UNIT 2

Learning
Dr. Shah JehanDefinition of Learning
 The process by which a
lasting change in potential
behavior occurs due to
practice or experience.
 Involves acquiring
modifications in existing
knowledge, skills, habits, or
tendencies through
experience, practice, or
exercise. Educational Psychology
Focus:
 Learning is the central
focus of educational
psychology.
 It aims to bring about
changes in the behavior of
the organism.
 Not All Changes Are
Learning:
 Temporary changes due to
illness, fatigue, hunger,
and changes caused by
maturation do not qualify
as learning.Slide 2: Perspectives on Learning
 Various Definitions by Scholars:
 Gates and others: "Learning is the modification
of behavior through experience."
 Henry P. Smith: "Learning is the acquisition of
new behavior or the strengthening or weakening
of old behavior as a result of experience."
 Crow and Crow: "Learning is the acquisition of
habits, knowledge, and attitudes. It involves new
ways of doing things and operates in an
individual's attempt to overcome obstacles or
adjust to new situations."
 Skinner: "Learning is the process of progressive
behavior adaptation."
 Munn: "To learn is to modify behavior and
experience."
 M. L. Bigge: "Learning may be considered as a
change in insights, behavior, perception,
motivation, or a combination of these."Learning theories
A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and
animals learn. There are three main categories or
philosophical frameworks under which learning theories fall:
Theory of Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov
(1849 – 1936)
• Pavlov initially studied salivation in digestion
• Observed dogs salivating when lab attendant
entered with meat, even before food was
presented
• Conducted experiments, including pairing a bell
with food presentation
• Dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell
alone
• Result: Dogs associated the bell (neutral
stimulus) with food, demonstrating classical
conditioningStimulus:
• A stimulus is anything that comes in
through your senses. It could be something
simple like a smell, a light, a bell, or a tone.
Response:
• A response is anything that goes out through
your muscles—anything you do.
• In a simple way a stimulus is anything that can
directly influence behaviour and the stimulus
produces a response.
• In classical conditioning, there are 2 types of
stimulus and 2 types of response. They are
unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus,
unconditioned response, and conditioned
response as explained below.The Classical Conditioning Procedure:
•UCS - Unconditioned Stimulus (Food):
Natural stimulus eliciting an unlearned
response.
•UCR - Unconditioned Response (Salivation):
Innate response occurring naturally to the
unconditioned stimulus.
•CS - Conditioned Stimulus (Bell):
Initially neutral stimulus paired with the
unconditioned stimulus.
•CR - Conditioned Response (Salivation to
Bell Alone):
Learned response to the conditioned
stimulus after association with the
unconditionedSome signs of negative classical conditioning
in students that teachers can look for
Students looking nervous every time there
is a test
 Students may not volunteer answers in
class?
 Students always shouting out answers?
 Not giving other students a chance to talk?
Ways teachers can help students
 Try to make negative classical conditioning
extinct by:
 Create a positive classroom environment.
 Treat students with respect and dignity.
 Present subjects or tasks in a nonthreatening manner.Operant Conditioning by B.F
Skinner
• Skinner, considered the father
of Operant Conditioning, built
on Thorndike's law of effect,
introducing the concept of
reinforcement. Reinforced
behavior tends to be
strengthened, while behavior
without reinforcement weakens
or extinguishes. Skinner's
notable invention, the Skinner
box, demonstrated operant
conditioning. In an experiment,
a rat learned to press a lever
for food reinforcement. Skinner
also illustrated the principles of
discrimination and shaping
behavior, showcasing the
effectiveness of operant
conditioning.Four aspects in this theory
1. Positive Reinforcement: Receiving
something pleasant will increase
behaviour occurrences. e.g. praise,
awards, grades etc.
2. Negative Reinforcement: Removing
something unpleasant will increase
behaviour occurrences e.g. good
students exempted from room
cleaning
3. Positive Punishment: Receiving
something unpleasant will decrease
behaviour occurrences e.g. slap,
bullying, beating etc.
4. Negative Punishment: Removing
something pleasant will decrease
behaviour occurrences E.g. to send
students out of the roomNote that the terms “positive” and “negative” have nothing
whatsoever to do with whether
the consequence is pleasant or unpleasant. They refer only to whether something was
done
to you (positive) or taken away from you (negative).Implication of Operant
Conditioning in Teaching
Learning Process
Early Childhood Stage
• Student raises hand and waits for a
reward (positive reinforcement).
• Rewards include praise or a piece
of candy for good behavior.
Adolescence Stage
• Rewarding above-average
performance with monetary
incentives (positive reinforcement).
