Introduction
At the time of birth every human baby is equipped with the capacity to make a
limited number of responses. These responses occur reflexively whenever
appropriate stimuli are present in the environment. As the child grows and
matures, s/he becomes capable of making diverse types of responses. These
include identifying the images of some persons as one’s mother, father or
grandfather, using a spoon when eating food, and learning how to identify
alphabets, to write, and to combine them into words. S/he also observes others
doing things in specific environmental conditions, and imitates them. Learning
names of objects such as book, orange, mango, cow, boy, and girl, and retaining
them is another important task. As one grows older, one observes many events or
objects, and learns their distinct features. Objects are categorised as ‘furniture’,
‘fruits’, and so on. One also learns to drive a scooter or a car, to communicate with
others effectively, and to interact with others. It is all due to learning that a person
becomes hard working or indolent, socially knowledgeable, skilled, and
professionally competent. Each individual manages her or his life and solves all
kinds of problems because of the capacity to learn and adapt. This chapter focuses
on the various aspects of learning. First, learning is defined and characterised as
a psychological process. Second, an account is presented that explains how one
learns. A number of learning methods that account for simple to complex types of
learning are described. In the third section, some empirical phenomena, that occur
in the course of learning, are explained. In the fourth section, different factors that
determine the speed and extent of learning are described including different
learning styles and learning disabilities.
always involves some kinds of experience. We
NATURE OF L EARNING
experience an event occurring in a certain
As indicated above learning is a key process sequence on a number of occasions. If an event
in human behaviour. It refers to a spectrum happens then it may be followed by certain
of changes that take place as a result of one’s other events. For example, one learns that if
experience. Learning may be defined as “any the bell rings in the hostel after sunset, then
relatively permanent change in behaviour or dinner is ready to be served. Repeated
behavioural potential produced by experience”. experience of satisfaction after doing
One must remember that some behavioural something in a specified manner leads to the
changes occur due to the use of drugs, or formation of habit. Sometimes a single
experience can lead to learning. A child strikes
fatigue. Such changes are temporary. They are
a matchstick on the side of a matchbox, and
not considered learning. Changes due to
practice and experience, which are relatively gets her/his fingers burnt. Such an experience
makes the child learn to be careful in handling
permanent, are illustrative of learning.
the matchbox in future.
Behavioural changes that occur due to
Features of Learning
learning are relatively permanent. They must
The process of learning has certain distinctive be distinguished from the behavioural changes
characteristics. The first feature is that learning that are neither permanent nor learned. For
108
Psychology
,example, changes in behaviour often occur or action. Let us understand what is meant
due to the effects of fatigue, habituation, and by the term inference. Suppose you are asked
drugs. Suppose you are reading your textbook by your teacher to memorise a poem. You read
of psychology for sometime or you are trying that poem a number of times. Then you say
to learn how to drive a motor car, a time comes that you have learned the poem. You are asked
when you will feel tired. You stop reading or to recite the poem and you are able to recite
driving. This is a behavioural change due to it. The recitation of the poem by you is your
fatigue, and is temporary. It is not considered perf o rmance. On the basis of your
learning. performance, the teacher infers that you have
Let us take another case of change in one’s learned the poem.
behaviour. Suppose in the vicinity of your
residence a marriage is being performed. It
P ARADIGMS OF LEARNING
generates a lot of noise, which continues till
late night. In the beginning, the noise distracts Learning takes place in many ways. There are
you from whatever you are doing. You feel some methods that are used in acquisition of
disturbed. While the noise continues, you simple responses while other methods are
make some orienting reflexes. These reflexes used in the acquisition of complex responses.
become weaker and weaker, and eventually In this section you will learn about all these
become undetectable. This is also one kind of methods. The simplest kind of learning is
behavioural change. This change is due to called conditioning. Two types of conditioning
continuous exposure to stimuli. It is called
have been identified. The first one is called
habituation. It is not due to learning. You must
classical conditioning, and the second
have noticed that people who are on sedatives instrumental/operant conditioning. In
or drugs or alcohol, their behaviour changes
addition, we have observational learning,
as it affects physiological functions. Such
cognitive learning, verbal learning, concept
changes are temporary in nature and
learning, and skill learning.
disappear, as the effect wears out.
