L E A R N I N G

Learning is often defined as a relatively lasting change in behavior that results from experience.

The first step on our way to a memory is getting the information into the brain. The acquisition
and/or encoding of new information through experience or practice is typically referred to
as learning, a process whereby attention, perception, and processing of information via various
sensory modalities are incorporated.

Forms of Learning

1. Perceptual learning - in simple terms, the establishment of changes within the sensory
systems of the brain.

2. Stimulus-response learning - involves learning to perform a certain behavior when a
particular stimulus is present, thus establishing connections between sensory perception
and movement circuits. Stimulus response learning includes two major classes of learning
that psychologists have studied extensively: classical conditioning and instrumental or
operant conditioning.

3. Motor learning - is a special form of stimulus response learning wherein establishment
of changes occurs within motor systems with sensory guidance from the environment.

4. Relational learning - involves learning the complex relations among stimuli in such a
way that we are able to make complex connections.

a. Spatial learning involves learning about the relations among many stimuli
b. Episodic learning remembering sequences of events that we witness

Types of Learning
1. Associate Learning learning or "conditioning" term that refers to learning that two
different events occur or happen together.

2. Non-associate Learning refers to learning that some events are irrelevant or not
connected to one another.

3. Cognitive Learning acquisition of knowledge and skill by mental or cognitive
processes.

4. Computer Assisted Learning using computer technology to assist with, augment or
deliver part or all of the instruction and to evaluate participant progress along the way.
ASSOCIATE LEARNING
Associate learning is learning" or "conditioning" term that refers to learning that two different
events occur or happen together.
Classes of Associate Learning
Classical Conditioning
Developed by the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is the first type of
learning wherein an organism responds to an environmental stimulus.

The Language and Processes of Classical Conditioning by Pavlov
In classical conditioning, the stimulus (S) triggers the response (R) of an organism. With the
exposure of the organism to the stimulus, reflex results. Reflex is the involuntary behavior which
comes from within. One of the most common reflexes seen to us is the blinking of the eye
whenever air is blown into it or a foreign object approaches it. The concept of reflex, no
conscious control, is incorporated in classical conditioning.
1. An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is an event, object, or substance that naturally evokes a
response.
Example: Pizza makes a person hungry.

2. The unconditioned response (UCR) is the reaction to the unconditioned stimulus.
Example: Pizza makes a person hungry.

3. The neutral stimulus under normal circumstances does not give you a distinct reaction.
Example: A doorbell doesnt usually make you hungry.

4. The neutral stimulus is paired with the unconditioned stimulus.
Example: The doorbell rings when the pizza delivery person arrives.

5. The association is formed.
Example: doorbell = pizza

6. The neutral stimulus now elicits the same response as the unconditioned stimulus.
Example: The doorbell rings and you get hungry.

7. The neutral stimulus is now called conditioned stimulus (CS), and the response it evokes
is called the conditioned response (CR).

Principles of Classical Conditioning
1. Acquisition - initial learning. It is influenced by the order and timing of the presentation.
2. Extinction - if a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned
stimulus, then the conditioned response will disappear.
3. Discrimination - ability to distinguish between different stimuli.
4. Stimulus Generalization - is the extension of the conditioned response from the original
stimulus to similar stimuli.
5. Higher Order Conditioning - This is where more than one stimulus is paired and
presented; there can be a chain of events that are linked to the same stimulus. It is thought
that words may acquire their emotional meaning through higher order conditioning, for
example by pairing the words with something that causes emotion, eventually the word
alone will have the emotional meaning.
6. Avoidance Prevents Extinction - The tendency exhibited by most organisms is to avoid
stimuli that bring on unpleasant feeling. It makes sense to do this if we are dealing with
events or things that are clearly and imminently dangerous. However the tendency to
avoid certain stimuli can work against us. The more you avoid a stimulus that evokes a
strong emotional or reflex response, the more the strong feeling associated with that
stimulus will be perpetuated.
7. Systematic Desensitization - is a type of psychotherapy that uses the avoidance-prevents-
retardation principle to help people overcome phobias by gradually helping them to spend
more and more time in the presence of the stimulus that is the source of the difficulty.
8. Spontaneous Recovery - For reasons that are not yet quite fully understood by
psychologists, a response to a conditioned stimulus sometimes will reappear suddenly
after extinction has been achieved. Spontaneous recovery happens even in cases where a
long period of time has elapsed since the extinction of the conditioned response.
9. Aversive Conditioning - associate unpleasant stimulus with unwanted behavior.
10. Aversive Counterconditioning - a stimulus that is pleasurable to the individual or
organism is paired with a painful or noxious stimulus. The goal is, through the pairing, to
form an unpleasant association that will discourage pursuit of that stimulus. The infliction
of pain and suffering in this manner also presents some ethical difficulties even if the
goal is to cure the problem.



