TYPES OF LEARNING

1. Rational Learning- it is intellectual in nature and involves process of abstraction by which

concepts are formed. Activities in school like understanding a philosophical principle or
solving problems, judgment, decision making and reasoning are the goals of this learning.
2. Motor Learning-forms of skill development like drawing, writing, typing, industrial arts,
gymnastic activities and playing various musical instruments.
3. Associational learning – the development of associative patterns by which ideas and
experiences are retained recalled, and recognized through the process of linking together or
establishing relationships between and among ideas and experiences.
4. Appreciational learning – involves the process of acquiring attitudes, ideals, satisfaction
judgment, and knowledge concerning values as learners gains from participation in learning
activities.
5. Observational learning – we learn by observing other people.
6. Cognitive learning – it is learning thru perception of the events, remembering, imagining,
thinking, reasoning, evaluation, appreciating and abstracting
Cognitive Learning is Classified into:
6.1 sign learning – refers to an acquired expectation that no one stimulus will be followed by another
in a particular context. Expectations rather than responses are acquired. Rats knew where to pass
when one route is closed.
6.2 Programmed learning – a method of self-instruction consisting of questions and answers. It uses
instructional materials in which you progress at your own rate, make active responses to a step-by-
step program, and get immediate knowledge of results. A machine is used to know if your answer is
correct. The teaching machine is called Pressy’s machine, if the responses are not correct, the
questions remain unmoved. The machine also totals the number of correct responses.
6.3 Perceptual learning – or Insight learning. The learner comes to know something about the
stimulus situation that he did not know before. It is relative to insight. For example, if you are
working on a geometry problem and all of a sudden you perceive the way parts fit together in the
solution of the problem, then the solution is called insight or perceptual learning.
RETENTION AND TRANSFER, MEMORY AND FORGETTING
Retention – is a kind of remembering. It is the extent to which materials originally learned still
persist. When a child spells a word or solves a problem for the first trial, he had that particular
behavior already. If the child repeats the performance later, we then could say he has retained or
remembered what he had learned earlier.
Transfer – when the learning of a person in one situation could influence his leaning and
performance, in other situation, transfer of learning has taken place.
Example: learning in Arithmetic can facilitate his learning in Algebra, Geometry, Physics, Engineering,
and Computer.
Memory – refers to the way facts are impressed, retained and later recalled. Without memory there
is no learning and there is no learning, nothing is to be remembered. Memories are said to be found
in the 3 different tasks: recall, recognition and relearning.
Forgetting - the extent that learned materials are lost.
Recall – is to bring into awareness, previously learned materials
Recognition – involves in the differentiating familiar from the unfamiliar
Relearning – is the attempt to regain material or skills that has been partly lost.
 
Theories of Forgetting
1. Passive decay thru disuse – lapse of time is responsible for forgetting. When we do not use what
we learn, it is forgotten.
2. Interference effect – the interference of the present learning led us to forget what has been
learned previously
3. Absence of Adequate stimulation – when appropriate stimuli are absent, we easily forget
4. Obliteration of memory traces – refers to emotional shock or other conditions
5. Motivated forgetting – the negative effect of an experience to us may cause us to forget.
 FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE LEARNING PROCESS
1. Maturation or readiness – readiness is associated with maturation. This must also be
accompanied by interest and attitude towards learning. It is developed through guidance and
training.
2. Intelligence of the learner- individuals with low intelligence will find it difficult to cope up
with school work.
3. Opportunities for learning – persons with adverse economic conditions are deprived of the
opportunities to learn. They quit schooling at an early age. Travelling and meeting many
people of different places, modern facilities like automobile, T.V. and other appliances could
help us gain more experiences and skills than those with limited facilities.
4. Environmental conditions – school facilities like good ventilation, comfortable chairs, proper
lighting will enable us to learn better.
5. Health of the learner – children with poor health and having physical defects show serious handicap in
developing skills as in reading and spelling

