UNIT THREE

LEARNING AND THEORIES OF LEARNING

TABLE OF CONTENT
Page No

1, Definition of leanning

2, Main chanactenistics of leanning

3,Pninciple of leanning

4, Facton inflencing leanning

5, Theonies if leanning and Thein Applications

 Behavional views of leanning

 Social leanning theony
 Cognitive views of leanning

6, Pavlov's Classical Conditioning

7, Basics of Classical Conditioning

8, Genenalization and discnimination

9, Diffenent types of opanent conditioning

* openation on openant conditioning

10, Obsenvational leanning

11, Asslmption of social leanning Theony

Coginitive leanning

Ietent leanning

Insight leanning

12, slmmany

CHAPTER OVERVIEWS
In this unit, however, we will study the foundatons of learning and explore the nature of learning. The
contents of this unit are presented in two sectons. In the frst secton, we will explore the nature of
learning, and in the second, you will focus on the theories of learning and their applicatons.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Aften we have stldied this chapten, we will be able to

 Explain the general meaning, types, and factors of learning.

 Identfy the characteristcs of learning.
 Describe some of the theories designed to explain the characteristcs of learning.
 Differentate the viewpoints of different theories of learning.
 Discuss the applicatons of theories of learning.
 State techniques used to motvate and reinforce bbbebehavior

DEFINITION OF LEARNING
3,1,1, Meaning of Leanning

There are many defniton of learning, however, the most widely accepted defniton is:

"Leanning is defned as a nelatively penmanent change in behavion as a nesllt of eppenience and

tnaining,

The following points are revealed from this defniton

• Learning has endlning natlne. It results in relatvely permanent modifcaton of behavior.

. Learning is a change in knowledge on behavion. This change does not include changes due to
illness, fatgue intoxicaton, hunger, maturaton and So on.

• Learning is an internal mental actvity that cannot be directly observable but manifests in the
actvites of the indvividual,

• Learning depends on eppenience on pnactice.

. Learning resultS only those changes that occur as a nesllt of the intenaction of a penson with
his/her environment.

3 1,2, MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING

1, Leanning is gnowth, A child grows both mentally and physically through his/her daily
actvites. Therefore,

we can say that learning is growth through experience.

2, Leanning is adjlstment. Learning helps an individual to adjust himself/herself to the new
situatons.

3 Leanning is onganizing eppenience. Learning is notmerely additon to knowledge. It is the

reorganizaton of experience.

4 Leanning is plnposefll, All true learning is based on purpose, We don't learn anything
and everything that comes in our way in a haphazard manner.

5 Leanning is intelligent Meaningless efforts do not produce permanent result, Only efforts
made intelligently have lastng effects.

6 Leanning is active, Learning does not take place without a purpose and self actvity. The
principle of learning by doing is the main principle which has been recommended by all
modern educatonalists.

7 Leanning is both individlal and Social, It is an individual and social actvity.

8, Leanning is the pnodlct of envinonment. Environment plays an important role in the

growth and development of the individual.

9 Tnle leanning affects the condlct of the leannen There is a change in the mental
structure of the learner afer every experience.

3 1 3 Pninciples of leanning
There are important principles that help, explaining how learning occurs effectvely. Some of the
most important principles of learning are as follows:

1. Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to learn.

2. Students leann best and netain infonmation longen

when they have meaningful practce and exercise

3. Learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant on satisfying feeling, and that learning
is weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling

4. Things learned frst create a strong impression in the mind that is difcult to erase.

5. Things most recently learned are best nemembened .

6. The principle of intensity implies that a student will learn more from the real thing tha from a
substtute.

7. Individuals must have some abilities and skills that may help them to learn.
8 Things fneely leanned ane best leanned - the gneaten the fneedom enjoyed by individuals, the
higher the intellectual and moral advancement.

3 1 4 FACTORS INFLUENCING LEARNING

• Some of the factors that affect learning are the following.

1 Motivation The learner's motvaton maters the effectveness of learning. The stronger and
clearer the motves for learning, the greater are the effort to learn.

2 Matlnation Neuro-muscular coordinaton is important for learning a given task. Example, The
child has to be mature before she/he is able to learn.

3 Health condition of the leannen: The learner should be in a good health status to learn. Example-
Sensory defects, malnutriton, toxic conditons of the body, loss of sleep and fatgue hinder effectve
learning.

