Chapter 3: Theories of learning – Flashcards

Behaviorists argue that because thought processes cannot be directly observed and measured, it is difficult to study thinking objectively and scientifically. Instead, they focus on two things that researchers can observe and measure: people's behaviors (responses) and the environmental events (stimuli, reinforcement) that precede and follow those responses. Learning is viewed as a process of acquiring and modifying associations among stimuli and responses, largely through a learner's direct interactions with the environment.

Social learning theorists focus on the ways in which people learn from observing one another. Environmental stimuli affect behavior, but cognitive processes (e.g., awareness of stimulus-response relationships, expectations about future events) also play a significant role. Oftentimes people learn through modeling: They watch and imitate what others do. Whether people learn and perform effectively is also a function of their self-efficacy, the extent to which they believe they can successfully accomplish a particular task or activity. Although the environment certainly influences people's behaviors, over time most people begin to engage in self-regulation; that is, they take charge of and direct their own actions. In recent years social learning theory has increasingly considered the role of thought processes in learning, and so it is sometimes called social cognitive theory.

While not denying that the environment plays a critical role in learning, information processing theorists investigate what goes on inside learners, focusing on the cognitive processes involved in learning, memory, and performance. From observations of how people execute various tasks and behave in various situations, these theorists draw inferences about how people may perceive, interpret, and mentally manipulate information they encounter in the environment. They speculate about what internal mechanisms underlie human cognition (e.g., working memory and long-term memory) and about how people mentally process information (e.g., through elaboration and visual imagery). Initially, some information processing theorists believed that human thinking is similar to how a computer works (hence, they borrowed terms such as encoding, storage, and retrieval from computer lingo), but in recent years most theorists have largely abandoned the computer analogy.

Constructivists, like information processing theorists, concern themselves with internal aspects of learning. They propose that people create (rather than absorb) knowledge from their observations and experiences. They suggest that people combine much of what they learn into integrated bodies of knowledge and beliefs (e.g., these might take the form of schemas and theories) that may or may not be accurate and useful understandings of the world. Some constructivists focus on how individual learners create knowledge through their interactions with the environment; this approach is known as individual constructivism. Others emphasize that by working together, two or more people can often gain better understandings than anyone could gain alone; this approach is called social constructivism.

Sociocultural theorists emphasize that the social, cultural, and historical contexts in which children grow up have profound influences on thinking, learning, and effective instructional practice. In social interactions within their communities, young learners encounter culturally appropriate ways of thinking about and interpreting objects and events. With time and practice, these ways of thinking—which are first used in a social context—are gradually internalized into non-spoken, mental processes that learners use on their own. Because of their varying environments, historical circumstances, and needs, different cultures have developed somewhat different ways of thinking, learning, and teaching.

The best answer is that people learn by making connections between prior and new information. Bruner is associated with the constructivist theories of learning. Observing behavior is characteristic of social learning theory; mental maps are characteristic of information processing theory. "Acquiring new behaviors" is a very general statement to describe learning, probably most closely associated with a behaviorist theory.

The best answer is that this task exceeds the students' level of cognitive development, especially if they cannot complete it even with the teacher's help - it's just not in their zone of proximal development. This concept is central to Vygotsky's theory of development.

Identify the feelings of others - empathy and understanding of others' minds develop during these years. The other behaviors typically develop later than preschool.

The ideas of modeling and vicarious learning are characteristic of social learning theory. Social learning theorists focus on the ways in which people learn from observing one another.

This statement reflects a constructivist approach to learning. According to this theory, the individual learner takes an active role in creating, or constructing, a framework for information presented to the senses.

This statement would likely be made by a theorist from the sociocultural perspective on learning. According to this theory, learners encounter culturally appropriate ways of thinking in social interactions within their communities.

This statement is characteristic of the behaviorist theory of learning. Behaviorists argue that, because thoughts can't be observed directly, researchers should focus on overt and visible behaviors to understand how particular stimuli lead to specific, learned responses. Contrast this approach with the information processing approach, which infers mental processes and postulates specific mechanisms (e.g., the memory model) to explain those processes.

This statement would most likely be made by a strict behaviorist who focuses on operant conditioning. Operant conditioning suggests that behaviors that are punished will decline or disappear.

This statement reflects information-processing theory; perception, memory, and other operations are the focus of this learning theory.

Self-efficacy is an important part of social learning theory.

Preconventional reasoning is used by individuals who have not adopted or internalized society's conventions regarding right and wrong. At the first stage in this level, moral decisions for preconventionalists are based on selfish needs, including the avoidance of punishment. At the second stage in this level, favors can be exchanged with others but only if there are no negative consequences for oneself.

