LESSON NO. 7.

UNDERSTANDING LEARNING

ABSTRACTION

What is learning?

Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior because of practice and experience.
It may include learning new skills, developing habits, learning lessons in class and other behaviors.
Psychological processes that may be appropriate or inappropriate can also result from learning.
Learning occurs in diverse ways. One learns to ride a bicycle after series of exercises or may have
learned it by observing others take the paddle. Once this skill is mastered, it becomes ingrained and
forms part of one's skill set. Learning can occur through association such as acquiring fears after
encountering an adverse experience with an object or situation, or the tendency to feel relaxed upon
smelling mints. In this note, nonhumans also learn a great deal for the purpose of survival. But do
they benefit from experience as humans do? Perhaps, yes ,as we can observe our pets’ learning tricks
and formed habits. Whether nonhumans learn as we do, the fact remains to be that human beings
learn in a uniquely separated and scientific ways. Humans, being rational employ hypothesizing
which is absent in other forms of creatures. Furthermore, the idea that the human brain is prewired to
learning is intriguing. Research on infants' learning abilities suggests that humans possess an innate
core knowledge that primes them to acquire information from their physical environment. However,
due to ethical constraints and risks, it is highly unlikely that parents would allow infants to participate
in studies purposely to validate this theory. Hence, this concept remains unresolved.

How does learning take place?

Although there are several theories that explain human learning, a few major theories are worth
exploring.
1. Behaviorist Theories. These theories assumed that conditioning is the source of human
behavior.
According to this, learning is a consequence of the relationship that exists between a stimulus
(S) and a response (R). Another name for this is the S-R learning model. It also suggests that
the principles of human learning ought to apply to the many ways that animal species behave,
which may be the motivation behind the experiments that show how different kinds of
learning might occur. Moreover, behaviorists hold that learning is mostly influenced by
environmental events and that creatures are born as blank slates. This theory highlights two
types of learning proposed by Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner, the classical and operant learning.
a. Associative Learning or Classical Conditioning. This type of learning was coined by
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (Russian Physiologist). Pavlov came up with a straightforward
experiment to find out why salivation happened without a clear physical reason. This he
noticed while doing research on digestion. To further understand this observation, Pavlov
conducted an experiment where he tried ringing a bell before presenting a meat powder.
Initially, the dog did not salivate after the bell was rung, however, upon repeatedly pairing
the bell and meat powder, salivation occurred at the sound of the bell alone. To further
 understand the experiment, the phases and the stimulus-response process are illustrated
below.

I. Before Conditioning

UCS UCR
MEAT POWDER SALIVATION

NS NO RESPONSE
SOUND OF THE BELL

II. During Conditioning

NS (sound) UCR
+ UCS (meat powder) SALIVATION

III. After Conditioning

CS CR
Sound of the Bell Salivation

• NS- Neutral Stimulus – a stimulus to which the organism respond in any noticeable way.
The bell was this stimulus that did not initially elicit any response.
• UCS- Unconditioned Stimulus- a stimulus that elicits a reaction. The dog started to salivate
after seeing the meat powder.
• UCR – Unconditioned Response- is a reaction brought on by the UCS, in this case,
salivation.
• CS – Conditioned stimulus – the former NS after being paired by UCR, now elicits a
response, in this case, the sound of the bell.
• CR- Conditioned response – the response of the dog, salivation, after the conditioning
(pairing NS with UCR)

Common Phenomena in Classical Learning

1. Associative Bias. This refers to people's tendency to make links or associations between ideas
or stimuli depending on previous experiences, or cognitive shortcuts. This bias may affect
how individuals view, comprehend, and respond to new information. An example would be
stereotyping or priming.
2. Extinction. Ivan Pavlov discovered that with constant presentation of the CS, which is the
sound of a bell without the unconditioned stimulus- the meat powder, will lead to successive
weakening of the conditioned response, and eventually disappearance. For instance, the fear
of flying on a plane, may be extinct after repeated pleasant and safe flights.
3. Spontaneous Recovery. This phenomenon involves the reappearance of the previously
extinguished response after a rest period, however, is weaker than the original response. With
the rest periods after every reappearance, the response disappears rapidly. An example would
 be when that fear of flying on a plane which was already extinguished may resurface after
some time however, in weaker state and may vanish after several exposures.
4. Generalization. A phenomenon in which a conditioned response is elicited by stimuli that
are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus. This may be described a child who
fears hospitals, after a painful experience in being admitted, may now fear entering white-
painted building or other structures that resemble a hospital.
5. Stimulus Discrimination. A process through which individuals learn to differentiate among
similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each one. This means responding only to the
original conditioned stimulus. In traffic lights, one displays appropriate response to the
colors even if it has the same shapes.
6. Higher Order Conditioning is a phenomenon in classical conditioning where a neutral
stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that can elicit a conditioned response even without
the presence of the initially established conditioned stimulus. This occurs when the neutral
stimulus is repeatedly paired with the conditioned stimulus before presented alone to elicit the
conditioned response. A person may develop a preference for a particular coffee brand
because its advertisement features their favorite song. Even though they haven't directly tried
the coffee, the positive emotions associated with the song lead them to favor the brand.

