Educational

Theories
and
Perspectives
Prepared by:
Ann Haizel U. Sazon
MAED- Filipino
Submitted to:
Dr. Claudia Odette J. Ayala

Learning Theories: Four Perspectives

1. Behaviorist Perspective
Classical Conditioning: Stimulus/Response
Ivan Pavlov 1849-1936 (Classical Conditioning Theory)
Ivan Pavlov, in 1927, began working with learning through "classical
conditioning." Initially the dog only salivated when it was eating. Later Pavlov noticed
the dog salivated when he carried the food into the room. He become curious as to why
this change had taken place. He thought there were both learned and unlearned
components to the dog's behavior. He began experimenting with different stimuli, and if
he rang a bell immediately before giving food to the dog, eventually the dog would
salivate merely in response to the sound of the bell. He generated terminology to
describe his observations. An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) such as food, generates
and instinctual reflexive, unlearned behavior, such as salivation when eating. The
salivation was called an unconditioned response (UCR) because it was not learned. The
bell, formerly a neutral sound to the dog, become aconditioned learned stimulus
(CLS) and the salivation a conditioned response (CR).
John B. Watson 1878-1958 (Behaviorism)
Behaviorism is more concerned with behavior than with thinking, feeling, or
knowing. It focuses on the objective and observable components of behavior. The
behaviorist theories all share some version of stimulus-response mechanisms for
learning. Behaviorism originated with the work of John B. Watson, an American
psychologist. Watson held the view that psychology should only concern itself with the
study of behavior, and he was not concerned with the mind or with human

consciousness. He considered it paramount that men could be studied objectively, like

rats and apes.
Edward L. Thorndike 1874-1949 (Connectivism)
One of Thorndike's great contributions to psychology was the Law of Effect,
which states that responses which occur just prior to a satisfying state of affairs are
more likely to be repeated, and responses just prior to an annoying state of affairs are
more likely NOT to be repeated. The second contribution was his rejection of the notion
that man is simply another animal that can reason. He believed intelligence should be
defined solely in terms of greater or lesser ability to form connections.
Thorndike's greatest contribution is probably the emphasis he placed on consequences
of behavior as determiners of what is learned and what is not. He also introduced
animal studies for verifying predictions made from his theory. He also was among the
first to apply psychological principles in the area of teaching.
Edwin Guthrie 1886-1959 (Contiguity Theory)
Like John B. Watson, Guthrie was highly preoccupied with objectivity and
observable aspects of behavior. His contribution is summarized in one main law that the
stimulus or combination of stimuli that led to a response will lead to that response again
when repeated. He believed that the bond between stimulus and response was
established on the first occasion, and that repetitions neither strengthen or weaken the
link.
He referred to stimulus-response bonds as "habits". His theory lacks an explanation of
why specific behaviors occur in the first place.

 He used contiguity to explain learning

His theory is challenged on the basis of the observation that humans often behave
differently in the same situation.
He believed that movements were learned, not behaviors
He minimized the importance of reinforcement since it occurs after the internal
association between stimulus and response has been made
He thought one habit could be replaced by another more desirable habit
The old habit is not forgotten, but merely replaced, so the newer response takes place
in the future.
B. F. Skinner 1904-1990 (Operant Conditioning)
B. F. Skinner's system is based on operant conditioning. The organism, while
going about it's everyday activities, is in the process of operating on the environment.
In the course of its activities, the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus, called
a reinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer. This special stimulus has the effect of
increasing the the behavior occurring just before the reinforcer. This is operant
conditioning: the behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the
consequence modifies the organism's tendency to repeat the behavior in the future. A
behavior followed by a reinforcing stimulus results in an increased probability of that
behavior occurring in the future.
Skinner's observations can be divided into independent variables which can be
manipulated by the experimenter, and dependent variables, which can not be
manipulated by the experimenter and are thought to be affected by the independent
variables.

