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NAHIDA NASEEM, Assistant Professor (Education), UNIT I Learning, Nature and definition of learning:, Learning occupies a very important place in our life. Most of what we do or do, not do is influenced by what we learn and how we learn it. The American Heritage, Dictionary says, to learn means “to gain knowledge, comprehensions or mastery, through experience, to fix in the mind or memory, to acquire through experience, and to become informed of and to find out.” An individual starts learning, immediately after his birth. Experience, direct or indirect is found to play a, dominant role in moulding and shaping the behaviour of the individual from the, very beginning. When he touches a burning matchstick the child gets burnt and, the next time, when he comes across a burning matchstick, he loses no time in, withdrawing from it. He learns to avoid not only the burning matchstick but also, all burning things. When this happens we say that the child has learned that if one, touches a flame, one gets burnt. This change in behaviour brought about by, experience is commonly known as learning. In this way, the term learning broadly, speaking, stands for all those changes and modifications in the behaviour of the, individual which he undergoes during his lifetime. Learning may be both vertical, and horizontal-vertical in so far as precision in performance is increased or, information is added to that already learned, horizontal in so far as what is learned, in integrated and organized as a part of functioning unit of expanding experience., Definitions:1. Gardener Murphy (1968), “the term learning covers every modification in, behaviour to meet environmental requirements.”, 2. According to Woodworth (1945) “An activity can be called learning so far, as it develops the individual (in any respect, good or bad) and makes him, alter behaviour and experiences different from what they would otherwise, have been.”, 3. Crow and Crow (1973) state that “learning is the acquisition of habits,, knowledge and attitudes. It involves new ways of doing things and it, operates in an individual attempts to overcome obstacles or to adjust to new, situations. It represents progressive change in behaviour, it enables him to, satisfy interests to attain goals., 4. According to Hilgand “learning is the process by which activity originates, or is changed through reacting to an encountered situations, provided that, the characteristics of the changes in activity cannot be explained on the

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basis of native response, tendencies, maturation, or temporary states of the, organism (e.g. fatigue or drugs etc.)”, The above definitions reveal the following facts:, 1. Learning is a process and not product., 2. It involves all those experiences and training of an individual right from, birth which help him to produce changes in his behaviour., 3. Learning leads to change in behaviour both positively as well as negatively., 4. Learning prepares an individual for adjustment., 5. Learning is purposeful and goal-oriented., 6. Learning is a comprehensive process as it covers conative, cognitive and, effective field domains of human behaviour., 7. Learning is universal and continuous., 8. Learning does not include changes in behaviour on account of maturation,, fatigue, illness or drugs etc., Types of learning:- There are various types of learning – a few of them are given, briefly as under:, 1. Verbal learning:- Learning of this type helps in acquisition of verbal behaviour., The language we speak, the communication devices we use, are the result of such, learning. Signs, symbols, sounds, pictures, figures, words and voices are, employed by an individual as essential instruments for engaging in the process of, verbal learning., 2. Motor Learning:- The learning of all types of motor skills may be included in, this type of learning such as riding a horse, driving a car, swimming, performing, experiments etc. are examples of motor learning. Acquisition of various skills, through such learning helps in acquiring speed and accuracy in the field of, operations of those activities and creates a sort of confidence in the learning to, perform with ease and satisfaction., 3. Concept learning:- A concept in the form of a mental image denotes a, generalized idea about things, persons or events. For example, our concept of, “tree” is a mental image that throws up the similarities or common properties of, all different trees we know. We will call a thing “tree” when it has some specific, characteristics, the image of which we have already acquired in our mind or, account of our previous experience, perception or exercise of imagination – The, formation of such concepts on account of previous experience, training or

