INTRODUCTION

Birds build nests and migrate as winter approaches. Infants suckle at their mother’s breast. Dogs
shake water off wet fur. Salmon swim upstream to spawn, and spiders spin intricate webs. What do
these seemingly unrelated behaviors have in common? They all are unlearned behaviors. Both instincts
and reflexes are innate (unlearned) behaviors that organisms are born with. Reflexes are a motor or
neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment. They tend to be simpler than instincts, involve
the activity of specific body parts and systems (e.g., the knee-jerk reflex and the contraction of the pupil
in bright light), and involve more primitive centers of the central nervous system (e.g., the spinal cord
and the medulla). In contrast, instincts are innate behaviors that are triggered by a broader range of
events, such as maturation and the change of seasons. They are more complex patterns of behavior,
involve movement of the organism as a whole (e.g., sexual activity and migration), and involve higher
brain centers.

Both reflexes and instincts help an organism adapt to its environment and do not have to be learned.
For example, every healthy human baby has a sucking reflex, present at birth. Babies are born knowing
how to suck on a nipple, whether artificial (from a bottle) or human. Nobody teaches the baby to suck,
just as no one teaches a sea turtle hatchling to move toward the ocean.

Learning, like reflexes and instincts, allows an organism to adapt to its environment. But unlike instincts
and reflexes, learned behaviors involve change and experience: learning is a relatively permanent
change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience. In contrast to the innate behaviors
discussed above, learning involves acquiring knowledge and skills through experience.

Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience. In
contrast to the innate behaviors discussed above, learning involves acquiring knowledge and skills
through experience. Looking The psychology of learning helps researchers, educators and employers
understand learning processes and how they work. Psychologists agree that different methods of
learning exist, and some people may find certain learning methods easier than others. Differentiating
between the approaches to learning can help you understand how the environment can influence the
way people learnThe process of learning is continuous which starts right from the time of birth of an
individual and continues till the death.A person keeps on learning across all the stages of life, by
constructing or reconstructing experiences under the influence of emotional and instinctual dispositions.

We all are engaged in the learning endeavours in order to develop our adaptive capabilities as per the
requirements of the changing environment.

Psychology of learning focuses on a range of topics related to how people learn and interact with their
environments.

LEARNING:

Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes,
and preferences.The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also
evidence for some kind of learning in certain plants.Some learning is immediate, induced by a single
event (e.g. being burned by a hot stove), but much skill and knowledge accumulate from repeated
experiences. The changes induced by learning often last a lifetime, and it is hard to distinguish learned
material that seems to be "lost" from that which cannot be retrieved.

Human learning starts at birth (it might even start before.in terms of an embryo's need for both
interaction with, and freedom within its environment within the womb). and continues until death as a
consequence of ongoing interactions between people and their environment. The nature and processes
involved in learning are studied in many established fields (including educational psychology,
neuropsychology, experimental psychology, cognitive sciences, and pedagogy), as well as emerging
fields of knowledge (e.g. with a shared interest in the topic of learning from safety events such as
incidents/accidents,or in collaborative learning health systems. Research in such fields has led to the
identification of various sorts of learning. For example, learning may occur as a result of habituation, or
classical conditioning, operant conditioning or as a result of more complex activities such as play, seen
only in relatively intelligent animals.Learning may occur consciously or without conscious awareness.
Learning that an aversive event cannot be avoided or escaped may result in a condition called learned
helplessness. There is evidence for human behavioral learning prenatally, in which habituation has been
observed as early as 32 weeks into gestation, indicating that the central nervous system is sufficiently
developed and primed for learning and memory to occur very early on in development.

Play has been approached by several theorists as a form of learning. Children experiment with the
world, learn the rules, and learn to interact through play. Lev Vygotsky agrees that play is pivotal for
children's development, since they make meaning of their environment through playing educational
games. For Vygotsky, however, play is the first form of learning language and communication, and the
stage where a child begins to understand rules and symbols.This has led to a view that learning in
organisms is always related to semiosis, and is often associated with representational.

There is more to physical education than creating athletes and playing games. This discipline provides an
essential foundation for helping students to develop a healthy lifestyle that will carry into adulthood. In
order to maximize the impact that physical education has on students, teachers need to create lessons
that address all three of the domains of learning. Benjamin Bloom has suggested three domains of
learning in his taxonomy which are:

DOMAINS OF LEARNING (BENJAMIN BLOOM).

A .) COGNITIVE: (To recall, calculate, discuss, analyze, problem solve, etc).Cognition is the "mental
action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the
senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception,
attention, thought, imagination, intelligence, the formation of knowledge, memory and working
memory, judgment and evaluation, reasoning and computation, problem-solving and decision-making,
comprehension and production of language. Cognitive processes use existing knowledge and discover
new knowledge.

cognitive domain addresses academic development and content knowledge. In physical education,
this type of knowledge may include strategies to keep students safe, the rules of a game, and technical
skills. For example, students learning how to keep score when playing tennis are working within the
cognitive domain.

Achievement within the cognitive domain is generally evaluated using the same types of assessments
that are used in other content areas. For example, students may keep a journal, take a test, or present a
project to show that they have learned the required material.

A cognitive model, as illustrated by Robert Fludd (1619)

Cognitive processes are analyzed from different perspectives within different contexts, notably in the
fields of linguistics, musicology, anesthesia, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, education,
philosophy, anthropology, biology, systemics, logic, and computer science.These and other approaches
to the analysis of cognition (such as embodied cognition) are synthesized in the developing field of
cognitive science, a progressively autonomous academic discipline.

When the mind makes a generalization such as the concept of tree, it extracts similarities from
numerous examples; the simplification enables higher-level thinking (abstract thinking).

COGNITIVISM( PSYCHOLOGY)

In psychology, the term "cognition" is usually used within an information processing view of an
individual's psychological functions,and such is the same in cognitive engineering.in the study of social
cognition, a branch of social psychology, the term is used to explain attitudes, attribution, and group
dynamics. However, psychological research within the field of cognitive science has also suggested an
embodied approach to understanding cognition. Contrary to the traditional computationalist approach,
embodied cognition emphasizes the body's significant role in the acquisition and development of
cognitive capabilities.

Human cognition is conscious and unconscious, concrete or abstract, as well as intuitive (like knowledge
of a language) and conceptual (like a model of a language). It encompasses processes such as memory,
association, concept formation, pattern recognition, language, attention, perception, action, problem
solving, and mental imagery.Traditionally, emotion was not thought of as a cognitive process, but now
much research is being undertaken to examine the cognitive psychology of emotion; research is also
focused on one's awareness of one's own strategies and methods of cognition, which is called
metacognition. The concept of cognition has gone through several revisions through the development of
disciplines within psychology.
Psychologists initially understood cognition governing human action as information processing. This was
a movement known as cognitivism in the 1950s, emerging after the Behaviorist movement viewed
cognition as a form of behavior.Cognitivism approached cognition as a form of computation, viewing the
mind as a machine and consciousness as an executive function.However; post cognitivism began to
emerge in the 1990s as the development of cognitive science presented theories that highlighted the
necessity of cognitive action as embodied, extended, and producing dynamic processes in the mind. The
development of Cognitive psychology arose as psychology from different theories, and so began
exploring these dynamics concerning mind and environment, starting a movement from these prior
dualist paradigms that prioritized cognition as systematic computation or exclusively behavior.

