4.
MEANING AND NATURE OF LEARNING
Learning means to bring changes in the behaviour of the organism.
Learning in psychology has the status of a core construct. Construct
means an idea or image that cannot be directly observed like
electrons or genes but which is inferred from the behaviour of the
organism. “learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour
which is a function of experience”.
The words given above emphasize four attributes of learning as a
process the first is that learning is a permanent change in behavior. It
does not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation and use of
intoxicants. The second is that learning is not directly observable but
manifests in the activities of the individual. The third attribute of
learning is that it results in some change of permanent nature. The
fourth and the last is that learning depends on practice and
experience. Hilgard defined learning as, a change in a subject’s
behaviour to a given situation brought about through repeated
experience in that situation, provided that the behaviour change
cannot be explained on the basis of native response tendencies,
maturation, or temporary states of the subject (e.g. fatigue, drugs,
etc).
4.1 General Characteristics of Learning
The following are the general characteristics of learning:
i. Learning is Adjustment: Learning involves adjustment of the
individual to his environment. The individual must learn to adjust
himself to the changes that take place around him.
ii. Learning is Growth: Learning must result in the growth of the
child. An immature child is developed into a mature person through
the process of learning.
iii. Learning is Organizing Experience: Learning is not like adding
one experience to the other it is rather, organizing the new experience
with the old ones, thus giving rise to a new form of behaviour. Thus,
learning involves the proper organizing of experiences in manner.
iv. Learning is Purposeful: The more intense the purpose of the
individual, the more rapid the learning. Lack of purpose in learning will
hinder learning. Thus, purposeful learning is always more rapid and
permanent.
v. Learning is Active. Better learning will take place only if the
learner is actively engaged in the learning process. Thus, active
participation of the pupils is essential in the learning process. vi.
Learning Affects the Conduct of Learners: Learning affects
individuals to adjust himself to the environment. This is brought about
through some sort of change and modification of one’s behavior. Thus
the behaviour or conduct of the individual undergoes change on
account of learning.
vii. Learning is the Product of the Environment: Learning is
essentially an adaptation and adjustment to the environment. Thus,
environment has a great influence upon learning; learning cannot be
separated from the environment.
4.2 Laws of Learning
Learning is a fundamental ingredient in the education of a child.
Therefore, a teacher must understand fully, how learning takes place
in the best possible manner, in this connection, it is imperative that the
teacher should know what are called ‘Laws of Learning’ as given by
Thorndike and others. The fundamental laws of learning are: (i) Law of
Readiness (ii) Law of Exercise (iii) Law of Effect
(i) Law of Readiness: This law emphasizes the importance of
readiness to learn. “When a person feels ready to learn or to act, he
learns or acts, more effectively and with greater satisfaction than when
not ready”. This implies that the learner must be mentally prepared to
learn. This emphasizes the importance of motivation in learning. The
learner must be brought in the proper frame of mind, and his curiosity
must be increased for bringing about effective learning.
Educational Implications
1. Arouse child’s readiness to learn by motivating the child before he
undertakes any teaching work.
2. The curricular activities should be according to the child’s mental
level of maturity. This will ensure readiness as well as arouse curiosity
for new things to be learnt.
(ii) Law of Exercise: Broadly speaking, this law implies that learning
takes place by exercising, i.e. by doing or by actively participating in
the performance. We learn what we do, and we do not learn what we
do not do. That is why this law is also called ‘Law of Use’ and ‘Law of
Disuse. (i) Law of Use, ‘When a modifiable connection is made
between a situation and a response, that connections strength is
decreased, this emphasizes the need and importance of practice. In
other words ‘Practice makes perfect’. (ii) Law of Disuse. ‘When a
modifiable connection is not made between a situation and a response
over a length of time, that connection’s strength is decreased, this law
implies the negative value of lack of practice.
The educational implications of the laws of exercise are great. This
emphasizes the value of repetition, drill and practice for memorizing
and mastering of something. This also emphasizes that much time
should not elapse between one practice and the subsequent one,
because long disuse may cause forgetfulness. The teacher must
ensure that the act of repetition is carried out with a pleasant effect.
An act of repetition, which is accompanied by a satisfying state,
strengthens a connection.
(iii) Law of Effect: This law implies that if our efforts are accompanied
by a feeling of achievement or satisfaction, we are further inspired to
learn, and therefore, effective learning takes place, if our efforts are
not accompanied by a feeling of satisfaction, not much of real learning
will take place. In other words we may say that a response, which
gives achievement of the goal and thus provides satisfaction, will be
stamped in, while those, which are accompanied by dissatisfaction,
will be stamped out.
Thorndike defines it as follows: “When a modified connection between
a situation and response is made, and is accompanied or followed by
a satisfying state of affairs, that connection’s strength is increased, but
when made and accompanied by an annoying ‘state of affairs, its
strength is decreased”.
Thus, the learners, feeling or emotional state affects learning. In other
words, success and failure condition the learning to a great extent.
