MODULE - II Learning

Psychology Secondary Course

Basic
Psychological
Processes

4
Notes

LEARNING

You must have observed a young human baby. If you wave your hands in front of the eyes
of a new born you will see that the child automatically closes her eyes. A human baby is
born with simple reflexes and when grown as an adult the individual becomes capable of
performing many complex behaviours. This happens because of learning. The process of
learning is continuous and goes on throughout life. From simple behaviours, like switching
on the light, or picking up a book from the table to complex behaviours like driving a car
or piloting a spaceship, all become reality only due to learning.

Learning empowers a person by making him/her what one is not and wants to become. All
children are born with limited capacity of reflexes but it is only through learning that people
become great scientists like Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, leaders like Mahatma Gandhi
and Pandit Nehru or any one whom you may admire. Without learning one is handicapped.
People realize their potentials through learning and become what they dream. This lesson
will help us understand the process of learning and its types.

OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
• explain the process of learning and its definition;
• describe the nature of classical and operant types of conditioning;
• explain learning by observation; and
• explain concept learning, skill learning and transfer of training.

4.1 LEARNING
Most of our behaviours are acquired through the process of learning. Learning may be
defined as a relatively durable change in behaviour due to experience. Thus, if the change

32 PSYCHOLOGY SECONDARY COURSE

Learning MODULE - II
Basic
Psychological
in behaviour is temporary, or due to instinct or maturation, it is not learning. The key Processes
feature of learning is experience. Any change in behavior in the absence of practice or
experience does not qualify as learning. For example the maturational changes in the child,
like crawling, standing and walking at certain ages are not included in learning. Similarly,
illness and drug induced temporary changes are not due to learning. To qualify as learning,
a change in behaviour must be relatively enduring.
Notes
Interestingly enough learning is not directly observable. It is often inferred from changes in
the external behaviour. It is apparent in terms of improvement in the performance. You
may recollect your own early childhood experiences when you were required to learn
alphabets. In the beginning we make more errors. However, when we start practicing the
errors decrease and a time comes when the behaviour becomes flawless. The decrement
in the number of errors with increase in practice clearly indicates that learning is taking
place.

How Do We Learn?

Learning helps us adapt to the surrounding environment. After living in a particular socio-
cultural environment for some time, we learn the norms of the society and all that is expected
of us and become responsible citizen and members of family and work organization. All
this is possible on account of learning. We use learning to acquire various types of skills.
But the crucial question is how do we learn?

Psychologists, on the basis of studies on human beings and on animals, have tried to
explain the process of learning. They have identified some procedures that are used in the
acquisition of simple as well as complex responses. The two basic types of learning are
classical conditioning and operant or instrumental conditioning. In addition, we have
observational learning, verbal learning, concept learning, and skill learning. Let us briefly
consider some of the important types of learning.

(i) Classical Conditioning : Learning through Association

Classical conditioning is also known as Pavolovian conditioning because it was discovered
by a Russian scientist Ivan P. Pavlov who was interested in studying stimulus-response
relationship. He worked with dogs. The animal was harnessed and food was presented to
the dog by a laboratory assistant. Pavlov realized that the salivary response had been
learned by the dog. He proceeded to study this type of learning in detail. (See Fig. 4.1)

Pavlov presented to the dog a series of trials in which a tone (buzzer) was paired with food
(biologically important stimulus). The learning trials consisted of pairing the tone,
(Conditioned Stimulus or CS) with food (Unconditioned Stimulus or UCS). The tone
presented was rather short (e.g., 10 secs) and the time interval between the tone and
presentation of food, was between 2 to 3 minutes.

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MODULE - II Learning
Psychology Secondary Course
Basic
Psychological
Processes

Notes

Fig. 4.1: Classical Conditioning

During the initial trials the dog salivated when the food was presented. Secretion of saliva
to food is a natural response and, therefore, the saliva is called Unconditioned Response
(UR). Later, the buzzer was presented first. It was followed by food. After some pairing
trials of buzzer and food, the dog started salivation at the ringing of buzzer alone. The
buzzer is called Conditioned Stimulus (CS) because the dog has been conditioned to
salivate at the presentation of the buzzer itself. The secretion of saliva on the presentation
of buzzer is called Conditioned Response (CR). The steps of conditioning process are
shown in Fig. 4.2.

Procedure Response
Before conditioning
Food Salivation
(UCS) (UCR)
Buzzer Orienting Response
(CS)
During conditioning (Acquisition phase)
Food + Buzzer Salivation
(UCS) (CS) (CR)
(Repeated pairing of the UCS and CS )
After conditioning
Buzzer Salivation
(CS) (CR)
UCS = Unconditioned Stimulus; CS = Conditioned Stimulus;
UCR = Unconditioned Response; CR = Conditioned Response
Figure 4.2: The process of classical conditioning.

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Learning MODULE - II
Basic
Psychological
It can be observed from Fig. 4.2 that originally the sound of the buzzer (CS) elicits only an
Processes
orienting response (alerting response) and elicits salivation when the food is consistently
presented in close association with the buzzes. Immediately after the buzzer is rung, the
animal elicits salvation. This is called acquisition.

It has been found that if the buzzer (CS) is presented on each trial but the food (US) is not
presented, extinction will take place. That is, the buzzer will no more elicit saliva (CR) Notes
and if it is continued for some time extinction will take place.

It has also been found that if a gap of some duration occurs after extinction and if the
buzzer (CS) is again presented without food (US) the dog will salivate (produce CR) for
a few trials. This recovery of CR after extinction is called spontaneous recovery.