6. Emotional factors – if a person is emotionally upset or frustrated due to problems or stress,

he will not be in the right and proper condition to learn.
7. Motivation – we learn more if our needs both psychological and physiological are met. Our
motives urge us to achieve or withdraw from our goals or activities. Our interest in music will
lead us to membership in a choral group. When learning does not take place, it is better to
look into the motivation or lack of motivation on the part of the learner.
8. Interest – is the natural inclination to focus one’s concern on a specific area. One’s interest is
greatly influenced by the environment. The family, community, school, church, peer group-
shape the areas of interest. Example; a family of doctors influence the interest of a child in
the choice of a career; a child who grew up near the sea will develop love for fishing as a job.
Interest and ability are related. People tend to do well in those areas in which they have an
interest. Conversely, they tend to be interested in the things they can do well.
Interest is a powerful force in shaping us. Interest affects the choice of an occupation, choice
of social contacts. People are drawn together by mutual interest, activities, and ideas. The
development and broadening of interest should be carefully nurtured.
Matching. Match the manifestation in column A to the type of Learning in column B. Write the letter
of your answer.
A B
___1. decision making a. Motor Learning
___2. cooking a recipe b. Cognitive learning
___3. Adolf Hitler & the Holocaust c. Rational Learning
___4. Gains from Globalization d. Associational learning
___5. 4-year-old daughter putting on make-up e. Observational learning
___6. improved knowledge due to additional information f. Appreciational learning

IDENTIFICATION
Answer shop
Recall, Motivation, Memory, Relearning, Maturation, Interest, Forgetting, Recognition, Transfer,
Retention
1. Materials originally learned still persist.
2. Prior knowledge applied to other fields.
3. Information is impressed, retained and recalled.
4. Learned materials are lost.
5. Bring into awareness, previously learned materials.
6. Differentiating familiar from the unfamiliar.
7. Attempt to regain material or skills that has been partly lost.
8. Natural inclination to focus one’s concern.
9. The process of becoming ready.
10. Reasons for behaving in a particular way.
11.
ANSWERS 
Matching Type Identification

1. C 1. Retention

2. A 2. Transfer

3. D 3. Memory

4. F 4. Forgetting

5. Recall
5. E
6. Recognition
6. B
7. Relearning
 
8. Interest

9. Maturation

10. Motivation
THEORIES OF LEARNING
Definitions: Learning is:
1. “a persisting change in human performance or performance potential . . . (brought) about as a
result of the learner’s interaction with the environment” (Driscoll, 1994, pp. 8-9).
2. “the relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behavior due to experience” (Mayer,
1982, p. 1040).
3. “an enduring change in behavior, or in the capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results
from practice or other forms of experience” (Shuell, 1986, p. 412).
THREE MAIN LEARNING THEORIES

 BEHAVIORAL  COGNITIVISM  CONSTRUCTIVISM

-Observable behaviors -Internal behaviors -Internal behaviors
-Classical Conditioning -Intelligence as a Special -People Construct Their
-Operant Conditioning endowment Own Understanding
-Games of Stimulate -Active Learning
Cognitive Regions

Behaviorism – Learning is a product of stimulus and reinforcement.

Behaviorism
> It is confined to observable and measurable behavior.
> Learning is defined by the outward of new behaviors and context-independent.
>Biological basis for learning.
>Focuses on observable behaviors.
Behaviorist learning theorists – timeline:

I. Pavlov (1849-1936) [active 1890’s – 1900’s]

E.L. Thorndike (1874-1949) [active 1900’s – 1930’s]
J. Watson (1878–1958) [active 1910’s – 1920]
B. F. Skinner (1904 –1990) [active 1930’s – 1960’s]

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936)

• Russian
• Nobel Prize winner 1904 in Physiology and Medicine for research about digestion.
• Key concept is conditioned (conditional) reflex
• He was not specifically concerned with the study of learning
Conditioned Reflex (Classical Conditioning)
• An Unconditioned Stimulus - sight/taste of food - provokes an Unconditioned Response –
salivation
• A normally neutral stimulus – bell, buzzer, metronome is associated with the food until it
provokes the response – salivation
• The sound becomes the Conditioned Stimulus and the response becomes the Conditioned
Response
Classical Conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned response

Teacher instructs pupils to work quietly. Pupils work quietly on tasks.
Conditioned stimulus with additional stimulus. Unconditioned response
Teacher instructs pupils to work quietly while putting Pupils work quietly on tasks.
her fingers on her lips.
Conditioned stimulus Conditioned response
Teacher puts her fingers on her lips. Pupils work quietly on tasks.

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)

• American Psychologist
• In series of experiments which required cats to escape from ‘puzzle boxes’ he rejected notion that
the cats might be using insight to open the box in favor of learning through conditioned responses
(Trial and Error): Key idea is Law of Effect: responses that are closely followed (‘recency’) by gaining a
reward, become associated with the situation and are more likely to be repeated. Negative
consequences can lead to weakened association.
Law of Readiness
> The degree of preparedness and eagerness to learn
> Law of Action Tendency
> Individuals learn best when they are ready to learn, and they will not learn much if they see
no reason for learning.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
> The teacher should arouse curiosity for learning, so that the pupils feel ready to imbibe the
new experiences
> The teacher should, before taking up the new lesson arouse the interest and desire of the
students to learn.
LAW OF EXERCISE
> Things that are most often repeated are best remembered
> Law of Use and Disuse
- Law of Use: the learning is strengthened with repeated trial or practice.
- Law of Disuse: learning is weakened when trial or practice is discounted
Education Implications
> The teacher should provide different opportunities for learners to practice or repeat the
task. (Recall, manual drill, rview, etc.)
>The teacher should have constant practice in what has once been learnt. Delayed use of long
disuse may cause forgetfulness.
LAW OF EFFECT
> Learning is strengthened when it is accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling
> Learning is weakened when it is associated with an unpleasant feeling.
> The emotional state of the learner affects the learning.

