Learning - A lifetime process which make human beings superior to animals.

Learning is a behavioral change which is the direct result of experience rather

than a consequence of inborn connections within the nervous system. We can
define learning as a relatively permanent change in behavior caused by experience
or practice.

There are three parts to this definition. First, after you have learned something, you behave
differently from what you did before. Second, the change must be fairly permanent or at least
consistent. Third, the new behavior must be due to experience or practice.

Types of Learning
1. Classical Conditioning

The first scientific investigation of the basic nature of learning was performed by Ivan
Pavlov, the famous Russian physiologist and psychologist. Early in twentieth century, he
discovered the classical conditioning, largely by accident. He was studying the physiology of
digestion by putting a small amount of food on a dog’s tongue and measuring the amount of
salivation.

Classical Conditioning always involves four elements: The unconditional stimulus (US),
which automatically without any learning produces the unconditioned response(UR), and the
conditioned stimulus(CS),which initially produces no response but after being paired often
enough with the US produces the conditioned response(CR), which is similar or identical to UR.

In classical conditioning, the subject learns to respond to the CS even when the US is not
presented. Each time US fails to appear, however, the strength of the conditioned response
becomes weaker. The number of trials necessary to produce extinction varies considerably. Often,
only a few unreinforced trials are sufficient.

2. Operant Conditioning

Psychologist studied another kind of learning that is called operant or instrumental

conditioning. As the name implies, in this kind of learning you must do something – take an
action, operate on the environment – in order to acquire a new behavior pattern and what you
learn is a behavior that is instrumental in achieving some result.

The central element in operant conditioning is reinforcement. Reinforcement is defined

as any stimulus or event that increases the likelihood that a response will occur again in the
future. There are two types of reinforcements – positive and negative.
Positive reinforcements involve giving a pleasant, desirable, or positive stimulus after a response.
Negative reinforcements involves he termination of an unpleasant, undesirable or negative
stimulus after a response.

Skinner and Skinner Box

B.F. Skinner – person most closely associated with operant conditioning. Most of his
research is conducted in an experimental chamber he devised called Skinner Box.
3. Imitation

A third major process by which learning occurs is imitation. Many actions, gestures,
habits and values are acquired by observing what others do.

4. Cognitive Learning

Refers to process by which we acquire beliefs, memories and other mental constructs.
Cognitive learning is learning by contiguity.

5. Insightful Learning

Insight refers to a “looking into”, a grasping of a relationship that is not immediately

apparent, a novel or unpredictable solution to a solution. Behaviorally, insight is a sudden
solution to a problem or a sharp improvement in learning which cannot be explained in terms of
specific repeated practice. Symbolically, it is the combining of initially unrelated elements, which
must be represented symbolically if the relationship is to be perceived.

Wolfgang Kohler – Spent several years studying problem solving in apes.

6. Verbal Learning

Verbal learning is true only for human beings. It involves activities that need the use of
language like speaking, writing, reading and reciting. It also deals with acquisition of information
and how this is stored in memory.

FACTOR THAT INFLUENCE CHANGE WITH PRACTICE

1. Individual Difference

The most single important factor responsible for change during practice is ability. What a
person learns is limited by his abilities. Abilities come from two sources: previous experience and
innate capacity. Both influence how much how fast someone learns particular skills.

2. Knowledge of Results

Knowledge of results or feedback should come as soon as possible for efficient practice.
Immediate knowledge of results also helps prevent other information from confusing the
feedback.

3. Participation

A person learns when he merely listens to someone or reads in a passive fashion. He

learns more, however, if he takes an active role, as reciting back what he has read or heard, or
actually giving through the motions as someone demonstrating a skill. Participation keeps the
learner’s attention. We must have enough familiarity with desirable performance to
discriminate between what is good and what is not.

4. Motivation

Motivation means emotional arousal, and too high a level of emotional arousal interferes
with complex performance.

Two Basic Principles of Learning

1. Generalization

When a response to a particular stimulus has been learned, the response will also be
elicited by other similar stimuli. This stimulus generalization follows the rule that the more
dissimilar the new stimuli are to the original one, the less likely the response is to occur and
weaker it will be if it does occur. This tendency to generalize does not have to be taught.
Whenever anything is learned, the animal naturally generalizes the other stimuli according to this
simple rule.

2. Discrimination

Discriminations are learned in two ways – by differential reinforcements and by

continued experience with he reinforced stimulus. In differential reinforcements,
responding to one stimulus, called the discriminative stimulus, is reinforced while
responding to another is not.