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    13 views9 pages

    Learning Theory

    Uploaded by

    SHIKHAR SRIVASTAVA

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Learning Process Aker studying this chapter, you willbe able to define earings process enumerate various learning theoles and tek maln features ‘explant ccf learing deserbe the learning proces ands elements een the conditions fo efecive lesming Understand reiforcerent andl behavioural modifcaon i (EI [imine as ten toute sb fr tue poly and hein change in individuals and organizations. Learning is conceptualized as acquisition of new | cn anil in lboruorce Some of tet suds on animals had sigan ipicatons fr the earning of human beingy—cidren aswel as aus. Learnings avast ld anda large umber of theo hae Been proposed One vue lis as may 2039 eones ot learning | "Two tape ute delimit ourdcosionof earning cori curimertinadukearing {Uh (and mon animal or chen’ earning andthe revance of he theores to management ] WHATS LEARNING? 1 Tg nay) Vexrving as ben defined in varios ways and alto rsarch has been done EY on Rx our puree, laming ray be defined a the procen of sexing, ecemeaaigind svsndating and internalizing copie, moto or behmoaa inputs tt cengcopmn | foie and varied we when requzed, leading to an enhanced capability pacer eer | ir fterelfmontoredleaming, This cfinion has many implicaons for epee making learning more effective. The process of learning has six steps (Fig it 60). 1 4 Appian fnew ering 3 Ineraleatin of nw knows 2. Asonton oF retin 1 Aeging hrowedge Fig.61 The Process of eeming The fist step in leaming isthe acquiring of new input in terms of knowledge understanding (cognition), some physical or motor acti ora new behaviour attudes and values) When this proces is quic, learning is eflecive The next step isthe assimilation of new input. It shoul nt only be acquired iy should also be retained for a length of time If the input that is acquired is shore the memory, learning wll not be eflective Learning isnot a process of collection of various inputs alone If these inputs hang loose, independent of ane ancthe, the person merely act passive receptacle for knowledge, motor skill, or behaviour. Ths eften happens example, 2 scientit may acquire some scienie knowledge and skils, and ye continue to be superstious. This is like keeping the sientic knowledge in a ‘compartment. Similaly, behavioural sient may acquire the sil of helping pe bbe open, share their fetings, and collaborate, whereas his or her own behaviour may les than understanding, habit bound, highly competitive, and threatening Develo of new technology has increased the danger of such schizophrenic living Giving ad contradictory life in terms of knowledge aad behaviour, or behaviour in di settings, without being aware of such contradictions}, Elective learning is character {the internalization of new inputs. New inputs ace acquired from the ouside cavio But after these are asimiated, they should become a part of the indivi’ perso festyle, and paychological world, Internalization also means that inputs ge tana according to the individual's own prychological and cognitive system, and thus integrated. Once the acquired inputs are internalized, they shoul! be availabe to the indi for their effective use when the need arses. If what is learn is only ‘ornamental not effectively wed learning eannot he suid tobe fective. For example the of management techniques and sls should result in beter management of tie setvtes and ikl with which he person works Elective wie of learning bo involves ereatvg: Leaving should have ‘want What one has learned in one feld, one shouldbe able to apply and sein another ‘This aio the concept in internalization. Aer one has karned management ekg fone may be required to take up some other asignment, suchas adinitraton of agricultural project a government department, or aplical party One shoud be ale ‘scone inowledge and slin the newsitation, This wold mean being creative al ‘one own contibusion to what one has learnt. ‘Thus, dee is continuo enrichment tering roe 161 a nowledge and practice. Learning must consibute to this proces of development of woowrate generation of new knowledge, development of nev fields of application, and Khang of new theories and conceptual models, In fat, creativity would also imply Guprovement of practice wit new knowledge and skills end dhe development of Pew nowledge from improved action and practice, 4. Lemtning shoul in aditon, increase a person's capabicy