Theories of

Learning
Edmond Kamugisha

2024

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 Learning is:
1. “a persisting change in human performance
or performance potential (brought) about as a result
of the learner’s interaction with the environment”
(Driscoll, 1994).

2. “the relatively permanent change in a person’s

knowledge or behavior due to experience” (Mayer, 1982).
3. “an enduring change in behavior, or in the
capacity to behave in a given fashion, which results
from practice or other forms of experience” (Shuell, 1986).

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 Learning Theory
Q: How do people learn?
A: Nobody really knows.
But there are some main theories:
Behaviorism

Cognitivism

Constructivism

Social Learning Theory

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 Behaviorism
• Behaviorism or the behavioral learning theory is a popular
concept that focuses on how students learn.
• Behaviorism focuses on the idea that all behaviors are
learned through interaction with the environment.
• This learning theory states that behaviors are learned
from the environment, and says that innate or inherited
factors have very little influence on behavior.
• believe that if given a group of infants, the way they were
raised and the environment you put them in would be the
ultimate determining factor for how they act, not their
parents or their genetics.

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• In the classroom, the behavioral learning theory is key in
understanding how to motivate and help students
• Repetition and positive reinforcement go hand-in-hand
with the behavioral learning theory
• Motivation plays an important role in behavioral learning.
• Positive and negative reinforcement can be motivators for
students.
• For example, a student may receive praise for getting a good
grade on a test, this is positive reinforcement.
• Negative reinforcement is still motivation to get the student to act
in a desired way, but removes an element in order to get the
student to do something

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Behaviorism is confined to observable and
measurable behavior

 Classical Conditioning - Pavlov

 Operant Conditioning - Skinner

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Classical Conditioning -
Pavlov

A stimulus is presented
in order to get a
response:

S R

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• Classical conditioning refers to learning that occurs when
a neutral stimulus (e.g., a tone) becomes associated with
a stimulus (e.g., food) that naturally produces a behavior
(e.g., salivation).
• After the association is learned, the previously neutral
stimulus (e.g., a tone) is by itself sufficient to produce the
behavior (e.g., salivation).

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 Classical conditioning/ Learning through association/
associative learning
• In the Ivan Pavlov theory, there is a stimulus and a response
• Associative learning refers to a type of learning in which an individual
or an organism makes connections or associations between two or
more stimuli or events.
• It is a fundamental form of learning that allows us to link specific
experiences or stimuli with particular outcomes or responses. This
type of learning plays a crucial role in various aspects of human
behavior.
• The most well-known form of associative learning is classical
conditioning, by Ivan Pavlov with his experiments on dogs.
• In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (such as a bell) is paired
with an unconditioned stimulus (such as food) that naturally elicits a
response (such as salivation).
• Over time, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that
can elicit the same response (salivation) without the presence of the
unconditioned stimulus.
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 Pavlov’s experiments
• In the early part of the 20th century, Russian physiologist
Ivan Pavlov was studying the digestive system of dogs when
he noticed an interesting behavioral phenomenon:

• The dogs began to salivate when the lab technicians who

normally fed them entered the room, even though the dogs
had not yet received any food.
• Pavlov realized that the dogs were salivating because they
knew they were about to be fed; the dogs had begun to
associate the arrival of the technicians with the food that
soon followed their appearance in the room.

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• Pavlov began studying this process in more detail. He
conducted a series of experiments in which, over a number
of trials, dogs were exposed to a sound immediately before
receiving food.
• He systematically controlled the onset of the sound and the
timing of the delivery of the food, and recorded the amount of
the dogs’ salivation. Initially the dogs salivated only when
they saw or smelled the food, but after several pairings of the
sound and the food, the dogs began to salivate as soon as
they heard the sound.
• Pavlov concluded that the animals had learned to associate
the sound with the food that followed.

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 Key Terms
• Unconditioned stimulus or US refers to a new
stimulus, something that’s unlearned.
• For Pavlov’s dog experiment, the food, in this
context, is the unconditioned stimulus. The reason
being that its presence simply wasn’t based on prior
experience.
• A stimulus that doesn’t elicit a response is a neutral
stimulus or NS. Something you experience for the
first time may not produce a reaction from you.

