Module 6

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES II
MOTIVATION AND LEARNING

➢ RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND LEARNING

MOTIVATION
• According to Luthans; motivation is a process which starts with physiological or
psychological deficiency or need that activates a behavior or drive which aimed at a
goal or incentives.

• Motivation is a complex part of human psychology and behavior that influences how
individuals choose to invest their time , how much energy they exert, how they think or
how long they persist.

• Motivation, as it name suggests, is what ‘moves us’.

• It is a critical component of teaching and learning

LEARNING
• Learning Can be defined as relatively permanent behavioral modifications which take
place as a result of experience.

• John B Watson is the first who has proven that behavioral hanges occur as a result of
learning

• Learning involves behavioral changes which can be better or worse

• This behavioral change should be take place as a result of practice or experience,

changes resulting from maturity or growth cannot be considered as learning

• The behavioral change must be relatively permeant and last for a relatively long time
enough

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND LEARNING

• Motivation is an influential factor in teaching-learning situation

• The success of learning depends on whether or not the learners are motivated
• Motivation drives the learners in reaching learning goals
• Learning is inherently hard work; it is pushing the brain into limits, and thus can only
happen with motivation
Bakar, argued that motivation reflects in student’s choices of learning tasks, the time
and effort they devote, their persistence on learning task, and coping with the
obstacles they encounter in the learning process
 EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Intrinsic motivation involves performing a task because it's personally rewarding to
you. Extrinsic motivation involves completing a task or exhibiting a behavior because
of outside causes such as avoiding punishment or receiving a reward. DIMENSIONS OF
LEARNER’S MOTIVATION
• Researchers generally agree that there are 4 major dimensions that contribute to
student’s motivation
• At least one of these dimensions must be satisfied for a student to be motivated
• The more dimensions they met, more strongly they met, greater the motivation will be.

• The dimensions are;

1. Competence: the learner believes he or she has the ability to complete the task
Control/autonomy: the learner feels in control by seeing a direct link between his or her
actions and an outcome and retains autonomy by having some choice about whether or
how to undertake the task

3. Interest/value: the learner has some interest in task or sees the value of completing it.
4. Relatedness: completing the task brings the student social rewards, such as sense of
belonging to a classroom or other desired social groups or approval from a person of
social importanc FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LEARNER’S MOTIVATION
• There are many factors that influence learner’s motivation

• Skehan lists four major motivating fators as the most significant;

1. The activities in the teaching or learning process

2. The final results

3. Internal motivation

4. External motivation
IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION IN LEARNING
• Motivation stimulates learner to think, concentrate, and learn effectively

• Motivation increase the speed of work that a learner is putting to achieve a goal

• It is significantly important factor for academic learning and achievement across

childhood through adolescence

• Motivation of learning activities helps the learner to concentrate on what he/she is

doing, and thereby gaining satisfaction

• It directs a learner’s behavior towards a particular goal

• It increases the initiation and persistence of learning activities

 • Motivation enhances cognitive processing

• Motivation determines what consequences are reinforcing and punishing STRATEGIES

FOR MOTIVATING THE LEARNER
Set clear goals
Show the need for lesson
Arouse and maintain student’s interest
Increase the chance for early success
Be free with praise and constructive in criticism
Avoid emotional responses
Be a professional or role model
Provide necessary facilities/resources
Assign responsibilities
Give correct guidance
Provide incentives
Challenge the student

Encourage healthy competition among learners

Place appropriate emphasis on testing and grading

VERBAL LEARNING
Verbal learning is a process of actively memorizing new material using mental pictures,
associations, and other activities

Verbal learning was first studied by Herman Ebbinghaus, who used list of non-sense syllables
to test recall.

Verbal learning is typically associated with memorization and retention of list of words, in
order to describe basic elements of associative learning.

Verbal learning tends to involve more than just the memorization of words.

Many stimuli such as pictures, odors, locations etc. can be studied

The type of metal events that occur in verbal learning studies go beyond passive
memorization, as learners can play a very active role in manipulating experimental stimuli

Forgetting curve- the amount of forgetting that occur immediately after learning is
substantial, but after the initial drop in performance, memory loss is very gradual.

Generally, there are three type of verbal learning can be seen;

1 Serial learning

2 Paired associative learning

3 Free recall
  Serial learning involves having subjects learn list of items according to the order in
which the items appear in the list.

Serial position effect-it is the tendency to recall first(primacy effect) and last items(recency
effect) of list best and the middle item worst.

Middle item have more of likelihood of being interfered with from earlier and later items,
while the initial and terminal items do not have to face as much interference.

