Chapter three

Learning
• Learning- is a relatively permanent change in behavior, capability, or attitude
that is acquired through experience and can't be attributed to illness, injury or
maturation.

• Stimulus: any event or object in the environment to which an organism

responds; plural is stimuli.

• Conditioned Response -a response that comes to be elicited by a conditioned

stimulus as a result of its repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus.

• Learning is involved in all we do -some learning based on associations -operant

and classical conditioning -learning also involves concept formation, theories,
ideas, cognitive .

• As a result there are different theories of learning-

behavioral learning theory
cognitive theory of learning
social observational learning theory
humanistic learning theory
 Characteristics of learning
1. Learning is growth
• The individual grows as he lives. This growth implies i both physical as well as mental development of the
learner. The individual gains experiences through various activities. These are all sources of learning. The
individual grows through living and learning. Thus growth and learning are inter-related and even
synonymous.

2.  Learning is adjustment
• Learning enables the individual to adjust himself properly, with the new situations. The individual faces
new problems and new situations throughout his life and learning helps him to solve the problems
encountered by him.

3.  Learning is purposeful
• All kinds of learning is goal-oriented. The individual acts with some purpose. He learns through activities.
He gets himself interested when he is aware of his objectives to be realized through these activities. 

4. Learning is experience
• The individual learns through experiences. Human life is fall of experiences. All these experiences provide
new knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes. Learning is not mere acquisition of the knowledge,
skills and attitudes. It is also the reorganization of experiences or the synthesis of the old experiences with
the new.

5. Learning is intelligent
• Mere cramming without proper understanding does not make learning. Thus meaningless efforts do not
produce permanent results
6. Learning is active
• Learning is given more importance than teaching. It implies self-activity of the
learning. Learning by doing is given importance.

7. Learning is both individual and social

• Although learning is an individual activity, it is social also. Individual mind is
consciously or unconsciously affected by the group activities. Individual is
influenced by his peers, friends, relatives’ parents and classmates and learns their
ideas, feelings and attitudes in some way or others. The social agencies like family,
church, markets, and clubs exert immense, influence on the individual minds.

8.  Learning is-the product of the environment

• The individual lives in interaction of the society. Particularly, environment plays an
important part in the growth and development of the individual. The physical,
social, intellectual and emotional development of the child is molded and
remolded by the objects and individuals in his environment.

9. Learning affects the conduct of the learner

• Learning is called the modification of behavior. It affects the learner's behavior and
conduct. Every learning experience brings about changes in the mental structure of
the learner.
 Behavioral learning theory

• Behavioral learning theory has two major sub approaches that described
learning.
• Classical learning/substitution theory Ivan pavlove
• Operant conditioning B.F. skinner
• Classical conditioning IVAN PAVLOV (1849-1936)
-discovered classical conditioning by accident
-physiologist studying digestion in dogs-measuring saliva
-noticed that dogs started to salivate before food was tasted 
-dogs drooled at sight of food and the sound of his footsteps 
-he sounded a bell before presenting food---> dogs salivated -dogs were
conditioned to salivate to new stimulus
 ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
1. UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (US) -event that naturally triggers reflex (FOOD)
2. UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE (UR) (SALIVATE)

3. CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS) - event paired with US (bell)

4. CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR) -learned reaction (salivate)

begin CS---> NO EFFECT US+CS--->effect CR -classical conditioning
demonstrated in all animals e.g. -sound of can opener/ sound of dog biscuit box
For learning to happen he used three phases
Before conditioning
NS(bell)--------------No response but awareness
UCS (meat)---------UCR (salivation)
During conditioning
NS (bell) + UCS (meat)------ UCR (meat)
After conditioning
CS (bell)----------CR (salivation)
 Principles that are resulted due to conditioning

• Extinction-The weakening and often eventual disappearance of a learned response ( in

classical conditioning, the conditioned response (CR) is weakened by repeated presentation
without the unconditioned stimulus (US)
• Spontaneous Recovery-The reappearance of an extinguished response (in a weaker form)
when an organism is exposed to the original conditioned stimulus following a rest period

