2.

2 Lecture Objectives

By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

Define learning
Explain the relevance of learning
Describe the various types of learning theories

Definition of learning
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour as a result of
reinforced practice or past experience. For example from early
childhood we are taught how to talk, to read and to write. Through
repeated activities in talking, reading and writing, we acquire
language, reading and writing skills. We are then able to use these
skills for the rest of our lives unless we experience problems that may
interfere with these acquired abilities.

2.4 Relevance of Learning

Learning is a process that is most important and basic for human
survival. We learn various things for example one learns to socialize in
a given manner, one learns religion, one learns a profession or trade for
survival, among others. In learning for human beings, there are three
important determinants of learning:
 a) a highly developed and complex brain and its information storage
systems
b) the use of language which facilitates the development of thought
and linkage of past, present and future.

c) environmental conditions and demands which determine what

adaptive behaviours humans must learn.

2.5 Types of learning

There are various types of learning for example:
• Classical conditioning
• Operant or instrumental conditioning/learning

2.5.1 Classical conditioning

This is a simple form of learning in which one stimulus comes to bring
forth the response usually brought forth by a second stimulus being
paired repeatedly with the second stimulus. This type of learning was
first studied by a Russian named Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov’s studies which
were mainly carried out on dogs, were designed to discover the
conditions which should be provided to enable an animal to respond
to a neutral stimulus with a response that would otherwise be evoked
by a specific natural stimulus for example hungry dogs tend to respond
naturally and reflexively to a stimulus such as meat by salivating.
Through classical conditioning it is possible to bring this response
under the control of a stimulus such as a bell, a voice or even the sound
of a car or a door opening. These are stimuli which do not naturally
have the power to evoke salivation and which are virtually neutral
stimuli as far as the response of salivation goes.

The set up required to bring this about is as follows:

i) Select a stimulus which naturally evokes a certain response. For
example meat in the mouth of the dog, elicits salivation that is:

Meat powder salivation

(natural stimulus) (natural
response)

ii) Select a stimulus which is neutral with respect to the response

you want to condition. That is a stimulus which does not
naturally elicit that response for example:

Bell no salivation
(neutral stimulus) (no response)

iii) Present the neutral stimulus closely followed by the natural

stimulus that is,

Bell + meat powder salivation

 iv) Repeat this procedure several times that is,

Bell + meat powder salivation (x 5 times)

v) Present the neutral stimulus alone to see whether salivation will

follow. If salivation follows then conditioning has occurred for
example:

Bell salivation
(conditioned stimulus) (conditioned response)

The dog would still salivate at the sound of the bell because it
had learnt to associate the bell tone with food.

2.5.1.1 Terminology used in Classical Conditioning

a) Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that elicits a response
naturally from an organism without learning

b) Unconditioned response (UCR): An unlearned response. It is a

response to an unconditioned stimulus

c) Conditioned stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that

elicits a conditioned response because it has been paired
repeatedly with a stimulus that already elicited that response
 d) Conditioned response (CR): A learned response to a previously
neutral stimulus. It is a response to a conditioned stimulus

The whole procedure used by Pavlov can be summarised as follows:

1. Before conditioning

Neutral stimulus no response

UCS UCR
(food) (salivation)

2. During
conditioning
Conditioned + Unconditioned
Unconditione
d
(bell)

Unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned

response

Stimulus stimulus response

(bell) (food) (salivation)
CS UCS UCR
 NOTE

NB: The UCS always follows the CS during conditioning

3. After conditioning
Conditioned stimulus Conditioned
response
CS CR
(bell) (salivation)
Another example of classical conditioning is where Watson and
Raynor (1920) taught an infant called Albert to react with fear to the
sight of a rabbit. The conditioning procedure involved pairing the sight
of a white rat or rabbit which previously did not produce a fear
response (crying) in Albert, with the occurrence of a loud sound, which
naturally elicits a fear response in infants. After a few pairings,
presentation of the white rat or rabbit alone was able to produce the
same fear response as the loud sound.