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cognitive process is called concept learning. All our behaviour, verbal, symbolic,, motor as well as cognitive are influenced by concepts. Thus what we say, do,, understand, reason and judge is, to a great extent controlled by the quality of our, concept learning., 4. Problem solving:- In the hierarchal order of learning and acquisition of, behaviour, problem solving learning denotes a higher type of learning. This, learning requires the use of cognitive abilities like reasoning, thinking, the power, of observations, discriminations, generalization, imagination, the ability to infer,, draw conclusion and try out novel ways and experimenting etc. It is this type of, learning which has essentially enabled human beings to contribute significantly, to the progress and improvement of society., 5. Serial learning:- Serial learning is a learning situation in which the leaner is, presented with learning material which exhibits some sequential or serial order., Children encounter it often in schools where they are expected to master lists of, material such as alphabets, multiplication tables, the name of all states in order, etc., 6. Paired – associate learning:- In this learning, learning tasks are presented in, such a way that they may be learned by reason of their associations. The name of, village like Kishanpur is remembered on account of its association with the name, of Lord Krishna. Ganga, a girl name may become easy to remember in paired, association with the river Ganges., , Learning Theories., 1. Trial and Error Theory, The famous psychologist Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) was the initiator of, the theory of trial and error. The most characteristic form of learning of both, lower animals and man was identified by Thorndike as “trial and error learning”, or as he preferred to call it later, learning by selecting or connecting. He, conducted a series of experiments on chicken, rats and cats. In one of his, experiments, for instance he put a hungry cat in a puzzle box. There was only one, door which could be opened by correctly manipulating a latch. A fish was placed, outside the box. The smell of the fish acted as a strong motive for the hungry cat, to come out of the box. The situation is described by Thorndike himself as “it, tries to squeeze through every opening, it claws and bits at the bars or wires, it, thrusts its paws through any opening and claws at everything it reaches.” In this, way, it made a number of random movements and in one of such random, movements the latch was manipulated accidentally. The cat came out and got its, reward. In another trail, the process was repeated. But this time, it took less time

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to came out. In subsequent trials such responses like biting, clawing and dashing, were gradually reduced and the cat took less time in each succeeding trial. In due, course, it was in a position to manipulate the latch as soon as it was put in the, box. In this way, gradually the cat learned the art of opening the door. The, experiment sums up the following stages in the process of learning:1. Drive:- Drive is persistent stimulation. In the present experiment it was hunger, and was intensified by the sight of food., 2. Goal:- To get at food by getting out of the box., 3. Block:- Block is an abstract that stands in achieving goal. In this experiment, the closed door was an obstacle., 4. Random movements:- The cat persistently tried to come out of the box without, knowing how., 5. Chance success:- As a result of this striving and random movements the animal, by chance succeeds in overcoming the block or opening the door., 6. Selection:- Now the random nature of learners movements disappear, gradually. The cat recognized the correct way to manipulate the latch., 7. Fixation:- At last, the cat learned the proper way to open the door by, eliminating all the incorrect responses and fixing only the right response. Now it, was able to open the door without any error., Laws of learning given by Thorndike, 1. The law of readiness:- When a conducting unit is ready to conduct for it, to do so is satisfying. When a conducting unit is not ready to conduct for it, to do so is annoying. When ready to conduct for it not doing so is annoying., According to Thorndike readiness is preparation for action. It is essential, for learning. If the child is ready to learn, he learns more quickly,, effectively and with greater satisfaction then if he is not ready to learn. This, shows us not to force the child to learn if he is not ready but to also not, miss any opportunity of providing learning experiences if he is prepared to, learn. The right movements concerning the learning situation and the, learner’s state of mind should be recognized and maximum use should be, made of this knowledge by the teacher. He should also make attempt to, motivate the students by stimulating the attention, interest and curiosity., 2. The Law of effect:- When a modifiable connection between a stimulus and, response is made and is accompanied by or followed by a satisfying state, of affairs that connections strength is increased when made and, accompanied or followed by annoying state of affairs, its strength in

