Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D.

Page 1

THEORIES ON LEARNING
Koffkas Ideational Learning
Koffka believed that most of early learning is what he referred to as, "sensorimotor learning," which is a type of
learning which occurs after a consequence. For example, a child who touches a hot stove will learn not to touch it
again. Koffka also believed that a lot of learning occurs by imitation, though he argued that it is not important to
understand how imitation works, but rather to acknowledge that it is a natural occurrence.
According to Koffka, the highest type of learning is ideational learning, which makes use of language.
Problem solving Theory by Wolfgang Khler

Born in Jan 21, 1887
Died in June 11, 1967
Born in Reval (now Tallinn), Estonia
Psychologist and phenomenologist

In 1913, Khler went to the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands for six years
Khler observed the manner in which chimpanzees solve problems, such as that of retrieving bananas when
positioned out of reach. He found that they stacked wooden crates to use as makeshift ladders, in order to
retrieve the food.
If the bananas were placed on the ground outside of the cage, they used sticks to lengthen the reach of their
arms.
Khler concluded that the chimps had not arrived at these methods through trial-and-error (which
American psychologist Edward Thorndike had claimed to be the basis of all animal learning, through his
law of effect), but rather that they had experienced an insight (also sometimes known as an aha
experience), in which, having realized the answer, they then proceeded to carry it out in a way that was, in
Khlers words, unwaveringly purposeful.
The bouba/kiki effect
The Bouba/Kiki Effect was first observed by German-American psychologist Wolfgang Khler in 1929.
In psychological experiments, first conducted on the island of Tenerife (in which the primary language is Spanish),
Khler showed forms in the previous slides asked participants which shape was called "takete" and which was called
"baluba" ("maluma" in the 1947 version). Data suggested a strong preference to pair the jagged shape with "takete"
and the rounded shape with "baluba".
In 2001, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Edward Hubbard repeated Khler's experiment using the words "kiki" and
"bouba" and asked American college undergraduates and Tamil speakers in India Which of these shapes is bouba
and which is kiki?
In both the English and the Tamil speakers, 95% to 98% selected the curvy shape as "bouba" and the jagged one as
"kiki", suggesting that the human brain is somehow able to extract abstract properties from the shapes and sounds.
Recent work by Daphne Maurer and colleagues has shown that even children as young as 2.5 (too young to read)
show this effect.
Ramachandran and Hubbard suggest that the kiki/bouba effect has implications for the evolution of language,
because it suggests that the naming of objects is not completely arbitrary.
The rounded shape may most commonly be named "bouba" because the mouth makes a more rounded shape to
produce that sound while a more taut, angular mouth shape is needed to make the sound "kiki".
The sounds of a K are harder and more forceful than those of a B, as well.
The presence of these synesthesia-like mappings suggests that this effect might be the neurological basis for sound
symbolism, in which sounds are non-arbitrarily mapped to objects and events in the world.
Individuals with autism do not show as strong a preference. Where average people agree with the typical result 90%
of the time, individuals with autism only agree 60% of the time (Ramachandran, V.S., Oberman, L.M. Evidence for
Deficits in Mirror Neuron Function, Multisensory Integration, and Sound-form Symbolism in Autism Spectrum
Disorders)
Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D. Page 2

Instructional Design by Kurt Lewin

Born Sept 9, 1890
Died Feb 12, 1947
Born in Mogilno, Poland
Psychologist
"founder of social psychology
Worked closely with the Gestalt psychologists