1. Before conditioning
White rabbit no fear response
(neutral stimulus)
 Loud sound fear response (crying)
UCS UCR

2. During conditioning
White rabbit + Loud sound fear response (x
5 times)
CS UCS UCR

NOTE

The UCSalways follows the CS during conditioning

3. After conditioning
White rabbit fear response
CS CR

2.5.1.2 The General Characteristics of Classical Conditioning

1. Reinforcement
This is any event, procedure or stimulus which will strengthen the
conditioned response. A reinforcer increases the probability of
occurrence of a response which it accompanies. In classical
conditioning, the CS-UCS pairings are the reinforcement.
 2. Extinction
This refers to the elimination of the conditioned response as a result of
withdrawal of reinforcement. If reinforcement is withheld, that is, if
the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly alone, the conditioned
stimulus loses its power to evoke the conditioned response. This
process is called extinction. For example, when Pavlov continued
ringing the bell alone to evoke the conditioned response, the dogs
eventually stopped salivating to the bell as the conditioned response to
the bell had suffered extinction.

3. Stimulus Generalisation
This refers to the tendency of an animal to respond to a wide range of
stimuli which are similar to that used as the conditioned stimulus. If a
stimulus which is similar to the conditioned stimulus is presented
instead of the conditioned stimulus the conditioned response may be
evoked but to a lesser degree and with a lesser probability. For
example, the fear response in the infant Albert was elicited by other
furry objects such as white furry coats, or white beards. In other words,
the fear generalised to similar objects. The more similar a stimulus is
to the conditioned stimulus, the higher the degree of generalisation.

4. Stimulus Discrimination
This refers to the tendency of the animal to confine his responses to
the conditioned stimulus rather than respond to any stimulus similar to
the conditioned stimulus. If two stimuli are presented to the organism,
one of which is always followed by the unconditioned stimulus and
the other is never followed by the unconditioned stimulus, the
conditioned response will occur only when the reinforced stimulus is
presented. In other words responses to the other stimulus suffer
extinction. The organism is said to have acquired a discrimination for
example, if the white rat is always followed by a loud bang but the
white coat is not followed by a loud bang, then a child will only cry
when he sees the white rat.

NOTE

Whereas stimulus generalisation tends to occur during

the early conditioning trials, stimulus discrimination tends to
occur later in conditioning when the animal has had the chance to
discover which stimuli are reinforced and which ones are not.
5. Spontaneous Recovery
If the experimenter allows the dog that has been conditioned and that
has undergone the extinction process to rest for sometime for example
a few days then he puts it back in the lab and presents the bell tone
(CS) without the food (UCS), the dog starts to salivate again. This is
called spontaneous recovery. However if this is continued for some
time that is, the conditioned stimulus keeps on being presented without
the unconditioned stimulus, the response dies again so the food would
be needed to strengthen the association.
 6. Higher Order Conditioning
First the dog is conditioned to salivate when it hears a given bell tone.
Then the experimenter introduces a new element in the situation for
example he turns on a light before ringing the bell and presenting the
food that is:

light bell food

This is done for some time. The dog therefore learns to salivate when the
light is turned on.
We therefore have:
CS1 + CS2 CR

This is referred to as higher order conditioning.

2.5.1.3 Uses of Classical Conditioning

1. Extinction
Extinction involves elimination of a response through the withdrawal
of reinforcement. Extinction can therefore be used by teachers when
they want to deal with undesirable behaviour in students. When faced
by disruptive behaviour, the teacher should eliminate any
reinforcement that maintains the undesirable behaviour. This brings
about extinction of the behaviour.
For more desirable behaviour, the reinforcement should be given
simultaneously. The mistake most teachers make is that they pay
attention to children when the children misbehave. This attention is
reinforcing and it can actually encourage undesirable behaviour even
when the attention consists of orders about things that the child should
or should not do. Therefore, what should the teacher do? The teacher
should praise the appropriate behaviour and at the same time ignore
inappropriate behaviour. This is the most effective method of dealing
with disruption in the classroom. In summary, for the teacher to use
the principle of extinction successfully, he or she should:

a) withhold reinforcement for example if a learner has a habit of

reading while saying the punctuation marks and the class laughs,
the teacher instructs the class not to laugh and he or she does not
say anything to the naughty learner about this bad behaviour

b) reinforce the alternative positive behaviour for example praise

the learner on the day he reads without saying the punctuation
marks aloud

2. Reinforcement
A reinforcer is a stimulus that follows a response and increases the
frequency of the response. The teacher therefore should ensure that the
environmental conditions are reinforcing. Many human emotions are
acquired through classical conditioning therefore positive emotions
should be paired with learning experiences and negative emotions
should be avoided. The teacher should try as much as possible to avoid
associating the school with negative emotions. He or she should avoid
situations which give rise to or perpetuate strong emotions in pupils.
Strong emotions interfere with effective thought processes. The child
who is emotionally disturbed cannot be expected to learn efficiently.
If a child, for instance, becomes angry or frustrated by an assignment,
or if he is humiliated by sarcasm, very little learning will take place
until the emotion goes away. It is therefore important for the teacher
to avoid arousing such strong emotions in children or try to cool off
such strong emotions before engaging the pupils concerned in learning
activities.

Activities

Describe the experiments Pavlov did

2.5.2 Operant or Instrumental Conditioning or Learning

Operant conditioning is a process through which organisms learn to
repeat behaviours that yield positive outcomes or permit them to avoid
or escape from negative outcomes. Unlike classical conditioning, the
responses that are conditioned are voluntary responses which do not
have to be triggered by a specific stimulus. After the animal
voluntarily emits the response, conditioning follows. Conditioning
simply consists of rewarding the response immediately and thereby
increasing its likelihood or probability of occurrence in that situation.

Instrumental conditioning requires the subject to respond before a

reward/reinforcement is given. In this type of conditioning a certain
event such as food is given if and only if the subject makes the required
response. B. F. Skinner (1904-1986) is the psychologist associated
with operant conditioning. He invented an apparatus called the
Skinner box which was a small enclosure with a door, a lever or bar
and a small tray that received food when the lever was pressed.

Skinner put a rat in the Skinner box and the rat accidentally touched
the lever. Once the lever was touched, food fell into the tray. After
many trials and errors, the rat learnt that touching the lever led to the
appearance of food. After this the rat went straight to the lever and
pressed it for food without displaying any unrelated activity such as
moving around the box.
2.5.2.1 Characteristics of Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning
The characteristics of operant or instrumental conditioning are given in
the following section.

1. Reinforcement
There are two types of reinforcement in operant conditioning. These
are positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive
reinforcers are stimuli that strengthen responses that precede them for
example the food given to the rat in the Skinner box is a positive
reinforcer because it made the rat repeat the action that led to the
appearance of food. On the other hand, negative reinforcement
involves the removal of a noxious, unpleasant or aversive stimulus in
order to strengthen behaviour for example, removing broken pieces of
bottles from a playing field in order to encourage children to play on
the field. The effect of negative reinforcement is to maintain and
strengthen the correct response, while the undesired response suffers
extinction.

2.5.2.2 Modes of Reinforcement or Schedules of Reinforcement

An application of operant conditioning principles is in generating a
variety of behaviour patterns. Psychologists have discovered that once
a given behaviour pattern has been established it is not necessary to
maintain it by giving reinforcement for every occurrence. It can be
arranged so that every other response is reinforced. Alternatively it can
be arranged so that reinforcement comes once after a fixed time
interval irrespective of how many responses may have been displayed.

The various patterns of reinforcement include:

1. Continuous Reinforcement Schedule
This is where reinforcement is given for every response for example if
a rat receives food each time it presses a lever or a small child receives
a shilling, biscuit or banana each time he ties his shoe laces correctly.