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decreased. This means that learning can take place properly when it results, in satisfaction and learner derives pleasure from it. In a situation when a, child meets failure or is dissatisfied, the progress of learning is blocked., All pleasant experience have a lasting influence and are recommended for, a long time, while the unpleasant ones are soon forgotten. Therefore, the, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, pleasure or displeasure resulting from a, learning experience decides the degree of its effectiveness. This law, emphasis the role of reward and punishment in the process of learning., Getting a reward as a result of same learning motivates and encourages the, child to proceed with enthusiasm, while punishment discourages him., 3. The Law of Exercise:- This law has two sub-parts1. law of use and 2. law, of disuse, The law of use: “When a modifiable connection is made between a, stimulus and response, during a length of time, that connection’s strength, is increased., The law of disuse:- “When a modifiable connection is not made between, a stimulus and response during a length of time, that connection’s strength, is decreased”., The law of exercise implies that repetition or practice results in effective, learning while as disuse leads to complete forgetting. For example if a, person has learnt typing, if he makes continuous exercise or drill of typing,, his speed on typing will increase while as if he stops drill for some time he, will forgot typing. Practice makes a man perfect is the essence of this law., Educational implications of the laws of learning:- Thorndike; law of, learning plays an important role in the teaching learning process. A teacher, should possess a thorough knowledge of these laws of learning so that he, can make teaching learning process effective and fruitful. The following, points will further highlight the importance of these laws., 1. The Knowledge of these laws enable a teacher to first motivate the, students to be ready physically and mentally for learning process or to, create such an environment so that interest and curiosity of the child is, aroused., 2. The study of these laws enables a teacher to teach only these things, which give pleasure and satisfaction to children. Anything that gives joy, and happiness is learnt effectively. The teacher should try to avoid, punishment., 3. The teacher should lay much emphasis on repetition, drill and practice., He makes his students to repeat what they have learnt after intervals so that, they may not forget what they have learnt earlier.

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2. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY OF LEARNING BY IVAN, PAVLOV, The theory of conditioning as advocated by Pavlov considers learning as habit, formation and is based on the principle of association and substitution. It is simply, stimulus – response type of learning where in place of a natural stimulus like, food, water or sexual contact etc, an artificial stimulus like sound of bell, sight of, light of a definite colour etc can evoke a natural response. In order to understand, the nature of the process of conditioning, let’s discuss the type of experiments, performed by Pavlov. In one of his experiments, Pavlov kept a dog hungry for a, few days and then tied him to the experimental table which was fitted with certain, mechanically controlled devices. The dog was made comfortable and distractions, were excluded as far as it was possible to do so. The observer himself remained, hidden from the dog but was able to view the experiment by means of a set of, mirrors. Arrangements were made to give food to the dog through an automatic, machine. He also arranged for a bell to ring every time food was presented to dog., When the food was put before dog the bell was rung, there was automatic, secretion of saliva from the mouth of dog. The activity of presenting food, accompanied with the ringing of bell was repeated several times. After several, trials the dog was given no food, but the bell was rung. In this case also, the, amount of saliva secreted was recovered and measured. It was found that even in, absence of food (the natural stimulus) the ringing of the bell (an artificial, stimulus) caused dog to secrete saliva (natural saliva)., Principles of Classical Conditioning, Neutral Stimulus, In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (NS) is a stimulus that initially does, not evoke a response until it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. For, example, in Pavlov’s experiment the bell was the neutral stimulus, and only, produced a response when it was paired with food., Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS), In classical conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus is a feature of the, environment that causes a natural and automatic unconditioned response. In, pavlov's study the unconditioned stimulus was food., Unconditioned Response (UCR), In classical conditioning, an unconditioned response is an unlearned response that, occurs automatically when the unconditioned stimulus is presented. Pavlov, showed the existence of the unconditioned response by presenting a dog with a, bowl of food and the measuring its salivary secretions, Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

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In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is a substitute stimulus, that triggers the same response in an organism as an unconditioned stimulus., Simply put, a conditioned stimulus makes an organism react to something, because it is associated with something else. For example, Pavlov’s dog learned, to salivate at the sound of a bell., Conditioned Response (CR), In classical conditioning, the conditioned response (CR) is the learned response, to the previously neutral stimulus. In Ivan Pavlov's experiments in classical, conditioning, the dog's salivation was the conditioned response to the sound of a, bell., Acquisition, In the initial period of learning, acquisition describes when an organism learns to, connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus., Extinction, In psychology, extinction refers to gradual weakening of a conditioned response, by breaking the association between the conditioned and the unconditioned, stimuli., For example, when the bell was repeatedly rang and no food presented Pavlov’s, dog gradually stopped salivating at the sound of the bell., Spontaneous Recovery, Spontaneous Recovery is a phenomenon of Pavlovian conditioning that refers to, the return of a conditioned response (in a weaker form) after a period of time, following extinction. For example, when Pavlov waited a few days after, extinguishing the conditioned response, and then rang the bell once more, the dog, salivated again., Generalisation, In psychology, generalisation is the tendency to respond in the same way to, stimuli that are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus. For example,, in Pavlov's experiment, if a dog is conditioned to salivated to the sound of a bell,, it may later salivate to a higher pitched bell., Discrimination, In classical conditioning, discrimination is a process through which individuals, learn to differentiate among similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each, one., For example, eventually Pavlov’s dog learns the difference between the sound of, the 2 bells and no longer salivates at the sound of the non-food bell., Educational implication of classical conditioning theory of learning Pavlov’s, work on the laws of conditioning is considered as a landmark contribution to, educational psychology. No learning theorist can ignore the technical and

