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Theories of Learning OBJECTIVES Discern the learning theories and their implications. State the three major learning theories. Compare each learning theories. Learning theory is an attempt to describe how people learn, thereby helping in understanding the inherently complex process of learning. 3 learning theories Behaviorist Theory Behaviorist Theory Earliest formal theory of learning. John Watson began studying behavior because it was objective and practical. Behavior as a muscle movement. A result of a series of conditioning reflexes, emotion and thought through conditioning. Behaviorist Theory a behavioral process whereby a response becomes more frequent or more predictable in a given environment as a result of reinforcement, with reinforcement typically being a stimulus or reward for a desired response. Emphasized stimulus and response. Behaviorist Theory Believed existence of thought process as a result of stimulus-response activities. Since behaviorists view the learning process as a change in behavior, educators arrange the environment to elicit desired responses through such devices as behavioral objectives, competency-based education, and skill development and training. Behaviorist Theory Teachers who adhered to behaviorist theory extolled the value of drill, practice and memorization. Cognitive Learning Theory Cognitive Learning Theory Cognitive Science a study of how our brains work in the process of perceiving, thinking, remembering, and learning. Focus on mental processes that are responsible for behavior and its meaning. Learning, from a cognitive perspective, is an active process in which the learner constructs meaning based on prior knowledge and view of the world. Cognitive Learning Theory

Educators who base their work on cognitive theory tend to focus on making learning meaningful and interesting and tying it to students 'existing mental schema. Schema are knowledge structures that are stored in memory. Uses techniques such as advance organizers, which are statements made at the beginning of class to help students activate prior knowledge and relate it to the new material. Cognitive Learning Theory Educators employing a cognitivist approach to learning would view learning as internal mental process (including insight, information processing, memory, perception) where in order to develop learner capacity and skills to improve learning, the educator structures content of learning activities to focus on building intelligence. Cognitive Learning Theory The educators teach students how to learn through elaboration of concepts and ideas, applying them to various situations, asking questions about them, and organizing and summarizing the information. Social learning theory Key components: 1. People learn as they are in constant interaction with their environment. Most learning occurs as a result of observing other peoples behavior and its consequences. (Modeling) People can learn through observation. Social learning theory 2. Attentional processes determine which modeled behaviors will be learned. 3. Retention processes refer to the ability to retain modeled behaviors in permanent memory. Social learning theory According to this theory, motivation for learning will determine which modeled behaviors are enacted. Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. May be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure.