NOTES IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY II

Learning is a process by which one profits from past experience. It results in a more or less
permanent change in behaviour traceable to exposure to condition in the environment,
experience or practice. The process or mechanism of learning cannot observe directly instead,
the evidence that learning had taken ace can be inferred from a change in the individuals
performance. The change may manifest in behaviour which are soon as gains or having
survival or adaptive values to the individual.

Learning is relatively permanent or enduring change in an individual’s potential behaviour

due to experience. There are three elements in this definition that is worthy of note.

1. It supposes that learning leads to changes in behaviour.

2. That the changes come by experience.
3. That the changed behaviour is called potential behaviour; it might not be
immediate but is expected.
There are several schools of thought on the concept of learning among which are:

1. The Behaviourist
2. The Cognitive
The Behaviourist school of thought claim that every study of psychology of learning
must be observable as a science. Therefore learning places emphasises on the environment.
The Cognitive school of thought suppose that learning must emphasise the learner and based
their learning on stimulus-response principle.

The behaviourists argue that focus in learning is upon observable behaviour i.e. upon
the responses made by the individual and upon the conditions under which they occur. This
approach sees learning in terms of connection between stimulus and reinforcement. They
believe that if you structure the environment correctly, learning will normally follow
irrespective of the particular volition of the learner.

On the other hand, cognitive theorists assert that learning cannot be confined to
observable behaviour but must also concern the learners’ ability to mentally reorganise her
psychological field in response to experience. This approach recognises the environment as
well as the way in which the individual interprets and tries to make sense of the environment.
He is not seen as a mechanical product of the environment but as an active agent in the

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learning process who deliberately tries to process and categorise stream of information
received from the outside world.

These two approaches are not outrightly contradictory. Each is however useful
depending on the level at which learning is to occur.

Behaviourism and Learning

Learning can be defined as the process leading to relatively permanent behavioural change or
potential behavioural change. In other words, as we learn, we alter the way we perceive our
environment, the way we interpret the incoming stimuli, and therefore the way we interact, or
behave. John B. Watson (1878-1958) was the first to study how the process of learning
affects our behaviour, and he formed the school of thought known as Behaviourism. The
central idea behind behaviourism is that only observable behaviours are worthy of research
since other abstraction such as a person’s mood or thoughts are too subjective. This belief
was dominant in psychological research in the United Stated for a good 50 years.

Perhaps the most well known Behaviourist is B. F. Skinner (1904-1990). Skinner followed
much of Watson’s research and findings, but believed that internal states could influence
behaviour just as external stimuli. He is considered to be a Radical Behaviourist because of
this belief, although nowadays it is believed that both internal and external stimuli influence
our behaviour.

Behavioural Psychology is basically interested in how our behaviour results from the stimuli
both in the environment and within ourselves. They study, often in minute detail, the
behaviours we exhibit while controlling for as many other variables as possible. Often a
grueling process, but results have helped us learn a great deal about our behaviours, the effect
our environment has on us, how we learn new behaviours, and what motivates us to change
or remain the same.

Classical and Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning. One important type of learning, Classical Conditioning, was

actually discovered accidentally by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Pavlov was a Russian
physiologist who discovered this phenomenon while doing research on digestion. His
research was aimed at better understanding the digestive patterns in dogs.

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During his experiments, he would put meat powder in the mouths of dogs who had tubes
inserted into various organs to measure bodily responses. What he discovered was that the
dogs began to salivate before the meat powder was presented to them. Then, the dogs began
to salivate as soon as the person feeding them would enter the room. He soon began to gain
interest in this phenomenon and abandoned his digestion research in favor of his now famous
Classical Conditioning study.

Basically, the findings support the idea that we develop responses to certain stimuli that are
not naturally occurring. When we touch a hot stove, our reflex pulls our hand back. It does
this instinctually, no learning involved. It is merely a survival instinct. But why now do some
people, after getting burned, pull their hands back even when the stove is not turned on?
Pavlov discovered that we make associations which cause us to generalize our response to
one stimuli onto a neutral stimuli it is paired with. In other words, hot burner = ouch, stove =
burner, therefore, stove = ouch.

Pavlov began pairing a bell sound with the meat powder and found that even when the meat
powder was not presented, the dog would eventually begin to salivate after hearing the bell.
Since the meat powder naturally results in salivation, these two variables are called the
unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the unconditioned response (UCR), respectively. The
bell and salivation are not naturally occurring; the dog was conditioned to respond to the bell.
Therefore, the bell is considered the conditioned stimulus (CS), and the salivation to the
bell, the conditioned response (CR).

Many of our behaviours today are shaped by the pairing of stimuli. Have you ever noticed
that certain stimuli, such as the smell of a cologne or perfume, a certain song, a specific day
of the year, results in fairly intense emotions? It's not that the smell or the song are the cause
of the emotion, but rather what that smell or song has been paired with...perhaps an ex-
boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, the death of a loved one, or maybe the day you met you current
husband or wife. We make these associations all the time and often don’t realize the power
that these connections or pairings have on us. But, in fact, we have been classically
conditioned.

