Learning MODULE - 2

Basic Psychological
7 Processes

LEARNING
Notes

It is expected that by now all of you can define the term Psychology and the related
concepts like Attention and Perception. Your understanding about the various concepts
is possible because you have been learning about all these in your previous lessons. Is
it possible for a four year old child to read and write in the same manner as you do?
Probably not, because the young child has not started reading and writing. However,
the same child is able to communicate his/her needs to the parents and get his/her
favourite toy. This is possible because by four years the child has learnt how to get
what he/she wants. Learning is an indispensable part of every beings life. Not only
humans but animals also surprise us the way they learn and acquire skills.

It is our past knowledge only that makes us adapt to the surrounding environment. It is
learning that helps us carry forward our traditions and customs. You are able to
comprehend what is written because it is the result of your learning over the years.
Whatever we do comes out of our learning. However, all the more important is how
we learn? This lesson focuses on developing an understanding about learning and the
process of learning as well as various other aspects that are related to learning.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this lesson, learner :

 explains the nature of learning;

 elaborates the different types of learning;

 describes the ways in which learning gets transferred; and

 applies various principles of learning on one’s own.

Psychology (328) 127

 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological 7.1 NATURE OF LEARNING

Processes
Learning is “a process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience and
increases the potential for improved performance and future learning” (Ambrose et al,
2010, p.3). Let us understand with the help of some examples.

 A child cleans the room after playing and the mother hugs him/her

 You do well in your assignment and this results in appreciation

Notes
 You went to the market and ate something that resulted in severe abdominal pain.

 You bring a basket of fruits from the market and realize that all the fruits at the
bottom of the basket are rotten.

What according to you is the probability that these behaviours will be repeated in
future?

While if we consider the first two situations then chances are that the behaviours will
be repeated, whereas, the other two events indicate that we will avoid repeating
behaviours where we feel being hurt or cheated.

You can have a lot of other examples from your daily life where you experience such
things and you will realise that the behaviours which bring us pleasure are usually
repeated and behaviours which bring us pain in any manner are avoided.

Think about a mistake that you made in the past and do not repeat the same in
the future.

We acquire most of our behaviours through the process of learning. The desirable
behaviours with effective outcomes are repeated and the undesirable behaviours with
ineffective outcomes are avoided. (By desirable behaviour we mean anything that
would bring in positive results).

So, learning is a change in behaviour based on positive and negative outcomes.

“Learning is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from practice.”
Weiss (1990)

The above discussion focuses on the fact that experience is the key feature of learning.
In order to learn something, practice and experience are important. This is the process
that we have been following for learning. Whether it is reading, writing, talking in
public, making food or dancing among other things.

128 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

Basic Psychological
ACTIVITY
Processes

When you go to attend your Personal Contact Programme classes observe the possible
reaction of the tutor when learners raise questions in the class:

The possible reactions can be:-

Your tutor:-
Notes
 listens patiently and answers the questions
 gets irritated and refuses to answer
 encourages learners to raise more questions
 scolds the learner for raising the question and disturbing the class
 appreciate the learner and asks him to wait till the topic is finished
 gets annoyed to the extent that ask the learner to leave the class
Make a note of the impact of different reactions of tutor on learner’s behaviour of
raising questions in future.

It is important for you to know that any change in behaviour that occurs in the absence
of practice or experience does not qualify as learning. There are some behaviours that
are exhibited not as a result of experience and practice but they occur because of
development and maturation. For example, how an infant learns to sit or crawl. These
developmental changes are a result of healthy development of the nervous system,
spinal cord and brain.

Apart from maturational changes, there are instinctive behaviours in animals that just
happen as a result of species-specific behaviour, for example, spiders making a web.
Such behaviours do not require experience and practice.
Hence, by now it is clear to you that the change in behaviour that occurs as a result of
development, maturation and instincts cannot be called learnt behaviour.
Now let us try to understand learning from a different perspective.
Can you recall any situation from your life where you realized that it would be difficult
for you to adjust to the surrounding environment without learning a few skills?
According to B.F. Skinner learning is defined as a process of progressive behaviour
adaptation”.