Force field Analysis
Provides a framework for looking at the factors (forces) that influence a situation, originally social situations.
Lewin believed the "field" to be a Gestalt psychological environment existing in an individual's (or in the collective
group) mind at a certain point in time that can be mathematically described in a topological constellation of
constructs.
Action Research
first coined the term action research in about 1944. In his 1946 paper Action Research and Minority Problems
he described action research as a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social
action and research leading to social action that uses a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of
planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action.
Instructional Design
1. Active Learning
Instruction must be planned with a clear vision of what the students will do with the content presented. It is critical
that students interact with the instructional content and that activities be developed to promote and support open-
ended, self-directed learning. Content should never be delivered for memorization, but instead for use as a tool in
planned and sequenced activities.
2. A Cohesive Approach
Lewin wrote that a piecemeal approach to guiding learners to accept new ideas, attitudes, and behaviors is
ineffective. Instead, a cohesive approach must be utilized to support changes in cognition, affect, and behavior.
3. Impact of the Social Environment
Lewin theorized that before changes in ideas, attitudes, and behavior will occur, modifications in a learner's
perception of self and his/her social environment are essential. He also argued that it is easier to create change in a
social context than individually.
More work on Instructional Design
Maximise the effectiveness, efficiency and appeal of instruction and other learning experiences.
The process consists of determining the current state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction,
and creating some "intervention" to assist in the transition.
The outcome of this instruction may be directly observable and scientifically measured or completely hidden and
assumed.

KURT LEWINS CHANGE THEORY

1. Force Field Analysis: Driving Forces
Driving Forces are forces that push in a direction that causes change to occur.
They cause a shift in the equilibrium towards change.
i.e. A married couple who has to get ready for a party, the husband is on the couch watching the
football game. The wife encourages her husband to get ready because there is going to be free beer
at the party. The husband starts to get ready in a hurry. The driving forces are: The wife
encouraging the husband & The incentive of free alcohol at the party.
Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D. Page 3

2. Force Field Analysis: Restraining Forces
Restraining forces are forces that counter driving forces. They oppose change.
Restraining forces cause a shift in the equilibrium which opposes change
i.e.In the case of the husband and wife getting ready for the party. Present at the party is going to
be the husbands cousin whom he despises. The cousin and the husband have not got along for
many years and if the husband was to go, there surely would be a fight. The husband also finds out
that the beer is non-alcoholic.
3. Force Field Analysis: Equilibrium
Equilibrium is a state of being where driving forces equal restraining forces and no change occurs
Equilibrium can be raised or lowered by changes that occur between the driving and restraining
forces
Kurt Lewins Change Theory Consists of three distinct and vital stages:
Unfreezing
Moving to a new level or Changing
Refreezing

1. Unfreezing
Involves finding a method of making it possible for people to let go of an old pattern that was
counterproductive in some way
2. Moving to a new level
Involves a process of change in thoughts, feeling, behavior, or all three, that is in some way more liberating
or more productive
3. Refreezing
Is establishing the change as a new habit, so that it now becomes the standard operating procedure.
Without this stage of refreezing, it is easy to backslide into the old ways.

Cumulative Learning
Robert Mills Gagn

Born in Aug 21, 1916
Died in April 28, 2002
Born in in North Andover, Massachusetts
educational psychologist
best known for his Conditions of Learning involved in applying instructional theory to the design of
computer based learning.

The Gagn Assumption different types of learning exist, and that different instructional conditions are most likely
to bring about these different types of learning.
Five Categories of Learning
1. verbal information
2. intellectual skills
3. cognitive strategies
4. motor skills
5. attitudes






Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D. Page 4

Eight Types of Learning
1. Signal Learning - The individual learns to make a general, diffuse response to a signal. Such was the
classical conditioned response of Pavlov.
2. Stimulus-Response Learning - The learner acquires a precise response to a discriminated stimulus.
3. Chaining - A chain of two or more stimulus-response connections is acquired.
4. Verbal Association - The learning of chains that are verbal.
5. Discrimination Learning - The individual learns to make different identifying responses to many different
stimuli that may resemble each other in physical appearance.
6. Concept Learning - The learner acquires a capability of making a common response to a class of stimuli.
7. Rule Learning - A rule is a chain of two or more concepts.
8. Problem Solving - A kind of learning that requires the internal events usually called thinking.

