UNIT I

Nature of Learning Theories

Overview
Need for a theory
Variables
Laws of learning
Problems and issues
Determinants of learning
Applications of learning research

What is a Theory?
A
set
ofassumptions,
propositions,
or
acceptedfactsthatattemptstoprovidea
plausible orrationalexplanationof cause-andeffect (causal) relationships among agroupof
observed phenomenon. Theword'sorigin (from
the Greekthors, a spectator), stresses the fact
that all theories aremental modelsof the
perceived
reality

What is a Theory?
Every scientific theory starts as a hypothesis. According to
theMerriam-Webster Dictionary, a hypothesis is an idea that
hasn't been proven yet. If enough evidence accumulates
tosupportahypothesis, it moves to the next step known as
a theory in thescientific methodand becomes accepted as a
valid explanation of a phenomenon
The University of California, Berkleydefines a theory as "a
broad, natural explanation for a wide range of phenomena.
Theories are concise, coherent, systematic, predictive, and
broadly applicable, often integrating and generalizing many
hypotheses."

What is a Theory?
A scientific theory is the framework for observations
and facts

Theories may change, or the way that they are

interpreted may change, but the facts themselves dont
change

What is a Theory?
Any scientific theory must be based on a careful and rational
examination of the facts. Facts and theories are two different things.
In the scientific method, there is a clear distinction between facts,
which can be observed and/or measured, and theories, which are
scientists explanations and interpretations of the facts.
An important part of scientific theory includes statements that have
observational consequences. A good theory, like Newtons theory of
gravity, has unity, which means it consists of a limited number of
problem-solving strategiesthat can be applied to a wide range of
scientific circumstances. Another feature of a good theory is that it
formed from a number of hypotheses that can be tested
independently.

Need for a Theory..

A theory is a foundational belief about how the world works
The purpose of theory is practice
Theory constantly changes
Theory Helps Us Understand Where We Are
Theory: A Crucial Weapon in Our Arsenal
Limits of Theory: Abstraction is a Tight Squeeze
Class Position Determines Ideas

Variables
Independent variable
Dependent variable
Extraneous variable
Active variable
Attribute variable
Continuous variable
Categorical variable

Characteristics of a Scientific
Theory
1. A theory synthesizes a number of observations
2. A good theory is heuristic; that is; it generates new research
3. A theory must generate hypotheses that can be empirically
verified. If such hypotheses are confirmed, the theory gains
strength; if not, the theory is weakened and must be
revised or abandoned
4. A theory is a tool and as such cannot be right or wrong; it is
either useful or it is not useful
5. Theories are chosen in accordance with the law of
parsimony: Of two equally effective theories, the simpler of
the two must be chosen

6. Theories contain abstractions, such as numbers or

words, which constitute the formal aspect of a theory
7. The formal aspect of a theory must be correlated with
observable events, which constitute the empirical
aspect of a theory
8. All theories are attempts to explain empirical events,
and they must, therefore, start and end with empirical
observations

Learning
Learning is a key process in human behavior
All living is learning
If we compare the simple, crude ways in which a child
feels and behaves, with the complex modes of adult
behavior, his skills, habits, thought, sentiments and the
like- we will know what difference learning has made to
the individual

Activity
Think about the three behaviors of a child and an adult
behavior which can show the effect of learning

Learning
The individual is constantly
influenced by the environment

interacting

with

and

This experience makes him to change or modify his

behavior in order to deal effectively with it.
Therefore, learning is a change in behavior, influenced
by previous behavior
As stated above the skills, knowledge, habits, attitudes,
interests and other personality characteristics are all
the result of learning

Learning
Learning is defined as any relatively permanent change
in behavioral potentiality that occurs as a result of
reinforced practice (Kimble, 1961)
This definition has some important elements:
a. Learning is indexed by a change in behavior; in other
words, the results of learning must always be
translated into observable behavior
b. This behavioral change is relatively permanent; that
is, it is neither transitory nor fixed

c. Change in behavior need not occur immediately following the

learning experience, although, there may be a potential to act
differently, this potential to act may not be translated into
behavior until a later time
d. The change in behavior (or behavior potentiality) results from
experience or practice
e. The experience, or practice, must be reinforced; that is, only
those responses that lead to reinforcement will be learned

Learning: How does it occurs?