Researchers have argued that the serial position effect is due to the working of different
memory systems

 Paired associative learning(PA)- it involves having two items(a stimulus and response
item)paired as stimuli(eg: boat-chair).
• When the items pairs are committed to memory, the presentation of first word (the
stimulus word)should evoke the second word(the response word).(eg; presenting boat
should elicit a response of chair).
• If the items used as stimulus words in PA task are too similar, discrimination ability
decreases, leading to errors in recall.(eg; boat-dog, barge-table)

• Meaningful responses are learned easier than non-meaningful responses

• Pre-existing association between stimulus and response items can either help or hinder
the association process(table-kitchen)

• Cognitive elaboration can aid in the association process. The relationship construction
hypothesis suggests that increasing the number of connections between items to be
remembered can also aid recall(eg; pictorial and verbal presentation is better than
either of these alone)

• Association between stimulus and response items tend to move only in forward
direction

• An important application of PA learning involves language acquisition

•
 Free call- it is very unstructured, one can recall words in any order they have like

It is different from seral learning, free recall task will also show a serial position effect similar to
that obtained with serial learning

The more an item is rehearsed, greater the likelihood that the item will be recalled
Organizing to be recalled information into some type of meaningful system also enhances
recall ability
DISCRIMINANT LEARNING

• Discrimination is a term used in both classical conditioning and operant

conditioning

• It involves the ability to distinguish between one stimulus and similar stimuli

• In both cases, it means responding only to certain stimuli, and not responding to
those that are similar Elizabeth used whistles with different pitches because she wanted
to separate behaviors. She knew her cats would have no idea what she wanted them to
do if she used one whistle to encourage every behavior. So, she used two tones: one
tone that would tell the cats that it was time to eat and a second tone that would
encourage the cats to go out the cat door.

1.DISCRIMINATION IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• In classical conditioning, discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a
conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an
unconditioned stimulus.

• The unconditioned stimulus(UCS) represent something that naturally and automatically

triggers a response

• A conditioned stimulus(CS) is a substitute stimulus that triggers the same response in an

organism as an unconditioned stimulus.
• after an association have been formed between neutral stimulus, now known as
conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response, the cs can evoke the same
response, now knowns as conditioned response, even when UCS is not present

2.DISCRIMINATION IN OPERANT CONDITIONING

• In operant conditioning, discrimination refers to responding only to the discriminative
stimulus and not to similar stimuli.

• For eg; we have trained our dog to jump in the air whenever we say the command,
"jump”, here discrimination refers to dog’s ability to distinguish between the command
for jumping and similar commands such as sit, stay etc Pavlovian classical conditioning

• Ivan pavlov is a Russian psychologist

• Interested in studying the digestive process, particularly the role of salivation in

digestion.

• He chose the dog as his experimental subject because of its ability to generate
copious amounts of saliva
 • A dog was put into a harness, and the salivary gland was connected so that the
amount of salivation could be measured

1. Before conditioning: - In the experiment, when US that is food, is presented

automatically triggers UR that is salivation. Further it can be seen that before
conditioning occurs Neutral stimulus must also be presented to the organism.but when
the Bell (NS) is rung, no salivation takes place.

2. .During Conditioning: - When we do conditioning, here the neutral stimulus that is

bell will be presented simultaneously with the unconditioned stimulus (food)that leads
to salivation (UR). With the repeated paring of NS and US, the organism will learn to
create a relationship between them.

3. After Conditioning: - After conditioning has taken place, here the food becomes CS
and salvation become CR, as they are both related to conditioning. Just ringing the
bell, without even encountering the food, the dog salivates. Principles of classical
conditioning

Acquisition – response happenes gradually Generalization – response is similar to a range

of similar stimuli Discrimination – response is different to similar stimuli Extinctions – gradual
disappearance of a conditioned response Spontaneous recovery – reappearance of a
conditioned response to conditioned stimuli
The Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A stimulus is that which can elicit a response before any
conditioning has occurred. In this case food served is unconditioned stimulus. Thus food
produces a response even before conditioning is done. Therefore it is a naturally occurring
stimulus, which does not require any conditioning.
The term is unconditioned refers to anything that is “unlearned” or “naturally occurring”.
Unconditioned Response (UCR): is referred as a reflex response, elicited by an unconditioned
stimulus. For example food given to the dogs is the UCS, and the salvation to the food is the
UCR. It is something which is unlearned and exists in our nervous system.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): is a stimulus that can bring out a response after being paired with
an
unconditioned stimulus. In this study the sound of the bell will not elicit the same response
until conditioning takes place. As the neutral stimulus is a stimulus that has no effect on the
desired response it will only work when dogs are conditioned to respond towards it.
Conditioned Response (CR): A response carried by a conditioned stimulus. Salvation to the
conditioned stimulus (the bell) is referred as the conditioned response. Therefore it comes as
a response to the conditioned stimulus. But it is not quite strong as the original Unconditioned
response (UCR).

