THEORIES OF LEARNING

. Definitions of Learning

With every new experience and every new event or situation, we learn something new. But, this
concept of learning is purely theoretical. In real terms, learning can be described as the
modification of one’s behaviour through practice, training and experience. A few definitions of
learning are given below to understand the nature of learning.

“Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of prior

experience.”

“Learning has taken place if an individual behaves, reacts, and responds as a result of experience
in a manner different from the way he formerly behaved.”

“Learning can be defined as relatively permanent change in behaviour potentiality that results
from reinforced practice or experience.”

Theories of Learning

Different approaches to learning in the form of theories or models have been established to
explain the phenomenon of learning.

The theories and their implications for improving the learning and behaviours of the individuals
are discussed as follows:

Stimulus-Response Theories

The important stimulus-response theories are: (a) classical conditioning theory (b) operant
conditioning theory (c) Thorndike’s law of effect.

Classical conditioning theory of learning

Classical conditioning is defined as association of one event with another desired event resulting
in a behaviour. The most popular experiment on the classical conditioning was conducted by a
famous Russian psychologist Ivan Pavolv. Pavolv conducted an experiment on dogs and tried to
establish a stimulus-response connection amongst them. Pavolv was honoured with a Nobel
Prize for his experiment on this subject. In his experiment on dogs, Pavolv made an attempt to
relate salivation of dogs with ringing of bell. The amount of saliva secretions were measured
with the help of a surgical procedure.
In the first stage of experiment, Pavlov presented a piece of meat in front of the dog. The dog
secreted increased amount of saliva in response to the meat. This response was unconditional.
Then, he withheld the presentation of meat and rang a bell in front of dog at the same time when
meat was presented to him. The dog did not exhibit any salivation or we can say that there was
no response.

In the next stage of the experiment, he started ringing the bell at the same time when meat was
presented to him. By doing so he linked meat with ringing of the bell. Thus an association
between two stimuli viz. the bell and meat was established. He continued with this process for
some time. After some time, he found that the ringing of bell alone elicited the saliva of dog even
without presentation of meat. Hence, the bell became conditioned stimulus resulting into
conditioned or learned response. The experiment is shown in the following exhibit:

As given in the exhibit, following observations can be drawn from this experiment:

Salivation in response to food was unlearned and natural response or reflex. This response was
called unconditioned response.

As the food elicited unconditioned response, it was called unconditioned stimulus.

When Pavlov presented the food after ringing the bell, the dog responded by salivating and after
conditioning, the bell alone resulted into salivation. Thus the bell became conditioned stimulus
and salivation was conditioned response.

We can also see many examples of classical conditioning in an organisational setting. For
example, in an organisation, departmental heads used to ask the executives and others staff
members to update their files and other records, whenever some senior officer of top
management was about to visit the department for the purpose of auditing the documents and
necessary records. This practice was continued for many years. Eventually, the employees would
turn on their best behaviours and look prim whenever they were asked to update their files and
records even when this was not paired with visit of senior officer. This was because employees
of that department learnt to associate updating of files with visit of senior officer for audit.

Despite of receiving the wide appreciation theoretically, the theory of classical conditioning was
criticised by many psychologists on the ground that it represents only a little part of total human
learning. Particularly Skinner realised that classical conditioning explains only reflexive
behaviours. In reality, the behaviour of people in organisations is voluntary rather than being
reflexive. This voluntary behaviour is not a response of specific stimulus. Such behaviours are
more complex. The complex behaviour can be understood by operant conditioning theory of
learning.
Limitation of Classical Conditioning in Its Application to Human Behavior in an Organization.
• Complex human decision making it possible to override simple conditioning.
• Behavioral environments in organization are complex.

• Human are more complex than dogs and less amenable to simple conditioning.

