Learning Theory - SPA



Learning Theory

What is learning? Is it a change in behaviour or understanding? Is it a process?

I want to talk about learning. But not the lifeless, sterile, futile, quickly forgotten stuff that is crammed in to the mind of the poor helpless individual tied into his seat by ironclad bonds of conformity! I am talking about LEARNING - the insatiable curiosity that drives the adolescent boy to absorb everything he can see or hear or read about gasoline engines in order to improve the efficiency and speed of his 'cruiser'. I am talking about the student who says, "I am discovering, drawing in from the outside, and making that which is drawn in a real part of me." I am talking about any learning in which the experience of the learner progresses along this line: "No, no, that's not what I want"; "Wait! This is closer to what I am interested in, what I need"; "Ah, here it is! Now I'm grasping and comprehending what I need and what I want to know!"

Carl Rogers 1983: 18-19

Learning as a product

Pick up a standard psychology textbook - especially from the 1960s and 1970s and you will probably find learning defined as a change in behaviour.  In other words, learning is approached as an outcome - the end product of some process. It can be recognized or seen.  This approach has the virtue of highlighting a crucial aspect of learning - change. It's apparent clarity may also make some sense when conducting experiments. However, it is rather a blunt instrument. For example:

• Does a person need to perform in order for learning to have happened?

• Are there other factors that may cause behaviour to change?

• Can the change involved include the potential for change? (Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 124)

Questions such as these have led to qualification. Some have looked to identifying relatively permanent changes in behaviour (or potential for change) as a result of experiences (see behaviourism below). However, not all changes in behaviour resulting from experience involve learning. It would seem fair to expect that if we are to say that learning has taken place, experience should have been used in some way. Conditioning may result in a change in behaviour, but the change may not involved drawing upon experience to generate new knowledge. Not surprisingly, many theorists have, thus, been less concerned with overt behaviour but with changes in the ways in which people 'understand, or experience, or conceptualize the world around them' (Ramsden 1992: 4) (see cognitivism below). The focus for them, is gaining knowledge or ability through the use of experience.

The depth or nature of the changes involved are likely to be different. Some years ago Säljö (1979) carried out a simple, but very useful piece of research. He asked a number of adult students what they understood by learning. Their responses fell into five main categories:

1. Learning as a quantitative increase in knowledge. Learning is acquiring information or ‘knowing a lot’.

2. Learning as memorising. Learning is storing information that can be reproduced.

3. Learning as acquiring facts, skills, and methods that can be retained and used as necessary.

4. Learning as making sense or abstracting meaning. Learning involves relating parts of the subject matter to each other and to the real world.

5. Learning as interpreting and understanding reality in a different way. Learning involves comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. (quoted in Ramsden 1992: 26)

As Paul Ramsden comments, we can see immediately that conceptions 4 and 5 in are qualitatively different from the first three. Conceptions 1 to 3 imply a less complex view of learning. Learning is something external to the learner. It may even be something that just happens or is done to you by teachers (as in conception 1). In a way learning becomes a bit like shopping. People go out and buy knowledge - it becomes their possession. The last two conceptions look to the 'internal' or personal aspect of learning. Learning is seen as something that you do in order to understand the real world.

In some ways the difference here involves what Gilbert Ryle (1949) has termed 'knowing that' and 'knowing how'. The first two categories mostly involve 'knowing that'. As we move through the third we see that alongside 'knowing that' there is growing emphasis on 'knowing how'.  This system of categories is hierarchical - each higher conception implies all the rest beneath it. 'In other words, students who conceive of learning as understanding reality are also able to see it as increasing their knowledge' (Ramsden 1992: 27).

