Psychological Foundation of Education in Pakistan

Introduction

Psychological Foundations of Education presents some of the principles of psychology that

are relevant to learning and teaching. It presents an alternative answer to the problem of the
bifurcation of general and educational psychology in the curriculum of teacher preparation.
These foundations can influence study programs, curricula, and lesson development, as well
as classroom management approaches.

For example, Psychological foundations can help teacher educators to understand and address
the ways rapidly changing technologies both help and harm their students' learning.

Psychological foundations of Education is important for teachers, parents, and administrators

for enhancing students learning and promoting effective and quality education.

Schools of Psychology and their Contribution to Education

The argument over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began When
psychology emerged as separate science from philosophy and biology. A school of thought is
a group that has similar opinions on philosophy, movements and intellect. It unifies and
identifies those with common beliefs, traditions, or practices concerning a field of study or
subject.

Schools of thought or schools of psychology means a theoretical orientation, perspective or a

lens through which a problem is viewed and it assumes specific ways of treating various
issues under psychological paradigm.

There are 7 main schools of psychology as:

1. Structuralism
2. Functionalism
3. Gestalt
4. Behaviorism
5. Psychoanalysis
6. Humanism
 7. Cognitivism

Initially, people often identified themselves as followers of a single school of thought. This
led to the repression of their thinking approach. Now a days, people have a sizeable and
manifold outlook on psychology. They often evolve ideas and theories from different schools
rather than holding on to any singular standpoint.

Behaviorism (1913)

Behaviorisim school of thought is also considered as a theory of learning based on the idea
that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning, and conditioning occurs through
interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our actions are shaped by
environmental stimuli. This school of thought states that all types of human behavior can be
learned through two key types of conditioning: classical conditioning and operant
conditioning.
In simple terms, according to this school of thought, behavior can be studied in a systematic
and observable manner regardless of internal mental states. Behavioral theory also says that
only observable behavior should be studied, as cognition, emotions, and mood are far too
subjective. Strict behaviorists believe that any person—regardless of genetic background,
personality traits, and internal thoughts— can be trained to perform any task, within the limits
of their physical potentiality. It only requires the right conditioning.

Back Ground

Behaviorism was befittingly established with the 1913 publication of John B. Watson's
classic paper, "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It ,"It is best summed up by the
following quote from Watson, who is often considered the father of behaviorism:

"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up
in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist
I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his
ancestors.”

Two types of Conditioning

1-Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioral training. The classical conditioning

process works by developing an association between an environmental stimulus and a
naturally occurring stimulus. Then the associated stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus
and the learned behavior is known as the conditioned response.

In physiologist Ivan Pavlov's classic experiments, dogs associated the presentation of food
(something that naturally and automatically triggers a salivation response) at first with the
sound of a bell, then with the sight of a lab assistant's white coat. Eventually, the lab coat
alone elicited a salivation response from the dogs.

During the first part of the classical conditioning process, known as acquisition, a response is
established and strengthened. Factors such as the prominence of the stimuli and the timing of
the presentation can play an important role in how quickly an association is formed.

When an association disappears, this is known as extinction. It causes the behavior to weaken
gradually or vanish. Factors such as the strength of the original response can play a role in
how quickly extinction occurs. The longer a response has been conditioned, for example, the
longer it may take for it to become extinct.

2-Operant conditioning/ Instrumental conditioning It is a method of learning that occurs

through reinforcement and punishment. Through operant conditioning, an association is made
between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. It involves using rewards and
punishments to create an association between the behavior and the consequences of that
behavior.
This behavioral approach says that when a desirable result follows an action, the behavior
becomes more likely to happen again in the future. Conversely, responses followed by
adverse outcomes become less likely to reoccur.Consequences and timing effects the
learning.

Key Terms

Stimulus, Response, Acquisition, Extinction, Reinforcement, Punishment

Proponents
John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner

Example

When teachers reward their class or certain students with a party or special treat at the end of
the week for good behavior throughout the week. The same concept is used with
punishments. The teacher can take away certain privileges if the student misbehaves.