Operant Conditioning theory of learning

Theory of operant conditioning argues that behaviour is the function of its consequences. B. F.
Skinner who practiced the theory of operant conditioning advocated that individuals emit the
behaviours which are rewarded and do not emit the behaviours which are not rewarded or
punished. In the simple words, it can be said that behaviour is likely to be repeated when the
consequences are favourable and is not likely to be repeated when the consequences are not
favourable. Therefore, the essence of operant conditioning is the relationship between behaviour
and its consequences. The word ‘operant’ explains that relationship between behaviour and
consequences is a learning process which is developed over a period of time, in which a person
changes his behaviour based on his favourable or unfavourable past experiences.

Based on this theory, management can identify this relationship and control the behaviour of
employees. Certain consequences can be increased and certain consequences can be decreased to
increase the occurrence of the desired behaviour. Various examples of operant conditioning can
be seen in the organisations. For example, a boss assures his subordinate that he would be
compensated for his overtime in the next appraisal but, he fails to fulfil his assurance during the
next evaluation. Consequently, the subordinate will never agree to work overtime whenever the
boss will request him to do so. Thus it can be concluded that rewarding consequences increase
the response and aversive consequences decrease the same.

Application of Operant Conditioning

1. Employee Motivation and Performance Management

a) Positive Reinforcement: Rewarding employees with bonuses, promotions, or recognition
for good performance encourages repeated desirable behavior.
b) Negative Reinforcement: Removing undesirable tasks (e.g., reducing micromanagement)

when employees show improved performance encourages continued progress.

c) Punishment: Disciplinary actions like warnings or demotions discourage unproductive or
uneth
2. Workplace Productivity and Behavior Shaping
a) Performance-Based Incentives: Sales commissions, performance bonuses, and employeeof-
the-month programs motivate employees to meet or exceed targets.
b) Gamification in Workplaces: Using point systems, badges, and rewards for achieving
milestones enhances engagement and productivity.
c) Training and Skill Development: Reinforcement-based training programs help employees
develop new skills through structured learning with rewards.
3. Customer Behavior and Marketing Strategies
a) Loyalty Programs: Offering discounts, points, or exclusive deals to customers who
repeatedly purchase from a business encourages brand loyalty.
b) Limited-Time Offers: Creating urgency through time-sensitive discounts reinforces quick
purchasing behavior.
c) Customer Feedback Incentives: Rewarding customers for leaving reviews or referring
others strengthens engagement

Thorndike’s Law of effect

Thorndike’s law of effect stated that. “Of several responses made to the same situation, those
which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction (reinforcement)- will be more likely
to recur, those which are accompanied by or more closely followed by discomfort (punishment)-
will be less likely to recur.” Thorndike in U.S worked on cats, chicks and dogs to understand the
learning process. He placed his animals in a ‘puzzle box’ from which they were required to
escape. In order to escape from the box they were required to press the correct liver or pulley.
Through ‘trial and error’, animals eventually learned to press the correct pulley. He explained
that response is more important than stimulus in the process of learning.

Cognitive Theory of learning

Cognitive theory of learning refers to an individual’s knowledge, thoughts and understandings

about himself and his environment. This theory assumes that individuals learn the meaning of
various objects and events and also the learned responses on the basis of meaning assigned to the
stimuli. A cognitive structure is formed in the memory of an individual which preserves and
organises the information about various events that occurred in a learning process. Whenever the
individual faces some situation or an event, he scans it against his memory to determine
appropriate action. Therefore, the action taken by the individual depends upon the cognitive
structure retrieved from the memory. Finally, it can be said that an individual’s response is a
decision process that varies from situation to situation and the individual’s memory for prior
such events.

The pioneer of cognitive theory of learning is Edward Tolman who developed this theory
through controlled experiments. He conducted a laboratory experiment using rats. He showed
that rats learned to run through a complicated maze to reach to their goal of obtaining the food.
Rats developed expectations at every choice point in the maze. Thus they learnt to expect that
certain cognitive cues related to the choice point ultimately lead to the food. Finally, when the
relationship between cues and expectancy was strengthened, learning took place because cues
led to expected goals.

