Lesson 22

COGNITIVE APPROACH

(Also known as the cognitive Perspective or Model)

After having gone through the classical and operant conditioning approaches ask yourself:
• Did we learn, all that we know, as a result of mere association of stimulus and response; or was it
learnt just because we were reinforced for it?????Can learning take place as a result of some other
processes?
• Why does a soldier keep resisting the strong enemy without caring for his life even when he can
escape?
• Why would an artist donate his paintings to a charity school and not sell them in the market when he
could have earned hundreds of thousands?
All human intellectual activities and potentials, i.e. thinking, communicating, problem solving, and learning
require mental processes and knowledge. It is more than just stimulus-response association or reward and
punishment.
• In the 1970's much of psychology returned to the study of the mind. Cognitive psychology had a
similar interest. It studied memory, information processing, decision-making, etc. Cognitive
Approach to Learning

The approach that focuses upon the thought processes underlying learning.
• The approach that gives importance to cognition for understanding and explaining learning.
• Cognition is defined as "the mental processes” or the “faculty of knowing”. Cognitive learning
approach has roots in the cognitive perspective.
• Cognition means “knowledge” or “the process of knowing”. • Cognitive approach emphasizes:
o Thoughts of Feelings of
Thinking of Values of
Expectations etc.
• This theory gives same importance to both the internal states of the person as well as the
environmental events.
• Internal events are referred a s “Mediators” or “mediational processes” __ (that come in between
stimulus and response).
• Mediators are ‘conceptual’ but they are defined physiologically rather than conceptually. Elements
of Cognitive Model

Internal processes = essential in Mediators = Work in a

understanding Behavior systematic and organized way
not in terms of trial and
Error
Emphasis of Cognitive Approach
• Cognitive approach uses the following as its focal point:
o Emotions o Social behavior
of Behavior modification
• Cognitive approach includes the elements of psychology, linguistics, computer science and
physiology__ thus called a ‘hybrid science’.
• The roots of cognitive learning can be traced in the work of Wolfgang Kohler, and E.C.Tolman.
Wolfgang Kohler Experiments on apes by German scientist Kohler, led to the discovery of the use of
insight by animals in problem solving; “learning by insight”.
• Most famous of his experiments were conducted involving “Sultan”, an ape.
 • Series of experiments was conducted in which it had to reach a banana outside its cage using a
stick. Once it could solve this problem several times, it was provided with a stick that was not long
enough to reach the banana. However, outside the cage was placed a longer stick.
The ape unsuccessfully tried several times to reach the banana with the smaller stick, till it was finally
frustrated and retreated. Then all of a sudden, the ape got up, got hold of the shorter stick and used it to
reach the longer stick; that stick was then used to reach the banana.

• This phenomenon, Kohler thought, could be explained neither in terms of mechanical classical or
operant conditioning, nor trial and error.
• The animal had exhibited a sudden change in behavior or the way it organized the problem situation
based upon “insight”.
• Both Kohler and Tolman played a vital role in laying the foundation of cognitive approach.

Tolman’s Concept of Latent Learning

• Tolman talked about the ‘cognitive maps’; it is not necessary to have an association between
stimulus and response; a person can learn without showing any apparent response; in other words,
learning and performance are not the same.

•The type of learning in which the organism does learn or acquire a particular behavior but does not readily
demonstrate it until reinforcement is provided; performance may not be the same as what one has actually
learnt.

Tolman’s Series of Early Experiments:

• Tolman (1886-1959) and colleagues conducted experiments that demonstrated that only
mechanical association between the stimulus and response cannot explain just every type of
learning. In order to demonstrate this experiment on maze learning was conducted using
rats that were divided into three groups.

• Group- 1
For 17 days the rats were allowed wandering around the maze once a day without being rewarded; making
many errors they took longer in reaching the end.
• Group- 2
Always given food at reaching the end; learned to run faster to the end and food box; made fewer errors.
• Group- 3
For the first 10 days treated like group-1, and then given food; running time reduced. Errors declined;
performance immediately matched that of group-1.

Conclusion: Cognitive Map

•The rats who were not rewarded had learnt the layout of the maze in their initial explorations, but
demonstrated their ability/skill only after reinforcement was provided; immediately after they stared getting
food they were almost as good as group-1.

•They had developed a cognitive map of the maze that was readily available in their mind, that was used
only when reinforcement was received.

Cognitive Map

•It is a mental representation of space, locations, and directions; a mental representation of learned
relationships among stimuli.
What function do spatial cognitive maps perform??? In case
of humans and animals:
•Spatial memory is used for identifying and recognizing the features of their environment e.g. cats find their
way back home.
•Spatial memory is used for finding important goal objects in their environment.
•Spatial memory is used for planning route through an environment. Use of
Cognitive Maps by Animals

•Birds coming back to the same place and point after a season
•Pigeons carrying messages
•Cats coming back home even after a number of days have passed
Use of cognitive maps by humans

•Cognitive maps of surroundings, primarily based on particular landmarks are developed by people too.
•In their initial encounter with a new environment, they develop cognitive maps based upon specific paths.
•As the familiarity with the environment increase, “abstract cognitive maps” are developed i.e., overall
conception of environment is developed. •Used by interior designers for planning space and
arrangements in the absence of any actual objects.