Learning as a process - task-conscious or acquisition learning and learning-conscious or formalized learning

In the five categories that Säljö identified we can see learning appearing as a process - there is a concern with what happens when the learning takes place. In this way, learning could be thought of as 'a process by which behaviour changes as a result of experience' (Maples and Webster 1980 quoted in Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 124). One of the significant questions that arises is the extent to which people are conscious of what is going on. Are they aware that they are engaged in learning - and what significance does it have if they are? Such questions have appeared in various guises over the years - and have surfaced, for example, in debates around the rather confusing notion of 'informal learning'.

One particularly helpful way of approaching the area has been formulated by Alan Rogers (2003). Drawing especially on the work of those who study the learning of language (for example, Krashen 1982), Rogers sets out two contrasting approaches: task-conscious or acquisition learning and learning-conscious or formalized learning.

Task-conscious or acquisition learning. Acquisition learning is seen as going on all the time. It is 'concrete, immediate and confined to a specific activity; it is not concerned with general principles' (Rogers 2003: 18). Examples include much of the learning involved in parenting or with running a home. Some have referred to this kind of learning as unconscious or implicit. Rogers (2003: 21), however, suggests that it might be better to speak of it as having a consciousness of the task. In other words, whilst the learner may not be conscious of learning, they are usually aware of the specific task in hand.

Learning-conscious or formalized learning. Formalized learning arises from the process of facilitating learning. It is 'educative learning' rather than the accumulation of experience. To this extent there is a consciousness of learning - people are aware that the task they are engaged in entails learning. 'Learning itself is the task. What formalized learning does is to make learning more conscious in order to enhance it' (Rogers 2003: 27). It involves guided episodes of learning.

When approached in this way it becomes clear that these contrasting ways of learning can appear in the same context. Both are present in schools. Both are present in families. It is possible to think of the mix of acquisition and formalized learning as forming a continuum.

At one extreme lie those unintentional and usually accidental learning events which occur continuously as we walk through life. Next comes incidental learning - unconscious learning through acquisition methods which occurs in the course of some other activity... Then there are various activities in which we are somewhat more more conscious of learning, experiential activities arising from immediate life-related concerns, though even here the focus is still on the task... Then come more purposeful activities - occasions where we set out to learn something in a more systematic way, using whatever comes to hand for that purpose, but often deliberately disregarding engagement with teachers and formal institutions of learning... Further along the continuum lie the self-directed learning projects on which there is so much literature... More formalized and generalized (and consequently less contextualized) forms of learning are the distance and open education programmes, where some elements of acquisition learning are often built into the designed learning programme. Towards the further extreme lie more formalized learning programmes of highly decontextualized learning, using material common to all the learners without paying any regard to their individual preferences, agendas or needs. There are of course no clear boundaries between each of these categories. (Rogers 2003: 41-2)

This distinction is echoed in different ways in the writings of many of those concerned with education - but in particular in key theorists such as Kurt Lewin, Chris Argyris, Donald Schön, or Michael Polanyi.

Learning as a process - learning theory

The focus on process obviously takes us into the realm of learning theories - ideas about how or why change occurs. On these pages we focus on four different orientations (the first three taken from Merriam and Caffarella 1991).

• the behaviourist orientation to learning

• the cognitive orientation to learning

• the humanistic orientation to learning

• the social/situational orientation to learning

As with any categorization of this sort the divisions are a bit arbitrary: there could be further additions and sub-divisions to the scheme, and there a various ways in which the orientations overlap and draw upon each other.  

The four orientations can be summed up in the following figure:

Four orientations to learning (after Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 138)

|Aspect |Behaviourist |Cognitivist |Humanist |Social and situational |

|Learning theorists |Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson, |Koffka, Kohler, Lewin, |Maslow, Rogers |Bandura, Lave and Wenger, |

| |Guthrie, Hull, Tolman, |Piaget, Ausubel, Bruner, | |Salomon |

| |Skinner |Gagne | | |

|View of the learning process |Change in behaviour |Internal mental process |A personal act to fulfill |Interaction /observation in |