Operant Conditioning. Another type of learning, very similar to that discussed above, is
called Operant Conditioning. The term "Operant" refers to how an organism operates on the
environment, and hence, operant conditioning comes from how we respond to what is
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presented to us in our environment. It can be thought of as learning due to the natural
consequences of our actions.

Let's explain that a little further. The classic study of Operant Conditioning involved a cat
who was placed in a box with only one way out; a specific area of the box had to be pressed
in order for the door to open. The cat initially tries to get out of the box because freedom is
reinforcing. In its attempt to escape, the area of the box is triggered and the door opens. The
cat is now free. Once placed in the box again, the cat will naturally try to remember what it
did to escape the previous time and will once again find the area to press. The more the cat is
placed back in the box, the quicker it will press that area for its freedom. It has learned,
through natural consequences, how to gain the reinforcing freedom.

We learn this way every day in our lives. Imagine the last time you made a mistake; you most
likely remember that mistake and do things differently when the situation comes up again. In
that sense, you’ve learned to act differently based on the natural consequences of your
previous actions. The same holds true for positive actions. If something you did results in a
positive outcome, you are likely to do that same activity again.

Characteristics of Learning

The following characteristics are associated with learning

(1) Learning is growth

The individual grows as he lives. This growth implies i both physical as well as mental
development of the learner. The individual gains experiences through various activities.
These are all sources of learning. The individual grows through living and learning. Thus
growth and learning are inter-related and even synonymous.

(2) Learning is adjustment

Learning enables the individual to adjust himself properly, with the new situations. The
individual faces new problems and new situations throughout his life and learning helps him
to solve the problems encountered by him. That is why; many psychologists describe learning
as "a process of progressive adjustment to the ever changing conditions which one

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encounters." The society in which we live is so complex and so dynamic that any one type of
adjustment will not be suitable for all or many situations and problems. It is through learning
that one could achieve the ability to adjust adequately to all situations of life.

(3) Learning is purposeful

All kinds of learning is goal-oriented. The individual acts with some purpose. He learns
through activities. He gets himself interested when he is aware of his objectives to be realized
through these activities. Therefore all learning is purposive in nature.

(4) Learning is experience

The individual learns through experiences. Human life is fall of experiences. All these
experiences provide new knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes. Learning is not mere
acquisition of the knowledge, skills and attitudes. It is also the reorganization of experiences
or the synthesis of the old experiences with the new.

(5) Learning is intelligent

Mere cramming without proper understanding does not make learning. Thus meaningless
efforts do not produce permanent results. Any work done mechanically cannot yield
satisfactory learning outcomes. Learning therefore must be intelligent.

(6) Learning is active

Learning is given more importance than teaching. It implies self-activity of the learning.
Without adequate motivation he cannot work whole-heartedly and motivation is therefore at
the root of self-activity. Learning by doing is thus an important principle of education, and
the basis of all progressive methods of education like the Project, the Dalton, the Montessori
and Basic system.

7) Learning is both individual and social

Although learning is an individual activity, it is social also. Individual mind is consciously or

unconsciously affected by the group activities. Individual is influenced by his peers, friends,
relatives’ parents and classmates and learns their ideas, feelings and attitudes in some way or

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others. The social agencies like family, church, markets, and clubs exert immense, influence
on the individual minds. As such, learning becomes both individual as well as social.

(8) Learning is-the product of the environment

The individual lives in interaction of the society. Particularly, environment plays an important
part in the growth and development of the individual. The physical, social, intellectual and
emotional development of the child is molded and remolded by the objects and individuals in
his environment. Therefore, emphasized that child's environment should be made free from
unhealthy and vicious matters to make it more effective for learning.

(9) Learning affects the conduct of the learner

Learning is called the modification of behaviour. It affects the learner's behaviour and
conduct. Every learning experience brings about changes in the mental structure of the
learner. Therefore attempts are made to provide such learning experiences which can mould
the desired conduct and habits in the learners.

Kinds of Learning

Although various kinds of learning subsist, some of the more relevant ones will be discussed
here.

Habit Learning

Habit learning occurs when a person becomes accustomed to a stimulus, because it has been
presented repeatedly. For example, through habitation one learns not to react to trivial and
unimportant stimuli, one learns to ride a bicycle, recite multiplication tables.

In psychology, habituation is an example of non-associative learning in which there is a

progressive diminution of behavioural response probability with repetition stimulus. An
animal first responds to a stimulus, but if it is neither rewarding nor harmful the animal
reduces subsequent responses. One example of this can be seen in small song birds—if a
stuffed owl (or similar predator) is put into the cage, the birds initially react to it as though it
were a real predator. Soon the birds react less, showing habituation. If another stuffed owl is
introduced (or the same one removed and re-introduced), the birds react to it again as though
it were a predator, demonstrating that it is only a very specific stimulus that is habituated to.

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Associative learning

Associative learning is the process by which an association between two stimuli or behaviour
and a stimulus is learned. The two forms of associative learning are classical and operant
conditioning. In the former a previously neutral stimulus is repeatedly presented together
with a reflex eliciting stimuli until eventually the neutral stimulus will elicit a response on its
own. In operant conditioning certain behaviour is either reinforced or punished which results
in an altered probability that the behaviour will happen again. Honeybees display associative
learning through the proboscis extension reflex paradigm.