• Generalization- in classical conditioning, the tendency to make a conditioned response to a

stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus; in operant conditioning the
tendency to make the learned response to a stimulus that is similar to the one for which it
was originally reinforced
• Discrimination - the learned ability to distinguish between similar stimuli so that the
conditioned response occurs only to the original conditioned stimulus but not to similar
stimuli
• Higher-order Conditioning- occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with an existing
conditioned stimulus, becomes associated with it, and gains the power to elicit the same
conditioned response
• FACTORS INFLUENCING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• 1. The number of pairings- REPEATED PAIRINGS US+CS,US+CS...>learning -doesn't
happen on single pairing -generally more pairings the stronger the conditioned
response

• 2. The intensity of the unconditioned stimulus-if a conditioned stimulus is paired

with a very strong unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response will be
stronger and acquired more rapidly compared to pairing with a weaker
unconditioned stimulus

• 3. How reliably the conditioned stimulus predicts the unconditioned stimulus-the

neutral stimulus must reliably predict the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus

4. Spacing of Pairing- if pairing CS+US follows too rapidly--->slower learning 

-if pairing CS+US too far apart---->slower learning 
-CS and US shouldn't occur alone -intermittent pairing
reduces rate and strength
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
• --at turn of C while Pavlov with dogs, Thorndike was using a puzzle box to
study how a cat learns -he confined a hungry cat in puzzle box with food
just outside-where cat could see and smell 
-cat had to figure out how to open latch
-Thorndike timed escape 
-cats learned to make necessary response more rapidly after an
increasing number of trials.
Operant Conditioning - A type of learning in which the consequences of
behavior tend to modify that behavior in the future (behavior that is
reinforced tends to be repeated; behavior that is ignored or punished is
less likely to be repeated)
• ELEMENTS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING
1. Emitted Behavior (Active) vs triggered response in classical (Passive)-
operating on environment 
2. A consequence must follow the behavior e.g. freedom, food, praise
consequence increases likelihood behavior repeated.
• Principles resulted due to operant conditioning.
• Extinction- the weakening and often eventual disappearance of a learned
response ( in operant conditioning the conditioned response is weakened by
withholding of reinforcement 
• Generalization- in operant conditioning it a subject responding to a similar
stimulus with an action; the less similar the stimulus the lower the rate of the
behavior.
• Discriminative Stimulus- a stimulus that signals whether a certain response or
behavior is likely to be followed by reward or punishment

• Thorndike has three laws for operant conditioning to be strong

Law of effect-----+ve reinforcement increases the likelihood of
behavior.
Law of readiness--- both biological and psychological maturity
maintain the likelihood of the behavior to be strong
Law of use/ exercise ---- if learners use/ exercise then there will be
stronger likelihood of the behavior in the future. (practice makes perfect)
• Skinner expanded more and made behaviorism so strong by his concepts like reinforcement, reinforcement
schedule and punishment as well as his experimentation on animal with his box– skinner box.
• There are two types of reinforcement and punishment

• Reinforcement:an event that follows a response and increases the strength of the response and increases the strength
of the response and/or the likelihood that it will be repeated

• Positive Reinforcement: a reward or pleasant consequence that follows a response and increases the
probability that the response will be repeated

• Negative Reinforcement--the termination of an unpleasant stimulus after a response in order to increase

the probability that the response will be repeated

• Primary Reinforcer -- a reinforcer that fulfills a basic physical need for survival and does not depend on
learning (UNLEARNED)(examples: food, water, sleep, termination of pain)

• Secondary Reinforcer:a neutral stimulus that becomes reinforcing after repeated pairings with other
reinforcers (LEARNED)