OPERATIONAL STAGE__(Elementary and Early Adolescence 7–12 years). Logical and systematic form
of intelligence; manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects; thinking is now characterized by
reversibility and the ability to take the role of another; grasps concepts of the conservation of mass,
length, weight, and volume; predominantly operational thinking; nonreversible and egocentric thinking

FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE__ (Adolescence and Adulthood 12 years and on). Logical use of
symbols related to abstract concepts; Acquires flexibility in thinking as well as the capacities for abstract
thinking and mental hypothesis testing; can consider possible alternatives in complex reasoning and
problem-solving.

BEGINNING OF COGNITION

Studies on cognitive development have also been conducted in children beginning from the embryonal
period to understand when cognition appears and what environmental attributes stimulate the
construction of human thought or mental processes. Research shows the intentional engagement of
fetuses with the environment, demonstrating cognitive achievements.However, organisms with simple
reflexes cannot cognize the environment alone because the environment is the cacophony of stimuli
(electromagnetic waves, chemical interactions, and pressure fluctuations). Their sensation is too limited
by the noise to solve the cue problem–the relevant stimulus cannot overcome the noise magnitude if it
passes through the senses (see the binding problem). Fetuses need external help to stimulate their
nervous system in choosing the relevant sensory stimulus for grasping the perception of objects.The
Shared intentionality approach proposes a plausible explanation of perception development in this
earlier stage. Initially, Michael Tomasello introduced the psychological construct of Shared
intentionality, highlighting its contribution to cognitive development from birth.This primary interaction
provides unaware collaboration in mother-child dyads for environmental learning. Later, Igor Val Danilov
developed this notion, expanding it to the intrauterine period and clarifying the neurophysiological
processes underlying Shared intentionality.According to the Shared intentionality approach, the mother
shares the essential sensory stimulus of the actual cognitive problem with the child. By sharing this
stimulus, the mother provides munication in the mother-fetus communication model due to nonlocal
neuronal coupling. This nonlocal coupling model refers to communication between two organisms
through the copying of the adequate ecological dynamics by biological systems indwelling one
environmental context, where a naive actor (Fetus) replicates information from an experienced actor
(Mother) due to intrinsic processes of these dynamic systems (embodied information) but without
interacting through sensory signals.The Mother's heartbeats (a low-frequency oscillator) modulate
relevant local neuronal networks in specific subsystems of both her and the nervous system of the fetus
due to the effect of the interference of the low-frequency oscillator (Mother heartbeats) and already
exhibited gamma activity in these neuronal networks (interference in physics is the combination of two
or more electromagnetic waveforms to form a resultant wave).Therefore, the subliminal perception in a
fetus emerges due to Shared intentionality with the mother that stimulates cognition in this organism
even before birth.

B). PSYCHOMOTOR:( To dance, swim, ski, dive, drive a car, ride a bike, etc.)Psychomotor learning is
the relationship between cognitive functions and physical movement. Psychomotor learning is
demonstrated by physical skills such as movement, coordination, manipulation, dexterity, grace,
strength, speed—actions which demonstrate the fine or gross motor skills, such as use of precision
instruments or tools, and walking. Sports and dance are the richest realms of gross psychomotor skills.

Behavioral examples include driving a car, throwing a ball, and playing a musical instrument. In
psychomotor learning research, attention is given to the learning of coordinated activity involving the
arms, hands, fingers, and feet, while verbal processes are not emphasized.

When most people think of physical education, the psychomotor domain comes to mind. The
psychomotor domain refers to motor skill development and physical activity. In addition to developing
muscles, flexibility, and skills, the psychomotor domain also includes the ability to interpret sensory
signals and use them to direct movement. For example, when a child catches a ball, he or she needs to
be able to evaluate where the ball might land as it is moving, so he or she can move to the correct
location.

Typically, skills in the psychomotor domain are evaluated according to speed, precision, distance, or
technique. When evaluating a student's skill at throwing free throws, precision may be measured by
what percentage of shots the student made, but you may also consider techniques such as finger
placement and follow-through in the evaluation. Track performance may be measured by either
distance or speed, but technique may also be included in the evaluation.

Stages of psychomotor development:

According to Paul Fitts and Michael Posner's three-stage model, when learning psychomotor skills,
individuals progress through the cognitive stages, the associative stage, and the autonomic stage.[2] The
cognitive stage is marked by awkward slow and choppy movements that the learner tries to control. The
learner has to think about each movement before attempting it. In the associative stage, the learner
spends less time thinking about every detail, however, the movements are still not a permanent part of
the brain. In the autonomic stage, the learner can refine the skill through practice, but no longer needs
to think about the movement
C). AFFECTIVE:( To like something or someone, love, appreciate, fear, hate, worship, etc).

These domains are not mutually exclusive. For example, in learning to play chess, the person must learn
the rules (cognitive domain)—but must also learn how to set up the chess pieces and how to properly
hold and move a chess piece (psychomotor). Furthermore, later in the game the person may even learn
to love the game itself, value its applications in life, and appreciate its history (affective domain).

The affective domain deals with social skills and emotions. This could encompass teamwork,
sportsmanship, effort, or cooperation. These are all skills that students need not only to participate in
sports, but in all aspects of their lives. If you are working on improving effort and teamwork, you might
instruct students to participate in all activities, but provide other students with a chance to be
successful.

This is one of the most difficult areas to assess and will take forethought to determine which behaviors
exemplify your expectations. The affective domain may be evaluated using self-assessments, anecdotal
records, peer assessments, or observation against a rubric.

TYPES OF LEARNING IN PSYCHOLOGY:

(1) CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

(2)OPERANT CONDITIONING

( 3)OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

(1) CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:

This is a type of learning where a stimulus is paired with a response to create a conditioned response .

Classical conditioning is a type of learning that was first studied by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist, in the
early 1900s. In his famous experiment, he would ring a bell and then feed his dogs. After a while, the
dogs began to salivate when they heard the bell, even when there was no food present. This
demonstrated that the dogs had learned to associate the bell with the food, and this association was
called a conditioned response. Classical conditioning is a type of learning that can be used to train
animals and even people to respond in certain ways to certain stimuli.
 Pavlov had identified a fundamental associative learning process called classical conditioning. Classical
conditioning refers to learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (e.g., a tone) becomes associated
with a stimulus (e.g., food) that naturally produces a behaviour. After the association is learned, the
previously neutral stimulus is sufficient to produce the behaviour.

” psychologists use specific terms to identify the stimuli and the responses in classical conditioning. The
unconditioned stimulus (US) is something (such as food) that triggers a naturally occurring response, and
the unconditioned response (UR) is the naturally occurring response (such as salivation) that follows the
unconditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus (CS) is a neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly
presented prior to the unconditioned stimulus, evokes a similar response as the unconditioned stimulus.
In Pavlov’s experiment, the sound of the tone served as the conditioned stimulus that, after learning,
produced the conditioned response (CR), which is the acquired response to the formerly neutral
stimulus. Note that the UR and the CR are the same behaviour — in this case salivation — but they are
given different names because they are produced by different stimuli (the US and the CS, respectively).

Conditioning is evolutionarily beneficial because it allows organisms to develop expectations that help
them prepare for both good and bad events. Imagine, for instance, that an animal first smells a new
food, eats it, and then gets sick. If the animal can learn to associate the smell (CS) with the food (US), it
will quickly learn that the food creates the negative outcome and will not eat it the next time.

