Group of

Rafael Serapio
Rino Karlo Redo
4ar-2
What is Learning?
 “A form of adaptation, mode of
adjustment, and a change in behavior.”

 “a process that needs to be stimulated

and guided toward desirable outcomes.”
How learning takes place
 Classical Conditioning
 Simplest
 Responding to new stimulus in original
manner
 Condition-based learning
 E.g.
○ Dog-food-bell experiment of Ivan Pavlov
How learning takes place
 Instrumental Conditioning (Operant
Conditioning)
 Allows the discovery of environmental
impacts of one’s behavior and vice versa
 Edward Lee Thorndike
○ Trial and Error Learning
○ Law of Effect
 B.F. Skinner
○ 2 kinds of responses: Respondents and
Operants.
How learning takes place
 Principle of Reinforcement
○ Maintains or increases strength of response

 Insight Learning
 Discovery of relationships that lead to the
solution of a problem.
 “the process of solving a problem through
perceiving the relationship essential to its
solution.” – Hilgard (1983)
 “Aha” experience
Types of Learning
 Rational Learning
 Process of abstraction
 Seeking knowledge
 Provides
○ Foundation for mastery of principles
○ Application of generalization
○ Determining of relationships
Types of Learning
 Motor
 Outcome sought is
SKILL
 Accuracy of
perception
 Method of trial,
error, success
 Types of Learning
 Associational

 Development of associative
patterns
 Manifested through association
and memory
 Drill, Frequent Repetition,
Review
 Outcome sought is
ACQUISITION and
RETENTION of facts and
information
Types of Learning
 Appreciational

 Outcome sought is
Aesthetic
Improvement
 Inclination to certain
aspects of life
○ Literature, music, fine
arts, etc.
 Determined by
Training and
Experiences
Laws of Learning (Major)
 Law of Readiness
 Maturation
 When the individual is ready to act, to do so
is satisfying, not to do so is annoying.
 Law of Exercise
 Use and Disuse
 When the connection between situation and
response is not used, the connection is
weakened.
Laws of Learning (Major)
 Law of Effect
 Affirms the Law of
exercise
○ “Connections that
are pleasant are
repeated; those
unpleasant are
avoided.”
Laws of Learning (Minor)
 Mind-set
 Mental condition when a reaction is made to
a situation

 Multiple Response
 Trial-and-error learning
 Trying different responses until the desired
one is achieved.
Laws of Learning (Minor)
 Partial Activity
 Elements in a situation may be “prepotent”
in causing a response.
 Analogy
 Adjusting to a new situation by referring to
past experiences as basis.
 Associative Shift
 Conditioned Reflex
Other Laws of Learning
 Apperception
 Applying of past experiences; integration
with new situation.
 Assimilation of the new by the old
 Association
 Relating 2 or more experiences together.
 Use and Disuse
 Connection strengthens response when
used.
Other Laws of Learning
 Frequency and Recency
 The more frequent the connection is
exercised, the stronger it becomes.
 Intensity
 The more vivid the exercise, the stronger the
connection will be.
 Primacy
 A first learned act will be better remembered
than latter ones.
Retention and Transfer
 Retention
 The extent to which material originally
learned still persists.
 Transfer
 Occurs when something learned
in on situation is used in a new situation
 Positive and Negative
 Compartmentalization = No Transfer
Memory and Forgetting
 Memory
 A term to label way facts are recalled
 Storage and retrieval of information
 Tasks involving memory
 Recall
○ Most difficult to perform due to absence of stimuli
 Recognition
○ Familiar vs. Unfamiliar
 Relearning
○ Attempt to regain lost material/skill.
Memory and Forgetting
 Forgetting
 Extent that materials learned are lost
 Theories of forgetting
○ Passive decay through disuse
○ Interference effects
○ Absence of adequate stimulation
○ Obliteration of the memory trace
○ Motivated forgetting
Theories of Forgetting
 Forgetting
 Extent that materials learned are lost

 Passive Decay through Disuse

 Lapse of time is cause of forgetting
 Interference Effect
 Retroactive Inhibition - Present learning overlapping
previous ones
 Proactive Inhibition – Initial learning interferes with
subsequent one
Theories of Forgetting
 Absence of Adequate Stimulation
 Sudden triggering of “recall” due to exposure
e.g.
1. Exposing someone to the crime of the scene
2. Recalling the odor of a room

 Obliteration of Memory Trace

 Emotional shock prevents consolidation
 Motivated Forgetting
 Repression
 Some memory become inaccessible because of its
negative effect
Factors Affecting Learning
 Maturation/Readiness
 Intelligence
 Opportunities for Learning
 Environmental Condition
 Health of the Learner
 Emotional Factor
Simply Put
 Learning = mental activity
 Reinforcement = stimulus that increases
strength of response
 Learning is classified through outcome
sought
 Thorndike = 3 laws of learning
 Readiness, exercise, effect.
 Many learned behaviors are transferable
 Learning is dependent on external and
internal factors related to the learner