Experimental Neurosis
Pavlov (1960) was conducting an experiment to determine the ability of dogs to discriminate
between the shapes of different objects.

The circle (CS)was accompanied by feeding (UCS).

The dog quickly learned to salivate at the sight of the circle

Once the conditioned response to the circle was well established, an ellipse was introduced
with the axis ratio
2:1

Ellipse was never paired with food

Pavlov then began to change the axes of the ellipse so that it more closely approximated
acircle.

Each time the ellipse was changed, the dog showed that it could discriminate between the
circle and the ellipse by salivating to the one but not the other.

Eventually the axes were changed to a 9:8 ratio making the discrimination more difficult.

After three weeks of testing the discrimination between the circle and the 9:8 ellipse,the
dog’s behavior began to worsen, and the conditioned response finally disappeared
altogether.

The dog, formerly quiet, now began moving around in the harness, bit the apparatus, and
barked violently when led to the experiment room

Pavlov noted that much of the behavior of the dog appeared similar to neurotic behavior
seen in humans.
Dog’s reluctance to enter the discrimination room also indicated a strong motivation to
avoid the frustrating situation.
Watson showed in a straight forward manner that classical conditioning can lead to the
development of motivation and emotion.

John Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920) classically conditioned a small boy to fear a white
rat.

A white rat (CS) was presented to Albert (11 months old) . Just as he touched the rat, the bar
was struck and he would start violently

After a total of only seven pairings, Albert would begin to cry immediately upon presentation
of the rat
They presented Albert with a rabbit, a dog, and a fur coat. For all three he began crying and
attempted to crawl away

He also showed negative reactions to Watson’s hair and to a Santa Claus mask

Elimination of Motivated Behaviors Through Conditioning

first person to demonstrate this was Mary Cover Jones (1924; Krasner,1988). She was able
to successfully eliminate a fear reaction to furry objects in a 3-year-old boy known as Peter
by pairing the feared object with a positive (i.e., pleasant) UCS.

• Thus she showed that classical conditioning could be used to reduce fears as well as
produce them.

• she also showed that fears could be reduced via imitation of others who did not fear
the object— presaging Bandura’s Observational Learning techniques
• Rachlin (1976) noted that maladaptive reactions may be eliminated either through
extinction procedures or through a process called counterconditioning, in which the
negative CS is paired with a strongly positive UCS (asJones had shown).

• In the counterconditioning procedure, the negative CS gradually loses its aversiveness

by being paired with the positive UCSand by no longer being paired with a negative
UCS.
• Therefore, in addition to extinction of the response produced by the original CS-UCS
relationship, a new positive response is generated to replace it.
• Counterconditioning is generally preferred over extinction procedures because it
provides a specific positive response to replace the negative conditioned response.
• Wolpe (1958, 1973) developed a therapeutic technique termed systematic
desensitizationthat employs counterconditioning as part of its procedure
• patient is first taught to relax deeply on command (this command will eventually be
used as a positive UCS for the positive UCR of relaxation).
• Once the person can relax on command, a list of anxiety-producing situations that
involve the CS is made. The list (called an anxiety hierarchy) is arranged from least
anxiety producing to most anxiety producing.
• The person is told to think about the first (least) anxiety-provoking situation on the list
and is given the command to relax
• This continues until the individual can think about the most anxiety arousing situation
and at the same time relax.
Interoceptive Conditioning
Interoceptive conditioning is defined by Razra (1961) as classical conditioning in which
either the CS, UCS, or both are applied directly to the internal organs or the mucosa.
Three types of interoceptive conditioning have been demonstrated.
Intero-exteroceptive conditioning Intero-interoceptive conditioning
Extero-interoceptive conditioning

In intero-exteroceptive conditioning the CS is applied internally, while the UCS is applied

externally

Russian experiment that conforms to this design.

A female dog had a nibber balloon, through which cool water could be irrigated, inserted
into the uterus.
Paired with the CS of cool water was the presentation of food, which of course elicited
salivation as the UCR. In just six to nine trials the cool water began eliciting salivation and
became a stable response after only 25 pairings. That the cool water was indeed the
stimulus controlling the CR was shown by the fact that the dog could learn to discriminate
water temperature, salivating when cool water (8°—12°C) was irrigated through the balloon
but not salivating when wami water (44°—48°C) was irrigated

Intero-interoceptive conditioning occurs when both the CS and the UCS are applied
internally.

