Study Guide HEALTH EDUCATION

Topic Outline II
Learning Theories Related to Health Care Practice
1. Behaviorist
2. Cognitive
3. Social

Learning Objectives
After studying this module, you will be able to:

1. Discuss the different learning theories related to health care practice.

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2. Define the principal constructs of each learning theory.
3. Give an example applying each theory to changing the attitudes and behaviors of learners in a specific
situation.

Introduction
Learning is defined as relatively permanent change in metal processing, emotional functioning and /or
behaviors a result of experience. It is a lifelong dynamic process by which individuals acquire new
knowledge or skills and alter their thoughts, feelings attitudes and actions.
Learning enables individuals to adapt to demands and changing circumstances and is crucial in health
care.
Learning theory is a coherent framework of integrated construct and principles that describe or explain
or predict how people learn.
It is important to familiarize herself with the various learning theories. This way, teacher would be able
to develop a teaching style appropriate for teachers personality and her students’ learning ability based
on knowledge of the learning theories, theories also explain the role of the teacher and the learner as
they respond to various stimuli for effective learning to take place.
Cognitive theories dwell on the learners ability to solve problems rather than simply responding to
stimuli. According to this theory ,the learner may develop solutions to problem based on past
experiences, and with additional experience and knowledge, they may further develop new ways of
solving problems at hand.
The fundamental premise of behaviorism are that all behavior is learned and that learning is most
influenced through manipulation of the environment in which it occurs and the rewards provided to
encourage it.
Social learning theories explain human behavior and their changes as a product of interaction between
cognitive,behavioral and environmental determinants,where people can affect their environments as
much as environment affect people.

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 Discussion of Key Concept
Behavioral Learning Theories

John Watson’s Behaviorism theory

He pioneered the behaviorism theory. Behaviorism originated in the field of psychology. Its concepts and
methods ware used in education.

Concepts of Behaviorism
1. Behaviorism is naturalistic
>Behaviorism states that the material world is the ultimate reality and everything can be explained in terms of
natural laws. Man has no soul and no mind but only has a brain that responds to external stimuli.
2. Man is nothing more than a machine.
> states that man responds to conditioning process and responds accordingly the way the mind perceives the
stimulus.
3. Men are biological machines whose minds do not have any influence on their actions.
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> according to skinner, the mind and the mental processes are metaphors Code and Title
fictions and that the behavior is
simply part of the biology of the organism.
4. Behaviorism teaches that we are not responsible for our actions.
> since men are mere machines, then anything done by is inevitable.
5. Behaviorism is manipulative.
>behaviorism predicts and controls human behavior by controlling rewards and punishment. One can shape the
behavior of another individual.

Edward Thorndike’s Connection Theory

American educational psychologist Edward L. Thorndike posited the first scientific theory of learning his theory
of connectionism.

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transmitting in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written permission of UCU, is strictly prohibited.
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 He focused on the effects of reward and punishment, success or failure and satisfaction or annoyance on the
learner.
He disregarded the idea that the mind was a separate entity placing it in the total response of the learner to his
environment. He disregarded the idea that man was either sinful or good that he was completely modifiable.
According to Thorndike, man was simply a mass of “original tendencies” that could be exploited for either good
or evil, depending on what learning took place. His three major laws of learning provided the following basic
principles of the connectionism theory:
1.The law of exercise or repetition
>states that the more often a stimulus-induced response is repeated, the longer will it be retained
2. The law of effect
>sates the pressure pain principle a response is strengthened if followed by pleasure and weakened if followed
by displeasure
3. The law of readiness
>states that because of the structure of the nervous system, certain conduction units, in a given situation are
more predisposed to function than other parts of the body system.

B.F Skinner’s Theory of Operant Conditioning Course Code and Title

He described the effects of the consequences of a particular behavior on the future occurrence of that behavior
as “operant conditioning”
There are four types of operant conditioning,namely
a.Positive reinforcement
> such as reward or recognition strengthens behavior.
b.Negative reinforcement
>such as punishment and extinction weakens behavior
In one of skinners experiments, a hungry cat presses a bar in its cage and receives food. Then another rat is
placed in a cage and immediately receives a mild electrical shock on its feet.
c. Punishment weakens a particular behavior through the consequences of experiencing a negative condition.
d.Extinction weakens a particular behavior through the consequence of not experiencing either a positive or a
negative condition

Edwin Ray Guthrie’s Contiguity Theory

Edwin Ray Guthrie’s continguity states that a combination of stimuli which has accompanied a movement will
on its recurrence tends to be followed by that movement
According to Guthrie, learning was based on a stimulus-response association. He believed that movements
were small stimulus-response combinations and when combined, would make up an action.
Guthrie posited further that some behavior involved repetition of movements and what was learned were
movements, not behaviors. These movements in turn, formed a series referred to as habit.
Guthries rejected the law of frequency but strongly believed in one-trial learning.