According to Skinner, behavioral changes are learning
and no further process needs to be inferred from
changes in behavior
Other theorists say that the learning process cannot be
studied directly, instead, its nature can only be inferred
from changes in behavior
So they look at learning as a process that mediates
behavior
Learning is something that occurs as the result of
certain experiences and precedes changes in behavior
In that case, learning acts the intervening variable

Independent
Variables

Experience

Intervening
Variable

Dependent
Variables

Learning

Behavioral
changes

How Permanent is
Relatively
Permanent????

Sensitization
Habituation..

Reflexes.
Instincts..

To attribute a behavioral change

to learning, the change must be
relatively permanent and must
result from experience. If an
organism engages in a complex
behavior pattern independent of
experience, that behavior cannot
be referred to as learned behavior

A modified definition of
learning.
Learning is a relatively permanent
change in behavior or in behavioral
potentiality
that
results
from
experience and cannot be attributed to
temporary body states such as those
induced by illness, fatigue, or drugs

Laws of learning
Readiness
Effect
Exercise
Recency
Primacy
Intensity

Activity.

Recall of the incidences purporting

to each of the laws.

Components of Learning
Learning involves change, be it good or bad
The change in behavior must be relatively permanent. For that
matter, a temporary change in behavior as a result of fatigue or
temporary adaptations are not considered learning
Only change in behavior acquired through experience is
considered learning. Therefore, a change in individual's thought
process or attitudes, if accompanied by no change in behavior,
would not be learning.
Some form of experience is necessary for learning. Experience
may be acquired directly through practice or observation or
indirectly as through reading
Learning is a life long process

Determinants of Learning
Motive:Motives also called drives, prompt people to action. They are
primary energizers of behavior. They are the ways of behavior and
mainspring of action. They are largely subjective and represent the mental
feelings of human beings. They are cognitive variables. They arise
continuously and determine the general direction of an individual's behavior
without motive learning cannot occur
Stimuli:Stimuli are objects that exist in the environment in which a person
lives. Stimuli increase the probability of eliciting a specific response from a
person
Generalization:The principle of generalization has important implications
for human learning. Generalization takes place when the similar new stimuli
repeat in the environment. When two stimuli are exactly alike, they will have
probability of eliciting specific response. It makes possible for a person to
predict human behavior when stimuli are exactly alike

Determinants of Learning
Discrimination:What
is
not
generalization
is
discrimination. In case of discrimination, responses vary to
different stimuli
Responses:The stimulus results in responses - be these in
the physical form or in terms of attitudes or perception or in
other phenomena. However, the responses need to be
operationally defined and preferably physically observable
Learner: assessment of the learner (who), learning needs
(what), readiness to learn (when), learning style ( how )

Determinants of Learning
Reinforcement:Reinforcement
is
a
fundamental
conditioning of learning. Reinforcement can be defined as
anything that both increases the strength of response and
tends to induce repetitions of behavior that preceded the
reinforcement. No measurable modification of behavior can
take place without reinforcement
Retention:Retention means remembrance of learned
behavior overtime. Converse is forgetting. Learning which is
forgotten over time is called "extinction". When the response
strength returns after extinction without only intervening
reinforcement it is called "spontaneous recovery"

Factors affecting learning

Meaningfulness effect:Highly meaningful words are
easier to learn and remember than less meaningful
words. This is true whether meaningful is measured by
1) the number of associations the learner has for the
word,
2)
by
frequency
of
the
word
3) or by familiarity with the sequential order of letters,
4) or the tendency of the work to elicit clear images.
An implication is that retention will be improved to the
extent the user can make meaning of the material

 Serial position effects:Serial position effects result from

the particular placement of an item within a list.
Memory is better for items placed at beginning or end of
list rather than in the middle. An exception to these
serial positions is the distinctiveness effect - an item
that is distinctively different from the others will be
remembered better, regardless of serial position

