Download Educational Psychology Lesson 08 NATURE AND THEORIES OF

Educational Psychology
Lesson 08
NATURE AND THEORIES OF LEARNING
Learning occupies a very important place in our life. Most of what we do or do not do is
influenced by what we learn and how we learn it. Learning, therefore, provides a key to the
structure of our personality and behavior. An individual starts learning immediately after his
birth or in a strict sense even earlier in the womb of the mother. Experience, direct or indirect is
found to playa dominant role in molding and shaping the behavior of the individual from the
very beginning. When he touches a burning matchstick the child gets burnt, and the next time,
when he comes across a burning matchstick, he loses no time in withdrawing from it. He learns
to avoid not only the burning matchstick but also all burning things. When this happens we say
that the child has learned that if one touches a flame, one gets burnt. In the same way from some
other experience, he may conclude, for instance, that "green apples are sour", "barking dogs
seldom bite", "a bird in hand is better than two in the bush", "be very cautious in believing
strangers", etc. All these conclusions derived from experiences, direct or indirect, bring about a
change in the behavior of the individual. These changes in behavior brought about by experience
are commonly known as learning. In this way, the term learning broadly speaking, stands for all
those changes and modifications in the behavior of the individual which he undergoes duriJ1g
his life time.
However, this term has not been always interpreted in the same way by the numerous thinkers
and psychologists as may be seen from the following definitions:
Gardner Murphy (1968):
The term learning covers every modification in behavior to meet environmental requirements.
Henry P. Smith (1962):
Learning is the acquisition of new behavior or the strengthening or weakening of old behavior
as the result of experience.
Woodworth (1945):
Any activity can be called learning so far as it develops the individual (in any respect, good or
bad) and makes him alter behavior and experiences different from what they would otherwise
have been.
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Kingsley and R. Garry (1957):
Learning is the process by which behavior (in the broader sense) is originated or changes through
practice or training.
Pressey, Robinson and Horrocks (1967):
Learning is an episode in which a motivated individual attempts to adapt his behavior so as to
succeed in a situation which he perceives as requiring action to attain a goal.
Crow and Crow (1973):
Learning is the acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitudes. It involves new ways of doing
things, and it operates in an individual's attempts to overcome obstacles or to adjust to new
situations. It represents progressive changes in behavior. . . . It enables him to satisfy interests to
attain goals.
Hilgard (1958):
Learning is the process by which an activity originates or is changed through reaching to an
encountered situation, provided that the characteristics of the changes in activity cannot be
explained on the basis of native response, tendencies, maturation, or temporary states of the
organism (e.g. fatigue or drugs, etc.).
Kimble (1961):
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavioral potentiality that occurs as a result of
reinforced practice.
The above definitions reveal the following facts:
1. Learning is a process and not a product.
2. It involves all those experiences and training of an individual (right from birth) which
help him to produce changes in his behavior.
3. Learning leads to changes in behavior but this does not necessarily mean that these
changes always bring about improvement or positive development. One has an equal
chance to drift to the negative side of human personality.
4. Instead of change in existing behavior or acquisition of new behavior, learning may
also result in discontinuance or abandonment of existing behavior. Though it is
referred to as unlearning, actually unlearning is also a learning process.
5. Learning prepares an individual for any adjustment and adaptation that may be necessary.
6. Learning is purposeful and goal-oriented. In case there is no purpose, there would
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definitely be hardly any learning.
7. The scope of learning is too wide to be explained in words. It is a very comprehensive
process which covers nearly all fields--cognitive, cognitive and affective--of human
behavior.
8. Learning is universal and continuous. Every creature that lives, learns. In human beings
it is not restricted to any particular age, sex, race Or culture. It is a continuous, neverending process that extends from the womb to the tomb.
9. As maintained by Crow and Crow, learning involves new ways of doing things but there
is no limit to adopting these ways and means. All learning does not take place in the same
manner. Therefore, learning as a process is of different types and involves different
methods.
10.
