Southern Luzon State University

College of Teacher Education

Graduate School
st
1 Semester A.Y. 2023- 2024

Educ 501 Psycho Social Foundation of Education

REFLECTIVE PAPER

Name: HANNA ANGELINE R. GRANA Date Submitted: Oct 23, 2023

Program – Year: MA ED- EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT Faculty: DR. CECILE COSEJO

THORNDIKE’S CONNECTIONISM
Edward L. Thorndike is an American psychologist whose work on animal behaviour and the learning
process led to the theory of connectionism, which states that behavioural responses to specific stimuli are
established through a process of trial and error that affects neutral connections between the stimuli and the most
satisfying responses. He first proposed his two behavioural laws, the law of effect and the law of exercise, in his
doctoral dissertation, he regarded adaptive changes in animal behaviour as analogous to human learning and
suggested that behavioural associations could be predicted by application of the two laws.
The law of effect stated that those behavioural responses that were most closely followed by a satisfying
result where likely to become established patterns and to occur again in responses on the same stimulus. The
law of exercise stated that behaviour is more strongly established through frequent connections od stimulus and
response. He also modified the law of effect to state that rewards for appropriate behaviour substantially
strengthened associations, whereas punishments for inappropriate responses only slightly weakened the
association between the stimulus and the wrong response.
Students learning experiences can be improved by using Thorndike’s theory of learning, which is a
powerful learning strategy. Learning is best understood as connectionism forming between ideas and
experiences. The key to learning, according to Thorndike’s, lies in the ability of learners to form new
connections in their brains that can be used later on.
Learning is best described as the development of links between concepts and experiences. You learn
more and understand more connections you have.
The things that need to be considered in applying this theory in the learners are the environments effect,
the reaction and the learning result to emphasize the role of previous ability acquirement. Thorndike oriented
that result can be measured and observed and an error must be fixed immediately, and repetition and exercise is
used to make a behaviour a habit. In this theory it is expected that this behaviour can be strengthened positively.
And an unexpected behaviour can be deleted.
In application in school, teacher should have behaviourism paradigm to arrange a lesson material in
order the purpose of learning can be mastered by the students.

SKINNERS OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant Conditioning is a type of learning that happens when certain behaviours are rewarded or
punished. Thus, the participant, or in this case, the student, becomes conditioned to perform certain behaviours
instead of others in the anticipation of punishment or reward.
The father of operant conditioning is B.F Skinner. Skinner’s famous experiment with rats in Skinner
boxes showed that rats could learn to response to stimuli in certain ways to learn food rewards and avoid
electric shocks. We don’t do electrifying in school but there are many effective ways and strategies for using
operant conditioning in education.
Using operant conditioning in the classroom can be beneficial in many ways, but the most important
effect, at least from the teacher’s perspective and that is the classroom management techniques. Using the
operant conditioning it can give the students immediate feedback about their behaviours. When the teacher
rewards positive behaviour, other students are more likely to copy that behaviour to earn a reward. The
rewarded student is also likely to repeat the behaviour because of the positive feedback. Immediate feedback is
also useful in curtailing negative classroom behaviours. Light punishment or withholding of praise can function
as operant conditioning in education. When the teacher punishes negative behaviour, and so they will be less
likely to perform that behaviour. The punished students will be less likely to repeat the behaviour as well,
though outside factors may come into.
Using this kind of strategy also have disadvantages, relying too heavily on operant conditioning has its
drawbacks. Operant conditioning in education relies on extrinsic motivation, or factors outside the students
themselves used to motivate behaviours. The downside of this one is it is less permanent than intrinsic
motivation, or motivation that comes from the inside. This motivation exists without the presence of external
factors.
Effective classroom management techniques use a combination of both motivations. Teachers can
incorporate operant conditioning with other strategies for more holistic approach.