Many of us today have started relying on the use of information and communication
technology (ICT) for a lot of things. Your self-learning material is available online, you
Psychology (328) 129
 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological can watch your lectures on SWAYAM (MOOCs) or SWAYAM PRABHA channel.
Processes Moreover, you do not have to stand in long queues to deposit your fees. This is
possible because all of us have learnt to work with the computer system and make use
of online available resources. We can have many more examples from our daily life
that makes it clear that in order to adapt to the environment we are progressively
changing our behaviours, whether it is a child who first learns to speak and then show
marked changes in the ability to communicate, a person who has to learn to work on
Notes the computers because it is his/her job requirement or our ability to deal with the social
world around us through social networking sites, learning to adapt with a peer group,
current fashion trends, adapting to technology and many more.

Hence, learning also helps us in acquiring new knowledge and adapting to the
environment.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 7.1

1. Define the concept of learning.

2. Differentiate between learning and maturation.

3. What’s the difference between instinctive behaviour and learning?

7.2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEARNING

Do you remember that in the beginning of the lesson, it was mentioned that not only
humans but animals also surprise us with the way they learn and acquire behaviours.
Like many of us, psychologists, in the early part of the 19th century were also intrigued
by the way animals learn. There were many experiments that were conducted to
understand the phenomenon of learning by experimenting on animals. Although the
experiments were conducted on animals however these experiments have major
implications even today in Behavioural Psychology with human subjects. In this section
we will talk about the early learning experiments by Pavlov and Skinner, as well as, we
will also talk about observation learning, verbal learning and skill learning.

7.2.1 Classical conditioning or Learning through Association:

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov(1890-1936) was a Russian physiologist who was studying the
digestive system of dogs. He observed that his dog, which was salivating for food,
also started salivating whenever he saw the laboratory assistant bringing food for him.

130 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

This made Pavlov think that the dog had made an association between the presence of Basic Psychological
a lab assistant and food. Processes

After this casual observation, Pavlov conducted a series of experiments to study more
about the dog’s tendency to make associations between unrelated circumstances and
their tendency to respond. But before we move on to understanding the classical
conditioning phenomenon let us understand the meaning of the following terms with
reference to Pavlov’s casual observation:
Notes
1. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): it is anything in the environment that has the
capacity to elicit a natural/automatic response: food presented to the dog

2. Unconditioned response (UR): it is a natural response: salivating to food

3. Conditioned stimulus (CS): It is anything that always happens with

unconditioned stimulus and acquires the properties to elicit a response: in the
above discussion the presence of lab assistant becomes an indication of food
for the dog

4. Conditioned response (CR):-It is an automatic response that is established

by training to an ordinary neutral stimulus: with reference to the above discussion
salivating whenever the dog sees or hears the lab assistant coming to the lab.

Classical conditioning: Now when you are familiar with the above discussion let us
understand the classical conditioning procedure in three phases.

Phase I

Before conditioning: In his experiments, Pavlov initially presented meat powder (the
unconditioned stimulus) to his dogs which elicited saliva (the unconditioned response)
which is a natural response.

Phase II

During conditioning: After a few trials just before presenting the food, he started
ringing a bell (neutral stimulus) and then presented food. Pavlov noticed that initially
the dog was unaffected by the bell and was giving a natural salivating response to food
(the unconditioned response).

Phase III

After conditioning: After a number of such trials, the continuous pairing of bell and
food made the dog to respond to bell i.e. the dog now started salivating to bell
(conditioned response). This means that the bell now has become a conditioned stimulus
Psychology (328) 131
 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological which is capable of eliciting the salivary response in the dog.
Processes

Notes

Figure 7.1

The classical conditioning procedure can be explained as follows:

132 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

Table 7.1 Basic Psychological

Processes
UCS (food) UCR (saliva)

NS (Bell) + UCS (food) UCR (saliva)

After repeated pairing of CS (Bell) + UCS (food)

CS (conditioned stimulus) CR (conditioned response)

Notes

ACTIVITY

You are sitting quietly in the room and suddenly someone bangs the door and you feel
startled.

