THEORIES OF LEARNING
A number of theories have been developed to explain the learning process. Most of these theories were constructed on the basis of the experimental investigation by different psychologists. The aim of a learning theory is to explain how learning takes place and how it does not. Out of a large number of theories the following three deserve attention.
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a) Conditioned Response Theory.
b) Trial & Error Theory.
c) Insight Theory.
A) CONDITIONED RESPONSE THEORY:
In the pattern conditioned response learning, one connects a response with a stimulus which did not produce that response earlier. It was the Russian psychologist, Pavlov, who first made the classical conditioned response experiment on a dog.
By conditioning one learns to do new things forming connections between a stimulus and a response. It could be illustrated by experiment on the conditioning of salivary reflex in a hungry dog. If the ringing of a bell or the application of an electric shock accomplishes the presentation of food which causes flow of saliva, then on later occasion mere ringing of the bell or the application of shock will tend to cause the flow of saliva.
This may need many repetitions. The conditioned stimulus (bell) is repeatedly presented first before the unconditioned one (food), which will ultimately bring the desired response. If the conditioned response connection is favorable or rewarding, then there is every chance of forming this connection by lesser number of repetitions. If the dog is rewarded of food almost every time, the connection is established quickly. Conversely, if the dog is not rewarded this connection weakens.
In children’s learning when the teacher wants them to form stimulus response connection, he may follow this learning pattern. Children learn their habits of behavior through such conditioning.
The Classical Conditioning Procedure:
In scientific terms, the procedure for this is as follows.
1 Food is the unconditioned stimulus or UCS. By this, Pavlov meant that the stimulus that elicited the response occurred naturally.
2 The salivation to the food is an unconditioned response (UCR) that is a response which occurs naturally.
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3 The bell is the conditioned stimulus (CS) because it will only produce salivation on condition that it is presented with the food.
4 Salivation to the bell alone is the conditioned response (CR), a response to the conditioned stimulus.
Exercise
Try the following exercise for yourselves:
Name the four components of classical conditioning in the following situations.
1. Sara is watching a storm. A bolt of lightening is followed immediately by a huge crash of thunder and makes her jump. This happens several more times. The storm starts to move away and there is a gap between the lightening bolt and the sound of thunder, yet Sara jumps at the lightening bolt.
What is the:
UCS
UCR
CS
CR
2. Steve's mouth waters whenever he eats anything with lemon in. One day, while seeing an advertisement showing lemons, his mouth begins to water.
What is the:
UCS
UCR
CS
CR
Nearly all automatic, involuntary responses can become a conditioned response:
Heartbeat, stomach secretion, blood pressure, brain waves etc. For the conditioning to be effective, the conditioned stimulus should occur before the unconditioned stimulus, not after. This is because, in classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus becomes a kind of signal for the unconditioned stimulus.
The following are some of the important principles of classical conditioning:
Extinction
If a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, then the conditioned response will disappear. This is known as extinction. If a dog learns to associate the sound of a bell with food and then the bell is rung repeatedly, but no food is presented, the dog will soon stop salivating at the sound of the bell.
Stimulus Generalisation
A dog who has been conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell of one tone, may well salivate to a similar sounding bell or a buzzer. Stimulus generalisation is the extension of the conditioned response from the original stimulus to similar stimuli.
Discrimination
An animal or person can be taught to discriminate between different stimuli. For example, if a dog is shown a red circle every time he is fed, then he will salivate at the sight of the red circle alone. But initially, the dog may generalise and salivate at circles of any colour. If the dog is only fed when the red circle is presented and not when other colours are shown, he will learn to discriminate between red and the other colours.
Higher Order Conditioning
This is where more than one stimulus is paired and presented; there can be a chain of events that are linked to the same stimulus. It is thought that words may acquire their emotional meaning through higher order conditioning, for example by pairing the words with something that causes emotion, eventually the word alone will have the emotional meaning.
Exercise
Think about the following scenarios and try to apply some of the aspects of classical conditioning:
How we acquire likes or dislikes for certain foods.
How classical conditioning may be used to treat conditions such as alcoholism.
How advertisers use classical conditioning.
How phobias and fears can be acquired.
How phobias and fears could be treated.
b) LEARNING BY TRIAL & ERROR:
In trial & error learning, the learner at first does a number of things which do not serve his purpose at all. After several attempts of his trials he makes a successful response. How does the learner retain this learning? After quite a number of repetitions, it is found that unsuccessful attempts are given up and successful ones are acted upon. By way of practice, the learner comes to a stage when he does not make a single mistake. The above description will be made clear by THORNDIKE’S animal experiment.
A cat is placed in a box which has a door at one end. A hinge is so arranged at the door that a light pressure on the floor slat near the door helps it to open. A dish of fish is placed on the floor outside the box near the door which the cat cannot reach from the box.
The cat is hungry and wants to get out of the box to reach the food. It makes many accidental attempts with no results. At one instance, it happens to step on the slat. The door opens and the cat is out. Again and again, the cat is put into the box. Gradually, the cat rejects and abandons all its unsuccessful attempts. After many attempts the cat makes an exit without a single mistake. Towards the end, it walks straight to the slat and opens the door.
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This method of learning has four characteristics.
First, the individual has a motive, a need, a purpose and a goal.
Secondly, the individual makes several attempts to fulfill his desire. Various kinds of activities are performed to fulfill the purpose.
Thirdly, the individual eliminates the wrong kind of activities which seem to be of no use. Finally, he establishes his desire through successful attempts.
There are two facts to this kind of learning, first, the appearance of the correct behavior; second, skill in its execution. At first the learner attempts all kinds of hit and misses trials before spotting out the correct response. Secondly, by practicing it he learns the skill.
C) LEARNING BY INSIGHT:-
This approach of learning was introduced by the Gestalt School of Psychology. They insist that all learning is accompanied through insight. In their own words, this learning can be described as follows. Insight means the process of establishing new organized wholes. The method involves understanding and seeing relations between things and then obtaining insight. It is not a matter of repetition in conditioning or of practice as in trial and error. It is an understanding. The learner with a goal in view finds the relationship between means and ends and reorganizes his activities in such a way that suddenly he achieves his goal. Though it comes suddenly, yet it comes through understanding. As soon as he gets to understand the concept, immediately he applies it to his purpose. Learning, then, becomes less repetitive and less difficult to retain and recall.
To give an example of insight approach to learning we have to refer to Kohler’s study on the chimpanzee.
A chimpanzee is placed in a cage. Outside the cage, on one side are some bananas. The chimpanzee is hungry. Its long arms cannot reach the bananas. Within the cage are some sticks near the door of the cage. It first tries to reach the fruit with its hands. Of course, it meets with failure.
This continues for some time with various kinds of attempts. Suddenly, the chimpanzee jumps seizes stick and very clearly pulls the bananas.
From the above, the steps in insight learning may be described as follows:
a. The learner perceives a situation.
b. He acts on this perception and redefines the situation in a new perception.
c. He acts again on this.