(ii) Operant Conditioning : Modification of Behaviour through Reinforcement

If a child completes the home work she is praised (rewarded) by the parents and the child
learns to perform the task. If the child breaks a plate, he/she is scolded (punished) and she
will learn not to repeat the behaviour. This is called Operant Conditioning or instrumental
conditioning. In other words, we learn to perform behaviours that produce positive outcomes
and avoid behaviours that yield negative outcomes.

We may define operant conditioning as a process through which organisms learn to repeat
behaviours that produce positive outcomes or avoid or escape from the negative outcomes.
B.F. Skinner is considered as the most influential psychologist advocating the role of
operant conditioning in learning. He developed an experimental chamber (called Skinner
Box) to study learning process in rats. (see Fig. 4.3)

The chamber included a lever attached to the front wall. Pressing the lever is the response
to be learned. The hungry rat is placed in the chamber and it starts doing random activity
in it. After some time, the rat accidentally presses the lever and a pellet of food drops
automatically in the plate and the rat eats it. After eating the pallet the rat again starts
activity in the chamber. After some activity
it again presses the lever and gets pellet (a
reward). Gradually the random activity
changes to more specific activity around
the lever. Finally, the rat learns that pressing
the lever results in dropping of the food, a
satisfying outcome. In other words the
pressing of lever by the rat is instrumental
in providing food (reinforcement). The
response (pressing the lever) is reinforced
and the behaviour is acquired or learned.
The pressing of lever by the rat is
instrumental in getting the food, a satisfying
consequence (positive reinforcement) and
that is why this type of learning is also called Fig. 4.3: Skinner Box

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MODULE - II Learning
Psychology Secondary Course
Basic
Psychological
Processes instrumental learning. It is also called operant conditioning because the behaviour of rat or
any organism is a kind of operation on the environment.

INTEXT QUESTION 4.1

Notes
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.
1. Learning is a ………….. permanent change in …………..
2. Pavlovian conditioning is known as ……………… conditioning.
3. ……………. advocated the role of operant conditioning.
4. Operant conditioning is also called …………. learning.

4.2 REINFORCEMENT AND OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

Much of the human learning could be explained with the help of operant conditioning
method. For example, parents and other authorities attempt to discourage aggressive
behaviours by punishing them and reward for good behaviours. The role of reinforcement
is very crucial in operant conditioning. It can be positive or negative. Let us understand
these two types of reinforcement.

Positive Reinforcement : Reinforcement is any operation or action that increases the

rate of response. In Skinner’s experiment the rat responded by pressing the lever and
obtained food. This is called positive reinforcement. So, a positive reinforcement or reward
(e.g., food, sexual pleasure, etc.) is the operation that increases the strength of a specific
behaviour. Positive reinforcement is any stimulus that strengthens a response that precedes
it (e.g., lever pressing is reinforced by food).

Negative Reinforcement : Another quite different way of increasing the rate of response
is through negative reinforcement. Suppose that in the Skinner Box the rat receives electric
shock to the feet every second. When the rat presses the lever, the shock is removed for
10 secs. This increases the rate of response. This procedure is called negative reinforcement
which involves application of an aversive stimulus (e.g. heat, electric shock, scudding
etc.). The word “negative” refers to the nature of the reinforcer (aversive stimulus). It is a
“reinforcement” because it increases the rate of response. This procedure is called “escape”
learning because the rat can escape the shock if it presses the lever. Another kind of
negative reinforcement can result in conditioning called “avoidance” learning where the rat
can avoid the shock by pressing the lever. In escape or avoidance learning the reinforcer is
negative and the organism learns to escape or avoid its presence.

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Learning MODULE - II
Basic
Psychological
Schedules of Reinforcement Processes
How do we reinforce the correct responses? It could be by using continuous or partial
reinforcement. In the case of continuous reinforcement, every correct response is reinforced.
For example, when the rat presses the lever every time it gets a food pellet (reinforcement).
Alternatively, the responses are reinforced partially or intermittently (some times only).
The continuous reinforcement is useful for establishing or strengthening new behaviours. Notes
The partial reinforcement, on the other hand, is more powerful in maintaining the acquired
behaviours.

Observational Learning : Modelling

Observational learning is the third major way we learn. Acquiring new skills by observing
the behaviour of others is very common. It is a part of everyday life. Observational learning
depends on the existence of appropriate model in one’s environment. That is, the child
picks up behaviour while the appropriate model is performing an activity. For example,
young people learn aggression through watching the actions of others (models). Television
programmes and movies provide much of the learning to the young people. When children
watch violence on TV they tend to learn such behaviours. We learn various social roles
through observational learning. However, observational learning is a complex process, far
more complex than mere imitation. Children acquire information and learn skills through
observational learning but do not put it into immediate use. People, particularly youngesters,
can often be influenced in positive ways when they have appropriate role models.

INTEXT QUESTION 4.2

State whether the following statements are True or False:
1. Positive reinforcement is any action that reduces the rate of response.
2. The aversive response is called as escape learning.
3. Reinforcement can be partial or continuous.
4. Partial reinforcement does not help in maintaining behaviour.
5. Observational learning depends on the existence of appropriate model.

4.3 SOME OTHER TYPES OF LEARNING

Till now we have read about learning and conditioning. Now we will read briefly about the
other types of learning.