Operant Conditioning
Developed by B.F Skinner, operant conditioning is a way of learning by means of rewards
and punishments. This type of conditioning holds that a certain behavior and a
consequence, either a reward or punishment, have a connection which brings about
learning.
Types of Consequences
A. REINFORCEMENT
Reinforcement is a process of increasing the frequency or rate of a behavior by means of
presenting a stimulus shortly after the display of behavior. The event that intensifies the
likelihood of the behavior to be repeated is called a reinforcer. There are two types of reinforcer:
1. Positive reinforcers are favorable stimuli that are given after the display of behavior.
Positive reinforcement strengthens the probability of a behavior by means of the addition
of something.

2. Negative reinforcers, on the other hand, is the removal of the unfavorable stimuli after
the display of behavior. In negative reinforcement, the behavior or response is intensified
by the removal of something.
In both positive and negative reinforcements, behavior is increased.
B. PUNISHMENT
In contrast to reinforcement, punishment is a process wherein a stimulus is presented after the
display of behavior and causes the decline in the likelihood of behavior to reoccur. There are two
types of punishments:
1. Positive punishment is the addition of something which causes the decrease in repeating
the behavior that was displayed. Negative punishment, also known as punishment by
removal, occurs when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs.
2. Negative Punishment, on the other hand, is the removal of something which is favorable,
in order to decrease the likelihood of the behavior to reoccur.
Some Important Concepts Related To Operant Conditioning
Chaining reinforce behavior after completing a sequence of responses.
Extinction decline in behavior due to lack of reinforcement.
Maintaining Behaviors
Because extinction occurs if we stop reinforcing a behavior, we must continue to reinforce it in
order to keep it going.
1. Continuous Reinforcement we reinforce the behavior every time it occurs. It is not
necessarily the most effective way to maintain behavior.

2. Partial Reinforcement behavioral response is not rewarded every time.
Partial reinforcement schedules comes in two general varieties:
Ratio-based schedules - reinforcement pattern I based on the number of responses
produced
Interval-based schedules the pattern of reinforcement depends upon lengths of
time
Additionally, these schedules are termed either fixed because the number of responses or
length of time does not vary; or variable because either the responses or time does vary.
Fixed-ratio Schedule (FR) - Reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses.
The result is fast, step-like response pattern.
o Example: Employers pay workers producing a number of products.
Variable-ratio Schedule (VR) - Reinforcement occurs after an average number of
responses that varies from trial to trial. The number that is required on any one
specific trial is unpredictable.
o Example: playing lottery
Fixed-interval Schedule (FI ) - Reinforcement occurs after a preset time, not number
of reinforcements.
o Example: You study for the test that your professor gives you which occurs
once per month.
Variable-interval Schedule (VI ) Reinforcement occurs after an average amount of
time has elapsed, and the interval varies from trial to trial.
o Example: You study for the surprise quizzes your professor gives without
warning.
Skinners Principle
1. Operant conditioning involves learning of an association between a spontaneously
omitted action and its consequences.
2. Behavior is gradually shaped, or guided, by the reinforcement of responses that come
closer and closer to the desired behavior.
3. When punishment is strong, immediate, consistent, and inescapable, it does suppress
unwanted behavior. However, punishment has the following side effects:
a. Behavior that is punished may be temporarily inhibited or hidden from the
punishing agent but not necessarily extinguished.
b. Even if punishment suppresses unwanted behavior, it does not replace that
behavior with one that is more adaptive.
c. Punishment can sometimes backfire because stimulus thought to be aversive may
prove rewarding.
d. Severe punishment can arouse fear, anger, frustration and other negative emotions
leading the person to strike back, retaliate or run away.
Therefore, properly administered, punishment can suppress unwanted behavior. It is
recommended to combine use of reinforcement (to increase alternative desirable behavior) and
extinction (to decrease undesirable behavior) to shape new more adaptive way of life.

