A. Edward Thorndike‘s Connectionism |
Associationism Theory:
Human activity is
based on association between stimulus and response.
a.
Law of effect - The third law is the ‗Law of Effect‘,
according to which the trial or steps leading to satisfaction stamps in the
bond or connection. Satisfying states lead to consolidation and strengthening
of the connection, whereas dis-satisfaction, annoyance or pain lead to the
weakening or stamping out of the connection. In fact, the ‗law of effect‘
signifies that if the response satisfy the subject, they are learnt and
selected, while those which are not satisfying are eliminated. Teaching,
therefore, must be pleasing. The educator must obey the tastes and interests of
his pupils. In other words, greater the satisfaction stronger will be the
motive to learn. Thus, intensity is an important condition of ‗law of effect‘.
b.
Law of exercise - The second law of learning is the ‗Law of
Exercise‘, which means that drill or practice helps in increasing efficiency
and durability of learning and according to Throndike‘s S-R Bond Theory, the
connections are strengthened with trail or practice and the connections are
weakened when trial or practice is discontinued. The ‗law of exercise‘,
therefore, is also understood as the ‗law of use and disuse‘ in which case
connections or bonds made in the brain cortex are weakened or loosened. Many
examples of this case are found in case of human learning. Learningto drive
amotor-car, typewriting, singing ormemorizing apoem or a mathematical table,
and music etc. need exercise and repetition of various movements and actions
many times.
c.
Law of readiness - First primary law of learning, according
to him, is the ‗Law of Readiness‘ or the ‗Law of Action Tendency‘, which means
that learning takes place when an action tendency is aroused through
preparatory adjustment, set or attitude. Readiness means a preparation of
action. If one is not prepared to learn, learning cannot be automatically
instilled in him, for example, unless the typist, in order to learn typing
prepares himself to start, he would not make much progress in a lethargic &
unprepared manner.
B. Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov):
It is based on ADHESIVE principle which means that a response is attached to a
stimulus through the stimulus occurring just prior to the response so that the
recurrence of the stimulus will evoke or cause the response. (Ex. Dog‘s
salivation experiment)
C. Operant Conditioning (BF Skinner):
Organism has to do something in order to get reward that is, it must operate on
its environment.
• Reinforcement:
is any behavioral consequence that strengthens behavior. It increases the
likelihood of the recurrent of a particular type of response.
• Types
of reinforcement:
- Positive Reinforcement: These
reinforces increase frequency.
- Negative Reinforcement: Strengthens
behavior by their removal.
- Primary
Reinforcement: food, water, sleep
- Secondary Reinforcement: money,
grades, starts, tokens etc.
D. SocialLearningTheory(AlbertBandura)– plus emphasis on OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING.
E. Wolfgang Kohler‟s Insight Theory - Gaining insight is a gradual processes of exploring analyzing and restructuring perceptions until a solution is arrived at.
F. Gestalt Theoru (Kohlerm Wertheimer and Koffka) - The primary focus of this theory is on PERCEPTION and how people assign meanings to visual stimuli, ―The whole is more than the sum of all its parts‖
G. Kurt Lewin‟s Topological and Vector Theory (Field Theory) - the behavior of an individual at a given moment is the result of existing forces operating simultaneously in his life space. (Internal and External forces).
H. Jerome Bruner‟s Theory - Also known as Instrumental Conceptualism. Learning involves 3 simultaneously processes: acquisition transformation and evaluation.
I. Information processing Theory - The
theory describes the psychological events in terms of transformations of
information form input to output. It stresses the value of perception,
attention and memory in the learning process.
Types
of Learning:
a. Cognitive Learning - is concerned with the development of ideas and concepts. This explains why the brain is the most incredible network of information processing and interpretation in the body as we learn things.
b. Affective Learning - Involves assimilation of values, emotional reactions and acquisition of attitudes. These domains are cognitive (thinking), affective (emotion/feeling), and psychomotor (physical/kinesthetic). Each domain on this page has a taxonomy associated with it. Taxonomy is simply a word for a classification. All of the taxonomies below are arranged so that they proceed from the simplest to more complex levels.
c.