• A neutral stimulus turns into a conditioned stimulus

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• A conditioned stimulus or a CS is when the response
is associated with the stimulus.
• In the Pavlov classical conditioning theory, the bell
sound a dog hears for the first time is a neutral stimulus.
After it elicits a response, it becomes a conditioned
stimulus
• An unconditioned stimulus elicits an unconditioned
response or UR. This is an unconditioned response
because it doesn’t depend on past experience. It’s new
and happens after the first interaction with a stimulus.
• If you’re accustomed to the stimulus, you’ll likely
respond in a similar fashion.

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 Implications
 Learning takes place by association
 Pupils are likely to repeat pleasant behavior and
 Discontinue unpleasant behavior.
 Teachers should diagnose pupil behavior
 Establish reinforcement steps that produces desirable behavior (eg rewards)
 When desired behavior is established, reinforce it
 Remove reinforcement that is producing negative behavior (by punishment)
 Wait for desired behavior, then reinforce it
 Building connections: Associative learning suggests that students learn better
when they can make connections between new information and their existing
knowledge or experiences
 Teachers should provide timely and constructive feedback helps students
associate their actions with specific outcomes, enabling them to adjust their
behavior and improve [email protected]
learning
 Operant Conditioning -
• By Skinner

The response is made first,

then reinforcement follows.

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• Operant conditioning allows an animal to develop
associations between an action and its
consequences / outcomes
• Pavlov's theory was limited to explaining behavior
that was reflexively elicited
• Did not account for newly occurring behaviors eg,
how a person learns to drive a car.
• Skinner expressed the need of a theory that could
explain how such behavior comes about.

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• Operant conditioning, or instrumental conditioning, is a theory of
learning where behavior is influenced by its consequences.
• Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his
work was based on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect. According to
this principle,
• Behavior that is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, ie
(strengthened)
• behavior that is punished will occur less frequently or dies out/
weakened.
• Skinner studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments
using animals which he placed in a “ Skinner Box ” which was
similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box.

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• A Skinner box, also known as an operant conditioning
chamber, is a device used to objectively record an
animal’s behavior in a compressed time frame.
• An animal can be rewarded or punished for engaging
in certain behaviors, such as lever pressing (for rats) or
key pecking (for pigeons).

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Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant,
that can follow behavior.

Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither
increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being
repeated.
Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the


probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either

positive or negative.

Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the
likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens
behavior.
We can all think of examples of how our own behavior has been


affected by reinforcers and punishers.

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 Positive Reinforcement
• Positive reinforcement is a term described by B. F. Skinner in his
theory of operant conditioning. In positive reinforcement, a response
or behavior is strengthened by rewards, leading to the repetition of
desired behavior. The reward is a reinforcing stimulus
• Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a
hungry rat in his Skinner box.
• The box contained a lever on the side, and as the rat moved about
the box, it would accidentally knock the lever.
• Immediately it did so that a food pellet would drop into a container
next to the lever.
• The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times being
put in the box.
• The consequence of receiving food, if they pressed the lever, ensured that
they would repeat the action again and again.

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• Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a
consequence an individual finds rewarding.
• For example, if your teacher rewards you each time you complete
your homework, you will be more likely to repeat this behavior in the
future, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework
• Each time a child finishes doing home work, her mother gives her her
favorite snacks.

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 Negative Reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement is the termination of an unpleasant state following a
response.
• This is known as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an
adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to the animal or person.
• Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it stops or removes
an unpleasant experience.
• Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his
Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which
caused it some discomfort.
• As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever
• Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off.
• The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being
put in the box.
• The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would
repeat the action again and again.
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 Negative reinforcement in class
A teacher removes something the learners don’t
enjoy as a reward for positive behaviour, which also
increases the expected learner response.
Eg. a teacher reduces some or all homework for
students who hand in their last homework on time.
The students are highly likely to continue to
complete their homework in a timely manner as
they are encouraged by the removal of it
An additional example of negative reinforcement
would be to cancel a part of a normal class routine
that learners don’t enjoy. Eg, a quiz, or recitation.
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 Punishment (weakens behavior)
• it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it.
• It is an event that decreases the behavior that it follows
Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative
reinforcement.
There are many problems with using punishment, such as:

Punished behavior is not forgotten, it’s suppressed – behavior returns
when punishment is no longer present.

Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors, e.g., fear of
school.

Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior – reinforcement tells
you what to do, punishment only tells you what not to do.

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Rewards and Punishments differentiated
• Rewards are positive reinforcements to
learning while punishments are negative
reinforcements to learning.
• Rewards and punishments are used to
shape behavior/learning. When a pupil
does something good, the teacher should
reward eg a good score with a praise. The
child will try to repeat the behavior.
• If a child comes to class late and the
teacher appropriately discourages, the
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child may discontinue the behaviour
• Other forms of punishments include
removal of pleasant stimulus eg removal
of dolls from children who play with them
in class during a lesson. When the
learners stop the bad behavior, the doll
should be given back

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When is a reward/punishment effective?
• A punishment is effective when the
undesired behavior is corrected
• Effectiveness of punishments / rewards in
teaching depend on how and when they
are used;
• Punishments should be stopped when a
desired behavior occurs and positive
reinforcement should be used to
encourage the new desired behavior.
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• Punishment should come immediately
after an undesirable behavior. This
enables the learner to know why he is
punished.
• Punishment should be sufficient without
being cruel
• Effective punishment depends
consistence.

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Indicators of corporal punishments in
primary schools
• Causes damages/ harm to human body
• Learning is forced/ they encourage forced
learning
• Leads to school dropouts
• Negative attitudes

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 Educational Implications of
behaviorism
 Diagnose pupil behavior
 Pupils are likely to repeat pleasant behavior and
 Discontinue unpleasant behavior.
 Teachers should diagnose pupil behavior
 Establish reinforcement steps that produces desirable behavior (eg
rewards)
 When desired behavior is established, reinforce it
 Remove reinforcement that is producing negative behavior (by
punishment)
 Wait for desired behavior, then reinforce it
 Teachers should provide timely and constructive feedback helps students
associate their actions with specific outcomes, enabling them to adjust
their behavior and improve their learning
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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development

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 Piaget (1896 - 1980)
• Psychologist, worked for
several decades on understanding
children’s cognitive development
• Most widely known theory of cognitive
development.
• Was intrigued by kids’ thoughts &
behavior, & worked to understand their
cognitive development
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 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development

• A child’s capacity to understand certain

concepts is based on the child’s
developmental stage

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 Piaget’s Four Stages
• Believed that all children develop according to
four stages based on how they see the world.
– He thought the age may vary some, but that we all
go through the stages in the same order.

1. Sensori-motor (birth –2 years)

2. Preoperational (~2-7)
3. Concrete operational (~7-11)
4. Formal operations (~12-15)
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 Sensorimotor Stage(0-24
•
months)
Birth to about 2 years, rapid change is
seen throughout.
• Can be further divided into
(i) Reflexive stage (0-2 months)
• Children have simple reflex activities such
as sucking, grasping.
(ii) Primary Circular Reactions Stage(2-4 months)
• Reflexive behaviours in repeations such as opening and
closing fingures
(iii) Secondary Circular reactions (4-8 months)
• Repetition of actions to produce interesting
consequences e.g kicking feet
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(iv) Coordination of secondary reactions stage (8-
12 months)
•Responses become coordinated eg. Reaching
behind a screen to obtain a hidden doll.
(v) Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months)
•Discovery of new ways to obtain the same goal
eg, pulling a pillow to get a toy resting on it.
(vi) Invention of new means through mental
combination.(18-24 months)
•An infant shows evidence of internal
representational system. Symbolizing the problem
solving sequence before responding
•They are Egocentric
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 Preoperational Stage(Intuitive stage)
About 2 to about 7 years
The second major stage of mental development. Can be
subdivided into two phases;
(i) Preoperations phase(2-4 years)
•Infants use verbal representation
•Speech becomes egocentric (in relation to one’s self)
•The child can think about something without the object
being present
(ii) Intuitive Phase (4-7 years)
•Speech becomes more social
•Speech is less egocentric
•There is still focus on one aspect of an object at a time
•The child is able [email protected]
use simple do’s and don’ts.
•
Concrete Operational Stage
• From about 7 to about 11
• The child shows evidence of organized,
local thoughts
• There is ability to perform multiple
classification tasks
– Understands conservation of matter
– Learns qualities of materials he, she plays
with

