BEHAVIOURSTIC THEORIES OF LEARNING

(GAGNE, HULL &TOLMAN)

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Prof. Shrigovinda Pandey

Professor

Department of Education

Central Sanskrit University

Bhopal

GAGNE’S HIERARCHY OF LEARNING

In 1986, the American educational psychologist Robert M Gagne proposed a system of classifying different types of learning in terms of the degree of complexity of the mental process involved.

Gagne distinguishes between two types of conditions, internal and external.

1. The internal conditions are said of as states and include attention, motivation and recall.
2. The external conditions are said of as factors that surround one’s behaviour and include the arrangement and timing of stimulus events.

The conditions of learning theory identifies five categories of learning. They are-

1. verbal information
2. Intellectual skills
3. Cognitive strategies
4. Motor skills
5. Attitudes

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Gagne suggests that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized based on their complexity.

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According to his model, the abilities established by learning are arranged in a hierarchical fashion. Those are

1. SIGNAL LEARNING:- This is the simplest form of learning and consists essentially of the classical conditioning. In this, the subject is ‘conditioned’ to emit a desired response as a result of a stimulus that would not normally produce that response.
2. STIMULUS-RESPONSE LEARNING:- This somewhat more sophisticated form of learning, which is also known as operant conditioning. It involves developing desired stimulus-response bonds in the subject through in a carefully-planned reinforcement schedule based on the use of rewards and punishments. (programmed learning)

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3. CHAINING:- This is more advanced form of learning, in which the subject develops the ability to connect two or more previously-learned stimulus-response bonds into a linked sequence. It is the process whereby most complex psychomotor skills(e.g., riding a bicycle or playing the piano) are learned.

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• VERBAL ASSOCIATION:- This is the form of chaining in which the links between the items being connected are verbal in nature. Verbal association is one of the key process in the development of language skills.

5. DISCRIMINATION LEARNING:- This involves developing the ability to make appropriate (different) responses to a series of similar stimuli that differ in a systematic way.

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• CONCEPT LEARNING:- This involves developing the ability to make a consistent response to different stimuli that form a common class or category of some sort. It forms the basis of the ability to generalize, classify etc.

7. RULE LEARNING:- This is a very-high level cognitive process that involves being able to learn relationship between concepts and apply these relationships in different situation, including situations not previously encountered. It forms the basis of the learning of general rules, procedures, etc.

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• PROBLEM SOLVING:- This is the highest level of cognitive process according to Gagne. It involves developing the ability to invent a complex rule, algorithm or procedure for the purpose of solving one particular problem and then using the method to solve other problems of a similar nature.�

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TOLMAN’S THEORY

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• Tolman’s system is known as purposive behavioursm.
• He was strongly opposed to S-R associationism.
• He rejected the molecular(behaviors split into simple yet often meaningless elements) approach to behaviour developed by Watson.
• He developed molar (whole, purposeful, goal-directed behaviors)approach.
• Tolman’s positive theory of learning lays emphasis on development of cognition rather than S-R bonds.�

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Edward Tolman (1948) challenged these assumptions by proposing that people and animals are active information processers  and not passive learners as behaviorism had suggested. Tolman developed a cognitive view of learning that has become popular in modern psychology

Tolman believed individuals do more than merely respond to stimuli; they act on beliefs, attitudes, changing conditions, and they strive toward goals. Tolman is virtually the only behaviorists who found the stimulus-response theory unacceptable, because reinforcement was not necessary for learning to occur. He felt behavior was mainly cognitive.

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• Tolman coined the term cognitive map, which is an internal representation (or image) of external environmental feature or landmark. He thought that individuals acquire large numbers of cues (i.e. signals) from the environment and could use these to build a mental image of an environment (i.e. a cognitive map).
• By using this internal representation of a physical space they could get to the goal by knowing where it is in a complex of environmental features. Short cuts and changeable routes are possible with this model.

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Tolman also worked on latent learning, defined as learning which is not apparent in the learner's behavior at the time of learning, but which manifests later when a suitable motivation and circumstances appear. The idea of latent learning was not original to Tolman, but he developed it further.