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MODULE - II Learning
Psychology Secondary Course
Basic
Psychological
Processes Verbal Learning

You are reading this lesson and trying to understand the concept of learning. This is possible
because of verbal learning. You have learned language. People in different parts of the
world learn different languages. The process of learning language is called verbal learning.
If you recollect your younger days you will notice that you started with identifying alphabets,
Notes then moved to words and finally sentences. When you learn a foreign language you use
pairs of words. Psychologists study how various procedures like serial learning and paired
associates learning are used.

Concept Learning

This is about developing categories of objects and events. It is very important in our life
that we should discriminate between things on the basis of some criterion. For example,
the terms ‘boys’, ‘girls’, ‘fruits’ and ‘furniture’ refer to concepts. A concept involves a
variety of objects clubbed together. Use of categories or class names helps us to
communicate and perform different activities. The concepts may be natural or artificial.
They may be as abstract and concrete. Love, freedom and democracy are examples of
abstract concepts. Cow, table, boy, girl, orange and rose are examples of concrete concepts.
While learning a concept we make one response to all the stimuli belonging to that category.
Thus we refer to all kinds of tables as table or all boys as boy. In fact all kinds of higher
learning necessarily involves concept learning. Concepts help us to reduce the complexity
of our world. In lesson 7 you will read more about concept formation.
Skill Learning
An important area of learning involves acquiring various types of skills like riding a bicycle,
writing, car driving, piloting an air craft, leading a group and motivating others etc. All of
these involve skills. Those who are able to learn these and other skills get opportunities in
life. Once the skill is acquired one may over learn it. It may become automatic and one is
able to perform it with ease and comfort. As a result people perform tasks spontaneously
and can perform more than one task at a time (e.g. talking to a person and car driving).

4.4 TRANSFER OF TRAINING

It is interesting to note that learning of one task does not remain confined to that specific
task only. That learning is used in other situations also. A person’s ability to utilize knowledge,
skills and any kind of learning is highly appreciated. If a child learns to multiply or divide
she can use the process not only in the class but also in the market place or at home if it is
required. Transfer of training refers to the process of using earlier learning in a new situation.
It is positive if the first learning helps the second learning. It can be negative if the first
learning interferes with the second learning. It can be zero if the first learning neither helps
nor interferes with the second learning.

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Learning MODULE - II
Basic
Psychological
Learning transforms a person in many ways and occurs throughout one’s life. Good learners
Processes
utilize each and every opportunity as an occasion for learning. The methods or types of
learning mentioned earlier provide only some basic ideas about learning. The changes that
take place in personality, attitude and interest are also consequences of certain types of
learning. They take place in complex ways. As learning progresses your ability to learn
also develops. If you learn you become a better person, flexible in approach and competent
enough to appreciate the reality. Notes

Some Tips for Better Study Habits

Studying of a topic can be facilitated if you realize that effort and motivation both
are important. In order to gain more while preparing a topic or studying some thing
you need to attend to the following points.
Study at a Specific Place: You must study in a quiet, well-lighted area free of
disturbance. If possible, you should also have at least one place where you only
study. Do nothing else at the spot: Keep magazines, radios, friends, and other
distractions out of that area. In this way, studying will become strongly linked with
one specific place. Once there, you’ll find it relatively easy to get started.
Organize Your Study through Spaced Sessions: It is quite reasonable to review
intensely before an exam. However, if you are actually learning some topic for the
first time you are asking for trouble. It has been found that spaced practice is a more
efficient way to study. It involves a large number of relatively short study sessions,
rather than one or two long ones (called massed practice).
Use Memory Aids: Psychologists have found many techniques useful for improving
memory. Most of them link new information to certain ideas or images that are easy
to remember.
Try to Test Yourself: When studying you can arrange to take several practice
tests before the real one in examination. In other words, studying should indicate
self-testing by use of flash cards, learning checks, a study guide or questions you
ask yourself.
Over Learning: It has been found that many students underprepare for exams,
and most overestimate how well they will do in exams. A solution to both problems
is overlearning. To overlearn, you should continue studying beyond bare mastery of
a topic. This means that you need to give yourself time for extra study and review
after you think you are prepared for a test.
Avoid procrastination: A tendency to procrastinate is almost universal.
Procrastinators put off work until the last moment. They work only under pressure,
skip classes and give false reasons for late work. This has negative effect on learning
and performance. Use of a formal time schedule and setting up specific goals may
help to study more effectively.

PSYCHOLOGY SECONDARY COURSE 39

MODULE - II Learning
Psychology Secondary Course
Basic
Psychological
Processes
INTEXT QUESTIONS 4.3
1. What are the main types of learning?
_______________________________________________________________
Notes
2. What is transfer of training?
_______________________________________________________________

WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

• Learning may be defined as a relatively durable change in behaviour due to experience.
If the change in behaviour is temporary, or due to instinct or maturation, it is not
learning.
• Learning helps us adapt to our environment.
• The two basic types of learning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning or
instrumental learning.
• Classical conditioning involves pairing of a neutral stimulus and a natural stimulus (CS
and UCS) leading to formation of association between neutral stimulus and response.
• Operant conditioning is a process through which organisms learn to repeat behaviours
that produce positive outcomes or avoid or escape from the negative outcomes.
• Skinner defined reinforcement as any operation or action that increases the rate of
response.
• In escape or avoidance learning the reinforcer is negative and the organism learns to
escape or avoid its presence.
• In the case of continuous reinforcement, every correct response is reinforced.
• The process of learning language is called verbal learning.
• An important area of learning involves acquiring skills like riding a bicycle, writing, car
driving, piloting an air craft, leading a group, motivating others etc.
• Observational learning is also used in acquiring new skills by observing the behaviour
of others.
• Transfer of training refers to the process of using earlier learning in a new situation. It is
positive if the first learning helps the second learning.
• Learning transforms a person in many ways and occurs throughout one’s life. Good
learners utilize each and every opportunity as an occasion for learning.

