Review of Conditioning and Learning

Abstract

Reviews the book, Conditioning and Learning by Ernest R. Hilgard and Donald G. Marquis (see record 1940-02884-000 ). The reviewer argues that the need for a thorough review of the literature on conditioning and learning is great. But it must be more than a review. To be of greatest value it must be a critical exposition that does not facilely answer all the questions, but gives the reader a better basis for integration of his knowledge through placing the problems in their proper historical setting and through relating them to each other and to closely allied problems in the field of learning. This was the need, and the book Conditioning and Learning has met it admirably. This is not a book which admits of an easy and conventional evaluation. While the content is primarily factual, the writers' own points of view inevitably appear at times. With them some may wish to quarrel. Such disputes are hardly for the garden variety psychologist, as only those who are working and thinking intensively in this field will be in a position to challenge the authors' interpretations. The book is written with the thoroughness and discernment that has characterized the earlier work of the writers. That it will be indispensable to students of conditioning and learning goes without saying. That it will be read widely by psychologists and laymen who read seriously in the field of psychology seems likely. That it will do more than provide a readily available source of information, modifying and clarifying thinking of many psychologists is to be hoped. Just how important a book it is can hardly be said at present. To this reviewer it seems to be one of the few really significant books in the field of psychology to have appeared in recent years. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)