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theoretical discoveries of Pavlov. Pavlov explained learning in term of, psychological changing by adopting an objective method of study. Conditioning, was adopted as theoretical framework and practical technique of solving a variety, of applied problems. The principles of classical conditioning can be used in, various area of teaching in the classroom also., 1. A child learns through conditioning. A child who fears a particular object or, subject can be made to seek pleasure from it. Through, conditioning, we can, dispel fear and hatred and create love towards subjects. A friendly and, sympathetic teacher will have a positive impact on the students through the, process of conditioning. The students develop positive attitudes towards the, subject and the teacher., 2. The use of audio-visual aids in the teaching-learning process involves the, conditioning theory. For instance, the teacher shows the picture of a cow along, with the written word ‘cow’ and asks to say ‘cow’ every time the picture is, presented till he say and recognise ‘cow’ without picture., 3. Principles of classical conditioning are very helpful in developing good habits, in children – habits of cleanliness, punctuality and respect for others. Bad habits, can be eliminated through conditioning, 4. The concept of reinforcement in classical conditioning highlights the, importance for immediate reward.

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3. THEORY OF OPERANT CONDITIONING, BURRHUS, FREDERIC SKINNER, Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, is a method of, learning normally attributed to B.F. Skinner, where the consequences of a, response determine the probability of it being repeated. Through operant, conditioning behaviour which is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated,, and behaviour which is punished will occur less frequently., Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using, animals which he placed in a 'Skinner Box' which was similar to Thorndike’s, puzzle box., A Skinner box, also known as an operant conditioning chamber, is a device used, to objectively record an animal's behaviour in a compressed time frame. An, animal can be rewarded or punished for engaging in certain behaviours, such as, lever pressing (for rats) or key pecking (for pigeons)., Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant, that can follow behaviour., • Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor, decrease the probability of a behaviour being repeated., • Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a, behaviour being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative., Reinforcers always strength behaviour., • Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a, behaviour being repeated. Punishment weakens behaviour., Positive Reinforcement, Positive reinforcement is a term described by B. F. Skinner in his theory of, operant conditioning. In positive reinforcement, a response or behaviour is, strengthened by rewards, leading to the repetition of desired behaviour. The, reward is a reinforcing stimulus., Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in, his Skinner box. The box contained a lever on the side, and as the rat moved about, the box, it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so a food pellet, would drop into a container next to the lever., The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put, in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured, that they would repeat the action again and again., Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence an, individual finds rewarding.

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Negative Reinforcement, Negative reinforcement is the termination of an unpleasant state following a, response. This is known as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of, an adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to the animal or person. Negative, reinforcement strengthens behaviour because it stops or removes an unpleasant, experience., Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his, Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused, it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock, the lever. Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off. The, rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the, box. The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would, repeat the action again and again., In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a, light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the, lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric, current being switched on., Punishment (weakens behaviour), Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to, weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it. It is an aversive event that, decreases the behaviour that it follows., Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an, unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially, rewarding stimulus, for instance, deducting someone’s pocket money to punish, undesirable behaviour., Schedules of Reinforcement, Behaviourists discovered that different patterns (or schedules), reinforcement had different effects on the speed of learning and extinction., I., , of, , Continuous Reinforcement, , An animal/human is positively reinforced every time a specific behaviour occurs,, e.g., every time a lever is pressed a pellet is delivered, and then food delivery is, shut off., II., , Fixed Ratio Reinforcement, , Behaviour is reinforced only after the behaviour occurs a specified number of, times. e.g., one reinforcement is given after every so many correct responses, e.g.,

