The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning - Paperback

The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning - Fifth Edition

This thoroughly updated fifth edition textbook provides a comprehensive yet accessible overview of conditioning and learning psychology. Written by renowned experts Michael Domjan and Andrew R. Delamater, this classic text serves undergraduate and graduate psychology courses with clear explanations of learning processes and mechanisms.

What's New in the Fifth Edition

This revised edition expands coverage of clinical applications and translational research with laboratory animals. The authors have streamlined the presentation while adding substantial new research findings. Enhanced discussions of associative, ethological, behavioral, and information processing approaches provide students with current perspectives on learning theory.

New neuroscience findings clarify behavioral mechanisms throughout the text. The fifth edition emphasizes real-world applications, connecting concepts to everyday human experiences like learning to discriminate between phone apps or wine tasting. Each chapter is supported by YouTube mini-lecture videos designed to accompany the text.

Core Content and Approach

The textbook summarizes major theories of how humans and nonhuman animals learn, supported by classic experiments and real-world applications. Coverage includes classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and modern learning mechanisms. The authors balance theoretical frameworks with practical examples, making complex psychological concepts accessible to students.

Teaching and Learning Resources

Instructors receive access to a companion website containing PowerPoint slides, multiple-choice questions, reflection questions, key terms and definitions, supplemental video links, and a transition guide from the fourth edition. These resources support comprehensive course planning and student engagement.

About the Authors

Michael Domjan is Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has taught learning for five decades. His book, The Principles of Learning and Behavior (Cengage), is now in its 7th edition. Dr. Domjan is recipient of the D.O. Hebb Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from the Society for Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology, and his research was recently celebrated by a special issue of the journal Learning & Behavior (2022, volume 50, number 3).

Andrew R. Delamater is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he has taught various courses in learning and behavior theory and in the neurobiology of associative learning since 1994. He has served the discipline in a variety of ways: as president of the Pavlovian Society (2016) and the Eastern Psychological Association (2012), as a regular member on NIH study sections, as a member on editorial boards for a variety of journals, and currently as editor for the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning & Cognition.