Learning Theories Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Education Psychology

Study Notes

Theories of Learning

There are three theoretical approaches to learning: behaviorist, cognitive, and motivation theories.
Each approach attempts to answer questions about learning, including whether people learn before teaching and why they want to learn.

Behaviorist Theory

This approach suggests that people learn to react to a stimulus, involving antecedent conditions, required behavior, and consequences of behavior.
There is always a reinforcing stimulus leading to a change in behavior, which positively supports human life.

Cognitive Theory

Cognitive learning involves understanding, applying, analyzing, and interpreting information to make decisions.
Learners associate meaning with stimuli, and prior knowledge and information are emphasized.
Two key notions of cognitive theorists are that humans reorganize existing knowledge to solve problems and that there is latent/hidden learning.

Motivation Theory

This approach argues that people need to be motivated to learn, and that motivation refers to the desire to do something.
Teachers can find motivating factors by asking students why they enrolled in a course and by pooling their opinions.

Learning Domains

Learning domains, or categories of learning outcomes, are critical to consider when planning lessons.
There are three main learning domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor.

Cognitive Domain

This domain focuses on knowledge or mind-based learning, with three instructional levels: fact, understanding, and application.
Verbs used at the fact level include define, identify, and list; at the understanding level, include describe, compare and contrast; and at the application level, include explain, apply, and analyze.
Delivery in this domain is typically through lectures or presentations, and evaluation involves subjective and objective test items.

Description

Explore questions related to learning and teaching such as whether people learn before teaching, in the absence of teachers, and why people want to learn. Learn about the three theoretical approaches to learning including behaviorism.