• Implementing punishment by having
the child pay for undesirable grades.
• Students motivated by group work
on assignments and projects."Punishment:
Definition: A consequence applied to
decrease the likelihood of a behavior
recurring.
Purpose: Discourages undesirable
behavior through the introduction of
an unpleasant consequence.
Types: Positive punishment (adding
something unpleasant) and negative
punishment (removing something
desirable).
Considerations: Effectiveness
depends on consistency, timing, and
appropriateness.Extinction:
Definition: Gradual elimination
of a learned behavior by
ceasing to reinforce it.
Process: Withholding
reinforcement that previously
followed the behavior
weakens and eventually
eliminates the behavior.
Example: Ignoring a child's
tantrums; if no attention is
given, the behavior may
decrease over time.
Application: Used to
extinguish undesirable
behaviors by removing the
reinforcement that maintains
them.Shaping:
Definition: Gradual
reinforcement of behaviors
that approximate the
desired behavior.
Process: Successive
approximations are
reinforced until the target
behavior is achieved.
Example: Teaching a dog to
sit by rewarding small
movements toward the
desired position.
Application: Useful in
teaching complex behaviors
by reinforcing steps leading
to the ultimate goal.Behavioral Approaches to
Teaching
Programmed Instruction (PI)
- organizing materials to be
learned or practiced in small
parts called frames.
Learners respond to
questions or problems in
each frame; if their response
is correct, they receive
positive
reinforcement and the next
frame is presented. When
learners respond incorrectly,
they may be asked to
repeat or be given more
information to help them
produce a correct response.Behavioral Approaches to
Teaching
Computer-Assisted Instruction
(CAI)- computers are used to
present programmed instruction
or to otherwise
assist learners with specific
learning tasks. Programmed
Instruction and ComputerAssisted Instruction
seem to be a little more effective
than normal educational
practices, probably because of
the extensive use of
practice and reinforcement.Cognitive Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Presentation - the teacher directs the learning
activities, this is sometimes called "expository
teaching" or "reception
learning."
Authentic Learning - give students tasks
requiring them to learn directly from their
environment. Both direct experience
and authentic learning conclude that firsthand,
personal experience is better than secondhand
vicarious or abstract learning.
Scaffolding - providing learners with support
when they need help or guidance, wise teachers
provide better directions and better
explanations, or provide additional learning
sources.
Reciprocal Teaching - instructional activity
during which a dialogue or interchange takes
place between teacher and
students regarding what is to be learned
Problem Solving - requires that a situation exists
in which a goal is to be achieved and learners
are asked to consider how they
would attain the goal.Information Processing- refers to the
study of how we mentally take in and
store information and then
retrieve it when needed.
short-term memory- as the term
suggests, is a storage system that holds
only a limited amount and certain
kinds of information for a few seconds.
Beliefs about short-term memory:
1. Short-term memory capacity is
severely limited.
2. To overcome the limited capacity of
our short-term memory, new information
can be both
organized and connected to what we
already know.
3. Information can be remembered better
by connecting it with what students
already know.
4. To forestall forgetting new
information, we must manipulate it or, as
cognitive scientists say, engage
in active "rehearsals" with it.long-term memory - if the information is
used (or thought about) to any degree is
transferred to our long- term, or
permanent, memory and saved.
Beliefs about long-term memory:
1. The capacity of our long-term memory
seems limitless.
2. We are best able to retrieve
information from our long-term memory if
that information was related
to something we knew at that time.
3. We can call up, or recollect, related
information from long-term memory when
processing new
information in short-term, working
memory.
4. Reviewing information fixes it more
firmly.
5. Mnemonic or memory tricks can also
be used to aid rememberingAttention: how long students are able to focus or pay
attention
Beliefs about gaining students attention:
1. Learning experiences should be as pleasant and
satisfying as possible
2. Whenever possible, lessons should take into
account the interests and needs of students
3. The attention of learners can be gained and held
longer by making use of different sensory channels
and change.
4. Since it is easier to maintain attention when
learners are alert, schedule work that requires
intense concentration during the morning and work
that may be more intrinsically interesting and/or may
require less concentration in the afternoon.
5. Call direct attention to information of importance
7. Distractions interfere with attention.Beliefs about the Memory
Process:
1.Information in short-term
memory is lost either when that
memory is overloaded or with
the
passage of time.
2. When information in shortterm memory is lost, it cannot be
recovered
3. Retrieval, or remembrance, of
information in our long-term
memory is enhanced if we
connected
the information to something we
already knew at the time we
originally learned the new
information.