Learning theories

Presenter: Dr OZ Mukwawaya
Learning about theories

• What is learning:

• “a persisting change in human performance or performance potential . . .

(brought) about as a result of the learner’s interaction with the
environment”

• “the relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behavior due to

experience”

• “an enduring change in behavior, or in the capacity to behave in a given

fashion, which results from practice or other forms of experience
Learning about theories

• Learning is any relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge

that is due to experience

• Models of psychology explain how individuals learn and how

information is comprehended and retained.
Main theories in learning

• Behaviorism

• Social Learning Theory

Behaviourism

• All behavior is learned. Consequently it can be unlearned

• Learning is defined by the outward expression of new behaviors

• Focuses solely on observable behaviors

• A biological basis for learning

• Humans start life as a “blank slate” and through “stimulus (input)” ->
“response (output)” they learn complex behaviours over time
Behaviourism

• Classical & Operant Conditioning

• Reflexes (Pavlov’s Dogs)

• Feedback/Reinforcement (Skinner’s Pigeon Box)

• The individual’s behaviour is modified through positive reinforcement

or negative reinforcement to persuade the correct decision making.
Ivan Pavlov
Pavlov (Classical Conditioning)

Pavlov wanted to study digestion in dogs. Interaction between

salivation and digestion. Dogs salivate when they eat and smell food
This is known as a reflex (it is not learned; it is involuntary)
Pavlov (Classical Conditioning)

• Why did this happen?

• Pavlov discovered that stimuli could become “connected” in the brain of the
dog

• This means that the one stimulus (food) could be connected to a different
(neutral) stimulus (bell)

• This means that the food and bell sort of becoming interchangeable and
represent one another. The dogs thus associated the sound of the bell with
the presentation of food.
Pavlov (Classical Conditioning)

• Classical conditioning is a type of leaning in which a stimulus acquires

the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by
another stimulus.
Pavlov (Classical Conditioning)

• This is known as classical or Pavlovian conditioning: a

biological or innate stimulus is paired with a neutral
stimulus

• Classical conditioning: a type of learning in which a

stimulus obtains the capacity to create a certain
response that was originally created by another stimulus

• Term “conditioning” reflect Pavlov’s desire to understand

the conditions under which this type of learning is
produced
Another example of Classical
Conditioning
• E.g. Pain (US) leads to fear (UR). We don't need to learn this. A child
is not afraid of dogs (NS). But if a dog bites a child leading to pain,
just the sight of a dog (CS) will lead to fear (CR). The child has learned
to associate dogs with pain. This is how people develop phobias
Pavlov (Classical Conditioning)

• Acquisition: the initial stage of learning something. Acquisition of a

conditioned response depends on stimulus contiguity, or the
occurrences of stimuli together in time and space.

• Extinction: the gradual weakening and disappearance of a

conditioned response tendency. Extinction occurs in classical
conditioning when conditioned stimulus is consistently presented
alone, without the unconditional stimulus
Pavlov (Classical Conditioning)

• E.g. After a while, Pavlov kept ringing the bell and didn't bring food
out. Eventually the dogs stopped salivating to the bell. It's as if the
dogs figured out, "Hey, there's no food coming." And stopped
responding. This is known as extinction. After a while of not pairing
the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus, the
conditioned response will weaken
Pavlov (Classical Conditioning)

• Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of an extinguished

response after a period of non exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

• E.g. After Pavlov's dogs no longer responded to the bell, he left them
alone. Then a month later, he rang the bell and they salivated
John Watson
JB Watson

• Watson began studying the behavior of children, as well, concluding

that humans were simply more complicated than animals but
operated on the same principles.

• Children have three basic emotional reactions: fear, rage and love.

• Ivan Pavlov influenced Watson

JB Watson

• Watson wanted to establish whether the reflex response of fear

produced in infants by loud noises could be conditioned to take place
in response to other previously neutral stimuli.

• Children are only born with two fears: loud noises and falling. That's
it. Every other fear is learned.
Little Albert Experiment

• So he took an 11-month-old baby, named Albert, and conducted the

famous "Little Albert" experiment (which has been said to be very
unethical). Little Albert had no fears other than loud noises and
falling.

• If Watson made a loud noise (US), Little Albert would cry (UR). This is
an unconditioned stimulus-response pair.

• Then they showed Albert animals - rats, rabbits, etc. and he was not
afraid. He wanted to play with them. They are neutral stimuli (NS).
Little Albert Experiment

• Then Watson showed Albert a white rat (NS) and made a loud noise (US)
and what did Little Albert do? He cried (UR).

• After a few trials of this, Watson showed Albert the white rat and didn't
make the loud noise. And what did Albert do? He cried.

