PSYC10003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Edward C. Tolman, Albert Bandura, Cognitive Map
3. Cognitive and Social Learning Theories
Cognitive Learning
• Put id ak i learig
• There are internal cognitive processes, even in animals
• Organisms interpret stimuli before responding
• Orgaiss are ot a lak o as ehaiourists stated, ut atiel pereie, atiipate ad thik
• Cognitive processes strongly contribute to learning
• Edward Tolman (1889-1956): believed cognitive processes play an important role in learning of
complex behaviours
• Harder to investigate/demonstrate processes
• Needs clever experimental techniques to show them
• Tolman studied problem solving strategies of rats in mazes
o After several trials, rats would learning how to get to goal quickly with few errors
o What if maze replace by new one?
o In other mazes, rats can also learn shortcuts to food
o Tolman suggested rats do not simply learn S-R associations, but they build cognitive maps of
their environments
• Cognitive map: a mental representation of the spatial characteristics of a familiar environment, such as
a maze
• Learning also occurs in the absence of reward and punishment
• Dot eessaril eed reard ad puishet ut er ofte eed it to show your learning, but you
can learn without it
Insight Learning
• German Gestalt-psychologist, Wolfgang Kohler
• Influenced by Darwin
• Interested in problem solving in primates via insight
• Sudden insight: rapid learning as a result of understanding all the elements of the problem
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