Human Learning

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Mention the 4 aspects that you need to take into account before teaching something to your students

Mention the 4 aspects that you need to know take into account before teaching something to your students

Entry behavior Objectives to be reached Methods of training Evaluation procedure

What’s learning?

What’s learning?

- “acquiring or getting of knowledge of a subject or a skill by study, experience, or instruction”

- “a relatively permanent change in behavioral tendency, … the result of reinforced practice”

How did Pavlov conceive learning?

How did Pavlov conceive learning?

For Pavlov, the learning process consisted of the formation of associations between stimuli and reflexive responses.

Why did Skinner call Pavlovian conditioning respondent conditioning?

Why did Skinner call Pavlovian conditioning respondent conditioning?

Because Pavlovian conditioning was more concerned with respondent behavior –that is, behavior that is elicited by a preceding stimulus.

Stimulus behavior

What are reinforcers in operant conditioning?

What are reinforcers in operant conditioning?

They are the consequences of our behavior.

What are operants in operant conditioning?

What are operants in operant conditioning?

They are classes of responses that are emitted and governed by the consequences they produce.

What are respondents in operant conditioning?

What are respondents in operant conditioning?

They are sets of responses that are elicited by identifiable stimuli.

What happens if parents ignore their child’s crying?

What happens if parents ignore their child’s crying?

So that the absence of reinforcers extinguishes the behavior

What is punishment?

What’s punishment?

It could be either the withdrawal of a positive reinforcer or the presentation of an aversive stimulus.

Mention some disadvantages of punishments:

Mention some disadvantages of punishments:

They don’t “erase” the response that we want to avoid

They generate “fear” “..both the punished organism and

the punishing agency are in disadvantage”

According to Skinner, what’s the best way to extinct a response?

According to Skinner, what’s the best way to extinct a response?

The best way is with the absence of reinforcement towards negative responses, as well as reinforcing positively the alternative responses.

What was Skinner’s model contribution to language teaching?

What was Skinner’s model contribution to language teaching?

He says that virtually any subject matter can be taught effectively and successfully by a carefully designed program of step-by-step reinforcement.

It was possible to create programmed instruction.

What was Ausubel’s idea of learning?

What was Ausubel’s idea of learning?

Learning takes place in humans trough a meaningful process of relating new events or items to already existing cognitive concepts or propositions.

Mention some mental processes in which Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory can be applied

Mention some mental processes in which Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory can be applied

Acquisition of new meanings Retention Psychological organization of

knowledge as a hierarchichal structure

Eventual occurrence of forgetting

What’s the difference between rote learning and meaningful learning?

What’s the difference between rote learning and meaningful learning?

Rote learning involves mental storage of items having little or no association with existing cotnitive structure.

Meaningful learning may be described as a process of relating and anchoring new material to relevant established entities in cognitive structure.

What does Ausubel’s theory mean when it says that knowledge should be subsumed?

What does Ausubel’s theory mean when it says that knowledge should be subsumed?

It means that new information should be related to already existing elements in cognitive structure so that it becomes meaningful.

What does Frank Smith mean when he says that you can manufacture meaningful learning?

What does Frank Smith mean when he says that you can manufacture meaningful learning?

He says that we can make new learning become meaningful if we are really motivated to do so. You can use mnemonics and / or other techniques to make your learning be meaningful.

Why is meaningful learning so important if rote learning also means “learning”?

Why is meaningful learning so important if rote learning also means “learning”?

Because meaningful learning allows retention and long-term memory while rote learning will be gone as soon as the needed information is used.