Operant conditioning is the use of consequences to modify the occurrence and form of
behaviour. Operant conditioning is distinguished from Pavlovian conditioning in that operant
conditioning uses reinforcement/punishment to alter an action-outcome association. In
contrast Pavlovian conditioning involves strengthening of the stimulus-outcome association.

Trial and Error Learning

Trial and error learning is most likely to be used when:

a) The learner is faced with a completely new situation in his experience, and
b) The learner is not very intelligent.

Social Learning (Imitational)

Social Learning occurs through observation of what others do (vicarious conditioning).

Children are shown how something is done and setting them to duplicate the act.

The learning process most characteristic of humans is imitation; one's personal repetition of
an observed behaviour, such as a dance. Recent research with children has shown that
observational learning is well suited to seeding behaviours that can spread widely across a
culture through a process where individuals initially learn behaviour by observing another
individual perform that behaviour, and then serve as a model from which other individuals
learn the behaviour. Humans can copy three types of information simultaneously: the
demonstrator's goals, actions, and environmental outcomes (results, see Emulation
(observational learning)). Through copying these types of information, (most) infants will
tune into their surrounding culture. Humans aren't the only creatures capable of learning

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through observing. A wide variety of species learn by observing. In one study, for example,
pigeons watched other pigeons set reinforced for either pecking at the feeder or stepping on a
bar. When placed in the box later, the pigeons tended to use whatever technique they had
observed other pigeons using earlier (Zentall, Sutton & Sherburne, 1996).

Insight Learning (Learning through discovery)

One often hears expressions such as “I see it”, “I’ve got it” or “AHA!” Each of such is used
as a “sudden” experience in learning which is dependent on intelligence knowledge and
physiological limits. It is learning, and the ability to use principles.

Rote learning

Rote learning is memorizing information so that it can be recalled by the learner exactly the
way it was read or heard. The major technique used for rote learning is learning by repetition,
based on the idea that a learner can recall the material exactly (but not its meaning) if the
information is repeatedly processed. Rote learning is used in diverse areas, from mathematics
to music to religion. Although it has been criticized by some educators, rote learning is a
necessary precursor to meaningful learning.

E-learning and augmented learning

With the advent of the information, contemporary types of learning have also emerged.

Electronic learning or e-learning is a general term used to refer to computer-enhanced

learning. A specific and always more diffused e-learning is mobile learning (m-learning),
which uses different mobile telecommunication equipment, such as cellular phones.

When a learner interacts with the e-learning environment, it's called augmented learning. By
adapting to the needs of individuals, the context-driven instruction can be dynamically
tailored to the learner's natural environment. Augmented digital content may include text,
images, video, audio (music and voice). By personalizing instruction, augmented learning has
been shown to improve learning performance for a lifetime.

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 FACTORS THAT AFFECT LEARNING

There are several factors which may be negative or positive.

1. The nature of the learner.

2. The nature of the knowledge or material to be learned.
3. The learning process.

NATURE OF THE LEARNER

Several factors within the learner himself affect his ability to learn. Among these are
intelligence, creativity, emotional factors, motivation, maturation level, socio-economic
background study habits, age, sex and most of all, memory.

Emotional factors seen in broader sense, cover all what constitute personality among other
emotional characteristics. Anxiety has a great influence on learners’ learning ability.
Experience in classroom has shown that a mild degree of anxiety is a useful aid to learning.
But too much anxiety inhibits effective learning. The degree of anxiety that motivates or
inhibits effective learning in children varies from learner to learner and from task to task.
Usually, the more difficult the task, the more likely a high level of anxiety will interfere with
it.

Fear of failure is the most potent cause of anxiety in learners. This is seen particularly in
examinations, where a great deal is often at stake. Anxiety may also be caused by an unhappy
classroom experience where a learner may experience anger and ridicule from teacher and
classmates respectively.

Self-Esteem:- This is another emotional characteristic that influence learning. Coopersmith

(1968) in a number of studies demonstrated that children with high self-esteem persistently
perform better than children with or of similar ability but with low self-esteem. They also set
higher goals for themselves, show less need for adult approval and less deterred by failure
and have a more realistic view of their own abilities.

High self-esteem is developed in children due to parental attention, encouragement, physical

affection, consistency and democratic behaviour is the things that make a child feel valued,
important and a responsible member of the family.

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Teacher can also help to give children confidence in their own abilities by providing them
with opportunities for success and encouraging rather than censuring them when they are
confronted by failure and by demonstrating personal belief in their competence.

Extroversion and Introversion:- This is another emotional factor that influences learning. The
extrovert is an individual who enjoy change and variety and is oriented towards the external
world of people and experiences. On the other hand, the introvert is more concerned with the
stability and with the inner world of thought and feeling. Extroverts may experience success
in school work where emphasis is placed on grouped work and social activities. While the
introvert may succeed in school work where emphasis is more on solitary study habit which
favour girls and studies at high levels.

School success depends a lot on the way in which the learning environment is organised to
suit extrovert and introvert.

Motivation:- This refers to the force that energises and directs behaviours of the learner.
Motivation hinges on the children’s interest, needs and motives. Learned task should appeal
to the child’s interest, goals and needs. To achieve this, teachers should make effort to tailor
the child’s learning process to be in tune with his experience and capabilities. Motivation
may be intrinsic or extrinsic. The two usually compliment each other.