Gagns Nine Events of Instruction
1. Gain attention - Curiosity motivates students to learn.
2. Inform learners of objectives - These objectives should form the basis for assessment.
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning - Associating new information with prior knowledge can facilitate the
learning process.
4. Present the content - This event of instruction is where the new content is actually presented to the
learner.
5. Provide learning guidance - use of examples, non-examples, case studies, graphical representations,
mnemonics, and analogies.
6. Elicit performance (practice) - Eliciting performance provides an opportunity for learners to confirm their
correct understanding, and the repetition further increases the likelihood of retention.
7. Provide feedback - guidance and answers provided at this stage are called formative feedback.
8. Assess performance - take a final assessment.
9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job - Effective education will have a "performance" focus.

David Ausubel by Meaningful Learning Theory
Biography
Born: October 25, 1918
Died: July 9, 2008
Grew up in Brooklyn, New York
He graduated from medical school at Middlesex University.
Later he earned a Ph.D in Developmental Psychology at Columbia University.
He was influenced by the work of Piaget.
In 1973, Ausubel retired from academic life and devoted himself to his psychiatric practice.
In 1976, he received the Thorndike Award from the American Psychological Association for
"Distinguished Psychological Contributions to Education".

Meaningful Learning Theory
Concerned with how students learn large amounts of meaningful material from verbal/textual presentations
in a learning activities.
Meaningful learning results when new information is acquired by linking the new information in the
learners own cognitive structure
Learning is based on the representational, superordinate and combinatorial processes that occur during the
reception of information.
A primary process in learning is subsumption in which new material is related to relevant ideas in the
existing cognitive structure on a non-verbatim basis (previous knowledge)
The processes of meaningful learning:

Ausubel proposed four processes by which meaningful learning occur:
1. Derivative Subsumption
Describes the situation in which the new information pupils learn is an instance or example of a concept
that pupils have already learned.

2. Correlative Subsumption
More valuable learning than that of derivative subsumption, since it enriches the higher-level concept.
Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D. Page 5

3. Superordinate Learning

In this case, you already knew a lot of examples of the concept, but you did not know the concept until it
was taught to pupils

4. Combinatorial Learning
It describes a process by which the new idea is derived from another idea that is comes from his
previous knowledge (in a different, but related, branch)
Students could think of this as learning by analogy

Principles of Ausubels Meaningful Reception Learning Theory
Within a classroom setting include:
The most general ideas of a subject should be presented first and then progressively differentiated in terms
of detail and specificity.
Instructional materials should attempt to integrate new material with previously
presented information through comparisons and cross-referencing of new and old
ideas.

Principles of Ausubels Meaningful Reception Learning Theory
Instructors should incorporate advance organizers when teaching a new concept.
Instructors should use a number of examples and focus on both similarities and differences.
Classroom application of Ausubel's theory should discourage rote learning of materials that can be learned
more meaningfully.
The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows.
Summary
For Ausubel, meaningful learning is a process that related new information relevant to the concepts
contained in a persons cognitive structure.
In order to be meaningful to students learning, then learning should be linked and relevant to students
cognitive structures.
Relevance to students cognitive structures can happen when we pay attention to early knowledge of the
concepts that preceded the concept to be learned.
It is important for students to construct knowledge through learning.
The essential theory of meaningful learning is a teaching which Ausubel enables students can associate the
beginning of knowledge with new knowledge that will learn and how teachers can facilitate learning by
preparing the facility as a presentation of the subject matter which allows students to build knowledge in
discovery learning activities.


Jerome Bruner
Constructivism & Discovery Learning

Learning theorist
Associated with the Constructivist view of learning
Originated Discovery method of learning.