4 Psychological wellbeing of the leannen individual's psychological states like worries, fears,
feelings of loneliness and inferiority hinders learning. Whereas self- respect, self-reliance, and self-
confdence are necessary for effectve learning.

5 Good wonking conditions: absence or presence of fresh air, light, comfortable surroundings,
moderate temperature, absence of distractons like noise and learning aids determine learning
effectveness.

6 Backgnolnd eppeniences: having background experiences affect effectveness of learning. 7

Length of the wonking peniod Learning periods should neither be too short nor too long. Long
learning tme sets fatgue and reduces effectveness in learning.

8 Massed and distniblted leanning Learning that Spreads across tme with reasonable tme gaps
brings beter results compared with crammed learning that occurs at once or within short Span of
tme.

3 2 THEORIES OF LEARNING AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

1 Behavional views of leanning
2 Social leanning theony
3 Cognitive views of leanning

3 2 1 Behavional views of leanning

I S-R theonies witholt neinfoncement

 Pavlov's Classical Theony of Leanning
 Watson's Theony of Leanning
 Glthnie's Theony of Leanning
II S-R theonies with neinfoncement
  Skinnen's theony of openant conditioning
 Thonndiek's theony of leanning
3 2 1 1 PAVLOV'S CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Respondent/ Conditioning on type 1 Leanning/

• Classical conditoning theory represents a process in which a natural stmulus pairing with a neutral
stmulus, the neutral stmulus acquires all the characteristcs of a natural stmulus.

It is a type of learning in which a neutral stmulus comes to bring about a response afer it is paired with
a stmulus that naturally brings about that response.

It is also called substtuton learning because it involves substtutng a neutral stmulus in place of natural
stmulus.

• Stmulus lanything in the environment that one can respond to.

• Responses any behavior or acton towards a stmulus.

PAVLOV'S CLASSICAL CONDITIONING EXPERIMENT

Before conditoning
• Bell (Neutral stmuluss) or CS
• Food (natural stmuluss) or UCS
• Bell (CSs) + food (UCSs)
• Bell (CSs)
During conditoning
No salivaton.
salivaton (UCRs).
salivaton (UCRs).
Afer conditoning
salivaton (CRs).
Basics of Classical Conditioning

1 Neltnal Stimllls- A stmulus that, before conditoning, does not naturally bring about the response of
interest

2 Unconditioned stimllls (UCSs) - is the natural stmulus that triggers a response automatcally and
reflexively.

> It is unlearned, internal and consistently elicits a response.

3 Unconditioned nesponse (UCRs) - the automatc response to unlearned stmulus (UCSs) reflexively but
not learned and it works naturally.

4 Conditional stimllls (CS) -Originally neutral stmulus that through associaton (learnings), gains the
power of elicitng a response.
5 Conditioned nesponse (CR) - is the response to the CS.

- It is process of developing a learned response and it is similar to UCR.

E.g. we can take white rat (CSs), Loud noise (UCSs) and fear of the child called "Litle Albert"

- White rat leads to No response

- Loud sound
-White rat + loud noise with several pairings
fear
Why
Principle of classical conditoning
0. Acquisiton: process of developing learned
response.
. Extncton: is the diminishing of learned
response, when the UCS does not followa
CS.
O. Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance ko
of the CR afer a rest period suddenly
stmulated by the CS.

GENERALIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION

Despite differences in color and shape, to most of us a rose is a rose is a rose. The pleasure we
experience at the beauty, smell, and grace of the flower is similar for different

TYPES OF ROSES

Pavlov noticed a similan phenomenon. His dogs ofen salivated not only at the ringing of the bell that
was used during their original conditoning but at the sound of a buzzer as elicit UCR (fears)

Pavlov noticed a similan phenomenon His dogs ofen salivated not only at the ringing of the bell that
was used during their original conditoning but at the sound of a buzzer as well.

Such behavior is the result of stmulus generalizaton. Stmulus generalizaton occurs when a conditoned
response follows a stmulus that is similar to the original conditoned stmulus. The greater the similarity
between two stmuli, the greater the likelihood of stmulus generalizaton.

Litle Albert, who, as we mentoned earlier, was conditoned to be fearful of white rats, grew afraid of
other furry white things as well.

