BABOR, KRISTINE CHARM B.

BEED 3A

4 LEARNING THEORIES summary

 BEHAVIORISM is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to
environmental stimuli.

It emphasizes that behavior is mostly learned through conditioning and reinforcement (rewards and
punishment). It does not give much attention to the mind and the possibility of thought processes
occurring in the mind. Contributions in the development of the behaviorist theory largely came from
Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner.

Ivan Pavlov- a Russian physiologist, is well known for his work in classical conditioning or stimulus
substitution.
Edward Thorndike’s Connectionism theory gave us the original S-R framework of behavioral psychology.
More than a hundred years ago he wrote a textbook entitled, Educational Psychology. He was the first
one to use this term. He explained that learning is the result if associations forming between stimuli (S)
and responses (R). Thorndike’s theory on connectionism, states that learning has taken place when a
strong connection or bond between stimulus and response is formed.
He came up with three primary laws:

Law of Effect. The law of effect states that a connection between a stimulus and response is
strengthened when the consequence to positive (reward) and the connection between the stimulus and
the response is weakened when the consequence is negative.
Law of Exercise. This tells us that the more an S-R (stimulus-response) bond is practiced the
stronger it will become. “Practice makes perfect” seem to be associated with this. However, like the law
of effect, the law of exercise also had to be revised when Thorndike found that practice without
feedback does not necessarily enhance performance.
Law of Readiness. This states that the more readiness the learner has to respond to the
stimulus, the stronger will be the bond between them. When a person is ready to respond to a stimulus
and is not made to respond, it becomes annoying to the person.
Burrhus Frederick Skinner Like Pavlov, Watson and Thorndike, Skinner believed in the stimulus response
pattern of conditioned behavior. His theory zeroed in only on changes in observable behavior, excluding
any likelihood of any processes taking place in the mind. Skinner’s work differs from that of the three
behaviorists before him in that he studied operant behavior (voluntary behaviors used in operating on
the environment). Thus, his theory came to be known as Operant Conditioning.

Operant Conditioning is based upon the notion that learning is a result of

change in overt behavior.

Reinforcement is the key element in Skinner’s S-R theory. A reinforcement is anything that strengthens
the desired response. There is a positive reinforcement and a negative reinforcement.
A positive reinforcement is any stimulus that is given or added to increase the response.
A negative reinforce is any stimulus that results in the increased frequency of a response when it is
withdrawn or removed.

Implication of Operant Conditioning.

These implications are given for programmed instruction.
1. Practice should take the form of question (stimulus) – answer (response) frames which expose the
student to the subject in gradual steps.
2. Require that the learner makes a response for every frame and receives immediate feedback.
3. Try to arrange the difficulty of the questions so the response is always correct and hence, a positive
reinforcement.
4. Ensure that good performance in the lesson is paired with secondary reinforcement such as verbal
praise, prizes and good grades.

 SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Albert Bandura’s Social learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs
within a social context. It considers that people learn from one another.

General principles of social learning theory

1. People can learn by observing the behavior of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.
2. Learning can occur without a change in behavior.

Conditions necessary for effective modeling to occur Bandura mentions four conditions that are
necessary before an individual can successfully model the behavior of someone else.

1. Attention – the person must first pay attention to the model.

2. Retention – the observer must be able to remember the behavior that has been observed. One way
of increasing this is using the technique of rehearsal.
3. Motor reproduction – the third condition is the ability to replicate the behavior that the model has
just demonstrated. This means that the observer has to be able to replicate the action.
4. Motivation – the final necessary ingredient for modeling to occur is motivation, learners must want to
demonstrate what they have learned.

Educational Implications of social learning theory

1. Students often learn a great deal simply by observing other people.

2. Modeling provides an alternative to shaping for teaching new behaviors.,
modeling can provide a faster, more efficient means for teaching new behavior. To promote effective
modeling, a teacher must make sure that the four essential conditions exist; attention, retention, motor
reproduction, and motivation.
3. Teachers and parents must model appropriate behaviors and take care that they do not model
inappropriate behaviors.
4. Teachers should expose students to a variety of other models.

 CONSTRUCTIVIST (CONSTRUCTIVISM)

The term refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for
themselves---each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning---
as he or she learns.

Two Views of Constructivism

Individual Constructivism
Social Constructivism
Characteristics of Constructivism Whether one takes the individual or social view of constructivism,
there are four characteristics that these two views have in common. According to Eggen and Kauchak,
these are:
1. Learners construct understanding.
2. New learning depends on current understanding.
3. Learning is facilitated by social interaction.
4. Meaningful learning occurs within authentic learning tasks.

 EXPERIANTIALISM

Learning by doing. This is the basis for the experiential learning theory. David Kolb is best known for his
work on the experiential learning theory or ELT. Kolb published this model in 1984, getting his influence
from other great theorists including John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget.
The experiential learning theory works in four stages

 Concrete learning
 Reflective observation
 Abstract conceptualization
 Active experimentation

Kolb’s experiential learning cycle model.

The experiential learning cycle rests on the idea that each person has a specific type of learning
tendencies, ad they are thus dominant in certain stages of experiential learning.

The four learning styles are:

1. Diverging. The diverging learning style is full of learners who look at

things with a unique perspective.
2. Assimilating. This learning style involves learners getting clear
information.
3. Converging. Converging learners solve problems.
4. Accommodating.These learners prefer practicality.