• Continuous Reinforcement-- reinforcement that is administered after every desired or correct response; the
most effective method of conditioning a new response
• Partial Reinforcement a pattern of reinforcement in which some portion, rather than 100% of the correct
responses are reinforced
• positive RF-- any event that increases the probability of a response e.g.
praise, cookie, work hard for raise or promotion, child throws temper
tantrum to get candy
• negative Rf--remove negative stimulus-rock baby so it won't cry, turn on
air conditioner to get rid of heat, heroin addict going through withdrawal
will do almost anything
• Positive reinforcement--> adds something rewarding
• Negative reinforcement-->subtracts something noxious
• **Reinforcement always strengthens or encourages a behavior
• Schedules of Reinforcement
• Schedule of Reinforcement a systematic program for administering reinforcements that has
a predictable effect on behavior

• Fixed- Ratio Schedule a schedule in which a reinforcer is administered after a fixed number
of non-reinforced correct responses (e.g. a factory worker who is paid for units produced)
effective for maintaining a high response rate-when larger ratios are used subjects tend to
pause after each reinforcement

• Variable -Ratio Schedule a schedule in which a reinforcer is administered on the basis of an

average ratio after varying number of non-reinforced correct responses ( variable 30
responses rf may be reinforced after 10, 50, 30) Time of reinforcement unpredictable.
Results in higher more stable rates versus fixed ratio (e.g. gambling, casino)
• Fixed-Interval Schedule a schedule in which a reinforcer is administered following the first
correct response after a fixed period has elapsed. ( person working on salary paid on certain
day; study for test prior to test, decrease study, increase prior to next test))-typically a pause
after Rf and increase in behaviour prior to time of RF-Produces lowest response rate

• Variable- Interval Schedule a schedule in which a reinforcer is administered on the basis of

an average time after the first correct response following a varying time of non-
reinforcement- Rf after average time-maintains stable response but lower than ratio (e.g.
Pop quiz)
• Partial-Reinforcement Effect: the greater resistance to extinction that occurs
when a portion, rather than 100 %, of the correct responses have been
reinforced- results in greater resistance to extinction.

•  Punishment 

• Punishment the removal of a pleasant stimulus or the application of an

unpleasant stimulus which tends to suppress a response
-punishment can be powerful controller of behavior 
-eg fine for not reporting tax- fine and loss of point for traffic offense -an
unpleasant consequence reduces likelihood of repeat behavior 
-punishment different from negative reinforcement
--RF strengthens behavior by removing something--punishment adds something
to weaken behavior
• Is Punishment Effective? 
For Punishment to be effective it must 
1. be swift-delay won't work as well
2. be sufficient without being cruel 
3. be consistent -punishment can be effective where behavior is dangerous
Drawbacks of Punishment 
1. it only suppresses undesired behavior
-it doesn't prompt person to unlearn-doesn't teach a more desirable behavior 
-if threat of punishment removed, negative behavior can return (speeder slows
when seeing police car) 

2. punishment stirs up negative feelings (child scolded for mispronouncing

words) 

3. harsh behavior may increase aggressive behavior-anger, hostile 

Punishment needs to be given carefully and with reinforcement of desirable
behavior 

-sometimes after punishment administered a few times threat of punishment is

enough to stop behavior
-person avoids possibility of punishing consequence ( carry umbrella)-
consequence can also be avoiding issue altogether-shun math
 COGNITIVE view to learning
• hyperlink- on what cognitive psychology looks like
• some psychologists insist only way to study learning is through conditioning

• others say mental activity is too crucial.  

How do you know how to start a car? from watching another 
How do we learn abstract concepts? Through Cognitive learning

-impossible to observe and measure directly-but can be inferred.

 
-interest in cognitive learning began in 1930s when Edward Tolman said we didn't
need to show learning-he said there was Latent learning.

 cognitive map -learning involves more than stamped in reinforcement -it involves
formation of new mental images that may be reflected in future behavior 
Information processing model
Information processing system
• INSIGHT AND LEARNING SETS 
•
-Gestalt psychologist Kohler studied insight into a problem‘s solution 
• Kohler's experiment:
• He placed bananas outside chimps cage - chimp frustrated but then chimp
looked in cage to see what he could use (stick) -or banana hung out of
reach-use boxes -previous learning used to provide insight.
• Basing on the previous solve new problem is insight learning.  

