LEARNING , THEORIES OF LEARNING , FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO LEARNING

Learning: 

The process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.

Associative learning:

Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Stimulus: 

Any event or situation that evokes a response.

Cognitive learning 

The acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language.

THEORIES OF LEARNING

Classical Conditioning: 

In classical conditioning, we learn to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate events. (A stimulus is any event or situation that evokes a response.) We learn that a flash of lightning signals an impending crack of thunder; when lightning flashes nearby, we start to brace ourselves. 

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events. Behaviorism the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Components of Pavlov Experiment

Neutral stimulus (NS) in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.

Unconditioned response (UR) in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth).

Unconditioned stimulus (US) in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically— triggers a response (UR).

Conditioned response (CR) in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

Conditioned stimulus (CS) in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR).

Principles of Classical Conditioning

Acquisition 

In classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

Higher-order conditioning 

A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)

Extinction 

The diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

Spontaneous recovery 

The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

Generalization 

Pavlov and his students noticed that a dog conditioned to the sound of one tone also responded somewhat to the sound of a new and different tone.

Discrimination: 

Pavlov’s dogs also learned to respond to the sound of a particular tone and not to other tones. This learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus (which predicts the US) and other irrelevant stimuli is called discrimination. Being able to recognize differences is adaptive.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO LEARNING

As you plan and carry out your education sessions you should be aware of the factors that affect the learning process. These may be classified into four categories:

·         Physiological factors

The physiological factors include how people feel, their physical health, and their levels of fatigue at the time of learning, the quality of the food and drink they have consumed, their age, etc.

Think of some physiological factors that are important when you try to study or learn something new for yourself.

Physical health is important because ill health hampers learning, and so can fatigue. Studying for a long time can cause fatigue, which affects your audience’s learning capacity. The time of learning also influences how much new knowledge is acquired. The quantity and quality of healthy food and drink also plays a crucial part because nutrition is responsible for efficient mental activity. Poor nutrition adversely affects learning. Alcoholic drinks and caffeine, as well as tobacco, all have an adverse effect on the capacity of people to learn. Good physiological factors promote effective learning.

People find it very difficult try to learn new things if they are in a difficult environment. Atmospheric conditions such as high temperature and humidity tend to lower mental efficiency. Studying in conditions of poor ventilation, the lack of proper lighting, where there is noise and physical discomfort, all hamper learning capacity. Good conditions make it easier to learn

·         Psychological factors

Psychological factors such as mental ill-health or mental tension and conflict all hamper learning. A related psychological factor is motivation — no learning can take place in the absence of motivation. Purposeless learning is not learning at all. Motivation can energise, select and direct positive behaviour.

Can you think of a time when you had a lot of motivation to study?

In general, for motivation to take place in health education sessions, learning should be purposeful and meaningful, and the audience should be interested in the health issue being discussed during the session. Encouragement and praise stimulate learning of health-related skills (Figure 6.7). You will need to encourage the people to whom you are giving your health education messages.

·         Environmental factors

The key environmental factors when delivering your health education messages are the conditions where the learners have to sit to do their learning. Learning is hampered by bad environmental conditions such as distraction, noise, poor illumination, bad ventilation, overcrowding and inconvenient seating arrangements.

Can you think of a time when you had to endure poor conditions to do your learning?

The location of the health education setting, the internal set up, the accommodation, decoration and sanitary conditions are all very important for efficient learning. The organisational set up of the health education setting also influences learning. For example, if you are giving a health education session in your Health Post, and if the room is very overcrowded with healthy as well as sick individuals, some of them sitting on the floor and others by the door, this would hamper the learning among all of the attendants.

People find it very difficult try to learn new things if they are in a difficult environment. Atmospheric conditions such as high temperature and humidity tend to lower mental efficiency. Studying in conditions of poor ventilation, the lack of proper lighting, where there is noise and physical discomfort, all hamper learning capacity. Good conditions make it easier to learn

·         Teaching methodology.

Your health education teaching materials should be properly planned and organised. They should suit the mental level of the audience. For example, if you are planning to educate a rural family on personal hygiene, a poster or picture could be good health learning material if it is supported with talks. But a leaflet with lots of text would not be a good teaching aid because a large number of rural people are unable to read. All your teaching should be presented in a meaningful and interesting manner. It is also important to encourage learning-by-doing. When we talked about the characteristics of learning, we referred to self-active learning — learning-by-doing is one very good way of active learning. For example, if you are teaching a family about the utilisation of bed nets, it would be good to encourage them to demonstrate back to you how they would attach them — after you show them how to do it for the first time. Saying things again and repeating them in a meaningful manner, as well as practice, are important for learning and the audience must be encouraged to learn through activity. Consequently, the use of lectures and health talks should be kept to a minimum. Learning can then be reinforced by simple testing, which is informal, but includes feedback. In this way, the audience would know how well they are doing and they will also be encouraged to learn new skills.

For example, if you want to teach a mother about proper position and attachment for breastfeeding, it is good first to demonstrate the correct position to the mother. You can then test whether she has learnt this correctly by asking her to demonstrate the proper positioning and attachment back to you. You should encourage her to practice it until she gets it right. This should continuously be accompanied by your comments and feedback on her level of achievement.