DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY Mid

La Union Campus
City of San Fernando, La Union College of Education
BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

Name: BASILIO, FRANCIA NEIL TUMBAGA Year & Section: BSE 1C

Subject: The Child and Adolescents Learners and Learning Principles

MODULE V: Behavioral Learning Theories and Approaches to Learning

LESSON 1: What is Learning?

Comprehension Check!

1) In your own understanding, how would you define learning?

Answer:

Learning is a relative permanent alteration of thinking and behavior of an individual from

experiences. It is the process or experience of gaining knowledge, sorting out an idea or thought by
interpreting it in our own words, and applying those acquired learnings in relatively beneficial
purposes. A vital fact about learning is that it is a means to improve knowledge and gain skills that
will help in reaching specific milestones.

2) What are the manifestations that learning took place? Give 3 concrete examples.

Answer:

Learning takes place in different ways throughout a person’s life. Manifestations of learning
can be observed among different people of different ages. Learning is said to be a continuous process
of every human being and that each of us seeks learning throughout our lives. Some manifestations
of learning are: (1) Learning takes place when someone is reading a book or any materials, and he or
she grasps the ideas and information that were discussed in the reading material. Effective reading
can boost our intellectual skills and broaden our knowledge. The ideas that we get through reading
can help us in real world to become productive and efficient in problem-solving and critical thinking.
(2) Learning happens when we go to school and listen to our teachers attentively. Teachers have a
big role in shaping one’s intellectual ability and knowledge. If students will listen, cooperate, and
interact within the classroom during discussion, he/she can surely learn something and somehow
perceives the world differently than before the acquiring of knowledge. Schools are indeed one of
the major institutions that enhance a person’s learning and capabilities. (3) Just as older children
and adults learn through reading and studying, young children learn by playing. Children learn best
through their everyday, natural environment. Toddlers learn to request, protest, and label objects
and actions when playing. What children learn through playing are being transfer over into other
activities as well.
3) What factors affect learning? Why?

Answer:

Individuals may have difficulty learning for number of reasons. The following are the several
factors affecting learning:

• Genetic Factors. Recent studies of hundreds of thousands of individuals have found genes that
explain about 5 percent of the differences among people in intelligence. In a very little way,
intelligence is hereditary. The more intelligent an individual is, the more he/she can grasp
and learn ideas and lessons immediately than others.
• Motivations. Of the entirety of the variables that can influence how individual learns,
motivation may be the most significant. Someone who is roused to learn something generally
succeeds. When people see the reason for learning, their motivation increases.
• Intellectual Ability. Intellectual strengths and weaknesses of every person vary. Some people
have an easier time to grasp ideas and remember lessons, while some may have a hard time.
This factor affects learning in a very large extent.
• Environment. A safe and peaceful environment promotes an effective and positive learning,
compared to a jeopardized and busy environment.
• Background Knowledge. A person that has not been exposed to basic knowledge that relates
to the lesson may have a difficulty in learning.
• Health and Nutrition. A person who is being neglected and is unhealthy is likely to be less
focused and does not thrive for learning for he is lacking nutrients. Whereas a healthy
individual is more likely to have a higher level of learning.
LESSON 2: Approaches to Learning

Comprehension Check!

Make a table to summarize the different approaches to learning. Follow the format below:

APPROACH PROPONENT MAIN POINT

Behaviorist Ivan Pavlov and The Behaviorist Approach to Learning centers around the
Approach to B.F. Skinner belief that appropriate behavior can be taught through
Learning constant repetition of a task combined with feedback
from the facilitator. Positive feedback encourages and
reinforces success while negative feedback and
immediate correction discourages the repetition of a
mistake or undesirable behavior. This approach to
learning is based on the idea that learners respond to
stimuli in the environment.
Social Cognitive Albert Bandura Bandura presented a Social-Cognitive Theory that
Approach emphasizes that the environment and cognitive factors
influence behavior. The concepts of Reciprocal
Determinism, Observational Learning, and Self-Efficacy all
play a part in learning and development.
Reciprocal Determinism. Our behavior, cognitive
processes, and situational context all influence each
other.
Observational Learning. As we learn individual behaviors,
we learn new behavior patterns when we see them
performed by other people or models. Through this, we
come to learn what behaviors are acceptable and
rewarded in our culture, and we also learn to inhibit
deviant or socially unacceptable behaviors by seeing what
behaviors are punished.
Self-Efficacy. Refers to an individual’s belief in his or her
capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce
specific performance attainments.
Information Donald Broadbent The Information Processing Approach is based on a
Processing and others number of assumptions, including: (1) information made
available by the environment is processed by a series of
processing systems; (2) these processing systems
transform or alter the information in systematic ways;
(3) the aim of research is to specify the processes and
structures that underlie cognitive performance;
(4) information processing in humans resembles that in
computers.
Cognitive Jean Piaget and View of Knowledge- Knowledge is actively constructed by
Constructivist William Perry learners and that any account of knowledge makes
essential references to cognitive structures.
View of Learning- Learning is presented as a process of
active discovery.
View of Motivation- Sees motivation as largely intrinsic.
 Implications for Teaching- Aim to assist students in
assimilating new information to existing knowledge and
enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to
their existing intellectual framework to accommodate
that information.
Social Lev Vygotsky Students learn by doing rather than observing. Students
Constructivist bring prior knowledge into a learning situation in which
they must critique and re-evaluate their understanding of
it. This process of interpretation, articulation, and
re-evaluation is repeated until they can demonstrate their
comprehension of the subject.
Social Constructivist’s Model of Learning
1) LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND KNOWLEDGE. Language and
the conceptual schemes that are transmitted by means of
language are essentially social phenomena. Knowledge is
not simple constructed; it is co-constructed.
2) THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT. Students can,
with the help from adults or child who are more
advanced, master concepts and ideas that they cannot
understand on their own.
LESSON 4: Conditioning

