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Learning Theories
Catherine Mendoza
June 27, 2008
Project II
Cognitive Theories
• Learning is a process of relating new
information to previously learned.
• Knowledge is organized.
• Individuals are actively involved in
the learning process
Behaviorist Theories
Organisms are born as blank slates.
• Learning is learning is largely the
result of environment events.
• The most useful theories tend to be
parsimonious ones
Vygotsky and his Social
Cognition
• Two sorts of child’s intellectual are:
• First, children acquire the content of
their thinking, that is, their
knowledge.
• Second, the process if their thinking
is the tools of intellectual adaptation.
B.F. Skinner and his
Behaviorism
• Two different types of conditioning.
• Classic conditioning: When a natural reflex
responds to a stimulus ( animal and people are
wired).
• Operant conditioning: When a response to a
stimulus is reinforced.
• Skinner used techniques to teach pigeons to
dance and bowl a ball.
B.F. Skinner
ways of teaching
• Behaviorism is often used
by teachers, who reward
or punish student behavior.
• The learner should be able
to put together his own
response rather than
select from alternatives.
• The success of such a
machine depends on the
material used in it.
Vygotsky Impacts
Learning
• Curriculum: Children learn
through interaction
between learner and
learning.
• Instruction: Children can
perform tasks that they
are incapable of completing
on their own.
• Assessment: Children can
do on their own is their
level of development.
Educational Behaviorist
• Behavior changes can confirm that
learning has taken place.
• Student learn when they actually
have a chance to behave.
• Rewards or reinforcement for
learning
Educational Cognitive
• Cognitive processes influence
learning.
• Children organize the things they
learn.
• People control their own learning.
Web Sites
• html: file://P:\EHS\Cognitive Learning Theory
• http://suedstudent.syr.edu/~ebarrett/ide621/behavior.htm
• http://www.funderstanding.com/vygotsky.cfm
• http://www.funderstanding.com/behaviorism.cfm