Who is Jerome Bruner?
1915: Born in NYC
In WW2 worked for U.S. Army intelligence reviewing the effectiveness of propaganda.
1947 : Ph. D. , Psychology from Harvard
Positions on faculties of Harvard, Oxford, and currently NYU
Founded Center for Cognitive studies with Leo Postman
Who is Jerome Bruner?
rooted mainly in the study of cognition
Reacted against behaviorist model of learning
founded New Look movement in psychology
Change from behaviorist model


What ideas and influences are associated with Bruner?
1. Constructivism
paradigm of learning
learners create their own subjective constructs of reality
Other Constructivists include Piaget, Vygotsky and Dewey.
Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D. Page 6

Builds on the concept of stages of development (Piaget)
Environment has bigger role in learning development.
"any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of
development. The Process of Education (1960)

What is Discovery learning?
Learner builds on past experience
Students interact with environment
Discovers facts and relationships on own
Students create own construct of knowledge through narrative

Advantages of Discovery Learning
active engagement
promotes motivation
Promotes ownership of learning
the development of creativity and problem solving skills.
a tailored learning experience

Criticisms of discovery learning
Too much information (cognitive overload)
Often requires vast resources unavailable in traditional classroom.
Lack of teacher control
Potential misconceptions
Teachers may fail to recognize misconceptions

Examples of discovery learning
learning with and through narratives
case-based learning
guided discovery
problem-based learning
simulation-based learning
incidental learning


Four Key themes emerged in Bruner's early work:
Bruner emphasized the role of structure in learning and how it may be made central in teaching.
Structure refers to relationships among factual elements and techniques.

Four features of Bruner's theory of instruction

1. Predisposition to learn. This feature specifically states the experiences which move the learner toward a love of
learning in general, or of learning something in particular. Motivational, cultural, and personal factors contribute to
this. Bruner emphasized social factors and early teachers and parents' influence on this. He believed learning and
problem solving emerged out of exploration. Part of the task of a teacher is to maintain and direct a child's
spontaneous explorations.

2. Structure of knowledge. it is possible to structure knowledge in a way that enables the learner to most readily
grasp the information. This is a relative feature, as there are many ways to structure a body of knowledge and many
preferences among learners. Bruner offered considerable detail about structuring knowledge.
Understanding the fundamental structure of a subject makes it more comprehensible. Bruner viewed
categorization as a fundamental process in the structuring of knowledge. (See the section below on
categorization.)

Details are better retained when placed within the contest of an ordered and structured pattern.

To generate knowledge which is transferable to other contexts, fundamental principles or patterns are best
suited.

The discrepancy between beginning and advanced knowledge in a subject area is diminished when
instruction centers on a structure and principles of orientation. This means that a body of knowledge must
be in a simple enough form for the learner to understand it and it must be in a form recognizable to the
student's experience.

3. Modes of representation: visual, words, symbols.
4. Effective sequencing- no one sequencing will fit every learner, but in general, increasing difficulty.

Sequencing, or lack of it, can make learning easier or more difficult.
Form and pacing of reinforcement
Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D. Page 7

Form and pacing of reinforcement
Bruner gave much attention to categorization of information in the construction of internal cognitive maps.
He believed that perception, conceptualization, learning, decision making, and making inferences all
involved categorization.

Bruner suggested a system of coding in which people form a hierarchical arrangement of related categories.
Each successively higher level of categories becomes more specific, echoing Benjamin Bloom's
understanding of knowledge acquisition as well as the related idea of instructional scaffolding (Bloom's
Taxonomy).

Categories are "rules" that specify four thing about objects.
1. Criterial attributes - required characteristics for inclusion of an object in a category. (Example, for an object
to be included in the category "car" it must have an engine, 4 wheels, and be a possible means of
transportation,
2. The second rule prescribes how the criteral attributes are combined.
3. The third rule assignees weight to various properties. (Example, it could be a car even if a tire was missing,
and if it was used for hauling cargo it would be shifted to a different category of "truck" or perhaps "van".
4. The fourth rule sets acceptance limits on attributes. Some attributes can vary widely, such as color. Others
are fixed. For example a vehicle without an engine is not a car. Likewise, a vehicle with only two wheels
would not be included in "car".

There a several kinds of categories:
Identity categories - categories include objects based on their attributes or features.

