Learning is a fundamental biological process that is most advanced in human beings than in other organisms. Human beings, it would appear, were created to be learners; they constantly accumulate vast amounts of knowledge throughout our lives. In contemporary societies, learning is a formalized process, and in many countries, education is compulsory. However, the precise ways in which we learn or the best means of learning remains a heavily contested issue, especially in education psychology. A theory of learning attempts to answer this question through the description of the process of knowledge acquisition. Various thinkers have since ancient times proffered multiple theories on this issue that now constitute theories of learning.
One of the earliest thinkers to contribute to this issue was Plato. He contended, from a rationalist perspective, that truth and knowledge could be arrived at through self-reflection (Illeris, 2018) . His emphasis on the primacy of rationalism was discounted by his student Aristotle who argued that it is through our senses that we can make sense of the world around us and, therefore, attain knowledge. This led him to develop an empirical basis for inquiry and knowledge acquisition. These ancient discourses formed the basis for many other theories of learning. Rene Descartes emphasized and improved the platonic idea of innate knowledge. John Locke, on the other hand, revived Aristotelian empiricism with the notion that the mind of a child is a blank tablet- tabula rasa -that is formed and shaped by experiences.
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With the advent of more scientific inquiry into learning processes in the 19 th century, more elaborate theories of learning have emerged with much of the 20 th century focusing on behaviorist, constructivist, and cognitive theories of learning. Edward Thorndike believed that learning was an incremental exercise that took place through trial and error. To him, learning is based on the association between the impulse to action and sense impressions. His behaviorist account of the learning process rejected the notion that learning took place through mental constructs and saw them as a result of responses to stimuli (Hammond, Austin, Orcutt, & Rosso, 2001) . His ideas proved crucial to the development of the tenets of the behaviorist school.
Behaviorism
It is one of the major learning theories and holds that learning takes place through objectively identifiable behavioral changes. Learning in this sense is defined simply as changes in behavior or acquisition of new behavior. An environmental cue or stimulus is presented, and the learner responds in one way or another. The results that reflect the desired behavior are said to constitute the ideal learning process (Illeris, 2018) . It thus appreciated that response to a stimulus does not yield a specific outcome. The new behavior is repeated so that it is automatic. The behavioral shift in the learner is a sign that learning has taken place. An example of behavioral learning is studying for an examination and getting a good grade.
Skinner, the father of modern behaviorism, considered the production of desired behavior as constituting learning, and just like Thorndike, rejected the influence of mental processes. Through his improvement of Thorndike’s theory of Stimulus-Response learning, he introduced programmed learning that emphasized reward over punishment for students. Critics of behaviorism charge that it does not promote creative thinking and problem-solving in the process of learning.
Constructivism
Constructivist learning theory is premised on the notion that learning (cognition) is the product of mental construction. Constructivists see the fitting of new knowledge with the already existing knowledge to arrive at different outcomes as constituting learning. The constructivist theory of knowledge asserts that human knowledge exists in mind and does not have to match what exists in reality (Olusegun, 2015) . Learners are from this perspective trying to develop their mental models based on their perceptions of the world. With each new experience, they improve their mental models to be in line with the new information. Constructivism is often credited with enabling learners to apply their knowledge to existing real-world experience, hypothesize, test their theories, and finally arrive at their conclusions (Kay & Kibbe, 2016) . A fundamental assumption of the constructivist theory is that the learner is active as opposed to being passive. If inconsistencies between current understanding and what is in existence are recognized, adjustments are made for accommodation purposes. To the constructivist, therefore, behavior, even with the same environmental context, will vary thanks to the variance in mental processes. The theory is often used to prepare people to problem solve. The successful learner needs to have a sizable knowledge base from which he or she can interpret and create ideas.
Systems Theory
The motivations of human behavior are often inexplicable and confusing to observers. In the contemporary world, reference is often made to post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotic behavior or other mental pathologies. But often, these explanations are too mechanistic and simplistic for failing to understand the complexities of the human mind. System theory in the field of psychology developed out of the deficiencies of other approaches that sought to explain human behavior (Chaplin & Krawiec, 1962) . Its core tenet is that the human mind is more than merely a sum of its parts. Rather, it is a complex system weaved together by chemical, mental, and physiological processes. In other words, it is a system on its own.