• Harry Harlow experiment-put food under one of colored box-monkey

quickly learned food was under red.
-monkey had established a learning set.
• In both experiments animals had learned more than task-they had learned
how to learn.
Socio-cognitive learning theory
 How learning happened?
• behaviorism and cognitive theories define learning as the
result of an individual’s direct interaction with the
environment.

• Sociocognitive theory adds to our understanding of how we

learn by focusing on the type of learning that occurs even
when there is no direct interaction with the environment.

• More speciffically, sociocognitive theory focuses on learning

that is the result of observing others or observing the
consequences of the behaviors of others.
• Social learning occurs when people learn from
observing the behavior of others.
• Social learning also occurs from observing the
environmental outcomes of the behavior of
others (Bandura, 2000).
• Because social learning is learning from others
rather than from direct experience.
• it is also called indirect learning or observational
learning.
 The Reciprocal Causation Model

• The second tenet of sociocognitive theory is the idea of reciprocal

causation, a term introduced by Bandura (2006).
• It refers to the interrelationship between students’ environment, their
personal beliefs, and their behavior.
• There are three components that involve in causation:

• Environment component; includes the social stimuli from others such

as parents, teachers, and peers
• Behavior component; responses made in any given situation—may be
emotional (e.g., anger, pride), physical (e.g., increasing study time,
skipping class), or a combination of both

• Personal component; beliefs and attitudes that can potentially affect

learning, including beliefs about oneself
Reciprocal causation model
 Implications for the Classroom.
• Several educational implications can be drawn from the
reciprocal causation model.
• First, teachers need to clearly specify the behaviors that are
being reinforced or punished so that students construct accurate
expectations about the consequences of their future behavior.
• A teacher can establish the rule “for every homework
assignment that is turned in on time, students will receive 5
points toward their grade.”
• Second, teachers should provide clear feedback for students’
specific behaviors so that students can understand the reason
for the consequences and adjust their expectations accordingly.
• Third, teachers should be aware of observational
learning and make sure that they create an
environment where expectations are met
consistently.

• To this end, teachers should ensure that the same

consequences are applied to any student who
displays the same behavior, to avoid the negative
consequences of unmet expectations and unequal
student treatment.
 How socio-cognitive theory differ from others?
• sociocognitive and cognitive views of learning share a
recognition of the relationship between changes in mental
structures and learning.
• Unlike cognitive views of learning, however,
sociocognitive views emphasizes social (rather than
individual) learning methods.
• An important difference between sociocognitive and other
learning theories is that behaviorism and cognitive
theories consider learning to be the result of an
individual’s direct interaction with the environment, but
sociocognitive theories state that learning can occur even
when there is no direct interaction with the environment
(i.e., learning by observation).
Types of learning in socio-cognitive theory

• Vicarious learning- The process of learning by

observing the consequences of another’s actions and
adjusting behavior accordingly.
• Vicarious reinforcement- motivating oneself by
observing others under reinforcement
• Vicarious punishment- when the behavior observed is
punished the likelihood of that behavior to be
observed decreased with out involvement.
• Enactive learning is used when students learn by
experiencing the consequences of their own actions.
 LEARNING BY OBSERVING 
Albert Bandura is the father of this theory.
• Observational Learning- learning by observing the behavior of others and
the consequences of that behavior; learning by imitation
• Modeling: another name for observational learning
• Model: the individual who demonstrates a behavior or serves as an
example in observational learning.
• How we learn
• Who/what do we pay attention to? -someone who commands attention:
parent, famous, peer -behavior has to be memorable -then we must do
behavior -we can learn without overt change-change depends on
motivation. consequence-teenager sees adults drinking and having fun
Thank you