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FULL NAME OF STUDENT: NYARADZO SIMANGO PIN: P1875833G

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COURSE NAME: INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY COURSE CODE: BHIR303

ASSIGNMENT NO. 1 DUE DATE: 14 MARCH 2020

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TO DISCUSS IN DETAIL TWO LEARNING THEORIES

Learning theories can be classified into three categories which includes behavourism,
cognitivism and humanistic psychology. Each category has its own defining characteristics that
are to be outlined in detail in the essay to follow. However this discussion will concentrate
mainly on two theories which are behavourism and cognitivism.

Behaviourism is regarded as the major psychological perspective founded in 1920s as asserted

by Child, (1981). It focuses on the overt, observable behavior of an organism. These include
intellect, feelings, emotions which cannot be measured and therefore cannot be investigated.
Behaviourist believes that all human behavior is the result of a person’s prior conditioning and is
determined by the external forces in the environment. Thus by arranging appropriate
contingencies and conditions, it is asserted that one can create a thief, a doctor, a democrat or a
professor. Furthermore to elucidate human behavior, behaviourism posed questions to ascertain
whether people are more complex than machines, the difference between humans and animals,
either humans are free agents.

Behavourism is a system of thought and it has roots in a number of philosophical traditions

which include materialism, a theory which postulated that reality can be explained by the laws of
matter and motion without reference to the mind or spiritual reality. Human being are regarded
as integral part of nature though complex parts. Materialism was followed by the adoption of
scientific realism and empiricism which was to arrive at the truth by the use of the induction
method. It is the contention of the empiricists that one should only use the sense to gain
information. Positivism theory was developed by Comte, a philosopher who argued that one
arrived at knowledge not through theology or traditional philosophy. One arrived at knowledge
through scientific observations and measurement of facts only. Thus all instances of behavior
could be classified as voluntary or involuntary.

Pavlov contributed to the development of behaviourism through experiments with salivating

dogs. He studied behavior or responses initiated by stimuli and discovered that dogs would
salivate when some previously neutral stimulus are present and it was termed classical
conditioning. Darwin viewed instinctual behavior as involuntary, reflexive and dependent upon
internal stimuli. He proposed the notion of biological continuity which implied that humans
were more intelligent but not separate from the species. It was his contention that humans were
at the mercy of their environment. Thorndyke built on the work of Pavlov and explained the
learning as a process of association. He observed that satisfying and gratifying outcomes are
more likely to lead to a response reappearing. Batson followed the work of Thorndyke and he
adamantly endorsed the idea of a science of behavior and not study of the mind or mental
activity. He insisted on observing behavior and not exploring the resecce of the mind and
emotions, thus he rejected the concept of instincts. According to him, the genesis of behavior
was due to conditioning as asserted by Pavlov’s principles. It was Watsons’ firm belief that
environmental conditioning could produce anything from a doctor to a beggar.

Modern behaviourism is associated with the work of Skinner, who has left an enduring legacy,
he firmly believed that human beings are controlled by their environment. It was his view that
conditions of the environment can be studied, specified and manipulated. Thus events
experienced in an objective environment shape behaviour. According to Skinner, (1990),
behavior is reinforced by its consequences often called reinforcers. The principle of
reinforcement is essential to understand operant conditioning. Thus if behavior is reinforced, the
response is more likely to occur again thereby providing a reward in the form of a bonus
reinforces behavior. Therefore behavior that is not reinforced is likely to become less frequent
and may even disappear. He further concluded that each process in the learning process should
be short and should grow out of previously learned experience. Also learning should be
rewarded and controlled by schedule of reinforcement hence learners should be given an
opportunity to discuss stimulus discriminations for the next path to success.

On the other side there is the cognition theory where according to Gagne, (1977), defined
learning as a change in behavior disposition which persist over a period of time and is not
simply ascribable to process of growth. This change called learning exhibits itself as a change in
behavior, and the interference of learning is made by comparing what behavior was possible
before the individual was placed in a learning situation and what behavior can be exhibited after
such treatment. Another scholar Coles, (1991), states that learning is a complex process of
acquiring knowledge, understanding, skills and values in order to adapt to the environment.
Thus such adoption involves some recognized change in behavior. Further, Dubin, (1973),
emphasised that a fundamental learning feature of learning is that it is acquired through innate
qualities of the learner, skills of the teacher and conditions in which learning takes place.

According to Curson, (1990), cognitive has been defined as all processes by which the sensory
input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered and used. It aims at uncovering and
understanding the internal activities underlying cognition, motivation and organizing of memory.
Cognitive theories arose as a direct revolt against the stimulus response to behavourists. It was
founded by a group of German psychologists known as Gestaltist led by Max Weitheimer
(1880). The cognitivist were particularly interested in the subject of perception that is how
human beings perceive their world. An experiment was conducted and they concluded that the
whole had more significance to human perception than parts. Also shapes, patterns and wholes
are more easily perceived than individual parts. Thus the Gestalts view of perception was
encapsulated in the statement that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. They
demonstrated that learning is a matter of assembling one’s world into meaningful patterns rather
than individual parts.

Moreover an experiment on chimpanzee came up with a number of theories and views to

learning which differed from those of behaviourist. Thus unlike behaviourism, cognitive saw
learning as a complex process involving the exercise of problem solving capacity, mental
mapping, intuition, imagination, perception and purpose. They developed principles in contrast
to behaviourists which include learning as a question of how the environment is perceived,
external rewards being less important than internal mapping, learning not precise and
measurable. It also identified that content and material to be taught as being part of a whole.
Thus emphasizing that the whole is greater that sum of its parts.

Overally, cognitive have yielded more applications for human resources strategies. It has
informed the writing of mission statements and values of organizations and also informed culture
change programs. On the other side behavior objectives are widely used by trainers, training
managers and adult educators in a wide range of settings. The demand for accountability at all
levels of training system and education has resulted in increased use of behavioural objectives.
Hence several human resources specialists make use of behavioural concepts of reward,
reinforcement and measurement of result.
References:

Child, D, (1981), Psychology & The Teacher: Holt, Rinchorf & Winston: London.

Coles, M, (1991), Personal Management, Theory & Practice: MacMillan Press, London.

Curson, L.B, (1990), Teaching in Further Education, Outline Principles & Practice, London.

Dublin, S, (1973), Application of Adult Education, Hauston, Publishing House, New York.

Gagne, R, (1977), The Conditions of Learning: Holt, Rinehorf & Winston, Hong Kong.