Conventional reasoning is focused on following society's norms, even if there are no consequences for obedience or disobedience. Adherence to rules is somewhat rigid and seldom questioned. In Stage 3, moral decisions are justified by a need to please others, especially authority figures. In Stage 4, individuals justify their decisions based on the need to maintain order in society.

Postconventional reasoning reflects individual judgment. In Stage 5, individuals reason that rules are mechanisms to maintain general social order and protect human rights but not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question. In Stage 6, moral reasoning emphasizes universal principles such as equality for all people, human dignity and a commitment to justice.

Kohlberg would describe this as conventional ethics. The student is expressing views based on concern for the owner of the Coke machine.

Postconventional ethics. This statement suggests that the student views taking only what we've earned as a social contract.

Preconventional ethics. Concerns about being reported to the office reflect thinking that emphasizes consequences to the individual.

Kohlberg would describe this as conventional ethics. The student is expressing views based on concern for the feelings of the student being taunted.

Preconventional ethics. Concerns about being reported to Mrs. Janek reflect thinking that emphasizes consequences to the individual.

Conventional ethics. Conventional ethics is based on concern for others and adherence to rules.

An unconditioned stimulus evokes a reflexive, unlearned response. The unconditioned stimulus is the situation that caused the embarrassing experience. This situation is a combination of being called on, being stared at, and the boys giggling. We can't be sure of the exact combination of the factors. It could be any one of them, two of them, or all three.

An unconditioned response is reflexive and unlearned. The unconditioned response was Duranna's stomach clenching and her face turning red. These are reflexive responses to the situation.

A conditioned stimulus is one that has become associated with the unconditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus is an environment in which students are being questioned. It has become associated with the initial embarrassing situation. Notice that the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are not necessarily related in any way, but they become associated.

A conditioned response is similar to the unconditioned response but is provoked by a different stimulus. The student's uneasiness is the conditioned response. Notice that uneasiness is a response that is similar to the unconditioned response—stomach clenching and face turning red.

Generalization refers to a situation in which stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus elicit the conditioned response by themselves. Duranna's uneasiness has now generalized to geometry because the environment there is similar to the environment in American history.

Discrimination refers to the ability to give different responses to related but not identical stimuli. She discriminates between Spanish, where the questioning is patterned, and American history and geometry, where the process has been anxiety inducing.

Extinction refers to the process by which the conditioned response disappears. Mr. Harkness could call on Duranna in a situation where he is certain that she is not taken by surprise. After Duranna is called on several times without incident (the conditioned stimulus occurring repeatedly in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus), her uneasiness should begin to disappear. He should also make and enforce a rule that forbids students from laughing at each other's embarrassment.

Because Jimmy's behavior is increasing—he says "I don't know" sooner the second time than he did the first time, he is being reinforced. The reinforcer is Mr. Hanson "removing" the question from him (taking him off the hook), so it is an example of negative reinforcement.

Notice how quickly Jimmy responds to his teacher's inquiry. Jimmy is likely to say "I don't know" even sooner than he did before.

Mr. Hanson could give Jimmy some prompts or cues that will allow him to answer instead of turning the question to another student.

The information may get into sensory memory but not be processed in the phonological loop because it's already full. A textbook is useful for students to fill in the gaps, providing additional knowledge to supplement their schemas. It's also possible that pictures in a text will engage the visuospatial sketchpad component of working memory, whereas lectures may engage only the phonological loop.

First, many of the word meanings will be automatic for students with good vocabularies, which frees working memory space that can be focused on processing the information in the lecture. Second, language and concepts are linked, so more of the content of the lectures may be meaningful to students with large vocabularies—they will be able to attach the content of the lectures quickly to their already existing schemas.

Too much working memory space is taken up by the algebraic manipulations involved in the problems, as evidenced by the teacher's comment "They get wrapped up in the algebra," leaving inadequate space for them to process the physics concepts involved. To overcome the difficulty, the algebra skills need to be automatic, so the amount of working memory space they occupy is reduced, leaving more working memory that can be devoted to the physics in the problems.

Consider the processes involved in moving information from working memory to long-term memory. You have introduced a great deal of information in the lesson—religion, exploitation, indignation, overpopulation, scarce natural resources—and how all the details of these factors led to the Japanese attack on the United States. Because the students seemed attentive, it is likely that their working memories were overloaded, and rather than being able to encode the information into long-term memory, it was lost from their working memories.

She reminds students of several previously learned vocabulary words relevant to today's lesson. Here she is asking students to relate the experience of slavery to things that they themselves might do. She says, Here she is asking students to connect Lincoln's appearance to something they have recently learned: the word gaunt .

In Piaget's terminology, schemes are groups of similar actions or thoughts that are used repeatedly in response to the environment. Infants' schemes are largely based on their use of their senses (e.g., what things look like or taste like) and motor abilities (e.g., kicking, sucking, etc.), hence Piaget's claim that they are in the sensorimotor stage of development. Preschoolers integrate sensorimotor and symbolic information in their themes—for example, calling wolves and coyotes (based on perceptual characteristics) "dog" (a symbolic term). Older children can use more abstract information to organize information in schemes.

