One of the most debated issues in psychology pertains to the nature and meaning of learning. The systematic study of learning is relatively new as it was in the late nineteenth century that studies in this realm began in a scientific manner.
Psychologists borrowed techniques from the physical sciences, and conducted experiments to understand how people and animals learn. Psychologists have tried in the past to define and explain how learning takes place. Two of the most important early researchers were Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike.Among later researchers, B. F. Skinner was important for his studies of the relationship between behaviour and consequences.
They are also known as the Behaviourists. According to them, learning can be defined as “the relatively permanent change in behaviour brought about as a result of experience or practice.” Their goal was to explain complex behaviour in terms of learning from simple behaviour. Thus as a result of learning it is possible for an individual to, use past experience to predict the future, to adapt to a rapidly changing environment and to exert control over our environment.The question or issues that concern us are about conditions or elements, which influence most of our learning. These, according to Dr Ferguson T.
J., may be concerned with whether habits are learned? Is aggression learned or innate? How do we learn fears, guilt, and pleasures? Do we learn more when the reward is greater? If the greater the reward, the more we enjoy the behaviour?This paper discusses the various learning theories, as proposed by the behavioural theories their advantages and limitations.In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Pavlov and his colleagues studied the digestive process in dogs. During the research, the scientists noticed that the dogs started salivating not just while eating but also at the sight of food, the sight of the man who brought the food and the sound of his footsteps. After initial fruitless speculation Pavlov explored the phenomena experimentally. The dog was isolated in a room, secured in a harness and attached with devices to that diverted its saliva to a measuring instrument.
The experiment they conducted is explained as follows.Pavlov And His Experiments Pavlov’s studied and observed that dogs reflexively salivate to food in mouth. He defined food as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to the salivation response. Salivation is unconditioned response (UCR) to the food (you don't need to learn to salivate to food; it's an automatic response).
Pavlov wondered whether you could take these natural associations between certain stimuli and responses and use them to produce true learning. He noticed that his dogs would start to salivate before they were even given any food. When the lab assistant simply opened the door to the room in which dogs were housed took a neutral stimulus i.e. a stimulus that can catch the learner's attention but does not elicit the UCRBefore conditioning Neutral Stimulus in the shape of a bell that is rung is given, which results in no salivation.
Here the unconditioned stimulus is the food, which results in salivation that is the unconditioned response.During the conditioning trials The experimenter repeatedly rang bell just before presenting food. Here the bell is the neutral stimulus followed by UCS (food), which results in salivation (UCR). After conditioningThe experimenter repeatedly rang bell without showing any food to the dog and found that the conditioned stimulus (Bell; CS) is followed by salivation CR. The initially neutral stimulus (bell) became an elicitor of learned or conditioned response.
Five Major Conditioning ProcessesFor the next three decades Pavlov and his associates explored the causes and effects of classical conditioning. Their experiments identified five major conditioning processes: Acquisition. To understand acquisition or initial learning it is important to study the lapse in time between the neutral stimulus (the bell) and the unconditioned response. They found as reported by Myers D.
G, that half a second works well. However if the food i.e. the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) appeared before the bell, the conditioned stimulus (CS), then conditioning is not likely to occur. The bell signals the arrival of food.
Pavlov called this the law of contiguity: The closer the two are in time (with neutral stimulus preceding presentation of UCS), the stronger the conditioning (generally speaking)Extinction.This concept is similar to common sense idea of forgetting. Pavlov found that when he sounded the tone repeatedly without presenting food, the dog’s salivation also decreased. After the conditioning phase, the conditioned response (CR) gets weaker when the conditioned stimulus (CS) or the bell is not accompanied by the UCS (food).
It gets weaker not because the organism no longer remembers the UCS-CS connection. It gets weaker because CR is somehow inhibited.Spontaneous recovery.After extinction trials, the dog will start to salivate again in response to CS after only one pairing of UCS and CS. Pavlov called it spontaneous recovery, where the weakened conditioned response reappeared after a rest pause.
This according to Pavlov occurred because extinction was suppressing the conditioned response and not eliminating it. (Myers D.G. p 295)Generalization.
Generalization is a tendency, which develops as result of conditioning. In this case a stimulus, similar to the conditioned stimulus, is likely to elicit similar responses. Generalizations, according to Myers D.G.
(p. 294), can be adaptive. For example a child if taught to fear fast moving cars in a street would also fear other vehicles like trucks, and motorcycles. Or a child, if bitten by a dog would probably fear all dogs. Myers D.
