UNIT THREE

Learning
• THIS UNIT IS IMPORTANT TO HELP US KWON HOW WE
LEARN NEW THINGS

1. Introduction

2. Definition of learning

3. Theories of learning

4. Behavioral learning theories

5. Cognitive learning theories

6. Social learning theories

3.2 Historical perspective on theories of learning

Behavioral psychology,

Cognitive psychology
3.3 Definitions and characteristics of learning

3.3.1 Definitions of Learning

 Learning is a lifelong process. It can take place in the school and out-side

the school through different modes of delivery.

 Learning is a key process in changing people behavior.

 people working in service giving organizations need to understand how

certain experiences change people’s behavior.

 It is very difficult to give a universally acceptable definition of learning,
because various theories attempt to define the term from different angles.

a) Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior. It does

not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation and being
interrelated use of intoxication
b) Learning is not directly observable but manifests in the activities
of the individual
c) Learning results in some change of enduring nature
d) Learning depends on practice and experience
3.3.2 Characteristics of Learning
 The following are some important characteristics of learning

1. Learning is growth
 Through his/her daily experiences the learner grows mentally and
physically. Learning is growth through experience.
2. Learning is Adjustment
 Learning helps the individual to adjust him/herself adequately to the new
environment or situations.
3. Learning is organizing Experience
 Learning is not mere addition to the acquiring of knowledge, facts or skills.
It is the reorganization of experience.
4. Learning is purposeful
 The process of learning is based on purpose. Purpose plays a big role in
learning.
5. Learning is Active
 In the process of learning active involvement of the individual in his
environment is required. This can take place by questioning, problem
solving, discussion etc.
6. Learning is Both Individual and Social
 Learning is more than an individual activity. It is a social activity too.
Social groups like family, peers, teachers; social and religious institutions
etc. have a tremendous influence on the individual and are always modeling
and remodeling him or her.
7. Learning the product of environment
 Environment plays an important role in the individual’s learning. It either
enhances or smoothens learning. In learning there is an interaction of the
environment with the organism.
8. True Learning Affects the Conduct of the Learner
 There is a change in the mental structure of the learner after every
experience or learning.
3.4. Theories of learning
 There are three broad classification of learning theories.
1. Behavioral learning theory,
2. Cognitive learning theory and
3. Social learning theory
1. Behavioral Learning Theories

 Key proponents in the development of the behaviorist theory are:

a) Ivan Pavlov (classical conditioning theory)

b) B.F. Skinner (operant conditioning theory)

 There are two major types of conditioning:

i. classical conditioning theory

ii. operant conditioning theory

I. classical conditioning theory

 learning depended, on the occurrence of events close together in time and

space.
 Pavlov began pairing a bell sound with the meat powder and found that
even when the meat powder was not presented, the dog would eventually
begin to salivate after hearing the bell.
 Since the meat powder naturally results in salivation, these two variables
are called the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the unconditioned
response (UCR), respectively.
 The bell and salivation are not naturally occurring; the dog was
conditioned to respond to the bell.
 Therefore, the bell is considered the conditioned stimulus (CS), and the
salivation to the bell, the conditioned response (CR).
a. The Unconditioned Stimulus
 The unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and
automatically triggers a response.

b. The Unconditioned Response

 The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally
in response to the unconditioned stimulus.

c. The Conditioned Stimulus

 The conditioned stimulus is previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming
associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a
conditioned response.

d. The Conditioned Response

 The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral
stimulus.
 Principles of classical conditioning
a) Acquisition
b) Extinction
c) Spontaneous recovery
d) Generalization
e) Discrimination

a. Acquisition
 The acquisition phase is the initial learning of the conditioned response
b. Extinction
 if the conditioned stimulus (the bell) is repeatedly presented without being
followed by the unconditioned stimulus (the food) for a number of trials,
the conditioned response was found to “weaken” gradually and get
“extinguished”.
c. Spontaneous recovery.
 When the dog is brought out of the experimental set-up and again put in the
set – up after a lapse of time, the dog responds to conditioned stimulus
(CS). This process is called spontaneous recovery.
 This process explains that there is no complete extinction due to time
interval but there is inhibition of CR.

d. Generalization
 Generalization is a process in which a conditioned response to a stimulus is
generalized to similar category of stimuli.

e. Discrimination
 Refers to the ability to respond to one tone but not to others that are similar
by making sure that food always followed only by one tone, not others.
 Applications of classical conditioning

a) Developing good habits:

b) Breaking of bad habits and elimination of conditioned fear. All
hearing is acquired in the social environment. Acquired may be
reconditioned by using the principle of classical conditioning. Principles
of classical condition can be used to reconditioning anxiety, fear in
maladjusted children, developing risk free health behavior.
c) Training of animals
d) Use in psychotherapy. The principles of classical conditioning are used
in reconditioning emotional fears in mental patients.
e) Developing positive attitude. Classical conditioning can be used to
develop favorable or unfavorable attitude towards something.
II. Operant Conditioning
 is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for
behavior.
 an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that
behavior.
 behavior is strengthened or weakened by consequences or antecedents

 Behavior is conceptualized as sandwich between two sets environmental

influences—those that precede it (antecedents) and those that follow it (the
consequences).
 Antecedents → Behavior → Consequences
A → B → C
a. Antecedents are events that precede an action (response or behavior)
b. Consequences are events that follow an action (response)

 Thus, behavior can be engaged by a change in the antecedents and

consequences or both.
 Components Involved in Operant Conditioning
a) Reinforcement
b) Punishment
c) Shaping
a. Reinforcement
 The term reinforce means to strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to
anything stimulus which strengthens or increases the probability of a specific
response.

