Unit :4 learning

 Concept of learning:
 The term learning covers every
modification in behavior to meet
environmental requirements.
 Learning is the acquisition of habits,
knowledge and attitudes. It involves new
way of doing things and it operates on an
individual’s attempt to overcome the
obstacle or to adjust the new situations.
Cont…

 It represent progressive changes in

behavior. It enable him to satisfy interests
to attain goal.
 Though learning, behavior is changed,
shaped and controlled and helps to
construct new knowledge.
 Learning is the relatively permanent
change behavior that occurs as result of
experience, observation, reinforcement.
Definitions of learning

 Learning is any relatively permanent

change in behavior that occurs as a
result of experience [ S.P. Robbins].
 The relatively permanent change in a
person’s knowledge or behavior due
to experience [Mayer].
 A persisting change in human
performance potential as a result of
the learner’s interaction with the
environment [Driscoll].
Nature of learning

 Learning is a dynamic process.

 It involves all those experiences and
training of an individual with helps to
change his behavior.
 Learning prepares the individual to adjust
and adopt in the situations.
 All the learning is purposeful and goal –
oriented.
 It is a continuous and never-ending process
that goes from womb to tomb (cradle to
grave).
Importance of learning

 By learning we change ourselves

emotionally, psychologically, behaviorally to
adopt healthy life-style and practices.
 Develop knowledge base, improve oneself
and grow as a person.
 Learning new gets us access to new and
different opportunities.
 New skill will influence the way we do things
day to day and make doing things quicker
and easier, saving time, energy and stress.
Cont..

 Learning across our lives is essential

for staying up to date in an ever-
changing world.
 Learning new things is very important
for our self-esteem.
 Trying anything different ensures we
meet new people, make new friends
and really enhance our social or
work life.
Models/ theories of
learning
 To be more scientific, the psychologist
argued that psychology needed to study
only those things that could be measured
and quantified.
 Several different learning theories
emerged to explain how and why people
behave the way that they do. The
learning theories of development are
centered on the environmental influences
on the learning process.
Cont..

 Such environmental include associations,

reinforcements, punishments, and
observations. The major theories of
learning are:
1. behavioral model (classical
learning and operant
conditioning
learning theory)
2. Cognitive model(social/
observational learning theory)
Behavioral model/approach

 How do rewards and punishments

throughout a person’s life affect their
behavior?
 The behavioral perspective focuses on
observable behaviors that can be
measured objectively. Behaviorists believe
that our behavior is related to our
environment, and we can modify behavior
by modifying the environment.
Cont..

 For eg :-
 We learn to associate certain acts
with the responses they
produce… so if my parents want
me to stop sucking my thumb,
they can cover my thumb in
something that tastes bad, thus,
sucking my thumb produces a
negative response, and I will
eventually stop doing it.
Conditioning introduction

 Conditioning in behavioral psychology is a

theory that the reaction (“response”) to
an object or event (“stimulus”) by a
person or animal can be modified by
‘learning’, or conditioning.
 Stimulus-response (S-R) theories are
central to the principles of conditioning.
They are based on the assumption that
human behavior is learned.
 Stimulus: - a thing or event that evokes a
specific reaction in an organ.
Classical conditioning
learning

 Proposed by: Dr. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936),

famous Russian physiologist. He had won
Nobel prize for this discovery.
 Other names of CC: Respondent conditioning /
Pavlovian conditioning.
 Definition : “ …learning that takes place when
a conditioned stimulus is paired with an
unconditioned stimulus”.
 It is a learning process that occurs through
association between an environmental
stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.
How Pavlov discovered cc??

 Actually Pavlov was studying the

digestive system of dog. During his
studies he noticed that his dogs, started
secreting saliva as soon as they saw the
empty plate in which food was served.
 Ideally, plate is not a stimuli that is
sufficient to activate hunger drive and
secrete saliva. So he designed the
experiment to see if other neutral stimuli
can also do the same job.
The experiment on Dog:

 Setup: Dog is kept hungry on

experimental table fitted with mechanically
controlled devices observer is hidden from
dog but he can see the dog through
mirrors.
 Procedure:
1. Bell sound Food is produced.
2. Dog see food salivates.
3. Step 1 is repeated several times.
4. Bell sound Dog salivates.
What actually happened
during the experiment ??

