Cognitive learning gives an understanding of how the mind of the human being works as they learn. It describes the processing of information within the brain and how learning takes place in the internal processing. Cognitive theory elaborates that individuals tend to process the information they receive and not just responding to specific stimuli form their physical environment. Learning and cognition are influenced by either internal or external factors during the process of learning among people. Jean Piaget introduced the cognitive and learning theory and believed that knowledge is generated in human beings as per the nature of their cognitive structures. Cognition is, therefore, more concerned with the activities taking place in the mind of a person as opposed to what can simply be observed.
Operant conditioning
Burrhus Frederic Skinner idealized operant conditioning. The idea elaborates that learning takes place based on the rewards and punishments on a particular behavior. A person in this process will create an association of a single action and the consequence. The activities of Pavlov influenced the ideas of Skinner in the case of classical conditioning. The mind, according to Skinner, is too productive to give room for researchers to know the observable behavior instead of focusing wholly on mental events. Operant conditioning argued that the best means of observing behavior is to analyze the cause of action and the outcomes. Thorndike’s 1898 law of effect is related to the thoughts of Skinner. According to Thorndike’s law, any behavior that has a social issue is mostly repeated while that followed by adverse outcomes is not easily duplicated. Skinner developed the term reinforcement when dealing with operant conditioning. He meant that any behavior that is reinforced has a likelihood to be repeated while that not reinforced easily comes to an end. Skinner observed rats that he placed in Skinner’s box to explain the aspect of operant conditioning (Rholetter, 2013). The types of reinforcers in operant conditioning include neutral operants reinforcers and punishers. The neutral operants arose from the environment, and they have no impact on increasing or decreasing the repetition of an activity. The rat learns that hitting the lever accidentally led to the dropping of food pellets. The consequence of pressing the bar was receiving food. The rat, therefore, determined to repeat the action more than once. The rat applied positive reinforcement based on the fact that the outcome of knocking the lever seemed rewarding. Negative reinforcers are essential in stopping unrewarding behaviors in society. The courts of law adhere to Skinner’s ideas by punishing offenders for ensuring that they were learning good morals and values and avoid breaching the regulations. Not all sanctioned activities are forgotten, but they are just suppressed and can easily be repeated if the punishment no longer exists. The existence of discipline leads to aggression, which is an aspect of helping an animal to cope with existing obstacles. Fear is associated with punishment, and in the end, it will make the individual not to try doing the same action again. The sentence does not guide an organism to do the right behavior but only prevents it from doing what is not desired. Reinforcers are necessary as they train a plant to keep on doing acceptable practices. Reinforcers are the existing responses in a surrounding that has the effect of increasing the possibility of the exercise being done more than one time (Skinner, B.2017). Punishers are specific responses in a surrounding that decreases the repetition of an activity. It implies that they weaken the behavior from occurring. Small children learn that certain practices were unaccepted when they got punished. At school, the students apply operant conditioning by working hard to receive rewards. Those who fail to work hard are punished for avoiding repeating the same action. People who try smoking in learning institutions find themselves in groups that reinforce their behaviors, and hence they keep practicing the operation several times. Those caught while using drugs and other substances in school are punished by being expelled and letting their parents know what they have been doing. Such a form of punishment among learning helps to terminate unacceptable behavior and promotes good morals and attitudes.
Classical conditioning
The ideas of classical conditioning have been attributed to behavioral psychology. Ivan Pavlov developed it in 1913. The ideas associate an involuntary response and a stimulus and further place a neutral before a reflex. A previously neutral reflex in Pavlov’s ideas is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. In his experiment, the dogs began to salivate, responding to a tone of sound that had been paired with the provision of food. The dogs in the study generated a learned response that encouraged Pavlov to think critically about classical conditioning. Unconditioned stimulus in the case of dogs triggered the salivation as the response that Pavlov termed it as an unconditioned response (Ivan Pavlov, 2016). Anytime the bell was rung, it triggered salivation among the dogs before they got the taste of food. Classical conditioning can be used to describe health behaviors among individuals. Overeating sometimes affects the efforts of an individual to maintain a healthy diet. Many people are used to heading to their kitchens when certain commercials come while they are watching their televisions. In the long run, every time these people see a commercial, they will crave for a delicious snack. There are no rewards in classical conditioning, and it is perceived in the case of the learner. an individual does not, therefore, actively take part in classical conditioning as a means of getting a reward. The objective of this type of conditioning is to create a particular change in behavior. Extinction is experienced when there is a decline in conditioned response due to the reduction of the unconditioned stimulus. Exposure to a conditioned stimulus, in this case, would lead to a weaker response in both animals and human beings. In the end, the answer will be no more, but spontaneous recovery can be used to bring back the previous form of response.
