1.What is learning? Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviour, skills, values or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information.

2.Classifications of learning theories. There are two broad classifications of learning theories.

• Behaviourist theories are the theories that identify the process of learning in terms of the relationship between stimuli that affect a person and the way the person responds. They came to be known as S-R theories.
• Cognitive theories are the theories that emphasizes on the role of the learner’s personal characteristics or individuality that may influence the learning process such as the person intelligence, aptitude, thinking, reasoning and memory.

3.Learning theories and their type.

Learning theories	Names of the theories
Behaviour theories	Trial and error theory Classical conditioning theory Operant conditioning theory
Cognitive theories	Insight theory Observational/ social learning theory

4.What are a few characteristics of learning?

• Learning is a process and not an end result.
• Learning is common to all species.
• Learning is always goal directed or purposeful.
• Learning is a continuous and never-ending process.

5.What is imprinting?

Imprinting is an inherited tendency that new born animals exhibit to response to their environment. It was discovered by Konrad Lorenz.

6.Explain the Classical conditioning theory. (what, who, experiments, principles, dis, educational implications)

Classical conditioning theory is also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning. It was discovered by Ivan Pavlov. It states that a learning process occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired, a response which is first brought about by the second stimulus is eventually brought about by the first stimulus alone.

Ivan Pavlov performed an experiment to prove his theory. In this theory, he conditioned a dog to salivate to the sound of a bell. It includes the following steps.

• The first step is before conditioning in which the dog salivates at the sight of food. In this the food is the unconditioned stimulus and salvation of the dog is the unconditioned response.
• The second step is before conditioning in which a bell is rung and the dog doesn’t salivate. The bell ringing is the neutral stimulus and the dog not salivating is the unconditioned response.
• The third step is during conditioning in which the bell is rung and food is shown and the dog salivates.
• The fourth step is after conditioning in which the bell is rung and the dog salivates. The bell ringing is the conditioned stimulus and the dog salivating is the conditioned response.

Pavlov mentioned few principles, that are the following.

• Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually strengthens.
• Extinction occurs when the occurrences of a conditioned response decreases or disappears. This occurs when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
• Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period.
• Stimulus generalisation is the process in which conditioned response to a stimulus is generalised to similar category of another stimulus.
• Stimulus Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Criticisms of this theory are that it ignores the role of cognitive aspects involved in learning like thinking and judgement. It is a mechanical process of learning as the learner’s role in learning is restricted.

Educational implications of this theory are that it can be used to teach names of daily use objects to a child-like. Also, that it an employed to remove bad habits from students.

7.Explain the Operant Conditioning theory.

Operant conditioning theory is a process through which organisms learn to repeat behaviours that lead to positive outcomes or permit those that lead to negative outcomes. It is also called instrumental conditioning. It occurs through rewards and punishment for behaviour. It was proposed by Burrhus Skinner. (It is also called Instrumental learning, a term used by Thorndike to refer to the process whereby an organism learns the association between behaviour and its consequences.)

Skinner conducted an experiment to prove his theory. He designed the ‘operant chamber’ or ‘skinner box’ to study the theory on mainly rats, cats, monkeys and pigeons. At the start of the experiment, a hungry rat was placed inside the box. The lever inside the box when pressed would yield food. So, while the rat was making efforts to get food, it accidently pressed the lever and got food. Thus, the rat got food as reinforcement. The rat got food every time it pressed the lever. This increased the probability of repetition of lever pressing response.  

This theory involves few principles that are the following.

