By the very definition 'Psychology' is concerned with understanding predicting, and controlling 'Human behavior'. That holds true today, but different fields have differing emphases on (and definitions for) 'Understanding', 'predicting', and 'controlling', as well as differing in what they're prepared to include in their Understanding of 'Behavior'. While there are differences between various theoretical approaches and paradigms in psychology, the Art embraces them all, even the most diametrically opposed.
Primary Theories:Two major theories were traditionally considered as main theories to understand human behavior:Respondent conditioningClassical and unconditioned stimulus associate, such that the former comes to elicit a response previously elicited only by the latter. It is also known as the Pavlovian conditioning.
Operant conditioningLearning in which voluntary behavior is repeated depending on its consequences also called as Skinnerian or instrumental conditioning.
Social learning mechanismsMany other elements are also being considered in human behavior, like cognitive factors, especially observational learning, and as most of these are based around experience, they are often grouped under the social learning mechanisms.
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Skinner box for ratDollard and Miller (1950)They stated that, in humans, most of the learning is social and acquired through observing other people in social situations and circumstances.
According to BanduraAccording to this major theorist in the social learning theory, learning occurs in two ways:Response consequences and observational learning: Response learning is not dissimilar to the approach adopted by Skinner, in that the behaviors, which occur as a result of such learning can either, be reinforcing or punishing.
Observational learning, Bandura et al. (1961) is a form of secondary learning, by which we observe and model our behavior on those around us. Bryan and Test (1967) also agreed that behavior could be learned through learning. Imitation.
Social learning theoryThe social learning theory differs from the behaviorist theories of Classical and Operant conditioning in regarding vicarious learning...