Chapter .

Learni'!P............. .
I
I I I I I I
■■•• 1 1 I I I I I . • ••
1 11
■•••••••••• . he
h s got th e po w er of
a rea son iY \
.,
\
· an of cr ea tio n- . . a ke y pr oc es s m . h
Man is 'd to be m Le um an ~g ~-•
sa1 h' gs quickly. ar ni ng is be1--,.~"
enables him to le a7 ~ k ur cu sto m s, ou r a tt· t d
~he language we sp eah' 1 u e_s and41chel~~.
It plays a central ~o e ~ :x pe rie nc e. Fr om bi rth
in behaviour tb ro ug onward il\
Learning cause c a~~ s an d ad ap t old on
es to ch ~
before orgam acquires new response
e: en tor y of re ac tio ns , th es e habits ·P"_ 0 "'t
, Achieving an evergro wing reper
circumstances . . d bile ot he rs funct1. .
. . S e last only for a s hor t peno , W 0n ag am and againeJ-g ;.:
•q11t
. . .d d
on a 1 y traits ~
m ti~ e. oo; ro ug ho ut th 1 O ur goals an pe rs 1·t
e life of an md~v1 ~a~o
~~: r~s:lt of learning. Theref~re_ lea t co nfined to school learnin
g, cycn;
rmmngp::hensive te rm w
reading, writing ?r typm · g but 1t 1s a co hi ch leaves a pennane!
. . . ual Experience-di · ·
effect or impression on d rect or 1ndir~ · t · fi d t
c _1s_ oun o Play
a dominant role in mo an_ m ivid h. in the behaviour of an
uldmg and s ap g md1v1dual from the
very beginning. .• :
. . d fin ed as
.Learning has b~en co 1 ch ange in be ha vi ou r as
mm~n: ~~ burning ca ·a result of
expenence. Thus a chh1ld ndle for th e fir st time
from such candle on t e whto ca c _eosn because of previous ex runs away
refers to learning as a ne x occas 1 pe rie nc e. Bo otzin (1991)
long lasting change in . , d. .t. t
•
certam ways as a res ult f xperience an org am _sm ~ 1spos1 rnn _o bhe h .
ave ~
behaviour. Behaviour also e • For Este,s , le ar nm g 1s a sy ste m at ic
c ange m
o changes through drug . ,
and hence cannot be inc s bu t th at ch an ge IS
luded in learning. n~ t sy ste matic
Hillgard divides the to
tality of human le ar ne
categories. d ac tiv iti es in to thre
e broad
(i) Activities like ac
quiring a vocabulary, mem
a typewriter etc. which orising a poem, le ar ni ng
are ~bviously learned. to 'operate
(ii ) Activities as ac _j
quiring of prejudic~s and •
and ideals which are no preferences an d ot he r so
t quite as obviously lear cial attitudes
(ii i) Activities like ned. ,.
ticks, m
demonstrative utility. annerisms and gestures etc. which have no
·readily
Besides these learned ac : '
' "Native responses". Am tivities there are some ot
ong these are the nest bu he r activities which come
ilding activiti.es of birds, under
response, moth's dashin child's sucking
g towards a flame, new
mother's pouch etc., etc born Kangaroo's mount
. All these responses ar ing into the
learning. Now there ar e in nate an d hence do no
e some border line cases t come under
an d 'Learned responses'. which fall between 'Nat
This can be illustrated by iv_e responses'
Lorenz on imprinting. considering the experim
Newly hatched ducks, ch ent of Prof.
ar e prepared instinctiv icks and other ground-n
ely to follow _the first lar estling birds
ge moving object they
see during the
 ,1,,·,,g
. /6/
l . I e911Y pen'd
o and con tinu e t 0 .
9 follow this
cti!JC renz acted one suc h mo th . as if it were the mother.
oi {JOaction between learning and er in the case of ysame object Th • . an example
. . n t' oung duckl' . mg s. Ls is
,. ·,iter · aturatwn interaction a ive resp ons e Th.
of I . g-m Ls tnfact is also an example of
we hav · ·
1eorrit1i t this poi nt
A . e conie to
This IS ma tur atio n. M ~nother important t of behaviour
cb811 g~-ur cha nge s wit hou t int atu
:ati on or growth is factor at !he roo
rni ng S e:v enm g pra ctic e it. -~lso a modifier of behaviour. If
beb8v10 through lea m~tur~tion
of tadp~lesis;~ to_ develop_ through pnm
9~d not f ma tur atio n. He~ wu~ming flymg of bird s are anl y a
esult O• . e aga in the re are ich are due to
n and 1ear mn g bot h. Dev elo p t some borderline cases wh
r att1r at1o g b th h' .