BANDURA’S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Social Learning Theory was introduced by Albert Bandura proposed that learning occurs through
observation, imitation, and modelling and is influenced by factors such as attention, motivation, attitudes, and
emotions. The theory accounts for the interaction of environment and cognitive elements that affect how people
learn. It suggests that learning occurs because people observe the consequences of other people’s behaviours
and all behaviours are learned through conditioning, and cognitive theories, which consider psychological
influences such as attention and memory.
According to Bandura, people observe behaviour either directly through social interactions with others
or indirectly by observing behaviours through media. Actions that are rewarded are more likely to be imitated,
while those that are punished are avoided.
Social learning theory can have a number of real-world applications. It can be used to help researchers
understand how aggression and violence might be transmitted through observation learning. By studying media
violence, researchers can gain better understanding of the factors that might lead children to act out the
aggressive actions they see portrayed on television and in the movies. It can be utilized to teach people
behaviours. They can used social learning theory to investigate and understand ways that positive role models
can be used to encourage desirable behaviours and to facilitate social change.
There are steps that are involved in the observational learning and modelling process: Attention.
Anything that distracts your attention is ging to have a negative effect on observational learning. Retention. It is
the ability to restore information and also important part of the learning process. It can be affected by a number
of factors, but the ability to pull up information later and act on it is vital to observational learning.
Reproduction. It is the time to actually perform the behaviour you observed. Further practice of the learned
behaviour leads to improvement and skill advancement. Reproduction. It is the time you actually perform the
behaviour you observed. Further practice of the learned behaviour leads to improvement. Motivation. You have
to be motivated to imitate the behaviour that has been modelled.
a.) Cognitive Learning Theory
Cognitive learning is an active style of learning that focuses on helping you learn how to
maximize your brain’s potential. It makes it easier for you to connect new information with existing
ideas hence deepening your memory and retention capacity. It is the ability of the brain’s mental process
to absorb and retain information through experiences, senses and thought is know as cognition.
This theory explains how internal and external factors influence and individuals mental process
to supplement learning. Difficulties in learning are seen when cognitive process are not working
regularly. These processes are such as attention, observation, retrieval from long term memory, and
categorization.
Social Cognitive Theory helps us understand hoe people are influences and their influence on the
environment. One of the major components of this theory is observational learning, it means it is the
process of learning others’ desirable and undesirable behaviours through observation. It teaches people
both positive and negative behaviours.
 Cognitive Behavioural Theory mainly refers to our mental processes, such as our thoughts and
interpretations of life events. It explains how the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of a person interact
with each other; thoughts lead to particular emotions than can turn to specific behavioural response.
When we change our thoughts, we can change our emotions and then our behaviours. It also works in
reverse where changing how we behave leads to changes in our feelings and, ultimately, our thoughts.

b.) Lewis Field Theory

Lewin’s Field Theory suggests that you are a combination of everything you’ve ever known. The
Theory states that human behaviour is the result of the interplay between the individual and their
environment. He emphasized the study of behaviour as a function of the total physical and social
situation. It holds that psychological laws need not to be formulated solely on the basis of statistical
averages, rather the individual case is equally important.
This theory explains the individual behaviour on the basis of life-space. And individual’s life-
space depends on his psychological force. It includes the person; his drives, tensions, thoughts and his
environment, which consists of perceived objects and events.
In his theory, threat, goal and barrier are the main factors. An individual who has to achieve
some goal has to cross a barrier. The barrier may be psychological or physical because it changes in the
barrier in the life space of an individual, continuous reconstruction takes place. He called this theory the
Field Theory, meaning that the total psychological world in which a person lives at a certain time. It
includes matters and events of past, present and future, concrete and abstract and imaginary- all
interpreted as simultaneous aspects of a situation. Lewin states that each person exists within a field of
forces. The field of forces to which the individual is responding or reacting is called his life-space.
It is a relativistic process by which a learner develops new insight or changes old ones.
According to the theory, learning is not a mechanic process of connecting stimuli and responses within a
biological organism. Field psychology explains development of insight as a change in cognitive
structure of life-space.
 Southern Luzon State University
College of Teacher Education
Graduate School
1st Semester A.Y. 2023- 2024

Educ 501 Psycho Social Foundation of Education

REFLECTIVE PAPER

Name: HANNA ANGELINE R. GRANA Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2023

Program – Year: MA ED- EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT Faculty: DR. CECILE COSEJO