As maintained by Hilgard, the concept of learning excludes changes in behavior on the
basis of native response tendencies like instincts and reflexes, etc. Instinctive or' species
specific programmes cannot be termed as learned behavior. Similarly, reflexes, the innate
involuntary responses to stimulation e.g., blinking at bright lights and the infant's sucking
behavior, cannot be attributed to learning.
11. Learning does not include changes in behavior on account of maturation, fatigue,
illness, or drugs etc.
The last mentioned characteristic reveals that changes in one's behavior are not always brought
about and controlled by learning only. There are other factors like fatigue, drugs, illness,
maturation and imprinting, which produce behavioral changes. Can we, then, attribute all such
changes in our behavior to learning? The answer is, no. The reasons are explained in the
following discussion:
Learning and Maturation
The changes produced in behavior by maturation are definitely linked with the unfolding and
ripening of inherited traits, i.e., the process of natural growth. They are quite independent of
activity, practice or experience. In the of Biggie and Hunt (1968), Maturation is a
developmental process within which a person, from time to time, manifests different traits, the
'blue-prints' of which have been carried in his cells from the time of his conception.
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The resultant behavior, thus, on account of the process of maturation does not fall in the category
of acquired or learned behavior. However, maturation is closely linked with results of learning
and with the process of development. Before certain kinds of learning may take place, one has to
have achieved a certain level of maturation. For example, a six-month old baby cannot learn how
to control bowel movements because neither his brain nor his body is mature enough to do so.
Similarly, a child cannot learn certain speech patterns before a certain degree of maturation has
occurred.
Learning and Other Temporary Change-producing Factors
The behavioral changes brought about by factors like fatigue, drugs, illness or emotional
situations, are purely transitory in nature. These changes, like physical changes in material
objects, are quite unstable. As and when the factor causing a change is removed or restored, the
behavioral may revert to its original form. Hence, the changes in behavior produced by such
factors cannot fall in the category of learning and in comparison to all other factors that lead to
changes in human behavior, the changes brought about by learning, i.e., experience and training,
etc. are relatively more enduring and stable.It is to be noted that we have deliberately used the
phrase 'relatively enduring and stable changes' in place of 'absolutely permanent changes' in the
behavior of the learner. It is true that learning brings about changes in behavior but these changes
are not as permanent as the changes brought about by chemical reactions in material objects. The
habits we pick up, the interests we develop, the skills we acquire, the knowledge we gain as a
result of learning at one or the other occasion can be unlearned, modified or replaced by some
other set of similar or different acquired behavior. Therefore, it is safer to use the term relatively
permanent in place of absolutely permanent for the resultant changes in one's behavior on
account of learning and consequently a proper definition of learning may be,
Learning is a process which brings relatively permanent changes in the behavior of a
learner through experience or practice.
Learning and Imprinting
The term 'imprinting' is often confused with learning. However, it is not proper to label or
include the changes in behavior brought about as a result of imprinting in the category of learned
or acquired behavior. Let us explain this by describing and illustrating the concept of
'imprinting'.
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'Imprinting' as a term was first used in the 1930s by the Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz for
describing the attachment behavior of new-born birds to the first large moving objects in their
environment. He conducted a series of experiments for studying such attachment behavior. A
few of these are described below:
1. In his initial experiments he demonstrated that ducklings and goslings follow the mother soon
after hatching perhaps on account of the stimulation provided by her movements and the noises
she makes.
2. Afterwards Lorenz used some big objects like a football in place of the mother to be followed
by the new-born ducklings and goslings. To his surprise he found that as soon as these birds were
hatched, they began to follow the floating ball in the pond.
3. In one of his later experiments he himself worked as a substitute for the football and the
mother. For conducting this experiment he first hatched a group of goslings in an incubator and
then presented himself as the first moving object they saw. He found that the new-born birds
began to follow him wherever he went (see Figure 13.1). Surprisingly, when the goslings were
returned to their real mother at a later stage, they turned away and continued to follow the first
perceived moving object the experimenter, Lorenz. They even showed resentment and gave vent
to cries distress when they were prevented from following him. From such experiments orenz
concluded that:
Imprinting represents a sense of strong connection or attachment hat is made between the newborn organism and the first object it ma: have initially responded to. Howsoever, strange this first
object may be, they continue to follow it to the extent that they show no attachment to their own
mother or anyone of their own kind.
