ASSIGNMENT ON:LEARNING

15/09/2014

BY:KUMAR RAVI SHANKAR

SUBMITTED

CONTANTS

PAGE
NO.

INTRODUCTION

MEANING

DEFINITION
CHARACTERISTIC
PRINCIPLES
DETERMINATES
THEORIES
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLASSICAL
AND OPERANT CONDITIONING

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5
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FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING

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INTRODUCTION

Learning is one of the important psychological processes determining the

human behaviour. The complex way in which the human beings behave is all
learnt. The psychologists say that human beings, unlike animals, posses an
extremely high proportion of unused mental capacity of birth. It is, of course,
unfavourable in the initial years, because he will feel helpless. But in the later
years, as he grows older, this unused mental capacity will help him in adapting
to changed conditions and circumstances. This unused mental capacity will be
used with the help of learning. In fact practically all human behaviour is either
directly or indirectly affected by learning.
Learning is the act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing,
existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve
synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by
humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to
follow learning curves. Learning is not compulsory; it is contextual. It does not
happen all at once, but builds upon and is shaped by what we already know. To
that end, learning may be viewed as a process, rather than a collection of factual
and procedural knowledge. Learning produces changes in the organism and the
changes produced are relatively permanent.
Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development,
schooling, or training. It may be goal-oriented and may be aided by motivation.
The
study
of
how
learning
occurs
is
part
of educational
psychology, neuropsychology, learning theory, and pedagogy. Learning may
occur as a result of habituation or classical conditioning, seen in many animal
species, or as a result of more complex activities such as play, seen only in
relatively intelligent animals. Learning may occur consciously or without
conscious awareness. Learning that an aversive event can't be avoided nor
escaped is called learned helplessness. There is evidence for human behavioral
indicating that the central nervous system is sufficiently developed and primed
for learning and memory to occur very early on in development.
Play has been approached by several theorists as the first form of learning.
Children experiment with the world, learn the rules, and learn to interact
through play. Lev Vygotsky agrees that play is pivotal for children's
development, since they make meaning of their environment through play. 85
percent of brain development occurs during the first five years of a child's life.
For e.g.:---- a worker skill, a persons mode of dress, his attitude or his way of
speaking is all learned.
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MEANING:---

Learning is something we did when we went to school. In reality, each of us

is continuously going to school. Learning is occurring all the time. With every
new experience, new event or new situation we learn something. But this
concept of learning is purely theoretical. We cannot observe learning as we can
observe the personality of a person or his attitude.
Learning is used in many contexts. Simply speaking, learning refers to this
modification of behavior through practice, training and experience.

DEFINITION: ----

According to E.R.Hilgard:Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of

a prior experience.

According to W.Mc Gehee:Learning has taken place if an individual behaves, reacts, and responds as a
result of experience in a manner different from the way he formerly behaved.

According to Sanford:Learning is a relatively enduring change in behavior brought about as a

consequence of experience.

According to the dictionary of psychology:Learning means the process of acquiring the ability to respond adequately to a
situation which may or may not have been previously encountered, the
favorable modification of response tendencies consequent upon previous
experience, particularly the building of a new series of complexity coordinated
motor response, the fixation of items in memory.

CHARACTERISTIC OF LEARNING:-

Based on the definitions of learning, we may identify the following nature of

learning:-

Change in behaviour: Learning involves change in behavior, although the change may be good
or bad from an organization. The change in behaviour need not to be an
improvement over the previous behaviour, although learning usually
connotes improved behaviour, for examples bad habits like smoking,
prejudice and stereotype are often learned by individuals.

Change in behaviour must be relatively permanent: All the changes do not reflect learning. To constitute learning change
should be relatively permanent. Temporary changes may be only
reflective fail to represent any learning. Any temporary change in
behaviour caused due to fatigue or drugs or temporary adaptation are not
covered in learning.

Change must be based on some experience, practice or

training: The behavioural change must be based on some form of practice,
experience or training. Any change in behaviour due to physical
maturation, any disease or physical damages do not constitute learning.

Reinforcement: The practice or experience must be reinforced in order for learning too
occurs. If reinforcement does not accompany the practice or experience
the behaviour will eventually disappear.

Learning is reflected in behaviour: A change in an individual thought process or attitudes not accompanied
by behaviour is not learning.

e.g.:---if a person is thinking of using drugs, but has not actually

used them and he finds out that a friend of his has died because of drugs, he will
never get involved with drugs.

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING:-

Learning is a very complex and wide topic. When we talk about learning it can
be referring to any type of learning from simple alphabets to designing a
computer system. Following are the principles of learning in formal training
situation:-

Feedback:Learning can be more effective process when both the instructor and
trainee give feedback to each other. The in instructor needs feedback to
know how the trainee is processing and the trainee needs feedback to
know his level of performance.