G cite Berry and Mc Arthur 1986 in which adults with child like features like a round face, large eyes and small chin were perceived as having child like warmth, submissiveness and naiveté.Pavlov’s dogs also learned to response to a particular tone and not to others. This concept implies the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. Examples Of Classical Conditioning In HumansThe following example clarifies how this principle applies in our lives. A child is harassed at school and he feels bad when harassed.
The child thus associates being harassed and school. The child begins to feel bad when she thinks of school. In the above example, in order to extinguish the associated of feeling bad and thinking of school, the connection between school and being harassed must be broken. Similarly many phobias like the fear of dental work, fear of dogs, fear of snakes etc are examples of conditioning. Pavlov’s work also provided a basis for Watson J.B.
to define behaviour as a bundle of conditioned responses.He did not give importance to inner thoughts, feelings and motives. John Hopkins Magazine quotes J.B Watson in its April 2000 issue, where he asserts: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors," he wrote in 1924.The famous study of Watson (Myers D.
G. P 298) on a young boy Albert involved the sounding of a loud noise by a hammer stuck on steel whenever the boy saw a white rat. After seven repetitions of a white rat accompanied by a frightful sound, Albert started crying on just seeing the rat. This fear was generalized as five days later he showed fear to a white rabbit, a dog, and a sealskin coat but not to objects dissimilar to a rat.Limitations Of Classical ConditioningThe main criticism raised against classical conditioning is that it does not give importance to inner feelings, thoughts, desires and motives. It is called reductionist as it reduces behaviour to stimulus and response.
Another criticism of behaviourism is that it tends to be mechanistic. This means we merely respond to our environment, and have no control over it. It is also disapproved of, as it is alleged to be deterministic (Keegan, G.). This means the approach believes we passively respond to stimuli in our environment.
We have little free will, or exercise of control over our environment, or the objects, events, and people within it.Applications of Classical ConditioningPsychologists, to improve human health and well being in multiple contexts use Pavlov’s principles in several areas. Drug counsellors advise their patients to stay away from people and situations, which might allure them towards drug use again. Classical conditioning is a major factor in real life. It has a vital role in animal training and also in human training. Its primary use in human behaviour is in dealing with habit formation, either trying to form good habits (enjoying exercising, liking the good-grade or self-esteem rewards of good school performance, etc.
) or to break bad ones (smoking, overeating, etc.), including phobias or anxiety-producing conditioning. The most common examples of classical conditioning seen in the educational environment are in situations where students exhibit phobias and anxieties, like "math anxiety," fear of failure, and general school phobia. It is not easy for teachers to try to create a consistent, positive classroom climate where students experience more success than failure.The famous psychologist Edward L Thorndike was the initiator of the trial and error learning based on the findings of his experiment on cats, chickens and rats. Like many of the early behavioural learning theorists, he linked behaviour to physical reflexes.
In his early work he also viewed most behaviour as a response to stimuli in the environment. This view that stimuli can prompt responses was the forerunner of what became known as stimulus-response (S-R) theory. Mangal elaborates on this experiment where a hungry cat was placed in a puzzle box.There was only one door, which could be opened by correct manipulation of a latch.
A fish was placed outside the box as an incentive for the cat to try and come out. Initially the cat made random movement and frantic efforts to come out of the box. They used many strategies for escape, including trying to squeeze through the bars of the box or meowing incessantly for help. However with repeated trials it made fewer errors and took lesser time to achieve this purpose till finally it was able to open the latch as soon as it was put in the puzzle boxStages In The Process Of Trial and Error LearningThe experiment comprises of the following stages in the process of learning. (Mangal 1997) Drive: the driving force was hunger intensified by the sight of fish Goal: to get the fish by getting out of the boxBlock: the cat was confined in a box with no access as the door was shut Random Movements: the cat made efforts to be able to get out of the box somehow Chance success: random efforts resulted in accidental opening of the latch to go out Selection: gradually the cat recognized the proper way to open the latch.
Fixation: Finally it learnt how to open the latch and eliminated all errors. This experiment was named learning by trial and error by Thorndike. According to him,” learning is the result of the formation of a connection in the nervous system between the stimulus and responses”. (Mangal, 1997). Thorndike asserted that learning is incremental and not insightful.