 Before classical conditioning

Food Salivation
bell No salivation
 During classical conditioning
Bell + Food Salivation
 After classical conditioning
Bell Salivation
Concept of US, UR, CS, CR

 Unconditioned stimulus(US): produces

response without prior learning (eg. Food)
 Unconditioned Response (UR): the response
to US. This is not due to learning. (eg., salivation
on seeing food).
 Conditioned Stimulus (CS): it is that stimulus
which was previously neutral. It produces
response after learning/ classical conditioning
has occurred. (eg., sound of bell)
 Conditioned response(CR): the response to
cs. This is due to learning. (eg., salivation on
hearing bell).
Cont..

 Before conditioning: US UR
(food) (salvation on seeing
food)
 During conditioning : CS+US UR
(food +bell) (salivation on seeing
food)
 After conditioning: CS CR
(bell) (salvation on

hearing bell sound)

Basic principles of classical
conditioning
 1. acquisition : it is a process of CS
acquires the ability to obtain CR through
repeated of an US with the CS.
 2. simultaneous conditioning: the bell
(cs) and food (us) are presented at exactly
the same time.
 3. delayed conditioning : cs is
presented , leave it for a while present us
and terminate cs and us together. This is
most effective.
Cont…

 4. trace conditioning: CS begins and ends

before US is presented.
 5. temporal conditioning: bell is never
rung. And the CS in this situations is a
constant time period, such as 2 minutes.
Food is presented every 2 minutes.
 6. extinction: repletion of CS without US
vanishes CR.
 7. Spontaneous recovery: after extinction,
if CS is repeatedly followed by US, CR will
once again be produced.(relearning)
Cont…

 8. stimulus generalization: CR is
produced on stimuli that are similar to
CS. Conditioned responses are elicited
not only by the conditioned stimulus but
also by similar stimuli.
 9. stimulus discrimination: CR is
produced on specific CS only but not to
other stimuli. This is done by regularly
reinforcing stimulus and non reinforcing
the other.
Implication of CC.

 Developing good habit,

 Remove / breaking bad habit,
 Emotional training,
 Remove distracting stimulus,
 Tolerance /break to a drug addicted,
 Learning verbal association.
What Is Operant
Conditioning?

 Operant conditioning is a method of

learning that occurs through
rewards and punishments for
behavior. Through operant
conditioning, an association is made
between a behavior and a
consequence for that behavior.
Cont..

 It was coined by B.F. Skinner (1904-

1990), who believed that organism, while
going about it’s everyday activities, is in
the process of “operating” on the
environment.
 In the course of its activities, the organism,
encounters a special kind of stimulus,
called a reinforcing stimulus, or simply a
reinforcer. This special stimulus has the
effect of increasing the behavior
occurring just before the reinforcer.
The skinner’s Box
‘experiment on Rat’
 At first the mouse would have just
wondered around in search for food and
would have accidentally pressed down on
the liver whilst exploring. It would them
present him with food, and the mouse
would associate the pressing of the lever
with the presentation of food.
 Then it’ll know whenever it’s hungry
to press that lever because of that
conditioning it went through.
Experiment 2 (-ve)

 B.f. skinner also conducted an experimented

that explained negative reinforcement
 Experiment: Skinner placed a rat in chamber
in the similar manner, but instead of keeping
it hungry, he subjected the chamber to an
unpleasant electric current. The rat having
experienced the discomfort started to
desperately move around the box and
accidently knocked the lever.
Cont…

 Pressing of the lever immediately seized the

flow of unpleasant current. After a few times,
the rat had smartened enough to go directly to
the lever in order to prevent itself from the
discomfort.
 The electric current reacted as the negative
reinforcement, and the consequence of
escaping the electric current made sure that
the rat repeated the action again and again.
 here to, the pressing of the lever is an operant
response, and the complete stop of the electric
current flow is its reward.
Cont…

 Skinner used the term operant

to refer to any “active
behavior that operates upon
the environment to generate
consequences”.
Example of operant
conditioning

 Children completing homework to

earn a reward from a parent or
teacher,
 Employees finishing projects to
receive praise or promotions,
 A child who lost recess privileges
because he talk out of turn in class.
Components of operating
Con..