Active learning:Learning can be more effective and quick, if the trainee is actively
involved in the learning processes. We always learn by doing. This
applies to all form of learning.

Reinforcement:According this principle learning which is rewarded is more likely to be

retained. This how we make our children, students and even our pets
learn.

Meaningful material:The material supplied to the trainee should be meaning full. He can
understand and learn more, if the material supplied is related to his
existing knowledge.

Multiple sense learning:The Chinese proverb one picture is worth a thousand words is another
way of stating this principle. The presentation method which makes use
of two or more senses is more effective than using once sense only.
Generally, the most important senses for learning are SIGHT and
HEARNING.

Over learning:If an individual frequently makes attempts to recall the learn material,
forgetting is reduced and the material is memorised in his brain.
Primary and recency:-

This principle states that trainees can recall those things they learn first
and last in sequence. This principle does not hold true in all conditions.

DETERMINATES OF LEARNING:-

The important factors that determine the learning are discussed as follows:-

Motive:Motives are the drives which promotes people to take action.

Motives are generally subjective and represent the mental feelings of the
human beings. Motives are dynamic in nature and determine are the
direction of an individuals behaviour. Learning cant occur without
motives. Learning is complete only when motives are fully realised and
translated into.

Stimuli:Stimuli are the objects that exist in the environment in which a person
lives. These are those objects and languages which draw the attention of
the people. Employee gets stimuli from the action of their superiors.
Stimuli increase the probability of eliciting a specific response from a
person. Stimuli can be of two types- GENERALISATION and
DISCRIMINATION. Generalisation takes place when the similar new
stimuli repeat in the nature. In case of discrimination responses vary to
different stimuli. Because of individual difference in various aspects,
discrimination has wide applications in organisational behaviour.

Reinforcement:Repeated action is reinforcement. Reinforcement may be positive,

negative, punishment and extinction. Reinforcement can be defined as
anything that tends to increase the strength of response and induces
repartition of behaviour; that preceded the reinforcement. Effective
modification of behaviour cannot take place without reinforcement.

Attention:Another determinant of learning is the degree of attention of learners. The

degree of attention depends upon the nature of stimuli. All stimuli are not
paid attention to. The personality levels of individuals influence their
desire to learn and motives for needy fulfilment.
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 Recognisation:The stimuli that generally paid attention by the individuals are recognised
as acceptable factor of learning. When employee pays attention to stimuli,
they recognise it for learning purposes. The level of recogonisation
depends upon the level of values, preference, needs and desire of the
individuals.

Retention:Retention means remembrance of learned behaviour over time.

Permanent retention becomes a habit which helps continuous
improvement in behaviour and performance. Habits translate theoretical
knowledge into practice.

Efforts:Efforts made by individuals are another determinant of learning. Efforts

are automatic outcomes of good habits. Efforts become the stimuli for
learning after development of the standards of the employees.

Rewards:Reward is very important determinants of learning. If after the learning

process is over, the individuals are offered rewards, the learning process
becomes more acceptable. Rewards may be monetary or non-monetary.
The behaviour of the employees decides the level and form of rewards.

THEORIES OF LEARNING:-

A theory of learning would be able to explain all aspect of learning (how, when,
why), should have universal application and should be able to predict and
control learning situation. There are four general approaches to learning:-

Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Cognitive learning
Social learning

Classical
conditioning

Operant
conditioning

Cognitive
learning

Social
learning

LEARNING

 CLASSICAL THEORY:Classical condition: conditioning is the process in which an ineffective

object or situation becomes so much effective that it makes the hidden
response apparent. In the absence of this stimulus, hidden space is natural
or normal response. This is based on the premise that learning is
establishing association between response and stimulus. Conditioning has
two main theories:-

Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning:Classical conditioning states that behaviour is learned by repetitive association

between a stimulus and a response .The organism learns to transfer a response
from one stimulus to a previously neutral stimulus .Four elements are always
present in classical conditioning. These are: Unconditional stimulus {US}
Like flood which invariably causes to react in a certain way, that is,
salivation.

Unconditioned response {UR}

Takes place whenever the US is presented, that is whenever the organism
{dog in the original experiment} is given food {US}, it salivates.

Conditional stimulus {CS}The object that does not initially bring about the desired response like the
sound of the bell.

Conditioned response {CR}A particular behaviour that the organism learns to produce to the CS, that
is, salivation.