Learning involves a sequence of
psychological events. This will become clear if C LASSICAL CONDITIONING
we were to describe a typical learning
experiment. Suppose psychologists are This type of learning was first investigated by
interested in understanding how a list of words Ivan P. Pavlov. He was primarily interested in
is learned. They will go through the following the physiology of digestion. During his studies
sequence : (i) do a pre-test to know how much he noticed that dogs, on whom he was doing
the person knows before learning, (ii) present his experiments, started secreting saliva as
the list of words to be remembered for a fixed soon as they saw the empty plate in which
time, (iii) during this time the list of words is food was served. As you must be aware, saliva
processed towards acquiring new knowledge, secretion is a reflexive response to food or
(iv) after processing is complete, new something in the mouth. Pavlov designed an
knowledge is acquired (this is LEARNING), and experiment to understand this process in detail
(v) after some time elapses, the processed in which dogs were used once again. In the
information is recalled by the person. By first phase, a dog was placed in a box and
comparing the number of words which a harnessed. The dog was left in the box for some
person now knows as compared to what s/he time. This was repeated a number of times on
knew in the pre-test, one infers that learning different days. In the meantime, a simple
did take place. surgery was conducted, and one end of a tube
Thus, learning is an inferred process and was inserted in the dog’s jaw and the other end
is different from performance. Performance of the tube was put in a measuring glass. The
is a person’s observed behaviour or response experimental setup is illustrated in Figure 6.1.
109
Chapter 6 • Learning
, In the second phase of the experiment, the Unconditioned Stimulus (US) and salivation
dog was kept hungry and placed in harness which follows it, an Unconditioned Response
with one end of the tube ending in the jaw (UR). After conditioning, salivation started to
and the other end in the glass jar. A bell was occur in the presence of the sound of the bell.
The bell becomes a Conditioned Stimulus
One-way (CS) and saliva secretion a Conditioned
glass wall Response (CR). This kind of conditioning is
called classical conditioning. The procedure
Food is illustrated in Table 6.1. It is obvious that
the learning situation in classical conditioning
is one of S–S learning in which one stimulus
(e.g., sound of bell) becomes a signal for
another stimulus (e.g., food). Here one stimulus
signifies the possible occurrence of another
stimulus.
Examples of classical conditioning abound
Tube fr om Cup for Recor ding in everyday life. Imagine you have just finished
salivary glands measuring saliva device your lunch and you are feeling satisfied. Then
you see some sweet dish served on the
Fig.6.1 : A Dog in Pavlovian Harness for Conditioning adjoining table. This signals its taste in your
mouth, and triggers the secretion of saliva. You
sounded and immediately thereafter food (meat
feel like eating it. This is a conditioned response
powder) was served to the dog. The dog was
(CR). Let us take another example. In the early
allowed to eat it. For the next few days,
stages of childhood, one is naturally afraid of
everytime the meat powder was presented, it
any loud noise. Suppose a small child catches
was preceded by the sound of a bell. After a
an inflated balloon which bursts in her/his
number of such trials, a test trial was
hands making a loud noise. The child becomes
introduced in which everything was the same
afraid. Now the next time s/he is made to hold
as the previous trials except that no food
a balloon, it becomes a signal or cue for noise
followed the sounding of the bell. The dog still
and elicits fear response. This happens because
salivated to the sound of the bell, expecting
of contiguous presentation of balloon as a
presentation of the meat powder as the sound
conditioned stimulus (CS) and loud noise as
of bell had come to be connected with it. This
an unconditioned stimulus (US).
