COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Learning,
memory,
thinking,
Language
intelligence
Human learning

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LEARNING

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Learning
• Relatively permanent change in person resulting
from experience
• The changes are not always improvement or
development in the +direction
• Relatively permanent change in person behavior that
occurs as a result of practice or experience and not
due to maturation
• Relatively permanent
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• Involves encoding, storage and retrieval of information
• Human have capacity to learn
• Starts in utero
• It’s a process not a product
• Forgetting is the loss, permanent or temporary of the
ability to recall or reorganize something learned earlier
• Acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitude
• Prepare you for adjustment and adaptation

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• It is purposeful and goal oriented
• Have a wide scope, its comprehensive processes
that cover all the domains
• It is universal and continuous
• Not limited to age, sex, race,
culture………………….
• It is transferable from 1 situation to another
• Helps in the proper growth and development
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Types of learning
1. Stimulus response learning
a. Classical conditioning- association btwn 2
stimuli
• US and CS
b. Instrumental/operant conditioning
Association between a response and stimuli
Eg reinforcement + and – and punishment
Allow one to adjust behaviour according to the
consequences of that behaviour
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2. Perception learning

•Five senses are seen s the gateways of

knowledge
•In411 from one organ then interpreted in
the light of previous experiment

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others
1. Verbal
2. Motor
3. Concept
4. Attitude
5. Problem solving
6. Paired associate

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Factors influencing learning
• 1. associated to/with the learner
• Physical health-sleep, fever, malnutrition, fatigue
• Mental status-worries, fear, inferiority, confidence,
respect…………
• Level of motivation
• Goals of life
• Readiness
• Willpower
• Age, time,

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2. Associated with type of learning
• Nature of the learning experience-nature of the unit
matter
• Methodology – link present with past
• Meaningful of materials
• Amount and length of the material to be learned

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3. Associated with men and material
• Available resources and materials e.g. library
• Quality of teaching
• Conducive environment

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Domains of learning

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 1. Cognitive
•deals with interllectual or knowledge
learning, Learning of concepts, ideas and
problem solving.
•The learner acquires knowledge an
information through which he forms
concepts, sees relationship and arrives at
generalization
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2. Affective

•deals with affect emotional learning (have

an influence upon) value, attitude,
appreciation, feeling

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3. Psychomotor

•Motor kills such as walking, dancing, typing,

cycling swimming, giving injections, physical
examination techniques –palpation…….

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Group discussion

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Theories of learning

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Theories of learning
• Trial and error – Thorndike
• Conditioning learning
• Classical- Ivan Pavlov
• Classical Behaviorism (john Watson)
• Operant conditioning- skinner
• Cognitive
• -field theories- piaget
• Observational/Social learning- albert bandura
• Insightful –koher

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1. Trial and error – Thorndike
• Stamping in the correct response and out the
incorrect response through trial and error
• Experiment
• Hungry cat in a box, only 1 door, opened by correctly
manipulating a latch
• Fish was placed outside , so come out and eat
• Radom trials to open….by chance …..then and again
less time
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Application of Trial and error
• Child will learn when ready to with re right equipment
• Don’t force them to when not ready
• Teacher should only motivate- arousing attention, interest,
• Strengthen bond btwn S and R by repetition, drills and
practice
• Proper rewarding
• Be encouraged to perform

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2. Conditioning learning
Classical- Ivan Pavlov
stimuli
• Salivation when food is in mouth-physiological
• Salivation when dog caught sight of food-physiological ---food---UR
• Salivation when enters the lab
• Then paired tone on tuning fork and delivery of food
• Only salivate physiological,=innate reflex =food is unconditional
stimulus /US and salivation the unconditioned response/UR
• then with tone of fork, =learned response =tone of fork CS and
salivation is CR

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• Neutral s---b4 does not bring any response of interest
• US-natural response and needs training--- salivation at smell
of food
• CS- natural paired with an US to bring a response earlier
caused by only US
• CR- response after conditioning
• Extinction- decrease in frequency and eventual
disappearance of previously CR
• Spontaneous recovery ---regain after extinction

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Classical conditioning-john B. Watson
• little albert

• No fear to rage of stimulus, but loud noise metal

bar with hummer only , then paired rat with the
sound behind the boy , he would startle and cry,
late he could fear the rat only

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Operant –B.F skinner
• Skinner box animal(pigeons) manipulate to obtain a reward,
Radom behavior resumed until it cease to specific. Food
=reinforce of behavior
• Operant behavior is determined by the event that follows
the response
• In the consequences are favorable, the behavior will be
repeated –positive reinforcement
• Negative ???????????????

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4 principle of operant
• Positive reinforcement-reward following a response that brings about
an increment in preceding behavior
• Negative reinforcement-eg electric shock avoidance . Unpleasant
stimulus, whose removal increases the probability of the preceding
response
• It increase the probability of occurrence of the response that
precedes it
• Punishment-un pleasant stimulus occurs after. It decrease the
probability of occurrence of the response that precedes it
• Omission of reinforcement-if no food the rate of response will
diminish

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• Positive reinforcement -promote for good performance
• Negative reinforcement - end headache by taking drug
• positive punishment - Cain after misbehaviour
• Negative punishment -removal of toy after misbehaviour

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 Positive reinforcement
• A hungry rat is placed in the box containing a lever in the
side
• The rat moves about the box and accidentally knocks the
lever.
• Immediately food pellet drops into a container next to the
lever.
• The rats quickly learns to go straight to the lever after a few
times of being put in the box.
• The consequence of receiving food if it presses the lever
ensures that it repeats the action again and again.
 Negative reinforcement
• A rat is placed in the box and then subjected to an unpleasant
electric current which causes it some discomfort.
• As the rat moves about the box it accidentally knocks the lever.
• Immediately the electric current is switched off.
• The rats quickly learn to go straight to the lever after a few times of
being put in the box.
• The consequence of escaping the electric current ensures that it
repeats the action again and again.
• Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour because it stops or
removes an unpleasant experience.
 Cognitive Learning Theory
• Focus primarily on how knowledge is:
• Acquired
• Processed
• Stored
• Retrieved
• Activated
• By the learner during the different phases of the learning
process.

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Cognitive learning theory
• Observational/Social learning- albert bandura
• Learning by imitation by observing others who are called model
• Steps
1. Pay attention and perceiving the most critical feature
2. Retention: Remembering the behaviour
3. Reproducing the actions
4. Motivation; Being motivated to learn and carry out the
behaviour
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 The principles of social learning theory are:
• The highest level of observational learning is
achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the
modeled behavior symbolically and then enacting it
overtly. Coding modeled behavior into words, labels
or images results in better retention than simply
observing.
• Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled
behavior if it results in outcomes they value.

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• c. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior
if the model is similar to the observer and the admired
status and the behavior has functional value.
• Observational or social learning is based primarily on the
work of Albert Bandura. He and his colleagues were able
to demonstrate through a variety of experiments that the
application of consequences was not necessary for
learning to take place. Rather learning could occur through
the simple processes of observing someone else's activity.
This work provided the foundation for Bandura's later
work in social cognition.
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Jean Piaget (1896-1980) -theory of individual cognitive
development

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Insightful –koher
• The monkey sticks

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• Cat on the above to which was not done only 6 students did.

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