Assimilation, in Piaget's terminology, refers to the process of dealing with a new event in a way that is consistent with an existing scheme. For example, a child who calls a Chihuahua "dog" is assimilating; he or she sees an animal that looks like a dog and classifies it according to previous knowledge of animals that look like that. Through assimilation, children organize information into broad categories. Sometimes, however, assimilation leads a child astray. For example, a child who calls a coyote "dog" is also assimilating; he or she sees an animal that looks like a dog and classifies it according to previous knowledge of animals that look like that. If the child's mother responds, "No, that's not a dog; it's a coyote," the child then experiences disequilibrium—the "dog" scheme is not adequate for this animal. The child may then accommodate—change the "dog" scheme to exclude coyotes, even though they look like dogs, and/or build a new "coyote" scheme. As noted in the text, assimilation and accommodation work hand in hand as children interpret each new event within the context of their existing knowledge (assimilation) but at the same time modify their knowledge as a result of the new event (accommodation).

Disequilibrium occurs when a person is unable to address new events with existing schemes and is generally accompanied by a feeling of mental discomfort. When children play with peers, they may experience disequilibrium when their desires, expectations, and behavioral patterns conflict with those of their playmates. For example, one girl may "play house" by pretending to be the mommy and assigning roles as daddy and baby to her playmates. Imagine that one playmate comes from a single-parent family and refuses to be the daddy, insisting that a daddy doesn't have to live in the house. This conflict may upset the first girl, who will experience disequilibrium as her schema of "family" is out of synch with that of her playmate. This child may then accommodate by changing her schema of family (or, as is typical for young children experiencing conflict with peers, she may not accommodate, but rather simply refuse to play house with this playmate).

Piaget would say that this child is in the sensorimotor stage of development. He shows evidence of object permanence—he is able to watch where his mother hides the toy elephant; he quickly looks for it each time, even when she hides it in different locations. He also uses repetitive sensorimotor schemes of taking a new toy out of a bag and putting it back in. His sequence shows Piaget's idea that infants repeat gratifying actions. He uses other sensorimotor schemes as well, such as manipulating the beaded and colorful geometric toy with his hands, observing its features, movements, and other properties. He also listens and watches as his mother manipulates the toy and explores its features.

Kent is best categorized as concrete operational. He easily conserves numbers as he counts the initial line of candies on the table. He groups them in pairs and states that both lines have the same amount (10). When the interviewer bunches up one of the lines, he knows that both lines still the same number. In addition, Kent has difficulty interpreting the proverbs, which are abstract expressions ("A rolling stone gathers no moss" and "The more you know, the less you understand"). However, note that he uses more advanced reasoning in the fishing task, perhaps because prior experience with fishing enables him to use skills that are more common for children who, according to Piaget, have achieved formal operations.

Alicia can offer reasonable interpretations of the abstract, metaphorical proverbs suggesting she has formal operational reasoning skills. Many adolescents show only abstract formal reasoning in domains for which they have substantial prior knowledge. In this video clip, Alicia appears to find the task somewhat silly, and instead of providing a systematic analysis, she first comments, "I don't know anything about fishing." However, she persevered and commented on the different baits the four people used while trying to catch fish, which suggests scientific reasoning abilities (e.g., formulating and testing hypotheses, separating and controlling variables).

Maddie demonstrates age-typical lack of conservation of number, suggesting that Piaget would say she is in the preoperational stage of development. Her comprehension and use of language suggests she has achieved symbolic thought—She says, "More," and when her mother lines up the crackers on the carpet and asks, "Are they fishies?" Maddie nods affirmatively. When her mother asks, "Do they have the same?" she appears to nod "Yes" again. She does still show sensorimotor schemes as well, such as exploring the new toy by pulling it out of the bag, holding and rotating the beads, shaking the toy, and putting it in her mouth. Remember that children in one stage do not necessarily abandon all behaviors from previous stages, as new learning often involves combining and building on old schemas.

Biological (nativist) theories and psychodynamic theories tend to emphasize nature, although both also recognize the importance of nurture.

Sociocultural theories emphasize the importance of nurture. Additionally, behaviorist and social learning theories emphasize nurture more than nature.

Cognitive developmental and information processing theories focus more on universality than on diversity, although both also can account for diversity in behavior.

Psychodynamic theories tend to focus on qualitative change (e.g., Freud's theory). Some cognitive-developmental theories are also focused on qualitative change (e.g., Piaget's theory).

A previously neutral stimulus that, after repeated association with an unconditioned stimulus, elicits the response produced by the unconditioned stimulus itself.