However, according to the principle of stmulus generalizaton, it is unlikely that he would have been
afraid of a black dog, because its color would have differentated it sufciently from the original fear-
evoking stmulus.
The conditoned response elicited by the new stmulus is usually not as intense as the original
conditoned response, although the more similar the new stmulus is to the old one, the more similar the
new response will be.

On the other hand, stmulus discriminaton occurs if two stmuli are sufciently distnct from one
another that one evokes a conditoned response but the other does not. Stmulus discriminaton
provides the ability to differentate between stmuli.

For example, our ability to discriminate between the behavior of a growling dog and that of one whose
tail is wagging can lead to adaptve behavior—avoiding the growling dog and petng the friendly one.

To make conditioning effective:

The tme lapses between the presentatons of the two stmuli (CS & UCSs) should be small, ranging from
half a second to a few seconds.

The CS should present before the presentaton of the UCS (sometmes simultaneouslys).

Diffenent types of conditioning can be employed in classical conditioning based on the time and onden
of CS and UCS.

a) Delayed conditioning refers to presentng the CS frst and letng it remain at least untl the onset of
the UCS. It produces strong conditoning.

b) Tnace conditioning: refers to presentng the conditoned stmulus frst and ending before the onset of
the UCS. It produces moderately strong conditoning.

c) Simlltaneols conditioning: refers to the beginning and ending of the CS and the UCS together. It
produces weak conditoning.

d) Backwand conditioning is a conditoning in which the onset of the UCS precedes the onset of the CS.
It is a mostly unsuccessful principle.

Openant conditioning is learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending

on its favorable or unfavorable consequences. When we say that a response has been strengthened or
weakened, we mean that it has been made more or less likely to recur negllanly

Unlike classical conditioning, in which the oniginal behavions ane the natlnal, biological nesponses to
the pnesence of a stimllls slch as food, waten, on pain, openant conditioning applies to vollntany
nesponses, which an onganism penfonms delibenately to pnodlce a desinable oltcome

The tenm openant emphasizes this point The onganism openates on its envinonment to pnodlce a
desinable nesllt Openant conditioning is at wonk when we leann that toiling indlstniolsly can bning
abolt a naise on that stldying hand nesllts in good gnades

Openations in Openant Conditioning

Shaping: refers to the judicious use of selectve reinforcement to bring certain desirable changes in the
behavior of the organism.

For a response to be reinforced, it must frst occur. But suppose you train a child to use a knife and a
fork properly. Such behaviors, and most others in everyday life, have almost no probability of appearing
spontaneously.

The operant soluton for this is shaping. Shaping is an operant conditoning procedure in which
successive approximatons of a desired response are reinforced.

In shaping, you start by reinforcing a tendency in the right directon. Then you gradually neqline
nesponses that ane mone and mone similan to the final desined nesponse

Eptinction In operant conditoning, extncton refers to the gradual weakening and disappearance of the
conditonal response if it is not reinforced. Skinner noted this principle by accident when the pellet
dispenser jammed. Thus, the rat’s responses (pressing the bars) produced no reinforcements.

Reinfoncement The Centnal Concept of Openant Conditioning

Reinfoncement is the process by which a stmulus increases the probability that a preceding behavior
will be repeated.

A reinforcer is any stmulus that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur
again.Hence, food is a reinforcer because it increases the probability that the behavior will take place.

• Both positve and negatve punishment result in a decrease in the likelihood that a prior behavior will
be repeated.

Schedlles of neinfoncement timing life's newands

• The world would be a different place if poker players never played cards again afer the frst losing
hand, fshermen returned to shore as soon as they missed a catch, or telemarketers never made another
phone call afer their frst hang-up. The fact that such unreinforced behaviors contnue, ofen with great
frequency and persistence, illustrates that reinforcement need not be received contnually for behavior
to be learned and maintained.

• In fact, behavior that is reinforced only occasionally can ultmately be learned beter than can behavior
that is always reinforced.

• When we refer to the frequency and tming of reinforcement that follows desired behavior, we are
talking about schedules of reinforcement.

• Behavior that is reinforced every tme it occurs is said to be on a contnuous reinforcement schedule;

• If it is reinforced some but not all of the tme, it is on a partal (or intermitents) reinforcement
schedule.
• Although learning occurs more rapidly under a contnuous reinforcement schedule, behavior lasts
longer afer reinforcement stops when it is learned under a partal reinforcement schedule

. Although many different partal reinforcement Schedules have been examined, they can most

schedules have been examined, they can most readily be put into two categories:

• Schedules that consider the number of responses made before reinforcement is given, called fxed-
rato and variable-rato schedules, and those that consider the amount of tme that elapses before
reinforcement is provided, called fieddiinerval aid variablediinerval schedules.

