Latent learning is the ability to learn without reward, where an organism learns from observation and can express that ability later. An experiment with mice showed that reinforcement isn’t always necessary for learning. This theory contrasts with stimulus-response association theory influenced by Pavlov’s classical conditioning.
Latent learning is a theory in psychology that describes learning without reward. An organism learns a new concept simply from observation and without any obvious reinforcement. The organism may not be consciously aware of its new ability until it suddenly expresses that ability when it becomes useful at a later time. For example, a person may casually observe other people using chopsticks to eat and discover much later that he can use them correctly without ever being taught.
A classic experiment in psychology illustrates how latent learning works. Edward C. Tolman and CH Honzik famously placed three groups of mice inside a maze, where the mice could wander around. One group of rats always received a food reward when they reached the end of the maze, while the second group found no food at the end. The third group found no food at the end of the maze for ten days, but found food on the 11th day.
The first group of mice learned to quickly reach the end of the maze to reach their food. The second group continued to wander the labyrinth. The third group acted similarly to the second group until food was placed at the end of the maze on the final day. One day after the food was placed, the third group had already learned to reach the end of the maze just as quickly as the first group.
This experiment illustrates latent learning because it showed that reinforcement or a reward isn’t always necessary for learning. It is possible for a person – or a rat – to learn from their surroundings, without any specific incentive to do so. Once there is a reason to use that knowledge, it can be invoked and put into practice.
Latent learning theory stands in contrast to other learning theories in psychology. Proponents of the stimulus-response (SR) association theory believed that an organism learns due to a stimulus in the environment that elicits a specific response from the organism. This point of view was directly influenced by Ivan Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning. Pavlov is known to have found that dogs did not simply salivate in the presence of food, but eventually salivate at the sound of the bell indicating the arrival of the food or in the presence of the person feeding them.
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