Psychosocial Foundations of Education

Summarized Written Report

Prepared by: Jay-R Dones
Submitted to: Dr. Elvira Ramos

Chapter 14

Learning and Information Processing

Objectives:

 Define Learning
o Based in experts point of view.
o Based in our own opinion
 Identify and describe various learning processes.
o Classical conditioning (Associative learning)
o Operant conditioning (Instrumental conditioning)
o Cognitive learning
o Other types of learning (social learning and conditional learning)
 Enumerate various theories of learning
o S-R Bond Theory
o Behaviorism
o Gestalt Theory
o Functionalism

Learning Defined

Traditional Definition

 More or less permanent modification of behavior resulting from various activities, special trainings,
observation and experiences.
 Relatively permanent change of behavior as a result of practice.
 Changes in behavior which is the result of reinforced practice.
 A process which brings about change in the individuals way of responding to a stimuli as a result of
practice and experiences.
 Pervasive, interactive and developmental.
 May be deliberate or subtle.
 It is a lifetime process.

Learning Processes

Classical conditioning (Associative learning)

 Definition
It is the process by which an element is taught through association with a separate, pre-occurring element. It is
also referred to as classical conditioning. 

 Basic Elements
o Unconditioned stimulus
 The stimulus elicits response without conditioning.
o Unconditioned Response
 Automatic reaction to stimulus
o Conditioned stimulus
 The previously mental stimulus, after being paired with the unconditioned response.
o Conditioned response
  The response it elicits from the conditioned stimulus.

 Fundamental Stages
o Acquisition
 Repeated pairings of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus are
said to be strengthen or reinforce the association between the two.
o Stimulus generalization
 It is based on the principle of similarity wherein the individuals ability to react to the new
stimuli similar to a particular conditioned response.
o Stimulus discrimination
 Complementary to generalization, discrimination is responding differently as when an
organism makes one response to a reinforced stimulus.
o Extinction
 Eliminating a learned response by arousing but failing to reinforce.

Operant Conditioning
 Definition
o In order to gain some type of reward (reinforcement), the organism does something to his
environment.
o A type of learning wherein the organism must do something to the environment in order to
produce results.
 Key Terms
o Operant : the response
o Reinforcement: Reward.
 It is any stimulus that maintains and increases the strength of a response.
 It is a consequence that causes a behavior to occur with greater frequency.
 Positive reinforcement
 A stimulus that strengthens a response if presented after the response has
occurred.
 Negative reinforcement
 These are unpleasant stimuli such as frustrations and pain which strengthens a
response when they are discarded after the response has happened.
o Punishment is a consequence that causes a behavior to occur with less frequency.
o Extinction is the lack of any consequence following a behavior. When a behavior is
inconsequential, producing neither favorable nor unfavorable consequences, it will occur with
less frequency.
o Stimulus discrimination
 This refers to a stimulus that signals whether a reinforcement is available when a
response is made.
o Generalization and discrimination (stimulus control)

 Types (4)
o Primary reward conditioning.
 The simplest type of operant conditioning.
 The learned response is instrumental in obtaining a biologically significant reward.
o Escape conditioning
 The organism learns a response which is instrumental in getting out of a place which he
is not comfortable.
o Avoidance conditioning
 The response to a cue is instrumental in avoiding or preventing the occurrence of any
unpleasant behavior.
o Secondary reward conditioning
  A type of operant conditioning where there is instrumental behavior to get a stimulus
which has no biological utility but which has been associated with the pastwith some
biologically significant stimulus.

Cognitive Learning

 Perceptual learning
o It is an insight learning involving change in perception in which the learner come to know
something about the stimulus that he was not aware of before.
 Sign learning
o The learner permanently attaches meaning to the stimuli.
 Programmed learning
o Characterized by a carefully prepared sequence of study materials.
 Multiple response learning
o It involves the acquisition of patterns or sequences of responses in mastering a task.
 Associative learning (Habit formation)
o A behavior learned through habit formation

Other types of learning processes

 Social learning
 Observational learning

Theories of learning

 The S-R Bond theory

o It operates with the assumption that through conditioning specific responses can directly linked
with particular stimuli.
 Behaviorism
o A theory which assumes that learning is a process of building conditioned reflexes through the
substitution of one stimuli to another.
 Gestalt Theory
o It emphasizes the use of insight as a basic principle and is opposed through trial and error.
 Functionalism
o This theory assumes that behavior and mental processes are adaptive (functional).