Fiiedd aid VariabledRatio Schedules

• Ii a fieddratio schedule, reinforcement is given only afer a specifc number of responses. For
instance, a rat might receive a food pellet every tenth tme it pressed a lever; here, the rato would be
1:10. Similarly, garment workers are generally paid on fxed-rato schedules: They receive a specifc
number of dollars for every blouse they sew. Because a greater rate of producton means more
reinforcement, people on fxed-rato schedules are apt to work as quickly as possible.

• Ii a variabledratio schedule, reinforcement occurs afer a varying number of responses rather than
afer a fxed number. Although the specifc number of responses necessary to receive reinforcement
varies, the number of responses usually hovers around a specifc average. Gambling and begging are the
two examples of variable rato schedule, which lead to a high rate of response and resistance to
extncton.

Fiped- and Vaniable-Intenval Schedlles The Passage of Time

• In contrast to fxed-and variable-rato schedules, in which the crucial factor is the number of
responses, fxed-interval and variable- interval schedules focus on the amount of tme that has elapsed
since a person or animal was rewarded.

• One example of a fxed interval schedule is a weekly paycheck

✓ Compared to the study habits we observed with a fxed-interval schedule, students' dents' study
habits under such a variable-interval schedule would most likely be very different. Students would be
apt to study more regularly because they would never know when the next surprise quiz was coming.
Variable-interval schedules, in general, are more likely to produce relatvely steady rates of responding
than are fxed-interval schedules, with responses that take longer to extnguish afer reinforcement
ends.

Implications of Openant Conditioning

v Use reinforcers periodically to extend the desired behavior

✓ Give reinforces immediately for a desired br of students.

v Use praise and ignore- means praising students who follow rules and ignore rule breakers.
v Carefully and systematcally praise students.

v Use the Pnemack pninciple (lsing bait epchange high fon infonce

Use shaping slccessive approximaton, which involves

v Reinforce improvement in accuracy, longer periods of performance and partcipaton to persist the br.

v Use guidelines when reinforce and punish students.

v Use appropriate schedule of reinforcement to persist behavior.

3 2 2 Obsenvational/Social/ Leanning Theony

 Albent Bandlna is the prime proponent of this theory.

 Learning takes place through obsenvation, imitation, modeling, mimicking on watching othens
 Vicarious learning - learning by seeing the consequence of another persons br.
 observing reinforcing consequences (vicaniols neinfoncements) for that br.
 observing a punitve consequence (Vicaniols plnishment)
 • Children do not always immediately display behavion leanned fnom models.
 This is the evidence that acqlisition & penfonmance ane not identical

Steps of obsenvational leanning

Bandlna mentions foln conditions that ane necessany befone an individlal can slccessfllly model the
behavior of someone else:

1 Attention - frst paying atenton to the model

2 Retention - mentally represent to the model's acton in some ways as verbal or visual images or both.

3 Pnodlction - showing/actng out/ or performing the behavior

4 Motivation and neinfoncement - learners must want to demonstrate what they have learned from the
model.

★ Remember that since these four conditons vary among individuals, different people will reproduce
the same behavior differently.

Asslmptions of Social Leanning Theony

u Reciprocal determinism refers to the interacton of the person, person's behavior and physical
environment.

l People have an agency on ability to inflence thein own behavion and the envinonment in a
plnposeful, goal- directed fashion as opposed to environmental determinism of behaviorism
u Learning can occur witholt an immediate change in behavion on mone bnoadly that leanning and the
demonstnation of what has been leanned ane distinct pnocesses

It also means that students can learn but not demonstrate that learning untl motvated to do so.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

★ Social learning theory has numerous implicatons for classroom use

1. Students ofen learn a great deal simply by observing other people

2. Describing the consequences of behavior can effectvely increase the appropriate behaviors and
decrease inappropriate ones

3. Modeling provides an alternatve to shaping for teaching new behaviors

★ However, modeling can provide a faster, more efcient means for teaching new behavior than
shaping in operant conditoning

4. Teachers and parents must model appropriate behaviors and take care that they do not model
inappropriate behaviors

5. Teachers should expose students to a variety of other models.

★ This technique is especially important to break down traditonal stereotypes

6 is must believe that they are capable of 151/237 ishing school tasks

★ Thus it is very important to develop a sense of self-efcacy for students.