2. Cognitive Perspective: Learning as a Mental Process

Gestalt Learning Theory: Perception, Decision making, Attention, Memory, &
Problem Solving. Gestalt became one of the main theories of learning. The three main
Gestalt theorists (Wertheimer, Kohler, and Koffka) were all Germans, and received their
training and did their early work in Germany, but all three ended their careers in the US.
The term "Gestalt" was coined by Graf Christian von Ehrenfels. His ideas influenced the
trio of theorists.
Gestalt was a holistic approach and rejected the mechanistic perspectives of the
stimulus - response models. Numerous new concepts and approaches emerged from
this different philosophical perspective. The Gestalt theory proposes that learning
consists of the grasping of a structural whole and not just a mechanistic response to a
stimulus.
Wolfgang Kohler 1887 - 1967 (Insight Learning)
Kohler was one of the original Gestalt theorists, along
with Wertheimer and Koffka. All of these "fathers of Gestalt" were Germans, but ended
their careers in the US. Gestalt theory emerged as a reaction to the behaviorist theories
of Pavlov and Watson which focused on mechanical stimulus-response behavior. The
term "Gestalt" refers to any pattern or organized whole. The key concept in Gestalt
theory is that the nature of the parts is determined by the whole - parts are secondary to
the whole. When we process sensory stimuli, we are aware directly of a configuration or
overall pattern which is grasped as a whole. For example, when listening to music, we
perceive a melody rather than individual notes, or when looking at a painting, we see
the overall image rather than individual brush strokes. Khler emphasized that one must

examine the whole to discover what its natural parts are, and not proceed from smaller
elements into wholes.
2. Constructivism: Knowledge is constructed; the Learner is an Active Creator
Jerome Bruner 1915 (Constructivism)
Constructivism is a meta-concept. It is not just another way of knowing, but a
way of thinking about knowing. It is a theory of communication and suggests that each
listener or reader will potentially use the content and process of the communication in
different ways. There are numerous constructivist perspectives, and the common thread
that unites them is that learning is an active process, unique to the individual, and
consists of constructing conceptual relationships and meaning from information and
experiences already in the learner's repertoire.
Jean Piaget 1896 - 1990 (Genetic Epistemology)
Piaget stressed that the development of knowledge representation and
manipulation is not genetically programmed into the brain. He viewed children as young
scientists who are driven to understand their world, and to change their understanding
in the face of mistaken predictions about the world. Changes in knowledge structures
drive changes in fundamental cognitive capabilities. The seemingly natural progression
of cognitive capabilities emerge in an orderly way because certain ways of thinking must
be mastered, and for the foundation for subsequent ones. The later ones cannot
emerge until the early ones have been mastered.

Stages of Cognitive Development:

Stage

Age

Features

Birth to 2
years

Rudimentary perceptual abilities

Reflexive movements
Inability to mentally represent unseen objects
Non-random movements in response to
sensations

2 to 5
years

Representational thought
Can make mental transformations on
ideas/images
Unstructured flow of thought
Egocentric thinking *
Cannot solve conservational problems **
Difficulty with transitive relationships ***

Concrete Operations stage

5 to 11
years

Has mastered the concept of conservation

Can take other's perceptual perspectives
Can perform operations on concrete ideas
and objects
Cannot perform mental operations on abstract
or hypothetical elements
Difficulty understanding relationships among
relationships

Formal Operations stage

11 years to Can perform all the cognitive abilities

adult
described.