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transmitting in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written permission of UCU, is strictly prohibited.
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 One trial learning meaning means that a stimulus pattern gains its full associative strength on the occasion of
its first pairing with a response. Guthrie did not believe that learning is dependent on reinforcement because it
occurred after the association between the stimulus and the response. Contiguity theory implies that forgetting
is a form of retroactive or associative inhibition.
In Guthrie-Horton experiment, a box was constructed so that the cat could open the door by touching a post.
It took approximately 15 minutes for the cat to touch the post. The second time, the cat had tendency to
duplicate the first behavior. The second time the cat had tendency to duplicate its first behavior, which showed
an example of stereotyped behavior.

Cognitive Learning Theories

Kohler’s Insight theory

The German- American psychologist suggested that animals solved problems by understanding, like human
beings and were capable of insight learning.
He discovered with Von restoff the isolation effect in memory whichCourse
contributed
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theory of memory and
recall and developed a non-associationist theory of the nature of associations. He used a dynamic model of
human behavior which emphasized the active role of organization perception. He conducted experiments on
chimpanzees and recorded their ability to devise and use simple tools to solve problems.

Rumelhart’s Schema Theory

According to David Rumelheart” a schemata theory is basically a theory about knowledge”.
It is about how knowledge is represented and how that representation facilitates the use of such knowledge in
certain ways.
Rumelheart focused on the form of the schema theory and on representation and reuse. Schema is a form of
retrieval structure, identifying elements from their earlier experience which can be reused in current situation.
Part of what guides the comprehension and any later memory information are schemata.

David Ausubel’s Assimilation Theory

David ausubel,a psychologist focused on presentational methods of teaching in the question of subject matter I
the curriculum.
Ausubel came up with the assimilation theory, which states that the most meaningful cognitive learning occurs
as a result of interaction between new information and individual’ s relevant cognitive structures that he or she
already possess or have previously acquired.

Types of Meaningful Learning

1. Representational or vocabulary learning
>learning single words what is represented by them
2. Concept Learning
>defined as objects, events, situations or properties that possess common attributes and are designated by
some signs and symbols
2 types of concept acquisition

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 a. concept formation. Develops in young children which occurs from objects seen and heard.
b. Concept assimilation which develops in school children and adults with empirical reasoning and logical
implications of events leading towards knowledge acquisition and application.
3.Propositional Learning
>in this form of learning it is not simply the meaning of single words that is learned, but the meaning of
sentences that contain composite ideas. Syntax and grammatical rules must also be understood.

Social Learning Theories

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Albert Banduras states that learning involves functionalism, interactionalism and significant symbolism. He
stressed that individuals were capable of self regulation and self direction.

Bandura describes the social process,as one of reciprocal determination and that people are not simply reactors
to external influences. The theory of reciprocal determination means Course
that theCode and Title
individual and environmental
influences are independent. Motivation to learn arises,or fails to,in a social context of mutual expectations by
teachers and learners.
Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continues reciprocal interaction between
cognitive,behavioral and environmental influences.

Conditions for effective Modeling

a. Attention
>focus and concentration
b. Retention
>amount of information remembered including symbolic coding,mental images,cognitive organization,symbolic
recall and motor rehearsal. This directly related to focusing and attention to the information observed.
c. Reproduction
>replication of an image including physical abilities ad self observation
d.Motivation
>is the determination to find a reason to learn or imitate.

Interactive Link

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transmitting in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written permission of UCU, is strictly prohibited.
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 Critical Thinking:

1. Cite specific learning conditions or situations where each learning theory can be applied.
2. How do the different learning theories differ from one another, in terms of meaning and
applications.

Readings and References

The Nurse as Helth Educator, Concepts Principle and Strategies in Teaching 1st Ed 2009 by
Crestita B. Tan

Course Code and Title

All information contained in this module are property of UCU and provided solely for educational purposes. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or
transmitting in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written permission of UCU, is strictly prohibited.
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