Soviet literature demonstrates such conditioning (Razran, 1961).

Loops were formed in the intestines of several dogs and could then be manually distended.
Distensions of the intestinal loops served as a CS, which was paired with the delivery of
carbon dioxide (C02) to the lungs (UCS). Inhalation of C02 leads to changes in respiration
rate, described as defensive breathing. Conditioning occurred after only 3 to 6 pairings of
intestinal distension and C02 inhalation and became stable after 5 to 16 trials. Thus intestinal
distension acquired the ability to produce defensive breathing in dogs

• Extero-interoceptive conditioning occurs when an external CS is paired with an internal

UCS.

• human conditioning experiment reported by Razran

• Human participants hospitalized because of urinary complications volunteered to have

balloons inserted into their bladders. A series of dials was connected to the balloons so
that the patient could see whether the balloon was being inflated or not. Thus the dials
served as an external CS, which was paired with an internal UCS of bladder distension.
Inflation of the balloon led to reports of a strong urge to urinate, as would nonnally
occur if the bladder were filling with urine.
• After several pairings of the dial readings with balloon inflation, the experimenters
disconnected the dials, so that inflation of the balloons was not gauged, and
manipulated the CS and UCS independendy.
 • The patients reported strong urges to urinate when the dial readings were high, even
though balloon inflation was absent. This of course indicates that the dial readings had
become conditioned stimuli that elicited the internal response of the urge to urinate.

• Clearly internal changes can become associated with external stimuli.

• Real-life situation - physician asks you for a urine sample as part of a physical
examination -sound of running water is an external stimulus that is always associated
with urination

Implications of Interoceptive Conditioning

• First, we are usually unaware of interoceptive conditioning when it occurs. Thus some of
our behavior will be unconscious to the extent that it is the result of interoceptive
conditioning.
• Second, interoceptive conditioning cannot really be avoided. We carry the stimuli with
us no matter where we go. It is reasonable to expect that some behaviors will result
from the pairing of internal or external changes with bodily changes that happen to
occur at the same time.
• Third, the research examined by Razran indicates that interoceptive conditioning is
more permanent (more resistant to extinction) than typical external classical
conditioning. Thus interoceptive conditioning can have long-term effects on our
behavior.

Finally, interoceptive conditioning has important implications for psychosomatic

medicine
Learned Aversions
Learned aversions has appeared under a variety of headings. Sometimes it is termed
longdelay learning or taste-aversion learning.
Study by Garcia and Koelling (1966)
One group of rats with the opportunity to drink water. At the time of drinking, an audiovisual
display occurred that consisted of a flashing light and a clicking sound –researchers
terminology, “bright-noisy water.”
Another group of rats was also given the opportunity to drink water, but rather than an audio
visual display, the water they were given was distinctly flavored (either sweet or salty) and
thus could be labeled “tasty water.

After drinking their solutions, the groups were bombarded with X-rays, which produced
Nausea and gastrointestinal disturbance.
Two additional groups received footshock rather than the illness inducing X-rays.
The results of the study showed that the animals who had the tasty water and X-rays later
avoided the flavored solution; they had formed a learned aversion to the taste of the water
as a result of the illness.
Of particular interest, however, was the finding that the animals with bright–noisy water did
not develop an aversion to the water as a result of the X-rays.
The two footshock groups showed just the opposite effects; the taste of the water did not
become associated with the shock,but the audiovisual display did the results of these tests.