Cognitive theory is different from stimulus-response theories. Stimulus-response theories assume

that learning is the function of stimulus-response relationship and ignored the role of individual
himself in the learning process. On the other hand, cognitive theory recognises the role of an
individual in receiving, memorising, retrieving and interpreting the stimulus and reacting to it.
Today, the cognitive approach of learning is very much relevant and in OB this approach is
mainly applied to the theories of motivation.

Social Learning theory

The most popular social learning theory is Bandura’s Modelling theory. This theory emphasises
on the importance of observing and modelling the attitudes, behaviours and emotional reactions
of others. The theory explains that much of what we learn is the result of observing and imitating
our role models such as parents, teachers, peers or celebrities. The theory assumes that learning
is not only the result of environmental determinism (classical and operant conditioning view) or
individualism determinism (cognitive theory) but, it is combination of both. In observational
learning, the influence of the role model is the centre of learning. According to this theory, the
influence of role model on the individual is determined by four processes:

Attention process: This process explains that people learn from the role model when they pay
attention to their critical behaviours. Therefore, individuals tend to be influenced by the models
that are more attractive and appear similar to them.

Retention process: This process explains that learning from the model will depend upon how
well the individual retains model’s actions and behaviours even after the model is not available
to the individual.

Production process: This process involves recalling model’s behaviour and performing own
actions by matching them with the actions performed by the role model.

Reinforcement process: This process explains that individuals will repeat the modelled behaviour
if it is rewarding. Behaviours that are reinforced receive more attention and are performed more
often. The four processes are given in the following exhibit:

5. Principles of Learning

Principles of learning help the managers gain maximum efficiency in a learning situation.
However, blind observance to these principles can cause damaging effects than the gain.
Therefore, each principle should be carefully interpreted and applied after considering the nature
of task being learned and the context in which it is being learned. Some important principles of
learning are explained as below:

i. Motivation: Without motivation learning cannot take place. Motivation is the basic principle of
learning. Motivation can be seen at different levels of complexity in different situations. In an
experiment conducted by Edward Tolman, the hungry rat learnt the path through a complex
maze to the food. In the experiment conducted by Thorndike, desire to escape from the puzzle
box motivated the animals to learn the way to escape from the box.

ii. Knowledge of Results: It is a common fact that knowledge of one’s own performance is
essential for learning. Feedback of the performance stimulates the individual to take corrective
action if there is any deviation in his performance.

iii. Reinforcement: Reinforcement is the most important principle of learning. Reinforcement can
be defined as anything that both increases the strength of response and tends to induce repetitions
of the behaviour that preceded the reinforcement. In simple words, reinforcement refers to the
consequences of behaviour. Reinforcement is external environment based. It is described as
external environmental events that follow a response. There are four basic forms of
reinforcement viz. positive reinforcement, avoidance, punishment and extinction.

a. Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement strengthens and increases the behaviour by

offering desirable consequences. In simple words, positive reinforcement is the reward for a
desired behaviour. The reward should be such that which stimulates individual’s desired
behaviour. For example, if an employee performs extremely well in the organisation and receives
awards for the same, the probability of repeating the same behaviour will increase.

b. Avoidance: It is also known as negative reinforcement. It is another alternative of increasing

the desired behaviour. In this, instead of associating a reward with the desired behaviour, the
individual gets an opportunity to avoid the punishment by displaying the desired behaviour. For
example, a manager usually criticises his subordinates for not achieving their targets. The
employees will achieve their targets to avoid the criticism.

c. Extinction: Whereas positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement are the ways to
increase the occurrence of desired behaviour, extinction refers to decreasing the frequency of
undesirable behaviour. When the rewards are withdrawn from the behaviours which were earlier
associated with the rewards, frequency of such behaviours will tend to decrease or eventually
extinct.

d. Punishment: It is also used to decrease the occurrence of undesired behaviour. Punishment

refers to the presentation of an unpleasant or an aversive consequence of undesirable behaviour.
For example, in an organisation written warnings, pay cuts or terminations are given for the
undesirable behaviours like theft, financial embezzlement, damaging the property and coming
late consistently etc

iv. Schedules of Learning: Reinforcement does not always follow a particular response. An
employee, who always finishes his assignment on time, sometimes receives recognition and
appreciation and sometimes is ignored. Schedules of reinforcement refer to the pattern or timing
of administering the reinforcers for the desired behaviour. Schedules of reinforcement are of two
types: Continuous and partial.