Kohler’s Insight Learning Theory

Insight Theory is proposed by Wolfgang Kohler, it is the sudden understanding of the relation between a
problem and a solution. By learning through insight, the correct solution not only appears seemingly out of
nowhere but also repeated readily of subsequent presentations of that problem. Once solved, no matter how
many times repeated it will no longer be a problem.
In this theory, the perceptual stimuli are restricted in different ways and rely on cognitive process. It is
the “aha” or “I’ve got” experience when we suddenly solve a problem. Occasionally it comes dramatically and
makes the problem solution suddenly clear.
Insight theory depends upon the arrangement of the problem situation, the insight will come easily if the
required materials and tools are arranged in a perfect order to perceive the relationship. The solutions to
problems once solved with insight can be repeated and reused easily. The whole situation appears to take on a
new form, altering the perception of an individual giving circumstances a meaningful and attractive look. It
appears suddenly and the individual can establish the relationship between the objects in new patterns and
organizations adding an emotional touch.
A human being, through advanced understanding, judges the relation between various objects, quickly,
and sees the patterns disguised in them. Learning by insight is criticized by some of the psychologists who
argue that gaining is a matter of practice and gradual process.

Ausubel’s Meaningful Learnings

David Ausubel is an American psychologist, developed the learning theory known as meaning learning
in the 1960s, according to him meaningful learning occurs when the new information is integrated into existing
knowledge structures also known as mental schemas. He believed that prior knowledge is the most critical
aspect of meaningful learning. He posited that new information is learned best when it is linked to relevant
existing knowledge.
He also stresses the importance of reception rather than discovery learning, and meaningful rather than
rote learning. He declares that his theory applies only to reception learning in school setting. He believed that
understanding concepts, principles, and ideas are achieved through deductive reasoning.
Meaningful learning can be contrasted with rote learning, he believed in the idea of meaningful learning
as opposed to rote memorization. The latter can also incorporate new information into the pre-existing
knowledge structure but without interaction. Rote memory is used to recall sequences of objects, such as phone
numbers. However, it is of no use to the learner understanding the relationships between objects. Because
meaningful learning involves a recognition of the links between concepts, it has the privilege of how being
transferred to long term-memory. The most crucial element in meaningful learning is how the new information
is integrated into the old knowledge structure. He also believes that knowledge is hierarchically organized; that
new information is meaningful to the extent that it can be related to what is already known.
Bruner’s Theory of learning
Jerome Bruner is regarded as one of the most influential and renowned educational psychologists of the
twentieth century. He can up with his learning theory in 1961. According to Bruner’s theory, learning is an
active process where information is gathered and new ideas are formed concerning past knowledge and current
knowledge. He felt that the focus of education should be intellectual development, rather than rote learning of
facts.
There are four Major Aspects of Bruner’s Theory which are: 1. A predisposition towards learning. 2.
The ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner.
3. The most effective sequences in which to present material, and 4. The nature and pacing of rewards and
punishments. Bruner’s theory puts importance in understanding the structure of information taken in, why
active learning is essential for true understanding, and the need for reasoning in learning. He believes a
relationship must be there between new information in the learning process. His theory emphasizes the learning
process by discovery and recommend reviewing the concepts and material frequently in the learning process of
memorization.
There are three stages of Representation according to Bruner: 1. Enactive Stage it is characterized by
encoding and storing information. 2. Iconic Stage begins from one to six years old. In this stage external objects
have internal representation through visual forms of mental icons and images. 3. Symbolic Stage starts from
seven years and above. During this stage, information storage takes place through symbols for codes such as
language.
According to Bruner, learning happens according to these three stages and the direct manipulation of
objects is responsible for the beginning of learning.