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after every 5th response. For example, a child receives a star for every five words, spelled correctly., III., , Fixed Interval Reinforcement, , One reinforcement is given after a fixed time interval providing at least one, correct response has been made. An example is being paid by the hour. Another, example would be every 15 minutes (half hour, hour, etc.) a pellet is delivered, (providing at least one lever press has been made) then food delivery is shut off., IV., , Variable Ratio Reinforcement, , Behaviour is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times. For examples, gambling or fishing., V., , Variable Interval Reinforcement, , Providing one correct response has been made, reinforcement is given after an, unpredictable amount of time has passed, e.g., on average every 5 minutes. An, example is a self-employed person being paid at unpredictable times., Educational Implications, In the conventional learning situation, operant conditioning applies largely to, issues of class and student management, rather than to learning content. It is very, relevant to shaping skill performance., A simple way to shape behaviour is to provide feedback on learner performance,, e.g., compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation. A variable-ratio, produces the highest response rate for students learning a new task, whereby, initially reinforcement (e.g., praise) occurs at frequent intervals, and as the, performance improves reinforcement occurs less frequently, until eventually only, exceptional outcomes are reinforced., For example, if a teacher wanted to encourage students to answer questions in, class they should praise them for every attempt (regardless of whether their, answer is correct). Gradually the teacher will only praise the students when their, answer is correct, and over time only exceptional answers will be praised., Unwanted behaviours, such as tardiness and dominating class discussion can be, extinguished through being ignored by the teacher (rather than being reinforced, by having attention drawn to them). This is not an easy task, as the teacher may, appear insincere if he/she thinks too much about the way to behave., Knowledge of success is also important as it motivates future learning. However,, it is important to vary the type of reinforcement given so that the behaviour is, maintained. This is not an easy task, as the teacher may appear insincere if he/she, thinks too much about the way to behave.

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4. ALBERT BANDURA'S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY, Social learning theory, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the importance, of observing, modelling, and imitating the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional, reactions of others. Social learning theory considers how both environmental and, cognitive factors interact to influence human learning and behaviour., Social learning theory, Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the behaviourist, learning theories classical conditioning and operant conditioning. However, he, adds two important ideas:, 1. Mediating processes occur between stimuli & responses., 2. Behaviour is learned from the environment through the process of, observational learning., Observational Learning, Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. Individuals, that are observed are called models. In society, children are surrounded by many, influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV,, friends within their peer group and teachers at school. These models provide, examples of behaviour to observe and imitate, e.g., masculine and feminine, pro, and anti-social, etc., Children pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their, behaviour. At a later time they may imitate (i.e., copy) the behaviour they have, observed., Mediational Processes, Observational learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work., These mental factors mediate (i.e., intervene) in the learning process to determine, whether a new response is acquired., There are four mediational processes proposed by Bandura:, 1. Attention: The individual needs to pay attention to the behaviour and its, consequences and form a mental representation of the behaviour. For a, behaviour to be imitated, it has to grab our attention. We observe many, behaviours on a daily basis, and many of these are not noteworthy., Attention is therefore extremely important in whether a behaviour, influences others imitating it., 2. Retention: How well the behaviour is remembered. The behaviour may be, noticed but is it not always remembered which obviously prevents

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imitation. It is important therefore that a memory of the behaviour is, formed to be performed later by the observer., Much of social learning is not immediate, so this process is especially vital, in those cases. Even if the behaviour is reproduced shortly after seeing it,, there needs to be a memory to refer to., 3. Reproduction: This is the ability to perform the behaviour that the model, has just demonstrated. We see much behaviour on a daily basis that we, would like to be able to imitate but that this not always possible. We are, limited by our physical ability and for that reason, even if we wish to, reproduce the behaviour, we cannot. This influences our decisions whether, to try and imitate it or not., 4. Motivation: The will to perform the behaviour. The rewards and, punishment that follow a behaviour will be considered by the observer. If, the perceived rewards outweigh the perceived costs (if there are any), then, the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated by the observer. If the, vicarious reinforcement is not seen to be important enough to the observer,, then they will not imitate the behaviour.