 Practice effects:Active practice or rehearsal improves

retention, and distributed practice is usually more
effective than massed practice. The advantage to
distributed practice is especially noticeable for lists, fast
presentation rates or unfamiliar stimulus material. The
advantage to distributed practice apparently occurs
because massed practice allows the learner to associate
a word with only a single context, but distributed
practice allows association with many different contexts

 Transfer
learning
transfer
learning
the new
have in
occur

effectsTransfer effects are effects of prior

on the leaning of new material. Positive
occurs when previous learning makes new
easier. Negative transfer occurs when it makes
learning more difficult. The more that two tasks
common, the more likely that transfer effects

 Interference effects.Interference effects occur when

memory or particular material is interfered by previous
or subsequent learning. Interference effects occur when
trying to remember material that has previously been
learned. Interference effects are always negative.

 Organization effectsOrganization effects occur when

learners chunk or categorize the input. Free recall of
lists is better when learners organize the items into
categories rather than attempt to memorize the list in
serial
order

 Levels-of-Processing effectsThe more deeply a word is

processed, the better it will be remembered. Semantic
encoding of content is likely to lead to better memory.
Elaborative encoding, improves memory by making
sentences more meaningful

 State-Dependent effects:State- or Context-dependent

effects occur because learning takes place in within a
specific context that must be accessible later, at least
initially, within the same context. For example, lists are
more easily remembered when the test situation more
closely resembles the leaning situation, apparently due
to contextual cues available to aid in information
retrieval

 Mnemonic
effects:Mnemonics
strategies
for
elaborating on relatively meaningless input by
associating the input with more meaningful images or
semantic context

 Abstraction effectsAbstraction is the tendency of

learners to pay attention to and remember the gist of a
passage rather than the specific words of a sentence. In
general, to the extent that learners assume the goal is
understanding rather than verbatim memory and the
extent that the material can be analyzed into main
ideas and supportive detail, learners will tend to
concentrate on the main ideas and to retain these in
semantic forms that are more abstract and generalized
than the verbatim sentences included in the passage

 Levels effect:This effect occurs when the learner

perceives that some parts of the passage are more
important than others. Parts that occupy higher levels in
the organization of the passage will be learned better
than parts occupying low levels

 Prior Knowledge effects:Prior knowledge effects will

occur to the extent that the learner can use existing
knowledge to establish a context or construct a schema
into which the new information can be assimilated

 Inference effects:Inference effects occur when learners

use schemas or other prior knowledge to make
inferences about intended meanings that go beyond
what is explicitly stated in the text

 Misconception effects:Prior knowledge can lead to

misconceptions. Misconceptions may be difficult to
correct due to the fact that learner may not be aware
that knowledge is a misconception. Misconception
occurs when input is filtered through schemas that are
oversimplified, distorted or incorrect

 Text Organization Effects:Text organization refers to the

effects that the degree and type of organization built
into a passage have on the degree and type of
information that learners encode and remember.
Structural elements such as advanced organizers,
previews,
logical
sequencing,
outline
formats,
highlighting of main ideas and summaries assist
learning in retaining information. These organization
effects facilitate chunking, subsumption of material into
schemas and related processes that enable encoding as
an organized body of meaningful knowledge. In

 Mathemagenic Effects: Mathemagenic effects, coined

byRothkopf (1970), refer to various things that
learners do to prepare and assist their own learning.
These effects refer to the active information processing
by learners. Mathemagenic activities include answering
adjunct questions or taking notes and can enhance
learning

Problems and Issues

What aspects of learning should be investigated?
Idiographic versus Nomothetic Techniques
Human versus Nonhuman Animals as Subjects
Correlation Techniques versus Experimental Techniques
Which Independent Variables should be studied?
What Levels of the Independent Variables should be Studied?
Choice of Dependent Variables
Data Analysis and Interpretation

Applications of Learning
Research
Predicting behavior
Controlling behavior
Further research