LEARNING

THEORIES
 Behaviorist theories
Behavior was defined as a muscle movement a result of a
series of condition reflexes, and all emotion and thought
is a result of behavior learned through conditioning
(subject can learn by conditioning).

People or animals could learn to respond in a particular

way if certain conditions exist . appropriate responses
could be developed through " trail and error learning" or "
stimulus and response“;
CONT.
-Stimulus and response bonds are strengthened by reinforcement
like reward and punishment.

- Behaviorism is concerned with the observable actions

(behaviors) of people in the learning process. You can only
know if your student has learned if they can demonstrate new
knowledge or skills.
 Humanistic theory
 it take a person-centered view of nursing by using
manipulation to bring about learning.

 Humanists believe that it is the student who should

determined what is to be learned, and that learning
should relate to their own experiences.
ALSO Humanists believe that teacher as a facilitator of
learning not as a foundation of all knowledge to their
students.
 Cont.
 (Aperson can learn a great deal if they reflect on their
experiences)e.g. if a person wishes to be a nurse they put
themselves into a position which will enable them to
achieve that aim i.e. they enroll on a nursing courses.
Social learning theory: if people want to be accepted into a
group they have to learn its norms and values, and adopt
them as their own.
 There are several key components of this theory

 people learn as they are in constant interaction with their

environment (modeling behavior)

 Attention process determined which behaviors will be

learned (selection)

 Retention process refer to the ability to retain modeled

behaviors in permanent memory.
Cognitive learning theories

cognitive science is the study of how our brains work in the

process of perceiving, thinking, remembering and learning
(information processing) . the focus is on mental process
that are responsible for behavior and its meaning
 Common Concepts of cognitive
Theories
 learning: Acquisition of knowledge and skills that
changes a person behavior. E.g. novices become more
experts)

 Memory: there is a consolidation function in the

memory process (stationed in memory).
Meta cognition: Evolved from the study of
information processing and is sometimes defined
as thinking about ones thinking. It is a process
learner use to gauge their thinking while reading,
studying, trying to learn, or problem solving.
Some people are intelligent novices. They know
what they know and what they don’t know, and
they plan to get the information and understanding
they need.
 Transfer: it is the ability to take information learned in
one situation and apply it to another in nursing we teach
principles of infection so the students can apply then and
adapt then to all clinical situation
 Successful transfer depends on several factors

 the extents to which material was originally learned.

 The ability to retrieve information from memory
 The way in which the material was taught and learned.

The similarity of the new situation to the original
A model of
adult
learning
Andragogy: Teaching of adults

Pedagogy: Teaching of children

Andragogy
 Need to know why they need to learn something.
 feel responsible for their own learning.
 Adults learn from each others experience.
 Ready to learn when they feel the need to know.
 life-centered or task-centered orientation primarily
internally motivated, with some external
motivation.
Cont ..
 We can state that the teacher who takes an adult
learning model into consideration when teaching will
be less of a disseminator of information and director
of the learning process and more of a facilitator. The
wards (guide, coach, mentor, role model, challenger,
and motivator) are used in model of adult learning.
 Learning proposition that are application to
nursing education

1. Behavior which are rewarded (reinforced) are likely to

occur

2. Sheer repetition without indications of improvement or

any kind of reinforcement is a poor way to attempt to
learn.
 Cont..
3. threat and punishment have variable and uncertain
effects upon learning . they may make the
punishment response more likely or less likely to
recur; they may set up avoidance tendencies which
prevent further learning.
Cont..
4. Reward (reinforcement) to be effective must follow
almost immediately after the desire behavior.

5. Learners progress in any area of learning only as far as

they need to in order to achieve their purposes.
Cont..
 Forgetting proceeds rapidly at first- then more and more slowly;
recall shortly after learning reduces the amount forgotten.
 Learning from reading is facilitated more by time spent recalling
what has been read than by rereading.
Cont..
8.what is learned is most likely to be available for use
if it is learned in a situation much like that in
which it is to be used and immediately preceding
the time when it is needed.
9. Remember new information if it is confirms their
previous attitudes
10. Adults need to know why they need to learn
something before undertaking to learn it.