All Behaviorist and Cognitive Processing Theories

Behaviorist and Cognitive Processing Theories groups accounts of learning built on observable stimulus-response conditioning or on the internal mechanics of how the mind receives, holds and manipulates information, treated together because both explain learning as a mechanism operating on the individual learner rather than as something built socially or through hands-on construction. Belongs here: Operant Conditioning, learning through reinforcement and punishment of behavior; Information Processing Theory and Schema Theory, which model the mind as an information-handling system organizing knowledge into structures; Working Memory Model and Cognitive Load Theory, which describe the limited capacity available for holding and processing new material; Dual-Coding Theory and Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, which explain how verbal and visual channels combine in memory; Distributed Cognition, which extends the processing system beyond a single mind into tools and other people; and Cognitive Flexibility Theory, which addresses how learners handle ill-structured, multi-perspective content. Does not belong here: a theory holding that the learner actively builds meaning through hands-on activity, grouped under Constructivist and Situated Learning Theories, or one holding that learning happens through social interaction and modeling, grouped under Social and Sociocultural Learning Theories.