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The work of Russian psychologist and Nobel Prize winner, Ivan Pavlov
demonstrated the classical conditioning process. A simple surgical procedure
permitted Pavlov to measure accurately the amount of saliva secreted by a dog.
In the experiments, when Pavlov presented a piece of meat (unconditioned
stimulus) to the dog. , he noticed a great deal of salivation (unconditioned
response). On the other hand, when he merely rang a bell (neutral stimulus), the
dog had no salivation. Thus it was established that ringing of bell was having no
effect on the salivation of dog. In the next step, Pavlov accompanied meat with
the ringing of the bell. On this, dog salivated. The experiment was repeated
several times. After that, he rang the bell without presented the meat .this time
dog salivated to the bell alone which was originally a neutral stimulus having no
effect on the behaviour (salivation). In the new situation the dog had become
classical conditioned to salivate (unconditioned response) to the sound of bell
(conditioned stimulus).

1. BEFORE CONDITIONING
Meat (US) --------------------------------------- SALIVATION (UR)
BELL (NEUTRAL STIMULUS) --------------- NO RESPONSE

2. DURING CONDITIONING
MEAT (US) +BELL (CS) -----------------------SALIVATION (UR)

3. AFTER CONDITIONING
BELL (CS) --------------------------------------- SALIVATION (CR)

FIG.:-CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

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 OPERANT CONDITIONING:Operant is defined as behaviour that produces effects. Operant

conditioning is based on the work of B.F. SKINNER who advocated that
individuals emit responses that are rewarded and will not emit responses
that are either not rewarded or punished. Operant conditioning implies
that behaviour is voluntary and it is determined, maintained, and
controlled by its consequences. Behaviour is likely to be repeated if the
consequences are favourable. Behaviour is not likely to be repeated if the
consequences are unfavourable. Thus the relationship between behaviour
and consequences is the essence of the operant conditioning. Based upon
this direct relationship between the consequence and the behaviour, the
management can study and identify this relationship and try to modify
and control behaviour. Hence, certain types of consequence can be used
to increase the occurrence of a desired behaviour and other types of
consequences can be used to decrease the occurrence of undesired
behaviour. It presupposes that human beings explore their environment
and act upon it. The basic principle of learning new behaviour involves
the relationship between three elements:-

Stimulus situation (important events in the situation)

Behavioural response to the situation
Consequences of a response to the person.

A simple example of the operant behaviour is the application of brake by a

vehicle driver to avoid accident. Here, the possibility of accident without
application of brake is stimulus situation, application of brake is the behaviour,
and avoidance of accident is the consequence of behaviour. Through this
process, human beings learn what behaviours will be rewarding and they engage
in those behaviours.

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Difference between classical and operant
conditioning:
Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning

In classical conditioning,
behaviour is the result of
stimulus either of first order or
higher order.

In the operant conditioning,

In the classical conditioning, a

change in the stimulus
(unconditioned stimulus to
conditioned stimulus) will elicit
a particular response.

In the operant conditioning, one

particular response out of many
possible ones occurs in a given
stimulus situation.

In the classical conditioning, the

stimulus, conditioned or
unconditioned, serving as a
reward, is every time response
to occur.

In the operant conditioning, the

Classical connection can be

Operant connections can be

expressed as S-R.

much possible behaviour can

result in the
particular stimulus situation.

reward is presented only if the

organism gives the correct
response. Thus the response is
instrumental in receiving the
reward.

expressed as R-S.

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The difference between classical and operant conditioning can be

understood by the examples provided in a table;

Organism

Connection

Individual person

Classical
Stimulus(S)
Stuck by a pain
Shocked by a electrical
Current
Surprised by a loud sound

Individual person

Response (R)
flinches
jumps
screams

Operant
Response(R)
Works
Works hard
Greeted by others

Stimulus (S)
paid
praised ,promoted
feel happy

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 CONGNITIVE LEARNING:The pioneer of cognitive learning theory is EDWARD TOLMAN. He

developed and tested this theory through controlled experiment. Using rats in
his laboratory, he showed that they learnt to run through a complicated maze
towards their goal of food. It was observed that rats developed expectations at
every choice point in the maze. Thus, they learnt to expect that certain cognitive
cues related to the choice point could ultimately lead to food. The learning took
place when the relationship between the cues and expectancy was strengthened
because the cues led to expected goals.
The cognitive theory recognises the role of an organism in receiving,
memorising, retrieving and interpreting the stimulus and reacting to it. The
cognitive explanation of learning differs from classical conditioning and operant
conditioning. According to TOLMAN, cognitive approach could be termed as
stimuli approach i.e. one stimulus leads to another.
Cognitive learning is achieved by thinking about the perceived
relationship between events and individuals goals and expectations. Cognitive
theory of learning assumes that the organism learns the meaning various objects
and events and learned response depends upon the meaning assigned to stimuli.
Cognitive theorists argue that the learner form a cognitive structure in memory,
which preserves and organises information about various events which occur in
a learning situation. When a test is conducted to determine how much has been
learned, the subject must encode the test stimuli and scan it against his memory
to determine an appropriate action.
Today, the cognitive theory is very much alive and relevant. In
organisational behaviour the cognitive approach has been applied mainly to
motivation theories.