·id spe.aks a lan gua ge a t a pro per sta men off lan . gua e. Y e c Ild 1s one such case.
t ch.I
J11
ge his development but the langua
O ge tha t
be speak~ _is t~e lan gua ge tha t he lea i and
. r Thus a Bengali child learns Bengal
I{0.shn11n child lea rns Ka shm iri at t~s
p oper stage of their development.
8
Thus we see tha t our activit' controlled b_Y thr ee 1ac e:
d 1 mn · ere is
ies arestan
a con . tor~, Native _responses,
!!laturatio~ an ear g. Th lding
our al pat ter ns. Lea rni ng d t 1~teract10n between this factors m bui
r beh aVI ess effects.
oes not mclude fatigue or drug or illn
~: neither includes nat ive or inn ate does it include such responses as
to ma tur ati on A ~~s pon ses nor
attributable ult from
riou s' as we ll as from di . t cco r ~g to Bandura (1986)d, learning can res
~e nces·' m· Oth er wor s you can be affected by
'uicarving events and behavi rec .expene by participating in
b
o se our s m your environment as well as
them .
Defining Le ar nin g has
s controversy in psychology . This term
The_very def init ion of _learning stir oris ts.
rJ:> ret~ d alw ays m the sam e way by different psychologists and the
not been mte hungry,
l, learnm _g a fun ctio n of rein forc ement. Reinforcement may be food for
For Hul IS a response
fettered. The probability is high for
water for the thi rsty , freedom for the rning occurs automatically if stimuli
get s rein for ced . For Gu thri e lea
. to be learned if it
Thorndike learning is function of rew
ard
vem ents occ ur sim ulta neo usl y. For
and mo it ends in
pun ish me nts . The pro bab ilit y is high for a response to be learned if
and annoying
ishment or in any such thing tha t is
reward and if the res pon se ends in pun
r, the pro bab ilit y to lea rn the resp onse is low . For Gestalt, Learning is
to the learne aviour
tion of cog niti ve stru ctu re. The em phasis is on spatial organization of beh
afunc ding of
of perception and cognitive understan
thus learning occurs as a· res ult
tion shi ps in the beh avi our field. According to behaviouralists, learning
~ignificant rela ording
tive ly per ma nen t cha nge in beh avi our tha t results from experience. Acc
1s a rela permanent
s by which organism makes relatively
to cognitive the ori sts it is the proces _c~anges
ironment because of_exp~rience. These
~hanges in the wa y th~y rep res ent the env fully determme 1t. Some defimt10ns
of
org ani sm 's beh avi our but do _not
mfluence the
as given below :
~earning by various psychologists are

· ~EFINITIONS due to energies of organism and environ

ment
. Da nie l Be ll. Lea rni ng is modification
. · .
impinging on the organism itself.
behav10ur ~~~ugh exper~ence.
Gates. Lea rni ng is modification of
d C w Lea rni ng involv es the acqms1t10n of habits, knowledge and
Crow . . . .
attitudes. an ro . inated
Garry an d Kingsley. Learning
is a process by which behaviour is orig
g.
or changed through practice or trainin
 162

Munn, Learning f ely is a p er m an t .

en p ro g re ss iv
.
behaviour. This .
compara iv h ic
h re
cial process w
e
su lt s from o b se mod· leq\
1s spe rv at io n o r tr .
. h an g e th a t occu . l~ca~ I
Woodworth. Lea rs m th e o rg am. al llt
. rning ~s a ch sm (indiVid ng, o~
many k in d s of ac ·r an
twi ies . d it. s s ow 8
la te r as an af te r effe
ct in actiVit· lla.})
~
Ruch (1970). Lea cess which b ri n g d,, .
rrungl is fa prnota ct s ab o u t ch an g es les l ll~h
w it h as p ec ts o f in th . a. 80. ,,
way of respon d'm a re su t o co en v ir o n m en t e llldi\lid h
g as_
Morgan an~ King 978 ). Learning is defa1ed as an y re~at 11
~
in behaviours w (1 es ul t of practice an iv el y pe rrna ne
hich occur as a d experience.
