MODULE INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

CHAPTER 4: LEARNING

Objectives:
a.) Define learning in psychological context.
b.) Differentiate among classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and
observational learning

Learning: Definition, Characteristics and Types of Learning in Psychology

The process of learning is continuous which starts right from the

time of birth of an individual and continues till the death. We all are
engaged in the learning endeavors in order to develop our adaptive
capabilities as per the requirements of the changing environment. For a
learning to occur, two things are important: 1. The presence of a stimulus in
the environment and 2. The innate dispositions like emotional and
instinctual dispositions. A person keeps on learning across all the stages of
life, by constructing or reconstructing experiences under the influence of
emotional and instinctual dispositions.

Psychologists in general define Learning as relatively permanent

behavioral modifications which take place as a result of experience. This
definition of learning stresses on three important elements of learning:

Learning involves a behavioral change which can be better or worse.

 This behavioral change should take place as a result of practice
and experience. Changes resulting from maturity or growth cannot be considered as
learning
 This behavioral change must be relatively permanent and last for a relatively long time
enough.

John B Watson is one amongst the first thinkers who has proven that behavioural changes
occur as a result of learning. Watson is believed to be the founder of Behavioural school of
thought, which gained its prominence or acceptability around the first half of the 20th
century. Gales defined Learning as the behavioural modification which occurs as a result of
experience as well as training. Crow and Crow defined learning as the process of acquisition of
knowledge, habits and attitudes. According to E.A, Peel, Learning can be described as a
change in the individual which takes place as a result of the environmental change. H.J.
Klausmeir described Learning as a process which leads to some behavioural change as a
result of some experience, training, observation, activity, etc.

The key characteristics of the learning process are:

1. When described in the simplest possible manner, learning is described as an experience

acquisition process.
2. In the complex form, learning can be described as process of acquisition, retention and
modification of experience.
3. It re-establishes the relationship between a stimulus and response.
4. It is a method of problem solving and is concerned about making adjustments with the
environment.

Page 1
 MODULE INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

5. It involves all those gamut of activities which may have a relatively permanent effect on
the individual.
6. The process of learning is concerned about experience acquisition, retention of
experiences, and experience development in a step by step manner, synthesis of both
old and new experiences for creating a new pattern.
7. Learning is concerned about cognitive, conative and affective aspects. Knowledge
acquisition process is cognitive, any change in the emotions is affective and conative is
acquisition of new habits or skills.

Types of Learning

Motor Learning: Our day to day activities like walking, running,

driving, etc, must be learnt for ensuring a good life. These
activities to a great extent involve muscular coordination.

Verbal Learning: It is related with the language which we use

to communicate and various other forms of verbal
communication such as symbols, words, languages, sounds,
figures and signs.

Concept Learning: This form of learning is associated with

higher order cognitive processes like intelligence, thinking,
reasoning, etc, which we learn right from our childhood. Concept learning involves the
processes of abstraction and generalization, which is very useful for identifying or recognizing
things.

Discrimination Learning: Learning which distinguishes between various stimuli with its
appropriate and different responses is regarded as discrimination stimuli.

Learning of Principles: Learning which is based on principles helps in managing the work
most effectively. Principles based learning explains the relationship between various concepts.

Attitude Learning: Attitude shapes our behaviour to a very great extent, as our positive or
negative behaviour is based on our attitudinal predisposition.

Three Types of Behavioural Learning

The Behavioural School of Thought which was founded by John

B Watson which was highlighted in his seminal
work, “Psychology as the Behaviorist View It”, stressed on
the fact that Psychology is an objective science, hence mere
emphasis on the mental processes should not be considered
as such processes cannot be objectively measured or
observed.

Watson tried to prove his theory with the help of his

famous Little Albert Experiment, by way of which he
conditioned a small kid to be scared of a white rat. The
behavioural psychology described three types of learning: Classical Conditioning,
Observational Learning and Operant Conditioning.

