The Psychology Reader

  Your brain is like a magnet which works without reward—but you may not realise it. - In a previous post, I explained that actions which bring us rewards are learned quickly. - However, one psychologist, Edward Tolman, introduced an idea that might blow your mind. 𝗛𝗶, 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗩𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝟲𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁, 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 Vivek Sunny 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆. - Tolman argued that it’s not just the reward that makes humans or animals learn a behavior pattern. - He believed that the ability to learn and create mental maps of our environment is inherent. In fact, we can learn without a reward at all. To demonstrate this, let’s t...

Hi everyone, I am Vivek and this is my 5th content on Psychology series where I create simple stories to simplify the contents. We all have learnt certain behaviours but unsure about that this is also called as operant conditioning. In simple terms, it refers to a situation where human behaviour is shaped by its consequences. Let me break it down even further, possibly with an example. Operant conditioning was first demonstrated with rats by Edward Thorndike, but at that time it was referred to as the "Law of Effect." To understand this, let me explain how it all started. A rat was locked inside a cage. Initially, the rat struggled to escape, scratching the cage and sometimes peeking out. After numerous attempts, it managed to press a lever, which allowed it to escape and receive its favourite food as a reward. Humans and Animals learn their behavior by trials and errors The rat learned, "Okay, this is great! I got a reward." The second time, the rat tried to find...