Tolman’s connection or association are as follows:

1. CATHEXIS:- This refers to the attachment of specific types of goal object to basic drive(used by Freud). For this reason, perhaps a child in his early stage learns a relationship between hunger and biscuit.
2. EQUIVALENCE BELIEFS:- In a particular situation of reward and punishment, the situation itself is believed as equivalent to that reward and punishment. Here, the situation acquires some of the properties of goal object.

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3. FIELD EXPERIENCES:- ‘Field experiences’ are what Tolman earlier called sign-gestalt experiences. When the animals learn route from one place to another or the kind of tool used for a particular purpose, a cognitive map of the field expectancy is said to be formed.
4. FIELD COGNITION MODE:- This refers to a higher order needs of expectancies and means an inclination to learn certain things more readily than the others. Such inclinations are partly innate and partly learnt our ability to use language etc.

5. DRIVE DISCRIMINATION:- This refers to our ability to discriminate among various types of drives.

Procedure

In their study 3 groups of rats had to find their way around a complex maze. At the end of the maze there was a food box. Some groups of rats got to eat the food, some did not.

Group 1: Rewarded

Day 1 – 17: Every time they got to end, given food (i.e. reinforced).

Group 2: Delayed Reward

Day 1 - 10: Every time they got to end, taken out.

Day 11 -17: Every time they got to end, given food (i.e. reinforced).

Group 3: No reward

Day 1 – 17: Every time they got to end, taken out.

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Results

• The delayed reward group learned the route on days 1 to 10 and formed a cognitive map of the maze. They took longer to reach the end of the maze because there was no motivation for them to perform. From day 11 onwards they had a motivation to perform (i.e. food) and reached the end before the reward group.
• This shows that between stimulus (the maze) and response (reaching the end of the maze) a mediational process was occurring the rats were actively processing information in their brains by mentally using their cognitive map.

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HULL’S THEORY

Clark L. Hull (1884-1952) is created with putting forth systematic mathematical and scientific theory of human behaviour based on conditioning and connectionism of the earlier behaviours. He built his theory on a logical structure of postulates and theorems.

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1. CHANGES IN TRADITIONAL S-R NOTION:- He rejected mechanical , a trigger-like function of stimuli-response. Hull introduced the concept of intervening variables (the process which are thought be taking place within the organism but are not directly observable) between S and R.

Accordingly, when a stimulus (S) impinges on the organism, it result in a sensory neural impulse (s) a kind of stimulus trace. This stimulus trace ultimately causes a motor neural reaction (r) that results in an overt response (R).

Thus we may have the formula S-s-r-R instead of the traditional S-R.

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2. THE CONCEPT OF REINFORCEMENT AND DRIVE-STIMULAI REDUCTION:- Hull considered the aim of reinforcement to be the reduction of the drive or drive stimuli. He though reinforcement to be of two kinds- primary and secondary. Primary reinforcement tended to strengthen a certain behaviour through the satisfaction of basic biological needs, drives or drive stimuli. Secondary reinforcement, on the other hand, is brought about by an originally neutral stimulus like money by association with a primary reinforcing agent like food.

HABIT FORMATION AND HABIT STRENGTH:-

According to Hull, when a stimulus emits a certain type of response and it is accompanied by reinforcer(capable of reducing the drive or drive stimuli) the association between the stimulus and the response is strengthened. Repetition of the reinforcement, then helps to progressively strengthen the association thus formed. Eventually it brings about an organization in the nervous system known as ‘habit’ or a particular response to a particular stimulus and when this happens we say the behaviour is learned. (Hull reduced learning to habit formation). The success of this learning behaviour is measured through a concept termed as habit strength and symbolized as ‘sHr’

REACTION POTENTIAL:-

Reaction potential indicates the potential of an individual to react or respond. He defined it as the probability of the repetition of a learned response at any given movement and provided the following formula to explain its meaning and purpose:

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Reaction potential = sEr = sHr *D*V*K

sEr = Habit strength

D = strength of drive

V = Stimulus intensity(size, colour, sound or strong attraction.