Cognitivism

Cognitivism or Cognitive psychology is the school of psychology that studies mental

processes, including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger
field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines such as
neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. Cognitive processes combine the acquisition of
knowledge and skills with the ability to apply information to new situations.Cognitive
psychology emerged during the 1950s, partly as a response to behaviorism. Critics of
behaviorism noted that it failed to account for how internal processes impacted behavior.

Examples of theories that grew out of the cognitive school of thought include:

Stages of cognitive development: A theory proposed by Jean Piaget, which suggested that
children go through a series of progressive stages of intellectual development.

Sociocultural theory: This theory, introduced by Lev Vygotsky, looked at how the interaction
of cultural and social factors contributed to cognitive development.

Informational processing theory: This theory suggests that the mind functions much like a
computer to process and interpret information about the world.

Key Terms

Schema, Perceptions. Memory, Learning, Attention

Proponents

Piaget, Lev Vygotsky

Example
When a student learns about addition and subtraction, he is able to transfer that knowledge
when he uses it to create a budget to help him save money for a new video game

Learning

Learning based on the motivation and maturation. It take place at the result of someone’s
interaction with environment and not only limited to the classroom but continue throughout
the experiences of life. Learning is a continues process that brings change in individuals
behavior, it involves what we do and what we think.

It is not necessary always that learning involves the “correct” things, for Example if a child
learns the wrong spellings of a word it does not mean there is no learning it only shows
she/he has learnt incorrect spellings but learning is there. A few definitions of learning are
given below:

Gardner Murphy (1968):

Learning is the modification of behavior according to the situation-

Kingsley and R. Garrey(1957):

Learning is a way to bring change in behavior through experiences.

Crow and Crow (1973):

Learning is a process to seek knowledge, behavior, and skills. It includes to seek the
innovative ways to do things, to deal with challenges and to adjust in every situation. It brings
permanent change in behavior and enables to meet the needs and attain the goals.

Factors Influencing learning

As we studied earlier learning is the permanent change in human behavior through interaction
with environment and experiences. This definition of learning is concluded three points as:

1. The learner change or modify her/his behavior

2. The experiences and interaction with environment is required for change the
individuals behavior
 3. The human and material resources are required for experiences

So the success or failure of the learning regarding the desired change in behavior is linked
with the factors associated in above mentioned points. The following factors are associated
with learning:

Mental and physical health of the child:

Learning is affected largely by the mental and physical health of the child. The pain in any
body organ greatly affect the process or pace of learning. If a child mentally and emotionally
is not stable he cannot attain satisfactory progress in learning.

General capability of the learner:

The capability of learning also greatly affects the learning process which includes the
learner’s basic potential to grasp the concept. The intelligence, previously learned knowledge
and skills of the individuals also affect the learning of the individuals. Along with this the
students aptitude toward learning his interest area and attitude also significantly effect on the
learning.

Aspiration and motivation towards learning:

Learning is largely affected by the aspiration and motivation of the students. A sound level of
motivation and aspiration helps the individuals to meet the desired level of learning.

Readiness:

The will power and readiness of the individual decide the progress of learning. Not ready to
learn cause no or low level of learning.

Nature of the experiences:

The nature of the learning experiences also affect on the learning of the individuals. If the
learning is not planned according to the psychological principles, that includes students’ age,
grade, individual differences and experiences it would not be the learnt by the students. It is
also necessary to organize the learning experiences according to the educational goals to
make the learning successful.
Factors associated with the human and material resources:

Some other factors related to the human and material resources also affect the learning of the
students. The teachers’ competencies, students’ level of learning, socio-economic culture of
the institution, available resources and conducive learning environment also affect the
successful and desirable attainment of the learning.

Theories of Learning and its significance

The ways of the individuals learning and how the process learning can be continue smoothly
can be understand through different facts and set of thoughts. The investigation and inquiry
related to the interests, habits, attitudes and skills introduced the theories of learning. Before
the discussion of learning theories it is necessary to explain the meanings of theory.

