Scribd
Upload
5 views

LEARNING

psychology

Uploaded by

Mphil Class
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
5 views

LEARNING

psychology

Uploaded by

Mphil Class
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

CHAPTER NO.

2
LEARNING

DEFINITION
“Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior of an organism as a result of
experience”
This relatively permanent change in behavior occurs due to practice and repetition. Learning
brings about three types of behavioral changes;
1. Mental changes
2. Physiological changes
3. Psychological changes.

1. Mental changes: means changes based on intelligence, education, and experience such a
change modifies one’s thought and power of reasoning.
2. Physiological changes: relates to physical and muscular changes; tissues and related
muscles adapt to the learned skill and get used to the work.
3. Psychological Changes; includes changes in feelings and emotions.

LAWS OF LEARNING
Based on his experiments on animal learning, Edward L. Throndike laid following laws of
learning.
Three primary laws of learning are:
 Law of effect
 Law of exercise
 Law of readiness

LAW OF EFFECT
 Learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling.
 Learning is weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling.
For example: School activities should be organized in increasing difficulty order so that the
students may progress without any failure.
THE LAW OF EXERCISE
This principle states that the more a person practices, the more quickly he learns a thing. It is also
known as law of repetition, i.e; doing something repeatedly improves learning
Example:
 Students do not learn complex tasks in a single session.
 The instructor must repeat important items of subject matter at reasonable intervals.

LAW OF READINESS
This principle states that motivation is needed to develop an association or display changed
behavior. Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to
learn, and they do not learn well if they see no reason for learning.

TYPES OF LEARNING
The different learning methods that are adopted according to the situations are given as under:
1. Learning by conditioning
2. Learning by trial and error
3. Learning by insight
4. Learning by modelling

LEARNING BY CONDITIONING
Learning by conditioning is also known as learning by association. There are two types of
conditioning
1. Classical conditioning
2. Operant conditioning

1. Classical conditioning
Learning procedure in which associations are made between a natural stimulus and a
neutral stimulus.

Discovery
 In 1879 Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist and pioneer of classical
conditioning, began his research work on the digestive process, primarily that of
dogs. The focal point of his investigation was the salivation reflex in dogs.
 It was already known that the dogs would salivate if food powder were led into
their mouths, as it was a ‘reflex.’
 The dogs would salivate every time the food powder was presented.
 Pavlov observed that after some time, the dogs at times salivated just before food
was put into their mouths. They also salivated at the sight of the food, and even at
the sight of the lab assistant who brought food for them. This is where the concept
of classical conditioning emerged.

BASIC TERMINOLOGY IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:


 Reflex : automatic, unlearned response resulting from a specific stimulus.
 Un Conditioned Stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that elicits a response reflexively,
naturally, and reliably.
 Un Conditioned Response (UCR) : A natural, reflexive, reliable, response of the
UCS.
 Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A primarily neutral stimulus which, when paired with
the UCS, starts evoking a response (different from its own natural response) and
the same as UCR.
 Conditioned Response (CR): After conditioning, the CS begins to elicit a new,
learned response i.e., CR.

You might also like