LEARNING

Meaning and Definition of Learning

In a laymans view: Learning is something we did when we went to
school.
Learning is change in behaviour through practice, training and experiences.
According to E.R.Hilgard: Learning is a relatively permanent change in
behaviour that occurs as a result of a prior experience.


Nature of Learning
a) Learning involves change, it may be good or bad.
b) Change should be relatively permanent.
c) Learning is reflected in behaviour.
d) Change in behaviour should occurs as a result of experience, practice or
training.
e) Reinforcement : Experience or practice must be reinforced in order for
learning to occur. E.g: pat on back or increase in salary etc.

Theories of Learning
Learning
Classical
Conditioning
Social Learning
Operant
conditioning
Cognitive learning
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning states that an event, repeated several times evokes
desired response.
Well known experiments on classical conditioning were conducted by Ivan
Pavlov, the Russian psychologist who won Nobel prize for his experiments
on this subject.

Diagram of Classical Conditioning
Before Conditioning

Unconditional
Stimulus
( Meat)
Conditioned
Stimulus
(Bell)
Unconditioned
Response
(salivation)
No Response
During conditioning
Unconditional
Stimulus
( Meat)

Conditioned
Stimulus
(Bell)

Unconditioned
Response
(salivation)
Continue ..
After conditioning

Conditioned
Stimulus
(Bell)
Conditioned
Response
(salivation)

Operant Conditioning
B.F.Skinner, Harvard Psychologist was the father of operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning refers to the process that our behaviour produces
certain consequences and how we behave in the future depend on what
these consequences are.
Behaviour is repeated if the consequences are favourable and vice versa.
Eg: If a worker in a factory works hard, the manager rewards the worker
for his hard, the manager rewards the worker for his hard work. The worker
repeats his hard work with renewed enthusiasm.

Difference between Classical and
Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning
Responses are elicited from a person.
(reactive)
Responses are emitted by a person.
(proactive)
Responses are fixed to stimulus.
(no choice)
Responses are variable in types.
(choice)
Reinforcement is not received by
choice.
Person is instrumental in securing
reinforcement by operating on the
environment.
Cognitive Learning
Cognitive refers to an individual's thought, knowledge, interpretations,
understanding or ideas about himself and his environment.
Pioneer of cognitive theory is Edward Tolman.
The role of an organism is receiving, memorizing, retrieving and
interpreting stimuli and reading is recognized and emphasized.
Feedback






Prior
learning
Behavioural
choice
Perceived
consequences
Continue.
People draw on their experiences and use past learning as a base for present
behaviour.
People make choices about their behaviour.
People recognize the consequences of their choices.
People evaluate those consequences and add them to prior learning which
affects future choices.

Social Learning Theory
Social Learning theory emphasizes the ability of an individual to learn by
observing others.
What we have learned by observing models like parents, teachers, peers,
superiors and film stars etc.
Four processes in social learning :
a) Attention process (pay attention to important features of the model)
b) Retention process ( how well the individual remembers the models
behaviour)
c) Production process ( capability of doing exactly what the model does)
d) Reinforcement process ( motivated to exhibit the models behaviour)
Continue.
Attention
(extent to which one focus on
others action)
Retention
(extent to which one
remembers others action)
Production ( our ability to act
on the memory
representation)
Reinforcement ( extent to
which one repeats the above
behaviour)
Social learning
Principles of learning
Principles
of
learning
Motivation
Knowledge of
result
Reinforcement
Schedule of
learning
Meaningfulness
of material
Continue.
Reinforcement : It can be defined as anything that both increases the strength
of the response and tends to induce repetitions of the behaviour that
preceded the reinforcement.
It can be of four types:
Positive reinforcement ( reward for desired behaviour)
Negative reinforcement ( strengthens the behaviour by the withdrawl of an
undesirable consequences)

E.G: Employees work hard to get financial and other awards, it is positive
reinforcement. Employees work hard to avoid from unpleasant
consequences like reprimand/warning from the boss, it is negative
reinforcement.
Continue.
Extinction reinforcement : Decrease the frequency of undesirable
behaviour, especially when such behaviour were previously rewarded. In
this, positive enforcement is withhold and ignoring undesirable behaviour.
Punishment : It involves delivering an unpleasant consequence contingent
upon the occurrence of an undesirable behaviour.