• Reinforcement is a process where outcomes or consequences increase the likelihood of the occurrence of behaviour or strengthen the behaviour. It is of two types. Positive reinforcement is a stimulus that strengthens responses that precede them. For example, a mother praising her child for finishing his/her homework. Negative reinforcement occurs when a certain stimulus is removed after a particular behaviour is exhibited. For example, Bob doing dished to stop his mothers nagging.
• Punishment is a procedure that is used to try to decrease the undesired behaviour. It is of two types. Positive punishment is a procedure in which a negative consequence is added after an undesired behaviour to decrease future responses. For example, if a child fails to do homework, he/she must also do his/her laundry. Negative punishment is a procedure in which a desired item is taken away after an undesired behaviour to decrease future responses. For example, if a child fails to do his/her homework, he/she cannot watch his/her favourite cartoon.   
• Cueing are the signals or hints to indicate the learner that a particular behaviour is desired or it should be stopped. For example, ringing of the bell in school provides the cue to children to wait for the teacher.
• Shaping is the reinforcement of successive approximations of the target behaviour. For example, child learning to interact with others by observing his/her parents. 
• Response generalisation is the behaviour that is repeated to develop the correct response to achieve the desired goal. For example, a rat pulling the lever to get food.
• Chaining is a process in which each response is linked with each other in order to connect the cues of each response with each other. For example, a child learning o eat from a bowl with the help of a spoon.
• Habit formation takes place due to the dominance of a correct response over various other responses in a segment of a chain. For example, a child forms a habit of correctly solving a math problem.

Schedules of reinforcement are the following: Skinner studied the schedules of reinforcement in depth. schedules of reinforcement refer to the rules regarding how and when reinforcements must be given to the organism. they are of two types – continuous schedule and partial or intermediate schedule.

1. continuous reinforcement schedule occurs when a particular behaviour is always reinforced during its occurrence.
2. partial or intermediate scheduled refers to an arrangement when sometimes a reinforcement is provided and sometimes it is withheld. this is divided into four other categories.

• a. in fixed interval schedule the first response is reinforced after a constant amount of time. for example, offering food to the rat once in every hour.
• b.in fixed ratio schedule reinforcement occurs after completion of a constant number of responses. for example, the rat was offered food after every three times of pressing the lever.
• c.in variable interval schedule the first response is reinforced after an uncertain amount of time. for example, the rat was offered food or reinforcement in such a way that the interval between the first second and third response is of a different time limit.
• d.in variable ratio schedule reinforcement occurs after completion of a varying number of responses. for example, reinforcement to the rat may be offered after different number of responses or of pressing the lever.

Criticisms of this theory are that it lacks generalisability and that it completely ignored the hereditary and constitutional factors of the learner in learning process.

Educational implications are that it is useful to build an individual’s personality and it is also helpful in classroom teaching. Positive reinforcement when maintaining good habits and negative reinforcement when maintaining bad habits.

8.State similarities and differences between classical conditioning theory and operant conditioning theory.

Similarities:

Both theories are based on the association of stimulus and response. Both experiments of the theory’s animals are used and their behaviours are observed.

Differences:

Classical conditioning theory	Operant conditioning theory
Definition	Definition
It is stimulus oriented and is called S-type conditioning	It is a response oriented and is called R-type conditioning
Experiment example	Experiment example

9.Explain the trial and error learning theory.

Trial and error are a kind of learning in which one response after another is tried (e.g., trials) and rejected as ineffective (e.g., errors), until eventually a successful response is made. – An organism slowly eliminates responses that do not achieve the desired outcome, and continues to respond in different ways until they determine the response that leads to the desired reward. It was found by Edward Thorndike.

He performed an experiment. Thorndike put a hungry cat in a ‘puzzle box’ and placed fish outside the box where it could be seen, but was out of reach. In order to escape from the box to get the food, the cat had to operate a latch to release a door on the side of the box. Through a process of trial and error the cat learned that pushing the lever opened the door.

An organism attempts to reach the desired outcome includes the following steps.

Problem to be solved -> Solution tried -> Solution works -> Practice solution.

Problem to be solved -> Solution tried -> Solution fails -> solution tried.

Thorndike developed a series of laws of learning. Law of effect is one of them. It states that behavior that is followed by a pleasant consequence is strengthened and is more likely to occur again. Whereas a behaviour that is followed by an unpleasant consequence is weakened and is less likely to occur again.

Its criticisms are that the theory gave over-emphasis on the mechanical stimulus- response connection and that learning is not only a stimulus- response mechanism as criticised by Gestaltists.

Educational implications are that it plays an important role in the child’s initial learning of simple things and that it emphasis activity or doing something.

10.Explain the Insight learning theory. 