The Persistence and Extinction of Conditioning

After he had demonstrated that learning could occur through association, Pavlov moved on to study the
variables that influenced the strength and the persistence of conditioning. In some studies, after the
conditioning had taken place, Pavlov presented the sound repeatedly but without presenting the food
afterward. “Acquisition, Extinction, and Spontaneous Recovery,” shows what happened. As you can see,
after the initial acquisition (learning) phase in which the conditioning occurred, when the CS was then
presented alone, the behaviour rapidly decreased — the dogs salivated less and less to the sound, and
eventually the sound did not elicit salivation at all. Extinction refers to the reduction in responding that
occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus.

Although at the end of the first extinction period the CS was no longer producing salivation, the effects
of conditioning had not entirely disappeared. Pavlov found that, after a pause, sounding the tone again
elicited salivation, although to a lesser extent than before extinction took place. The increase in
responding to the CS following a pause after extinction is known as spontaneous recovery. When Pavlov
again presented the CS alone, the behaviour again showed extinction until it disappeared again.

Although the behaviour has disappeared, extinction is never complete. If conditioning is again
attempted, the animal will learn the new associations much faster than it did the first time.
Pavlov also experimented with presenting new stimuli that were similar, but not identical, to the original
conditioned stimulus. For instance, if the dog had been conditioned to being scratched before the food
arrived, the stimulus would be changed to being rubbed rather than scratched. He found that the dogs
also salivated upon experiencing the similar stimulus, a process known as generalization. Generalization
refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus. The ability
to generalize has important evolutionary significance. If we eat some red berries and they make us sick,
it would be a good idea to think twice before we eat some purple berries. Although the berries are not
exactly the same, they nevertheless are similar and may have the same negative properties.

Lewicki (1985) conducted research that demonstrated the influence of stimulus generalization and how
quickly and easily it can happen. In his experiment, high school students first had a brief interaction with
a female experimenter who had short hair and glasses. The study was set up so that the students had to
ask the experimenter a question, and (according to random assignment) the experimenter responded
either in a negative way or a neutral way toward the students. Then the students were told to go into a
second room in which two experimenters were present and to approach either one of them. However,
the researchers arranged it so that one of the two experimenters looked a lot like the original
experimenter, while the other one did not (she had longer hair and no glasses). The students were
significantly more likely to avoid the experimenter who looked like the earlier experimenter when that
experimenter had been negative to them than when she had treated them more neutrally. The
participants showed stimulus generalization such that the new, similar-looking experimenter created the
same negative response in the participants as had the experimenter in the prior session.

The flip side of generalization is discrimination — the tendency to respond differently to stimuli that
are similar but not identical. Pavlov’s dogs quickly learned, for example, to salivate when they heard the
specific tone that had preceded food, but not upon hearing similar tones that had never been associated
with food. Discrimination is also useful — if we do try the purple berries, and if they do not make us sick,
we will be able to make the distinction in the future. And we can learn that although two people in our
class, Courtney and Sarah, may look a lot alike, they are nevertheless different people with different
personalities.

In some cases, an existing conditioned stimulus can serve as an unconditioned stimulus for a pairing with
a new conditioned stimulus — a process known as second-order conditioning. In one of Pavlov’s studies,
for instance, he first conditioned the dogs to salivate to a sound and then repeatedly paired a new CS, a
black square, with the sound. Eventually he found that the dogs would salivate at the sight of the black
square alone, even though it had never been directly associated with the food. Secondary conditioners
in everyday life include our attractions to things that stand for or remind us of something else, such as
when we feel good on a Friday because it has become associated with the paycheque that we receive on
that day, which itself is a conditioned stimulus for the pleasures that the paycheque buys us.
conditioning the behavioural response of nausea to a sight or a sound was much more difficult. These
results contradicted the idea that conditioning occurs entirely as a result of environmental events, such
that it would occur equally for any kind of unconditioned stimulus that followed any kind of conditioned
stimulus. Rather, Garcia’s research showed that genetics matters — organisms are evolutionarily
prepared to learn some associations more easily than others. You can see that the ability to associate
smells with illness is an important survival mechanism, allowing the organism to quickly learn to avoid
foods that are poisonous.

Classical conditioning has also been used to help explain the experience of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), as in the case of P. K. Philips described in the chapter opener. PTSD is a severe anxiety
disorder that can develop after exposure to a fearful event, such as the threat of death (American
Psychiatric Association, 2000). PTSD occurs when the individual develops a strong association between
the situational factors that surrounded the traumatic event (e.g., military uniforms or the sounds or
smells of war) and the US (the fearful trauma itself). As a result of the conditioning, being exposed to or
even thinking about the situation in which the trauma occurred (the CS) becomes sufficient to produce
the CR of severe anxiety (Keane, Zimering, & Caddell, 1985).

PTSD develops because the emotions experienced during the event have produced neural activity in the
amygdala and created strong conditioned learning. In addition to the strong conditioning that people
with PTSD experience, they also show slower extinction in classical conditioning tasks (Milad et al.,
2009). In short, people with PTSD have developed very strong associations with the events surrounding
the trauma and are also slow to show extinction to the conditioned stimulus.

Classical conditioning can be used to teach a wide range of behaviors. For example, in a classroom
setting, a teacher might use classical conditioning to teach students to sit up straight when they hear a
bell. The teacher would first ring the bell and then give the students a treat when they sat up straight.
Over time, the students would begin to sit up straight automatically when they heard the bell. Classical
conditioning can be a very effective way to train animals or to teach new behaviors to people. However,
it's important to note that classical conditioning can also lead to unwanted responses. For example,
someone who has a fear of spiders might become afraid of ...of spiders after seeing a spider and then
being bitten. This is known as a conditioned fear response. Classical conditioning is a powerful tool, but
it's important to use it carefully and to be aware of the potential for unwanted responses. Overall,
classical conditioning is a very important and well-studied type of learning that has a wide range of
applications.

In classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, organisms learn to associate events—or
stimuli—that repeatedly happen together. We experience this process throughout our daily lives. For
example, you might see a flash of lightning in the sky during a storm and then hear a loud boom of
thunder. The sound of the thunder naturally makes you jump (loud noises have that effect by reflex).
Because lightning reliably predicts the impending boom of thunder, you may associate the two and jump
when you see lightning. Psychological researchers study this associative process by focusing on what can
be seen and measured—behaviors.

Key Takeaways

In classical conditioning, a person or animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus (the conditioned
stimulus, or CS) with a stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus, or US) that naturally produces a behaviour
(the unconditioned response, or UR). As a result of this association, the previously neutral stimulus
comes to elicit the same response (the conditioned response, or CR).

Extinction occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US, and the CR eventually
disappears, although it may reappear later in a process known as spontaneous recovery.

Stimulus generalization occurs when a stimulus that is similar to an already-conditioned stimulus begins
to produce the same response as the original stimulus does.

Stimulus discrimination occurs when the organism learns to differentiate between the CS and other
similar stimuli.

In second-order conditioning, a neutral stimulus becomes a CS after being paired with a previously
established CS.

Some stimuli — response pairs, such as those between smell and food — are more easily conditioned
than others because they have been particularly important in our evolutionary past.

(2) OPERANT CONDITIONING:Operant conditioning is a type of learning that was first studied by B.F.
Skinner, an American psychologist, in the 1930s. In this type of learning, the consequences of a behavior
determine whether or not that behavior is repeated in the future. For example, a child might learn to
clean their room because their parents give them a treat when they do so. In this case, the treat is the
consequence that reinforces the behavior of cleaning the room. In operant conditioning, the
consequences of a behavior can be positive or negative. Positive consequences, like praise or a treat,
increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Negative consequences, like punishment or the
removal of a reward, decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Operant conditioning is
different from classical conditioning in that it relies on the consequences of a behavior to determine
whether or not it is repeated. Classical conditioning, on the other hand, relies on an association between
a stimulus and a response. Operant conditioning is a powerful tool that is used in many settings,
including classrooms, animal training, and behavioral therapy. By understanding the consequences of a
behavior, it's possible to change behavior through operant conditioning.