It is essential to understand the neurological response to conditioning. This would help to illustrate the Pavlov study on dogs that salivate after the bell was rung, followed by food. The conditioned response took place in the brains of the animals. Immediately a dog sees food olfactory, and visual stimuli carry unique information to the brain via the neural pathways. This leads to activation of the salivary glands to secrete saliva (Thompson, 2018). The process is biologically explained as saliva is useful during the digestion of food. Every time the dog hears a buzzer then sees food, its auditory stimulus activates the neural roots associated to it. Continuous activation of the pathways sometimes lead to weakening the synapse reaction between the response and the auditory stimulus. After some times the pathways get strengthened so that they can only be activated by the sound of the buzzer. The ideas of Pavlov lead to the
introduction of the behavioral theory of psychology.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism can be divided into different segments that include methodological, psychological, radical, teleological, and theoretical. The behaviorism theory was founded by John Watson in 1913. It was developed as a result of the cognitive revolution. The model equates learning with actions that are observable and can be measured. In behavioristic learning, reinforcement is an essential factor. There needs to be a strong emphasis on between the stimulus and the response.
Behaviorism notes that behavior
can either be considered as a reflex evoked by antecedent stimuli in the surrounding being paired or can be attributed to the history of an individual (John Watson, 2017). The controlling incentives and the motivational state of a person can be used to understand his or her behavior. Watson’s ideas opposed the existing introspective methods that existed in 1900 and instead argued that action could be understood by observing the external characteristics of an organism. Cognitions and emotions were particularly
To make the study effectual, Watson addressed that only the motor behaviors among human beings should be studied in alignment with methodological behaviorism. The feelings and thoughts, as per Watson’s ideas, were not significant in observing the behavior of human beings. Psychological behaviorism details that people do not rely on animal principles for learning but also uses the social learning principles that are special. The laws, in this case, comprise the significant learning abilities of human beings (Woodward, 2015). Learning in human beings can be described as cumulative, and they have the best learning capacity than any other animal. Radical behaviorism implies that the environment affects the feelings and thoughts of human beings, and it can be used control for observable behaviors. Teleological behaviorism is more directed to the objective observation and disregards the cognitive processes. The theoretical behaviorism implies the existence of an internal state that gives room for a given context to occur. Based on the theoretical aspect of behaviorism, members who generate a specific type of response will automatically develop members who have a typical kind of answer.
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura developed the theory. The ideas of the theory moved beyond the aspect that behaviors can be understood through conditioning and cognitive approaches. According to Bandura, active reinforcement is not the only determinant of all types of learning among individuals. This can be seen where small children sometimes exhibit learning abilities in activities that they lack any experience. Based on the ideas of Bandura, learning can be made accessible by observing what other people are doing (Kretchmar, 2017). Observational learning is critical in this theory, where people learn new things by watching their role models and celebrities, among others, in their societies.
Concepts that can be learned in theory are mainly three. They include the fact that observation is the main form of learning. The mental states are as well a critical component of this theory. Another thing is that even though something can be learned, the method does not ensure the certainty of the change in behavior. The above actions imply that learning could be very hard if people will only have to rely on the things that they know. It becomes easier to learn through observation because people simply need to be keen in their physical environment. Based on the ideas of the approach, modeling is the best way that can be used to understand human behavior. Bandura has explained three models in social learning (Bandura, 2018). The live model details a person who is demonstrating an individual response. The verbal instructional model includes explaining and a descriptive analysis of the action. Finally, the symbolic model entails the display of actions by characters that are fictional. The activities can be shown in films, movies, media, and television programs.