Observational Learning

Ask Yourself

•Will people be behaving the same way as they do now, if they had never seen another human being?
•How do toddlers learn to wear shoes?
•Why do small girls like to wear lipsticks?
•How does one reach for the ignition in a car when trying to drive the very first time on his own?
•How do many youngsters start smoking? •Why do people
dress up and talk like famous actors?

Defining observational Learning

Imitation is an advanced animal behavior whereby an individual observes another's behavior and replicates
it.

•Observational learning refers to learning through observation of others’ behavior; or as a result of

modeling

•According to Albert Bandura and colleagues, a major portion of our learning is based upon learning by
observation. •It is the main component of social-learning theory in which a person makes changes in his
own behavior by watching/or imitating others i.e., a model/ a super star/favorite personality or a cartoon
character.

•Effective in acquiring skills, attitudes, and beliefs simply by watching other

Observational learning may lead to learning negative as well as positive behaviors!!!!
• Bandura (1965) and others have demonstrated that we learn from observing models but we don't
necessarily copy them. In an early study, children watched a film of an adult hitting and kicking a large
punching bag type of doll. Some of the children saw the adult rewarded for the aggressiveness, others
saw the adult punished, and still others saw no rewards or punishment afterwards. When placed in a
similar situation as the adult with the doll, the children were more aggressive themselves if they had
seen an adult rewarded for being aggressive. If they had seen the adult punished, they were less
aggressive, even though they could imitate the adult perfectly. They had learned behavior by observing
and learned to monitor and control their behavior considering if it might lead to rewards or punishment.
All parents observe this phenomenon in their growing children.

Modeling has also been used as a form of psychological intervention or treatment. Children with a fear of
dogs (Bandura, Grusec, and Menlove, 1967) or snakes (Bandura, Blanchard, and Ritter, 1969) were shown
a model that was not afraid and approached and handled the animal. The children learned to be less afraid.
Although observing an effective model in a film is helpful, seeing a live model works better. Even more
effective is watching a live model first and then participating by approaching and safely handling the feared
animal.

Steps in Observational Learning

•The most critical features of another person’s (model’s) behavior are paid attention to and perceived.
•The behavior is remembered; stored in memory.
•The action is reproduced. •The person is motivated to learn and practice the behavior; successes are
reinforced and failures punished.

When is observational learning the best approach to learning???

•In learning those skills where shaping is not appropriate, trial and error impossible and classical
conditioning irrelevant, for example: flying airplanes as a pilot

performing surgery
Who is a good model???

•The one who is rewarded for his behavior

•Those punished for their behavior will not usually be copied.
•Socially significant models (e.g. actors or super models used in advertisements)
•Successful people
•Glamorous people
•Good communicators
Applications of Observational Learning in Real Life Situations Observational
learning can be, and has been, used successfully for:

•Overcoming fears in children

•Assertiveness training
•Treating fear of medical treatment and surgery
•Learning sports and athletics
•Learning new skills, like swimming
•Classroom situation: good performers and high achievers are rewarded so that they act as models for
other children

The following behaviors are also learned through observation of others performing the same act:
• Learning gender roles
• Adopting new fashions
• Starting smoking
• Drug abuse
• Drinking alcohol
• Violence and aggression learnt and displayed by children

Comparison of Different Learning Approaches

Aspect Behaviorist Cognitivist Humanist Social and
situational
Learning Thorndike, Maslow, Rogers Bandura, Lave
Koffka, Kohler,
theorists Pavlov, and Wenger,
Lewin, Piaget,
Watson, Guthrie, Salomon
Ausubel, Bruner,
Hull, Tolman,
Gagne
Skinner
View of the Change in Internal mental A personal act to Interaction
learning behavior process fulfil potential. /observation in
process (including insight, social contexts.
information Movement from
processing, the periphery to
memory, the center of a
perception community of
practice
Locus of Stimuli in external Internal cognitive Affective and Learning is in
learning environment structuring cognitive needs relationship
between people
and environment.
Purpose in Produce Develop capacity Become self- Full participation
education behavioral and skills to learn actualized, in communities of
change in desired better autonomous practice and
direction utilization of
resources
Educator's role Arranges Structures Facilitates Works to
environment to content of development of establish
elicit desired learning activity the whole person communities of
response practice in which
conversation and
participation can
occur.
Manifestations Behavioral Cognitive Andragogy Self- Socialization
in adult learning objectives development directed learning Social
Competency - Intelligence, participation
based education learning and Associationism
Skill development memory as Conversation
and training function of age
Learning how to
learn