One of the key concepts in operant conditioning is reinforcement. This is the process of making a
behavior more likely to occur by increasing the likelihood of a reward. There are two types of
reinforcement: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement involves
adding something desirable after a behavior, like giving a child a treat for cleaning their room. Negative
reinforcement involves removing something undesirable after a behavior, like stopping a loud noise
when a child is quiet. These two types of reinforcement can be very effective in changing behavior.
There is also a third type of consequence, called punishment, which is used to decrease the likelihood of
a behavior occurring again.

In operant behavior, responses can accrue or remove stimuli, and the stimuli can be appetitive or
aversive. In positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement response rate increases by addition of
appetitive stimuli or removal of aversive stimuli; positive punishment and negative punishment
decreases response rate by addition of aversive stimuli or removal of appetitive stimuli. Negative
reinforcement includes escape, removal of an already present aversive stimulus, and avoidance,
prevention or postponement of an aversive stimulus.

Operant responses can include everything from a rat's lever press maintained by food, an infant's crying
maintained by maternal attention, and small talk maintained by social companionship. The form of an
operant response depends on (a) environmental constraints, such as the height of a reinforcement lever
and force required to operate it, (b) the behavior emitted by the organism, and (c) behavior elicited by
the consequences.

Reinforcement narrows the range of variability in emitted behavior by selecting its successful forms (not
necessarily the most efficient behavior), making them more frequent and thereby displacing less
effective forms. Predatory species, for example, show adjustments in hunting behavior as a result of
their effectiveness. The differential reinforcement of some responses to the exclusion of others is called
shaping. Shaping is analogous to natural selection in that different responses function like the
phenotypic variations required for evolutionary change. Without variation, changes in reinforcement
contingencies could not select new forms of behavior. Despite the tendency for reinforcement to
produce stereotyped behavior, it never reduces variations in behavior entirely. Variability returns to
emitted behavior in extinction, a potentially adaptive reaction to dwindling resources. Creativity can also
serve as the basis for reinforcement (e.g., if reinforcers are contingent on the emission of novel
behavior.)

Restriction operations, such as food deprivation, are necessary for reinforcement—the response elicited
by the reinforcer, such as feeding, must have some probability of occurring for the reinforcer to be
effective. In rats, restricting an activity such as running in a wheel will make the activity a reinforcer for
drinking, even thought the rat is not water restricted. Findings like this suggest that reinforcers may best
be understood in terms of the activities they produce and that the reinforcement process involves the
organism's behaving in order to maintain set levels of activities.
Once an organism learns a response-reinforcer contingency, the likelihood of the response will reflect
the value of the reinforcer. For example, if a rat drinks sugar water and becomes ill, it will no longer emit
behavior previously reinforced with sugar water.

A great deal of behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement, including avoidance in which

responses prevent the occurrence of aversive stimuli, and escape in which responses terminate an
existing aversive stimulus. Much research has been directed to avoidance because it is maintained in the
absence of contiguity—responses prevent reinforcement. In some cases, avoidance is maintained by
deletion of an immediately present conditioned aversive (warning) stimulus, an avoidance condition that
preserves contiguous reinforcement. But organisms will work to prevent or delay aversive events
without the benefit of warning stimuli, showing that avoidance does not require a Pavlovian aversive
contingency. Avoidance is closely linked to punishment because organisms frequently learn to avoid
places associated with punishment, a pragmatic concern for advocates of punishment.

The timing, rate, and persistence of an operant response depends on its reinforcement schedule, a
constraint on earning reinforcers that requires the organism to wait for the next available reinforcer,
emit a number of responses, or some combination of both. a reinforcer is produced by the first response
after the passage of a specified interval of time. In a ratio schedule, a reinforcer is produced after the
emission of a specified number of responses. Time or response requirements can either be a fixed or
variable. Response rate on both ratio and interval schedules increases with reinforcement rate up to a
point, and then decreases again at high rates of reinforcement. At low rates of reinforcement or during
extinction, behavior on ratio schedules alternates between bouts of rapid responding and pauses, while
responses on interval schedules simply occur with lower frequency. Extinction is prolonged after
exposure to reinforcement schedules—especially after exposure to long interval- or large ratio-
schedules.

When rate of reinforcement in interval and ratio schedules is equated, organisms respond at higher
rates on ratio schedules (although the difference is small at very high rates of reinforcement). Organisms
are sensitive to the fact that the rate of reinforcement in ratio schedules increases directly as a function
of response rate, but not in interval schedules.

Characteristic pausing or waiting occurs after earning a reinforcer. Waiting is determined by the
currently expected schedule and not because of the reinforcer. Fixed-interval and fixed-ratio schedules
produce long wait times, and variable-interval and variable-ratio schedules produce short wait times.
Waiting on fixed-interval schedules is reliably a fixed proportion of the interval value. In VI and VR
schedules, wait times are heavily influenced by the shortest inter-reinforcement intervals or ratios in a
schedule. Waiting is obligatory—organisms will wait even when doing so reduces the immediacy and
overall rate of reinforcement. In schedules that require a single response, with the reinforcer occurring a
fixed time after the response, the optimal strategy is to respond immediately in order to minimize delay,
but organisms still wait a time proportional to the fixed time before making the response that leads to
reinforcement.
Schedules can be combined in almost limitless ways to study questions dealing with choice, conditioned
reinforcement, and other complex behavioral processes. In experiments on choice between two
concurrent variable-interval schedules, the relative preference of many organisms, including humans,
will closely match the percentage of reinforcement provided by each schedule. With choices between
different fixed-interval schedules, the preference for the shorter interval is far greater than predicted by
the relative intervals, indicating that the value of a delayed reinforcer decreases according to a
decelerating function over time. Conditioned reinforcers have been studied with behavior chains in
which one signaled schedule is made a consequence of another, for example, a one-minute fixed
interval schedule signaled by a red stimulus leads to another one-minute fixed interval signaled by a
green stimulus, until a terminal reinforcer is obtained. Behavior extinguishes in the early schedules of
chains with three or more schedules, to the extent that reinforcement is severely reduced. Possibly
conditioned reinforcers must be contiguous with primary reinforcers to effectively maintain behavior;
alternatively obligatory waiting in the early schedules extends the time to the terminal reinforcer,
lengthening the time to reinforcement, and generating even longer waiting.

GENERALIZATION.