The important point of the experiment was that the taste cues were associated very easily
with illness but not with the footshock. The audiovisual cues, on the other hand, were readily
associated with shock but not with illness.
What the rats learned was constrained by their biological heritage.
It would be adaptive to associate tastes and illness quickly, while little advantage (for rats)
would occur in associating taste with some external painful agent.
On the other hand, stimulation of the distance receptors (vision, hearing) would provide
information about the external environment that would be useful if easily associated with
externally harmful events such as pain to the foot.
Seligman (1970) proposed that the associability of events in the environment can be
described as existing along a continuum.
At one end of the continuum are events that can be easily and quickly associated; these
are said to be prepared associations.
At the other extreme are associations that an organism apparently cannot learn; these are
called contraprepared associations.
Between the two extremes are said to be unprepared associations because, though they
can be learned, numerous experiences with the events are necessary for an association to
be formed.
Learned Taste Aversions in Cancer Patients
Bernstein chose as participants 41 children (ages ranging from 2 to 16 years) who
chemotherapy on an outpatient basis.
One group of patients received a novel, unusual-tasting ice cream shortly before the drug
treatment.
A control group was given no ice cream prior to the drug therapy.
A third group, was given ice cream but received a drug that did not produce nausea and
vomiting.
The group that received the ice cream before becoming nauseated from the
chemotherapy showed an aversion to the ice cream when offered it 2 to 4 weeks later.
Neither of the two control groups showed any aversion to the ice cream.
A retest conducted 4 and ½ months after the first test using a new ice cream revealed that
the aversion for the initial ice cream was still present
Most of the children knew the nausea and vomiting were results of their drug therapy, not of
the ice cream; yet aversion to the ice cream still developed
Recent research on classical conditioning
• In his influential article “Pavlovian Conditioning: It’s Not What You Think,” Robert A.
Rescorla. (1988) makes three observations about Pavlovian conditioning and
delineates its importance in modern psychology
• First, like Egger and Miller (1962, 1963), he says it is essential that there be a correlation
between US and CS that is more than mere co-incidence or contiguity.
• There may be as many instances when the US and CS occur together (contiguity) as
when they occur separately.
Contrast this situation with one in which the US and CS are pro-grammed so that they
only occur together.

• Clearly, contiguity is not enough. Rescorla uses the term contingency to describe the
relationship in which a CS provides a clear and informative marker for the US.

• Second, like Zener (1937), Rescorla (1988) says that the common claim that a CR is a
“miniature” or “abbreviated” UR is either an oversimplification or is entirely incorrect.
• Pavlov’s Stimulus Substitution Theory -first only the food elicits salivation, but later the CS
also elicits salivation.
• Today most psychologists believe that the theory is not correct. There are several
problems. The CR is almost never an exact replica of the UR.
• Zener (1937) noted that when a dog is presented with food as a US, many responses,
such as chewing and swallowing the food, occur in addition to salivation. However, a
well-trained CS such as a bell will usually elicit only salivation, not chewing and
swallowing responses.
• Finally, Rescorla (1988) claims that Pavlovian conditioning is more than mere reflex
learning and that it has a vital place in contemporary psychology.
• Therefore, he says, classical conditioning provides both a useful data base and a
theoretical orientation for two topics o f current interest and activity in modern
 psychology. These topics, the neuroscientific study o f learning and computer
simulation o f neural networks
• Martin seligman – When the belief that one can do nothing to terminate or avoid an
aversive situation generalizes to other situations, it is called learned helplessness.

Rescorla-Wagner Model
• Mathematical model about classical conditioning, model difficult to understand.
• Rescorla-Wagner model is designed to predict the outcome of classical conditioning
procedures on a trial-by-trial basis.
• For each trial in a conditioning procedure, there could be excitatory conditioning,
inhibitory conditioning, or no conditioning at all.
• According to the model, two factors determine which of these three possibilities
actually occurs: (1) the strength of the subject's expectation of what will occur and (2)
the strength of the US that is actually presented.
• surprise: It states that learning will occur only when the learner is surprised, that is, when
what actually happens is different from what the learner expected to happen.
1) If the strength of the actual US is greater than the strength of the learner’s expectation,
all CSs paired with the US will receive excitatory conditioning.

2) If the strength of the actual US is less than the strength of the learner’s expectation,all
the CSs paired with the US will receive some inhibitory conditioning.

3) If the strength of the actual US is equal to the strength of the learner’s expectation,
there will be no conditioning.

Guthrie’s One trial learning

Guthrie is best known for his one trial theory, nonreinforcement, and contiguity learning.
As its name suggests, the theory of one trial learning states that learning takes place in a
single pairing of a response and stimulus and is not strengthened over time by repeated
exposure to a stimulus.
Watson and pavlov emphasized repitation Of the association between Conditioned and
unconditioned stimuli for the conditioning of a required response.
Completely rejected law of frequecy as learning principle
Applications
Counterconditioning
Pleasant stimulus paired with fearful stimuli to counter the fear
For example, a person is allowed to smoke or drink and then is given a drug that produces
nausea.
With repeated pairings, the taste o f cigarettes or alcohol will produce conditioned nausea,
which in turn will create an aversion to smoking or drinking.
Flooding
Person is exposed to stimulus until fear responses are stopped
Flooding is a relatively fast way o f eliminating phobias
With the flooding procedure, some individuals improve but some get worse
Some individuals become worse is not surprising in light o f the fact that they are forced to
experience something that they had spent a good deal o f their lives fearing and thus
avoiding.
Systematic desensitization –Joseph Wolpe
The first phase consists o f developing an anxiety hierarchy, which is done by taking a
sequence o f related anxiety-provoking events and ordering them from those that produce
the greatest amount o f anxiety to those that produce the least amount. Eg flying in a
airoplane
In the second phase o f his procedure, Wolpe teaches his clients to relax. He teaches them
how to reduce muscle tension and, in general, how it feels when one is not experiencing
anxiety.
In the third phase, the client first experiences deep relaxation and then is asked to imagine
the weakest item on the anxiety hierarchy. While experiencing this item the client is again
asked to induce relaxation. When this is accomplished, the client is asked to ponder the next
item on the list, and so forth.
After this cognitive extinction has occurred, it is hoped that the person will be able to repeat
the steps in the real world.