Age:- This affects learning in terms of readiness. Children must be exposed to task that their
ages can accommodate.

Gender:- Is influential in learning too; it has been found that girls are generally more verbal
than boys at school age and fewer girls have slow reading speeds and general backwardness
problems (Davie et al., 1972). But boys are moved advanced in a number of skills.

Socio-economic Factors:- Davie et al (1972) show that children from poor or deprived social
background, lurks behind children from more favoured environment in every aspect of school
learning.

NATURE OF MATERIAL TO BE LEARNED

Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives (Bloom et al, 1966) provided a most

detailed guidance for a preparation of learning objectives. Bloom, Krathwohl and Colleagues
classified students’ behaviour by defining specific categories or domain into which all

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intended student behaviour has fallen. According to them, behaviour changes which occur as
a result of learning can be observed through anyone of the three categories of learning viz:

1. Cognitive
2. Affective and
3. Psychomotor Domain
Cognitive Domain:- This dominate all the learning process in the classroom. This may be so
because measurement of learning in this category is relatively precise and objective.

Bloom’s esteem specific a sequence of 6 stages or level of objective in the cognitive

domain. These stages are arranged in a hierarchical order to start from the simplest to the
most complex. Each of the higher stages includes outcomes at levels inferior to it. For
example outcomes in level 2 will include those at level 1 also. Bloom’s approach is very
effective in that it forces teachers to specify their goals and the means of getting them. Each
of the levels of objective in the cognitive domain will be considered by defining its content
and briefly explaining its assessment procedures.

LEVEL 1 → KNOWLEDGE:- Students are responsible to know facts, terms, theories and
method [CONTENT].

Assessment Procedures:- Direct questioning and multiple choice test are applicable. The aim
is to test the child’s ability to recall facts, identify and to repeat information provided.

LEVEL 2 → COMPREHENSION:- Content – student should show they understand the

material, idea, fact and theory.

Assessment Procedure:- Student can show understanding by any of the procedure below.

– Restate the material in your own word

– Reorder ideas
– Estimate or reject or predict
– Translate or interpret
– Follow instruction
– Objective or multiple choice questions may be used to show that the students
understand what they are saying.

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LEVEL THREE → APPLICATION:- At this level students are expected to demonstrate
that they can apply their knowledge to real life situation correctly.

Assessment Procedure:- This require putting knowledge into action rather than merely talking
about what might be done. Students who are taught volleyball should be made to play the
game to evaluate their performances. In Mathematics, give children money to buy things to
demonstrate their knowledge of plus and minus. In Physics, students can be made to wire a
bell to test whether or not it will ring. It is however very difficult to test for application
knowledge at advanced levels in the humanities; even Bloom et al could not get example in
this area.

LEVEL FOUR → ANALYSIS:- Content – ability to break material down into its
constituent parts and to see the relationship between them and recognise the principle
between them and recognise the principle that organise the structure of the system.

Assessment Procedure:- Could be tested in a number of ways. For example, check to know if
student understand the assumption behind an argument or a debate. Such analysis in everyday
language is called critical thinking, which means being able to separate facts from opinion
and to compare theories so that we can take a position based on logic.

LEVEL FIVE → SYNTHESIS:- This refers to the ability to reassemble or bring ideas
together to form a new theory or meaningful relationship. It involves going beyond what is
known. It entails providing new instances.

Assessment Procedure:- Tasks should be designed to produce new ideas, methods or

procedures. E.g. writing an original story, essay or term paper.

LEVEL SIX → EVALUATION:- Refers to ability to make value judgement or judge the
values of material which involves all the previous levels to some extent. Students are
expected to develop the ability to create standards of judgement, to weigh, examine and
analyse things in order to avoid hasty decision.

Assessment Procedure:- Develop and use critical evaluation skills. To achieve this, the
student needs a comprehensive, logical framework as a basis for judgement.

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AFFECTIVE DOMAIN

This refers to the values, attitudes, interests and feelings that students derive from the
school in which they are members. This domain deals mainly with highly subjective
materials. For this reason, many educators shy away from it because they do not know how to
set an objective to achieve it. For example, a stated objective by the school in this domain
may not be an accepted value by the child, parents and society.

PSYCHOMOTOR DOMAIN

Also called motor skills. This involves everyday activity of man such as walking,
running, swimming, playing games, etc. Others are sitting, writing, dancing and recreational
activities that involve the movement of the body.

THE LEARNING PROCESS

There are a number of process-related factors that influence learning. These factors relate to
the quality of the teacher, the availability in instructional resources and the adequacy of
infrastructural materials to make learning conducive.

Good teacher quality will ensure use of relevant teaching methods, teaching from simple to
complex and from known to unknown, as well as frequent evaluation/feedback. Use of
instructional resources ensures the utilization of maximum number of senses.

The role of the environment cannot be under-emphasized as it ensures the comfort of the
learner as well offer a rich source of educational information.

Also of serious consequence to learning here is the methodology adopted for the teaching-
learning experience, linking of new learning with the previous, correlating the learning in one
area to the other, provision of drill work (revision and practice), as well as provision of
feedback and reinforcement.