You are sitting quiet in the room and someone who is wearing a very strong perfume
bangs the door and you feel startled. The same set of events keeps happening every
day. After sometime whenever you find the same strong fragrance of the perfume you
will be startled before the person bangs the door.

Try and find out UCS, UCR, CS and CR in the above two examples

B. Principles in Classical Conditioning

Generalization

A child who fears a white dog would also be scared when sees a white furry toy. This
is called generalization. This means that the child is generalizing all the white looking
furry things to be a scary dog. In a classical conditioning experiment, during the course
of conditioning the dog which is trained to give a conditioned response to the bell also
learns to give the same conditioned response to the buzzer because of similarity in tone
or pitch. However, generalization can be overcome through training to discriminate
between similar things. This is called discrimination. In the above example, the dog
can be trained to differentiate between a bell and buzzer by accompanying food only
with a bell and not with a buzzer.

Extinction

In classical conditioning, Pavlov observed that the dog stopped responding to the bell
when the experimenter was ringing the bell but not giving food. Initially, the dog was
responding to the bell anticipating that the bell is a signal for food, but after a number
of trials, the bell was not paired with food, so the dog stops responding. This is called

Psychology (328) 133

 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological extinction of behaviour. This means that initially learnt behaviour is forgotten if the
Processes conditioned stimulus occurs in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

Do you think that once extinction occurs it can never be recovered? No, it is not so. In
the above-given example of the dog if the same procedure of classical conditioning is
repeated again (see table 7.1) then once again conditioning can be acquired.
Notes C. Factors determining classical conditioning

Classical conditioning can occur under two conditions: forward conditioning

procedures as well as backward conditioning procedures.

Forward conditioning:-this means that the conditioned stimulus occurs prior

to the unconditioned stimulus. The forward conditioning can take place in three
ways:

1. Simultaneous conditioning: this means that the conditioned stimulus and

unconditioned stimulus (food and bell) occur (are given) at the same time.

2. Trace conditioning: this occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented

first and is stopped before the presentation of the unconditioned stimulus
i.e. a trace (not the actual CS) of the CS is left before the onset of the US.

3. Delayed conditioning: it occurs when the CS is presented and is not removed

until the US appears.

Backward conditioning:-What will happen if you are eating your favourite meal and
then a bell is rung and you have to stop eating. This is called backward conditioning
and occurs when the US is presented first and the CS appears afterwards.
Forward
Conditioning
Delayed
Conditioning
Trace
Conditioning
Backward
Conditioning
Time
Neutral stimulus Effectiveness of learning
Unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned response
Figure 7.2 Respondent Conditioning
134 Senior Secondary
Learning MODULE - 2

Basic Psychological
ACTIVITY
Processes

You can do one experiment to understand classical conditioning. Try giving candies to
any small child in your family/locality every time you meet him/her. You will notice that
the child will run towards you whenever he/she sees you, expecting that you will give
candies.

Notes
7.2.2 Operant conditioning

B.F. Skinner (1938) developed the theory of operant conditioning. It is also known as
instrumental conditioning. Operant conditioning principles are based on the assumption
that the probability of doing something depends upon the consequence that follow the
behaviour.

Think for a moment if you have doubt during your Personal Contact Programme
(PCP) and you raise a question to clear your doubt but someone laughs at you
what will happen?

Skinner made a chamber in which a hungry rat was placed and there was a lever
attached in the chamber which upon pressing could release food for the rat. This
chamber was popularly known as the Skinner box.

Figure 7.3

Psychology (328) 135

 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological Initially, when the rat was placed inside the box it wandered here and there in search of
Processes food. When the rat was walking around the box it accidentally pressed the lever and
got the food pellet. In the beginning, the rat could not realize how the food was released
but after a few such trials, the rat learnt that pressing the lever would release the food
pellet. This means that pressing the lever (i.e. the behaviour) was positively reinforced
by releasing the food (positive consequences of behaviour).