Education Implications
 > As a failure is accompanied by a discouraging emotional state, it should be avoided.
> Reward and recognition play a great role in encouraging the pupil.
> Punishments should be avoided as far as possible. Punishment produces a negative effect,
and it causes discouragement.
John Broadus Watson (1878–1958)
Introduction of John Broadus Watson
> Father of American Behaviorist theory
> His work based on Pavlov experiments on dogs digestive system.
> He researched on classical conditioning
> Watson believed that all individual differences in behavior were due to different
experiences of learning.
WATSON EXPERIMENT
> Watson was interested in taking Pavlov’s research further to show that emotional reactions
could be classically conditioned in people.
> The participant in the experiment was a child.
> Known as Little Albert.
LITTLE ALBERT
> A 9 month baby
> Watson exposed the child to a series of stimuli including a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey
masks and burning newspapers and
> Observed the boy’s reactions.
ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
> Neutral Stimulus: The white rat
> Unconditioned Stimulus: The loud noise
> Unconditioned Response: Fear
> Conditioned Stimulus: The white rat
> Conditioned Response: Fear

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904 –1990)

• American Psychologist – originally an English graduate
• The founder of ‘Radical Behaviourism’: behaviour is learned through reinforcement
• Key ideas: ‘Operant Conditioning’ and ‘Reinforcement’
• Invented the ‘Operant Conditioning Chamber’ (Skinner Box)
Operant Conditioning
• Living things are ‘operating’ on their environment
• If during this operation a reinforcing stimulus is encountered, this increases the ‘operant’ i.e. the
behaviour immediately before the reinforcement. The reinforcing stimulus increases the likelihood
of the organism repeating the behaviour.
• Typically this was tested in ‘Skinner boxes’
Reinforcement
• Positive: Strengthening of behaviour by praise, rewarding event
• Negative: Strengthening of behaviour by removal/avoidance of event e.g. avoiding harm
• Punishment: Weakening of behaviour by aversive event
• Extinction: Weakening of behaviour by removal of rewarding event

Lesson 8 - Learning Principles

Factors that May Affect the Learning Process

NEEDS
INPUT
REINFORCE
MEASURE

Principle - a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or
for a chain of reasoning.
PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING
1. Principle of Readiness
Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally and emotionally ready to learn
2. The principle of Exercise
States that those things that are most often repeated are the ones that are best remembered
3. The principle of Effect
That learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling
4. The principle of Primacy
States the state of being first, often creates a strong impression which may be very difficult to change. Things
learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase.
5. The principle of Recency
States that things most recently learned are best remembered.
6. The principle of Intensity
States that the more intense the material taught, the more likely it will be retained. A sharp, clear, dramatic, or
exciting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring experience. It also implies that a learner will
learn more from the real thing than from a substitute.
7. The principle of Freedom
States that things freely learned are best learned.

ANSWER SHOP:
Principle of Primacy, Principle of Recency, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Readiness, Principle of Effect,
Principle of Exercise, Principle of Intensity

1. Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally and emotionally ready to learn
2. States that those things that are most often repeated are the ones that are best remembered
3. That learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling
4. States the state of being first, often creates a strong impression which may be very difficult to change. Things
learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase.
5. States that things most recently learned are best remembered.
6. States that the more intense the material taught, the more likely it will be retained. A sharp, clear, dramatic,
or exciting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring experience. It also implies that a learner
will learn more from the real thing than from a substitute.
7. States that things freely learned are best learned.