THEORIES OF LEARNING

A theory represents general laws or principles or cause of observed or known events. A

theory of learning is usually the result of long years of study and research by a number of
scholars. It consists of a set of assumptions from which endless hypotheses may be drawn for
testing. A teacher needs profound theoretical understanding of the learning process in order to
carry out his responsibility. A theory serves as a guide to the curriculum design, daily

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execution of class teaching and influences the teacher’s attitude towards the pupils and the
learning process generally.

Thorndike’s Connectionism

Edward Thorndike (1874 – 1949) in United States of America investigated learning in

animals by using cats, rats and chicken. A hungry cat was confined to a puzzle box with food
visible on the outside. The cat had to escape to get food. On the inside was a release
mechanism which could be operated by the cat.

When first placed in the box, the cat exhibited a random movement plundering, scratching
and trying to escape to get food. Eventually it operated the release mechanism which allowed
it to escape and obtain food. On subsequent trials, the activity became less random and
focused on the part of the cage near the release mechanism.

Summary
Learning Task- the cat was expected to correctly manipulate the latch
Motive- the fish outside the box was a strong motivation
Effort (Trial and Error)- seen in the random movement
Arriving at the solution was in the first instance by chance. Being rewarded with the fish
becomes a source of encouragement to repeat the task.
With time, error was reduced and completely removed later- Learning has taken place.
Thorndike called this Trial and Error Learning. He stated that learning is the stamping in of
correct responses and stamping out of the incorrect responses through trial and error.

It is called connectionism because it provides opportunity for selection of the proper

responses and connecting or associating them with adequate stimuli. Thorndike described this
as Learning by selecting and connecting. The mind is seen as the connection system. Thus
learning results from a connection in the nervous system between stimuli and responses. It is
thought that there is definite association or connection between sensory impression and
impulses to action. This association is referred to as BOND of CONNECTION. These bonds
or connections become strengthened or weakened in the making or breaking of habits.

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Thorndike’s Laws of Learning and Implications for Teaching

On the basis of this experiment Thorndike suggested certain laws which he considered
governed the learning activities of organisms, human and non-human. These are:

Law of Effect

Effect is the satisfaction or dissatisfaction which the animal derives from performing the task
or for making response. It means that learning takes place properly when it results in
satisfaction and the learner derives pleasure out of it. If he performs the task satisfactorily,
progress on the path of learning is ensured. The reverse is the case where a child fails.

It appears as if all the pleasant experiences have lasting impact and a re remembered for a
long time while the unpleasant ones are soon forgotten. If a pleasurable situation follows a
learning situation, the learning will be remembered in the future more strongly. In other
words, behaviour which followed by reward or success will tend to be repeated, where as
behaviour which is not rewarded will tend to die away. Punishment is less effective in
producing learning.

The human organism reacts more readily when the actions is satisfying rather than annoying
to the organism. Therefore, the classroom experience should be satisfactory and pleasant.

Law of Exercise

There are two parts to this law- use and disuse. The law of exercise relates to the
strengthening of connection with practice or weakening of connection due to lack of practice.
This law emphasizes the need for repetition, practice and drill work in the process of
learning.

Learning depends essentially on making connections. For learning to be effective, practice

must occur periodically. A connection is strengthened with practice or forgotten without
practice. This is important in the learning of multiplication tables, alphabets and meaning of
words in elementary classes.

Law of Readiness

This law is indicative of the learner’s state to participate in the learning process. This is
preparation for action. If a child is ready to learn, he learns more quickly, effectively and with

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greater satisfaction. Learning should therefore be carried out is a child is ready and every
opportunity should be explored in teaching a child at the point of readiness.

Readiness could be on the basis of the state of mind (attitude, interest, and mental
preparation), physiological equipment as well as motivations. The teacher must wait till the
learner is ready to learn and should give those experience which help to enhance readiness
preparatory experience that will hasten the growth of readiness can be provided in elementary
classes.

In teaching past experience should be the bases for new learning. In this way their readiness
may also be ensured.

Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning

Ivan P. Pavlov (1849 – 1936), a Russian psychologist performed a number of experiments

using subjects like dogs, rats and cats. The insight gained into the learning process gave birth
to a new theory of learning known as Learning by Conditioning.

In one of the experiments, Pavlov kept a dog hungry for a night and tied him on to the
experimental table which was fitted with certain mechanically controlled devices. The dog
was made comfortable and distractions were excluded. Even the observer kept himself hidden
from the view of the dog by viewing the experiment by means of a set of mirrors.
Arrangement was made to give the dog food through automatic devices. It was also arranged
such that every time the food was presented to the dog, a bell also rang.

The following observations were made:

- When the food was put before the dog and the bell was rung, there was automatic
secretion of saliva from the dog’s mouth. This was repeated several times and the
amount of saliva measured.
- After several trials, the dog was given no food but the bell was rung. It was found also
that the dog salivated at the sound of the bell.

On the basis of such experiments Pavlov considered learning as a habit formation based on
the principle of association and substitution. It is simply a stimulus-response type of learning
where in place of a natural stimulus like food, water, etc. Artificial stimuli like sound or sight
of bell or light can evoke a natural response. When both neutral and natural stimuli are

16
brought together or paired, the dog became habituated or conditioned to respond to the
situation. Classical conditioning may thus be defined as “a process in which a neutral
stimulus acquires all the characteristics of a natural stimulus”.