When an operant behavior has been reinforced in the presence of a particular SD, the same behavior
may still be emitted in the presence of similar but not identical stimulus conditions. When an operant is
emitted in the presence of a stimulus similar to the original SD, this is referred to as stimulus
generalization. For example, if one learn uses to answer the door when a doorbell of a particular sound
rings, one will likely answer a door when a doorbell of a somewhat different ring occurs, even if one has
never heard that particular doorbell sound before. This is an example of stimulus generalization. Strictly
speaking, generalization occurs when some actual physical property of the original SD is shared with
another stimulus in the presence of which a response is emitted and reinforced. A doorbell's sound may
be similarly pitched and thus the operant (opening the door) may be emitted, even though the behavior
has never been reinforced in the presence of that exact tone before. However, for the phenomenon to
be considered generalization, there must be some formal property of the stimuli that are common. In
the doorbell example, the formal property was some quality of the sound

(3). OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING: Observational learning, or modeling, is a type of learning that is

different from both classical and operant conditioning. Observational learning is learning that occurs
through observing the behavior of others. It is a form of social learning which takes various forms, based
on various processes. In humans, this form of learning seems to not need reinforcement to occur, but
instead, requires a social model such as a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher with surroundings.
Particularly in childhood, a model is someone of authority or higher status in an environment. In
animals, observational learning is often based on classical conditioning, in which an instinctive behavior
is elicited by observing the behavior of another (e.g. mobbing in birds), but other processes may be
involved as well.[1]In observational learning, people learn new behaviors by watching and imitating
others. This type of learning is especially important in young children, who often learn through imitation.
For example, a child might learn to eat with a fork and knife by watching their parents do so.
Observational learning can also be used to change behavior in adults. For example, a therapist might
model a new behavior for a patient and then have the patient imitate it. This type of learning is
especially useful when a new behavior is difficult to learn through operant conditioning. Observational
learning can be very powerful, but it also has some limitations. For example, it's important that the
behavior being modeled is seen as desirable by the person learning it. Additionally, it can be difficult to
imitate a behavior perfectly, so the learner may need guidance and practice to fully master it. Despite
these limitations, observational learning is an important part of human development and behavior
change. It allows people to learn new behaviors quickly and easily, and it is a powerful tool for changing
behavior.

One of the most famous studies on observational learning was done by Albert Bandura, a Canadian
psychologist. In his "Bobo doll" experiment, Bandura showed children a video of an adult behaving
aggressively towards a toy called a Bobo doll. After watching the video, the children were more likely to
act aggressively towards the doll themselves. This experiment demonstrated the power of observational
learning. It showed that children can learn new behaviors by watching others, even if those behaviors
are aggressive. It also showed that observational learning can be a strong influence on behavior, even
more so than operant conditioning.

Another important aspect of observational learning is known as vicarious reinforcement. This is the idea
that we can learn from watching others be rewarded or punished for their behavior. For example, a child
might learn that it's important to share their toys by watching another child receive praise for doing so.
This type of learning can be very effective in changing behavior, even when there is no direct
reinforcement involved. Vicarious reinforcement is often used in classrooms to promote positive
behaviors, such as sharing and helping others. It's a powerful tool for shaping behavior in both children
and adults.One of the most interesting aspects of observational learning is the concept of modeling. This
is the idea that people tend to imitate the behavior of those they admire or identify with. For example, a
child might be more likely to imitate the behavior of a parent or a teacher, rather than a stranger. This
can have both positive and negative consequences. On the positive side, it can help children learn pro-
social behaviors, like sharing and helping others. However, it can also lead to children imitating negative
behaviors, such as aggression or bullying. The key is to provide children with positive role models who
exhibit positive behaviors.

Another interesting aspect of observational learning is the role of gender. Research has shown that boys
are more likely to imitate aggressive behavior, while girls are more likely to imitate prosocial behavior.
This is thought to be due to a combination of biological and cultural factors. For example, boys may be
more likely to imitate aggressive behaviors because they are influenced by higher levels of testosterone.
In addition, boys may be more likely to receive positive reinforcement for aggressive behavior, while
girls are more likely to receive positive reinforcement for prosocial behavior. This can create a feedback
loop that reinforces the gender-specific behaviors.

One of the most important implications of observational learning is the need for careful role modeling.
This is especially true for children, who are more likely to imitate the behavior of those around them.
Therefore, it's important for parents, teachers, and other adults to be aware of the behaviors they are
modeling for children. They should try to provide positive role models who demonstrate pro-social
behaviors, such as kindness, compassion, and cooperation. Additionally, they should try to limit
exposure to negative role models, such as aggressive media characters. By doing so, they can help
children learn positive behaviors and avoid negative onesIn addition to the role of parents and teachers,
the media also plays a role in observational learning. Children are exposed to a wide range of media,
including television, movies, and video games. Research has shown that exposure to violent media can
lead to aggressive behavior in children. For example, one study found that children who watched violent
cartoons were more likely to display aggressive behavior towards other children. This is likely due to the
fact that the media often presents violence as a solution to problems, and children may imitate this
behavior. Therefore, it's important for parents to monitor the media that their children are exposed to
and to help them understand the difference.

In conclusion, observational learning is an important type of learning that occurs through imitation and
modeling. This type of learning can have a powerful impact on behavior, both positive and negative. It's
important for parents, teachers, and the media to be aware of the role they play in shaping children's
behavior through observational learning. By understanding the power of this type of learning, we can
help children to develop positive behaviors and avoid negative ones.

GENERALIZATION.

In summary, the three main types of learning in psychology are classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and observational learning. Each of these types of learning has its own strengths and
weaknesses, and all three are important for the development of behavior. Classical conditioning is a
powerful way to train simple responses, but it doesn't explain complex behaviors. Operant conditioning
is better at explaining complex behaviors, but it can't account for all types of learning. Finally,
observational learning can explain both simple and complex behaviors, but it can be difficult to control.
All three types of learning play a role in shaping human behavior.

While these three types of learning are the most commonly discussed, they are not the only types of
learning that occur. For example, cognitive learning refers to learning that involves understanding and
processing information. This type of learning can occur through reading, listening, or thinking about
information. Another type of learning is emotional learning, which refers to learning that involves the
emotions. This type of learning can occur when someone has a strong emotional response to a
particular event or experience. Finally, there is social learning, which refers to learning that occurs
through interactions with other people. This type of learning can be particularly important for children,
who often learn through imitation and observation

**Sub-Types of learning

Motor Learning: Our day to day activities like walking, running, driving, etc, must be learnt for ensuring a
good life. These activities to a great extent involve muscular coordination.

Verbal Learning: It is related with the language which we use to communicate and various other forms
of verbal communication such as symbols, words, languages, sounds, figures and signs.
Concept Learning: This form of learning is associated with higher order cognitive processes like
intelligence, thinking, reasoning, etc, which we learn right from our childhood. Concept learning involves
the processes of abstraction and generalization, which is very useful for identifying or recognizing things.

Discrimination Learning: Learning which distinguishes between various stimuli with its appropriate and
different responses is regarded as discrimination stimuli.

Learning of Principles: Learning which is based on principles helps in managing the work most
effectively. Principles based learning explains the relationship between various concepts.

Attitude Learning: Attitude shapes our behaviour to a very great extent, as our positive or negative
behaviour is based on our attitudinal predisposition.

THEORIES OF LEARNING IN PSYCHOLOGY.

All students are different, so it is important to understand how best to reach them. One attempt
to better understand the learning process is learning theory. What is learning theory? Learning theory
explains how students receive, process, and retain information throughout the learning process.

There are five main learning theories psychologists, scientists, and educational researchers have agreed
on. These theories are:

1) Behavioral learning theory.

2) Cognitive learning theory.

3)Constructivist learning theory.

4)Social learning theory.

5)Experiential learning theory.

While these theories all differ, they do share similar characteristics. One of the main characteristics is
that the way people learn is influenced by their environment.

For example, the cognitive theory focuses on how internal and external forces motivate someone to
learn. The behaviorist learning theory focuses on how students learn by watching others around them.
Both show how the environment and what students observe and are exposed to influence their
learning. Other theories focus on how students rely on prior experiences and connect them to new
learning.