ANSWERS
1. Principle of Readiness
2. Principle of Exercise
3. Principle of Effect
4. Principle of Primacy
5. Principle of Recency
6. Principle of Intensity
7. Principle of Freedom

Factors that affect learning

1. Intellectual factor
 The term refers to the individual mental level. Success in school is generally closely related to level of the
intellect. Pupils with low intelligence often encounter serious difficulty in mastering schoolwork.
Sometimes pupils do not learn because of special intellectual disabilities.
  Knowledge of the nature of the pupil’s intellect is of considerable value in the guidance and the
diagnosis of disability.
 The native capacity of the individual is of prime importance in determining the effectiveness of the,
learning process.
2. Learning factors
 Factors owing to lack of mastery of what has been taught, faulty methods of study, and narrowness of
experimental background may affect the learning process of any pupil. If the school proceeds too rapidly
and does not constantly check up on the extent to which the pupil is mastering what is being taught, the
pupil accumulates a number of deficiencies that interfere with successful progress.
 Weakness in addition will contribute directly to the deficiency in multiplication. Likewise, failure in
history may be due to low reading ability or weakness in English.
 Similarly, because of faulty instruction, the pupil may have learned inefficient methods of study. Many
other kinds of difficulty which are directly related to learning factors may interfere with progress.

3. Physical factors
Under this group are included such factors as health, physical development, nutrition, visual and physical
defects, and glandular abnormality. It is generally recognized that ill health retards physical and motor develop-
ment, and malnutrition interferes with learning and physical growth.
Children suffering from visual, auditory, and other physical defects are seriously handicapped in developing skills
such as reading and spelling. It has been demonstrated that various glands of internal secretion, such as the
thyroid and pituitary glands, affect behavior. The health of the learner will likely affect his ability to learn and his
power to concentrate.

4. Mental factors
 Attitude falls under mental factors attitudes are made up of organic and kinesthetic elements. They are
not to be confused with emotions that are characterized by internal visceral disturbances. Attitudes are
more or less of definite sort. They play a large part in the mental organization and general behavior of
the individual.
 A favorable mental attitude facilitates learning. The factor of interest is very closely related in nature to
that of symbolic drive and reward.
5. Emotional and social factors
Personal factors, such as instincts and emotions, and social factors, such as cooperation and rivalry, are directly
related to a complex psychology of motivation. It is a recognized fact that the various responses of the individual
to various kinds of stimuli are determined by a wide variety of tendencies.
Some of these innate tendencies are constructive and others are harmful. For some reason a pupil may have
developed a dislike for some subject because he may fail to see its value, or may lack foundation. This dislike
results in a bad emotional state.
Some pupils are in a continuing state of unhappiness because of their fear of being victims of the disapproval of
their teachers and classmates. This is an unwholesome attitude and affects the learning process to a
considerable degree. This is oftentimes the result of bad training.
Social discontent springs from the knowledge or delusion that one is below others in welfare.

6. Teacher’s Personality
 The teacher as an individual personality is an important element in the learning environment or in the
failures and success of the learner. The way in which his personality interacts with the personalities of
the pupils being taught helps to determine the kind of behavior which emerges from the learning
situation.
 The supreme value of a teacher is not in the regular performance of routine duties, but in his power to
lead and to inspire his pupils through the influence of his moral personality and example.
 An individual’s personality is a composite of his physical appearance, his mental capacity, his emotional
behavior, and his attitudes towards others. Effective teaching and learning are the results of an inte-
grated personality of the teacher.
 Generally speaking, pupils do- not like a grouchy teacher who cannot control his temper before the class.
It is impossible for a teacher with a temper to create enthusiasm and to radiate light and sunshine to
those about him.
 Pupils love a happy, sympathetic, enthusiastic, and cheerful teacher. Effective teaching and learning are
the results of love for the pupils, sympathy for their interests, tolerance, and a definite capacity for
understanding.
 The teacher must therefore recognize that in all his activities in the classroom he is directly affecting the
behavior of the growing and learning organism.

7. Environmental factor
Physical conditions needed for learning is under environmental factor. One of the factors that affect the
efficiency of learning is the condition in which learning takes place. This includes the classrooms, textbooks,
equipment, school supplies, and other instructional materials.
In the school and at the home, the conditions for learning must be favorable and adequate if teaching is to
produce the desired results. The type and quality of instructional materials and equipment play an important
part in the instructional efficiency of the school.
It is difficult to do a good job of teaching in a poor type of building and without adequate equipment and
instructional materials. A school building or a classroom has no merit when built without due regard to its
educational objectives and functions.

Basic conditions that facilitate learning…

1. Learning is developmental.
2. Individuals learn differently. 
3. People learn what is personally meaningful to them. 
4. New knowledge is built on current knowledge. 
5. Learning occurs through social interactions
6. People learn when they accept challenging but achievable goals
7. Learners master basic and component skills through practice.
8. Acquiring and applying habits of mind improves learning performance. 
9. Learning is stronger and more permanent in a positive emotional climate.
10. Learning is influenced by the total environment.
11. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.