b. Operant Conditioning. In the late 1890s, Edward Thorndike conducted an experiment

where he placed a cat in a “puzzle box”. This box will only open through a device which
must be manipulated obviously by intention. Upon observation, he noticed that the
eventually opened door by its random behavior inside the box. The next time, the cat was
place in the same box, it has opened it in a lesser amount of time. This then made
Thorndike believe that behaviors are learned by trial-and-error mechanism The law of
effect refers to the principle that responses to a situation that are followed by satisfaction
are strengthened; responses that are followed by discomfort are weakened. (Ormrod,
2016) Through his work, the American Psychologist, B.F Skinner proposed that
organisms learn by consequences which then led him to develop the “Skinner’s Box”. In
this experiment, the presence of a metal bar when pressed, results to the dispense of pellets
of food. The rat inside the box was able to grab food when it learned by chance to press
the bar. Hence, operant conditioning or instrumental learning assumes learning occurs
through reinforcement.

What is Reinforcement?

Reinforcement, coined by B.F Skinner in 1937, is the process of increasing (strengthens

response) the future probability of the most recent response. There are two types.

• Positive Reinforcement. It is presenting something pleasant after the response. For

example, verbal praise or approval after attaining the sales target would increase the
likelihood that the employee will make effort to reach the target again.
 • Negative Reinforcement. It is reducing or removing something unpleasant. For
example, children are told that they will be relieved from washing dishes if they get
good grades during the first term.

There are two forms of reinforcers.

• Primary Reinforces. These are stimuli that are essential for survival and are needed
for physiological well-being. This is also referred to as unconditioned reinforcers.
Examples are sleep, food, shelter.
• Secondary Reinforcers. Also know as conditioned reinforcers, are neutral stimulus
that when paired by another reinforcing stimulus will most likely elicit a response
(even without the conditioned stimulus).

• There are two (2) ways to punish a behavior.

1. Positive Punishment
• presenting something unpleasant after the response
• receiving negative appraisal from your teacher after being late.
2. Negative Punishment
o reducing or removing something pleasant.
o For example, parents removing financial allowance after a son got a poor
grade.

Unlike inflicting punishment, positive reinforcement makes the person or animal feel better,
helping create a positive relationship with the person providing the reinforcement. Punishment
combined with reinforcement for an alternative behavior is more effective than punishment
alone.

2. Social Cognitive Theory

The Social Learning theory was proposed by Albert Bandura which postulates the learning
occur through observation and modeling. A child learns dancing by imitating
what’s on the videos or by a dance instructor. This is an example that learning takes place
after observing or copying other people’s actions.

Principles Social Cognitive Learning Theory

People can learn by observing other’s behavior and its consequences. Individuals can learn
even without direct or firsthand experience. Simply through exposure to a model performing
a certain act and the outcome, human learning takes place. For example, in the physical
education class, a student can learn the exercise by observing his instructor perform the action.

Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Contrary to traditional concept of learning
that it involves change in behavior, SCT suggests that learning takes place in the absence of
any visible change. When an individual acquires a behavior, change may happen at the same
moment, or later or may not be observable at all.

Cognition plays important roles in learning. The processes of attention and retention, both
cognitive processes, contributes undoubtedly to human learning. For instance, when a student
concentrates on the material presented by the teacher, it enhances retention, ultimately
effective learning takes place.
 People can have considerable control over their actions and environments. Human beings
have personal agency which means that they have ways to create or modify their
environments. They can consciously make changes or seek support from others.

Reciprocal Causation

Social Cognitive Theory argues that people learn through the interaction of three variables.

• Environment (E). This refers to the general conditions and immediate stimuli. This
includes factors like family, peers, culture, and educational settings.
• Person (P). This refers to the physical characteristics, cognitive processes, and
socially and culturally conferred roles. For instance, age and gender, beliefs and
attitudes, attention or roles such as popular kid or leader.
• Behavior (B). This refers to a person’s actions and responses that are observable.

The interaction of these variables is what Bandura refers to as reciprocal causation. For
instance, take the concept of “modeling.” Consider a student who learns a technique for
solving a math problem by observing a classmate perform it on the board. His positive attitude
towards learning enhances his understanding of the process, while the supportive and
encouraging classroom environment further fosters his engagement and confidence. Figure
7.1, illustrates this triadic interaction.
P

E B

Figure 7.1. Reciprocal Causation

Key Concepts in Modeling

• Vicarious Reinforcement and Punishment. This involves using someone else’s

experience in place of your own and imitate that are being rewarded
especially if its by those you admire.
• Self-Efficacy. This refers to the belief of having the ability to successfully perform a
task in a particular activity or domain. We tend to imitate the actions of successful
people but only if we feel self-efficacy, a belief that we could perform the task well.
One may learn through modeling however this occurs primarily when we have self-
efficacy.
• Self-Reinforcement and Self-Punishment. People typically set a goal for
themselves and monitor their progress toward that goal. Sometimes people
reinforce or punish themselves, just as if they were training someone else.