Gagne’s Cumulative Learning

Cumulative Learning is the cognitive process of accumulating knowledge and abilities that form the
basis for subsequent cognitive development. The main advantage of something like this is that it reinforces
knowledge gained through experience and facilities further learning through the transfer of similar knowledge.
This is widely documented concept in the psychological literature, and scholars have given particular attention
to the fact it can incrementally increase the range of abilities and knowledge without compromising existing
skills.
He introduced the concept of cumulative learning in 1968 on the basis that intellectual skills can be
decomposed into simpler skills. His model proposed that new learning builds on previous learning and depends
on combinations of previously acquired knowledge. Gagne believed that learning is cumulative and that human
intellectual development is consistent with constructing increasingly complex interacting structures of learned
abilities. He explored Bruner’s theory arguing that as the child grows, the curriculum should repeatedly present
the information learned and expand it until the child has a more complete understanding of the information and
its relationships. He stated that “for each new learning task there is a minimum precondition that can specified”,
and that if the learner cannot recall this ability, it is impossible to learn new task. Human knowledge is
cumulative in nature, so learned knowledge is synthesized and reproduced for further learning situations.
There are four types of Cumulative Learning, 1. Abstract knowledge it reduces the amount of detailed
information within the cognitive structure, while 2. Concrete knowledge produces additional knowledge
produces additional detail about the information entity to such location. 3. General knowledge and 4. Specific
knowledge are opposite to each other. According to him, cumulative learning theory is superior to maturity
models because it focuses on hierarchies of competence.
The concept of cumulative learning can be applied in real world situation. A simple example is the
adage, “You can’t run before you can walk.” The procedural memory built while learning to walk is necessary
before learning to run. Pronouncing a word is impossible without first learning to pronounce the vowels and
consonants that make up the word. It is an essential cognitive skill that allows previous development to create
new foundation for further cognitive development. Cumulative learning reinforces knowledge gained through
experiences so that it can be reproduces and utilized in subsequent learning situations through cumulative
interactions between previous knowledge and new information. Children build new knowledge by updating and
revising previous beliefs and learning through observation, participation, and imitation. This shows that the
principle can be applied to situations from an early age and is present is all learning opportunities throughout a
person’s life.

Theories of Transfer of Learning

Transfer of learning means the use of previously acquired knowledge and skills in new learning or
problem-solving situations. Thereby similarities and analogies between previous and actual learning content and
process may play a crucial role. The transfer phenomenon is presented within a general perspective of learning.
Transfer of skills and analogical transfer are illustrated and discussed along. Newly acquired knowledge
structures need consolidation in order to be transferred, and noncognitive aspects of learning (social, emotional,
and motivational) need particular consideration in the original learning process.
Transfer of learning is highly related to retention of learning. In both cases, performance is assessed both
during learning itself and during testing after learning is completed, with the test often occurring after a delay.
In the case of pure retention, the same tasks are examined during training and testing, whereas in the case of
transfer are examined during training and testing. Naturally, previous studies that have included assessments of
both pure retention and transfer have typically shown better performance at test when pure retention is assessed.
 Southern Luzon State University
College of Teacher Education
Graduate School
st
1 Semester A.Y. 2023- 2024

Educ 501 Psycho Social Foundation of Education

REFLECTIVE PAPER

Name: HANNA ANGELINE R. GRANA Date Submitted: Nov 4, 2023

Program – Year: MA ED- EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT Faculty: DR. CECILE COSEJO

The Teacher and the Policy Maker

Policy makers play a very significant role in the education system as every component in the system gets
implemented on the basis of their decisions. The role of a policy maker includes the monitoring of school size,
class size, school choice, school privatization, tracking, teacher education and certification, teacher pay,
teaching methods, curricular content, graduation requirements, school infrastructure investment, and the values
that schools are expected to uphold and model

The Teacher
The school of today is responsible for educating the child as a person; preparing the whole child to
function as an intelligent, competent citizen in a complex world. The teacher’s role has now become one of
guiding the growth of children: acquire the skills necessary for gaining knowledge and understandings, develop
and understanding of themselves, the world around them, and their place in the world, and develop the
understandings and relationships which will form the basis for their actions, reactions and interactions in the
world they will live as adults. Defining the teacher’s role as one of “guiding children” implies not only
involvement of the total child, but also the involvement of the “total teacher” of the teacher as a person.
Relating effectively to others is particularly important to the teacher. He must have a strong relationship
with his group of learners. He must be accepted as a part of that group. He must indeed be, without doubt, the
leader of that group. This is necessary if he is to foster within the members of the group the desire to learn. The
teachers must develop strong rapport with the group, as a group, and with the individual member of the group.
The teacher as a person develops understandings, for others, understandings of himself and satisfying
relationship through perceptive interactions with others in many situations. He grows by becoming aware of the
strengths, weakness, needs and desires of the other.
Everyone learns differently. Some people can learn something on the first try after being told what to do
whereas others might need to have hands-on experience in order to learn possibly repeat it a few times to really
get it. Teaching different kind of styles are necessary because the students need to be able to learn what the
teacher is teaching. However, the choice of teaching styles used can also depend on the school mission
statement, the classroom demographics, the educational philosophy of the teacher, and most importantly the
subject area.