In our real life too, we tend to repeat behaviours that bring us positive results and try
Notes to avoid behaviours that are not pleasant.

A. Basic processes in operant conditioning

Reinforcement:-Anything that strengthens a response or makes the behaviour more

likely to occur.

There are different types of reinforcements that are given to strengthen the desirable
behaviours and weaken the undesirable ones.

Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that the

behaviour will be repeated in future.

For example, a child helps the mother in serving the food (behaviour) and in response
to this the mother pats the child’s back (positive reinforcement). The consequences
i.e. (the pat) will increase the likelihood that the child will help the mother again in the
future.

Negative reinforcement: Negative reinforcement also increases in strengthening a

response or behavior by stopping, removing, or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive
stimulus.

For example, you have an upcoming exam and instead of studying you are watching
T.V., Your mother starts scolding you (negative reinforcement). In response to this,
you switch off the T.V. and start studying (this is your behaviour). When you do this
your mother also stops scolding (negative reinforcement is removed). This means that
the negative reinforcement or aversive stimulus (mother’s angerin this case) was removed
after appropriate behavior (switching off T.V. and studying). The desired behaviour
of you studying increases, to avoid scolding, which was the negative outcome.

136 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

Basic Psychological
ACTIVITY
Processes

Talk to parents having kids in the age range of 3-5 years and make a list of behaviours
that parents modify with the help of reinforcements.

Other than positive and negative reinforcements, punishment in some circumstances

can also help to modify the behaviours.
Notes
Punishment can have a positive as well as a negative response. Let us understand the
following explanation:-.

Positive (Present negative reinforcer):- This means that the undesirable behaviour
leads to undesirable consequences.

For example, when a child plays for a long time and does not do homework the
mother scolds the child.

Negative (Remove positive reinforcer):- In negative punishment, an undesirable

behaviour leads to removal of rewards.

For example, a child who plays for a long time outside and does not complete homework
on time is deprived of his/her favourite food.

B. Schedules of reinforcement:

During his experiments, Skinner also introduced the schedules of reinforcement. These
are precise rules that are used to present reinforcers following a specified operant
behaviour. The reinforcement schedules are introduced to strengthen and maintain the
learnt behaviour.

Different schedules are:

1. Continuous reinforcements: The rat gets food every time it presses the lever.
This means that continuous pressing of lever results in continuous reinforcement
(food)

Other than the continuous schedules there are intermittent schedules that are
based on the assumption that the reinforcement will be given for only some but
not for all the responses.

2. Intermittent schedules can be understood in terms of interval schedules

and ratio schedules

Psychology (328) 137

 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological A. Interval schedules means the time after which the rat would get the food.
Processes
For example, the rat gets food after pressing the lever for 10 minutes (i.e. based
on the time interval).

B. Ratio schedules on the other hand are the number of lever pressing responses
to get the food.

For example, the rat will get food only after pressing the lever 10 times (i.e.,
Notes based on number of trials).

The further classification of intermittent schedules can be done in terms of fixed schedule
conditions and variable schedules conditions. Let us understand with the help of following
examples:-

i. Fixed interval schedules: The rat gets the food only after a fixed interval.

For example, no matter how many times the lever is pressed, the rat would get
the food only after a fixed interval i.e. sometimes after 15 minutes, other times
after 1 hour or so on.

ii. Fixed ratio schedules: This means that the rat would get the food only after a
fixed number of lever pressing is done.

For example, the food pellet is released only after pressing the lever for five
times.

iii. Variable interval schedules: This means that it is not sure how much time
interval will it take to get the food pellet. Sometimes the rat would get the food
after 15 minutes, other times after10 minutes or so on.

iv. Variable ratio schedules: This means that it cannot be anticipated that after
how many trials the rat would get the food. Sometimes after pressing 5 trials,
and on some occasions after making 2 trials of lever pressing etc.