Sensorimotor stage

Pre- Operational stage

Beyond
age 18

Accumulation of knowledge and skills and not

the acquisition
of new cognitive abilities

David Kolb (Learning Styles)

Kolb (1981) developed the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) to evaluate the way
people learn and work with ideas in day-to-day life. He used the LSI to help people
understand how they make career choices, solve problems, set goals, manage others,

and deal with new situations. The instrument consists of twelve questions in which the
subject selects one of four possible responses. The four columns in the instrument
relate to the four stages Kolb identified as a cycle of learning: Concrete Experience
(CE), Reflective Observation (RO), Abstract Conceptualization (AC), and Active
Experimentation (AE). He paired AE and RO as polar opposites (doing vs. watching),
and CE and AC as polar opposites (feeling vs. thinking).
John Flavell (Metacognition)
Flavell (1971) used the term metamemory in regard to an individual's ability to
manage and monitor the input, storage, search and retrieval of the contents of his own
memory. Flavell invited the academic community to come forth with additional
metamemory research, and this theme of metacognitive research has continued more
than thirty years later. He implied with his statements that metacognition is intentional,
conscious, foresighted, purposeful, and directed at accomplishing a goal or outcome.
These implications have all been carefully scrutinized in subsequent research, and in
some cases have been the subjects of controversy among researchers in
metacognition. For example, Reder & Schunn (1996) and Kentridge and Heywood
(2000) argue that metacognitive processes need not operate in a person's conscious
awareness.
Sigmund Freud 1856-1939 (Psychoanalytic Theory of Learning)
Freud is best known for his contributions in the field of therapy. His approach
was dynamic and clinical rather than experimental. He was one of the earliest
Westerners to recognize and work with unconscious processes. Psychoanalysis was an
educational process in which unconscious conflicts are consciously confronted.

Cognition was important in Freud's work, and insight into one's unconscious processes
is vital in regulating one's own behavior. Frued postulated a system of developmental
psychology like Piaget did. His theory included the concept of dynamic tension between
cognitive elements, as Lewin did.

3. Humanistic Perspective: Emotions and Affect Play a Role in Learning

Abraham Maslow 1908-1970 (Humanistic Theory of Learning)
Abraham Maslow has been considered the Father of Humanistic Psychology.
Maslow's theory is based on the notion that experience is the primary phenomenon in
the study of human learning and behavior. He placed emphasis on choice, creativity,
values, self-realization, all distinctively human qualities, and believed that
meaningfulness and subjectivity were more important than objectivity. For Maslow,
development of human potential, dignity and worth are ultimate concerns.

Maslow rejected behaviorist views and Freud's theories on the basis of their
reductionistic approaches. He felt Freud's view of human nature was negative, and he
valued goodness, nobility and reason. Also, Freud concentrated on the mentally ill, and
Maslow was interested in healthy human psychology.
Carl Rogers 1902-1987 (Experiential Learning)
Rogers was discouraged by the emphasis on cognitivism in education. He
believed this was responsible for the loss of excitement and enthusiasm for learning.
Rogers' point of view emphasized the inclusion of feelings and emotions in education.
He believed that education and therapy shared similar goals of personal change and

self-knowing. He was interested in learning that leads to personal growth and

development, as was Maslow.
Rogers outlined attitudes which characterized a true facilitator of learning:
1. Realness - the instructor should not present a "front" or "facade" but should strive to
be aware of his/her own feelings and to communicate them in the classroom context.
The instructor should present genuineness, and engage in direct personal encounters
with the learner.
2. Prizing the Learner - This characteristic includes acceptance and trust of each
individual student. The instructor must be able to accept the fear, hesitation, apathy, and
goals of the learner.
3. Empathic Understanding - The instructor can understand the student's reactions from
the inside.
4. Social Learning Perspective: Learning as a group process
Lev Vygotsky 1896 - 1935 (Social Constructivism)
Vygotsky shared many of Piaget's views about child development, but he was
more interested in the social aspects of learning. Vygotsky differs from discovery
learning, which is also based on Piaget's ideas, in that the teacher and older children
play important roles in learning. The teacher is typically active and involved. The
classroom should provide variety of learning materials (including electronic) and
experiences and the classroom culture provides the child with cognitive tools such as
language, cultural history, and social context.
The Zone of Proximal Development is a concept for which Vygotsky is well known. It
refers to the observation that children, when learning a particular task or body of