Learning Activity!

I. Choose the best answer by underlining the letter of the correct answer.

1. In classical conditioning, the neutral stimulus can only be associated with the unconditioned
stimulus if:

a. the neutral stimulus prepares the organism for the other stimulus

b. the neutral stimulus is sufficiently intense

c. the other stimulus produces an intense response

d. the other stimulus is particularly noxious

2. When a dog has food placed in its mouth, the dog begins to salivate. The salivation behavior is
called the:

a. unconditioned stimulus

b. conditioned stimulus

c. unconditioned response

d. conditioned response

3. The stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus and then associated with it is called
the:

a. unconditioned stimulus

b. conditioned stimulus

c. unconditioned response

d. conditioned response

4. The “positive” and “negative” terms applied to reinforcement and punishment refer to:

a. whether a consequence is good or bad

b. whether something is added or removed as consequence

c. whether a consequence adds or subtracts from behavior

d. whether a consequence is concrete or abstract

II. Make further readings on Threshold Method, Fatigue Method, and Incompatible Response Method
and give example situation for each.

Answer:

Edwin Guthrie postulated that there were three different ways to break a habit: The Threshold
Method, The Fatigue Method, and The Incompatible Response Method.

• TRESHOLD METHOD- To break a bad habit, a person introduces a weak stimulus and gradually
increasing the strength right to the point of one’s tolerance. In the event that a student cannot
sit still and contemplate (undesirable response), the teacher may step by step build the
measure of time the student need to sit still and study (weak to strong stimulus) from 10
minutes to 30 minutes. By adding the time gradually, the student will eventually end the
negative behavior pattern of restlessness and replace it with the habit of productive studying.

• FATIGUE METHOD- This approach works by forcing an individual to repeat an unwanted

response in the presence of a stimulus. In the continuation of the restless student who cannot
sit still and study (undesirable response), the teacher may make him play around nonstop until
he is already exhausted (stimulus until fatigue). Even though the student loves to play around,
the chance of fatigue due to over exhibition changes his behavior.

• INCOMPATIBLE RESPONSE METHOD- This method involves the presence of a stimulus but
having the person make a response that is incompatible with the unwanted response. Using
the example of the restless student who cannot sit still and study (undesirable response), the
teacher may let the student solve a math problem (incompatible response). Since it is not
easy to solve and talk at the same time, this drives the desired behavior of silence (desired
response). The response of solving and talking are incompatible with each other.
LESSON 5: Behavior Analysis in Education

Apply!

Watch the video clip “B.F. Skinner - Operant Conditioning and Free Will” on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhvaSEJtOV8&feature=emb_title

Question: What is the connection of freewill to a person’s behavior? Explain and give two (2)
examples.

Answer:

B.F. Skinner, a Behaviorist Psychologist, claimed that “free will is but a fiction”; in which, all
actions are brought on as a direct result of conditioning, be it operant or classical. Skinner was
confident to dismiss internal processes, saying these are peripheral and irrelevant. He claimed that
only observable behaviors matter. He said that people just assumed that these internal factors,
feelings, and such have initiated something; have started something; have done something involved
in voluntary way. And that, we have will to act. But if we observe the past thoroughly, we can
recognize that there are external factors or reasons why this happened. By discovering the causes of
behavior, we can dispose the idea of free will.