association between the bell and food resulted
in acquisition of a new response by the dog,
Determinants of Classical Conditioning
i.e. salivation to the sound of the bell. This has
been termed as conditioning. You may have How quickly and strongly acquisition of a
noticed that all dogs salivate when they are response occurs in classical conditioning
presented with food. Food is thus an depends on several factors. Some of the major
Table 6.1 Relationship of Stages of Conditioning and Operations
Stages of Nature of Stimulus Nature of Response
Conditioning
Before Food (US) Salivation (UR)
Sound of the Bell Alertness (No Specific Response)
During Sound of the Bell (CS) + Food (US) Salivation (UR)
After Sound of the Bell (CS) Salivation (CR)
110
Psychology
At the time of birth every human baby is equipped with the capacity to make a
limited number of responses. These responses occur reflexively whenever
appropriate stimuli are present in the environment. As the child grows and
matures, s/he becomes capable of making diverse types of responses. These
include identifying the images of some persons as one’s mother, father or
grandfather, using a spoon when eating food, and learning how to identify
alphabets, to write, and to combine them into words. S/he also observes others
doing things in specific environmental conditions, and imitates them. Learning
names of objects such as book, orange, mango, cow, boy, and girl, and retaining
them is another important task. As one grows older, one observes many events or
objects, and learns their distinct features. Objects are categorised as ‘furniture’,
‘fruits’, and so on. One also learns to drive a scooter or a car, to communicate with
others effectively, and to interact with others. It is all due to learning that a person
becomes hard working or indolent, socially knowledgeable, skilled, and
professionally competent. Each individual manages her or his life and solves all
kinds of problems because of the capacity to learn and adapt. This chapter focuses
on the various aspects of learning. First, learning is defined and characterised as
a psychological process. Second, an account is presented that explains how one
learns. A number of learning methods that account for simple to complex types of
learning are described. In the third section, some empirical phenomena, that occur
in the course of learning, are explained. In the fourth section, different factors that
determine the speed and extent of learning are described including different
learning styles and learning disabilities.
always involves some kinds of experience. We
NATURE OF L EARNING
experience an event occurring in a certain
As indicated above learning is a key process sequence on a number of occasions. If an event
in human behaviour. It refers to a spectrum happens then it may be followed by certain
of changes that take place as a result of one’s other events. For example, one learns that if
experience. Learning may be defined as “any the bell rings in the hostel after sunset, then
relatively permanent change in behaviour or dinner is ready to be served. Repeated
behavioural potential produced by experience”. experience of satisfaction after doing
One must remember that some behavioural something in a specified manner leads to the
changes occur due to the use of drugs, or formation of habit. Sometimes a single
experience can lead to learning. A child strikes
fatigue. Such changes are temporary. They are
a matchstick on the side of a matchbox, and
not considered learning. Changes due to
practice and experience, which are relatively gets her/his fingers burnt. Such an experience
makes the child learn to be careful in handling
permanent, are illustrative of learning.
the matchbox in future.
Behavioural changes that occur due to
Features of Learning
learning are relatively permanent. They must
The process of learning has certain distinctive be distinguished from the behavioural changes
characteristics. The first feature is that learning that are neither permanent nor learned. For
108
Psychology
,example, changes in behaviour often occur or action. Let us understand what is meant
due to the effects of fatigue, habituation, and by the term inference. Suppose you are asked
drugs. Suppose you are reading your textbook by your teacher to memorise a poem. You read
of psychology for sometime or you are trying that poem a number of times. Then you say
to learn how to drive a motor car, a time comes that you have learned the poem. You are asked
when you will feel tired. You stop reading or to recite the poem and you are able to recite
driving. This is a behavioural change due to it. The recitation of the poem by you is your
fatigue, and is temporary. It is not considered perf o rmance. On the basis of your
learning. performance, the teacher infers that you have
Let us take another case of change in one’s learned the poem.
behaviour. Suppose in the vicinity of your
residence a marriage is being performed. It
P ARADIGMS OF LEARNING
generates a lot of noise, which continues till
late night. In the beginning, the noise distracts Learning takes place in many ways. There are
you from whatever you are doing. You feel some methods that are used in acquisition of
disturbed. While the noise continues, you simple responses while other methods are
make some orienting reflexes. These reflexes used in the acquisition of complex responses.
become weaker and weaker, and eventually In this section you will learn about all these
become undetectable. This is also one kind of methods. The simplest kind of learning is
behavioural change. This change is due to called conditioning. Two types of conditioning
continuous exposure to stimuli. It is called
have been identified. The first one is called
habituation. It is not due to learning. You must
classical conditioning, and the second
have noticed that people who are on sedatives instrumental/operant conditioning. In
or drugs or alcohol, their behaviour changes
addition, we have observational learning,
as it affects physiological functions. Such
cognitive learning, verbal learning, concept
changes are temporary in nature and
learning, and skill learning.
disappear, as the effect wears out.