• So now the white rat is the conditioned stimulus and the crying is the
conditioned response.
• Stimulus generalization: occurs when an organism that has learned a
response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to new
stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus

• Stimulus discrimination: occurs when an organism that has learned a

response to a specific stimulus does not respond in the same way to
new stimuli that are similar to original stimulus
BF Skinner
Operant Conditioning

• Advanced the idea of behaviorism theory.

• Learning occurs by experiencing and engaging in repeated trial and

error.

• Operant conditioning is a response to a stimulus that is reinforced

positively, negatively, or by punishment
Operant conditioning

• Form of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their

consequences

• Organisms tend to repeat those responses that are followed by

favorable consequences

• Reinforcement: occurs when an event following a response increase

an organism’s tendency to make that response.
Operant Conditioning

• Reinforcer is a stimulus that strengthens or weakens the behaviour

that produced it

• a stimulus (as a reward or the removal of an electric shock) that

increases the probability of a desired response in operant
conditioning by being applied or effected following the desired
response
Operant Conditioning

• Reinforcement:

There are two types of reinforcers:

• primary reinforcers – events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy
biological needs (food, water, safety). These work especially well with animals but
can also work with humans.

• Secondary reinforcers – events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being

associated with primary reinforcers (less tangible rewards such as praise, money,
acceptance, affection)

• The most effective reinforcements are attention getting and out of the
ordinary.
Operant Conditioning

• Reinforcement - refer to anything that increases the

likelihood that a response will occur. Note that
reinforcement is defined by the effect that it has on behavior
- it increases or strengthens the behavior.

• For example, reinforcement might involve presenting praise

(the reinforcer) immediately after a child puts away her toys
(the response). By reinforcing the desired behavior with
praise, the girl will be more likely to perform the same
actions again.
Operant Conditioning

• Shaping - method of teaching complex behaviors by reinforcing each

step of the behavior until the complex behavior is achieved.

• For example, when a child is learning to tie their shoelaces, parents

don't usually wait until the child ties a perfect bow to praise him. He
get praised the first time he tries, the first time he crosses the laces,
the first time he makes the loops, etc.

• Just like school. Imagine if you never received any reinforcements

until you got handed your degree. Where would your motivation
come from? But you get grades, honors, awards, etc. all along the
way.
Operant Conditioning

• Positive reinforcement involves the addition of something to

increase a response, such as giving a bit of candy to a child
after she cleans up her room.

• Example: Whenever a rat presses a button, it gets a treat. If

the rat starts pressing the button more often, the treat
serves to positively reinforce this behavior.

• Example: A father gives candy to his daughter when she

picks up her toys.
Operant Conditioning

• Negative reinforcement involves removing something in order to

increase a response

• Example: taking a child’s toys away after they failed to pick them up

*Remember, positive and negative only refer to the adding (positive) or

taking away (negative) of a particular stimulus.
Albert Bandura
What is Social Learning Theory?

• The social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura has become

perhaps the most influential theory of learning and development.
While rooted in many of the basic concepts of traditional learning
theory, Bandura believed that direct reinforcement could not account
for all types of learning.

• His theory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new
information and behaviors by watching other people. Known as
observational learning (or modeling), this type of learning can be
used to explain a wide variety of behaviors.
Observational learning

• Occurs when an organism responding is influenced by the

observation of others, who are called models.

• In his famous "Bobo doll" studies, Bandura demonstrated that

children learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other
people. The children in Bandura’s studies observed an adult acting
violently toward a Bobo doll. When the children were later allowed
to play in a room with the Bobo doll, they began to imitate the
aggressive actions they had previously observed.
Basic processes

• The Modeling Process

• Not all observed behaviors are effectively learned. Factors involving both the
model and the learner can play a role in whether social learning is successful.
Certain requirements and steps must also be followed. The following steps
are involved in the observational learning and modeling process: Attention,
retention, reproduction and motivation
Attention

• In order to learn, you need to be paying attention. Anything that

detracts your attention is going to have a negative effect on
observational learning. If the model is interesting or there is a novel
aspect to the situation, you are far more likely to dedicate your full
attention to learning.
Retention

• The ability to store information is also an important part of the

learning process. Retention can be affected by a number of factors,
but the ability to pull up information later and act on it is vital to
observational learning.
Reproduction

• Once you have paid attention to the model and retained the
information, it is time to actually perform the behavior you observed.
Further practice of the learned behavior leads to improvement and
skill advancement.
Motivation

• Finally, in order for observational learning to be successful, you have

to be motivated to imitate the behavior that has been modeled.
Reinforcement and punishment play an important role in motivation.
While experiencing these motivators can be highly effective, so can
observing others experience some type of reinforcement or
punishment.