. • rdefined as b nt Cha~
. Boaz _(1984). ~
e~ a process y w h ' h h .
various habits, rnmg 1c t e mdividua1 g,
know e ges an: at ti tu d es th at ar e n ec es sa ry
in general. to m ee t de:rnanda.cq11
~~
Crook s & S . ( ._ . . s _of ~
) L ea m in g may
in potential beha tem 1991 · be defined as a re .
la ti v el y endurin e
viour th at result
s
. h
Baron (1995). A from ex penence. . g c a.it
ny relatively p er m .
from experience an en t change m
b eh av io u r potent
g,
is called learning ial, resu1, .
. ·
All the above d ·
efinitions contain ting
1. It excludes ch th re e important elem
anges in behaviou en ts : ----.........
2. Changes in be r th at re su lt from
haviour are not a~ yt hi ng _other than beha
absence of observ always reflected vio11r.
able behavioural di re ct ly m performance
learning h as take change does n o t . Th
n place. (Potenti necessarily mean
3. Learning tend al behaviour) that e
s to produce last no
Nature/Charac ing changes in th
te ri st ic s e learner.
a key process in o f L ea rning. There can
human behaviou b e no doubt th at
v ir tu al ly every r. Indeed it appe learning is
activity we perfor ars to play an
L ea rn in g engage m from mastering im portant role in
s much of our w complex skills to
knowledge, attitu orking hours, affe falling in love.
des, personality, cting all forms of
achieves new re motivation, man behaviour, skills,
sponses or increa ne rsim etc. By lear
progressive mod se s the activeness ning, the person
ification of behavi of ol d · re sp onses. Learning
1. Learning is
our which is due to is
la practice, tr ai n in g
increased traini te nt or potent. T or p as t experience.
ng and practice o st ar t with lear
it becomes potent ning is la
inferred from pe
rformance. For ex . L at en t learning te n t and with
n o t im p ar t any ample th e first ex cannot be easily
obvious learning perience of ra t w
maze is differen to it yet th e seco ith th e maze does
t from the first. nd experience of
la te n t learning T his shows th at fi the ra t with the
to the rat. Lea rst experience ha
performance. N rning is potent, s imparted some
o experience goes when it can be
2. Learning is w aste. It leaves it in ferred through
in tentional or inci s im pa ct on th e learner.
where th e activi dental. All form
ties are systemat al le ar ning is intentiona
institutions. Inci ically organised l
den ta l learning is for the learner as
th e activities ar in fo rm al, le arning th at take in th e ed ucat io nal
e not pre_:-arrang s place at home.
sh ou ld- remembe ed or systematical H ere
r th at while child ly organised. For ex
m u ch more from goes to school to ample, parents
his class-mates. learn from the te
3. Learning is acher, he learns
ve rt ic al ·
ar e covered at th an d horizontal. L
e earning is horizo
so as to move to same level. It ·is vertical if more ntal, if more facts
facts are covered
differen t subjec ward perfection. For example, w at higher levels
gaged in learning I
ts in' his class, h he n a ch ild is en
from a class to e is moving in a
a ho ri
w e p as s degree higher class with the passage of zont~ dire~tion b~
t as h e goes
\
in Art, Science or time, he ~ m~vm
Commerce we ar g ~e
e movmg m honz rt1cally_. ~ e n
ontal direction.
 ,.,,;,,g
tttl 163
fl;er pas sin g B.A. we Pas s M
!{~earning. .A. and the n go for Ph D . .
is a go . · 'th is will be vertical movement
111 4, Le am ing
p . a1 dir ect e d activity It
ming. urp ose is to ma ste r th ~ env:irqn.ment. ·Th st ress~s th~ purposeful nat ure of
Jefl in ord er · to ma ste r the h :ironm t us a child tries to group, sit, crawl,
wa its fi p Ys1 cal env
etc, hich it sim ply 0 0th nd
Celn a be free from tha t helplessn
ess
to help
ifl ~ g us to ma ste r the soc~ial e ers· · ass room l · h purpose of
~elplillicit. Th e lea rne r is u n_v 1ro nment but du . . ear mn g as the purpose
. . try ing t 0 'd nn% m~ormal learning, ironment, the
ryt hin g w't h nco n~c 1ou sly
is inlP n eve 1 a lllo hve. Lear . . i entify himself with the env
we lear nd1. ulu s is d • nm g is complete when the activity one tak es
up in respo ng to the stim rni ng
ul and eff ect ive the g irle cted towards the goal. Bu t to make lea
rnore me ani ngf oa or purpos e mus t be clear, vivid and explicit.
. .