| | |(including insight, |potential. |social contexts. Movement |

| | |information processing, | |from the periphery to the |

| | |memory, perception | |centre of a community of |

| | | | |practice |

|Locus of learning |Stimuli in external |Internal cognitive |Affective and cognitive needs|Learning is in relationship |

| |environment |structuring | |between people and |

| | | | |environment. |

|Purpose in education |Produce behavioural change in|Develop capacity and skills |Become self-actualized, |Full participation in |

| |desired direction |to learn better |autonomous |communities of practice and |

| | | | |utilization of resources |

|Educator's role |Arranges environment to |Structures content of |Facilitates development of |Works to establish |

| |elicit desired response |learning activity |the whole person |communities of practice in |

| | | | |which conversation and |

| | | | |participation can occur. |

|Manifestations in adult |Behavioural objectives |Cognitive development |Andragogy |Socialization |

|learning |Competency -based education |Intelligence, learning and |Self-directed learning |Social participation |

| |Skill development and |memory as function of age | |Associationalism |

| |training |Learning how to learn | |Conversation |

| | | | |  |

As can seen from the above schematic presentation and the discussion on the linked pages, these approaches involve contrasting ideas as to the purpose and process of learning and education - and the role that educators may take. It is also important to recognize that the theories may apply to different sectors of the acquisition-formalized learning continuum outlined above.

Source: Smith, M. K. (1999) 'Learning theory', the encyclopedia of informal education, biblio/b-learn.htm

The Behaviourist Orientation to Learning

The behaviourist movement in psychology has looked to the use of experimental procedures to study behaviour in relation to the environment. 

John B. Watson, who is generally credited as the first behaviourist, argued that the inner experiences that were the focus of psychology could not be properly studied as they were not observable. Instead he turned to laboratory experimentation. The result was the generation of the stimulus-response model. In this the environment is seen as providing stimuli to which individuals develop responses.

In essence three key assumptions underpin this view:

• Observable behaviour rather than internal thought processes are the focus of study. In particular, learning is manifested by a change in behaviour.

• The environment shapes one's behaviour; what one learns is determined by the elements in the environment, not by the individual learner.

• The principles of contiguity (how close in time two events must be for a bond to be formed) and reinforcement (any means of increasing the likelihood that an event will be repeated) are central to explaining the learning process. (Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 126)

Researchers like Edward L. Thorndike build upon these foundations and, in particular, developed a S-R (stimulus-response) theory of learning. He noted that that responses (or behaviours) were strengthened or weakened by the consequences of behaviour. This notion was refined by Skinner and is perhaps better known as operant conditioning - reinforcing what you want people to do again; ignoring or punish what you want people to stop doing.

In terms of learning, according to James Hartley (1998) four key principles come to the fore:

• Activity is important. Learning is better when the learner is active rather than passive. ('Learning by doing' is to be applauded).

• Repetition, generalization and discrimination are important notions. Frequent practice - and practice in varied contexts - is necessary for learning to take place. Skills are not acquired without frequent practice.

• Reinforcement is the cardinal motivator. Positive reinforcers like rewards and successes are preferable to negative events like punishments and failures.

• Learning is helped when objectives are clear. Those who look to behaviourism in teaching will generally frame their activities by behavioural objectives e.g. 'By the end of this session participants will be able to...'. With this comes a concern with competencies and product approaches to curriculum.

References

Hartley, J. (1998) Learning and Studying. A research perspective, London: Routledge. 

Hergenhahn, B. R. and Olson, M. H. (1997) An Introduction to Theories of Learning 5e, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 

Merriam, S. and Caffarella (1991, 1998) Learning in Adulthood. A comprehensive guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Skinner, B. F. (1973) Beyond Freedom and Dignity, London: Penguin. 

Tennant, M. (1988, 1997) Psychology and Adult Learning, London: Routledge.

Watson, J. B. (1913) 'Psychology as the behavourist views it', Psychological review 20: 158.