NON-ASSOCIATE LEARNING
Non-associate learning refers to learning that some events are irrelevant or not connected to one
another.
Classes of Non-associate Learning
Habituation
Habituation is a psychological learning process wherein there is a decrease in response to a
stimulus after being repeatedly exposed to it. This concept states that an animal or a
human may learn to ignore a stimulus because of repeated exposure to it.
When we enter a room, we may feel distracted about the noisy sound produced by an old air
conditioning unit. But when we spend more time inside the room, we tend to ignore the annoying
and sound although it is still present.


Sensitization

Sensitization is a learning process wherein we become sensitive to pain, sound, smell, and
other senses. It is a basic type of non-associative learning (i.e. learning that some events are
irrelevant or not connected to one another). While sensitization is a good adaptive learning
process of an organism, it can also lead to maladaptive process when the organism is
sensitized with harmful stimuli.
When you rub your arms continuously, you will feel a warm sensation due to the repeated
stimulation of the peripheral nerves located in your arms. However, after some time this warm
sensation would turn into a painful feeling, so your brain would warn you that rubbing your arms
vigorously for a long time would be harmful and painful for you.
The concept of sensitization holds that there is a particular cellular receptor that is expected to
respond to a stimulus. Once stimulation occurs, that cellular receptor is to transmit information to
and from the brain via the peripheral nerves, resulting to sensitization.
Types of Sensitization
1. Long Term Potentiation or LTP
This type of sensitization involves the electrical or chemical stimulation of the
organisms hippocampus (memory center of the brain). Many researchers have
hypothesized that there are so-called LTP receptors which are responsible for memory
and learning new things.
2. Kindling

This type of sensitization also includes the hippocampus of the organism just like in LTP.
One difference of kindling to LTP, however, is that there is a repeated stimulation of the
hippocampal or amygdaloid neurons. Kindling seems to be very dangerous because even
a small stimulation would result to seizures in animals studied inside the laboratories. The
discovery of kindling has been used as a theory in explaining epilepsy on the temporal
lobe of humans. In temporal lobe epilepsy, repetitive stimulation like flickering lights or
on and off sounds may cause epileptic seizures. This repetitive stimulation is the reason
why kindling may be the process undergone by people who experience seizures.
3. Central Sensitization

This type of sensitization comprises the pain receptors (called the nociceptive neurons)
located in the spinal cord. When peripheral tissue damage or inflammation occurs, these
pain receptors are sensitized, causing a person to feel sensitive to the pain he experiences.
The concept of central sensitization has shown a logical explanation for health conditions
where long term pain (chronic pain) is a symptom. Because of this, many researchers
have developed `desensitization` therapies to relieve the feeling of long term pain.
4. Drug Sensitization
As the name implies, drug sensitization happen when a person becomes dependent on a
drug due to repeated doses.

COGNITIVE LEARNING
Not all cases of learning can easily be captured by classical conditioning and operant
conditioning. Learning would be extremely inefficient if we had to rely completely on
conditioning for all our learning. Human beings can learn efficiently by observation, taking
instruction, and imitating the behavior of others.