K = The incentive ( the degree of the attractiveness of a particular reward present in the situation)

The greatest contribution of Hull’s theory lies in its emphasis on linking the learning to the needs of the children. Therefore he advocated the need-based goals of education, including need-based curricula and methods of teaching.

Hull theory laid great emphasis on the formation of good habits.

Hull theory brought into focus the fact that different individuals have different capacities,

Sociological theories of learning �(Bandura, Walter, Rotter, Vygotsky)

�Bandura - Social Learning Theory�

In social learning theory Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the behaviourist learning theories of classical and operant conitioning. However, he adds two important ideas:

1. Mediating processes occur between stimuli & responses.
2. Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.

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Observational Learning

• Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. This is illustrated during the famous Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1961).

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• Individuals that are observed are called models. In society, children are surrounded by many influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV, friends within their peer group and teachers at school. Theses models provide examples of behavior to observe and imitate, e.g. masculine and feminine, pro and antisocial etc.

• First, the child is more likely to attend to and imitate those people it perceives as similar to itself. Consequently, it is more likely to imitate behavior modeled by people of the same sex.

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• Second, the people around the child will respond to the behavior it imitates with either reinforcement or punishment.

• Third, the child will also take into account of what happens to other people when deciding whether or not to copy someone’s actions. A person learns by observing the consequences of another person’s (i.e. models) behaviour e.g. a younger sister observing an older sister being rewarded for a particular behaviour is more likely to repeat that behaviour herself. This is known as vicarious reinforcement

NOTE:

Identification is different to imitation as it may involve a number of behaviors being adopted, whereas imitation usually involves copying a single behavior.

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Meditational Processes

• SLT is often described as the ‘bridge’ between traditional learning theory (ie. behaviourism) and the cognitive approach. This is because it focuses on how mental (cognitive) factors are involved in learning. These mental factors mediate (i.e. intervene) in the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired.
• Therefore, individuals do not automatically observe the behaviour of a model and imitate it. There is some thought prior to imitation and this consideration is called mediational processes. This occurs between observing the behaviour (stimulus) and imitating it or not (response)

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There are four mediational processes proposed by Bandura:

1. Attention:

The extent to which we are exposed/notice the behaviour. For a behaviour to be imitated it has to grab our attention. We observe many behaviours on a daily basis and many of these are not noteworthy. Attention is therefore extremely important in whether a behaviour has an influence in others imitating it.

2. Retention:

How well the behaviour is remembered. The behaviour may be noticed, but is it not always remembered which obviously prevents imitation. It is important therefore that a memory of the behaviour is formed to be performed later by the observer.

3. Reproduction:

This is the ability to perform the behavior that the model has just demonstrated. We see much behaviour on a daily basis that we would like to be able to imitate but that this not always possible. We are limited by our physical ability and for that reason, even if we wish to reproduce the behaviour, we cannot. This influences our decisions whether to try and imitate it or not.

4. Motivation:

The will to perform the behaviour. The rewards and punishment that follow a behaviour will be considered by the observer. If the perceived rewards outweighs the perceived costs (if there are any) then the behaviour will be more likely to be imitated by the observer.

SOCIO-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Socio-cultural development theory is an emerging theory in psychology that looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual development.

This theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live.

INTRODUCTION

Socio-cultural development theory grew from the work of seminal psychologist Lev Vygotsky (November 17,1896 – June 11, 1934-Russian Psychologist), who believed that parents, caregivers, peers, and the culture at large were responsible for the development of higher order functions.

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DEFINITION

• According to Vygotsky:  "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level.
• First, between people (inter psychological) and then inside the child (intra psychological).
• This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals."

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NATURE

According to Vygotsky, children are born with basic biological constraints on their minds. Each culture, however, provides what he referred to as 'tools of intellectual adaptation.' These tools allow children to use their basic mental abilities in a way that is adaptive to the culture in which they live.

While one culture might emphasize memorization strategies like note-taking, other cultures might utilize tools like reminders or memorization, for example.

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TOOLS OF MIND

The concept of “tools of the mind” comes from the work of Lev Vygotsky. He believed that just as physical tools extend our physical abilities, mental tools extend our mental abilities, enabling us to solve problems and create solutions in the modern world.