 There are two kinds of reinforces:

i. Primary Reinforcers: these are reinforcers that have direct biological significance.
They reduce some innate, vital physiological needs of the organism. They have
ability to reinforce without learning (they have “natural” reinforcing properties).
Some examples are food, water, air etc.
II. Secondary Reinforcers: refer to stimuli which becomes reinforcing because of their
association with primary reinforces. Behaviors can be controlled by secondary
reinforces. Some examples are smiles, praise, attention, etc.

 Reinforcement can be either positive or negative

i. Positive reinforces: are favorable events or outcomes that are presented after the
behavior.
ii. Negative reinforces: involve the removal of an unfavorable events or outcomes after
the display of a behavior.
 In both of these cases of reinforcement, the behavior increases.
 Reinforcement schedules
 When and how often we reinforce a behavior can have a dramatic impact
on the strength and rate of the response.

 There are two types of reinforcement schedules

i. Continuous Reinforcement
 behavior is reinforced every single time it occurs
 best used during the initial stages of learning in order to create a strong
association between the behavior and the response.
ii. Partial Reinforcement
 response is reinforced only part of the time. Learned behaviors are
acquired more slowly
 response is more resistant to extinction.
B. Punishment
adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior.

 There are two kinds of punishment:

i. Positive punishment sometimes referred to as punishment by application,
involves the presentation of an unfavorable event or outcome in order to
weaken the response it follows.
ii. Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when
an favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs.

 In both of these cases of punishment, the behavior decreases.

 Research has found positive reinforcement is the most powerful of any of
these. Adding a positive to increase a response not only works better, but
allows both parties to focus on the positive aspects of the situation
 Punishment, when applied immediately following the negative behavior
can be effective, but results in extinction when it is not applied
consistently.
 Punishment can also invoke other negative responses such as anger and
resentment.
 Inconsistencies in the punishment of children often results in confusion
and resentment.

c. Shaping
 Shaping is a reinforcement technique that is used to teach animals or people
behaviors that they have never performed before
 Behaviorists , believed that internal thoughts and
motivations could not be used to explain behavior.
Instead, they suggested, we should look only at the
external, observable causes of human behavior.
 II. Cognitive Learning Theories

 Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental

processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn.
 The core focus of cognitive psychology is on how people acquire, process
and store information.
 Cognitive learning refers to changes in the way that information is
processed as a result of experience a person or animal has had.
 In other words, in cognitive learning, due to past experience the significant
and meaning of events have been changed, new association have been
formed, and these changes have been stored in memory for future use.
 In contrast to classical and operant conditioning, cognitive learning
involves the forming of new association and the perceiving of new
relationships among events.
 There are three types of cognitive learning
a) latent learning,
b) insight learning and
c) information processing theory of learning.
a. Latent Learning

 The word latent means hidden;

 latent learning refers to a type of learning that occurs but is not
displayed until the organism is motivated to do so.
 It is a type of learning that becomes evident only when the occasion
for using it arises.
 it is said to occur without reinforcement of particular responses and
seems to involve changes in the ways information is processed.
b. Insight Learning—learning which is said to involve perceptual
reorganization

involves
 Survey of problematic situation,
 Hesitation, pause, attitude of concentrated attention to problematic
situation,
 Trial mode of response and transition to another in case of failure,
 Recurrent attention to goal and motivation,
 Appearance of insight—hidden, direct and definite performance of the
required act,
 Steady repetition of adoptive response, and
 Discovery and attention of essential relations in problematic situation and
neglect none—essentials
C, Information Processing Theory of Learning

 Deals with the steps by which an individual gather, organize, and

remember information.
 individuals seek information and make their own sense out of it;
they do not wait for information to come their way, let experience
impose its own meaning, or allow others to control their
information, i.e., learning is the result of each individual attempts
to sense of the world
 It seems that prior knowledge and cognitive skill affect learning.
 The cognitive approach of learning views people as active
processors of information.
 They initiate experiences that lead to learning, look out
information to solve problems and recognize what they already
known to achieve new learning.
 Instead of being passively influenced by environmental events,
people actively choose practice, pay attention, ignore and make
other responses as they pursue goals.
 Such factors as attention, perception, memory, the use of
strategies, the efficiency with which attention can be directed, the
response system etc, are very important in the information
processing approach of learning.
 iii. Social/Observational learning Theories

 stress that learning takes place through observation and imitation or

modeling
 The theorists believe that learning occurs not only through
conditioning, but also from observation of others.
 According to this theory, we do not always have to be reinforced or
punished to change our behavior, but we can learn by observing,
imitating, and watching the consequences of others.
 People are to some extent products of their environment but they
also choose and shape their environments.
 It is not simply a one—way street.
 The two types of learning by observing are vicarious learning
modeling (imitating).

a. Vicarious Learning: occurs when we see others rewarded or

punished for a particular action (behavior) and as a result increase
or decrease our activity based on the consequence. For example, a
boy stops crying observing his sister’s consequence while she is
crying.

b.Imitating the behavior of the model with no reinforcement: the

people whose behavior we observe, and often imitate, are called
models.
THE END