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Learning MODULE - II
Basic
Psychological
Processes
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1. What is learning? Give an example?
2. Describe the process of classical conditioning.
Notes
3. What are the main types of reinforcement? What is the role of reinforcement in operant
conditioning?
4. Give examples of observational learning and skill learning.
5. What is the significance of transfer of training?

ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTIONS

4.1
1. relatively, behaviour
2. classical
3. B.F. Skinner
4. Instrumental
4.2
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
4.3
1. Skill learning, verbal learning and concept learning.
2. Transfer of training refers to the process of using earlier learning in a new situation.
Hints for Terminal Questions
1. Refer to section 4.1
2. Refer to section 4.1
3. Refer to section 4.2
4. Refer to section 4.3
5. Refer to section 4.4

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 Learning Process and Acquiring Skills MODULE-II
Key Psychological Processes

Notes

LEARNING PROCESS AND

ACQUIRING SKILLS

Have you seen a newly born child able to walk, talk, feed or dress by herself or
himself? The mother feeds and dresses the child and gradually teaches to walk
and talk. But you can do all of the above actions yourself. Have you ever thought
how this dramatic change happened? Of course through learning. Further, you
have learned social habits and customs, and as an adult you deal with various
situations in life. You would even have learnt various professional skills like typing,
reading, riding a bicycle, speaking etc.

Since everything we do and think comes out of learning, it is the key to understanding
how most individuals behave. It is through the process of learning that we become
competent, skilled, perform various activities and excel in life. We become what
we learn. No doubt, you have been learning throughout your life, without knowing
how learning takes place. In this lesson we will study how learning takes place,
methods of learning and the factors that influence it.

OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
• explain the concept of learning;
• describe the process of learning and its scope;
• describe the different ways of learning; and
• explain certain important phenomena such as preparedness for learning, learning
disability related to learning.

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6.1 NATURE OF LEARNING

If a child avoids touching burning firewood after being hurt, it can be said that
learning has taken place. Learning is a process by which a certain change or
Notes modification in behaviour occurs. ‘Behaviour’ refers to any action which may be
muscular, social, mental or a combination of these.

Learning can be defined as the process by which any relatively permanent change
in behaviour occurs as a result of practice and /or experience. This definition has
three important elements:

(i) Learning is a change in behaviour, for better or worse;

(ii) It is a change that takes place through practice or experience; changes due to
growth, maturation, fatigue or injury are not included in learning. Thus learning
brings about improvement in performance.
(iii) Before it can be called learning, the change must be relatively permanent or
enduring, that is it must last a fairly long time. For example, once an individual
learns to ride a cycle he or she does not forget it.
Try It Yourself

You must be having a child at home or in your neighbourhood

of the age of 6 –8 months. Show him a small pup and when
he touches it, make a pleasant sound. The child will have a
pleasant experience and learn to like dogs. On another
occasion while showing the pup to the child, make a
frightening sound. The child will have an unpleasant
experience and learn to avoid dogs. In the first case you have
conditioned the child by positive reinforcement and in the
second by negative reinforcement. This activity will enable
you to understand the relationship between stimulus-
organism-response.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 6.1

(1) Fill in the blanks:
Learning is any change in ___________ which occurs as a result of
_________________ or _________________.
(2) Write True and False against the characteristics of learning listed below:
(a) Learning is not a continuous process. True/False

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(b) Improvement in performance is brought about by learning. True/False

(c) Learning is a gradual process. True/False
(d) Changes in behaviour due to maturation or fatigue are called learning.
True/False Notes

Learning is a thoughtful reaction to a given stimulus. Learning needs to be

differentiated from other concepts, such as, maturation, reflex and instinctive
behaviour.
A child cannot learn to walk unless his leg muscles are strong enough to support
his/ her weight. This implies that maturation provides the necessary readiness to
learn. Certain level of maturity is required to acquire skills or knowledge.
Learning and maturation both result in changes in behaviour. Sometimes, it is difficult
to differentiate as to which has influenced the behaviour more. Maturation may be
considered as the development brought about by growth of the neural and muscular
system, while learning is an outcome of stimulating situations.
Other types of behaviour which, do not represent learning are those, which arise
from instinctive and reflex actions. Instincts are complex patterns of behaviour.
For example, building of nests by birds is instinctive. Each animal type has certain
instinctive patterns of behaviour which are necessary for their survival.
Reflex action is a direct automatic and immediate response of a muscle or a gland
to the stimulation of a sense organ. For example blinking of eye in response to a
sudden movement of an object in front of a person’s eyes. These are innate
tendencies and are not acquired through practice. However, instinctive behaviour
can be modified by learning.

Try It Yourself

Try to teach a 3 month old infant to walk Can she walk? No,
because his/her legs have not developed and matured
enough. Try to teach a one year old to walk. Can she walk?
Yes, because the muscles of the legs have developed and
matured enough to support his/her weight. This shows the
relationship between learning and maturation.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 6.2

(1) Fill in the blanks:
(a) Maturation provides the ______________________ to learn.

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(b) Learning ____________ take place without maturation (can/cannot).

(c) ___________ and experience are necessary for learning to take place.
(d) Reflex behaviour is ____________ and _____________ response of a
Notes muscle or a gland to the _______________ of a sense organ.

