Classical Conditioning and Connectionism in Learning Theories

Learning Theories

• Learning theories are set conjectures and hypotheses that explain the process of learning or how learning takes place.
• Behavioral Learning Theories focus on actual behavior and make conclusions based on observations of external manifestations of learning.

Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who won the 1904 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
• Pavlov made major scientific contributions to understanding the physiology of the digestive system.
• Classical Conditioning believes that individuals learn when a previously neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus until the neutral stimulus evokes a conditioned response.

Key Components of Classical Conditioning

• Unconditioned stimulus: a stimulus that automatically produces an emotional or physiological response.
• Unconditioned response: a naturally occurring emotional or physiological response.
• Neutral stimuli: stimuli that do not elicit a response.
• Conditioned stimulus: a stimulus that evokes an emotional or physiological response after conditioning.
• Conditioned response: a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Features of Classical Conditioning

• Generalization: responding in the same way to similar stimuli.
• Discrimination: responding differently to similar, but not identical stimuli.
• Extinction: the gradual disappearance of a learned response.

Guidelines for Using Classical Conditioning

• Associate positive, pleasant events with learning tasks.
• Help students to risk anxiety-producing situations voluntarily and successfully.
• Help students recognize differences and similarities among situations so they can discriminate and generalize properly.

Edward Thorndike and Connectionism

• Edward Thorndike was an American psychologist who conducted experiments on animal learning.
• Thorndike formulated the law of effect, which states that behaviors that are followed by pleasant consequences will be more likely to be repeated in the future.
• Connectionism Learning is the result of associations (or connections) forming between stimuli and responses.

Laws of Learning

• Law of effect: responses to a situation which are followed by a rewarding state of affairs will be strengthened and become habitual responses to that situation.
• Law of readiness: a series of responses can be chained together to satisfy some goal which will result in annoyance if blocked.
• Law of exercise: connections become strengthened with practice and weakened when practice is discontinued.