When applied to children, this means that to successfully function in school and beyond, children need to learn more than a set of facts and skills. They need to master a set of mental tools—tools of the mind.

The major emphasis in the Vygotskian approach is on helping children acquire the tools of their culture. The Vygotskian approach to early childhood education focuses on the activities and interactions that are most beneficial to young children in learning their first “tools of the mind.”

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THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

• An important concept in socio-cultural theory is known as the Zone of Proximal Development.
• According to Vygotsky, the Zone of Proximal Development  is the distance between the actual development level 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.
• Basically, the theory explains that learning occurs in ZPD, “learning leads development.” For instance, mature make-believe play supports the development of pre-school children similar to the way formal instruction supports the development of older students.

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OBSERVATIONS

"Vygotsky claimed that human cognition, even when carried out in isolation, is inherently socio-cultural because it is affected by the beliefs, values, and tools of intellectual adaptation passed to individuals by their culture. And because these values and intellectual tools may vary dramatically from culture to culture, Vygotsky believed that neither the course nor the content of intellectual growth was as "universal" as Piaget had assumed."�(Shaffer, 2009)

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DHA(O)

1. Name of Bandura’s experiment is_______________
2. sEr=_____________
3. Observed learning advocated by____________
4. Socio-cultural development theory was propounded by_________
5. The concept of “tools of the mind” comes from the work of __________
6. Draw Hull’s diagram of habit strength
7. Draw the diagram of ZPD

BRUNER’S THEORY OF LEARNING

• The outcome of cognitive development is thinking. The intelligent mind creates from experience "generic coding systems that permit one to go beyond the data to new and possibly fruitful predictions" (Bruner, 1957, p. 234).

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Thus, children as they grow must acquire a way of representing the "recurrent regularities" in their environment.

So, to Bruner, important outcomes of learning include not just the concepts, categories, and problem-solving procedures invented previously by the culture, but also the ability to "invent" these things for oneself.

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Cognitive growth involves an interaction between basic human capabilities and "culturally invented technologies that serve as amplifiers of these capabilities."

In his research on the cognitive development of children (1966), Jerome Bruner proposed three modes of representation:

1. Enactive representation (action-based)
2. Iconic representation (image-based)
3. Symbolic representation (language-based)

1 .Enactive (0 - 1 years):-

This appears first. It involves encoding action based information and storing it in our memory. For example, in the form of movement as a muscle memory, a baby might remember the action of shaking a rattle.

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The child represents past events through motor responses, i.e. an infant will “shake a rattle” which has just been removed or dropped, as if the movements themselves are expected to produce the accustomed sound. And this is not just limited to children.

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Many adults can perform a variety of motor tasks (typing, sewing a shirt, operating a lawn mower) that they would find difficult to describe in iconic (picture) or symbolic (word) form.

2. Iconic (1 - 6 years):-

This is where information is stored visually in the form of images (a mental picture in the mind’s eye). For some, this is conscious; others say they don’t experience it. This may explain why, when we are learning a new subject, it is often helpful to have diagrams or illustrations to accompany verbal information.

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3. Symbolic (7 years onwards):-

This develops last. This is where information is stored in the form of a code or symbol, such as language. This is the most adaptable form of representation, for actions & images have a fixed relation to that which they represent.

In the symbolic stage, knowledge is stored primarily as words, mathematical symbols, or in other symbol systems.

Bruner's constructivist theory suggests it is effective when faced with new material to follow a progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation; this holds true even for adult learners

The Importance of Language

Language is important for the increased ability to deal with abstract concepts. The use of words can aid the development of the concepts.

Bruner (1961) proposes that learners’ construct their own knowledge and do this by organizing and categorizing information using a coding system. Bruner believed that the most effective way to develop a coding system is to discover it rather than being told it by the teacher. The concept of discovery learning implies that students construct their own knowledge for themselves (also known as a constructivist approach).

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The role of the teacher should not be to teach information by rote learning, but instead to facilitate the learning process. This means that a good teacher will design lessons that help student discover the relationship between bits of information. To do this a teacher must give students the information they need, but without organizing for them. The use of the spiral curriculum can aid the process of discovery learning.