In real life too, for behaviour modification, the continuous reinforcement schedules are
effective for establishing and strengthening a behaviour whereas the intermittent schedules
are used for maintaining the established behaviour.

For example, if a child has acquired a habit of spitting on others, in order to make the
child behave well i.e. to establish a response the parents need to give continuous
reinforcement every time the child is exhibiting desirable behaviour.

To understand the intermittent schedule, consider that you are working in a company

138 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

and you get a salary after 30 days. This means that it is a fixed interval schedule. Basic Psychological
However, three might be a possibility that on some days you will work and on other Processes
days you would not put in much effort because you know that in any case salary is
coming after 30 days’ time. However, if performance-based perks are introduced
other than the salary then you would be more motivated to work because it cannot be
predicted when you will be rewarded other than your salary (variable schedules).

It is an obvious fact that if a behaviour is never reinforced it would get extinct

Notes
whether it is a behaviour of asking questions in class or it is working in the company.
The schedules of reinforcement are required to be introduced carefully to strengthen
and maintain the desirable behaviours.

Observation learning or Social learning

Albert Bandura (1961) conducted experiments to show that children learn through
imitating the behaviour of others. In his experiments, little children were exposed to
aggressive and non-aggressive models. The children were made to sit individually in
one corner of the room with the adult model and there were attractive toys in the
room. The adult model sat near the other corner of the room where he /she played
with the Bobo Doll. From his experiments, Bandura found that those children who
saw an adult behaving aggressively with the Bobo Doll also behaved aggressively with
the toys in another situation as compared to those children who saw a non-aggressive
model not exhibiting as much aggression as their counterparts. Different researches
have shown that violent television shows, movies, video games and music increases
the likelihood of aggressive behaviour among those who are exposed to such shows.
In Bandura’s experiment, he also concluded that if the aggressive model was rewarded
for the aggression then the children were more likely to imitate the aggression. This can
be true for those who watch models on the T.V. being rewarded or appreciated for
acting aggressively and as a result, such behaviour is imitated by the children who
watch such shows.

Observational learning is influenced by the socio-cultural environment of the individual.

Children imitate the behaviour of adults. The one whose behaviour is being imitated
becomes the model.

For example, if a parent tells a child not to shout and while telling this the parent is
shouting then the child will not follow what is being said but will learn what the child
sees, in this case the child will learn to shout because he sees his/her model shouting (in
this case the parent shouting).

Psychology (328) 139

 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological NOTE: In order to inculcate good habits in children the parents must exhibit
Processes those habits themselves in front of their children.

Think about the last time you were copying your model while behaving. Your model
can be anyone who you think is influential, be it your parents, siblings, public figure,
etc.

7.2.3 Cognitive Learning

Notes
Until now we learnt how the behaviour is learnt as a result of rewards and punishments
or is influenced by the environment The cognitive learning does not support the notion
that behaviour is determined by whatever is presented to the organism. It believes that
behaviour is very much influenced by the workings of the mind. There are two types of
cognitive learning discussed here.

1. Insight learning

2. Latent learning

A. Insight learning experiment:

Wolfgang Kohler (1920) did a series of experiments with a chimpanzee named, Sultan
to know how learning takes place as a result of insight. He placed the hungry Sultan in
a cage with two hollow bamboo sticks. There was a bunch of bananas that were
placed outside the cage that could not be reached without the help of the two sticks
together. Initially hungry, the animal tried to catch the bananas with his hands but he
could not, so he started playing with the sticks inside the cage. He could not realize in
the beginning that two sticks can be joined together to reach the bananas. He tried to
get the bananas using one stick at a time but he failed and became frustrated after
trying for an hour. The animal gave up working to fetch the bananas and sat on one
corner of the cage. After some time while playing with the two sticks he accidentally
joined them together and got the insight that this long stick could help him in fetching
the banana. He tried and got the bananas. Kohler insight learning experiments emphasize
cognition and insight in bringing about a solution rather than the role of associations
and consequences in learning.

