Unit 6 - Learning Theories

• Learning


  A relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience, influenced by various biological, cultural, social, and emotional variables
• Main theories of learning

  • Behavioral Learning Theory
  • Cognitive Learning Theory
  • Constructivist Learning Theory
  • Social Learning Theory
  • Experiential Learning Theory
• Behavioral Learning Theories


  • Psychologists became interested in turning psychology into a more scientific endeavor
  • Argued that psychology needed to study only things that could be measured and quantified to be more scientific
  • Believe behavior can be studied in a systematic and observable manner regardless of internal mental states
• Behaviorism


  A theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning
• Conditioning


  1. Interaction with the environment

  2. Associations

  3. Reinforcements

  4. Punishments
• Classical Conditioning


  A type of unconscious or automatic learning used in behavioral training, creating a conditioned response through associations between an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus
• Classical Conditioning Definitions


  • Unconditioned Stimulus
  • Neutral Stimulus
  • Conditioned Stimulus
  • Unconditioned Response
  • Conditioned Response
• Classical Conditioning


  1. Forming associations between naturally occurring stimuli and a previously neutral stimulus

  2. The neutral stimulus must occur immediately before the naturally occurring one

  3. Focuses on automatic, naturally occurring behaviors
• Operant Conditioning


  A method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior, making an association between a behavior and a consequence
• Operant Conditioning


  1. Strengthening or weakening a behavior by using reinforcement or punishment

  2. The consequences must quickly follow the behavior

  3. Focuses on voluntary behaviors
• Types of Behaviors


  • Respondent behaviors
  • Operant behaviors
• Positive reinforcers


  Favorable events or outcomes that are presented after the behavior, strengthening the response
• Negative reinforcers


  Removal of an unfavorable event or outcome after the display of a behavior, strengthening the response
• Positive punishment


  Presenting an unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken the response it follows
• Negative punishment


  Removing a favorable event or outcome after a behavior occurs, in order to weaken the response
• Examples of Operant Conditioning

  • Rewards causing an increase in behavior
  • Removal of a desirable outcome or application of a negative outcome causing a decrease in behavior
• Cognitive Learning Theories


  • Focus on how attention, memory, and information processing contribute to the acquisition of knowledge
• Stages of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

  • Sensorimotor Stage
  • Preoperational Stage
  • Concrete Operations Stage
  • Formal Operations Stage
• Sociocultural theory is an emerging theory
• Operant conditioning


  The removal of a desirable outcome or the application of a negative outcome
• Operant conditioning


  • A child may be told they will lose recess privileges if they talk out of turn in class
  • This potential for punishment may lead to a decrease in disruptive behaviors
• We can find examples of operant conditioning at work all around us
• Cognitive learning theories


  The cognitive approach to learning focuses on how attention, memory, and information processing contribute to the acquisition of knowledge
• Piaget's theory of cognitive development


  One of the best-known cognitive learning theories
• Stages of Piaget's theory of cognitive development

  • Sensorimotor Stage
  • Preoperational Stage
  • Concrete Operations Stage
  • Formal Operations Stage
• Sensorimotor Stage


  During this period of cognitive development, children learn about the world primarily through their senses
• Preoperational Stage


  This stage is marked by the emergence of language and learning through pretend play
• Concrete Operations Stage


  During this period, kids begin to utilize logic but still think about the world very concretely
• Formal Operations Stage


  At this point, kids begin to use deductive reasoning and can understand abstract, hypothetical ideas
• Sociocultural theory


  An emerging field of psychology that looks at the contributions of society to individual development
• Sociocultural theory grew from the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky
• Constructivist approach to learning


  Characterizes learners as active participants in the process who play a role in constructing their knowledge
• Sociocultural theory


  • Believes parents, caregivers, peers, and the culture at large are responsible for developing higher-order functions
  • Vygotsky's sociocultural theory stressed the importance of collaboration and social interaction in the learning process with a difference among cultures beliefs and attitudes
  • The information is then integrated on the individual level
  • Social interaction is vital for psychological development as learning is social process
  • Human cognitive functions are formed based on our interactions with those around us who are more skilled
• Zone of proximal development


  The distance between the actual development level (of the learner) as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers
• The zone of proximal development includes all of the knowledge and skills that a person cannot yet understand or perform on their own but is capable of learning with guidance
• As children are allowed to stretch their skills and knowledge, often by observing someone who is slightly more advanced than they are, they are able to progressively extend this zone
• Vygotsky's theory


  Stresses the essential role that social interactions play in development
• Piaget's theory


  Stressed that a child's interactions and explorations impact development
• Key differences between Vygotsky's and Piaget's theories

  • Vygotsky's theory: Social factors influence development
  • Piaget's theory: Childhood interactions and explorations influence development
  • Vygotsky's theory: Development can differ between cultures
  • Piaget's theory: Development is largely universal
• Applying Vygotsky's theory in the classroom

  • Understanding the zone of proximal development can be helpful for teachers
  • Teachers may first assess students to determine their current skill level
  • Educators can then offer instruction that stretches the limits of each child's capabilities
  • At first, the student may need assistance from an adult or a more knowledgeable peer
  • Eventually, their zone of proximal development will expand
  • Teachers can help promote this expansion by planning and organizing classroom instruction and lessons, using hints, prompts, and direct instruction to help kids improve their ability levels, and scaffolding, where the teacher provides specific prompts to move the child progressively forward toward a goal