Imprinting thus represents an inborn perceptual process independent of any training or
experience. It is unquestionably a survival mechanism and whatever the first object, it is
followed for safety, security, love and attachment. It is like bve at first sight, a kind of 'value
acquisition', an effective 'imprint' or 'impression' on the tender mind.
Imprinting, i.e., connection or attachment is made to the first perceived object within the critical
period. It may be taken as an instinctive response or species-specific behavior i.e., a behavior
pattern common to all members of a particular species and it occurs naturally, depending upon
the environmental stimulus which sets it off. In case there is no such stimulus; i.e. moving object,
available to the new-born within the critical period, it is doubtful whether the attachment
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behavior would be exhibited at a1. For example, geese or infant rats, isolated from the natural
mother or a mother substitute within the first few days or birth may never develop any significant
attachment behavior (Lorenz, 1952).
The critical period, the special and distinct time essential for establishing attachment behavior,
i.e., the process of imprinting, lifters from species to species. In baby ducks for example, the
ideal time for imprinting is fourteen hours after _hatching, in Iambs it is one to seven days after
birth and in puppies between three and twelve week.
Imprinting is thus quite dissimilar and distinct from the actual process of learning. It depends on
an. instinctive and inborn species-specific behavior mechanism rather than the experience and
training carried out during specific critical periods of the species' lifetime soon after birth.
Types of Learning
Learning, defined as a process of bringing about relatively permanent changes in the behavior of
an organism, may be classified into a number of categories depending upon (a) the domain or
specific area of the behavior in which changes are introduced, or (b) in terms of the methods or
techniques that are employed for the introduction of behavioral changes. If we follow the former
criterion, learning can be classified as verbal learning (involving verbal expression), learning of
motor skills, (such as walking, dancing, typing, swimming, etc.), affective learning (learning of
habits, interest, attitudes, appreciation, etc.), and cognitive learning (learning of concepts,
principles, problem solving, etc.).
In terms of the latter criterion, we may categorize learning as trial and error learning, classical
conditioning, operant conditioning, chain learning, shaping, learning through generalization,
learning through discrimination, serial learning, associate learning, insightful learning, and so on.
An alternative basis adopted by Gagne (1970) for the purpose of classifying learning is worthy of
note. By taking into consideration a specific hierarchical order, he classified learning into the
following types:
1. Signal learning or classical conditioning
2. S.R. learning or instrumental and operant conditioning
3. Chain learning
4. Verbal associate learning
5. Multiple discrimination
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6. Learning of concepts
7. Learning of principles
8. Problem solving
Various types of such learning are discussed in different parts of this text in the proper
context. However, 'a few are discussed here.
Verbal learning. Learning of this type helps in the acquisition of verbal behavior. The language
we speak, the communication devices we use, are the result of such learning. Rote learning and
rote memorization which is a type of learning is also included in verbal learning. Signs, pictures,
symbols, words, figures, sounds and voices are employed by the individual as essential
instruments or engaging in the process of verbal learning.
Motor learning. The learning of all types of motor skills may be included in PIIS type of
learning. Learning swimming, riding1Ch'brse, driving a car, flying a ade, playing the piano,
hitting a moving target, drawing a geometrical design, and multiplying long series of digits,
performing experiments and handling anous instruments are examples of such learning.
Acquisition of various skills through such learning helps in acquiring speed and accuracy in the
field of operation of these activities and creates a sort of confidence in the learner to perform
with ease and satisfaction. The art of these skills can be acquired through a systematic and
planned acquisition and fixation of a series of organized actions or responses by making use of
some appropriate learning methods and devices.
