LEARNING

THEORIES
Lesson 3
People learn through repetition. A learner is a passive
blank slate shaped by environmental stimuli, both
positive and negative reinforcement. This topic helps
you understand behaviorism and its connection to
learning reinforcement.
BEHAVIORISM
This particular learning theory assumes that
the learner is essentially passive, simply
responding to their environmental stimuli.
Behavioral theorists therefore believe that a
learner basically begins as a clean slate, and
their behavior is shaped by positive/negative
reinforcement
• The theory of behaviorism focuses on the study of
observable and measurable behavior. It emphasizes
that behavior is mostly learned through conditioning
and reinforcement (rewards and punishment). It does
not give much attention to the mind, and the
possibility of thought processes occurring in the
mind.
• Contributions in the development of the behaviorist
theory largely came from Pavlov, Watson,
Thorndike and Skinner.
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• Pavlov’s most renowned experiment involved meat,
a dog and a bell.
• Initially, Pavlov was measuring the dog’s salivation
in order to study digestion. This is when he
stumbled upon classical conditioning.
• Before conditioning, ringing the bell (neutral
stimulus) caused no response from the dog. Placing
dog food (unconditioned stimulus) in front of the
dog initiated salivation (unconditioned response).
• During conditioning, the bell was rung a few
seconds before the dog was presented with food.
After conditioning, the ringing of the bell
(conditioned stimulus) alone produce salivation
(conditioned response). This is classical
.
conditioning.
As a child, perhaps you were given a special treat or privilege upon
earning good grades on report cards or progress reports. You may
have begun to associate good grades with a special treat.

Research has shown that parents’ perceptions have a stronger influence

over children’s sense of self and task perceptions, even more so than their
own grades (Frome & Eccles, 1998). Let’s break it down in the following
example:
NS: Good report card grades
US: Going for ice cream
UR: Feeling excited
CS: Good report card grades
CR: Feeling excited
PAVLOV ALSO HAD THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS:
Stimulus Generalization. Once the dog has learned to salivate at the
sound of the bell, it well salivate at the other similar sounds
Extinction. If you stop pairing the bell with the food, salivation will
eventually cease in response to the bell.
Spontaneous Recovery. Extinguished responses can be “recovered” after
an elapsed time, but will soon extinguish again if the dog is not presented
with food.
Discrimination. The dog could learn to discriminate between similar
bells (stimuli) and discern which bell would result in the presentation of
food and which would not.
Higher-Order Conditioning. Once the dog has been conditioned to
associate the bell with food, another unconditioned stimulus, such as a
light may be flashed at the same time that the bell is rung. Eventually the
dog will salivate at the flash of the light without the sound of the bell.
CONNECTIONISM
Connectionism is a learning theory
developed by George Siemens and Steven
Downs. It stresses the connections and
combinatorial creativity. All the knowledge
is out there – it’s a matter of making the
connections. Siemens (2004) states, “A
community is the clustering of similar areas
of interest that allows for interaction,
sharing, dialoguing, and thinking together.”
• Edward Lee Thorndike
• 1904-1990

• Edward Thorndike’s Connectionism theory gave us

the original S-R framework of behavioral
psychology.

• He explained that learning is the result of

associations forming between stimuli and responses.
Such associations or “habits” become strengthened
or weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R
pairings. The model for S-R theory was trial and
error learning in which certain responses came to be
repeated than others because of rewards.
The main principle of connectionism (like all behavioral theory)
was that learning could be adequately explained without
considering any unobservable internal states. Thorndike’s theory
on connectionism stated that learning has taken place when a strong
connection or bond between stimulus and response is formed. He
came up with three primary laws.

• Law of Effect
• Law of Readiness
• Law of Exercise
Law of Effect
• The Law of Effect stated that a connection between
a stimulus and response is strengthened when the
consequence is positive (reward) and the
connection between the stimulus and the response
is weakened when the consequence is
negative.
Law of Exercise
• Tell us that the more an S-R (stimulus response)
bond in practice the stronger it will become.
“Practice makes perfect” seem to be associated
with this. However, like the law of effect, the law
of exercise also had to revise when Thorndike
found that practice without feedback does not
necessarily enhance performance.
Law of Readiness
• This states that, the more readiness the learner has
to respond to the stimulus, the stronger will be the
bond between them. When a person is ready to a
stimulus and is not made to respond, it becomes
annoying to the person.
 Likewise, if the person is not at all ready to
respond to stimuli and is asked to respond, that
becomes annoying.
• For instance, the teacher asks the question and
expects the students to respond right away when
they are still not ready. This will be annoying to the
student. This is why teacher should remember to
say the question first, and wait for a few seconds
before calling on anyone to answer.
Principles Derived from Thorndike’s Connectionism:

1. Learning requires both practice and reward (laws

of
effect/exercise)
2. A series of S-R connections can be chained together if
they belong to the same action (law of readiness)
3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously
encountered situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the number of connections
learned.
Law of effect : Educational Implications-

This law is based on the feelings of the learner. Learning is

stronger when joined with a pleasing or satisfying feeling. It
is weakened when linked with an unpleasant feeling. An
experience that produces feelings of defeat, anger, frustration,
futility, or confusion in a student is unpleasant for him. This
will decrease his learning capabilities. A student’s chance of
success is definitely increased if the learning experience is a
pleasant one. This law has great educational importance.
Law of Exercise: Educational Implication-

Educational Implications of the law of exercise is great. It

lays importance on the value of repetition, drill and practice
for memorizing and mastering of any learnt material. It
emphasizes that there should not be a long gap between one
practice and the next one because long time disuse may lead
to forgetting. Frequent test should be taken to make the
students practice the subject learnt.
Law of Readiness: Educational Implication

The teacher should make proper use of this law. Whenever

we are physically sick or mentally disturbed and at that time
if some thing is taught to us, we cannot pay attention to it and
as a result do not learn it
Questions?
References:
Facilitating Learner Centered Teaching
MODULE FOR CHED ROXI- PROJECT WRITE

http://www.vkmaheshwari.com/WP/?p=543

https://positivepsychology.com/classical-conditioning-
classroom-examples/
Thank you!