for learing more on hs oF CeIn his doce happen in effective learning After a child has learned wo take the fst Tv pai learns to walk and balance ise on is own. Sma inial learning jn « ‘ular ll enables a person co organize further learning on iso hes own, Wout Partctiflearing an individuals growth would remain limited and dependent on external gn THEORIES Different approaches have been propesed to explain the phen aarerenergal a moves or theories, We shall discuss thes theories and thes implications for Faprovngthe learning proces. The varios theories f learning ars flows jomenon of learning, These «+ Skimmlus-response theories Cognitive theories 1 Ad learning theories $ Socal earning theories 1 Experiential learning theories Stimulus-Response Theories "There are vee important timulus-response theories, namely asia coneltioning by Pavlos jpaumental conditioning by ‘Thorndike, and operant conditioning by Skinner ‘Classical Conditioning "The eaten theory of learning developed around the turn of the last century. The Russian ‘ysloge, len Pv experimenting onthe digestive syste of dog gave meat pow o Pry dag to salivate them. He discovered a strange phenomenon after sometime. Wie ihe rsene of od (oe elicing simul) inthe animals! moth coud relly ped the flow of sats the innate response) the sight ofthe experimenter who Drought the food {eho was paired with the food) soon came to elicit salivaton. Pavioy termed ceifeaon bythe presence ofthe sight of the experimenter who brought the food fand who wae paired with meat powder) as onal rfl. He disingushed onausnng sed | penal fr Galfation on teat powder) fom conditioned reflex (slivation on the presence ofthe experimenter, who had been paired with meat powder). “This recarch became pioneering in several way. Pavlov’ theory can also be called studi nual hry, When a sls ges associated with another neutral phenomenon, the srl phenomenon acquires the quality ofthe orginal stimulus to ge the desired response sTncat be undersood in a socal sting, For example, a woman worker has bal experience “ch eww consecutive male bosses. They arcused anges, anxiety etc, in bet tbeoryean | Because of stimulus generalization, other men eit same feelings inher when, be caledamiss | she encounters them. As a result, the woman worker may develop @ negative eer) imide towards men 182 _Undenandng rp Classical conditioning occirs or experiences. It is ot neces follows the other, but one event et. For instance, ong seaaanttn the deni the sound af the ell may not have any eet on haa) densi warts to se the dill The nex ime, ju the ight and the sound of teat Pain and discomfort in the person, Clasical condoning is a very common occurence in every om learning, clasical conditioning primarily inf ‘noticed ina students orientation towards a particu Produces feelings of either fear and anicty or exc seudent will be sea Took forward to attending the clas. Or wh immediatly fe when one forms an association betweca two yin classical conditioning cases, that one event will cause or bring about the ote lay lif. For example, tes emotional behavious Tig lar eacher or subject. Ifa ject or very hungry. Clasical condoning is used widely in adventing chert Peasant music and beau scenery in adh fortes product The pa averted ges asociated with the lfc that the music or senery prods the sale of the product, Howeves, this method may not work for prod Instrumental Conditioning Around the same time as Paviow worked on cats, chicks, and dogs to understand th fiom Pav: Thorndike placed his animals ‘scape, by manipulating and this at are very in Russa, E.L. Thorndike in the US was he learning process. He differed in one my ina ‘puede tox’ from which they were req i the correct lever or pulley, in order to obtain food momeed ‘Be Process of ‘tial and errr’, Thorndik's animals eventually learned 8 behaviours were instrumental in escaping fiom the box nce che a and in obaining cniccindegne | ‘ Pandignvasbeled ascunental condoning For Trea fect ay _| 8 ore mporat fr nung han te sa ce ge can, d be called espe gemalcatin dey. Operant Condtoning Thee it 2 both hee tmdion of Pviov (which he called Type S condoning Tnorndit, (which he called Type R conditioning) and became one ofthe man ty Theor of learning, He developed science and technology but upon, Tine Ros rcanionine. Skinner difered radically fom earning and clneal pycologon, Whe “earing theorist seed the importance of the immediately preceding clog bn sintlus did not occupy specific place as an independent variable, Silay