Educational Implications

The experiment described above is not limited to laboratory settings alone. In day-to-day
learning at home or school, there are plenty examples where a child learns through
conditioning.

- Fear, love and hatred towards different subjects are created through conditioning. A
mathematics teacher for example through certain improper behaviour may be disliked
by students or particular student which may be transferred to mathematics too.
- On the contrary, sympathetic treatment given by a teacher and his interesting and
effective methodology can have a desirable impact on the students through the
process of conditioning.
- The use of audio-visuals in the teaching-learning process involves the conditioning
theory in making the students learn so many things. The child gets an idea of a
particular object or phenomenon through these aids. For example seeing the picture of
a cat along with the teacher speaking out the word ‘cat’.
- In developing desirable habits, interests, attitudes and sense of appreciation in
children, parents and teachers can benefit from the conditioning process. It helps in
the development of proper behaviour as well as in removal of bad habits like attitudes,
superstition, fear and phobias through de-conditioning. A child who fears a particular
object can be made to seek pleasure from it.

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

Skinner, B. F. (1904) an American psychologist also did extensive works in the field
of learning theories. Although this theory is in the category of the conditioning theories, it
differs in terms of the level of activity of the organism (subject) that is learning. The
organism in classical conditioning is passive (must wait for something to happen before
responding). It must wait for something to happen before responding (stimulus-response). For
example, a child expresses fear only when he hears a loud noise. Thus in classical

17
conditioning behaviour is explained on the basis of response to stimulus. Here behaviour is
said to be initiated by the environment and the organism simply responds.

Operant conditioning however, is opposed to the stimulus-response mechanism in the

evolution of behaviour. Skinner argued that in practical situations, we cannot always wait for
things to happen in the environment. That man is not a mere victim of the environment. That
man may manipulate things in the environment with his own initiative. This tendency to
actively initiate behaviour is described as ‘operant’. Rather than wait for the environment to
act, man operate in a way to initiate activity which the environment responds to. The
response of the environment to the activity, whether rewarding or not, largely determine
whether the behaviour will be repeated, maintained or avoided.

Skinner concluded that behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences.

It is operated by the organism and maintained by its result. The occurrence of such
behaviour was named as operant behaviour and the process named operant
conditioning.

Skinner identified two types of responses- the one elicited by known stimuli
(Respondent Behaviour e.g. reflex) and the one elicited by an unknown stimulus
(Operant Behaviour). In respondent behaviour, the stimulus preceding the response is
responsible for causing the behaviour. On the other hand, in operant behaviour, the
stimulus causing such behaviour is unknown, and it is not important to know the cause
of the behaviour. The consequence of behaviour is considered more important than the
stimuli causing it. Hence the strength of behaviour is dependent on the strength of its
consequences.

Operant behaviour may be in the form of moving one’s hand, arms or legs
arbitrarily, or a child abandoning one toy for another.

The concept of Reinforcement

Skinner carried out an experiment associated with conditioning. He constructed a box

called Skinner box. The Skinner box is more or less a modification of the puzzle box used by
Thorndike. The Skinner box is a darkened, soundproof box mainly consisting of a grid floor,
a system of light or sound produced at the time of delivering the pellet of food in the food
cup, a lever and a food cup. It was arranged such that when a rat (hungry or thirsty) presses

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the lever, the feeder mechanism is activated, a light or a special sound is produced and a
small pellet of food is released into the food cup.

Operant Conditioning refers to a kind of learning process whereby a response is made

probable or more frequent by reinforcement. Operant behaviour is that which is not
necessarily associated with known stimuli.

Educational Implications
- A response or behaviour is not necessarily dependent (contingent) upon a specific
known stimulus. It is more correct to consider that a behaviour or response is
dependent upon its consequences. Therefore, for training or in learning, one should be
initiated to respond in such a way as to produce the reinforcing stimulus. His
behaviour so rewarded will in turn be repeated. Therefore the learning environment
must be designed in such a way that it creates maximum satisfaction to a learner to
provide him proper reinforcement for the desired learning.
- The principle of operant conditioning may be applied successfully to the task of
behaviour modification. By this we find something which is rewarding for the
individual whose behaviour we wish to modify. Through the rewards that come with
right performance, we will induce the individual to learn the desired behaviour.
- The task of human personality development can also be successfully manipulated
through operant conditioning. According to Skinner, ‘We are what se have been
rewarded for being. What we call personality is nothing more than consistent
behaviour patterns that summarizes out reinforcement history.’ For example, we learn
to speak English, because we have been rewarded for approximating the sounds of the
English Language.
- The theory does not attribute motivation to internal processes within an organism. It
takes for granted the consequences of behaviour as a source of motivation to further
the occurrence of that behaviour. For example, knowledge of correct response is
reinforcing to a learner thus a source of motivation.
- Operant conditioning stresses the importance of schedules in the process of behaviour
reinforcement. Great care therefore should be employed in properly planning the
administration of reinforcement.
- This theory also advocates the avoidance of punishment for unlearning the
undesirable behaviour and for shaping the desirable behaviour. Punishment in the

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 long run tends to prove ineffective as all it does is to simply suppress behaviour.
Operant conditioning therefore suggests rewarding the appropriate behaviour and
ignoring the inappropriate ones for its gradual extinction.
- The operant conditioning theory has contributed a lot towards the development of
teaching machines and programmed learning. This is because we are made to think
that the learner proceeds more effectively if the learner is given rapid feedback and is
able to learn at his own pace.