Systems theory can be traced to the seminal work of the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy. He believed that it was impossible to understand things by separating them into their components. If a system is to be examined and understood, he contended, it had to be what he termed an open system: one that has both inputs and outputs. For instance, the human body requires food, water, and oxygen for survival. In Bertalanffy’s view, these are the inputs. He explained that the body also needs outputs or means of excreting unutilized portions of the inputs, without which it would eventually self-implode since the system is not designed for only inputs. A closed system, on the other hand, is like the earth which though receiving various inputs such as sunlight, has no way to exhaling (Bertalanffy, 1967) . A truly closed system, he submitted, is only theoretical and , therefore, every system requires modes of input and output.
While Bertalanffy's idea was influential in shaping ecological science, it was also significant in influencing the approaches in the social sciences. In psychology, it led to what is often known as systems psychology. Realizing the benefits of the theory, psychologists started using it in family studies. The study of families as systems was significant since it was deemed that as long as it was functioning properly, it was in equilibrium. This equilibrium, it was argued, ensured that adaptation and feedback cycles were working properly, and if disrupted, the system would shut down (Chaplin & Krawiec, 1962) . According to family systems theory, each member of the family has an interdependent relationship with the other, and together, the family forms a mutually reinforcing system.
More crucially, systems approach was important in overcoming the problems associated with the behaviorist paradigm. Behaviorism, which was perceived to be revolutionary at the time, held that complex behaviors could be understood as products of quantifiable physical phenomena (Illeris, 2018) . This approach was deemed crucial to the demystification of human psychology. Rather than it serving as a soft science, it could be subjected to the rigors of quantitative analysis as in the physical sciences. The main distillation of behaviorist research was that people, just like animals in general, behave in a way to avoid or reduce discomfort and increase their pleasure.
This view was deemed to be not only intuitively true but also had a basis in experimental psychology. The most famous example of classical behaviorism is Pavlov and his experiment with dogs. Pavlov would ring a bell before feeding his dogs, and they would salivate. Eventually, the dogs would salivate without being provided with food (Illeris, 2018) . Neo-behaviorism found it s most famous experiment in the work of Skinner and his pigeons in which he successfully manipulated their behavior. While these experiments did suggest that psychology could be measured, the techniques did not always accurately predict human behavior (Kay & Kibbe, 2016) . In other words, while behaviorist approaches could explain relatively simple and incremental behaviors, they were inadequate in more complex human behaviors. Systems theory chastised behaviorism for its impersonal nature and inability to address such questions as purpose and goals that ground human action. In its place, it suggested a more elaborate and holistic approach to human behavior that considers such factors as emotions, fears, goals, environment amongst a wide range of other factors. In other words, systems theory sought to understand the human mind as a system affected by a wide-ranging set of factors.
Through its emphasis on a wide range of factors that influence the human mind, systems psychology shares in common this accommodation with learning theory. As it has been demonstrated, learning theory is a wide canvass that incorporates such schools as behaviorism, constructivism, and cognitivism. To this extent, both theories underscore the variegated motivations that buttress human behavior. Learning theory has broad applicability more so in the development of teaching approaches. Pedagogical approaches often find their basis in the insights offered by learning theories. Constructivism has special relevance today given the need to stimulate critical and creative thinking as opposed to rote regurgitation. Systems theory, on the other hand, has huge relevance in drawing attention to the broad basis of human behavior. It is thus significant in guiding therapeutic approaches to mental illness. In particular, it points to the efficacy of treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy that addresses a wide aspect of mental disorders.
Conclusion
Human behavior is complex. Behavioral theories of learning assert that changes in behavior constitute learning. Other learning theories such as constructivism and cognitivism, however, offer more elaborate descriptions of the learning process and thus a more accurate basis for behavioral shifts. Systems theory, on the other hand, seeks to underscore the need for a holistic view towards human behavior as it perceives the human mind as a system made of interdependent elements. In doing so, the theory underscores the complexity of human behavior and counsels against arbitrary prescriptions to behavioral problems.
References
Bertalanffy, L. V. (1967). General theory of systems: Application to psychology. Social Science Information, 6 (6).
Chaplin, J., & Krawiec, T. S. (192). Systems and theories of psychology . New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston.
Hammond, L.-D., Austin, K., Orcutt, S., & Rosso, J. (2001). How people learn: Introduction to Learning Theories. Stanford University .
Illeris, K. (2018). An overview of the history of learning theory. European Journal of Education , 86-101.
Kay, D., & Kibbe, J. (2016). Learning theories 101: Application to everyday teaching and scholarship. Advances in Physiology Education, 40 (1), 17-25.
Olusegun, S. (2015). Constructivism learning theory: A Paradigm for teaching and learning. Journal of Research & Method in Education, 5 (6), 66-70.
