| Sumario: | In the psychology of learning, there are three major traditions: hedonism, associationism, and rationalism. Many writers have attempted to base their understanding of learning exclusively upon one or another of these traditions; others have drawn unsystematically from all three. The position taken by the author of the present article is that there are two basic learning processes—‘conditioning’ (associationism) and ‘problem-solving’ (hedonism)-and that rationality is a complex derivative of these other two. However, in order for such a synthesis to be possible, conditioning and problem-solving must, the author believes, be defined in the rather special ways here proposed. If this type of formulation proves valid, it holds promise of not only resolving a number of theoretical paradoxes but of opening the way for new and important applications of the principles of learning in education, clinical work, human relations, and other related fields. The author is Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University.
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