Source: Smith, M. K. (1999) 'The behaviourist orientation to learning', the encyclopedia of informal education, biblio/learning-behavourist.htm

The Cognitive Orientation to Learning

Where behaviourists looked to the environment, those drawing on Gestalt turned to the individual's mental processes. In other words, they were concerned with cognition - the act or process of knowing.

Many psychologists were not happy with behaviourism. There was a belief among some that there was too much of a focus on single events, stimuli and overt behaviour. Such criticism was especially strong from those who saw themselves as Gestalt psychologists (Gestalt meaning configuration or pattern in German). For them, perceptions or images should be approached as a pattern or a whole rather than as a sum of the component parts. Such thinking found its way into psychoanalysis and into the development of thinking about group functioning (perhaps most famously in the work of Kurt Lewin). It also had a profound effect on the way that many psychologists thought of learning. Where behaviourists looked to the environment, those drawing on Gestalt turned to the individual's mental processes. In other words, they were concerned with cognition - the act or process of knowing.

Researchers like Jean Piaget, while recognizing the contribution of environment, explored changes in internal cognitive structure. He identified four stages of mental growth (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational). Jerome Bruner explored how mental processes could be linked to teaching (emphasizing, among other things, learning through discovery). Robert M. Gagné developed a model that highlighted eight different forms of learning - behaviourists identifying only a fragment of human capabilities.

James Hartley (1998) has usefully drawn out some of the key principles of learning associated with cognitive psychology. As he puts it: 'Learning results from inferences, expectations and making connections. Instead of acquiring habits, learners acquire plans and strategies, and prior knowledge is important' (1998: 18). The principles he identifies are:

• Instruction should be well-organized. Well-organized materials easier to learn and to remember.

• Instruction should be clearly structured. Subject matters are said to have inherent structures - logical relationships between key ideas and concepts - which link the parts together.

• The perceptual features of the task are important. Learners attend selectively to different aspects of the environment. Thus, the way a problem is displayed is important if learners are to understand it.

• Prior knowledge is important. Things must fit with what is already known if it is to be learnt.

• Differences between individuals are important as they will affect learning. Differences in 'cognitive style' or methods of approach influence learning.

• Cognitive feedback gives information to learners about their success or failure concerning the task at hand. Reinforcement can come through giving information - a 'knowledge of results' - rather than simply a reward.

References

Bruner, J. (1960, 1977) The Process of Education, Cambridge Ma.: Harvard University Press. 

Gagné, R. M. (1985) The Conditions of Learning 4e, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 

Hartley, J. (1998) Learning and Studying. A research perspective, London: Routledge.

Merriam, S. and Caffarella (1991, 1998) Learning in Adulthood. A comprehensive guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Piaget, J. (1926) The Child's Conception of the World, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. It is difficult to know which of Piaget's 50 or more books to choose here - but this and The Origin of Intelligence in Children are classic starting points. H. E. Gruber and J. J. Voneche (1977) The Essential Piaget: an interpretative reference and guide, London is good collection. See, also, M. A. Boden's (1979) Piaget, London: Fontana for a succinct introduction.

Tennant, M. (1988, 1997) Psychology and Adult Learning, London: Routledge. 

Source: Smith, M. K. (1999) 'The cognitive orientation to learning', the encyclopedia of informal education, biblio/learning-cognitive

Humanistic Orientations to Learning

In this orientation the basic concern is for human growth. We look to the work of Maslow and Rogers as expressions of this approach.

A great deal of the theoretical writing about adult education in the 1970s and 1980s drew on humanistic psychology. In this orientation the basic concern is for the human potential for growth. As Mark Tennant notes, the concern with ‘self’ is ‘a hallmark of humanistic psychology’ (1997: 12). There was a reaction against ‘scientific’ reductionism – people being treated as objects and rationalism. Instead the affective and subjective world was to be reaffirmed. Personal freedom, choice, motivations and feelings had to have their place.