6.2 BASIC EXPERIMENTS IN LEARNING

Different types of learning have been investigated by psychologists. Some of the
important types of learning include ‘classical conditioning’, ‘operant conditioning’,
‘insight’, ‘trial and error learning, ‘motor learning’, ‘verbal learning’, and ‘social
learning’. In this section we shall study some of the major forms of learning.

(a) Learning Predictable Signals : Classical Conditioning

Conditioning is a form of associative learning. In classical conditioning a connection

or association between a stimulus and a response is established, for example the
behaviour of a child who avoids burning match sticks after being hurt by it once.

Figure 6.1: Pavlov’s classical conditioning Experiment

Classical conditioning gets its name from the experiments of Ivan P Pavlov (1849-
1936). It is also sometimes called respondent conditioning or Pavlovian
conditioning. Pavlov observed that just prior to being fed, his laboratory dogs
secreted saliva from their mouth. In his first experiment, Pavlov served the dogs
food and at the same time or little after a bell was rung. After twenty to forty joint
presentations of bell and food, the dogs salivated at the sound of the bell alone.
The sound of the bell had come to substitute for the originally effective stimulus of
food, so that the bell alone was able to make the dogs’ saliva flow. Thus, the
salivation response had become conditioned to the new stimulus namely sound of
bell.

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The essential requirement for conditioning to take place is that the two stimuli shall
occur together. In laboratory, the two stimuli are presented either simultaneously
or with the new stimulus slightly prior to the old one. No learning or very little
learning occurs if the old stimulus is presented before the new one. This would be
like the ineffective procedure of giving a child reward before she had performed a Notes
task.

The classical conditioning can be depicted as follows:

UCS à UCR (Food à Saliva)

CS + UCS à UCR (Bell + Food à Saliva)

CS à (Bell àSaliva)

Generalization and Differentiation : In the course of learning a newly learned

conditioned response may become generalized with respect to stimuli and
responses. If the same response occurs to two different stimuli which are some
what similar it is a generalized response. For example, a dog taught to salivate
when a bell is rung, may also salivate when a buzzer is rung. By further practice,
animal can be trained to differentiate between stimuli. If food is given only with a
bell tone and not with the buzzer the animal will stop reacting to the buzzer and
learn to differentiate.

Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery: Since some conditioned responses

are undesirable, as we have seen, it is fortunate that they can be forgotten. One
way to make the organism forget a conditioned response is to repeat the new
substitute stimulus without reinforcement. In the case of the dog, this would mean
ringing the bell without giving food. After a while, the dog will not salivate at the
sound of bell. The response has become extinct. Like forgetting, extinction seems
to be temporary rather than a permanent loss of response. An extinct response is
much more quickly relearned when the reinforcement is given than an altogether
new response.

Spontaneous recovery is a tendency of responses to recover spontaneously. Pavlov

noticed that a day or so after he gave his dogs a series of extinction trials, salivary
responses came back, stronger than they had been at the end of extinction. It is a
kind of forgetting in reverse, a tendency to forget the extinction that has occurred.

In human beings we see that the responses learnt to ride a bicycle like balancing,
applying brakes etc. are generalized to riding a scooter. However, while riding a
normal bicycle one does not use gears. While driving the scooter one differentiates
and further learns to use gears. If the human being stops riding a bicycle or scooter

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for a long time he/she may temporarily forget the balance, this is extinction. However,
on trying, relearning occurs very fast, faster than the initial time to learn. This is
spontaneous recovery.

Notes (b) Learning by Consequences : Operant Conditioning

Another important type of conditioning is operant conditioning. B.F. Skinner, speaks

of operant behaviour as voluntary behaviour of an organism. In operant conditioning
the reinforcement is dependent on the response of the organism. Since response is
instrumental in getting the reinforcement, it is also known as instrumental conditioning
or learning.

A central concept of operant learning is reinforcement. Behaviour which is

reinforced is likely to be repeated. For example, a hungry pigeon is placed in a
box which has a lighted button on the wall. The pigeon moves around the box
pecking here and there. Finally, it will peck at the button and immediately a
mechanism in the box feeds the bird with a little grain. The pigeon eats and then
continues its movement in the box. Once again it accidentally pecks the button and
is reinforced with food. Finally, the pigeon will stop the random behaviour and will
simply peck the button to get food as required. The pigeon has learned to peck
the button to obtain food.

Operant learning is by no means confined to the animal kingdom. The principles of

learning new behaviour through reinforcement have been applied by Skinner to
human beings. For example, (i) teaching new material in schools by means of
programmed learning (a method by which in each correct step the learner is
reinforced by response). (ii) Behaviour modification techniques for treating
behaviourally disturbed children and adults.

Other Forms of Learning

Skill Learning

Skill learning takes place in three stages. For example, while learning to ride a
bicycle the individual learns what is required in the task and certain specific
components of the task. This is the cognitive stage. In the second stage called
‘association stage’ the skill is perfected with accuracy and precision. Finally, the
individual need not even think about the various aspects of the task to be performed.
The skill becomes automatic. Everyday life is full of activities that demand skills
learning such as motor learning; eating with spoon, talking, handwriting, typewriting,
driving a car, playing a musical instrument etc. In all these, practice is required to
make responses with speed and accuracy. Motor skills require coordination
between environmental and internal bodily stimuli and the act to be performed.