For example, a student always comes to school early to attend his classes. In Skinner’s
perspective, the behavior of the student is not modified by internal factors or by his free will.
Instead, the student’s behavior of coming to school early was shaped or modified by conditioning and
proper reinforcement or reward he gets by doing the said action. In which, every time he comes to
school early, his teacher praises him and gives him an award for his punctuality. Another example, a
student is reviewing well for him to get a high grade at the end of the quarter. This student’s behavior
of being diligent was modified by external factors in the past, such as receiving an award every end
of the quarter for exceling and performing well. The repeated event of receiving a reward or
reinforcement when studying well is what causes this behavior, not a person’s free will.
LESSON 6: On Gestalt-Insight Learning

Think!

1. What does it mean by “Gestalt Principles are in the Mind, Not the Eye”?

Answer:

Gestalt Theory focused on the mind’s perceptive based on what our eyes see. The statement
“Gestalt Principles are in the Mind, Not the Eye” suggests that the mind informs what the eye sees
by perceiving a series of individual element as a whole. In viewing the “whole”, a cognitive process
takes place- the mind makes a leap from understanding the parts to realizing the whole. Humans and
all animals are capable of more than just seeing an object. We are capable of observing, perceiving
the relationship of components, and understanding every situation. In which, we can come up with
an insight and we can draw conclusions based on what we see.

2. Pick two (2) laws or principles of Gestalt theory and explain; give concrete examples.

Answer:

LAWS OF FIGURE AND GROUND

Source: A Dwarf Named Warren

“This determination will occur quickly and subconsciously in most cases. Figure and Ground
lets us know what we should be focusing on and what we can safely ignore in a composition.”
—Steven Bradley, web designer

Law of Figure and Ground is a type of perceptual grouping that is a vital necessity for
recognizing objects through vision. In Gestalt psychology, it is known as identifying a figure from the
background. This refers to the tendency of the visual system to simplify a scene into the main object
that we are looking at (the figure) and everything else that forms the background (or ground).

In the image above, for example, our eyes instantly see a white apple sitting on a black
background.
LAW OF CLOSURE

Source: SAGEedge

The Law of Closure is the Gestalt Law that states that if there is a break in the object, we
perceive the object as continuing in a smooth pattern. According to this principle, things in the
environment often tend to be seen as part of a whole. In many cases, our minds will even fill in the
missing information to create cohesive shapes.

For example, in the circle above, we tend to see a complete circle with something over top
of it. We like to see as simple of a figure as possible.
LESSON 6: Experiential Learning Theory

Apply!

Which of the following examples of Experiential Learning Theory have you encountered in the
past? What was your favorite? Why?

Answer:

Experiential Learning Theory has numerous educational implications. There are countless of
strategies executed by facilitators that were derived in this theory for students’ effective learning.
On the stated examples of Experiential Learning Theory, I already experienced some of those, which
include: art projects, science experiments, mock cities and trials, role playing, reflection and
journaling, internship opportunities, and interactive classroom games. Among those, my favorite was
the science experiment that we performed about surface tension. I am a science person and this
type of activity excites me a lot. This certain science experiment roused by eagerness to learn for
we have the chance to experience and prove on our own the concept and significance of surface
tension. Water has a very high surface tension because of strong attractions between the water
molecules (hydrogen bonding). And this experiment confirms this fact when we slowly drop a needle
on the water and it floats. We learned that surface tension is responsible for the shape of liquid
droplets and this is the reason why insects can walk through the surface of the water. By this means,
we were able to understand and learn the idea of this topic based on our experience in the
laboratory, rather than just relying on the discussion on the book. With this, I can affirm that
experiencing something first-hand can be an effective way of learning and it improves the retention
of ideas and concepts.
SUMMATIVE TEST

Answer the given items.

1. What are the different types of learning? How are they measured?

Answer:

There are five types of learning, namely: Content, Intellectual Skills, Attitudes and Values,
Interpersonal and Professional Skills, and Psychomotor/Physical Skills.

Content refers to facts, ideas, concepts, theories, and principles that constitute the
knowledge based of the principle. This type of learning can be measured with individuals’ capability
to understand and interpret theories and concepts, how they can apply those to certain situations,
and the way they reason out and take a stand based on facts and proven ideas.

Intellectual Skills refer to the ways of thinking and problem-solving used by professionals in
a field. A general intellectual skill that is important to all fields of study is critical thinking. This can
be measured based on individual’s capability of thinking rationally and logically for solutions that
are applicable to a specific problem or dilemma.

Attitudes and Values refer to a set of beliefs that guide our actions as individuals and
professionals in our fields. This can be assessed based on one’s morality and how he/she acts
rightfully towards others and to the society.