"Cognitive learning is the result of listening, watching, touching or experiencing."

Cognitive learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge and skill by mental or cognitive
processes; the procedures we have for manipulating information 'in our heads'. Cognitive
processes include creating mental representations of physical objects and events, and other forms
of information processing.

In cognitive learning, the individual learns by listening, watching, touching, reading, or
experiencing and then processing and remembering the information. Cognitive learning might
seem to be passive learning, because there is no motor movement. However, the learner is quite
active, in a cognitive way, in processing and remembering newly incoming information.
Cognitive learning enables us also, to create and transmit a complex culture that includes
symbols, values, beliefs and norms.

Observational Learning
Observational learning is the learning of new, voluntary behaviors takes place simply through
processes of observation and imitation, and without the use of any direct consequences to shape
or maintain it.

Social Learning
In social learning, learning takes place primarily through observation of others behavior and
also the consequences that other individuals experience in response to their behavior.


ALTERNATIVE LEARNING METHODS:
COMPUTER-ASSISTED LEARNING

Rapid changes in technology have made the computer an integral part of our personal and
professional lives. Concurrent with changes in computer technology have been major changes in
how the computer is being used to enhance education and training. In many schools, it is now
common place to find students using multimedia computers as an integral part of the learning
process. Clinicians can take online continuing education courses or learn new information from a
CD-ROM. Clearly, learning with the aid of a computer is here to stay. But what are the
implications of using computer-assisted learning (CAL) for training reproductive health
professionals?
CAL means using computer technology to assist with, augment or deliver part or all of the
instruction and to evaluate participant progress along the way. There are several terms commonly
used in CAL:
Multimedia. Multimedia simply means a variety of media together. On the computer, the
media can be text, sound and still or moving pictures. Multimedia instruction can
simulate a real-life experience, such as decision-making on the job, thereby allowing the
learner to progress through training by interacting with realistic situations. Interactive
multimedia are those that require the participant to interact with the computer by
completing exercises, answering questions and solving problems.
Computer-based training. Computer-based training, also known as computer-assisted
instruction (CAI) or computer-assisted learning (CAL), is instruction delivered by a
computer. Originally, it was text-based, but most computer-based training programs now
encompass many multimedia elements.
Internet or Web-Based Training. Many organizations are beginning to provide
multimedia training materials on Internet websites so that training will be more accessible
and materials can be more easily modified.
Distance Education. Distance education (also known as distance learning or open
learning) is instruction in other than the traditional face-to-face or instructor-led format,
often at a time and place of the individual's choosing. It can be in the form of self-study
materials, CAL modules, Internet materials or some combination of these or other media.
Why Use Technology to Assist Learning?
CAL and traditional, group-based learning have the same purpose: transferring information and
skills. In many ways, delivering instruction using computer technologies is similar to delivering
it in a face-to-face format. Good instruction fulfills the desired learning outcomes, whether
instructor-led or technology-based. As with any alternative learning approach, there are
advantages and limitations to consider.

Advantages
Improves access to instruction
Complements a wide variety of
learning styles
Is non-threatening, allowing
participants with varying knowledge
and skills to obtain instruction in a
more comfortable manner
Enables individuals to choose a
convenient time and place for
learning
Increases instructional effectiveness,
because learners can review each
topic as much as they need to, and do
not have to progress to the next topic
until they feel ready
Results in increased retention
because each learner has the same
level of participation in the learning
process
Provides immediate feedback to
participants
Allows consistent, standardized
presentation of material
Allows easy updating of materials
Reduces training time and costs
Limitations
Some of the limitations of CAL are that it
involves:
Initial development time and high
cost
Access to computers and, for online
learning, the Internet
Technical support for computers
Training of trainers to facilitate CAL
Security for computers

Prepared by:
Jamilah Lasaca
John Brian Milan