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Verbal Learning
The child begins to acquire verbal skills as she grows. Initially, a child has limited
understanding of what certain words and gestures mean. Verbal learning involves
learning to respond to words or with words. As the child grows up she develops
Notes
improved verbal skills such as naming objects, pronouncing words, combining
words to form sentences, writing sentences to convey an idea and so on. She
acquires a new vocabulary to communicate properly.
Verbal skills are generally acquired through memorising, by repeating, recalling
and recognising the material. Speaking is a complex skill involving both motor as
well as symbolic or verbal skills. It is acquired partly on the basis of reflex
vocalisation which appears during infancy and also through imitation and
modelling.
While studying verbal learning, psychologists use a number of methods for presenting
the material. They include serial learning, free recall and paired associates learning.
In serial learning the learner is asked to recall in the way the words were presented
to him. Free recall requires the learner to recall the words without regard to their
order of presentatiion. In paired associates the verbal material is presented in
pairs such as CRAT-BOOK

Concept Learning
Concept is a category name and it has certain characteristics. Concept learning
involves both generalization and differentiation. An individual learns to distinguish
between two or more stimuli which differ in some detail. For example, the child
learns what is an animal, later she differentiates between dog and a cat, etc. Thus,
an individual learns to make different responses to stimuli from different categories.
All concepts represent a set of features connected with the help of some rule.

The individual learns to respond to objects in his or her environment in terms of

their different features like colour, shapes, position, number and so on. He/she
tries to find certain common properties in a group of objects and attaches some
category names to them. Various words which are normally used to denote an
object such as house, car, school, animal, doll and so on are examples of concepts.
Learning concepts is useful in understanding the world and in solving problems.
Most of the subjects which we study involve concept learning.

Social Learning
As we grow our environment widens to include people, objects and events. We
learn new habits, as well as modify our perception of objects, events, persons and
attitudes. Much of the learning of an individual involves change in one’s attitudes.
An attitude is a learnt way to act towards an object, person, situation or an idea.
It determines favourable or unfavourable responses to the person, situations, places

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or things. For example, one learns to respect and disrespect different persons in
his/her environment due to habit formation and attitudes. Certain social responses
are reinforced by the society if they are acceptable as per the norms of the society.
The learned behaviour of a person is ‘shaped’ accordingly. In addition to other
Notes mechanisms social learning involves ‘imitation’ of the role models which is a process
by which individuals learn new behaviour by observing others, also called modelling
or observational learning. In this process no direct reinforcement is involved.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 6.3

(1) Match the following:

(a) Classical Conditioning (a) BF Skinner

(b) Operant conditioning (b) Ivan Pavlov

(c) Motor learning (c) Words, sentences to form ideas

(d) Verbal learning (d) Shaping of behaviour as per social

norms

(e) Concept learning (e) Muscular movements

(f) Social learning (f) Classification of objects in terms

of their common properties.

6.3 LEARNING CURVE

Learning can be measured by assessing the performance of an individual on a
given task. The rate of learning, as normally measured by performance, can be
represented graphically by placing the ‘units of practice’ on the X-axis and ‘degree
of learning’ on the Y-axis. The horizontal axis of the graph represents the amount
or units of practice. The vertical axis shows the degree of learning on some measure
of performance, such as percentage of correct responses, amount of time to achieve
a goal, etc.

In Fig. 6.4 Curve A shows very little or no improvement initially followed by a

period of rapid improvement after which there is a period of least improvement or
no improvement, indicating a plateau (flatness).

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Notes

Degree of leaning
units of practice

Fig. 6.2: Learning Curve

The rate of learning varies from person to person and time to time for any given
individual for any given task. For example in learning to typewrite, in the beginning
one student may show rapid improvement while another may need to practice for
a long time before his/her performance improves. Sometimes a person may reach
a certain level of performance in type writing and may remain at that level for a few
days after which he/she may show improvement. Learning curves can be prepared
for any learning task.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 6.4

(1) Fill in the blanks:

(a) Learning curve indicates how ___________ varies from time to time
during _____.

(b) The learning curve is a ___________ drawn to show ________ and

_________.

(2) Indicate True/False for the following:

(a) In the learning curve units of practice are placed on the X-axis.
True/False

(b) The rate of learning varies with practice. True/False

(c) Performance on a task is not an indication of learning. True/False

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6.4 FACTORS INFLUENCING LEARNING

There are certain factors that affect learning. Some of the important ones are
described below. These factors are related to the stimulus, task or the learner.
Notes
(a) Reinforcement

Learning requires motivation and reinforcement is an important aspect of motivation.

A reinforcement is anything that strengthens a response and increases the probability
of its occurrence. A reward is an example of reinforcement. Reinforcement is the
key to learning. If it is not applied in the right way at the right time, there will be no
observable learning. Reinforcement is of two types i.e. primary and secondary.
The source of reinforcement is called reinforcers.

A primary reinforcer is an natural or unlearned source of reinforcement. Food is a

primary (positive) reinforcer for a hungry animal.

A secondary reinforcer, on the other hand, is learnt or an acquired source of

reinforcement. The rule for learning a secondary reinforcer is that it should be
paired with a primary reinforer. The effect of reinforcement depends on the way it
is given.

(b) Feedback or Knowledge of Results

It is another motivational variable. If you are provided with knowledge of results

or feedback, the efficiency of your learning is increased. For example, while learning
to type, knowledge of one's performance on each trial will help to know where the
person has made mistakes. The person may try to correct accordingly. It also
helps to eliminate errors and increase the precision in performance. Knowledge of
results, especially when favourable, reinforces learning and maintains interest and
motivation.