3. Concept learning. A concept in the form of a mental image denotes a generalized idea about
things, persons or events. For example, our concept of 'tree' IS a mental images that up the
similarities or common properties of all the different trees we know. We will call a thing 'tree'
when it has some specific characteristics, the image of which we have already acquired in our
mind on account of our previous experience, perception or exercise of imagination. The
formation of such concepts on account of previous experience, training or cognitive processes is
called concept learning. Concept learning proves very useful in recognizing, naming and
identifying thin~ All our behavior, verbal, symbolic, motor as well as cognitive, are influenced
by our concepts. Thus what we do, say, understand, reason and judge is, to a great extent,
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controlled by the quality of our concept learning.
4. Problem solving. In the hierarchical order of learning and acquisition of behavior, problem
solving learning denotes a higher type of learning, This learning requires the use of the cognitive
abilities like reasoning: judgment, the power of observer, discrimination, generalization,
imagination, the ability to infer, draw- conclusion and out novel ways and experimenting, etc.
Based on earlier experiences, effect of coaching, training, formal or informal learning and
acquisition of knowledge, habits, attitudes, interests and learning, sets, etc., an individual may be
motivated to reach an unknown target or to unfold the mystery of an unresolved problem. It is
this type of learning which has essentially enabled human beings to contribute significantly to
the progress and improvement of society.
In the process of learning one has to adopt an adequate technique in the form of certain methods
and processes. In some cases, connections or associations in the form of a stimulus-response
mechanism or conditioning may help while in others organization of the perceptual field and the
use of cognitive abilities may work.
5. Serial learning. Serial learning is a learning situation in which the learner is presented with
learning material which exhibits some sequential material order Children encounter it often in
school where they are expected to master material such as the alphabet, multiplication tables, the
names of all the states 10 their country, the names of presidents or prime ministers in order, etc.
Experiments in the field of serial learning have shown that of the serial learning material, the
items presented at the beginning and at the end of the list are easier to remember than those in
the middle, and this seems to be true whether the items are non-sense syllables, actual words or
longer passages such as a poem.
6. Paired-associate learning. In this learning, learning tasks are presented is such a way that they
may be learned by reason of their associations. The name °e a village like Kishanpur is
remembered on account of its association with the naJ1 of Lord Krishna. Ganga, a girl's name
may become easy to remember in a paired association with the river Ganges. Much of the verbal
or motor learning may, thus, be acquired or remembered by means of the technique of paired or
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multiple association.
To obtain practice of such paired-associate learning the learner may be presented with a series of
paired words or non-sense syllables like the following:
Paired words
Paired non-sense syllables
Dog - Animal
PN - PF
Pan-ot – Bird
NLP - JDS
Cat – Milk
RJBP - RNYS
Motor – Child
TIPBK - GMPRK
The learner views the pair (two words or syllables) for a brief time, usually less than five
seconds. He is then presented with one member of the pair and asked to recall the other. The
practice with such procedure then helps in building what is known association. (An example of
paired associate learning is the acquisition of foreign language vocabulary items that are paired
with their mother tongue
Equivalents. The matching items presented in the objective type of questions of the achievement
test also emphasize such learning.
Outcomes of Learning
Learning, as a useful process, may result in the following outcomes:
1. Bringing desirable changes in behavior. Learning is the process of bringing changes in
behavior. It can help in introducing desired changes in. the behavior of a learner, in all its three
domains i.e., cognitive, cognitive and affective.
2. Attaining of teaching-learning objectives. The teaching-learning objectives and teaching
learning situation can be effectively reached through the help of learning and consequently a
child can be made to acquire essential knowledge, skills, applications, attitudes and interests etc.
3. Attaining of proper growth and development. Learning helps in reaching one's maximum in
terms of growth and development in various spheres namely physical, mental (cognitive),
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emotional, social, moral, aesthetic and language.
4. Attaining balanced development of personality. Our educational efforts are directed to bring an
all-round development in the personality of a child. Learning results in bringing such an allround development in personality.
S. Attaining proper adjustment. Adjustment is a key to success in life. Learning helps an
individual to get adjusted to him and to the environment.
6. Realizing of the goals of life. Every man has his own philosophy and style? If life and he
strives to achieve the goals of his life. Learning process helps an individual to realize his goals.
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