Continuous schedule: Continuous schedule reinforces the desired behaviour every time it is
displayed. The reinforcement is immediate.

Partial schedule: In partial or intermittent schedule, the behaviour is not reinforced every time it
is displayed but, reinforcement is often enough to make the behaviour worth repeating. Partial
reinforcement can also be classified into four categories based on timing and pattern of
reinforcement.

o Fixed interval schedule: When reinforcement is given at fixed time intervals.

o Variable interval schedule: When reinforcement is given at variable times. In other words,
reinforcement is given at random times so that nobody can predict the timing of reinforcement

o Fixed ratio schedule: In this method, reward is given after the fixed number of desired
responses is displayed by the employee.

o Variable ratio schedule: In this method, rewards are offered after variable amount of desired
responses.

Summary

With every new experience and every new event or situation, we learn something new. But, this
concept of learning is purely theoretical. In real terms, learning can be described as the
modification of one’s behaviour through practice, training and experience. Learning essentially
can be described as relatively permanent change in the behaviour as a result of prior experience,
practice or training. Different approaches to learning in the form of theories or models have been
established to explain the phenomenon of learning. These theories can be classified as: Stimulus-
Response theories, Cognitive theories and Social learning theories. Among stimulus-response
theories, three most popular theories are classical conditioning theory, operant conditioning
theory and Thorndike’s law of effect.

Classical conditioning is defined as association of one event with another desired event resulting
in a behaviour. The most popular experiment on the classical conditioning was conducted by a
famous Russian psychologist Ivan Pavolv.
Theory of operant conditioning argues that behaviour is the function of its consequences. B. F.
Skinner who practiced the theory of operant conditioning advocated that individuals emit the
behaviours which are rewarded and do not emit the behaviours which are not rewarded or
punished.

Thorndike’s law of effect stated that. “Of several responses made to the same situation, those
which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction (reinforcement)- will be more likely
to recur, those which are accompanied by or more closely followed by discomfort (punishment)-
will be less likely to recur.”

Cognitive theory recognises the role of an individual in receiving, memorising, retrieving and
interpreting the stimulus and reacting to it. This theory assumes that individuals learn the
meaning of various objects and events and also the learned responses on the basis of meaning
assigned to the stimuli.

The most popular social learning theory is Bandura’s Modelling theory. This theory emphasises
on the importance of observing and modelling the attitudes, behaviours and emotional reactions
of others. The theory explains that much of what we learn is the result of observing and imitating
our role models such as parents, teachers, peers or celebrities.

Principles of learning help the managers gain maximum efficiency in a learning situation.
However, blind observance to these principles can cause damaging effects than the gain.
Therefore, each principle should be carefully interpreted and applied after considering the nature
of task being learned and the context in which it is being learned. Some important principles of
learning are motivation, knowledge of results, reinforcement and schedules of reinforcement.

References

1. Stephen Robins (2012). Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi-110092: Prentice Hall

publications.

2. Aswathappa, K. (2003). Organisational Behaviour. Himalaya Publishing House.

3. Nair, S. R. (2010). Organisational Behaviour (text & Cases). Himalaya Publishing House.

4. Prasad, L.M. (2014). Organizational Behaviour. Sultan Chand & Sons.

5. Greenberg, J. (2003). Organizational Behavior: The State of the Science. Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates.

6. Miner, J. B. (2002). Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Theories, and Analyses. Oxford

University Press.
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8. www.uhu.es/fernando_rubio/…/tema_4_theories%20of%20learning.ppt

9. http://www.bput.ac.in/lecture_notes/ob.pdf