Interpersonal and Professional Skills are skills that are important for personal and professional
growth and success. This type of learning can be measured when a person has the ability to create
and maintain a positive relationship with other people and when one can communicate effectively
at any given situation.

Psychomotor/Physical Skills are physical manipulation skills used in laboratories or during field
settings. This can be assessed when a certain person can easily understand and can carry out
activities involving steps and bodily movements.

2. Do people learn at the same age, at the same place and at the same time? Why or why not?

Answer:

No. Development of every individual vary in many ways, in which it has a significant correlation
in how they learn. People learn in their own phases for there are several factors affecting learning.
Cognitive development and socio-emotional development constitute largely to a person’s learning.
If one is deprived on these ranges of development, he/she may have a delayed and difficulty in
learning. While a person that is exposed to a positive stimulus can learn effectively and immediately.
Individuals do not learn at the same age, at the same place, and at the same time for the stimulus
that each person encounters in his/her life is different from person to person. Each person has its
own learning styles and ways, and that learning occurs when a person is all ready to learn.
3. Choose the correct answer and explain: Thorndike’s conception of connectionism asserts that:

A. Learning is about responding to questions.

B. Learning is about responding to connections

C. Learning is about forming questions

D. Learning is about responding to stimuli.

Answer:

D. Learning is about responding to stimuli. Learning is the result of associations forming

between stimuli and responses. People and animals learned through responding to a certain stimulus
provided by the environment, that in turns gives us a reward. This is a trial and error learning in
which those behavioral responses that were most closely followed by a satisfactory result were most
likely to become established patterns and reoccur in response to the same stimulus. Response to
stimuli is an important characteristic of life. We acquire learning through responding to stimuli, and
that modifies our behaviors and characteristics.

4. Compare and contrast classical, operant and contiguous conditioning.

Answer:

These three types of conditioning, Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and

Contiguous Conditioning, all suggest that the reaction (response) to an object or event (stimuli) by a
person or animal can be modified by learning or conditioning. These three types of conditioning are
utilized and executed for a variety of purposes by teachers, parents, caregivers, and animal trainers.
Classical, Operant, and Contiguous Conditioning are all important learning concepts that are
originated in behavioral psychology. While these three types of conditioning share some similarities,
it is important to understand some of their dissimilarities to determine which is the best approach
for a certain learning situation. The major differences of the three are: Classical Conditioning
involves associating an involuntary response and a stimulus. This conditioning involves no such
enticements. Thus, it focuses on the behavior itself. Whereas Operant Conditioning is about
associating a voluntary behavior and a consequence. The learner is rewarded with incentives. Thus,
it requires the learner to perform some actions in order to be rewarded or punished. While Contiguous
Conditioning specifies that a combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement will on its
reoccurrence tend to be followed by that movement. In this conditioning, rewards or punishments
play no significant role in learning.
5. What is the importance of behavioral analysis to education?

Answer:

According to Thorndike, an important process in human behavior is attributed to ‘reward and

punishment’. Behavioral analysis is very relevant to education for it is through this that teachers and
facilitators will have an appropriate awareness and comprehension of contingencies of
reinforcements or rewards that increase the eagerness of students to learn and be motivated to the
things that will be discussed to them. In a classroom setting, a teacher might utilize operant
conditioning by offering tokens as rewards for good behavior. Students can then turn in these tokens
to receive some type of reward, such as a treat or extra playtime. In each of these instances, the
goal of behavioral analysis is to provide teachers an idea for appropriate teaching strategies and
styles that can be executed to produce some sort of positive change in the behaviors of students.

6. How can bias, prejudice and other factors influence our perception?

Answer:

Perception refers to how we perceive and interpret stimuli. Our perception is critical to
recognize because it is the driving force behind our reaction to things. As human beings, our
perception is being easily influenced by several factors such biases, prejudices, and stereotypes.
These factors can be innate or learned and we all have these that affect how we view the world.
Such factors can probably cause us to make judgements and actions that are neither wise nor fair.
These happen because of the influence of our life experiences and those around us. We are
conditioned by the movies and programs we watch and books we read, as well as those we see on
social media and the influence of the people we surround ourselves with, and we tend to be skeptical
about it. We have different perspectives based on our race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation, economic status, nationality, and other aspects. Our perception is influenced by the
biases and prejudices in our environment, especially if those were presented and recognized by large
quantity of people. We tend to believe and conform to these ideas because the majority do so. With
this, biases and prejudices can affect our professional and personal lives. They can influence actions
and decisions, how we interact with persons of a particular group, what pieces of advice and beliefs
we consider, and how we evaluate things around us.