Cheat Sheet: Learning

Features of Learning

Paradigms of Learning

Classical Conditioning

• Mechanism: Neutral stimulus (CS) paired with unconditioned stimulus (US) elicits conditioned response (CR); CS predicts US (Pavlov's dog experiments).
• Procedures:

• Determinants:
  • Appetitive Stimuli: Trigger approach behaviours (e.g., eating); take longer to condition.
  • Aversive Stimuli: Trigger avoidance (e.g., shocks); condition faster (1-3 trials).
  • CS Intensity: Stronger CS speeds up conditioning.

Operant/Instrumental Conditioning

• Mechanism: Behaviour shaped by consequences; positive/negative reinforcement increases behaviour likelihood, and punishment decreases it.
• Skinner Box (B.F. Skinner): Rat learns to press lever for food; voluntary behaviours (operants) are conditioned by rewards.
• Examples: Children learning to say "please" for favours, finding sweets jars, using devices.
• Reinforcement Types:

• Reinforcement Schedules:
  1. Continuous: Rewards every response; high response rate but low resistance to extinction.
  2. Partial: Rewards some responses; higher resistance to extinction (fixed/variable ratio, fixed/variable interval).
• Shaping: Reinforcing successive approximations to desired behaviour.
• Punishment: Introduces an unpleasant outcome to reduce behaviour.
• Determinants: Frequency, quality, amount of reinforcement; timing between behaviour and reinforcement.

Key Learning Processes

Observational Learning

• Definition: Learning by watching and imitating others (Bandura's social learning/modelling).
• Examples:
  1. Fashion: Imitating the styles of attractive models.
  2. Social Situations: Emulating admired individuals.
  3. Children: Imitating adult behaviours in play (e.g., pretend games).
• Bandura's Experiment: Children watched a film of a boy with a Bobo doll; aggression varied based on the reward/punishment of the model.
• Findings: Behaviour expression depends on the model's consequences; shapes traits like aggression, kindness.

Cognitive Learning

• Definition: Involves mental processes; retains insights and mistakes from experience.
• Types:

• Factors: Motivation, learner readiness.

Verbal Learning

• Definition: Gaining knowledge through words; methods include paired-associate, serial, and free recall.
• Methods:

• Material meaningfulness (associations, familiarity, word relationships).
• List length (longer lists take more time).
• Category clustering (organising by subjective categories).

• Natural: Ill-defined, harder to learn.
• Artificial: Well-defined, easier to learn.

Skill Learning

• Definition: Performing complex tasks smoothly through practice; involves stimulus-response chains.
• Examples: Driving, piloting, shorthand, reading.
• Phases:

• Key Factor: Practice drives improvement and automaticity.

Factors Facilitating Learning

Learning Disabilities

• Definition: Disorders causing challenges in reading, writing, speaking, reasoning, and mathematics due to central nervous system issues; treatable with remedial strategies.
• Symptoms:

• Note: Can occur with or without physical/sensory/intellectual disabilities; observable in children with average/high intelligence.