GESTALT THEORY OF LEARNING

Kohler’s Insight Theory
Gestalt psychology began with the work of German psychologists who were studying the
nature of perception. Wertheimer is generally considered to be the founding father of the
Gestalt field of psychology. Others are Kohler, Koffka and Lewin who all moved to America
eventually. Gestalt is a German noun for configuration, or more simply, organized whole.
The basic idea behind the theory is that a thing cannot be understood by the study of its
constituent parts but only by the study of it as a totality.

Practically speaking, Gestalt psychology is primarily concerned with the nature of perception.
According to them, an individual perceives the thing as a whole. They believed that
perception always involves a problem of organization. A thing is perceived as a relationship
within a field which includes the thing, the viewer and complex background incorporating the
viewer’s purpose and previous experience.

Gestalt psychologists therefore explained learning as purposive, exploratory, and creative

enterprise instead of trial and error or simple stimulus–response mechanism. Learner, while
learning, always perceives the situation as a whole and after seeing and evaluating the
different relationships intelligently takes a proper decision. That the learner always responds
in terms of proper relationship rather than specific stimulus or by trial and error.

This theory is associated with the name of Kohler who conducted a series of experiments on
chimpanzees. The four classical experiments are described as follows:-

EXPERIMENTS 1:- A chimpanzee named Sultan was confined in a cage. There was stick in
the cage and outside the cage some bananas were placed. In the first instance, on seeing the
bananas, the chimpanzee showed restlessness and tried his best to reach the bananas but he

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could not reach without the help of the stick. All of the sudden, the chimpanzee perceived the
stick and established relationship between stick and bananas. He fished the bananas inside
with the help of the stick.

EXPERIMENTS 2:- In the second experiment, two sticks were used which could be fitted
with each other with some mechanism. The chimpanzee could only get the bananas with the
help of both the sticks fitted in each other. He first tried to get the bananas with the help of
one stick but he failed. All of a sudden he succeeded in fitting both the stick and could get the
bananas.

EXPERIMENTS 3:- The experiment setting was slightly changed in this experiment. The
bananas were hung from the ceiling of the cage and a box was put in the corner of the cage.
The chimpanzee attempted to get the bananas could not reach to them. He suddenly
established relationship between the box and the bananas, put the box under the bananas and
climbed on it and get the bananas.

EXPERIMENTS 4: This experiment was in line with experiment (3) above but a slight
change was introduced in it as two boxes were kept instead of one. The Chimpanzee had to
use both the boxes in order to get the bananas.

With these experiments, Kohler showed that in the solution of problems, apes do not blindly
resort to trial and error mechanism. They rather solved their problem intelligently. He used
the term ‘Insight’ to describe the learning of his apes.

Insight involves the following criteria:

i. The situation as a whole is perceived by the learner

ii. The learner tries to see and judge the relationship between various factors involved in the
situation

iii. As a result, the learner is helped in the sudden grasping of the solution of the problem.

Other experiments were also conducted by the Gestalt psychologists. All the
experiments have shown that at some stage there is a new organization of the perceptual
field resulting in sudden discovery of the solution. Therefore learning is defined by them as
re-structuring of the field of perception through insight. Insight depends on factors such as

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experience, intelligence, learning situation, initial efforts (trial and error), repetition and
generalization.

Facts about the Theory

1. The whole is greater than the parts and, therefore, the situation should be viewed as a
whole.

2. The use of blind fumbling and mechanical trial and error should be minimised. The learner
should try to see relevant relationships and act intelligently.

3. The purpose or motive plays a central role in the learning process.

Application of Insight Theory to Classroom Situation

Based on the appeals of this theory, teachers are required to pay attention to the following
aspects.

- Subject-matter (learning material) should be presented in Gestalt form. For example,

while teaching a topic -Parts of a flower, it should not be started by presenting the
different parts before the whole plant is presented.
- In the organization of the syllabus and planning of the curriculum, the Gestalt
principle should be given due consideration by treating subjects not as a mere
collection of isolated facts but as an integrated whole. Unity and cohesiveness should
be reflected.
- The theory has brought motivation to the forefront by emphasizing purpose and
motive as central in learning. Therefore the techniques of motivation should be
employed.
- The Insight theory of learning has made learning an intelligent task requiring mental
abilities instead of blind fumbling and automatic responses to specific stimuli. This
brings an end the age-old mechanical memorization, drill and practice work which
lack in basic understanding and use of thinking, reasoning and creative mental
powers.

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 REINFORCEMENT

The term reinforce means to strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to anything
stimulus which strengthens or increases the probability of a specific response. For example, if
you want your dog to sit on command, you may give him a treat every time he sits for you.
The dog will eventually come to understand that sitting when told to will result in a treat.
This treat is reinforcing because he likes it and will result in him sitting when instructed to do
so.