(c) Distribution of Practice

The length of the practice session and distribution of rest periods between trials
affect the progress of learning to a great extent. It has been found for a wide
variety of motor skills, that practice is more effective when it includes brief and
judiciously distributed rest pauses. This leads to rapid learning as compared to
continuous practice. However, practice periods should not be too long. The
acquisition of skill in playing badminton may improve more, after three one-hour
long practice sessions with intervals rather than after one continuous three-hour
long session. The practice periods should also not be too small and frequent either.
This would tend to break the task into small and meaningless parts.

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(d) Whole and Part Learning

If you have learnt this entire lesson in totallity it would have been difficult for you to
learn as it is easier to learn it in parts than as a whole. Whole learning is often
considered as an efficient method to learn the task particularly for fast learners and Notes
for short or meaningful material which is easily memorized as a whole. But if the
content is very long it may first be learnt in parts and then as a whole.

(e) Meaningfulness

Try to learn words like CAT, DOG, BAT, DOLL which have meaning and NAD,
BAB, COL, PEM which are nonsense syllables having no meaning. Meaningfulness
of the material to be learnt contributes to your learning efficiency. If the material to
be learnt is meaningful, the rate of learning becomes rapid. The more meaningful
the material; the fewer the trials or practice sessions are required to learn it.

(f) Interest and Attitudes

One of the important determinants of effective learning is the learner’s attitude

towards the material to be learnt. For example, if you are interested in learning to
learn and recognise that it will help you in achievement of your goals, you develop
a favourable attitude towards the lesson on learning and make sincere effort to
learn and remember it. If one feels that nothing worthwhile will result from learning
something, one’s rate or progress of learning will be poor.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 6.5

(1) List the factors that affect learning.
(a) __________________
(b) __________________
(c) __________________
(d) __________________
(2) Match the following :

(a) Feedback (i) Length of practice sessions

(b) Distribution of practice (ii) Length of learning material

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(c) Whole vs. part learning (iii) Knowledge of results

(d) Meaningfulness of learning material (iv) Better and faster learning.

(3) Write True / False for the statement given below:

Notes
(a) If an individual is interested in the learning material, the learning may take
longer time. True/False

(b) Motivation on the part of an individual brings about better learning.

True/False

(c) Role of reward and punishment in learning is not important.

True/False

(d) Primary reinforcers are learned. True/False

(e) Punishment is a positive reinforcement. True/False

(f) Reward and punishment are used in conditioning. True/False

6.5 PHENOMENA RELATED TO LEARNING

Learning is one of the most widely investigated fields of study. As a result, the
researchers have observed a variety of phenomena which are peculiar to the process
of learning. You have already studied about some of them in connection with
conditioning and factors influencing learning. In this section you are going to know
about three more phenomena of great importance. They include preparedness for
learning, learning disability and transfer of learning.

Preparedness for Learning

You must have noticed that various organisms and animals (e.g., man, rat, cat,
dog) differ in their sensory and motor capabilities. Thus dogs have extra sensitive
nose. Similarly, cats jump and run very fast. A close scrutiny of the variations
found across species indicates that organisms work under certain biological limits
or constraints. Every organism is not equally ready or prepared to learn a given
response. Organisms are differentially endowed with capability to respond. So,
the possibility and ease of learning is determined by the degree of preparedness
on the part of organisms for a given learning task. All organisms are not equally
prepared for all responses or associations. This becomes one of the key determinants
of learning.

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Learning Disability

It is a disorder which leads to difficulties in reading, writing, speaking, and doing

mathematical exercises. These problems are found because of some problem in
the central nervous system. It may be related to sensory impairment or some kind Notes
of mental/physical handicap. They may occur in children with average or superior
intelligence. If not remedied they may continue and interfere with their personal
and social development in subsequent years. The main features of children with
learning disability include difficulty in writing and reading, attentional problems,
poor motor coordination, perceptual disorders, and difficulty in following
instructions. An important problem faced by them is dyslexia in which children fail
to distinguish letters (e.g., P and I, was and saw). Remedial teaching is used in
helping these children.

6.6 TRANSFER OF LEARNING

Transfer of learning is the process of applying or carrying over the knowledge,
skills, habits, attitudes or other responses from one learning situation, in which
they were initially acquired, to a different learning situation. For example, a person
who has learnt to ride a bicycle finds it easy to learn to ride a scooter. It means that
experience or performance on one task influences performance on subsequent
learning tasks. A person’s ability to recognise objects, perceive relationships and
conceptualise the experiences of daily life are facilitated by transfer of learning.
The influence of transfer is found, not only in the domain of intellectual tasks and in
complex motor skills, but also in emotional reactions and attitudes of individuals. If
transfer of learning does not take place, each task would have to be learnt afresh
and it would make life difficult.

Types of Transfer of Learning

Transfer of training affects learning of a new task in three ways:
(a) positive, (b) negative and (c) zero

(a) Positive Transfer

When learning of the task makes the second task easier to learn, positive transfer
effect is seen. What one has learnt in one subject or a task may facilitate learning
in another subject or task. In positive transfer, the carry-over of knowledge or
skill is beneficial to future learning.
For example, after learning to spell the word ‘house’ a child may be able to apply
the appropriate phonetic rule and spell the word ‘mouse’ correctly even without
being taught the word ‘mouse’. Similarly, skill in riding a bicycle facilitates learning

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to ride a motor cycle. Learning the rules of addition and subtraction makes it
easier to count one’s change and check the balance when one makes purchases
from the market. Learning to drive a car, makes it easier to learn to drive a truck
or a bus. In all these cases, the previous learning experience facilitates subsequent
Notes learning.
Positive transfer occurs when the responses expected from two tasks or learning
situations are similar. However, the maximum amount of positive transfer is obtained,
when the stimulus and the response elements in the previous and the new learning
situations are similar. For example, learning of a stimulus-response relationship
like that of 5 × 8 = 40 and 8 × 5 = 40. In this case, there is similarity between the
elements in the stimulus response relationship.

