Learning

What is learning?
• All complex behavior is
learned. In order to explain
and predict behavior, we need
to know how people learn.

• Learning is “any relatively

permanent change in behavior
that occurs as a result of
experience.”
 The components of the definition
• Learning involves change
• Change may be good or bad
• People can learn favorable as well as
unfavorable behavior
• The change must become ingrained
• Some form of experience is necessary either
direct or through observation, for learning.
• In psychology and education, a common
definition of learning is “a process that brings
together cognitive, emotional, and
environmental influences and experiences for
acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in
one's knowledge, skills, values, and world
views”.
• Learning as a process focuses in what happens
when the learning takes place.
• Explanations of what happens are called
learning theories.
 Theories of learning
• A learning theory is an attempt to describe
how people and animals learn, thereby
helping us understand the inherently
complex process of learning.
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Social Learning
 Classical Conditioning
• Grew out of an experiment to
teach dogs to salivate in
response to the ringing of a
bell.
• Conducted by Russian
physiologist, Ivan Pavlov in the
early 1900’s.
• A simple surgical procedure
allowed Pavlov to measure
accurately the amount of saliva
secreted by a dog.
• When a piece of meat was
presented to the dog- it
exhibited a noticeable increase
in salivation
 When Pavlov withheld the presentation of
meat and merely rang a bell, the dog did not
salivate.
 Then Pavlav proceeded to link the meat and
the ringing of the bell.
 After repeatedly hearing the bell before
getting the food, the dog began to salivate as
soon as the bell rang.
 After a while, the dog would salivate merely
at the sound of the bell even if no food was
offered.
 Key concepts in classical conditioning
 Meat- Unconditioned stimulus
 Noticeable increase in salivation-
Unconditioned response
 Bell- Artificial stimulus or conditioned
stimulus
 Conditioned response- Salivation in
response to the ringing of a bell
 A type of conditioning in which an
individual responds to some stimulus that
would not ordinarily produce such a response.
 Technically, when an unconditioned
stimulus is paired with conditioned stimulus,
the neutral takes on the properties of the
conditioned stimulus and thereby invoking a
conditioned response.
Application of classical
conditioning in organizations
 Ex: At one manufacturing plant every time
the top executives head office were scheduled
to make a visit the plant management would
clean up the administrative offices and wash
the windows
 Executives look prim and proper whenever
this was done
Classical conditioning is passive
 Something happens and we react in a
specific way
 Explain simple reflexive behavior
 But most behavior in the organization are
emmitted rather than elicited(voluntary than
reflexive)
 For ex: Late arrival of the employee
 Operant conditioning
• It agrues that behavior is the function of its
consequenses.
• Operant behavior means voluntary or learned
behavior in contrast to reflexive or unlearned
behavior.
• The tendency to repeat such behavior is
influenced by the reinforcement or lack of
reinforcement brought about by the
consequences of the behavior.
• The positive reinforcement strengthens a
behavior and increases the likelihood that it
will be repeated.
For ex: Class credit for class participation

• If a behavior is negatively reinforced, the

probability that the behavior will be repeated
declines.
For ex: Performance appraisal by a boss
 Social learning
• Individuals can learn by observing what
happens to others as well as through direct
experience. This view is called as social
learning experience.
• It assumes that behavior is a function of
consequences
• It also acknowledges the existence of
observational learning and importance of
perception in learning.
• The influence of models is central to the
social learning view point.
• Four processes have been found to determine
the influence that a model will have on
individual.
1. Attentional process
2. Retention process
3. Motor reproduction process
4. Reinforcement process
 1. Attentional processes
 Learning process from a model happens
only when the people pay attention to its
critical features
 We tend to be most influenced by models
that are attractive, repeatedly available,
important to us, or similar to us in our
estimation
 2. Retention process
 A model’s influence depends on how well
the individual remembers the model’s action
after the model is no longer readily available
3. Motor reproduction processes
 After a person has seen a new behavior
by observing the model the watching must
be converted to doing.
 This process then demonstrates that the
individual can perform the modeled
activities
 4. Reinforcement processes
 Individuals are motivated to exhibit the
modeled behavior if positive incentives or
rewards are provided
 Behaviors that are positively reinforced are
given more attention, learned better and
performed more often
 Quiz 1
1. While George was having a cavity filled by his dentist, the
drill hit a nerve that had not been dulled by anesthetic, a
couple of times. Each time he cringed in pain. George
now gets anxious each time he sees the dentist.
• What is the:
• Unconditioned stimulus:
• Unconditioned response:
• Conditioned stimulus:
• Conditioned response:
• Charlie has been humiliated in the past for doing poorly on
tests. When that has happened, he would get so upset he would
shake. Now when presented with a test, he begins to shake.
• What is the:
• Unconditioned stimulus:
• Unconditioned response: ____________________
• Conditioned stimulus: ____________________
• Conditioned response: ____________________
• You ride a roller coaster and get sick afterward. Now,
whenever you are near a roller coaster you feel queasy.
• What is the:
• Unconditioned stimulus:
____________________
• Unconditioned response:
____________________
• Conditioned stimulus: ____________________
• Conditioned response: ____________________
• Martin has a panic attack during a plane ride. Now the mere
thought of an airplane makes him very nervous. Twenty years
pass and Martin is still afraid of airplanes even though he
never took another flight.
• What is the:
• Unconditioned stimulus: ____________________
• Unconditioned response: ____________________
• Conditioned stimulus: ____________________
• Conditioned response: ____________________
• 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.
• What is the:
• Unconditioned stimulus: ____________________
• Unconditioned response: ____________________
• Conditioned stimulus: ____________________
• Conditioned response: ____________________
1.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.
• Is it classical conditioning or operant
conditioning?
2. 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.
• Is it classical conditioning or operant
conditioning?
3. 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.
• Is it classical conditioning or operant
conditioning?
4. A lion in a circus learns to stand up on a
chair and jump through a hoop to receive a
food treat.
• Is it classical conditioning or operant
conditioning?
5. 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.
• Is it classical conditioning or operant
conditioning?