A lot of times we work hard to solve our problems. However, failure leads to frustration.
Sometimes we get an insight to the solution because even if we stop working our mind
keeps working towards solving the problem.

140 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

Think of the last time it happened with you when you were stuck somewhere and after Basic Psychological
a rest period got an 'Aha' feeling of solving a particular problem. Processes

B. Latent learning experiments

Tolman and Honzik, (1930) through their experiments demonstrated that learning can
occur even in the absence of rewards. However, it will be exhibited only after
appropriate reinforcement is given. To explain this they did maze learning experiments
with rats. Notes
There were three groups of rats who were required to run through a maze from the
starting point to reach the goal in order to receive the food. The first group of rats
received the food every time they ran the maze

The second group of rats did not receive the food for the first 10 trials even after they
reached the goal point. However, from the 11th trial onwards they received the food
every time they reached the maze.

The rats in the third group never received the food even after reaching the goal point.
It was concluded that the second group of rats took less time to reach the goal after
the 11th trial onwards because now they expected the reward would come. Though
they were not reinforced in the beginning, that does not mean that they were not
learning to walk through the maze.

It happens to us all the time. Our parents constantly teach us what to do and what not
to do. We don’t seem to notice it, but when the time comes, we act accordingly.

Suppose you every day go on the bus to your place of work and learn the route from
home to work. However, you do not exhibit this knowledge until it is necessary for
you to drive on the same route.

7.2.4 Verbal learning

You are able to read and understand the material which is in front of you. Aren’t you?
You listen to the news and understand what is happening around the world. You are
able to express your feelings through the words you speak or write. This is what
verbal learning is. Verbal learning is the skill of reading, writing, and understanding the
written or spoken material. Through continuous practice and exposure to the verbal
material we are able to develop this skill.. This is an amazing skill that as humans we
have and this skill separates us from other animals.

Psychology (328) 141

 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological Psychologists conduct different types of experiments to understand verbal learning.
Processes
1. Paired associate learning: Pairing two words like milk and cat. The next time
when the word milk is presented the respondent says cat.

2. Serial learning: In serial learning a list of words is given and the learner is asked
to recall the list in serial order.

3. Free recall method: In free recall a list of words is presented and the learner has
Notes to recall the list without considering the serial order.

Non- verbal learning: Learning is not only limited to reading and writing. We also
learn to behave if we start understanding facial expressions.

For example, if the child finds that the mother always frowns when the child misbehaves
then the child will learn that misbehaviors results in the mother frowning (expression of
anger) and he/she learns to behave well to avoid mothers anger.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 7.2

Match the following

1. Operant conditioning a. Insight

2. Classical conditioning b. Imitation

3. Observation Learning c. Reinforcement

4. Verbal learning d. Association

5. Cognitive learning e. Free recall

7.3 TRANSFER OF TRAINING

Transfer of training refers to the ability to carry forward the experiences of one learning
situation to another. Have you seen people in various cookery shows? They actually
have not made all the dishes that they are required to make while in the show. However,
the basic sense of cooking and their experience with cooking facilitates making new
innovative dishes. This is known as transfer of training.

Though the prior knowledge and experience facilitate the new situation, however, on
the other hand, there are times when we are not able to learn something because we
get confused with what we have learnt in the past.

142 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

The transfer of learning/training can happen in three ways: Basic Psychological

Processes
Positive transfer of training: This happens when the old learning facilitates the new
learning situation. For example, you keep a dictionary while reading and this helps you
to communicate more effectively in future.

Negative transfer of training: This happens when the concepts of the previous
learning make it difficult to acquire new concepts because one gets confused.
Notes
For example, if a child learns the concept of ‘After’ and then learns the concept of
‘Before’ then the first learning might interfere with the second learning.

Think of an example when you found it difficult to learn a new concept because your
previous experience was hampering new learning.

Neutral transfer of training: There are different learning situations that are not related
to each other at all and hence do not either facilitate or hamper new learning situations.
This is called a neutral transfer of training.