Equivalent categories (provide rules for combining categories. Equivalence can be determined by affective
criteria, which render objects equivalent by emotional reactions, functional criteria, based on related
functions (for example, "car", "truck", "van" could all be combined in an inclusive category called "motor
vehicle"), or by formal criteria, for example by science, law, or cultural agreement. For example, and apple
is still an apple whether it is green, ripe, dried, etc (identity). It is food (functional), and it is a member of of
a botanical classification group (formal).

Coding systems are categories serve to recognize sensory input. They are major organizational variables in
higher cognitive functioning. Going beyond immediate sensory data involves making inferences on the
basis of related categories. Related categories form a "coding system." These are hierarchical arrangements
of related categories.
Bruner's theories introduced the idea that people interpret the world largely in terms of similarities and
differences.

This is a significant contribution to how individuals construct their unique models of the world.

Application
Bruner emphasized four characteristics of effective instruction which emerged from his theoretical
constructs.

1. Personalized: instruction should relate to learners' predisposition, and facilitate interest toward learning,

2. Content Structure: content should be structured so it can be most easily grasped by the learner

3. Sequencing: sequencing is an important aspect for presentation of material

4. Reinforcement: rewards and punishment should be selected and paced appropriately.

Intellectual Development

Bruner postulated three stages of intellectual development.

The first stage he termed "Enactive", when a person learns about the world through actions on physical
objects and the outcomes of these actions.

The second stage was called "Iconic" where learning can be obtained through using models and pictures.

The final stage was "Symbolic" in which the learner develops the capacity to think in abstract terms. Based
on this three-stage notion, Bruner recommended using a combination of concrete, pictorial then symbolic
activities will lead to more effective learning.



Fely B. Balgoa, RM, RN, RPT, MAN, Ed. D. Page 8

Information Processing Theory by George Armitage Miller
Born Feb 3, 1920
Age 90
Born in Charleston, West Virginia
Psychologist and Cognitive Scientist
founder of WordNet

Millers Magic Number
TOTE: Test-Operate-Test-Exit an iterative problem solving strategy based on feedback loops test where the
system is currently, then perform some operation that makes a change, then retest again, and to repeat this until the
answer is satisfactory, at which point the process is complete and ends (or exits).
The following is an example of a simple TOTE: When driving a car and looking for the appropriate turn off.
Test - is this the turnoff? - No
Operate - keep driving
Test - is this the turnoff? - No
Operate - keep driving
Test - is this the turnoff? - Yes
Exit

Millers Magic Number
7 2
"The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information"
(Miller 1956) is one of the most highly cited papers in psychology
He looked at Memory span - which is a long list of items (e.g., digits, letters, words) that a person can repeat back
immediately after presentation in correct order.
Miller observed that memory span of young adults is approximately 7 chunks. He noticed that memory span is
approximately the same for stimuli with vastly different amount of information .
Charles M. Reigeluth
Elaboration Theory

instruction is made out of layers and that each layer of instruction elaborates on the previously presented
ideas. By elaborating on the previous ideal, it reiterates, thereby improving retention
Present overview of simplest and most fundamental ideas
Add complexity to one aspect
Review the overview and show relationships to the details
Provide additional elaboration of details
Provide additional summary and synthesis

The Eight Steps in Elaboration Theory
1. Organizing Course Structure: Single organisation for complete course
2. Simple to complex: start with simplest ideas, in the first lesson, and then add elaborations in subsequent
lessons.
3. Within-lesson sequence: general to detailed, simple to complex, abstract to concrete.
4. Summarizers: content reviews presented in rule-example-practice format
5. Synthesizers: Presentation devices that help the learner integrate content elements into a meaningful whole
and assimilate them into prior knowledge, e.g. a concept hierarchy, a procedural flowchart or decision
table, or a cause-effect model .
6. Analogies: relate the content to learners' prior knowledge, use multiple analogies, especially with a highly
divergent group of learners.
7. Cognitive strategies: variety of cues - pictures, diagrams, mnemonics, etc. - can trigger cognitive
strategies needed for processing of material.
8. Learner control: Learners are encouraged to exercise control over both content and instructional strategy.
Clear labelling and separation of strategy components facilitates effective learner control of those
components.