Insight learning refers to the sudden realization of the solution of any problem without repeated trials or continuous practices. It suggests that insight learning occurs suddenly or abruptly while exploring the situation as a whole. It is like a flashing of a bulb. A person experiences a good feeling, or a feeling of relief called the Aha feeling or Aha experience. Wolfgang kohler, Max Weirtheimer and Kurt Koffka developed this theory.

Köhler performed an experiment in which he placed a chimpanzee named Sultan inside a cage. Sultan grew hungry and a bunch of bananas was placed just outside the cage. Sultan was provided with one long and another short bamboo stick. Neither of the sticks could reach the banana alone and the only possible way to reach the banana was to join the two sticks. Initially, Sultan showed all customary reactions that a chimpanzee shows inside a cage, and gradually tried to draw the banana towards him with the sticks. After countless efforts, Sultan nearly gave up, but as he was playing with the sticks, he managed to touch the banana by pushing a stick with another stick. Sultan accidentally managed to join the two sticks and with its help, it pulled the banana inside the cage. Sultan immediately grabbed the banana when faced with the same problem next day. Seeing the relationships among various aspects of the problems is described as learning by insight.

The following are a few features of the insight learning.

• The learner reacts to the whole problem or situation and not some parts or details separately.
• It is not dependent on any reward or punishment. It requires higher order cognitive functioning.
• Problem solving is essential for learning.

Its criticisms are that it doesn’t explain the simpler form of learning. It could not explain the individual differences in learning.

Its educational implications are that it helps in higher order cognitive functioning like math problems. It helps to play an active role to recognize or perceive the situation making learning more effective and long-lasting.  

11.Explain the Observational Learning theory. 

Observational learning is the process of learning by watching others. It is considered a form of social learning.  It does not require reinforcement instead it requires social models like parent, teacher, siblings and friends. It is based on modelling which means imitating and reproducing model’s behavior. It was proposed by Albert Bandura.

He did the Bobo Doll experiment in which he investigated the degree of aggressive behavior children would mimic after seeing aggressive behaviors of adults. It was tested on 72 children. 24 children were shown a video of an adult being aggressive to the bobo doll. Another 24 children were shown a non-aggressive video of an adult who played in a quiet manner. The last 24 children were the control group. It was seen that the children that were shown the aggressive video were also aggressive to the bobo doll when placed in a room with aggressive and non-aggressive toys. Whereas the children who were shown the non-aggressive video were calm and played with non-aggressive toys when placed in the same type of room. According to his theory children were more likely to replicate the actions of aggressive adults if they were unpunished or received awards for their behaviour than when they were punished.

The following are the stages of Observational Learning.

• Attention, the first stage is the key for observers, as without being attentive to their surrounding they won’t be able to replicate the behaviour. Also, observers’ expectations and emotional arousal toward the particular action also plays a key role.
• Retention/Memory is the second stage in which simply observing a behaviour is not enough. The observer should also be able to remember or rehearse the particular action both physically and mentally. This depends on the observer’s ability to structure and code information.
• Motor/Initiation/Reproduction is the third stage in which after observation, the observer should also be able to reproduce the behaviour both physically and intellectually.
• Motivation, the last stage is another important aspect of learning. Without motivation, the individual is not able to produce learned behaviour.

Bandura also came up with certain factors that are more likely to increase the chances of a behaviour being imitated. If the behaviour is rewarded. Like-minded people of same age and sex.

Its criticisms are that the theory gives no emphasis on biological state of the individual. Also, that not all negative behaviours are learned through observation some are learned through social circumstances.

Its educational implications are that students learn by simply observing others behavior. Modelling helps in shaping behaviors and acquiring new behaviors.

12.What is modelling?

Modelling is the process of imitating and reproducing a model’s behaviour. Models have a great impact on children. There are three types of models. Mastery model refers to those members in the surrounding whose behaviours help to inculcate proper behavioural patterns in children, such as parents, older siblings and teachers. Peer models are friends, playmates, siblings and classmates who are close to the child’s age and background. Symbolic model represents an imaginary model who exists only in story books, mythology, television programes and movies.  

13.What are learning styles?

Learning styles are the different ways in which people interpret, organise and process information. For example, some people learn best when information is presented to them in visual form, such as in books and charts.

frequently-mentioned learning style model is the VAK model proposed by Neil Fleming in 1992, which divides people into visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. People use all these three senses in combination for developing their learning style in various learning situations. However, each individual has an inclination of utilizing one of the styles predominantly to learn something easily.