For example, how you cook is not related to how you drive a vehicle.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 7.3

1. Learning the course in ‘History’ is not related to learning to ‘drive’. This is a

perfect example of……...

2. If the previous learning aids in new learning it is called as…….

3. Someone needs to learn two foreign languages but is unable to learn the second
one because the previously learnt language hampers in acquiring vocabulary of
another language then it is called as ……...

7.4 APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

Since the beginning of this lesson we have been learning about LEARNING. Do you
think that the various principles that we have discussed in the previous sections can
facilitate us in day to day life? Psychologists around the world use various principles of
learning in behaviour modifications. The various ways in which the principles of learning
can be used in our lives are as follows:-

Reinforcements: Both positive and negative reinforcements can be used to modify

the behaviours of children to make them learn a range of appropriate behaviours.

Psychology (328) 143

 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological For example if someone has a fear of public speaking then continuous positive
Processes reinforcement can be used to encourage whenever the child tries to speak in front of
others. Practice, experience and encouragement can help overcome the fear. Such an
exercise equally works with people in different age brackets and with different learning
abilities.

Extinction: The process of extinction works to eliminate undesirable behaviour.

Notes Do you remember when we were learning about extinction, we learnt that if the behaviour
is not reinforced it gets extinct?

Suppose for example a child has acquired a habit of lying on the floor and crying
whenever the demand is not fulfilled. Giving in to the demands of the children means to
reinforce the behaviour of lying down on the floor. If the parents do not reinforce this
behaviour and do not give importance to the behaviour then after some days the
behavior would get extinct.

Premack principle: This can also facilitate more desirable behaviour among individuals.
For example, in order to play with friends the child first needs to clean the room.

Observation learning: This is process of learning by observing the behaviours of

others. The desired behaviour is observed, memorised, and then imitated.
Observational learning, also known as shaping and modelling, is most common in
children as they imitate the behaviours of adults.

Cognitive Learning: Do you ever realize what happens when you work on the problem
on your own and try to reflect on your experiences to come to the solutions then
learning is the most effective.

For example, reflect on your experiences and try to understand how you learn, by
listening to someone, by watching a video, by doing things on your own etc.

Learning and motivation: It is really important to understand that if you are motivated
to learn something you will learn it fast.

For example, someone whose job requirement is to travel a lot so instead of relying on
the public transportation one wants to drive on their own. Such a person will learn
driving quickly as compared to the others who does not have a specific motivation to
drive.

144 Senior Secondary

Learning MODULE - 2

Basic Psychological
WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT Processes

Learning change in
behaviour as a result of
experience and practice

Notes

Transfer of Training

Positive Negative Neutral

TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. How does observational learning affect behavior?

2. Discuss with examples how positive and negative reinforcement can be used
with little children to make them learn appropriate ways of behaving.

3. Discuss in detail the cognitive learning theory and how it is different from classical
conditioning and operant conditioning?

4. What are the different schedules of reinforcement? Discuss their role in

establishing a behavior.

5. Discuss any three ways in which different principles of learning can be applied in
day-to-day life.

6. What are the three types of transfer of training? Give examples of each type.

7. Define and give examples of verbal and non-verbal learning in Psychology?

8. What is the basic principle of operant conditioning as demonstrated by B.F.

Skinner?
Psychology (328) 145
 MODULE - 2 Learning

Basic Psychological 9. What is the three-phase process of classical conditioning as described by Pavlov’s
Processes experiments on dogs?

10. What is the role of learning in adapting to the environment and acquiring new
knowledge?

ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTIONS

Notes
7.1

1. Learning is defined as theprocess of obtaining information or ability by

studying, practising, experiencing something.

2. Learning is defined as the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and

behaviours, whereas,maturation refers to both the mental and physical
development of a person.

3. Instinctive behaviour refers to species-specific behaviour and is inherent.

Learning occurs as a result of experience and practice.

7.2

1. c

2. d

3. b

4. e

5. a

7.3

1. Neutral transfer

2. Positive transfer

3. Negative transfer

146 Senior Secondary