2. Fixed Interval Schedule

Here a reward is given at fixed time intervals. When placed on
schedules of this type, people generally show a pattern in which they
respond at low rates immediately after delivery of a reinforcement but
then gradually respond more and more as the time when the next
reward can be obtained approaches. A good example of behaviour on
fixed interval schedule is provided by students studying. After a big
exam, little if any studying takes place. As the time for the next test
approaches, the rate of studying increases dramatically.

3. Variable Interval Schedule

This is where reinforcement comes after random time intervals. An
example of behaviour on a variable interval schedule of reinforcement
is provided by employees whose supervisor checks their work at
irregular intervals. Since the employees never know when such checks
will occur, they must perform in a consistent manner in order to obtain
positive outcomes, such as praise, or avoid negative ones such as
criticism.

4. Fixed Ratio Schedule

Here reinforcement occurs only after a fixed number of responses.
Individuals who are paid on a piecework basis, in which a fixed
amount is paid for each item produced are operating according to a
fixed ratio schedule. People who are paid for every kilo of tea or coffee
they pick are behaving according to a fixed ratio schedule. Another
example is children who are rewarded for every piece of paper they
collect from the ground in the school compound.

5. Variable Ratio Schedule

This is where reinforcement comes after a random number of
responses have been displayed. Organisms usually respond at high and
steady rates when confronted with a variable ratio schedule since they
cannot predict how many responses are required before reinforcement
will occur. The effect of such schedules on human behaviour is
apparent in gambling casinos, where high rates of responding occur in
front of slot machines and other games of chance.
2.5.2.3 Use of Operant Conditioning in Schools
Application of operant conditioning in schools and in the classroom is
described in the following section.

1. Controlling Behaviour by Using Positive Reinforcement

Operant conditioning can be used instead of punishment when
controlling behaviour. Most behaviour occurring in the school
situation is voluntary. The teacher should try to find out what the
reinforcer for positive behaviour is and use this reinforcer to
strengthen and maintain the positive behaviour. Positive reinforcers
that teachers could use include verbal praise, good grades, presents
among others.

2. Controlling Behaviour Through Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement can be used by teachers to maintain and
strengthen correct responses while the undesired responses suffer
extinction. An example is a teacher who finds learners in his school
playing on the highway because the school’s playing field has long
grass. The teacher can have the grass cut down in order to encourage
children to play on this field instead of playing on the dangerous
highway.
Similarities between Classical Learning and Operant Learning
• Both classical and operant conditioning represent simple forms
of learning by association
 • Both follow the same principles in such ideas as extinction that
is if the reinforcer is not given, responses weaken and ultimately
disappear

• The principle of reinforcement is central in both

• Stimulus discrimination where the subject learns to respond to
stimuli which are associated with reinforcement and does not
respond to those not associated with reinforcement

• Stimulus generalization for example in instrumental

conditioning a bird can be conditioned to peck at a red key or
red button and it will peck at buttons with different shades of
red but will not peck at dissimilar coloured buttons

Differences between Classical Learning and Operant Learning

• In classical conditioning the conditioned stimulus and the
unconditioned stimulus are delivered to a passive subject. In
instrumental conditioning the reinforcer is delivered only if
the subject makes the required response

• Different types of responses are involved. In classical

learning, reinforcement is based on reflex behaviours like
salivation, dilation of the pupil of the eye, fear, shock, among
others. These are behaviours that have their release in the
autonomic nervous system that is, they are elicited
involuntarily. However, in instrumental conditioning the
 animal moves about – pressing a lever, pecking at a disc,
among others. These are skeletal responses with their release
in the central nervous system. Therefore these responses are
emitted voluntarily

• In operant conditioning, it is the response that the subject

gives which operates on the environment to achieve some
response (to achieve reinforcement). In classical conditioning
reinforcement follows the conditioned stimulus not the
animal’s response.