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 Formal Operations
• From about 12 ….
• Thoughts become more abstract,
incorporating the principles of formal
logic
• Child can handle multiple manipulations
and abstract processes
– Organize information
– Reason scientifically
– Solve problems
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 … Piaget’s Development
• Development happens from one stage to
another through interaction with the
environment.

• Changes from stage to stage may occur

abruptly and kids will differ in how long
they are in each stage.

• Cognitive development can only happen

after genetically controlled biological
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.
 …Piaget’s Development
• Development leads to learning
– Drive for development is internal
– The child can only learn certain things when
she is at the right developmental stage
– Development will happen naturally through
regular interaction with social environment

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 Piaget & Education
• Piaget did not think it was possible to hurry
along or skip stages through education

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 IMPLICATIONS
•Intelligence grows in infants through time
•Experiences should be planned to allow opportunities to
explore the level of mental development of the learners
•Teachers should be able to assess the learners’ present
level of cognitive development, their strengths and
weaknesses
•Instruction should be individualized and much as
possible to cater for individual differences in class
•Teachers should present learners with materials and
provide situations that allow them to discover new
learning.
•Teachers should be facilitators and stimulate the
learners, allow children to make mistakes and learn from
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• In active learning, the teacher must have confidence in
the child’s ability to learn. Piaget emphasized the
importance of active learning, where children are
actively engaged in exploring and interacting with their
environment.
• Teachers can promote active learning by providing
hands-on activities, experiments, and opportunities for
exploration

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Problems with Piaget’s Theory
• Children often grasp ideas earlier than
what Piaget found

• Cognitive development across domains

is inconsistent (e.g. better at reading
than math)

• Studies have shown that development

can to some degree be accelerated
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 Constructivism Theory
• Knowledge is uncertain; the learning process of
knowledge is also the construction process of
knowledge; students are the main body of learning
activity and they construct knowledge on their own
initiatives; teachers are the helpers and the drivers
for students constructing knowledge.
• Students enter classrooms with their rich previous
experiences. They hold their opinions toward daily
life and even universal issues

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 Implications in Education
• Children's ideas are central to constructivist theory
of learning
• Constructivism suggests that learners actively
construct their knowledge by building upon their
existing understanding and experiences.
• When teachers acknowledge and incorporate
children's ideas into their teaching, it promotes
active engagement, critical thinking, and the
construction of meaning.

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• Guide: The teacher can play the role of guide, facilitator,
coach, or tutor. He must let their children learn in their own
way
• Activities: Various activities can be organized in the
classroom such debated so that children learn from one to
another
• Interaction: The teacher should also provide time for
students to discuss or interact with one another. At the same
time, he should monitor, so that class does not be too missy.
• Incorporating children's ideas allows for ongoing assessment
and feedback
• Building on Prior Knowledge: Children's ideas serve as a
foundation for learning. By eliciting their prior knowledge and
connecting it to new concepts, teachers can build meaningful
learning experiences. Teach from known to unknown.
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• Collaboration and Peer Learning: Children's ideas can be
shared and discussed among peers, promoting collaborative
learning.
• Enhanced Critical Thinking: Incorporating children's ideas
encourages critical thinking and higher-order cognitive skills.
• Active Participation: When children's ideas are
incorporated into teaching and learning, it encourages active
participation. By inviting children to share their thoughts,
perspectives, and ideas, teachers create a collaborative and
interactive learning environment.
• Personalized Learning: Every child possesses unique
perspectives, experiences, and prior knowledge. By
recognizing and valuing children's ideas, teachers can tailor
their instruction to individual needs and interests. This
approach enhances students' motivation

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Common features of theories of learning.
•Teaching should be from known to
unknown
•Learners must be at the Centre of the
lesson
•Use of teaching/learning materials
emphasized
•Teachers should explore learners’ abilities

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