(1) BEHAVIORAL LEARNING THEORY:

Behavioral learning theory, also known as behaviorism learning theory, suggests that students'
behavior is based on how they interact with their environment, and they are therefore influenced by
external forces. Multiple behavioral learning theories have been merged to explain why students behave
as they do. These theories are based on the idea that environmental factors influence learning.

Two main examples of this are learning through association and learning through reinforcement. One of
the most well-known behavioral scientists, Ivan Pavlov, conducted an experiment to test whether or not
learning occurs through association. In this case, he paired a previous stimulus, a bell, with a natural
stimulus, food. He would ring a bell and feed his dogs in his famous experiment. Over time the dogs
would salivate to the ringing of a bell. This proved that they associated the stimulus of the bell ringer
with the naturally occurring stimulus of eating. This is what is known as classical conditioning.The other
example is known as learning through reinforcement, or operant conditioning. Behavioral psychologist
B.F. Skinner first described this associative learning by saying that either strengthening or weakening a
behavior could be caused by using reinforcements or punishments. His reasoning was that classical
conditioning could not cover all types of learning and focused on actions and consequences. Ultimately,
he discovered that learning occurs when behaviors are met with consequences, and they must quickly
follow the behavior. A "good job" after answering a question correctly or putting a toddler in timeout for
hitting are examples of operant conditioning.

As mentioned, the behavioral learning theory was developed by B.F. Skinner.

desired behavior. For example, if a child is learning to walk, the parent might first reinforce the child for
standing, then for taking a few steps, and finally for walking independently. This gradual reinforcement
leads to the child learning the desired behavior. Another important concept in behavioral learning
theory is generalization. This refers to the tendency for a learned response to be generalized to other
similar situations. For example, if a child learns to say "please" in one situation, they may also say
"please" in other similar situations. Finally, there is the concept of extinction, which refers to the gradual
decrease in a learned response when reinforcement is no longer provided. For example, if a child learns
to say "please" to get a cookie, and then the parent stops giving cookies, the child will eventually stop
saying "please." These concepts are the basic principles of behavioral learning theory, and they have
been widely applied in many areas, including education, behavior therapy, and animal training. While
this theory has been criticized for its focus on reinforcement and lack of emphasis on cognitive
processes, it has been influential in understanding how learning occurs.

(2) COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY:

Cognitive learning is an active style of learning that focuses on helping you learn how to maximize
your brain’s potential. It makes it easier for you to connect new information with existing ideas hence
deepening your memory and retention capacity.
The ability of the brain’s mental processes to absorb and retain information through experience,senses,
and thought is known as cognition.Employers need to expose employees to training on cognitive
learning—an organization whose employees have strong cognitive skills is likely successful.

Well-trained and fully engaged employees are capable of learning quickly and being highly productive by
handling multiple complex tasks without the necessity of a supervisor.

There is a young branch of psychology known as cognitive psychology. It is the study of one’s internal
processes.

These are the things going on in your brain, such as thinking, attention, learning, problem-solving,
perception, among others.

Components of Cognitive Learning

Traditional learning mainly focuses on memorization instead of trying to achieve mastery in a particular
subject.

The following are fundamental aspects of cognitive learning:

1. Comprehension

For cognitive learning to be efficient and benefit you, understand the reason why you are learning a
specific subject in the first place.

2. Memory

Cognitive learning discourages cramming of information, which is very ineffective in education. Having a
deep understanding of a subject improves your ability to relate new knowledge with previous
experiences or information.

3. Application

Cognitive learning strategies help you apply new information or skills in life situations. They encourage
you as you continue to develop problem-solving skills.

Cognitive learning theory explains how internal and external factors influence an individual’s mental
processes to supplement learning.

Delays and difficulties in learning are seen when cognitive processes are not working regularly. These
processes are such as attention, observation, retrieval from long-term memory, and categorization.

Several researchers have made significant contributions to this theory. Jerome Bruner focused on how
mental processes are linked to teaching.
Another researcher by the name Jean Piaget recognized that the environment plays a huge role and also
focused on changes that take place in the internal cognitive structure. You can read more about Piaget’s
theory of cognitive development in our previous article.

Today, cognitive learning theory is dominant in psychology. It is broken down into two categories.

(A)Social Cognitive Theory:

This theory helps us understand how people are influenced and their influence on the environment.

One of the major components of social cognitive theory is observational learning. It is the process of
learning others’ desirable and undesirable behaviors through observation.

It is a quick way of acquiring information when you individually take action. A person who demonstrates
behavior for another person is known as a model.

These may be real people such as teachers, our peers, and supervisors, or symbolic models, also known
as fictional characters that influence an observer’s behavior.

Observational learning teaches people both positive and negative behaviors. For example, a manager
within a company can teach the employees how they are supposed to behave ethically and be socially
conscious when interacting and dealing with rude customers. Moreover, the manager can also train
his/her employees on the different procedures that they can take in case of fire or other low probability
hazardous scenarios.

(B).Cognitive Behavioral Theory

This theory mainly refers to our mental processes, such as our thoughts and interpretations of life
events.

It explains how the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of a person interact with each other. Thoughts lead
to particular emotions, which in turn lead to specific behavioral responses.

When we change our thoughts, we can change our emotions and then our behaviors. It also works in
reverse where changing how we behave leads to changes in our feelings and, ultimately, our thoughts.

Let’s take an example of a developer who encounters a problem in a particular sphere and automatically
believes that the task is difficult for him/her right away. The employee is automatically likely to have a
negative attitude towards this particular task, and his performance will likely be poor.

BENEFITS OF COGNITIVE LEARNING

The following are the major positive effects of cognitive learning:

1). Enhances learning

Cognitive learning theory enhances lifelong learning. Workers can build upon previous ideas and apply
new concepts to already existing knowledge.

2). Boosts confidence

Employees become more confident in approaching tasks as they get a deeper understanding of new
topics and learn new skills.

3). Enhances Comprehension

Cognitive learning improves learners’ comprehension of acquiring new information. They can develop a
deeper understanding of new learning materials.

4). Improves problem-solving skills

Cognitive learning equips employees with the skills they need to learn effectively. They are thereby able
to develop problem-solving skills they can apply under challenging tasks.

5). Help learn new things faster

Through the experience of learning, the employee will be able to recycle and use the same learning
methods that worked previously. This will help them learn new things a lot faster as they already know
what works for them when it comes to obtaining new knowledge.

6). Teaches to form concept formation (think abstract)

Cognitive learning can also teach your employees to form a range of different concepts such as easily
perceiving and interpreting information that could boost creativity and lead to innovations at the
workplace.

COGNITIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES:

Several psychologists have shaped the concept of cognitive learning through research. They came up
with theories and learning strategies that can be implemented in a corporate learning environment.

A).Learner-centered strategy

Jean Piaget termed learning as relating information to already existing knowledge. And each learner
starts with their own knowledge and experience.According to his theories, learning begins with the
accumulation of some basic knowledge and advancing deeper into the field with time.

Piaget suggested three vital components of learning:

Accommodation – taking new information into account by modifying what we already know.

Assimilation – the arrangement of new knowledge inside our heads beside what we know.

Equilibration – balancing what we already know with the new information that we are trying to acquire.

Each company should develop their training programs with a personalized learning approach to make it
engaging for their employees to achieve better results.

To achieve that L&D professionals should focus on the following points:

Develop and introduce their programs based on already existing knowledge.

Provide more analogies to connect new knowledge with already existing knowledge.

Divide learning materials into stages and maintain a logical flow of lessons taught.