Perhaps the best known example is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of motivation. At the lowest level are physiological needs, at the highest self actualization. Only when the lower needs are met is it possible to fully move on to the next level. A motive at the lower level is always stronger than those at higher levels. Tennant (1997) summarizes these as follows:

Level one: Physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, sex, sleep, relaxation and bodily integrity must be satisfied before the next level comes into play.

Level two: Safety needs call for a predictable and orderly world. If these are not satisfied people will look to organize their worlds to provide for the greatest degree of safety and security. If satisfied, people will come under the force of level three.

Level three: Love and belongingness needs cause people to seek warm and friendly relationships.

Level four: Self-esteem needs involve the desire for strength, achievement, adequacy, mastery and competence. They also involve confidence, independence, reputation and prestige.

Level five: Self-actualization is the full use and expression of talents, capacities and potentialities.

Self actualizers are able to submit to social regulation without losing their own integrity or personal independence; that is they may follow a social norm without their horizons being bounded in the sense that they fail to see or consider other possibilities. They may on occasion transcend the socially prescribed ways of acting. Achieving this level may mean developing to the full stature of which they are capable. (Tennant 1997: 13)

Learning can, thus, be seen as a form of self-actualization, it contributes to psychological health (Sahakian 1984 in Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 133). Yet while self actualization may seen as the primary goal, other goals (linked to the other stages) are also around. These include a sense of accomplishment and the controlling of impulses (Maslow 1970: 439)

Much criticism has been levelled at this model. For example, 

• Do lower needs really have to be satisfied before higher ones come into play? People may well put physiological needs on one side to satisfy the need for love, for example.

• Are we all propelled to the sorts of qualities that Maslow identifies with ‘self actualization’? To what extent are these qualities culturally-specific?

The idea of a hierarchy of needs, the identifying of different needs, and the notion of self-actualization did, however, exert a powerful hold over adult education writers like Malcolm Knowles. Humanistic psychology’s positive view of people and their ability to control their own destiny, and the seemingly unlimited possibilities for individual development provided some hope for educators.

Perhaps the most persuasive exploration of a humanistic orientation to learning came from Carl Rogers. His passion for education that engaged with the whole person and with their experiences; for learning that combines the logical and intuitive, the intellect and feelings; found a ready audience. ‘When we learn in that way’, he said, ‘we are whole, utilizing all our masculine and feminine capacities’ (1983 20). He saw the following elements as being involved in significant or experiential learning.

• It has a quality of personal involvement—the whole person in both feeling and cognitive aspects being in the learning event.

• It is self-initiated. Even when the impetus or stimulus comes from the outside, the sense of discovers of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending, comes from within.

• It is pervasive. It makes a difference in the behaviour, the attitudes, perhaps even the personality of the learner.

• It is evaluated by the learner. She knows whether it is meeting her need, whether it leads toward what she wants to know, whether it illuminates the dark area of ignorance she is experiencing. The locus of evaluation, we might say, resides definitely in the learner.

• Its essence is meaning. When such learning takes place, the element of meaning to the learner is built into the whole experience. (Rogers (1983: 20)

References

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall. 

Maslow, A. (1968) Towards a Psychology of Being 2e, New York: Van Nostrand. See, also, A . Maslow (1970) Motivation and Personality 2e, New York: Harper and Row.

Merriam, S. and Caffarella (1991, 1998) Learning in Adulthood. A comprehensive guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Rogers, C. and Freiberg, H. J. (1993) Freedom to Learn (3rd edn.), New York: Merrill. . See, also, H. Kirschenbaum and V. L. Henderson (eds.) (1990) The Carl Rogers Reader, London: Constable.

Tennant, M. (1988, 1997) Psychology and Adult Learning, London: Routledge.

Source: Smith, M. K. (1999) 'The humanistic to learning', the encyclopedia of informal education, biblio/learning-humanistic.htm

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