Categorization of learning theories

Learning theories are further divided into two major heads:

Stimulus Response Theories that not involve reinforcement

• Pavlov theory of learning

• Watson’s theory of learning
• Guthrie’s theory of learning

Stimulus Response Theories that involve reinforcement

• Thorndike theory
• Hulls need reduction theory
• Skinner theory

Cognitive Theories

• Gestalt or Kohler theory

• Lewins field theory
• Tolman sign theory

Pavlov Theory of Learning

The classical conditioning theory was presented by the Ivan Pavlov(1849-1936). He was a
Russian psychologist. Pavlov experiment on a dog and modify the behavior of dog through
conditioning. He suggested that the learner’s behavior can be modified in this way.

Experiment

Pavlov tied a hungry dog on experimental table that was linked with controlled devices and
observed the movements of dog from the mirrors. A bell was rung and food presented to the
hungry dog and saliva was measured. This learning was named as the learning by conditioned
response. Condoning is the change in actual response.

Thorndike theory of Learning

The pioneer of the theory of trial and error was the E.L.Thorndike (1874-1949). Stimulus and
response in learning was his strong belief. He introduced the concept of selection and
connection which directed learning through random and repeated movements that famous
with the name of trial and error theory of learning. Thorndike experiments on rats, cats,
monkeys, chickens and fishes by keeping them in different learning situations and presented
the laws of connections ,trial , and error.

The analysis of the Thorndike’s theory highlighted the following points:

• Drive or motive becomes the cause of learning.

• A single organism gives multiple responses.
• The response that leads towards goal attainment is known as satisfactory response.
• Random response eliminates with time because they do not direct towards goals.

B. F. Skinner theory of Learning

B.F.Skinner was a Harvard University graduate (1913). He was a practical researcher and
researched on pigeons and rats. He had presented the theory of operant conditioning that
involves many actions or operations. An operant is the set of actions that leads to
conditioning towards doing something. The operant response is changed through
reinforcement in operant conditioning. Skinner classified the stimulus into two category ; first
known stimuli and second unknown stimuli.
Operant conditioning involves multiple operations, a few are discussed below:

• Shapping behavior
• Extinction
• unforced recovery
• Reinforcement

Hulls need reduction theory

Clark L.Hull(1884-1952) was the psychologist and professor in the University of Yale. He
presented the need reduction theory of learning. He argued that only the stimulus response
relationship is not beneficial for learning. He suggested that some reward and reinforcement
also needed to include along with stimulus. He focused on the needs of the child and stated
that the needs can be satisfied or minimized through reinforcement. As the need generates the
specific behavior that satisfied by conditioned response.

Gestalt or Kohler theory

The Gestalt Theory of Learning is the concept that a deeper level of understanding or
learning can come from critically thinking about the whole picture and how the summation of
the parts that create the whole interact. it depends on critical thinking and problem-solving
skills to address certain problems or understand the whole of a situation. It relies on the law
of simplicity. In simple terms, it states that each learning stimulus is perceived in its simplest
form. The psychology behind this learning theory states that we use our senses and previous
experiences to gain knowledge about the world around us. It also suggests that we learn from
the methods by which we are taught, in addition to being impacted by classroom
environments and the academic culture.

Lewins field theory of Learning

Lewins field theory of Learning is also known as the field theory. Field involved all the
events of individual’s life whether related to the past, present and future, abstract or concrete,
imaginary or real as the aspect of a situation. Lewins stated that every person lies in that
specific field of life according to which he reacts or responds. He argued that learning is a
relative process through which individual modifies his old concept and develops new insight.

Lewin categorize the learning in the following aspects

 • Change in cognitive structure is considered as learning
• Change in values and motivation is known as learning
• Learning is the attainment of skills
• Change in group possession is taken as learning
• Change in perceptions called as learning

Tolman sign theory of Learning

The Edward C.Tolman(1886-1959) presented a theory by combining the merits of cognitive
field and stimulus- response theory. His theory of learning is known by different names as
sign theory, purposive behaviorism, expectancy theory and sign significance theory.

This theory includes the following main features:

1. It considered behavior as the base of learning. So the behavior must be purposeful and
goal oriented. The individuals’ preference matters in achieving goals as they make
efforts accordingly (as least or most efforts).
2. Tolman believes the behavior of the individuals involves:

• Needs of the system

• Values and beliefs
• Space in behavior

3. The learning involve some clues that direct towards goals. The person learns the
specific relations not the patterns.