Learning and Knowledge Acquisition

The Nature of Learning Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour or human capabilities resulting from processing new knowledge, practice or experience Such capabilities relate to all types of skills: cognitive/motor skills, attitudes and verbal information (Gagne & Medsker) Learning results in the assimilation of group ‘norms’ Learning is a mode of adaptation to change, it can be formal, non-formal, informal or incidental Incidental learning results in tacit knowledge; the other processes result in explicit knowledge

Classical Learning Theories These include: The behavioural approach The cognitive approach The social-learning approach

Learning: Using all we know Behavioral consequences and practice Cognitive (individual constructivist) attention, memory, knowledge, organization, elaboration, effort Constructivist (social constructivist) discourse, authenticity, community, identity Understand, remember, apply (practice) Behavioral--power of consequences; Why are you here? Have you ever found yourself wearing an out fit more often because of the compliments? Would you continue to work at a job if you were not paid, you disliked the people, and the work made you feel stupid/ Is that what school is like for some kids? But leaning is more than consequences and practice. Prom dress, joke, phone number or e-mail you keep looking up.COGNITIVE--THE INDIVIDUAL Attention (to that phone number) CONSTRUCTIVIST --THE GROUP.

Behavioural Approach The behavioural approach perceives learning as little more than a chain of conditioned (learned) reflexes encouraged or inhibited by positive and negative reinforcement The two best-known behavioural theorists are Ivan Pavlov and B.F.Skinner They explained learning as an interaction with the environment Pavlov (1849-1936) was famous for his experiment with dogs and his studies of conditioning. He is described as the 'father of behaviourism' Skinner (1904-1990) devised the theory of ‘operant conditioning’, which placed reliance on behavioural reinforcement stimuli (negative or positive)

Figure 8.1 - Classic or Pavlovian Conditioning

Figure 8.2 - Examples of Positive and Negative Reinforcement Reinforcement is a means of inducing motivational states in organizations. Rewards are a form of positive reinforcement

But Practice without feedback is useless. Consequences are a form of feedback--Target 2. Cognitive tools are remarkable--but limited: The cognitive tools we have to work with are remarkable, but some capacities are limited. How so remarkable? We are equipped to register a huge amount of information--very briefly--pencil, pinch. A copy of the image, touch is there for .5 to 2 seconds after it leaves.

Cognitive Approach This approach concerns learning through feedback: cognitive theorists believe that how individuals perceive, evaluate feedback, represent, store and use information plays an important role in learning The key theorists of this approach were Max Wertheimer (1890-1943), Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967) and Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) Wertheimer and Kohler were gestalt theorists looking to the overall shape of pattern of consciousness Kohler developed a theory called insightful learning through his experiments on chimpanzees; he argued stimulus response learning did not have to be gradual and incremental Cognitive theorists concentrated on the ‘black box’ of the mind, whereas behavioural theories thought the internal contents of the mind were not measurable and so looked outwards, to the environment Recent approaches have refined Kohler’s and have lent support to the idea of a ‘trial and error’ component in learning (Bernstein)

Table 8.1 - Approaches to Learning Theory Comparing the behaviourist and cognitive approaches

Social Learning Approach (1) Social-learning (S-L) theorists believe that people develop through observational learning The theory operates on the basis of symbolic representations; individuals learn by observing others directly or indirectly... Bandura (1977) argued that learning involved four inter-related processes: Attention Memory Motor skills Motivation. Close attention to a model leads to self-efficacy (confidence to learn fresh skills)