Recap

Operant conditioning
The typical procedure in Skinner’s operant
conditioning
Consequences of behavior
Reinforcement and reinforcers
Schedules of reinforcement
Partial and continuous schedules
Variable and fixed ratio schedules
Variable and fixed interval schedules
 Shaping and Behavior Modification
 Applications of operant conditioning in
real life situations
 Ask yourself:
Did we learn, all that we know, as a
result of mere association of stimulus
and response;or was it learnt just
because we were
reinforced for it?????

CAN LEARNING TAKE PLACE AS A

RESULT OF SOME OTHER
PROCESSES???
 Ask yourself
Why does a soldier keep resisting
the strong enemy without caring for
his life even when he can escape?
Why would an artist donate his
paintings to a charity school and not
sell them in the market when he could
have earned hundreds of thousands?
Cognitive Approach to Learning

The approach that focuses upon the

thought processes underlying learning

The approach that gives importance to

cognition when understanding and
explaining learning
 Cognitive Approach/
Perspective/ Model
 Cognitive learning approach has roots in
the cognitive perspective
 Cognition means”knowledge” or “the
process of knowing”
 Cognitive approach emphasizes:
i. Thoughts
ii. Feelings
iii. Thinking
iv. Values
v. Expectations etc
 This theory gives same importance to
both the internal states of the person as
well as the environmental events
 Internal events are referred a s
“Mediators”or “mediational
processes”__ ( that come in between
stimulus and response)
 Mediators are ‘conceptual’ but they are
defined physiologically rather than
conceptually
Elements of Cognitive Model

Internal processes= Mediators= Work in a

essential in systematic and
understanding organized way not
behavior in terms of trial and
error
 Emphasis of Cognitive
Approach
 Cognitive approach mainly focuses on;
i. Emotions
ii. Social behavior
iii.Behavior modification
 Cognitive approach includes the
elements of psychology, linguistics,
computer science and physiology__ thus
called a ‘hybrid science’
 The roots of cognitive
learning can be traced in the
work of Wolfgang Kohler,
and E.C. Tolman
Wolfgang Kohler:

 Experiments on apes by German scientist

Kohler, led to the discovery of the use of
insight by animals in problem solving;
“learning by insight”
 Most famous of his experiments were
conducted involving “Sultan”, an ape
series of experiments in which it had to
reach a banana outside its cage using a stick.
Once it could solve this problem several
times, it was provided with a stick that was
not long enough to reach the banana.
However, outside the cage was placed a
longer stick.
The ape unsuccessfully tried several times
to reach the banana with the smaller stick, till
it was finally frustrated and retreated
Then all of a sudden the ape got up, got
hold of the shorter stick and used it to reach
the longer stick; that stick was then used to
reach the banana
This phenomenon, Kohler thought, could
be explained neither in terms of mechanical
classical or operant conditioning, nor trial
and error
The animal had exhibited a sudden change in
behavior or the way it organized the problem
situation based upon “insight”
 Tolman talked about the ‘cognitive
maps’; it is not necessary to have an
association between stimulus and
response, a person can learn without
showing any apparent response; in
other words learning and performance
are not the same
 Both Kohler and Tolman played a vital
role in laying the foundation of cognitive
approach
Tolman’s Concept of Latent
Learning
• The type of learning in which the
organism does learn or acquire a
particular behavior but does not
readily demonstrate it until
reinforcement is provided;
performance may not be the same as
what one has actually learned
 Tolman’s Series of Early
Experiments
• Tolman (1886-1959) and colleagues
conducted experiments that
demonstrated that only mechanical
association between the stimulus
and response can not explain just
every type of learning
Group- 1: For 17 days the rats were allowed wandering
around the maze once a day without being rewarded;
making many errors they took longer in reaching the
end

Group- 2:Always given food at reaching the end;

learned to run faster to the end and food box;
made fewer errors

Group- 3: For the first 10 days treated like

group-1, and then given food;running time reduced,
errors declined;performance immediately matched
that of group-1
 Conclusion: Cognitive Map
• The rats who were not rewarded had learnt
the layout of the maze in their initial
explorations, but demonstrated their
ability/skill only after reinforcement was
provided; immediately after they start
getting food they were almost as good as
group-1
• They had developed a cognitive map of the
maze which was used when reinforcement
was received
 Cognitive Map
• A mental representation of space,
locations,and directions; a mental
representation of learned
relationships among stimuli
 What function do spatial
cognitive maps perform???
In case of animals:
• spatial memory is used for identifying
and recognizing the features of their
environment e.g cats find their way back
home
• Spatial memory is used for finding
important goal objects in their
environment
•Spatial memory is used for planning route
through an environment
 Use of Cognitive Maps by
Animals:
• Birds’ coming back to the same place
and point after a season
• Pigeons carrying messages
• Cats coming back home
 Use of cognitive maps by
humans:
• Cognitive maps of surroundings, primarily
based on particular landmarks are
developed by people too
• In their initial encounter with a new
environment, they develop cognitive maps
based upon specific paths
• As the familiarity with the environment
increase, “abstract cognitive maps” are
developed i.e., overall conception of
environment
• Use by interior designers
Observational Learning
 Ask Yourself:
• Will people be behaving the same way as
they do now, if they had never seen
another human being?
• How do toddlers learn to wear shoes?
• why do small girls like to wear lipsticks/
• how does one reach for the ignition in a
car when trying to drive the very first time
on his own?
• How do many youngsters start smoking?
• Why do people dress up and talk like
famous actors?
 Observational Learning
• Learning through observation of others’
behavior ; or as a result of modeling

• According to Albert Bandura and

colleagues a major portion of our learning
is base upon learning by observation
 Main component of social-learning theory
in which person make changes in his own
behavior by watching/or imitating
others.i.e a model/ a super star/Favorite
personality or cartoon character
 Effective in acquiring skills, attitudes,
beliefs simply by watching others
Observational learning may
lead to learning negative as
well as positive
behaviors!!!!
 Steps in Observational
Learning
i. The most critical features of another
person’s(model’s) behavior are paid
attention to and perceived
ii. The behavior is remembered; stored in
memory
iii. The action is reproduced
iv. The person is motivated to learn and
practice the behavior ; successes are
reinforced and failures punished
When is observational learning
the best approach to learning
???
• In learning those skills where shaping is
not appropriate, trial and error
impossible, and classical conditioning
irrelevant
o Flying airplanes as a pilot
o Performing surgery
 Who is a good model???
• The one who is rewarded for his behavior
• Those punished for their behavior will not
usually be copied
• Socially significant models( e.g
advertisements)
• Successful people
• Glamorous people
• Good communicators
 Applications of Observational
Learning in Real Life Situations
I. Overcoming fears in children
II. Assertiveness training
III.Treating fear of medical treatment and
surgery
IV.Learning sports and athletics
V. New skills like swimming
VI.Classroom situation: good performers
and high achievers are rewarded so that
they act as models for other children
VII.Fashion
VIII.Smoking
IX.Drug abuse
X. drinking alcohol
XI.Violence and aggression learnt and
displayed by children
XII.Learning gender roles