Page 2
 MODULE INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Classical Conditioning: In case of Classical Conditioning, the process of learning is described

as a Stimulus-Response connection or association. Classical Conditioning theory has been
explained with the help of Pavlov’s Classic Experiment, in which the food was used as the
natural stimulus which was paired with the previously neutral stimuli that’s a bell in this case. By
establishing an association between the natural stimulus (food) and the neutral stimuli (sound of
the bell), the desired response can be elicited. This theory will be discussed in detail in the next
few articles.

Operant Conditioning: Propounded by scholars like Edward Thorndike firstly and later by B.F.
Skinner, this theory stresses on the fact that the consequences of actions shape the behaviour.
The theory explains that the intensity of a response is either increased or decreased as a result
of punishment or reinforcement. Skinner explained how with the help of reinforcement one can
strengthen behaviour and with punishment reduce or curb behaviour. It was also analyzed that
the behavioural change strongly depends on the schedules of reinforcement with focus on
timing and rate of reinforcement.

Observational Learning: The Observational Learning process was propounded by Albert

Bandura in his Social Learning Theory, which focused on learning by imitation or observing
people’s behaviour. For observational learning to take place effectively, four important elements
will be essential: Motivation, Attention, Memory and Motor Skills.

To know more about Consciousness please click the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T4qp1h6k6s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlaG99awCD8

Page 3
 MODULE INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Learning Theories: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning and

Learning by Observation

Classical Conditioning Theory and Learning

The key premises of Classical Conditioning theory was established by Russian Physiologist
named Ivan Pavlov, who first discovered the crucial principles of classical learning theory with
the help of an experiment done on dogs to study their digestive processes. The Nobel Prize
laureate of 1904, while studying the digestive processes in dogs came across a very interesting
observation during his experimentation. He noticed that his subject would begin to salivate by
seeing the lab assistant with white lab coats entering into the room before being fed. Though
Pavlov’s discovery is originally an accidental discovery, but later with the help of his
experiments the classical conditioning theory came into existence. His Classical conditioning
theory played a crucial role in explaining the important psychological concepts like learning and
equally established the foundation for the behavioural school of thought. Behaviorism is based
on two major assumptions:

1. Learning takes place as a result of the interactions with the environmental forces.
2. The environmental forces play a key role in shaping the behaviour.

According to Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning theory, learning takes place because of

association which is established between a previously neutral stimulus and a natural stimulus. It
should be noted, that Classical Conditioning places a neutral stimulus before the naturally
occurring reflexes. In his experiment, he tried to pair the natural stimulus that is food with a bell
sound. The dogs would salivate with the natural occurrence of food, but after repeated
associations, the dogs salivated just by hearing the sound of the bell alone. The focus of
Classical Conditioning theory is on automatic and naturally occurring behaviour.

Page 4
 MODULE INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Key Principles of Classical Conditioning Theory

1. Acquisition: This is the starting stage of

learning during which a response is
established firstly and then gradually
strengthened. During the acquisition phase, a
neutral stimulus is paired with an
unconditioned stimulus which can
automatically or naturally trigger or generate a
response without any learning. Once this
association is established between the neutral
stimulus and unconditioned stimulus, the subject will exhibit a behavioural response
which is now known as conditioned stimulus. Once a behavioural response is
established, the same can be gradually strengthened or reinforced to make sure that the
behaviour is learnt.
2. Extinction: Extinction is expected to take place when the intensity of a conditioned
response decreases or disappears completely. In classical conditioning, this occurs
when a conditioned stimulus is no longer associated or paired with the unconditioned
stimulus.
3. Spontaneous Recovery: When a learnt or a conditioned response suddenly reappears
after a brief resting period or suddenly re-emerges after a short period of extinction, the
process is considered as a spontaneous recovery.
4. Stimulus Generalization: It is the tendency of the conditioned stimulus to evoke the
similar kind of responses once the responses have been conditioned, which occurs as a
result of stimulus generalization.
5. Stimulus Discrimination: Discrimination is the ability of the subject to discriminate
between stimuli with other similar stimuli. It means, not responding to those stimuli which
is not similar, but responding only to certain specific stimuli.

The theory of Classical Conditioning has several applications in the real-world. It is helpful for
various pet trainers for helping them train their pets. Classical conditioning techniques can also
be beneficial in helping people deal with their phobias or anxiety issues. The trainers or
teachers can also put to practise the Classical Conditioning theory by building a positive or a
highly motivated classroom environment for helping the students to overcome their phobias and
deliver their best performance.

To know more about the Classical Conditioning please click the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP5lCleK-PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSqWiTG-o2Y

Page 5
 MODULE INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Operant Conditioning Theory and Learning

Renowned Behavioural Psychologist B.F. Skinner was the main proponent of Operant
conditioning theory. It is for this reason that the Operant Conditioning is also known as
Skinnerian Conditioning and Instrumental Conditioning. Just like Classical Conditioning,
Instrumental/Operant Conditioning lays emphasis on forming associations, but these
associations are established between behaviour and behavioural consequences. The theory
stressed on the role of punishment or reinforcements for increasing or decreasing the probability
of the same behaviour to be repeated in the future. But the condition is that the consequences
must immediately follow a behavioural pattern. The focus of operant conditioning is on voluntary
behavioural patterns.

Key Components of Operant Conditioning

 Reinforcement: Reinforcements strengthen or increase the intensity of behaviour. This
can be Positive and Negative.

Positive Reinforcement: When a favorable event or an outcome is associated with

behaviour in the form of a reward or praise, it is called as positive reinforcement. For
example, a boss may associate bonus with outstanding achievements at work.

Negative Reinforcement: This involves removal of an unfavorable or an unpleasant

event after a behavioural outcome. In this case, the intensity of a response is
strengthened by removing the unpleasant experiences.

 Punishment: The objective of punishment is to decrease the intensity of a behavioural

outcome, which may be negative or positive.

Positive Punishment: This involves application of punishment by presenting an

unfavorable event or outcome in response to a behaviour. Spanking for an unacceptable
behaviour is an example of positive punishment.

Negative Punishment: It is associated with the removal of a favorable event or an

outcome in response to a behaviour which needs to be weakened. Holding the
promotion of an employee for not being able to perform up to the expectations of the
management can be an example of a negative punishment.

Page 6
 MODULE INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

 Reinforcement Schedules: According to Skinner, the schedule of reinforcement with

focus on timing as well as the frequency of reinforcement, determined how quickly new
behaviour can be learned and old behaviour can be altered.

To know more about the Operant Conditioning please click the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHJbIJK9TI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuQvCxsa5Ns
What is the difference between Classical and Operant Conditioning?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRdCowYEtAg

Learning by Observation

According to Albert Bandura, learning cannot simply be based merely on associations or

reinforcements which he has mentioned in his writings in his book Social Learning
Theory which was published in 1977. Instead, his focus was on learning based on observation,
which he has proven through his well known Bobo Doll experiment. He reckoned that children
keenly observe their surroundings and the behaviour of people around them particularly their
caregivers, teachers and siblings and try to imitate those behaviours in their day to day life. He
also tried proving through his experiment that children can easily imitate the negative
behaviours or actions.

Another important principle of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory was that learning something by
way of observation, need not necessarily mean that it would lead to a change in the behaviour.
This behavioural change is entirely influenced by the felt need or motivation of a person to
endorse and adopt a behavioural change.

Key Steps involved in Observational Learning

 Attention: Attention is very important for learning

to take place effectively by following observational
techniques. A novel concept or a unique idea is
expected to attract the attention far more strongly
than those which are routine or mundane in nature.
 Retention: It is the ability to store the learnt
information and recall it later, which is equally
affected by a number of factors.
 Reproduction: It involves practicing or emulating
the learnt behaviour, which will further lead to the
advancement of the skill.
 Motivation: Motivation to imitate the learnt behaviour of a model depends a lot on the
reinforcement and punishment. For example, an office-goer may be motivated to report
to office on time by seeing his colleague being rewarded for his punctuality and
timeliness.

https://www.managementstudyguide.com/definition-characteristics-and-
types-of-learning-in-psychology.htm

Page 7