Learning Theories Overview

Study Notes

What is Learning?

Learning involves change, specifically a permanent change in behavior or mental processes.
Learning is a result of experience, which can be direct or vicarious.
Learning is distinct from maturation, a natural process of development influenced by biological factors.

Learning Perspectives

Behaviorism: Focuses on observable and measurable behaviors, emphasizing the role of external stimuli in learning.
- Learning is a process of reacting to external stimuli.
- Change in behavior is driven by practice, experience, and conditioning.
Cognitivism: Emphasizes the internal processes of acquiring, storing, and processing information.
- Learning is internal.
- Change in behavior reflects the mental processes involved.
Constructivism: Views learning as the construction of subjective reality based on prior knowledge and objective realities.
- Learning involves building upon existing knowledge and experiences.
- The learner actively constructs meaning.

Examples of Learning

Habituation: A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure. Examples include salivation responses, attention to a caregiver, and becoming accustomed to being shouted at.
Mere Exposure Effect: Developing a preference for familiar things or people, regardless of conscious awareness.

Theories of Learning

Behavioral Perspective:
- Classical Conditioning: A process of learning to associate a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus, leading to a conditioned response.
  - Ivan Pavlov: Discovered classical conditioning through his research involving dogs and their digestive processes.
  - Key concepts:
    - Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Naturally occurring stimulus that triggers an involuntary response.
    - Unconditioned Response (UCR): Involuntary response to a UCS.
    - Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Originally neutral stimulus that becomes associated with a UCS and elicits a response.
    - Conditioned Response (CR): Learned response to a CS.
    - Acquisition: The repeated pairing of a neutral stimulus with a UCS.
    - Reinforcer: Any event or object that increases the likelihood of a response occurring again.
  - Other examples:
    - Conditioned Emotional Response (CER): Learning an emotional reaction to a conditioned stimulus.
    - Phobias: Irrational fears developed through CER.
    - Vicarious Conditioning: Learning through observing the reactions of others.
    - Conditioned Taste Aversion: Developing a dislike for a specific taste due to an association with nausea.
    - Biological Preparedness: The tendency to learn certain associations more easily, like taste and nausea, due to their survival value.
- Operant Conditioning:
  - Edward Thorndike: Formulated the "Law of Effect," stating that behaviors followed by pleasurable consequences are more likely to be repeated.
  - B.F. Skinner: Emphasized observable behavior and named the process "operant conditioning."
  - Operant: Any voluntary behavior.
  - Learning depends on consequences:
    - Reinforcement: Any event or stimulus that follows a response and increases its likelihood.
    - Primary Reinforcers: Innately satisfying, like food or water.
    - Secondary Reinforcers: Learned through association with primary reinforcers, like money or praise.