 Reinforcement
A kind of stimulus that aims to
increase the strength in behavior
due to its consequence .

 Punishment

any event that causes a

decrease in the behavior.
Types of reinforcement

 Positive reinforcements:
 Are favorable events that are presented
after the behavior (Reward learning)
 Negative reinforcement:
- A response or behavior is strengthened
by stopping, removing or avoiding a
negative outcome or aversive stimulus
(escape-avoidance learning)
Cont…

 Example of positive reinforcement:

 After executing the learning plan, the
principle said “great job”.
A student answered all the items correctly in
the unit test. The teacher said “ you are
exempted in the periodic test”.
A natural reinforcers are those that occur
directly as a result of the behavior. For exa,
a girl studies hard, pays attention in class
and does her homework. As a result, she
gets excellent grades.
 Example of negative reinforcement:
 you leave your house early to avoid
being late
 You clean up your mess in the kitchen to
avoid in a fight with your roommate
When should provide negative
reinforcement?
It is most effective when reinforcers
are presented immediately following a
behavior.
Punishment??

 Punishment is a kind of stimulus that aims

to decrease the strength in behavior due
to its consequence.
 Kinds of punishment:
 Positive punishment
 Negative punishment
Positive punishment

 Positive punishment: it involves

presenting an unfavorable outcome or
event following an undesirable behavior
(punishment by application).
 Example: wearing favorite dress to class
but reprimanded by the teacher for
violating the school’s dress code.
Negative punishment

 It involves taking something good or

desirable away to reduce the occurrence of
particular behavior. (punishment by
removal) example:
 After getting low grades in her subjects
because of spending more time in texting
rather than in studying, her mother takes her
cellphone away.
 Negative punishment is more effective if:
It immediately follows a response,
It is applied consistently.
 Operating conditioning

 Operating conditioning

Reinforcement punishment

Negativ Negativ
Positive Positive
e e
+ +
- -

Behavior Behavior
Behavior Behavior
decrease decrease
increase increase
s s
Reinforcement schedules

 Reinforcement is not necessarily a straightforward

process and there are a number of factors that
can influence how quickly and how well new
things are learned. Skinner found that when and
how often behaviors were reinforced played a role
in the speed and strength of acquisition. The
timing and frequency of reinforcement influenced
how new behaviors were learned and how old
behaviors were modified.
 Skinner identified different schedule of
reinforcement:
Cont…

 Continuous reinforcement:- it involves

delivery a reinforcement every time a
response occurs. Learning tends to occur
relatively quickly, yet the response rate is
quite low. Extinction also occurs very
quickly once.
 Fixed-ratio schedules:- are a type of
partial reinforcement. Responses are
reinforced only after a specific number of
responses have occurred. This typically
leads to a fairly steady response rate.
Implication of O.C.

 Conditioning study behavior,

 Conditioning and classroom behavior,
 Shaping complex behavior,
 Increase productivity of organization,
industry,
 Encouraging project items,
 Managing diversity,
 Customer service.
Cognitive model/learning
theory

 Cognitive theory stems from traditional

psychological concepts of thinking.
 Cognitivists view activities such as
thinking, deciding, and remembering in
terms of how they underlie behavior.
 Cognitive psychology focuses on how
people think, understand and know,
Cont..

 Emphasis on learning how people

comprehend and represent the world
around them.
 Focus on conscious thinking.
 Emphasis on individual’s active
construction of understanding. Finally,
cognitive learning theories deal with the
way human being acquires and
understands knowledge through thinking.
definition

 Cognitive approaches to learning are

concerned with how information is
processed by learners [Gillian Gunderson]
 Cognitive theories view students as active in
“an internal learning process that involves
memory, thinking , reflection, abstraction,
motivation, and meta-cognitive”

-[Ally,2008]
Social/ observational learning

 It is known as learning through imitation.

 In this theory, a person learns new
information and behaviors by observing
the behaviors of persons.
 The replication of other’s behavior
through observation and imitation. (also
called “modeling” and “social learning”)
Cont..