14.Explain the types of learning styles.

VISUAL LEARNING

Persons who adapt in processing information visually to learn something are said to have visual learning style.  Retention students can remember and recall better through visual presentation.

Signs of visual learning – Visual learners prefer to think in terms of pictures, images, illustrations and any form of pictorial representations. Learners prefer appropriate diagrams, graphs, pictures to correlate the subject with visual and sensations that may help in encoding the subject matter in the brain

AUDITORY LEARNING

auditory learner is someone who learns through listening and speaking. This type of learner needs to hear the information to process and comprehend it. Auditory learners love to participate in any form of discussions because they prefer to grasp ideas and facts about things when these are presented orally.

Signs of auditory learning – They learn best by listening. They are good at solving problems by discussing with others

KINESTHETIC LEARNING

Kinesthetic learning is the learning style in which the learner is inclined to learn by keen sense of body movements, such as touching or handling learning materials, w demonstrating, exploring, constructing and making things. They like to learn through activities, hands-on learning, acting out and role playing. However, they also benefit from just thinking of how a concept is applicable in the real world. It is also called tactile learning.

Techniques for kinesthetic learning – Playing drama or acting out, which requires acting out a situation relevant to the study topic. Providing the opportunities to build or make things and physically handle learning materials

Signs of kinesthetic -The leaders learn by doing things. This type of learner’s posses’ high levels of energy.

15.What is a learning disability?

LD refers to some kind of difficulties which a person faces while learning something. LD involves neurological problems which interfere with basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and presumed to be due to Central Nervous System Dysfunction. Learning disabilities may coexist with conditions like ADHD, ADD, Cerebral Palsy etc.

16.What are the causes and nature of a LD?

Causes:

Biological causes: These include genetic factors, infection before birth, brain injury or damage at birth, brain infections or brain damage after birth. Examples include Down’s syndrome, Fragile X syndrome and cerebral palsy.

Environmental causes: frequent and irregular schooling especially during the early years may result in extremely poor grasp of concepts.

Nature of LD:

1. A person with LD may be bright and intelligent but may be unable to display skills expected of him/her
2. It cannot be cured or fixed.
3. A person with LD may be equally smart or smarter than their peers.

17.Describe Dyslexia as a LD. Dyslexia is a LD related to reading. It is the difficulty in learning that affects the ability to acquire both language and reading abilities.

Causes:

• Family history
• Premature birth or low birth weight of the baby
• Exposure to alcohol or drugs such as nicotine during pregnancy

Symptoms:

• Difficulty spelling
• Delayed speech
• Difficulty with phonemic awareness—the ability to break up words into their component sounds, and difficulty with matching letter combinations to specific sounds.
• They also face difficulties with short-term memory, concentration and organization.

Management:

• child can be helped with tutoring by using apt educational approaches.
• By psychotherapy

18.Describe Dysgraphia as a LD.

Dysgraphia is a disability in learning that affects a person’s writing ability.

Symptoms:

• Unfinished words or letters, omitted words.
• Poor in spelling

Management:

• Getting a scribe or using voice activated computer software
• Using aids – trying various pencil grips and/or a slant board
• Playing with clay to strengthen hand muscles

19.Describe Dyspraxia as a LD. Dyspraxia is a specific learning disability that is characterized by difficulty in muscle control, problems with muscle movements and muscle coordination, disturbed language and speech. 

Causes:

• being born prematurely
• being born with a low birth weight
• the mother drinking alcohol or taking illegal drugs while pregnant

Signs and symptoms:

• Has problem in zipping, buttoning a shirt, brushing teeth and tying shoelaces.
• May talk continuously and repeat things
• Children with dyspraxia tend to struggle with balance and posture. They may appear clumsy and lack ‘sync’ with their environment

Management of dyspraxia:

• Speech therapists point out the child’s speech issues and then suggest specific exercises that may develop communication skills
• Encouraging to play with puzzles may help these children to improve their visual or spatial perception. These can also help the children to improve their fine motor skills