LEARNING THEORIES

Prepared
by

Shahla Arshad

K.M.U. Institute Of Nursing Sciences

 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this presentation the learners will be able
to:
 Define learning & discuss its process
 Define and describe classical conditioning
 Define and describe operant conditioning.
 Demonstrate an understanding of application of
conditioning in daily life
 DEFINITION: Learning is…
 A change in behavior as a result of experience or practice.
 The acquisition of knowledge.
 Knowledge gained through study.
 To gain knowledge of, or skill in, something through study,
teaching, instruction or experience.
 The process of gaining knowledge.
 A process by which behavior is changed, shaped or
controlled.
 The individual process of constructing understanding
based on experience from a wide range of sources.
 Theory
 A set of statements or principles develop to explain a
group of facts or phenomena.

 Most theories that are accepted by scientists have

been repeatedly tested by experiments and can be
used to make predictions about natural phenomena
Example
 living things are made of cells (cell theory)
(Barnum, 1988)

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 What is Learning?

 Learning is a process

 Learning is a product
 Process of Learning
• Learning involves the individual
– Brain
– Body
• Learning involves others
– Groups
– Organizations
– Communities
– Society
• Learning takes place somewhere
– In physical environment
– With things and tools
• Learning occurs over time
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 Products of Learning

ideas and concepts

Learning is about behaviors and skills

attitudes and values

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 Types of learning

Non-associative Learning
Is learning that does not require linking or associating
stimuli together.
Associative Learning
Is the process by which an association between two
stimuli or a behavior and a stimulus is learned.
(Classical Learning, Operant Learning)

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 BASIC LEARNING STYLES

Fleming's VARK Model

 Visual: Learning through watching, observing,
 Auditory: Learning through listening
Case discussions, lectures
Reading: Learning through reading
 Kinesthetic: Learning through doing, practicing, and
touching
Role plays, practice techniques (e.g., blood draws)
 LEARNING THEORIES

 Behaviorism(stimulus response).

 Cognitivism (Flow of knowledge).

 Constructivism: (Sociocultural)
 Multiple Intelligences : Inheritent
Behaviorism
 BEHAVIORISM

Behaviorism is a school of psychology, focus on

observable behavior. what one can do externally to bring
about behavior changes, it does not explain how the mind
works.
Confined to observable and measurable behavior

 Classical Conditioning – (Pavlov)(Watson)

 Operant Conditioning –(Skinner)

 PAVLOV AND CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

 The father of modern learning theory is Ivan Petrovich

Pavlov(1849-1936).Pavlov was born in Ryazan,Russia,the
son of poor village priest. in 1904 he won the Nobel prize
for his work on digestive system. when Pavlov was 50 years
old when he began his famous work on conditioned
reflexes. According to Pavlov “behavior can be change
through conditioning with external or environmental
conditions or stimuli” . this new interest came about through
an accidental discovery about the nature of salivation in
dogs, he began studying the conditioning process.
 Classical conditioning paradigm.
 Experiment on dog with light.(1928)
 Unconditioned stimulus(US)
 Unconditioned Reflex(UR)
 Conditioned stimulus(CS)
 Conditioned Reflex(CR)
 Extinction
 Spontaneous Recovery
 Discrimination
 Higher-order conditioning
 Second order conditioning
 Third order conditioning
 Pavlov basic idea was not new. in the 17th century ,Lock
had proposed that knowledge is based on association, but
Pavlov uncovered several principles of association.
 The man most responsible for making pavlovian principals
a part of the psychological mainstream was John
B.Watson(1878-1958)he was environmentalist and
behaviorist.
 In1916 Watson began research on young children becoming
the first major psychologist to apply principal of learning to
the problems of development .
 Study of Emotions.
 Fear(sudden noise ,loss of support)
 Rage(response to restriction of body movement
 Conditioning Fear In Little Albert.

 Deconditioning fear in peter.

 Behavior modification ,systematic Desensitization.

Operant Conditioning
 An American psychologist B.F Skinner(1904-1990)
was also a behaviorist & environmentalist . He also
wrote stories and poetry. he criticize Pavlov and
Watson

 According to Skinner People learn their behavior

from their history or past experience particularly
those are repeated or reinforced
 SKINNER: OPERANT CONDITIONING

Stimulus Response Reinforcement

 REINFORCEMENT
A Consequence That Strengthens a Behavior
Positive
giving something good - increases desired
behaviour
Negative
taking away something bad - increases desired
behaviour
Punishment
applying something bad - reduces
undesired behaviour
 Cognitivism
The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the
“black box” of the mind should be opened and 
understood. The learner is viewed as an information
processor (like a computer).
 Information Processing looks at how information is
retrieved and stored.
 Learning is attained through rehearsal and consistent use
of the information.
 Knowledge is stored cognitively as symbols.

