exercise-based learning and conditioning textbook designed to help students easily grasp key concepts in the field. The book emphasizes a conceptual perspective on associative learning and conditioning, and features a distinct focus on experimental design and quantitative analysis. The book begins with a brief history of the field and introduces students to the concept of learning. Later chapters provide students with the tools and information they need to successfully design conditioning experiments and represent functional relations. Concepts such as modal action patterns, generalization gradients, habituation, and sensitization are explored. The text discusses Pavlovian and operant conditioning, elaborating on foundational concepts such as contingency, reinforcement and punishment, and simple schedules of reinforcement. Students also explore the topics of self-control, behavioral economics, and their implications on mechanisms of reinforcement. Featuring exercises designed to strengthen key ideas at the end of each chapter, Primer on Learning and Conditioning is an interactive text that helps students bridge the gap between the foundational concepts of learning and conditioning and empirical research. It is well-suited for courses in experimental psychology or neuroscience that are focused on learning, conditioning, motivation, or behavior.