Learning involves a sequence of
psychological events. This will become clear if C LASSICAL CONDITIONING
we were to describe a typical learning
experiment. Suppose psychologists are This type of learning was first investigated by
interested in understanding how a list of words Ivan P. Pavlov. He was primarily interested in
is learned. They will go through the following the physiology of digestion. During his studies
sequence : (i) do a pre-test to know how much he noticed that dogs, on whom he was doing
the person knows before learning, (ii) present his experiments, started secreting saliva as
the list of words to be remembered for a fixed soon as they saw the empty plate in which
time, (iii) during this time the list of words is food was served. As you must be aware, saliva
processed towards acquiring new knowledge, secretion is a reflexive response to food or
(iv) after processing is complete, new something in the mouth. Pavlov designed an
knowledge is acquired (this is LEARNING), and experiment to understand this process in detail
(v) after some time elapses, the processed in which dogs were used once again. In the
information is recalled by the person. By first phase, a dog was placed in a box and
comparing the number of words which a harnessed. The dog was left in the box for some
person now knows as compared to what s/he time. This was repeated a number of times on
knew in the pre-test, one infers that learning different days. In the meantime, a simple
did take place. surgery was conducted, and one end of a tube
Thus, learning is an inferred process and was inserted in the dog’s jaw and the other end
is different from performance. Performance of the tube was put in a measuring glass. The
is a person’s observed behaviour or response experimental setup is illustrated in Figure 6.1.
109
Chapter 6 • Learning
, In the second phase of the experiment, the Unconditioned Stimulus (US) and salivation
dog was kept hungry and placed in harness which follows it, an Unconditioned Response
with one end of the tube ending in the jaw (UR). After conditioning, salivation started to
and the other end in the glass jar. A bell was occur in the presence of the sound of the bell.
The bell becomes a Conditioned Stimulus
One-way (CS) and saliva secretion a Conditioned
glass wall Response (CR). This kind of conditioning is
called classical conditioning. The procedure
Food is illustrated in Table 6.1. It is obvious that
the learning situation in classical conditioning
is one of S–S learning in which one stimulus
(e.g., sound of bell) becomes a signal for
another stimulus (e.g., food). Here one stimulus
signifies the possible occurrence of another
stimulus.
Examples of classical conditioning abound
Tube fr om Cup for Recor ding in everyday life. Imagine you have just finished
salivary glands measuring saliva device your lunch and you are feeling satisfied. Then
you see some sweet dish served on the
Fig.6.1 : A Dog in Pavlovian Harness for Conditioning adjoining table. This signals its taste in your
mouth, and triggers the secretion of saliva. You
sounded and immediately thereafter food (meat
feel like eating it. This is a conditioned response
powder) was served to the dog. The dog was
(CR). Let us take another example. In the early
allowed to eat it. For the next few days,
stages of childhood, one is naturally afraid of
everytime the meat powder was presented, it
any loud noise. Suppose a small child catches
was preceded by the sound of a bell. After a
an inflated balloon which bursts in her/his
number of such trials, a test trial was
hands making a loud noise. The child becomes
introduced in which everything was the same
afraid. Now the next time s/he is made to hold
as the previous trials except that no food
a balloon, it becomes a signal or cue for noise
followed the sounding of the bell. The dog still
and elicits fear response. This happens because
salivated to the sound of the bell, expecting
of contiguous presentation of balloon as a
presentation of the meat powder as the sound
conditioned stimulus (CS) and loud noise as
of bell had come to be connected with it. This
an unconditioned stimulus (US).
association between the bell and food resulted
in acquisition of a new response by the dog,
Determinants of Classical Conditioning
i.e. salivation to the sound of the bell. This has
been termed as conditioning. You may have How quickly and strongly acquisition of a
noticed that all dogs salivate when they are response occurs in classical conditioning
presented with food. Food is thus an depends on several factors. Some of the major
Table 6.1 Relationship of Stages of Conditioning and Operations
Stages of Nature of Stimulus Nature of Response
Conditioning
Before Food (US) Salivation (UR)
Sound of the Bell Alertness (No Specific Response)
During Sound of the Bell (CS) + Food (US) Salivation (UR)
After Sound of the Bell (CS) Salivation (CR)
110
Psychology