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Cognitive learning involves enabling people to learn by using their reason,

intuition and perception. There are eight cognitive processes:-

Extraverted sensing
Extraverted intuiting
Extraverted thinking
Extraverted feeling
Intraverted sensing
Intraverted intuiting
Intraverted thinking
Intraverted feeling

Let us have a brief discussion of each of these;

Extraverted sensing occurs when people become aware in detail of what
is the physical world. They may be drawn to act on what they experience
to get an immediate result.
Extraverted intuition involves noticing hidden meanings and
interpreting them, often entertain a variety of possible interpretation from
just one idea or interpreting what someones behaviour really means.
Extraverted thinking involves organizing environment and ideas
through charts, graphs, tables, flowchart, etc. to understand them in a
better way.
Extraverted feeling involves a desire to connect with others and
expression of warmth and self-disclosure.
Intraverted sensing involves storing data and information, then
comparing and contrasting the current situation with similar ones. Thus,
the immediate experience is instantly linked with the prior experiences.
Introverted intuition involves synthesizing seemingly contradictory
phenomena in the situation which takes understanding to a new level.

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 Intraverted thinking involves finding just right words to clearly express

an idea concisely, crisply and to the point.
Intraverted feeling is associated with images, feeling tones, and guts of
reactions. As a cognitive process it often serves as a filter for information
that matches what is valued, wanted, or worth believing in.

SOCIAL LEARNING:Individuals can also learn by observing what happens to other people and just
by being told about something, as well as by direct experiences. Much of what
we have learnt comes from observing and imitating models-parents, teachers,
peers, superior, film stars etc. this view that we can learn through both
observation and direct experience has have called social learning theory. This
theory assumes that learning is not a case of environmental determinism or of
individual determinism. Rather it is a blending of both. Thus, social learning
theory emphasises the interactive nature of cognitive, behavioural and
environmental determinants.
The influence of model is central to the social learning view point. Four
processes have been found to determine the influence that a model will have on
an individual.

Attention process:People learn from a model only when they recognise and pay attention to its
critical feature. We tend to be most influenced by models that are attractive,
repeatedly available, important to us or similar to use in our estimation.

Retention processes:A models influence will depends upon how well the individual members the
models action after the model is not longer readily available.

Motor reproduction processes:After a person has seen a new behaviour by observing the model,, the watching
must be converted to doing. This process then demonstrates that the individuals
can perform the modelled activities.

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 Reinforcement processes.
Individuals will be motivated to exhibit the modelled behaviour if incentives or
rewards are provided .Behaviours that are positively reinforced will be given
more attention ,learned better and performed more often .

FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING:-

Since learning is an acquired process, it is quite natural that severalfactor4s may

affect the process. Understanding of this factor is important for management
because it can organise its learning programmes through training or otherwise
for improving the behaviour of employee at the workplace. The major factor
affecting learning is given below:-

Motivation of the learner

His mental set
Nature of learning material
Practice
Environment

These points are explained below:-

Motivation:Learners motivation is one of the major conditions of learning.

Motivation is something that moves a person to action and continues him
in the course of action already initiated. This course of action includes
learning too. A positive behaviour developed through learning result in
reward while a negative results in punishment. Thus, degree of the
learners motivation is positively associated with his learning.

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 Mental set:Mental set refers to the preparation for an action, in this context learning.
If a person is prepared to act, he can do things quickly and in no time.
Without mental set, learning cannot go smoothly and easily. It happens so
because the persons mental set activates him to do the act, and due to his
level of activation; he gets inclined to perform the act.

Nature of learning materials:Nature of learning material affects learning by providing the clue for
understanding. There are number of feature of the learning material
which effects learning.
First, if the learning material is of easy nature, it is learned quickly
whereas difficult material takes time to understand.
Second, familiarity with learning material affects learning. If the
learner is familiar with the learning material, he can learn more quickly as
compared to when he is unfamiliar with these.
Third, serial position, shape, and meaningfulness of learning material
also affect learning.
If these features are positive, learning takes place at faster rate.

Practice:Practice is very basic external condition of learning and affects all type of
learning. The more a person practises more he absorbs learning contents.
Most of the motor skills (like typing, swimming, etc.) are learned based
on this principle.

Environment:Environment in which learning process occurs, affects learning.

Environment, here, refers to the situational set up for learning.
Environmental factors can either strengthen or weaken the innate ability
to achieve and learn. Environment with high pressure and high rate of
change increases the likelihood of stress and has negative impact on
learning. Environment with features of support, cohesion and affiliation
has positive impact on learning.

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