 Rehearsal connect symbols in a meaningful & memorable way.

 Cognitivism focus on mental processes such as thinking, memory,
knowing, and problem-solving need to be explored
 Emphasizes the role of prior knowledge and experiences for
learning outcomes
 Constructivism
 Constructivism is based on the principle that we all
construct our own perspective of the world, based on
individual experiences and internal knowledge
 Knowledge is constructed by the learner and since
everyone has a different set of experiences and
perceptions

 learning is unique and different for each person

 How Do Teachers Support a Constructivist
Environment
5Es
 Engage (Engage, the students by giving task, facilitate to learn,
group discussions, small groups projects)
 Explore (Students form hypotheses, new ideas and concepts
creativity)
 Explain (students will sharing their ideas, observations, questions)
 Elaborate (make connections to other related concepts and
understanding to the world around them)
 Evaluate (students assessment, allows the teacher to determine if the
learner has attained understanding of concepts and knowledge, taking
tests)
 Multiple Intelligences (MI)

 Multiple intelligences (Howard Gardner’s)

According(Howard Gardner’s) people are born with all of
the intelligence they will ever have.
 Intelligence can be learned throughout life.
 Theories of Multiple Intelligence provide framework to
analyze and develop skills to achieve goals
 We are individuals with different strengths and weaknesses
 Understanding ourselves is key to success
 Multiple Intelligences
Linguistic- Capacity to use words effectively
Logical Mathematical- Capacity with numbers, logical patterns
Visual- learn by seeing & observing, Sensitivity to colour, line and
shape
Bodily Kinaesthetic- Ability to control body movements and
handle objects 
Musical-
Interpersonal- Ability to perceive the moods, intentions
motivations and feelings of other
Intrapersonal-An awareness of one’s inner moods, intentions,
motivations and desires
Naturalist- Ability to function well in the natural environment
 Application of Conditioning In Daily Life

1.Emotional Responses:
Classical Conditioning plays an important role in generating
negative and positive emotional responses.
Negative Responses:
Emotions such as fear, phobias etc are strengthened by
associating these emotions with animals, weather, or some other
place or things. People often fear reptiles, dark places and insect
phobias. Some people often associate fear with stormy weather.
 Positive Responses:
Classical conditioning is also responsible for generating feelings
of happiness, feelings of relaxation e.g. thinking of going on a trip
makes one feels happy reaching home after a long time makes one
happy and relax as well.
 
Advertising:
Advertising is a field where classical conditioning is used
the most. Companies’ use various models for this purpose
e.g. cartoon characters are used in commercials of those
products which are associated with kids. In the same way,
female models are used in those ads in which products are
associated with females or housework. Similarly sports
personalities for products associated with men.
Addiction:
People addicted with caffeine and nicotine found in tea,
coffee or in the form of smoking material feels relaxation
even before its intake.
 Psychotherapy
Classical conditioning also finds its application in
psychotherapy. It is often used in systematic
desensitization to treat phobias or fears. Aversive therapy is
also one of the applications of classical conditioning. In
this therapy, behavior is modified by combining a nausiatic
substance with the unwanted behavior or habit (smoking/
alcoholism) which causes vomiting or makes you feel bad.
In this way, the unwanted behavior is vanished slowly.
Hunger
Some people feel extremely hungry only on the sight of
restaurant or some other place where food is provided. This
is due to the association of restaurant or hotel with food
6.Post-Traumatic Disorders:
Sometimes people, who has experienced a war or some other battle,
often feel a rush of fear  and anxiety when they see a small fight or
are stuck in a situation similar to the one experienced during days of
war.

7.Association of something with the past:

Sometimes people associate an object or place with a past. E.g. one
might associate a song with the great times he or she spent with
his/her friends or some other pleasant event can be associated with a
place visited in the past.
8. Classical conditioning at school:
If the environment at school is very strict, children might associate
fear with school or might give birth to school phobia. In the same
way, if the environment of school is very friendly and pleasant, a
feeling of attraction or comfort can be developed with the school by
the children.

9.  Conditional Drug Response:

Sometimes the bad taste or result of taking the drug could also make
you feel bad. In extreme cases, the mere sound of that drug could
make you feel bad e.g. children often start vomiting only at the name
of cough syrup or some other drug.