Provide examples or practical tasks that show how new information or principles can connect with
previous knowledge, or enhance it.

Encourage questions and comments from trainees.

B.)MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCED STRATEGIES

David Ausubel made a clear distinction between meaningful learning and rote learning.

According to him, material that was closely related to what the learner knew was meaningful and always
turned out to be effective.

Learners with relevant background knowledge find it easier to add new information.

During the training of learners in an organization:

There should be an emphasis on the meaningfulness of each session to the task at hand.

Background information on new material is essential.

New information should be instilled in learners in a sequence to build on what is already understood.

Learning Through Discovery strategy Jerome Bruner is a psychologist who built his theory on top of
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development that was focusing on learning through discovery.

His theory identified three stages of cognitive representation which are enactive, iconic, and symbolic.
Enactive defining the representation of knowledge through actions, iconic being the visual
summarization of images, and symbolic which is the use of words and symbols to describe experiences.

Through his study of cognitive learning in children, he suggested that they should be allowed to discover
information for themselves. He believed that learners review previously learned material even as they
gain new knowledge.
His interpretation of Cognitive Learning Theory in a corporate environment can be put by:

Allow employees to learn new skills and get new knowledge through new tasks and challenges.

Challenge trainees to solve real-world problems your organization faces.

C). PERSONALIZED LEARNING STRATEGIES:

All of these strategies can be combined into one personalized learning approach. Each learner is unique
and has their own experience, knowledge, and perception. Which can greatly influence the way they
interpret and consume new information.

Creating learning experiences that fit each individual based on their own knowledge that is meaningful
for their role which encourages them to discover new solutions can drive great results and improve their
overall performance.

L&D professionals should try to organize a learning environment, to allow employees to learn at their
own pace, and with a variety of learning opportunities.

A common practice in recent years to create personalized learning is the use of modern technologies: AI
recommendations, learning paths, machine learning, natural language processing.

For example, a digital learning assistant has the capability to recognize what the skills of the employees
are, what they have learned so far, and automatically suggest to them what they should learn next. The
reason why such modern technology is essential in employee development, because it can offer
information they need without them even anticipating the need for it. Overall, it’s a fantastic tool that
can ensure better employee education and eventually drive greater performance.

Moreover, the company can save a significant amount of resources with a learning assistant as it can
make your organization’s learning environment flawless even if scalability is required.

Furthermore, having the ultimate access to a range of company resources, no two employees need to
learn or go through the same learning process as they can cherry-pick what they want to learn from.

(3). CONSTRUCTIVISTS LEARNING THEORY:

Constructivism is a theory that posits that humans are meaning-makers in their lives and essentially
construct their own realities. In various psychotherapeutic approaches under constructivism, the client
is viewed as an active participant in creating and determining their life path.

Constructive thinking differs from other forms of modern theory that view reality as fixed and to be
discovered by clients. On the contrary, in constructivism, reality is something that is created.
CONSTRUCTIVE THEORIES:

There are a number of theories that played a role in the development of constructivism or that have
been influenced by the constructivist approach.

GENETIC EPISTEMOLOGY -

Genetic epistemology is a field that studies the origins of knowledge. It was introduced by the
psychologist Jean Piaget, who suggested that children go through a series of progressive stages in
developing cognitive abilities.

PERSONAL CONSTRUCT THEORY -

Personal construct theory suggests that people develop their constructs as they interpret information to
understand how the world works. These constructs are based on each person's experiences and
observations, which means that constructs are highly individualized and different from one person to
the next.

POST-RATIONALIST COGNITIVE THERAPY -

Post-rationalist cognitive therapy is an approach inspired by constructivism and cognitive therapy. It was
first introduced in the late 1990s and suggests that personal constructions of reality are both unique and
unrepeatable. This treatment approach focuses on creating cohesive personal narratives and a sense of
consistency to improve emotional well-being.1

Constructivism is a theory that posits that humans are meaning-makers in their lives and essentially
construct their own realities. In various psychotherapeutic approaches under constructivism, the client
is viewed as an active participant in creating and determining their life path.

Constructive thinking differs from other forms of modern theory that view reality as fixed and to be
discovered by clients. On the contrary, in constructivism, reality is something that is created.

Constructivist Theories

There are a number of theories that played a role in the development of constructivism or that have
been influenced by the constructivist approach.
Genetic Epistemology

Genetic epistemology is a field that studies the origins of knowledge. It was introduced by the
psychologist Jean Piaget, who suggested that children go through a series of progressive stages in
developing cognitive abilities.

Personal Construct Theory

Personal construct theory suggests that people develop their constructs as they interpret information to
understand how the world works. These constructs are based on each person's experiences and
observations, which means that constructs are highly individualized and different from one person to
the next.

Post-Rationalist Cognitive Therapy

Post-rationalist cognitive therapy is an approach inspired by constructivism and cognitive therapy. It was
first introduced in the late 1990s and suggests that personal constructions of reality are both unique and
unrepeatable. This treatment approach focuses on creating cohesive personal narratives and a sense of
consistency to improve emotional well-being.1

CONSTRUCTIVE THERAPIES :

Constructive therapies offer a shift from the traditional focus in psychology on what is wrong with a
particular client to paying greater attention to someone's strengths. It is more optimistic and attends to
a client's resources, goals, hopes, and dreams.

There is more concern about where someone wishes to go in their lives than their history or childhood.
The client is seen as a proactive reality creator.

Some specific therapy tools that are often used in constructive therapy include:

Journaling: Writing allows people to make sense of their experiences, look for patterns, and consciously
process their emotions. Journaling has shown that journaling can have a positive impact on a number of
mental health problems, including anxiety and depression.2

Meditation: The practice of meditation can be helpful for increasing self-awareness, empathy, and
different aspects of attention.

Guided imagery: Constructivist therapists may also utilize guided imagery to help guide people through
different experiences and help them create a better understanding.

(4) SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY:

 Social learning is a theory of learning process social behavior which proposes that new behaviors can
be acquired by observing and imitating others.It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes
place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the
absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. In addition to the observation of behavior,
learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious
reinforcement. When a particular behavior is rewarded regularly, it will most likely persist; conversely, if
a particular behavior is constantly punished, it will most likely desist. The theory expands on traditional
behavioral theories, in which behavior is governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the
important roles of various internal processes in the learning .

HISTORY OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Bandura was a psychologist who studied human behavior. He is most widely known for his Bobo Doll
study. In these experiments, Bandura had children watch adults model positive and negative behaviors
towards a toy balloon resembling a clown. In some cases, the adults were aggressive and violently beat
the doll. After observing this footage, the children were given hammers and asked to interact with the
doll. Most children who witnessed the aggressive behavior towards the doll also acted violently towards
it, while most children who witnessed positive, non-aggressive behavior responded less aggressively.
Bandura concluded that the children learned their social behaviors through observation.

This study acted as the basis for Bandura's theory. The social learning theory is still commonly used in
social psychology today and relates with other behaviorist theories such as nature versus nurture,
symbolic interaction, situated learning, reinforcement learning and social development.

STAGES OF SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

The basis behind social learning theory is that people observe the behavior, attitudes and consequences
of others and then use that information to form their own actions.

The key concepts behind this process include four basic learning requirements. These four concrete
stages of social learning within social learning theory include attention, retention and memory, initiation
and motor behavior, and motivation.