With repeated trials performance improves. This improvement is incremental, and improves gradually with repetition. Moreover he also stressed that learning is direct and not mediated by ideas. This implies that learning is a semi mechanical process and does not involve any cognitive abilities, ideas, reasoning or thinking.
In her paper Williams (2002) cites Rippa 91996), about the laws proposed by Thorndike which state that, “the Law of Exercise states that a modifiable connection between a situation and response will be strengthened when it is used and will be weakened when it is not used. The more frequent and recent the use, the greater will be the learning. The Law of Readiness states that when the action system is ready to act, satisfaction will follow action; but failure to act when ready will result in annoyance”.Thorndike’s Contributions In The Field Of LearningThorndike went beyond Pavlov by showing that stimuli that occurred after behaviour had an influence on future behaviours. From these experiments, Thorndike developed his Law of Effect, which states that if an act is followed by a satisfying change in the environment, the likelihood that the act will be repeated in similar situations increases. When a child meets failure or displeasure the progress of learning is blocked.
This law emphasizes the role of reward and punishment in the process of learning. Thorndike’s theory has some useful educational implications. At the very out set it lays emphasis on the role of motivation to facilitate learning. The teacher must make full use of this principle to enhance students learning.
Learning can be established by strengthening the connections between stimulus and response with the help of repetition, drill and reward. What has been taught or learnt can be applied to future learning because of the mechanism of association. The learner should attempt to solve a problem repeatedly on his own before arriving to the solution. In short the learner should be motivated and learning should be goal directed and purposeful.
Operant Conditioning owes heritage to Thorndike's experiments and was given by B.F. Skinner. The fundamental principle behind operant conditioning is that responses leading to "pleasant" effects are more likely to be repeated in future than those leading to "discomforting" ones.
Skinner was against the no stimulus no response theory in evolution of behaviour. He said in practical life we do not wait for something to happen in the environment. The organism sometimes initiates the behaviour by itself.Skinner conducted several experiments with animals. Inspired by Thorndike he made a special apparatus known as Skinner’s box.
Mangal explains the procedure where hungry rat was placed in the box. The pressure on the bar in the box resulted in the production of a click followed by a food pellet. The click sound acted as a cue for the rat to go to the food cup for its reward. Each time the rat pressed the lever the rat was rewarded.
With each reward the act of pressing the bar was reinforced. This way the rat learned to press the lever as desired by the experimenter.Basic Processes In Operant Conditioning There are five basic processes in operant conditioning: positive and negative reinforcement strengthen behaviour; punishment, response cost, and extinction weaken behaviour.Positive ReinforcementThe term reinforcement always indicates a process that strengthens behaviour; the word positive has two cues associated with it. First, a positive or pleasant stimulus is used in the process, and second, the reinforcer is added. In positive reinforcement, a positive reinforcer is added after a response and increases the frequency of the response.
Some reinforcers follow the behaviour they are meant to strengthen. These are positive reinforcers. They are called positive not because they feel good. They are called positive because they are consequences that are added to the behaviour they are meant to reinforce -- they follow that behaviour.
For example a child wants a new toy, he throws a tantrum and is successful in getting it. In this situation his getting the toy reinforces the child’s throwing a tantrum. Or a child is assigned some homework. He works hard and gets a good grade. Therefore studying is reinforced by getting a good grade.
These are all examples of positive reinforcement, which is a consequence that is pleasant for organism strengthens the behaviour that it followed. Note that here a pleasant stimulus comes after the response.Negative ReinforcementThe term reinforcement always indicates a process that strengthens behaviour; the word negative has two cues associated with it. First, a negative or aversive stimulus is used in the process, and second, the reinforcer is subtracted. In negative reinforcement, after the response the negative reinforcer is removed which increases the frequency of the response.
Negative reinforcement by definition is behaviour strengthened because its enactment removes an annoying stimulus for the organism. Some reinforcers operate because they remove or withdraw an aversive stimulus for the organism. For example, the seat belt buzzer sounds, you put on a seat belt, the alarm turns off. Or, a child throws a tantrum, the mother gives in and the tantrum ends.In all of these examples doing the behaviour i.e.
putting the seat belt on, Mom giving in, removes the aversive stimulus of buzzer or tantrum. Unlike positive reinforcement, the aversive stimulus typically precedes the behaviour that it is meant to reinforce. By turning off the stimulus, you are reinforced. It is called negative reinforcement because doing the behaviour subtracts the aversive stimulus.
It is also known as escape conditioning.
