Learning and Memory

The first text to integrate behavioral and cognitive approaches to learning and memory, this engaging textbook emphasizes human research, reflecting the field's evolution. Learning and Memory also recognizes the vital contribution of animal research, covering all historically important studies. Written in a lively and conversational style, this second edition encourages students to think critically. One example is its exploration of the Rescorla-Wagner model, the most important theory of conditioning, now further streamlined to improve student comprehension. Another is the addition of critical-thinking questions, which encourage students to evaluate their reactions to the material they've read, and relate findings to their own lives. Research includes an emphasis on practical applications such as treatments for phobias, addictions, and autism; the arguments for and against corporal punishment; whether recovered memories and eyewitness testimony should be believed; and effective techniques for studying. The text concludes with an overview of neural networks and deep learning.

'This undergraduate textbook is remarkable. To my knowledge no other book provides such a comprehensive coverage of the topics of learning and memory. Moreover, this unique breadth of coverage has not been gained by treating topics superficially. Quite the contrary, from start to finish readers are provided with a detailed understanding of all the major issues that have confronted the study of learning and memory. Finally, the foregoing achievements are crowned by the wonderful manner in which the book is written. The reader is treated as an equal to the author, and even complex issues, such as formal models of learning, are presented in a clear and engaging manner that sets this book head and shoulders above other undergraduate texts on learning and memory.' Professor John Pearce, Cardiff University, Fellow of the Royal Society, 'Lieberman's Learning and Memory is one of those rare textbooks that finds an optimal balance between lively exposition and scientific rigor. In particular, his treatment of mathematical modeling as a tool for understanding human learning makes this text my 'go to' for teaching students about modern behavioral science.' Tom Faulkenberry, Tarleton State University, 'Lieberman does an excellent job of making traditionally challenging concepts from research on learning and memory accessible for undergraduates. I especially appreciate the numerous examples of real-world applications that he weaves throughout the text, including a particularly fascinating penultimate chapter on several practical applications of memory research.' Lauren Bates, Flagler College, 'Learning and Memory, 2nd Edition, by Lieberman, presents a rare combination of topics, in a scholarly, yet engaging, manner. Books that combine Learning Theory and Cognitive Theory are becoming extremely rare. Those that meet the needs of undergraduate courses are even rarer. This book combines clear explanations of theory, practical applications, and engaging examples of the complex theories in both disciplines in a way that teaches and reaches students. It provides all the best of both areas in a readable, comprehensive form.' Melissa Shyan-Norwalt, University of Cincinnati, 'In the second edition of Learning and Memory, David A. Lieberman's clear writing and organization focuses students on core concepts that will form a foundation for further study. This text helps my students to build an integrated understanding of human learning across this survey course, and to apply that understanding to solve meaningful problems in their own lives.' Karl Bailey, Andrews University

David A. Lieberman was an undergraduate at Columbia University and received his Ph.D. from Brown University. He taught for four years at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he was twice selected as the 'most stimulating' teacher in psychology in university polls of graduating seniors. He then moved to the University of Stirling in Scotland where his course on learning received the highest student ratings of any course in psychology. He served two terms as Associate Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology and was one of only two psychology members of the SERC panel – the UK equivalent of the US National Science Foundation – that awarded research grants in psychology. He is the author of Learning and the Control of Behavior (1974), Learning: Behavior and Cognition (1999), and Human Learning and Memory (2012).