he dl Leaning Proce 163 ‘One key concept in operant analysis isthe cmingeny rlatiosip between an operant and the events that fllow it. The relationship of a student's raising hand in a classroom and the teachers attention to the student is typically contingent act. The teacher selectively recognizes the student; he i not forced to do so. Hand raising can be considered as operant, under the control of contingent events inciding the teacher’ response, in addition to the reaction of other students, et). Skinner achieved amazing results through his research, ‘During his esearch, Skinner trained pigeons to do various things including dancing and bowling in a minkalley. His experiments led to the technology of operant shaping, which can be employed to change attitudes. (Operant conditioning is used widely in organizational management, a8 most behaviour in organizations islearned rather than natural. Employees learn all kinds of behaviour before and afer joining a company. The kind of behaviour that employees dplay are either rewarded or punished, depending on the values and culture of the organizations. The various faciors that {ct as stimuli to behaviour in an organization are work schedules or ines, corporate structures, company policies, supervisors behavious, peer group, corporate culture, salary and benefit tte, One's behaviour in an organization can ether meet with approval or disapproval from fne’s supervisor and peets, and can accordingly lea to promotions, emotions hike in salary, ‘other faites, increase in authoring ete. When there are consequences, good and bady linked tobehaviou, they willllectthe way one behaves. Reinforcement and modification of managerial behaviour Reinforcement is an important element in Skinner's theory of operant conditioning, Thousands of experiments have been conducted by psychologists all over the world to find tthe various factors associated with the effectiveness of reinforcement, Reinforcement isa postive (‘reward’) or negative ‘experience (apunishment), which can alter behaviours of animal and human Ramforenert es | beings. Basically, operant conditioning sa simple feedback system. Ifa reward [ae tiprne | flows the response to simul, then the response becomes more probable in Gitenmarbsher | the future, The various pes of reinforcement statgies employed to channel srvotasmabind | ichaviour in organizations inthe dese dreton are pose enforcement an ag negative reinforcement, punishment, and extnton. Pascerinfrcanent- Positive teinfoncement is used to increase the frequency of the desired behaviour among emplayes in organizations by giving some kind of reward for behaving in the desired way. For example, when the boss appreciates a subordinate for submitting report ‘before the deadline using words such as Good jab or ‘Excellent or gives the subordinate a pat fn the back, or thanks him/her fr finishing the workin time, the subordinate i kel to make a effort and repeat the same kind of behaviour inthe future as wel. Positive reinforcement involves some form of recognition or appreciation, which makes an employee happy. Another cxample of postive reinforcement isthe bus (postive reinforcer) that a salesperson receives on ‘meeting his/her sales target (behaviour), The bonus that he recekes wil make the salesperson continue to pt in that effort to meet his/her target every time. “Many organizations use pottive reinforcement to develop the desired behaviour from employees. RPG gives away awards to people who have contributed to social iswues, such as ‘aio o flood rele. NIFT names a conference room, or office, o training room afte its most ‘outstanding employee of the year, The naming is done ceremonicusly—a car is sent to fetch the Family cake i ordered, and employees assemble in that oom te celebrate. 164 _Undeserdng OrpizntonlBekoour You won! believe the inuence the weiner has hodon M Gupta looks he took the seminar on negative reoremen eal ‘The RPG group has a ‘vacation scheme’ for the b region’ and ‘best division’. Certificates are Dest employe and also rewards the Negatoernforcment Negative reinforcement 's used to increase the frequency of the desired behaviour in people by” helping them understand the consequences of une desirable behaviour. For example, i the boss reprimands his/her secretary every time he/she makes spelling mistakes inthe letters hefthe types, but does not when hefthe sees a letter without any mistakes, hee is using the negative reinforcement method, The secretary will ty and avoid ‘aking mistakes while typing to ensure chat. hhe/ahe isnot reprimanded by his/her boas ‘Thus, negative reinforcement is eliminating Uundesred smal fom the environment in ‘onder to reinforce the desired behaviour in employees. Similarly if employees come late to office on two consecutive days, moat organizations count it at a day's lve for ty in employees. This is another example of the employee. This practice reinforces punctual negative reinforcement. Paisbmest Punishment means creating an undesirable situation to decrease an undesirable behaviour It atemps to decrease the probably of specific behaviour fm occuring ‘again. Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment, but they ar not the cone Pishment attempts to decrease the probability of specific behaviury negative reinforcement attempt to increase the desired behaviour Punishment is one of the wed in organizations to discourage certain kinds of behaviour, bat many learning pera ‘suggest that it should be used only if positive and negative reinforcement cannot be seca ee hve fled to produce the necesary results. Punishments auch as demoting an employer whe $s Rot met his/her goals or suspending an employe for volating work rules, can nogatney alfect a peron’s psychological or emotional balance Exinion Extinction is somewhat similar to punishment, Undesirable behaviour, but the process of extinction is reinforce a particular behaviour leading to Kind of reinforcement (negative or poste) of a particular behaviour continuing, over a ice, itis wed t reduce or decrease ifferent, It removes all sic that 4 stop or weakening of that behaviour If any is withheld in order t» decrease the probably Petiod of time that behaviour will disappear oF Learing Proce 165 cease. The rationale behind extintion is that any behaviour not followed by a consequence will disappear on its own, For example, if we stop responding or reacting to (consequence) the sarcasm of a colleague (behaviour, he/she will sop being sarcastic after a while. Extinction can also affect posive behaviour. For example, if an employee is constantly praised by his/ her colleagues forthe efficiency shown in completing his/her werk but receives no praise or recognition from his/her supervisor, he/she may lose interest aad become les efficent. Thus, extinction involves three steps—() identifying the behaviour to be eliminated, (2) identifying reinforcers that encourage a particular behzviour, and (3) stoping the use of reinforcer. Shaping On joining an organization, although people bring with chem what they have learnt, most oftheir learning takes plae ding ther stay in the erganiation, As part of their ‘work, employees may need to learn new things, which are beyond their present capabiiy. Organizations, therefore, have to evolve programmes to mould employees, 30 that they are beneficial tothe organization, A common method used to mould employees isknown as shaping There are two ways of shaping or modifving behaviour—graduated challenging successes and schedule of reinforcement, Cognitive Theories Stimulus-response theories have ther limitations. They disregard the activities of the mind, and so cannot explain all types of learning. Even research on animals has shown that they adapt their reinforeed pattern to new information, Experiments on monkeys showed tha they Ses inporane copie | changed their behaviour on perceiving change in the environment, without any te ears offering | reinforcement. Many earning theorists recognized the importance of thinking. Teoryofcapitie | Their theories can be called cognitive theories of learning. In his ategory to Bronce sd eory | important theories are the theory of cognitive dismance by Festinger and the (eter ntne theory of lateral thinking by de Bono. Theory of Cognitive Dissonance Festinger’ proposed the cognitive disonance theory primarily applicable to learning (or change) ofatindes, According to this theory individuals tend to seek consistency among their cognitions fie, knowledge, belief, and opinion). When thee isan inconsésteney between attitudes or behaviours (disonance), something must change to eliminate the disonance. Inthe case of @ cliscrepancy between atitudes and bebsviouy, it ie most ikely tha: the attitude will change to accommodate the behaviour ‘Two factors alec the strength of the disonance: che numberof dissonant beliefs and the importance atached to cach belie, There are the ways to eliminate disonance: Reduce the importance of the dissonant bli. L 2, Add more consonant beliefs that outiegh the