LEARNING - 1

OBJECTIVES

Learning
Types of Learning
Theories of learning
• Gardner Murphy
• The term learning covers every modification
in behaviour to meet environmental
requirements. (1968)
• Henry P smith
• Learning is the acquisition of new behaviour
or the strengthening or weakening of old
behaviour as the result of experience.
(1962)
Woodworth
Any activity can be called learning so far as
it develops the individual (in any respect,
good or bad) and makes him alter behaviour
and experiences different from what that
would otherwise have been. (1945)
• Kingsley and Garry
• Learning is the process by which behaviour
(in the broad sense) is originated or
changes through practice and training.
(1957)
• Pressey, Robinson and Horrocks
• Learning is an episode in which a motivated
individual attempts to adapt his behaviour
so as to succeed in a situation which he
perceives as requiring action to attain a
goal. (1967)
• Crow and Crow
• “Learning is the acquisition of habits,
knowledge and attitudes. It involves new
ways of doing things, and it operates on an
individual’s attempts to overcome obstacles
or to adjust to new situations. It represent
progressive changes in behaviour…. It
enables him to satisfy interests to attain a
goal”
• Hilgard
• Learning is the process by which an
activity originates or is changed through
reacting to an encountered situation,
provided that the characteristics of the
changes in activity cannot be explained on
the basis of native response, tendencies,
maturation, or temporary states of the
organism (eg fatigue or drugs, etc ). (1958)
LEARNING is a process which brings relatively
permanent changes in the behaviour of a
learner through experience or practice
Process not product
Experiences and training which helps him
change in his behaviour
Positive and negative
Adjustments and adaptations
Purposeful and goal oriented
Comprehensive includes conative, cognitive
and affective of human behaviour
Universal and continuous
Does not include the changes in behaviour
on account of maturation, fatigue, illness or
drugs
LEARNING is a process which brings relatively
permanent changes in the behaviour of a
learner through experience or practice
Relatively permanent : excludes transient
behavioural changes due to fatigue, emotional
stress or disease
Experience and practice : not obtained from
the genetic blue print
 LEARNING

Domain or Methods
specific and
area of techniques
behaviour

Verbal Motor Affective Cognitive

• Methods and Techniques:
• Trial and error
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Chain learning
• Shaping
• Learning through discrimination
• Learning through generalisation
• Serial learning
• Associate learning
• Insightful learning
 Gagne (1970) - As per hierarchical order

1.Signal learning (classical conditioning)

2.S.R. Learning (instrumental or operant
conditioning)
3.Chain learning
4.Verbal associate learning
5. Multiple discrimination
6. Learning of concepts
7. Learning of principles
8. Problem solving
 VERBAL LEARNING

• Helps acquire verbal behaviour

• Languages and communication devices – result of
verbal learning
• Rote learning and rote memorization
• Signs, pictures, symbols, words, figures, sounds and
voices – instruments of verbal learning
 MOTOR LEARNING

• Motor skills
• Helps in acquiring speed and accuracy --
confidence to perform the task with great
ease and satisfaction
• Systematic and planned way of action
 CONCEPT LEARNING

• A concept in the form of a mental image denotes a

generalised idea about the things, persons or
events.
• Concepts are formed based on previous
experiences, training or cognitive experiences.
• Helps in recognising, naming and identifying things.
 PROBLEM SOLVING

• Higher type of learning

• Requires the use of cognitive abilities
like thinking, reasoning, power of observation,
discrimination, generalisation, imagination, ab
ility to infer and draw conclusions, trying out
novel ways and experimenting, etc.
 SERIAL LEARNING

• Consists of learning in which the learner is

presented with such type of learning material
that exhibits some sequential or serial order.
 PAIRED ASSOCIATE LEARNING

• Learning by association with something.

• Eg : Dog - Loyal,
Cat – Milk
Parrot – Speak
Child – school
 CLASSIFICATION OF LEARNING
THEORIES

Learning Theory
Theory of behaviour attempts to explain the
basic processes that are necessary for learning
• BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES
School of Behaviourism
Association between stimulus and response
• COGNITIVE THEORIES
Belongs to school of gestalt psychology and
cognitive psychology
Mechanical and instrumental approach :
emphasize the role of purpose, insight,
understanding and other cognitive factors.
• BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES
• Thorndike’s Trial and error method
• Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
• Guthrie’s Contiguous Conditioning
• Human Associative Learning
• Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
• COGNITIVE THEORIES
• Gestalt Theory
• Social-cognitive learning theory
• Tolman’s Sign Learning
• Insightful learning
• Lewins field theory of learning
 TRIAL AND ERROR METHOD
• Edward L. Thorndike – experimented on cats,
chicken and rats.
 TRIAL AND ERROR METHOD
• Drive
• Goal
• Block
• Random movement
• Chance success
• Selection of proper movement
• Fixation
• CONCLUSION: Learning is nothing but the stamping in of
the correct responses and stamping out of the incorrect
responses through trial and error.
• Learning by selecting and connecting
• Learning is connecting. The mind is man's connection
system - stimuli and response
• Bond psychology or connectionism
 Thorndike's laws of learning

1.Law of effect:
"When a modifiable connection between situation and
response is made and is accompanied or followed by
a satisfying state of affairs, that connection's strength
is increased. When made and accompanied or
followed by an annoying state of affairs, its strength is
decreased."
2. Law of readiness:
"When any connection unit is ready to conduct, for
it to do so is satisfying. When any conduction unit is
not in readiness to conduct, for it to conduct is
annoying. When any conduction unit is in readiness
to conduct, for it not to do so is annoying."
3. Law of exercise:
(i) Law of use
"When a modifiable connection is made between a
situation and response that connection's strength is,
other things being equal, increased."
- Strengthening of connection with practice.
(ii) Law of disuse:
"When a modifyable connection is not made
between a situation and response, during a
length of time, that connection's strength is
decreased."
 Implications
• Willingness to learn by fully realising its
importance
• Try to identify the things that are to be
remembered or forgotten
• Should be linked with past experiences and
learning on one hand, and with future learning
on the other hand, for ultilising the benefits of
mechanisms of association, connection or
bonds.
• Similarities and differences between different
kinds of stimuli – comparison and contrast In
one situation to another similar situation.
• Should be encouraged to do his task
independently.
 SUMMARY

üLearning
üTypes of Learning
üTheories of learning
 REFERENCES

1. General Psychology by S.K. Mangal

2. A concise textbook of human psychology by Sarabjeet Kaur
3. Textbook of psychology for homeopathic students by Bichitra
Bushan Mishra