 Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information.  The ability to learn is possessed by humans, & animals.  Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development, school or training.

 Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience. Learning Involves change (good or bad) Is relatively permanent Is acquired through experience Learning Involves change (good or bad) Is relatively permanent Is acquired through experience

 Drive: any strong stimulus that impels action(basis of motivation)  Primary/ Physiological  Secondary/ Psychological  Cue Stimuli: Objects existing in the environment which increase the action.  Responses: Either physical responses or attitudes, perception.

 Reinforcement: environmental events affecting the probability of occurrence of responses.  Retention: stability of learned behavior. Some learnings are retained while others are forgotten.

Extinction-loss of memory Of well learned response is difficult(it may just be that response is repressed.) Of not well learned response early Spontaneous recovery Return of response after extinction without intervening reinforcement

 motivation  mental set  nature of learning materials  practice  environment

 Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

 Classical conditioning is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.  Applicable to simple behaviors

Key Concepts Unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned response Conditioned stimulus Conditioned response Key Concepts Unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned response Conditioned stimulus Conditioned response

Examples  fear of the dark or loud noises in young children.  fear of failure may be another example of classical conditioning  nursery rhymes  Cleaning when top management comes

 Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning where an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus.

Key Concepts Reflexive (unlearned) behavior Conditioned (learned) behavior Reinforcement Key Concepts Reflexive (unlearned) behavior Conditioned (learned) behavior Reinforcement A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.

 Introduced by B.F.Skinner, an American psychologist.  Also called Instrumental Conditioning.  Acc. to this theory, learning takes place when an individual makes an effort to gain control over the environment & behavior is a function of consequences.

 It involves a type of conditioning in which desired voluntary behavior leads to a reward or prevents punishment.  As per this theory, people learn to behave to get something they want and to avoid something that they don’t want.

 +ve consequences  Increased frequency of behavior.

 Example:  If boss asks employee to work hard and promises for rewards in appraisal and actually no such reward occurs to the employee in return of his hard work, next time when he’ll be made such promise, he may not work hard.

 Environment determines behavior.  Change in environment produces Learning.  Individuals explore and obtain control over environment.  Behavior is instrumental in determining consequences faced by individual.

 Consequences determine the chance of reoccurrence of an operant conditioning in future.  Change in behaviour requires change in consequences of behaviour.

 Cognition means individual’s ideas thoughts, knowledge, interpretations and understanding about himself and his environment.  "Cognitive learning is the result of listening, watching, touching or experiencing.“  Cognitive learning is a powerful mechanism that provides the means of knowledge, and goes well beyond simple imitation of others.

 Cognitive learning enables us to create and transmit a complex culture that includes symbols, values, beliefs and norms.  Cognitive learning is about enabling people to learn by using their reason, intuition and perception.

 Organism learns the meaning of various objects and events and learned responses depend on meanings assigned to stimuli.  Eg: Tolman trained a rat to turn right in order to get food. When placed on opposite side instead of turning right, rat moved towards food. So, rat formed a cognitive map to get food and reinforcement was not a precondition for learning to take place.

 Social learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context.  It considers that people learn from one another, including such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and modeling.  Among others Albert Bandura is considered the leading proponent of this theory.

 People can learn by observing the behavior of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.

Key Concepts Attentional processes Retention processes Motor reproduction processes Reinforcement processes Key Concepts Attentional processes Retention processes Motor reproduction processes Reinforcement processes People can learn through observation and direct experience.

 Attentional process: learning from models, who are attractive and similar to us.  Retention Process: Influence of model depends on remembering the actions of model, when model is no longer available.  Motor Reproduction Process: Watching must be converted into doing.

 Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus (e.g. a candy) immediately or shortly after performing the behavior.

Key Concepts Reinforcement is required to change behavior. Some rewards are more effective than others. The timing of reinforcement affects learning speed and permanence. Key Concepts Reinforcement is required to change behavior. Some rewards are more effective than others. The timing of reinforcement affects learning speed and permanence. Systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves an individual closer to the desired response.

Motivation-internal explanation of behavior Reinforcement-external explanation of behavior

 Positive reinforcement  Providing a reward for a desired behavior.  Negative reinforcement  Removing an unpleasant consequence when the desired behavior occurs.  Punishment  Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate an undesirable behavior.  Extinction  Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to cause its cessation.

Continuous Reinforcement A desired behavior is reinforced each time it is demonstrated. Intermittent Reinforcement A desired behavior is reinforced often enough to make the behavior worth repeating but not every time it is demonstrated.

Fixed-ratio

 Well pay vs. Sick pay  Employee Discipline  Developing Training Programmes  Self Management