Advertisers are taking advantage of our positive associations with celebrities in order to sell
more products and services.
If the first time you eat sushi, you get terrible food poisoning, then it’s possible that almost
anything to do with that sushi experience could gain negative associations and give you
food aversion. Perhaps just the smell of sushi rice could make you want to gag, or the sight of
raw fish could make you feel sick to your stomach.
Some people feel extremely hungry only on the sight of restaurant or some other place
where food is provided. This is due to the association of restaurant or hotel with food.
As a child, let’s say you walked the same route to school each day. As you passed a
particular house, a dog in the yard would bark loudly at you, bearing its teeth. This is a
frightening experience, particularly as a young child. Prior to this, dogs were a fairly neutral
stimulus.Years later, you may experience a case of spontaneous recovery. You may not
even remember the childhood dog specifically, but as you walk past a similar-looking house
with a “beware of dog” sign on the fence, you get unnerved and start to tremble.

Major theoretical concepts of Thorndike

Thorndike – trial & error learning
Puzzle box experiment
Law of readiness
Law of exercise
Law of effect
Trial & error learning
Learning begins when the organism faces a new and difficult situation, a problem. Most
learning
organism counters errors, and with repeated trials, errors reduce. The phenomenon is
called trial and error learning in simple sense.
Law of readiness
A law which states that learning is dependent upon the learners readiness to act, which
facilitate the
strengthening of the bond between stimulus and response.
Law of exercise
The law of exercise stated that behavior is more strongly established through frequent
connection
of stimulus and response.
Law of effect
Which states that response that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situations become
more
likely to occur again in that situation, and response that produce.
Concepts of Skinner
Operant Conditioning
It is type of associate learning process through which the strength of the behavior is modified
by
reinforcement or punishment. It is also a procedure that is used to bring about such learning.
In operant Conditioning stimuli present when a behavior is rewarded or punished came to
control
that behavior Skinner
Box

A Skinner box, also known as operant Conditioning champer, is an enclosed apparatus that
contains
a bar or key that animal can press or manipulate in order to obtain food or water as a type
of reinforcement. Skinner himself didnot refer to this device as a Skinner box, instead
preferring the
term ‘ lever box'.
Reinforcement
It is the term used in Operant conditioning to refer to anything that increase the
likelyhood that a respond will occur.
Negative Is term described by Skinner in his theory of operant Conditioning. In -
Reinforcement ve reinforcement a response or behavior is strengthened by stopping,
removing,
or avoiding a -ve outcome or aversive stimulus.

Positive It involves the addition of reinforceing stimulus following a behavior

Reinforcement that makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the
future.

Punishment
It is any change in a human or animal’s surroundings which occuring after a given
behavior or response, reduces the likelihood of that behaviour occuring again in the
future
 +ve Involves adding an
punishment aversive consequence after an undesired behavior is emitted to decrease
future response.

-ve Includes taking away a certain reinforcing item after the undesired
punishment behavior happens in order to decrease future responses.

Contingency Management

It is the application of the three term contingency, which uses stimulus control and
consequences to

Change behavior and originally derived from the science of applied behavior analysis, but it
is

Sometimes implemented from a cognitive behavior therapy framework as well.

Schedules of reinforcement

Fixed ratio If reinforcement means

schedule that reinforcement
should be delivered after
a constant or fixed
number of correct
response.
Fixed interval Where the first response
schedule is rewarded only after a
specified amount of

time has elapsed.

Variable Where a
ratio
 response is

reinforced

after an

unpredictable

number of

response.
Variable In which
interval
reinforcement

is given to a

response

after specific

amount of

time has

passed put

this amount

of time is on a

changing /

variable

schedule.