A).ATTENTION: For a lesson or experience to have an impact on an observer, the observer must be
actively observing their surroundings. It helps if the observer identifies well with the model or feels
positive feelings about them. In addition, it helps if the observer is invested in the process of observing
or feels strong feelings about the experience that they are observing. Factors that might affect attention
include complexity, distinctiveness and functional value

B). RETENTION AND MEMORY. For any learned experience to make a lasting impact, the observer needs
to be able to remember it later. Once the observer can recall the experience, it also helps if they go over
the experience, either revisiting it cognitively in their mind or even acting it out physically. For example,
a toddler may learn from an adult not to throw things and later they may be observed teaching one of
their stuffed animals that it's not okay to throw.

C).INITATION AND MOTOR CAPABILITY. In order to carry out the lesson learned, the observer needs to
be able to actually reenact it. Learning the necessary skills is an important part of the process before a
behavior can be modeled. When a person has effectively paid attention to modeled behavior and
repeats or demonstrates it, they have achieved the necessary skills.

D).MOTIVATION. Even if an observer has focused on a lesson, remembered all the details and learned
the necessary skills to do it, they still need to have the motivation to make it happen. The source of
motivation could include anything from external rewards and bribes, observations that similar behavior
is rewarded, desire to be like the model who demonstrated the behavior or internal motivation to
improve or learn. Other factors that impact motivation include personal characteristics, past
experiences, promised incentives, positive reinforcement and punishments.

These principles make up the social learning theory modeling process that determines whether the
influence is successful or not. The behavioral models used in social learning theory can be demonstrated
live, verbally or even symbolically.

Applications of social learning theory

***Social learning theory can be applied to several use cases outside of psychology:

HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) - In HR, professionals can increase employee retention by applying social
learning theory techniques. For example, correcting mistakes as they happen before they become
routine habits, incentivizing positive behavior and giving mistakes weight.

Training and educational development - Social learning theory in training is similar to the concept of
learning by doing. New employees may best learn their role by imitating or repeating the behaviors of
their boss or someone in the same position.

MARKETING- Advertisements and marketing materials can incorporate the social learning theory to
reach target audiences and encourage the purchase of a product. For example, a company might
suggest that a certain desired lifestyle or characteristic will be the outcome of buying their service.

MACHINE LEARNING- Social learning theory can be applied in training machine learning algorithms for
purposes such as cognitive computing and robotics.

LAW ENFORCEMENT- Criminal justice professionals often use social learning theory to explain or identify
learned illicit behavior. Additionally, it can be used to research the effect of media violence on human
behavior. Sometimes, criminal justice professionals can discover patterns of behavior in large
communities and create programs and educational tools to help intervene when a crime would likely be
committed. For instance, in an area with a high rate of theft in a secluded public parking lot, simply
putting up signs reminding people to take their belonging with them or lock up their cars can greatly
reduce the number of thefts in that location. In other situations, helping young adults to have healthy
resources to deal with loss or grief can prevent them from acting out and getting in trouble later in life.

(5). EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING THEORY:

What is experiential learning?

Learning by doing. This is the basis for the experiential learning theory. Experiential learning focuses on
the idea that the best ways to learn things is by actually having experiences. Those experiences then
stick out in your mind and help you retain information and remember facts.

For teachers, creating opportunities for students to have experiences based on the things they are
learning about is key. Teachers can help create environments where students can learn and have
experiences at the same time.

If you’re a current teacher, or studying to become one, it’s important to get a degree that will give you
qualifications and knowledge for your career, and help prepare you to be licensed. Additionally, it’s key
to understand how different students learn and understand how different learning theories impact
education. Teachers who understand learning theories can better optimize their classroom and help
more students learn in ways that work for them. Being a successful teacher means focusing on how best
to help students succeed.

Kolb’s experiential learning theory

David Kolb is best known for his work on the experiential learning theory or ELT. Kolb published this
model in 1984, getting his influence from other great theorists including John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and
Jean Piaget. The experiential learning theory works in four stages—concrete learning, reflective
observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The first two stages of the cycle
involve grasping an experience, the second two focus on transforming an experience. Kolb argues that
effective learning is seen as the learner goes through the cycle, and that they can enter into the cycle at
any time.

Concrete learning is when a learner gets a new experience, or interprets a past experience in a new way.

Reflective observation comes next, where the learner reflects on their experience personally. They use
the lens of their experience and understanding to reflect on what this experience means.

Abstract conceptualization happens as the learner forms new ideas or adjusts their thinking based on
the experience and their reflection about it.
Active experimentation is where the learner applies the new ideas to the world around them, to see if
there are any modifications to be made. This process can happen over a short period of time, or over a
long span of time.

Kolb went on to explain that learners will have their own preferences for how they enter the cycle of
experiential learning, and that these preferences boil down to a learning cycle.

KOLB'S EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CYCLE MODEL.

The experiential learning cycle rests on the idea that each person has a specific type of learning
tendencies, and they are thus dominant in certain stages of experiential learning. For example, some
learners will be more dominant in concrete learning and reflective observation, while others will be
dominant in abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.

The four learning styles are:

*Diverging. The diverging learning style is full of learners who look at things with a unique perspective.
They want to watch instead of do, and they also have a strong capacity to imagine. These learners
usually prefer to work in groups, have broad interests in cultures and people, and more. They usually
focus on concrete learning and reflective observation, wanting to observe and see the situation before
diving in.

**Assimilating. This learning style involves learners getting clear information. These learners prefer
concepts and abstracts to people, and explore using analytic models. These learners focus on abstract
conceptualization and reflective observation in the experiential learning style.

***Converging. Converging learners solve problems. They apply what they’ve learned to practical issues,
and prefer technical tasks. They are also known to experiment with new ideas, and their learning
focuses on abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.

****Accommodating: These learners prefer practicality. They enjoy new challenges and use intuition to
help solve problems. These learners utilize concrete learning and active experimentation when they
learn.

EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING EXAMPLES:

*There are many ways that experiential learning is used every day. Some examples include:

**Going to the zoo to learn about animals through observation, instead of reading about them.

***Growing a garden to learn about photosynthesis instead of watching a movie about it. ****Hoping
on a bicycle to try and learn to ride, instead of listening to your parent explain the concept
CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, the study of learning psychology is important for understanding how people learn and
acquire new information. By understanding the different types and theories of learning, we can gain a
better understanding of how to improve the learning process. This can lead to improved educational
practices, as well as more effective behavior modification techniques. In addition, the study of learning
psychology can provide insights into the nature of human cognition, memory, and behavior. As our
understanding of the learning process continues to grow, we can hope to create more effective learning
environments that maximize the potential of all learners.One area of ongoing research in learning
psychology is the role of individual differences in the learning process. This includes factors such as
intelligence, attention, and motivation. Research has shown that these factors can have a significant
impact on how well people learn. For example, individuals with higher levels of intelligence tend to learn
more quickly and effectively than those with lower levels of intelligence. Similarly, people who are more
motivated to learn are also more likely to retain information over time. Understanding the role of
individual differences in learning can help us to tailor learning experiences to the needs of individual
learners.Another area of research in learning psychology is the role of technology in the learning
process. With the increasing use of technology in education, it is important to understand how different
technologies can be used to enhance learning. For example, research has shown that certain
technologies, such as spaced repetition and personalized learning, can be effective in helping students
retain information. Additionally, the use of virtual reality and simulations can help students to gain a
deeper understanding of complex concepts. As technology continues to evolve, researchers will likely
continue to investigate its impact on the learning process.

Finally,it is observed that learning starts from the day of conception and ends when ones life ends .
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