information, start out by not being able to do the task. Then they can do it with the
assistance of an adult or older child mentor, and finally they can do it without
assistance. The ZPD is the stage where they can do it assisted, but not alone. Thus the
teacher often serves to guide a child or group of children as they encounter different
learning challenges.
Albert Bandura 1925 (Observational Learning)
Bandura's early work in the 1960's represents one of the bridges
from behaviorismto cognitive models for learning. Observational learning is the process
of learning by observing a model and then duplicating a skill, process, strategy, or task
that is demonstrated by the model. This occurs without overt instructional activity, and
the model may not even know he/she is serving as an instrument of learning for the
observer. According to Bandura, this type of learning is an information processing
activity.
Factors that influence observational learning:
1. Attention - the learner must have his/her senses directed at the model
2. Retention, coding, and storing the patterns so they can be retrieved. This may include
vivid imagery an verbal descriptions.
3. Motor reproduction - kinesthetic and neuromuscular patterns are practiced with
successive iterations until the model's behavior is approximated by the observer.
4. Reinforcement and incentives- propel the learner to attention, practice and retention.

5. General Theories of Memory & Intelligence

Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences)
The theory of multiple intelligences (MI) was first offered to the educational
community by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner (1983). Since it was first
introduced this theory has captured the attention of numerous researchers, authors, and
educators. Its intuitive appeal and rich experiential basis have led to a profusion of
books and articles on the subject. Since his first book on MI Gardner himself has
authored or co-authored more than eighty books and articles on the subject. The theory
has enjoyed robust evolution since its inception. Gardner's (1983) original seven
intelligences were:
1. Linguistic/Verbal
2. Logical-mathematical,
3. Musical,
4. Bodily-kinesthetic,
5. Spatial,
6. Interpersonal, and
7. Intrapersonal.
In his later book (Gardner, 1999) he proposed three additional intelligences,
1. Naturalist,

2. Spiritual, and 3. Existential.

6. Instructional Theories
Lee Joseph Cronbach 1916 - 2001 (Aptitude Treatment Interaction)
Cronbach was Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University.
This theory proposed that learning is optimized when instructional methods are exactly
matched to the aptitudes and styles of the learner. It is based on the notion of different
intelligences (see also Gardner, Sternberg, and Guilford).
Components of experimental work included task variables, situation variables,
aptitudes of learners, and instructional treatments. Research indicated that high ability
students do better with low levels of structure in the learning environment, and that low
ability students do better with highly structured environments. Affect was also observed
to influence learning, and research suggested that students with anxiety or high need to
conform do better in structured environments, and students who are relaxed and
independent prefer low structure.
K.P. Cross CAL (Characteristics of Adult Learners)
Cross was influenced by theoretical frameworks of adult learning such as
andragogy and experiential learning. Cross identified two classes of variables that
represent differences between children and adult learners. These were personal
characteristics and situational characteristics. Personal characteristics include physical,
psychological, social, and cultural aspects of the learner. These are all areas of growth
as an individual develops from child to adult. Situational characteristics include part-time

versus full-time participation in schooling, and voluntary versus compulsory

participation.

Robert Gagne 1916-2002 (Conditions of Learning)

Gagne's major contributions were as an experimental psychologist who
worked with learning and instructional methods. His landmark book, "The Conditions of
Learning" was published in 1965. He also co-authored "Principles of Instructional
Design". Gagne linked learning outcomes with instructional designs.

References
Bandura, A. Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through the
imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575582
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Moore, A. (2000). Teaching and Learning: Pedagogy, Curriculum and Culture. TJ
International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwell
Tan, S. O & Parsons R. D (2011). Educational Psychology. Nelson Education, Ltd.p 234251
Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology retrieved from: http://www.lifecirclesinc.com/Learningtheories/learningmap.html