LEARNING DYNAMICS Theory and application

LEARNING
▪ Acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or
being taught
▪ Acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing existing knowledge,
skills, behaviors, values, preferences and may involve synthesizing
LEARNING
▪ Learning is any measurable relatively permanent change in the
behavior of a person that occurs as a result of experience.
- S P Robbins
▪ Learning has taken place if an individual behaves, reacts, and
responds as a result of experience in a manner different from
the way he formally behaved.
- W McGehee
APPROACHES TO LEARNING
Behaviourist, stimulus-response Cognitive, information processing

•Studies only observable behaviour •Also studies mental processes

•Behaviour is determined by •Behaviour is determined by

learned sequences of muscle memory, mental processes and
movements expectations

•We learn habits •We learn cognitive structures and

alternative ways to achieve our
•Problem solving occurs by trial and goals
error
•Problem solving also involves
insight and understanding
THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH TO LEARNING
▪Learning is a result of experience
▪We use knowledge of -the results of past behaviour to change, modify
and improve our behaviour in future.
▪We cannot learn without appropriate feedback.
▪Behaviourist psychologists now speak of the association between
stimulus and response.
▪The development of associations between stimuli and responses
happens n two different ways known as Pavlovian conditioning and
Skinnerian conditioning.
BEHAVIORISTIC THEORIES
▪ Classical conditioning
▪ S – R connection (Pavlov and Watson)
▪ Operant conditioning
▪ R – S connection (Skinner)
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
▪ Generalization
▪ Discrimination
▪ Extinction
▪ Spontaneous recovery
JUST THINK…
▪ Why billions of dollars are spent on advertising?
▪ Why celebrities are used in advertising?
OPERANT CONDITIONING
OPERANT CONDITIONING
▪ Law of effect (Thorndike)
▪ Components – Reinforcement and Punishment
▪ Escape – Avoidance : special case of negative reinforcement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teLoNYvOf90
REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT
 OPERANT CONDITIONING TECHNIQUES

Technique How Effect on Example

consequence Behavior
is
administered
Positive Positive Increases Worker is
reinforcement consequence probability of praised for
is given desired cleaning up
behavior work station
 OPERANT CONDITIONING TECHNIQUES

Technique How Effect on Example

consequence Behavior
is
administered

Punishment Negative Decreases Worker is

consequence probability of criticized for
is given undesired telling
when behavior disruptive
undesired jokes in
behavior is group
performed meetings
 OPERANT CONDITIONING TECHNIQUES
Technique How Effect on Example
consequence Behavior
is
administered

Negative Negative Increases Supervisor

reinforcement consequence probability of complains
is removed desired about messy
when desired behavior work station
behavior is and stops
performed only when
worker
cleans it up.
 OPERANT CONDITIONING TECHNIQUES

Technique How Effect on Example

consequence is Behavior
administered

Extinction Positive Decreases Co-workers

consequence is probability of refrain from
removed when undesired laughing when
undesired behavior worker tells
behavior is disruptive jokes
performed in group
meetings
 OPERANT CONDITIONING TECHNIQUES

Behavior Behavior
encouraged suppressed
Stimulus Positive Punishment
presented Reinforcement (Suspension of the
(good performance rating) employee)
Stimulus Negative Extinction
Removed/ Reinforcement (no access to
withheld (Calling off strike and recreation facilities
resuming work to avoid or e-mailing
being dismissed) system for a week)
Your father gives you a credit card at the end of your first year in
college because you did so well. As a result, your grades continue to get
better in your second year.

Operant conditioning
Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks annoyingly if you start the
car without buckling the seat belt. You become less likely to start the car
without buckling the seat belt.

Operant conditioning
You eat a new food and then get sick because of the flu. However, you
develop a dislike for the food and feel nauseated whenever you smell it.

Classical conditioning
An individual receives frequent injections of drugs, which are
administered in a small examination room at a clinic. The drug itself
causes increased heart rate but after several trips to the clinic, simply
being in a small room causes an increased heart rate.

Classical conditioning
A lion in a circus learns to stand up on a chair and jump through a loop
to receive a food treat.

Operant conditioning
A professor has a policy of exempting students from the final exam if
they maintain perfect attendance during the quarter. His students’
attendance increases dramatically.

Operant conditioning
You check the coin return slot on a pay telephone and find a quarter. You
find yourself checking other telephones over the next few days.

Operant conditioning
John Watson conducted an experiment with a boy named Albert in which
he paired a white rat with a loud, startling noise. Albert now becomes
startled at the sight of the white rat.