Changing
In Operant conditioning technique in which a complex behavioural sequence is learned.
Once
Established the stimulus for that response become a conditioned reinforce that is used
to reinforce The next to last response in the chain. This stimulus is then used to reinforce
another response.

Shaping
A gradual behavior modification technique in which successive approximations to the
desired Behaviour is rewarded.

Token Economy
It is a system of contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target
behavior.

Classical operant interactions in motivation

Acquired Fear

Miller’s Experiment

Miller used a two-compartment box like that shown in Figure. One compartment was
painted white,

And the other was painted black. The white side had a grid floor through which The animal
could be

Shocked, while the black side was safe. The two compartments were separated by a door
with

Horizontal black and white stripes. This door could either be opened by the experimenter or
by the

Animal turning a wheel or a lever. Six-month-old male albino rats were given 10 shock hatals
in the

White compartment after determination that the rats preferred neither the white nor black
Side. On

Each trial the experimenter dropped the door so that the rat could escape from shock in the
white

Compartment into the safe black compartment.

Miller’s experiment suggests that the cues of the white compartment became associated wit
hehe

Shock and developed the capability of motivating escape from the compartment. This
motivation to

Avoid the cues of the white compartment could then be used to generate new, arbitrary
responses

Such as wheel turning and lever pressing. These responses were presumably reinforced by
the

Reduction of the white compartment cues that occurred when the rats succeeded in
reaching the

Safe black compartment. Incidentally, the motivation to avoid the white compartment was
acquired

Through the pairing of the white compartment cues and shock, which is, of course, a
classical

Conditioning situation. The motivation, once acquired, then generated operant behaviors
that were Reinforced by the reduction of the white compartment cues that occurred when
the rats reached

The black side.

This led some the orists (Mowrer, 1947) to argue that two factors are involved in avoidance

Behavior, a classically conditioned fear response and an operant response reinforced by a

reduction

In the acquired fear. Miller (1948) has suggested that neurotic symptoms migh exemplify just
this

Sort ofsituation; cues associate with fear motivate neurotic behavior, which is then reinforced
by a

Temporary reduction in the anxiety.

The acquisition and subsequent motivation properties of aversive stimuli seem fairly well
Established. Brown, Kalish, and Farber (1951 showed that an acquired fear would energize
other

Behaviors that are independent of the original fear producing situation. For example, rats the
had

Acquired a fear response showed a heightened startle reaction to the sound made by a toy
popgun.

Conditioned Emotional Response

In a procedure termed conditioned emotional response (CER) training, an organism such as
a rat is taught to press a lever in order to obtain Food according to some schedule of
reinforcement (e.g., a Fixed-interval, 4minute schedule). On such a schedule the rat can
receive a pellet of food every 4 Minutes if the bar is pressed, but responses that occur prior
to the scheduled interval go Unreinforced.

After behavior to the schedule has become consistent, the rat is subjected to pairings of a
tone and Shock, which are independent of the bar-pressing response using classical
conditioning. If the tone is Now presented alone (without shock), it will suppress the lever
pressing for food. The disruption of The bar-press response is theorized to occur because the
tone has become fear producing as a result Of being paired with the shock.Thus when the
tone is sounded, a conditioned fear is generated in the animal that has the effect of
Suppressing ongoing behavior (lever pressing).
Thus, once again we see that a neutral stimulus can acquire emotional or motivational
properties That lead to changes in behavior. One would expect that Stimuli associated with
positive emotional Or motivational states ought to become conditioned motivators as well.

Gestalt theory
Gestalt principles of Learning
Gestalt Is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and
Behaviour as a whole. Our minds tend to perceive objects as part of a
Greater whole and as elements of more complex systems. This school
Of psychology played a major role in the modern development of the
Study of human sensation and perception. Gestalt is a German word
That roughly means “configuration” or the way things are put Together to form a whole
object. It also means shape ,form , essence Or whole. A core belief in gestalt psychology is
holism, or that the Whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Gestalt Psychologists are

MAX Wertheimer (1880-1943)

He is the father of gestalt psychology. He is known for his book productive thinking and
conceiving the phi Phenomenon as a part of his work in gestalt psychology
Kurt Koffka ( 1886-1941)Another founder of Gestalt Psychology. In 1910-13 ,he was an
assistant at the
psychological institute in Frankfurt in which he worked with fellow psychologist
Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka.

Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967)Learning theorists

KOFFKA had several publications including “The growth Of the mind :An introduction to child
psychology etc.

