Three different theories of learning are posed by the behaviorist, the cognitive psychologists and the humanists. Below are some general characteristics of each of these theoretical frameworks and the basic assumptions about learning and ways in which the theory has been applied.

The Behaviorists

• View learning in terms of stimulus and response
• Emphasize the notion of external reward or reinforcement
• Assume that all behavior is learned

Some major principles behaviorists espouse are as follows:

1. Learning is the process of forming connections between stimulus and response
2. Connections followed by a reward or reinforcement are strengthened.
3. Connections can be extinguished if the reward is removed
4. Emphasizes active learning.
5. Emphasizes the important of immediate and appropriate refinforcement. Learning is more likely if behavior is immediately followed by reinforcement.
6. Undesireable behaviors are not reinforced.

Some applications of this theorical approach to learning are:

• Shaping - based on the idea of successive approximations. Small bits of behavior come close to the complete response desired. Begin with the end product. Analyze the task and divide it into steps. Reinforce each successive approximation of the task until the whole task is learned. In the early stages of learning reinforce anything that approximates the final task. As learning progresss, raise the standards. Reinforce improvement as well as perfection. Reinforcement should move the learner in the right direction toward the final product.

• Modeling - learning through imitation. This is the root of advertising. Much early learning is based on modeling our parent's behavior. Modeling is especially useful when learning by trial and error could be dangerous -- like learning how to drive a car. In teaching by modeling the instructor demonstrates how to perform the task or skill; the student observes his/her behavior and attempts to imitate the teacher.

• Programmed Instruction - Self instruction package that presents a topic in a carefully planned sequence and requires the learner to respond to questions or statements by filling in blanks, selecting from a series of answers, or solving a problem. Immediate feedback occurs after each response. Programmed instruction can be incorporated into books, lesson plans, online tutorials, and even special teaching machines designed for the purpose. Those who advocate programmed instruction stress that it improves classroom learning, presenting even the most difficult subjects in small steps so that all students can proceed at their own rate.

• Task Analysis - Stating the learning task or objective in behavorial terms by breaking it down into its prerequisite skills or subtasks. In task analysis the relationship between the prerequisite skills and the logical order in which they should be learned is determined, then materials and procedures for teaching each subtask are designed, finally feedback to the students about their performance at the completion of each subtask and when the final task is performed is provided.

• Mastery Learning -- The intent is that all students acquire the specified learning even if it takes some longer and more steps to get there than others. A course is broken down into small units (as in task analysis) and instructional objectives are clearly specified for each unit. Diagnostic progress tests are administered at the end of each learning unit to determine whether each student has mastered the unit. Corrective procedures are developed to help students reach mastery if they do not meet the criterion of the progress tests. A final test is administered when all units are mastered to ensure the full task has been learned.

Cognitive Psychologists

• Deal with the organization of information and are most interested in the ways a person perceives and concpetualizes his/her physical and social worlds.
• Assume that a person's behavior is always based on cognition, an act of knowing or thinking about the situation in which behavior occurs.

Some major principles cognitive psychologists embrace are:

1. Insight - the sudden perception of the relationship among elements in a problem situation. Learning involves the insight or understanding of relationships, particularly the relationship between part and whole.

2. Ambiguity -- the degree of ambiguity that the learner perceives in a given situation does more to promote learning than either punishment or reward. The learner is motivated to reduce ambiguity by fitting the new situation into the way he/she perceives the world. If that can't be done, the learner must reorganize his/her perception of the world.

3. Developmental Stages -- the idea that the development of thinking represents a gradual shift from the concrete to the abstract and that a person's stage of cognitive development sets limits for the type of learning that can take place.

4. Readiness -- the notion that learning can't occur unless a person is in the appropriate stage of cognitive development.

Some applications of this theoretical approach to learning are:

• Discovery Learning -- presenting the learner with an opportunity to discover the answer to a problem on his/her own. Discovery learning allows learners to ty different solutions and possibilities and to find the answers themselves. The teacher acts as a catalyst. By placing the emphasis on discover, the student learns to organize problems rather than attacking them using a hit or miss method. Emphasizes intrinsic motivation. Self-fulfillment is the reinforcer than than extrinsic or external reward from others.

• Expository Teaching -- All information is given to the learner in an organized form through the use of lectures and/or textbooks. Learning is seen as dependent upon the learner fitting new knowledge into what is already known. The ability to relate new information to ideas already possessed by the learner is crucial for retention. Expository techniques avoid the trap of rote learning by requiring that learners continually rephrase new ideas in their own words. One technique to check on comprehension and to keep the students involved is the "one-minute paper." (At the end of a session, students are asked to take one minute to answer the following two questions: What were the main ideas you learned? What, if anything else, would you like to learn? -- Responses are often written on the board as a good way to summarize the main concepts of the lesson)

  
  Humanistic Psychologists

  • Believe that how a person feels is as important as how they behave or think
  • Place feelings and concerns of students on an equal plane with the organization and presentation of material
  • Believe that if material lacks personal meaning for the students, learning will not take place

  Some major principles humanists espouse are:
  1. The classroom should be student-centered.
  2. The teacher should act as facilitator advising students on how to develop their full potential.
  3. The teacher is reponsible for setting an educational climate conducive to learning.
  4. Students should determine their own goals and objectives and decide when they want to work on certain tasks.
  5. Students should participate in the evaluation of their own progress since they are in the best position to determine what they have learned.
  6. The goals of learning are
     • to help students learn more about themselves,
     • to help them relate to others,
     • to prepare them for future society,
     • to encourage them to think for themselves and
     • to make their own decisions.

  Some applications of this theoretical approach to learning include:
  • Teacher perceptions -- Teaching involves interaction with people and the perceptions a teacher has about people in general will prompt his/her behavior toward students in particular.

  • Positive attitudes -- The teacher who believes that the students have the ability to learn will behave in a more positive manner toward them than the teacher who believes they cannot learn.

  • Two-part learning -- Humanists see two parts to learning
    1. the acquisition of new information and
    2. the individual personalization of this information.

  • Instilling meaning -- Assuming that students will learn just because the subject matter is properly organized and presented is a wrong assumption. The difficulty in teaching is not how to present subject matter, but how to help students derive personal meaning from the subject matter.