Classical conditioning
 SCHEDULING POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Schedule When to give Example

Fixed interval After specific time Monthly pay cheques

Fixed ratio After specific number Piece rate pay

of responses

Variable interval At random times Occasional praise by

boss

Variable ratio After a random Random quality

number of responses checks with praise for
zero defects
 INTERVAL SCHEDULES
fixed interval schedule:
reinforcing after specific time passes

 frequency of behavior slows down after reinforcement, picks up right

before reinforcement

 human example: typical student’s

study schedule
 INTERVAL SCHEDULES

variable interval schedule:

reinforcing at random times

 creates slow but steady response

pattern
 human example: pop quizzes in
class rooms (ensures students
continually read, rather than
cramming)
 RATIO SCHEDULES
fixed ratio schedule:

reinforcing after specific

number of responses
 creates stepwise pattern of
responding (high rate until
reinforcement, lull, then high rate
again)
 human example: workers paid
for every 10th garment sewn,
every 10th radio assembled, etc.;
frequent flyer programs
 RATIO SCHEDULES
variable ratio schedule:

reinforcing after a random

number of responses

 human examples: slot machines,

commission sales

 highest rate of responding, most

resistant to extinction (don’t
know when you’ll be reinforced)
UNIONIZED BEAVER TRAPPERS WORKING FOR A
LARGE PACIFIC COAST LUMBER CO.

Fixed plan : $7 per hour + $1 per beaver

Variable plan : $7 per hour + 25% chance (determined from rolling the
dice) of receiving $4 for each beaver.
 UNIONIZED BEAVER TRAPPERS WORKING FOR A
LARGE PACIFIC COAST LUMBER CO.,

In the long run, both plans gave an average bonus of $1 per beaver.
However, when the trappers were under the variable ratio plan, they were
58% more productive than under fixed plan.

*(Source: Saari & Latham (1982), Employee reactions to continuous and variable
ratio reinforcement schedules involving a monetary incentive, Journal of applied
psychology, pp 506-508.)
 ABSENTEEISM AT ROYAL MAIL

Had approximately 10,000 of its 1,70,000 employees off sick at any one time .
Average absentee rate – 12 days per employee per year
Raffle prizes included 37 cars and 75 holiday vouchers.
It managed to get an extra 1000 people to show up for work each day.
OPERANT CONDITIONING IN PRACTICE

Organizational behavior modification –

The systematic application of the principles of operant conditioning
for teaching and managing important organizational behaviors.
OB MODIFICATION
▪ The use of extrinsic rewards to systematically reinforce desirable work
behaviors and to discourage unwanted behaviors
Steps (ID-ID-E)
▪ Identifying critical behavior
▪ Develop baseline data (Measurement)
▪ Identify behavioral consequences (Analysis)
▪ Develop & Implement intervention strategy
▪ Evaluate Performance Improvement
JUST THINK…
▪ Why most of the training programs do not give the desired
results?
COGNITIVE THEORIES
▪ Relationship between cognitive environmental cues and
expectations
▪ White rat and maze experiment – S-S connection (Edward
Tolman)
▪ Cognitive processes
▪ Applied to motivation theories
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
▪ Draws heavily from behavioral theories but goes beyond
▪ Vicarious or modeling (cognitively held ‘SCRIPT’)
▪ Self control or behavioral self-management
HONEY-MUMFORD LEARNING STYLES

▪ Activist
▪ Reflector
▪ Theorist
▪ Pragmatist
 ACTIVIST
▪People who learn by doing.
▪Need to get their hands dirty, to dive in with both
feet first.
▪Have an open-minded approach to learning,
involving themselves fully and without bias in new
experiences
Activities: brainstorming; problem solving; group discussion;
puzzles; competitions; role-play
 THEORIST
▪Like to understand the theory behind the actions.
▪Need models, concepts and facts in order to engage in
the learning process.
▪Prefer to analyze and synthesize, drawing new
information into a systematic and logical 'theory'.
Activities: models; statistics; stories; quotes; background
information; applying theories
 PRAGMATIST
▪Need to be able to see how to put the learning into practice in
the real world.
▪Abstract concepts and games are of limited use unless they can
see a way to put the ideas into action in their lives.
▪Experimenters, trying out new ideas, theories and techniques to
see if they work
Activities: time to think about how to apply learning in reality; case
studies; problem solving; discussion
 REFLECTOR
▪Learn by observing and thinking about what happened.
▪They may avoid leaping in and prefer to watch from the
sidelines.
▪Prefer to stand back and view experiences from a number
of different perspectives, collecting data and taking the
time to work towards an appropriate conclusion.
Activities: paired discussions; self analysis questionnaires;
personality questionnaires; time out; observing activities; feedback
from others; coaching; interviews
 KOLB’S EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THEORY
▪ A four-stage learning cycle
▪ Concrete Experience (CE)
▪ Reflective Observation (RO)
▪ Abstract Conceptualization (AC)
▪ Active Experimentation (AE)
 KOLB’S EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THEORY
▪ Four learning styles
▪ Diverging (CE/RO)
▪ Assimilating (AC/RO)
▪ Converging (AC/AE)
▪ Accommodating (CE/AE)
Kolb's learning styles
CASE: ANN-MARIE JACKSON
▪ She is head of volunteer agency and in-charge of volunteer staff of
25 people
▪ Weekly, she holds a meeting to inform this team about assignments,
keep them updated, and to discuss problems if any
▪ The meeting is scheduled at 9AM every Monday but lately the
volunteers are coming late and last few weeks the meeting haven’t
started until 10AM
▪ She feels helpless as the people are volunteers and she can’t push
them
Thank you