History
Originating in the work of Max Wertheimer, Gestalt psychology Formed in part as a response
to the structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt.
While followers of structuralism were interested in breaking down
Psychological matters into their smallest possible parts, the Gestalt
Psychologists wanted instead to look at the totality of the mind and
Behavior. Guided by the principle of holism, Wertheimer and his Followers identified instances
where our perception was based on Seeing things as a complete whole, not as separate
components.Wertheimer developed Gestalt psychology after observing what he

Called the phi phenomenon while watching alternating lights on a

Railway signal. The phi phenomenon is an optical illusion where two

Stationary objects seem to move if they are shown appearing and

Disappearing in rapid succession.

Based on his observations of the phi phenomenon, Wertheimer

Concluded that we perceive things by seeing the whole perception,

Not by understanding individual parts. In the example of blinking

Lights at a train station, the whole we perceive is that one light

Appears to move quickly between two points; the reality is that two

Separate lights are blinking rapidly without moving at all.

Gestalt Principles of Learning

•Law of Proximity -The law of proximity States that when objects

Appear close to one another they tend to be perceived as a group.

• Law of Similarity – The law of Similarity captures the idea that

When we look at the objects that are similar to each other, we tend

To group them together. We are prone to notice matching shapes,

Colours and forms. Our brain quickly identify patterns faster than the

Separate parts of the pattern.

• Law of closure -The law of closure captures the idea that when we

See incomplete elements in a visual, our brains tend to fill in the gaps

And see it as a whole.

• Law of Good Continuation -The mind continuous visual patterns.

The eye continues in the direction it is going. The principle of

Continuity predicts the preference for continuous figures. It states

That people tend to perceive objects in alignment as forming smooth,

Unbroken contours.

• Law of Good Pragnanz -The word Pragnanz is a German term

Meaning “good figure”. The law of Pragnanz is sometimes referred to

As the law of good figure or the law of simplicity. This law holds that objects in the
environment are seen in a way that makes them appear as simple.
• Law of Figure/Ground – Figure/Ground organization is a type of perceptual grouping
which is a vital necessity for recognizing objects through vision.
• Law of common region - This principle states that we tend to group objects together if
they are located in the same bounded area.

Wolfgang Kohler -insightful learning

Kohler first of all used the term insight to describe learning based on the holistic approach
stresses by Gestalt Psychology. A type of learning that uses reason, especially to form
conclusion s, inferences or judgements to solve a problem. Insight learning is solving
problems not based on actual experience but on trials occurring mentally.Kohler found that
chimpanzees could use insight learning Instead of trial and error to solve problems.
Insight Development Involves It is greatly facilitated by previous experience with similar
problems. It involves little bit of trial and error behaviour. Insightful formation is closely related
to the intellectual development of the learner. Insight learning involves understanding and
reasoning about the problem. Educational implications are

•From whole to parts

•Problem solving approach
•Importance of motivation
•Goal orientation
•Insight depends upon previous experience of the learner.

Observational Learning -Observational learning is the process

of learning by watching the behaviours of others. It is a form
of social
learning, which takes in various forms based on various processes. Requires a social model
such as parents, teachers and siblings with surroundings. In animals observational learning is
based on classical conditioning, in which instinctive behaviour is elicited by observing the
behaviour of another.

Albert Bandura
He was a Canadian-American psychologist. Social –learning theory.
Emphasizes that people learn by observing the behaviour of models
And acquiring the belief that they can produce behaviours to Influence events in their lives.

Bobo -Doll experiment -Tested how children learn and imitate Aggressive behaviour.
Genetic predisposition and abusive homes Combined with the media increases violent
criminal behaviour. Biggest factors contributing to media violence: desensitisation and
Limited consequences.

Result
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn
Social behaviour such as aggression through the process of Observational learning through
watching the behaviour of another Person.

Modelling Process
There are specific steps in the process of modelling that must be
Followed if learning is to be successful. These steps include attention, Retention,
reproduction, and motivation.
Attention: Observing the model’s behavior.
Retention: Remembering what you observed.
Reproduction: Imitating the model’s behavior.
Motivation: Having a good reason to reproduce the behavior.

• Vicarious punishment process where the observer sees the model Punished, making the
observer less likely to imitate the model’s behavior

• Vicarious reinforcement process where the observer sees the model rewarded, making
the observer more likely to imitate the model’s behavior.

Practical Applications

• Method used in certain cognitive-behavioural techniques of Psychotherapy whereby

the client learns by imitation alone, without
Any specific verbal direction by the therapist.

• A general process in which persons serve as models for others, Exhibiting the behavior
to be imitated by the others. This process is most commonly discussed with respect to
children in developmental Psychology.