1s act ive pr
5. Lea rn ing oce ss.. Lea r · unl ess
r
· fiu 11Y aw are of the lea
is . m~g cannot tak e place significantly
the lea rne
him and ere ~m g s1tu at~o n_. Tea cher's tas k is to make a lea rne r
active by mo tiv ati ng ty in him so tha t he is anxious to
an act ive pro ce a ng da c~n osi
learn. Le arn ing is need to
to dir ect the act ivi· ty . ssd an. child by nat ure is active. Teachers
,.T> 0w how in es1rabl e direc · . If the lea rne r is passive he
· t 10n
l\.U
cannot lea rn pro per ly.
i .d 1 . .
6. Le am ing rec og nis es ind es v1 ua dif fer enc es. It is. a common knowledge
that the re are ind ivi dua l dif fer enc
am ong the learners. The differeirat nces may be with
att 't d
pect to int ere sts and 1 u es, problems and purposes, needs, asp ions and speed
. A
res
tea che r h_a s to rea lise this fac t of individual differences and should
of learmtngllettch.
not trea a e 1ear ner s wit h the sam e rod.
is ~ soc ial pr? ces s. The lea rne r is a social being and his efficiency
. 7•. Le am ~n g ce.
ial se~ bng . Le arn mg nev er tak es place in vacuum or in empty pla
1s best 1~ a soc are
dec lam at1 0n con tes ts, you th-f esti vals, prize distribution functions etc.
Symoposia,
var iou s wa ys in wh ich lea rni ng expresses itse lf as a social process.
the n
ing he lps in ad jus tm ent . wh enever one is faced with a new situ atio '
8. Le am up new
org ani sm get s dis tur bed but when the individual lea rns or picks
the whole to adj ust
of new env iro nm ent , he is adj ust ed and we call it learning. In order
traits
pon ses , som e of the se res pon ses are based on pas t experiences
he makes cer tai n res ut any previous learning). If he doesn't
are ref lex me cha nis m (wi tho
and some of the m nges
ks new cha nne ls of beh avi our to succeed. In doing so, cer tain cha
succeed he see s to
tion s tak e pla ce in his beh avi or and experience and finally he adj ust
and modifica
the env iro nm ent . ces s. It b~gin~ wit h bir th and end s wit
h
9. Le am ing is a con tin uo us p~o
out our life we are lea r~m g. We a~e msp1red to le~rn more and m~re.
death. Th rou gh ge of hfe.
iev em ent lea ds to fur the r inc ent ive, pur sm t and effort, be 1t any sta
Our ach
Death is the end poi nt. .
10. Le am ing ha s ma ny ph as
es- . S-R connec t10 n
• •t· ba se inv olv es form at10n of new tra ces or new
1 A table. ·
For e · plcq uisid~1ng on pf a poem , lea rni ng multiplication of
-
alre ady
xam e, rea o trac es, stre ngt hen ing
. t· h ·nv olves consolidation of bl
2. F 1xa 10n p ase 1me mo risi ng a poem or ta e.
formed SR t·
- connec 10ns as ead y formed traces of ~-R
3 . . h se involves ma kin g use of alrltip in solvmg
Ap _ph cah o_n P . a •n usi ng knowledge of mu lication a table
conn t~
ec ions 1n new s1tuat10ns as 1 •
Problems of mu ltip lica tio n. S R connections are formed m the bra in field. These
. · . . • ·t t'
Dur1ng Le arn ingh Inewthe -lea rne r m me etm g new s1 ua wns.
· s or t rac es e p
connect·ion
 164 le«,.,,.,,,
.
sirni} .
11. Lear ning is tran sfer able . Tran sfer occu rs whe n ther e 1s
g
in Iear~7ty Of
conte nts, techn ique s, ideal s and attit udes . Tran sfer lead s to econ omy
tio llg <ts
it take s place fron1 one f!.eld of. stud y _to_ anot her and from cl~s_s room situa
situa tion. Wha t learn er has learn t in one situa tion can be utili zed by him in n to life
. anoth
ous way s to mea sure er.
12. Lear ning is mea sura ble. Ther e are vari 1
earning,
Lear ning curv e is comm on meth od to show the prog ress of Iea~ ing.
_ .
Resp onse laten cy is anot her inde x of learn ing. It mea ns how much
learn er take s to .reac t. to a learn ing task . A quic k adeq uate reac tion indi
cat tune cl
L es effic.
. tent
l earn ing. earn ing 1s also n1ea sured by prop ortio n of corr ect resp onse s.