Psychomotor Learning - understanding the external world
through the senses and muscles. The psychomotor domain deals with manual
or physical skills. It is the "doing" domain.
Analogical Process and Transfer of
Learning
- the Theory of Transfer of Learning was introduced by Thorndike and Woodworth
(1901). They explored how individuals would transfer learning in one context to
another context that shared similar characteristics. Their theory implied that
transfer of learning depends on the learning task and the transfer task being
identical, also known as ―identical elements. There is a close relationship
between transfer of learning and problem solving a problem in a new situation.
Metacognition - refers to thinking
about cognition (memory, perception, calculation, association, etc.) itself or
to think/reason about one‘s own thinking. It refers to ―thinking about thinking‖ and was introduced
as a concept in by John Flavell, who is typically seen as a founding scholar of
the field. Flavell said that metacognition is the knowledge you have of your
own cognitive processes (your thinking).Flavell (1979). It is your ability to
control your thinking processes through various strategies, such as organizing,
monitoring, and adapting. Additionally, it is your ability to reflect upon the
tasks or processes you undertake and to select and utilize the appropriate
strategies necessary in your intercultural interactions.
• Metacognition involves two types of knowledge:
1) explicit
| conscious | factual knowledge
2) implicit |unconsciousness knowledge.
• The efforts of metacognition are aimed at developing learner autonomy, independence and self-regulated learners.
Motivational Factors in Learning
Reward and Reinforcement - a reward is that which follows an occurrence of a specific behavior with the intention of acknowledging the behavior in a positive way. A reward often has the intent of encouraging the behavior to happen again.
There are two kinds of rewards, extrinsic and intrinsic rewards are external to, or outside of, the individual; for example, praise or money. Intrinsic rewards are internal to or within, the individual; for example, satisfaction or accomplishment.
Some authors distinguish between two forms of intrinsic motivation: on based on enjoyment, the other on obligation. In this context, obligation refers to motivation bases on what an individual thinks ought to be done. For, instance, a feeling of responsibility for a mission may lead to helping others beyond what is easily observable, rewarded, or fun.
A reinforce is different from reward, in that reinforcement is intended to create a measured increase in the rate of a desirable behavior following the addition of something to the environment.
Intrinsic motivation is evident when people engage in an activity for its own sake, without some obvious external incentive present. A hobby is a typical example. Intrinsic motivation has been intensely studied by educational psychologists since the 1970s, and numerous studies have found it to be associated with high educational achievement and enjoyment by the students.
There is currently no ―grand unified theory‖ to explain the
origin or elements of intrinsic motivation. Most explanations combine elements
of Bernard Weiner‘s attribution theory, Bandura‘s
work on self- efficacy and other studies relating to locus of control and goal
orientation. Thus it is thought that students are more like to experience
intrinsic motivation if they:
• Attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e.g. the amount of effort they put in, not fixed ability).
• Believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (e.g. the results are not determined by dumb luck).
•
Are
motivated towards deep mastery of a topic, instead of just rote-learning
performance to get good grades.
In knowledge-sharing communities and organizations, people often cite altruistic reasons for their participation, including contributing to a common good, a moral obligation to the group, mentorship or giving back‖. This model if intrinsic motivation has emerged from three decades of research by hundreds of educationalists and still evolving.
In work environments, money is typically viewed
as an important goal (having food, clothes etc.) may well be more powerful than
the direct motivation provided by an enjoyable workplace.
Learning styles vs. learning strategies.
Issues regarding learning style are somewhat related, i.e. students that willing and able to think in more abstract terms and/or to critically examine what they do may show better performance.
A learning style refers to the relationship between
individuals and their ways of learning whereas learning strategies refer to
attitudes and behavior that is oriented towards goals. As an example, one could
compare/oppose.