 Albert Bandura believed that direct

reinforcement and punishment could not
account for all learning that occurs. What
about when children copy the behavior of
their parents when no reinforcement?
 Observational learning describes the process
of learning through watching others, relating
the information, and then later replicating
the behaviors that were observed.
Experiment with “Bobo Doll”

 From 1961-63, Bandura conducted

experiments with a “Bobo” clown doll to
see the degree to which children would
mimic/imitate the behavior of adults.
 A “Bobo Doll” was a toy from the 1960s
that was inflatable, and weighted so that
it would tilt upwards again after being
knocked down. (36 boys and 36 girls were
tested).
Bobo doll experiment
a study of aggression:

 Result:
 Children who observed adults showing
loving behavior towards the Bobo doll
copied that behavior.
 Children who observed adults showing
aggressive behavior towards the Bobo doll
copied that behavior.
Cont…

 Children who observed adults ignoring the

Bobo doll did not show aggressive behavior
towards it.
 Bandura concluded that people learn through
observing, imitating, and modeling. People not
only learn by being rewarded or punished
itself, but they can learn from watching
somebody being rewarded or punished, too.
 Bandura was one of many psychologist who
believed that the “behavioral” approach was
ignoring the ability of the mind to think for
itself.
How observational learning
occurs?

 Attention : to learn anything, you need to be

paying attention. Any kind of distraction can
make it difficult for you to remember what you
are learning.
 Retention: you must be able to store (or retain)
the information you have learned in your brain.
Many factors (like age and health) can impact
memory retention.
 Reproduction: you must mimic the behavior
you have learned from a model. The more you
mimic the learned behavior, the longer you will
retain it in your memory.
Cont..

 Motivation: you have to be motivated

to mimic a behavior, or else you will
stop practicing it, and eventually forget
it.
 Reinforcement: that will strengthen an
organism’s future behavior whenever
that behavior is preceded by a specific
antecedent motivation. It can either
increase or decrease the likelihood of a
behavior being repeated.
Application of social learning

 “The view that people can learn

through observation and direct
experience”
 “This refers to the ability of individual
to learn by observing others. Others
generally include teachers, peers,
media, and motion pictures”- also
called observational learning.
Cont….

 In Organization
 By modelling behavior for employs,
 Behavior imitation,
 Reward,
 Observing the employee,
 Consequences for behavior deviation.
Behavior modification

 Learning is a relatively permanent change

in knowledge or observable behavior that
results from practice or experience.
 Behavior modification can be define as a
theory that explains learning in terms of the
antecedents and consequences of behavior.
 it is also known as operant conditioning
and reinforcement theory. It represents the
application of reinforcement concept to
individuals in the work setting.
A-B-Cs of behavior modification

Antecedents
Conseque
What happens Behavior nces
Before what What
person happens
behavior says or after
does behavior
Continued…

 The objective of behavior modification is

to change behavior (b)by managing its
antecedents (a) and consequences (c)
 antecedents (A): it is an event prior
the behavior. For eg: is that employees
before this are not motivated to do their
job, then the manager informs that
there will be bonus this month to
employees who performs.
Cont…

 Here, we can see that when the consequences of

that particular action is attracting, it can attract
people to change their behavior.
 Consequences : it is an event following a
particular behavior that influence its future
occurrence.
 Basically, people tend to repeat behaviors that are
followed by pleasant consequences that are less
likely to repeat behaviors that are followed by
unpleasant consequences or no consequences at
all.
Basic principles of B.
Modification

 Behavior modification identifies four types

of consequences, called the contingencies
of reinforcement, that increase, maintain,
or reduce the probability that behavior
will be repeated.
 Positive reinforcement: occurs when
the introduction of a consequence
increase or maintains the frequency or
future probability of a specific behavior.
Cont..

 Punishment : occurs when a consequences

decreases the frequency or future
probability of a behavior.
 Negative reinforcement: occurs when the
removal or avoidance of a consequences
increases or maintains the frequency or
future probability of a specific behavior.
 Extinction: occurs when the target
behavior decreases because no
consequence follow. In this respect,
extinction is a do-nothing.
Situations to apply with B. M.

 Behavior modification can be used to

reduce absenteeism, improve task
performance, healthy lifestyle and etc.
 Finally , behavior modification can be apply
to a certain situations. May be the situation
is the same, but sometimes it is not
suitable to apply behavior modification.
because the behavior of a person is
different from other person.