dissonant belie, dlisonant belief so that they are no longer inconsistent. Dissonance occurs mest often in situations where an individual must choose ont Saittaoe | between two incompatible bells ar actions. The greatest dsonance i created Wes anintidal | when the two alternatives are equally attractive. Atinde change is more ily Pre ico buen | wih es incentive for changed behavious since it praduee dsanance, resolved Sarees | by siting of asitude. Three examples are given inthis section to understand the concept Lowring Pres 173 supervisor wants his/her production team to produce 10,000 articles in a month he/the has to se anges forthe team, simple, eal achievable targets inthe beginning and gradually raise the bar to higher or challenging eget. Schedule of reinforcement In operant conditioning, one important clement is the schedule of reinforcement. The timing of the consequences that fllow a given Ichaviour is known as the reinforcement schedule. A schedule of reinforcement ia rule determining which responses should be followed by reinforcement under conditions, where not every response is necessarily reinforced. The reason schedules were important theoretically was that eierent kinds of schedules produced diferent patterns of behaviour Schedles of reinforcement have ‘egular and profound effec onthe organism's rate of responding, The importance of schedules of reinforcement cannot be overestimated, According to Reynolds, "No description, account, ‘or explanation of any operant behaviour of any organism is complete unless the schedule of reinforcement i specified." ‘There are swo types of schedules: imple and compound, Simple schedules are those ‘volving a single rule to determine the delivery of single type of reinforecr for making ‘ingle pe of reponse. The simplest schedules ofall barely deserve the name Thapar ive ype | they are continuous reinforcement (the renforcement of every response) and aeiegprteaet | extinction (he cesaton of all enforcement), Compound schedules combine Severe ____J wo or more diferent simple schedules in some way he schedule of reinforcement can either be continuous or intermittent. Continuous ‘inforeementis whena behaviourisreinforced every timeitoccur nintermitentrenforcement, abehavariour is reinforced only sporadically ora regula intervals, Continuous reinforcement helps to modify behaviour in the desired direction in a short time, however it increases the ‘expectations of the person involved and i alto more expensive, especially if monctary rewards are involved. Continuous reinforcement schedule works best i itis used! during the inal stages of one’s learning I helps to create a strong association between the behaviour and the ‘sponse. Once the association i set, reinforcement need not be as regular, and an intermittent reinforcement schedule ean be fllowed, ‘There are atleast four types of intermittent reinforcement schedules, namely fixed ratio, variable rat, fixed interval, and variable interval, ‘Fixd-ai sheds In fxe-ratio schedvles of reinforcement, a desired behaviour is only reinforeed after specified periods of time. For example, a fxed-atio schedule can be planned! in such a way thatthe response is reinforced every 10 or 30 seconds. This kind of schedule rodivces high steady rate of responding toa stimulus, A good example offixed-rato schedules of reinforcement is a departmental store or a restaurant announcing a fre gift to cvery 10% ‘customer. People willbe tempted to visit the restaurant ar the tore expecially i they know that a friend of thers gota fee git Veviablerat schdale In variable-ratio schedules, a response is reinforced afer Foran” | an unpediceaie nue f mopoacs In hs dof ates herder Mintranewstes | or rewards gen ony afer the dered bert has cures ets Siocon | Theme of nea behaviour has tooccurbeloc is rcnfored llores tiveness | om situation to uation. Gambling and lottery tickets are good examples of rewards based on a variable-ato schedule, Another common example ofthis 7A Undersandng Orin tocar kind of reinforcement schedule isthe slot machine in a casino, The slot machine requizes an Unknown number ofthe desired behavious ie. puting acoinntothe machine, before the reward comes along, ic, winning the jackpot. Examples of varable-ratio schedules in organizations are bonuses or special awards given for good performance, These awards are usualy given afer ‘the desired behaviour has occured few times, Variable-atio schedules appear to prodice the

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