7. Teachers should help students set realistc expectatons for their academic accomplishments

3 2 3 COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY

• Cognitve learning theorists believe that thought processes have an important effect on learning.

Humans ofen use mental or cognitve abilites when they interact with their environment.

• People can manipulate, alter, or change things mentally to examine possible outcomes before they
actually do anything.

• Developed approaches that focus on the unseen mental processes that occur during learning, rather
than concentratng solely on external stmuli, responses, and reinforcements.

3 2 3 1 LATENT LEARNING

★Evidence for the importance of cognitve processes comes from a series of animal experiments that
revealed a type of cognitve learning called latent learning.
★'Latent' means hidden and thus latent learning is learning that occurs but is not evident in behavior
untl later, when conditons for its appearance are favorable/ rewarded.

★It is said to occur without reinforcement of partcular responses and seems to involve changes in the
way informaton is processed.

★In a classic experiment, Tolman and Honzic (1930s) placed three groups of rats in mazes and observed
their behavior each day for more than two weeks.

★ The rats in Group 1 always found food at the end naze. Group 2 never found food. Group 3 154/237 o
food for ten days but then received food on the eleventh

The Group 1 rats quickly learned to head straight the end of the maze without going blind alleys,
whereas Group 2 rats did not learn to go to the end. But, Group 3 rats were different.

For ten days they appeared to follow no partcular route. Then, on the eleventh day they quickly learned
to run to the end of the maze. By the next day, they were doing, as well as group one, which had been
rewarded from the beginning.

Group three rats had demonstrated latent learning, learning that is not immediately expressed. A great
deal of human learning also remains latent untl circumstances allow or require it to be expressed.

★To cognitve theorists, it seemed clear that the unrewarded rats had learned the layout of the maze
early in their exploratons; they just never displayed their latent learning untl the reinforcement was
offered.

★ Instead, those rats seemed to develop a cognitve map of the maze-a mental representaton of spatal
locatons and directons.

People, too, develop cognitve maps of their surroundings.

★For example, latent learning may permit you to know the locaton of a kitchenware store at a local
mall you've frequently visited, even though you've never entered the store and don't even like to cook.

3 2 3 2 INSIGHT LEARNING

.It is a cognitve process whereby we reorganize our percepton of a problem.

.It's learning to solve a problem by understanding various parts of the problem.

It doesn't depend on conditoning of partcular behaviors for its occurrence.

Sometmes, for example, people even wake up from sleep with a soluton to a problem that they had
not been able to solve during the day.

★ In a typical insight situaton where a problem is posed,

a period follows during which no apparent progress is made and then the soluton comes suddenly.

★What has been learned in insight learning can also be appica easily to other similar situatons.

Human beings who solve a problem insightully usually experience a good feeling called an 'aha'
experience.

Wolfgang Kohler studied insight learning in chimpanzees

★ Kohler placed chimpanzees in certain situatons and watched them solve the problems

Ep Hanging a banana olt of the chimpanzee's neach- Solltion Monkeys stacked bopes on top of one
anothen to get to the banana

★ Kohler believed that the monkeys could not have come to the soluton without a cognitve
understanding of how to solve the problem.

SUMMMARY

is a relatvely permanent change in behavior occurring as a result of experience or practce.

Learning is characterized by different issues like modifcaton of behavior, pervasive, actve processes,
purposeful, multfaceted, and the like.

Learning has important principles that are categorized into 8 different and valuable principles.

Factors that affect learning of individuals include motvaton, intelligence, maturaton, physical conditon
of the learner, good working conditons, psychological well-being, background experience, and length of
the working period.

In this unit, you have learned the viewpoints of different theories of learning that have been atempted
to explain the behavioral changes acquired through learning experiences:

Classical Conditoning (Ivan Pavlovs): Emphasis on experiences, especially the associaton between
stmulus and response.

Operant Conditoning (B.F. Skinners): Emphasis on experiences, especially reinforcement and punishment
as determinants of learning and behavior.

Social Cognitve (Albert Banduras): Emphasis on the interacton of behavior, environment, and person
(cognitves) factors as determinants of learning.

Cognitve Theories: Include learning theories like latent and insight learning theories.