Principles of Learning in Training

Ari Sudan Tiwari

Ph. D.
 Learning

Change in behaviour: Adaptive or maladaptive

Occurs through practice and experience

Does not occur through maturation, fatigue or species-specific

behaviour

Relatively permanent
 Products of Learning

Learning of ideas and concepts

Learning of behaviours and skills

Learning of attitudes and values

 Theory of classical conditioning: Ivan P. Pavlov

When a neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS) is

paired with a natural stimulus (unconditioned stimulus,
UCS), neutral stimulus alone acquires the ability to elicit
the response (conditioned response, CR) which naturally
occurs (unconditioned response, UCR) after natural
stimulus
 Paradigm of classical conditioning

Stimulus Response
Neutral/Conditioned Stimulus No response

Natural/Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned response

Continuous pairing of the two stimuli
Neutral/Conditioned Stimulus (alone) Conditioned response

Behavioural implication: Learning of negative emotional responses

 Theory of instrumental conditioning: B. F. Skinner

Increases the likelihood of

Desirable
behaviour

Change in the
Behaviour
environment

Decreases the likelihood of

Undesirable
behaviour
 Paradigm of instrumental conditioning

Nature of the event following a response

Appetitive Aversive
Positive reinforcement Punishment
Consequence of a

Onset of
(Increases the likelihood (Decreases the
event
response

of behaviour) likelihood of behaviour)

Omission of
Negative reinforcement
Termination reinforcement
(Increases the likelihood
of event (Decreases the
of behaviour)
likelihood of behaviour)
 Conditioning theories and training process

Applying concepts of generalization and discrimination

Shaping of complex behaviours: Method of Successive

Approximation

Programmed learning

Personalized system of instruction (PSI)

Personalized application of learning paradigm

 Using punishment in training process

Mild punishment with explanation

Consistent punishment

Closer in time and place of behaviour being punished

Strengthening desired behaviour while punishing the

undesired one
 Cognitive learning

Learning without being involved in any active process

Selection of information from the environment

Making alterations in the selected information

Associating the items of information with each other

Elaborating information in thought

Storage of information

Retrieval of information when needed

Observational learning: Albert Bandura

Attention process

Retention process
Latent Learning

Motivational process

Behavioural production
 Transfer of learning

Dependency of human learning or performance on prior

experience

Types of transfer of learning

 The effect-perspective: Positive vs. Negative transfer

 The situation perspective: Specific vs. General, Near vs. Far

transfer

 The process perspective: Reproductive vs. Productive

 Memory

Sensory Register Short Term Memory Long Term Memory

Vision: Up to 1 second; Up to 30 Seconds Days, months, years or

Duration Auditory: Up to 5 Seconds lifetime

Relatively large: Up to 16 Relatively small: Up to Unlimited

Capacity
items 7±2 chunks
Attention and recognition: Rehearsal: Rehearsed
Transfer
Attended and recognized items transfer into LTM -
Process
items transfer into STM
Type of Copy of input Sounds, visual images, Semantics, life events
Information words, sentences

Decay of trace Displacement of old No real forgetting; Faulty

Process of information by new one organization of information,
Forgetting Inappropriate retrieval cue,
Interference
 Types of long term memory

Semantic memory: Words and meanings; relations among

words; rules of use in language and thinking
 Storage in highly organized and associative manner
 Stable in nature

Procedural memory: Associations between situations, events
and actions

Episodic memory: Memory of events in our lives in relation to
the time and place of their occurrences
 Forgetting

Loss of information from the memory store

Process of forgetting

Decay of trace

Displacement of information

Retrieval problems Forgetting B
(Proactive interference)

Interference
Learning A Learning B

Forgetting A
(Retroactive interference)
 Improving memory

Mnemonics: Acronyms

The Method of Loci

Deeper level of analysis: Association and elaboration of

information

Chunking

Making story by relating items

 Learning: Theory to practice

Learning is an experience which occurs inside the trainee and is

activated by the trainer

 Trainer is a facilitator

 Create an atmosphere where trainees are free to explore ideas

 Very little learning takes place without personal involvement and

meaning on the part of the trainee
 Learning: Theory to practice

Learning is the discovery of the personal meaning and relevance of

ideas

 Trainers should relate the lessons to the needs, interests and

problems of the trainees

Learning is an evolutionary process

 Results cannot take place overnight

 Trainers should be patient with trainees

 Learning: Theory to practice

Learning is sometimes a painful process

 Behavioral change often calls for giving up the old and

comfortable ways of believing, thinking and valuing

The process of learning is emotional as well as intellectual

 Learning is affected by the total state of the individual

 Learning: Theory to practice

The process of problem solving and learning are highly unique and
individual
 Trainees have unique learning styles
 Make trainees aware of their learning and problem solving
styles: help them improve
 Learning: Theory to practice

Prior knowledge can help or hinder learning

 Prior knowledge is the lens through which we view all new

information

 Connect new information to accurate information they already

possess
 Learning: Theory to practice

Motivation generates, directs and sustains learning behavior

 Motivation influences the amount of time and effort trainees

devote to learning and supports their continued engagement
when difficulties arise

The way trainees organize knowledge determines how they use it

 We need to help trainees learn to organize knowledge

 Learning: Theory to practice

Meaningful engagement is necessary for deeper learning

 Posing and answering meaningful questions about concepts,
making analogies or attempting to apply the concepts or
theories to solve problems

 Leads to more elaborate, longer lasting and stronger

representations of the knowledge
 Learning: Theory to practice

Mastery requires developing component skills and knowledge,

synthesizing and applying them appropriately
 Many activities actually involve a synthesis of many component
skills
 To master these complex skills, trainees must practice and gain
proficiency in the discrete component skills
 Give opportunities to practice the skills
 Learning: Theory to practice

Goal-directed practice and targeted feedback are critical to learning

 Involves working toward a specific level of performance and
continually monitoring performance relative to clearly define
goals
 Learning: Theory to practice

Trainees must learn to monitor, evaluate and adjust their

approaches to learning to become self-directed learners
 Trainees must become conscious of their thinking processes
 Require them to explicitly monitor, evaluate and reflect on their
own performance and provide them with feedback on these
processes
 Learning: Theory to practice

Since trainees develop holistically, their learning is affected by the

social, emotional and intellectual climate of training situation

Feeling of support and respect

Intellectual and creative risks

Ridicule and persecution

Disengagement and poor performance

 Steps of effective training process

1. Gain attention: stimulate the learners' interest in the subject

2. Inform the objectives of training: Let the trainees know what

they will be learning, stimulates the internal process of expectancy
and helps motivate the trainee to complete the lesson

3. Recall Prior Knowledge: Get the trainees to think about what

they already know and associating new information with prior
knowledge which can facilitate the learning process
 Steps of effective training process

4. Present Content: Content should be chunked and organized

meaningfully and variety of media should be used if possible
5. Provide Guided Learning: Guidance strategies should include
the use of examples, non-examples, case studies, graphical
representations, mnemonics and analogies
6. Elicit Performance: Facilitate the learner to practice the new skill
or behavior
 Steps of effective training process

7. Provide Feedback: Inform learners of their performance and

provide specific and immediate feedback of their performance
8. Assess Performance: Evaluate learners on their knowledge,
behaviour and skills
9. Enhance Retention and Transfer: Aid learners in remembering
and applying the new skill
The only kind of learning which significantly influences
behaviour is self-discovered or self-appropriated learning,
truth that has been assimilated in experience.
-Carl Rogers

Thank You