Reinforcement, punishment, and extinction

Reinforcement and punishment, the core tools of operant conditioning, are either positive (delivered following a
response), or negative (withdrawn following a response). This creates a total of four basic consequences, with
the addition of a fifth procedure known as extinction (i.e. no change in consequences following a response).

It's important to note that actors are not spoken of as being reinforced, punished, or extinguished; it is the
actions that are reinforced, punished, or extinguished. Additionally, reinforcement, punishment, and extinction
are not terms whose use is restricted to the laboratory. Naturally occurring consequences can also be said to
reinforce, punish, or extinguish behavior and are not always delivered by people.
 Reinforcement is a consequence that causes a behavior to occur with greater frequency.
 Punishment is a consequence that causes a behavior to occur with less frequency.
 Extinction is the lack of any consequence following a behavior. When a behavior is inconsequential,
producing neither favorable nor unfavorable consequences, it will occur with less frequency. When a
previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced with either positive or negative reinforcement, it leads
to a decline in the response.

Four contexts of operant conditioning

Here the terms positive and negative are not used in their popular sense, but rather: positive refers to addition,
and negative refers to subtraction.

What is added or subtracted may be either reinforcement or punishment. Hence positive punishment is

sometimes a confusing term, as it denotes the "addition" of a stimulus or increase in the intensity of a stimulus
that is aversive (such as spanking or an electric shock). The four procedures are:

1. Positive reinforcement (Reinforcement): occurs when a behavior (response) is followed by a stimulus

that is appetitive or rewarding, increasing the frequency of that behavior. In the Skinner
box experiment, a stimulus such as food or sugar solution can be delivered when the rat engages in a
target behavior, such as pressing a lever.
2. Negative reinforcement (Escape): occurs when a behavior (response) is followed by the removal of
an aversive stimulus, thereby increasing that behavior's frequency. In the Skinner box experiment,
negative reinforcement can be a loud noise continuously sounding inside the rat's cage until it engages
in the target behavior, such as pressing a lever, upon which the loud noise is removed.
3. Positive punishment (Punishment) (also called "Punishment by contingent stimulation"): occurs when
a behavior (response) is followed by a stimulus, such as introducing a shock or loud noise, resulting in
a decrease in that behavior.
4. Negative punishment (Penalty) (also called "Punishment by contingent withdrawal"): occurs when a
behavior (response) is followed by the removal of a stimulus, such as taking away a child's toy
following an undesired behavior, resulting in a decrease in that behavior.

 Avoidance learning is a type of learning in which a certain behavior results in the cessation of an
aversive stimulus. For example, performing the behavior of shielding one's eyes when in the sunlight (or
going indoors) will help avoid the aversive stimulation of having light in one's eyes.
 Extinction occurs when a behavior (response) that had previously been reinforced is no longer
effective. In the Skinner box experiment, this is the rat pushing the lever and being rewarded with a food
 pellet several times, and then pushing the lever again and never receiving a food pellet again. Eventually
the rat would cease pushing the lever.
 Noncontingent reinforcement refers to delivery of reinforcing stimuli regardless of the organism's
(aberrant) behavior. The idea is that the target behavior decreases because it is no longer necessary to
receive the reinforcement. This typically entails time-based delivery of stimuli identified as maintaining
aberrant behavior, which serves to decrease the rate of the target behavior. As no measured behavior is
identified as being strengthened, there is controversy surrounding the use of the term noncontingent
"reinforcement".
 Shaping is a form of operant conditioning in which the increasingly accurate approximations of a
desired response are reinforced.
 Chaining is an instructional procedure which involves reinforcing individual responses occurring in a
sequence to form a complex behavior.