(b) Negative Transfer

There are cases in which the previous learning interferes with subsequent learning.
In such cases, the carry over of knowledge or experience in one task interfere
with further learning. As a result of negative transfer, performance on one task may
block performance on the subsequent task. For example, a child’s experience in
learning the plural of ‘house’ may inhibit his/her learning the plural of a word ‘mouse’.
He/She may spell the plural of the world ‘mouse’ as ‘mouses’, instead of ‘mice’.
Negative transfer usually occurs when the stimuli in the previously learnt task and
the new task are the same or comparable, but the responses are dissimilar.

(c) Zero Transfer

There are instances, where the learning of one task, does not have any effect on
the ability of a person to perform another task. It happens when the tasks are
dissimilar in stimuli as well as responses. In zero transfer, the performance in the
new situation is neither aided nor hindered by the past learning. Learning history
may contribute to the understanding of one’s own culture but it has hardly any
effect on learning mathematics. Similarly, improving one’s skill in playing football
will have no effect on the improvement of one’s skill in writing an essay. Learning
to typewrite, will not affect the learning of painting.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 6.6

1. What is transfer of learning?
2. Give one example each of Positive transfer, Negative transfer and Zero transfer.
a.
_______________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

b. Notes

_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
c.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

• Learning can be defined as the process by which any relatively permanent
change in behaviour occurs as a result of practice or experience. It is a continuous
and a gradual process that brings about improvement in performance.
• Learning differs from other concepts such as maturation, reflex actions and
instinctive behaviour. Learning is a result of experience, whereas maturation is
biological in nature.
• Maturation provides the readiness to learn and occurs due to neural and
muscular development, while learning takes place through practice and
experience.Learning and maturation both result in modification of behaviour.
• Certain complex patterns of behaviour, which occur innately, are called instinct.
• Reflex is a direct and immediate response of a muscle or a gland to the
stimulation of a sense organ.

• Conditioning is a form of associative learning. In classical conditioning a neutral

conditioning stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that
evokes an unconditioned response (UR). After repeated pairing of the two
stimuli, the conditioned stimulus will elicit a response similar to the unconditioned
response. This elicited response is called the conditioned response (CR).

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• Generalization, Differentiation, Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery are some

of the concepts related to conditioning.

• In operant conditioning the response is instrumental in getting reward or

Notes escaping punishment.

• Skill learning requires a coordination between environmental and internal bodily

stimuli to produce a muscular response involving movement. It occurs in three
stages viz. cognition, association and automation.

• Verbal learning involves understanding of words such that a child can pronounce
words, combine them to form sentences and convey ideas through words.

• Concept learning develops the abilities in an individual to classify objects in

terms of their characteristics or common properties.

• Social learning involves the learning of new attitudes, social norms and to be
able to live and behave according to the socially acceptable patterns of the
society through modelling.

• Transfer of learning is the process of applying or carrying over the knowledge,

skills, habits, attitudes or other responses from one learning situation, in which
they were initially acquired, to another learning situation.

• In positive transfer, learning in one situation facilitates or brings about

improvement in another learning situation.

• In negative transfer, learning in one situation hinders the learning in another

situation.

• In zero transfer the learning in one situation does not affect the learning in
another situation due to no relationship between the stimuli and responses of
the two situations.

• The factors affecting learning include: reward and punishment, feedback or

knowledge of results, distribution of practice, division of learning task,
meaningfulness, interest and attitude, and motivation.

TERMINAL EXERCISE
Answer the following questions in brief:
(1) Explain how does learning occur.

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(2) Distinguish between the concepts of :

(i) Learning and maturation (ii) Learning, reflex and instinct.
(3) Describe the two major types of conditioning.
Notes
(4) Which factor according to you affects learning most? How?
(5) What is the importance of transfer of learning in daily life?

ANSWER TO INTEXT QUESTIONS

6.1
1. Fill in the blanks:
relatively, permanent, behaviour, practice, experience
2. True and false
(a) F (b) T (c) T (d) F
6.2
1. Fill in the blanks:
(a) readiness
(b) cannot
(c) practice
(d) maturation, learning
(e) direct, immediate, stimulation
6.3
1. (a)-(b), (b)-(a), (c)-(e), (d)-(c), (e)-(f), (f)-(d)
6.4
1. (a) performance, learning
(b) graph, units of practice, degree of learning
2. (a) T (b) T (c) F
6.5
1. (a) Feedback or knowledge of results
(b) Distribution of practice
(c) Meaningfulness

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(d) Motivation
2. (a)- iii, (b)-i, (c)-ii, (d)-iv
3. (a) F (b)T (c) T (d) F (e) F (f) T
Notes 6.6
1. Transfer of learning is the process by which previously learned skills are carried
over from one learning situation to another.
2. (a) Learning to draw helps in learning to write- Positive transfer
(b) Learning to drive a left hand drive can block the learning to
drive a right hand drive car- Negative transfer
(c) Learning to play football will have no effect on learning to write
an essay- Zero transfer.

HINTS TO TERMINAL EXERCISE

1. Refer to section 6.1
2. Refer to section 6.2
3. Refer to section 6.3
4. Refer to section 6.5
5. Refer to section 6.6

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