This is a simple description of a reinforcer (Skinner, 1938), the treat, which increases the
response, sitting. We all apply reinforcers everyday, most of the time without even realizing
we are doing it. You may tell your child "good job" after he or she cleans their room; perhaps
you tell your partner how good he or she look when they dress up; or maybe you got a raise at
work after doing a great job on a project. All of these things increase the probability that the
same response will be repeated.

There are four types of reinforcement: positive, negative, punishment, and extinction. We’ll
discuss each of these and give examples.

Positive Reinforcement. The examples above describe what is referred to as positive

reinforcement. Think of it as adding something in order to increase a response. For example,
adding a treat will increase the response of sitting; adding praise will increase the chances of
your child cleaning his or her room. The most common types of positive reinforcement or
praise and rewards, and most of us have experienced this as both the giver and receiver.

Negative Reinforcement. Think of negative reinforcement as taking something negative

away in order to increase a response. Imagine a teenager who is nagged by his mother to take
out the garbage week after week. After complaining to his friends about the nagging, he
finally one day performs the task and to his amazement, the nagging stops. The elimination
of this negative stimulus is reinforcing and will likely increase the chances that he will take
out the garbage next week.

Punishment. Punishment refers to adding something aversive in order to decrease a

behaviour. The most common example of this is disciplining (e.g. spanking) a child for
misbehaving. The reason we do this is because the child begins to associate being punished

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with the negative behaviour. The punishment is not liked and therefore to avoid it, he or she
will stop behaving in that manner.

Extinction. When you remove something in order to decrease a behaviour, this is called
extinction. You are taking something away so that a response is decreased.

Research has found positive reinforcement is the most powerful of any of these. Adding a
positive to increase a response not only works better, but allows both parties to focus on the
positive aspects of the situation. Punishment, when applied immediately following the
negative behaviour can be effective, but results in extinction when it is not applied
consistently. Punishment can also invoke other negative responses such as anger and
resentment.

Reinforcement Schedules

Know that we understand the four types of reinforcement, we need to understand how and
when these are applied (Ferster & Skinner, 1957). For example, do we apply the positive
reinforcement every time a child does something positive? Do we punish a child every time
he does something negative? To answer these questions, you need to understand the
schedules of reinforcement.

Applying one of the four types of reinforcement every time the behaviour occurs (getting a
raise after every successful project or getting spanked after every negative behaviour) is
called a Continuous Schedule. Its continuous because the application occurs after every
project, behaviour, etc. This is the best approach when using punishment. Inconsistencies in
the punishment of children often results in confusion and resentment. A problem with this
schedule is that we are not always present when a behaviour occurs or may not be able to
apply the punishment.

There are two types of continuous schedules:

Fixed Ratio. A fixed ratio schedule refers to applying the reinforcement after a specific
number of behaviours. Spanking a child if you have to ask him three times to clean his room
is an example. The problem is that the child (or anyone for that matter) will begin to realize
that he can get away with two requests before he has to act. Therefore, the behaviour does not
tend to change until right before the preset number.

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Fixed Interval. Applying the reinforcer after a specific amount of time is referred to as a
fixed interval schedule. An example might be getting a raise every year and not in between. A
major problem with this schedule is that people tend to improve their performance right
before the time period expires so as to "look good" when the review comes around.

When reinforcement is applied on an irregular basis, they are called variable schedules.

Variable Ratio. This refers to applying a reinforcer after a variable number of responses.
Variable ratio schedules have been found to work best under many circumstances and
knowing an example will explain why. Imagine walking into a casino and heading for the slot
machines. After the third coin you put in, you get two back. Two more and you get three
back. Another five coins and you receive two more back. How difficult is it to stop playing?

Variable Interval. Reinforcing someone after a variable amount of time is the final schedule.
If you have a boss who checks your work periodically, you understand the power of this
schedule. Because you don’t know when the next ‘check-up’ might come, you have to be
working hard at all times in order to be ready.
In this sense, the variable schedules are more powerful and result in more consistent
behaviours. This may not be as true for punishment since consistency in the application is so
important, but for all other types of reinforcement they tend to result in stronger responses.

LEARNING STYLES AND STRATEGIES

It has been observed that individuals differ in their characteristic way of dealing with
different problems. Our concern here is an understanding of the individual approach to
problem solving. For instance, is the situation where one wakes up in the morning to start the
car and it fails to kick. One may think of may be lack of petrol, a bad battery, faulty kick
starter, faulty ignition keys or even spark plugs. While some individuals will take a
methodical approach checking one possible fault after another, others will in a random
fashion attempt a solution of the problem. Yet another will not even attempt a thing.

Frequently, this scenario appears in the classroom. Children manifest great differences in
their approach to solving problems. Some take longer time than others to understand the
various cues given in the problem; others rush at the solution and usually without success.

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Psychologists have attempted to distinguish between words “styles” and “strategy”.
According to them learning strategy is more specific, being a particular approach in tackling
a narrower range of problems. While learning styles of individuals remain more or less a
permanent way of thinking. Strategies may differ for the same individual’s confronted with
problems of different kinds.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Three main strategies isolated by Brunner are:

1. Conservative Focusing
2. Scanning and
3. Gambling

1. CONSERVATIVE FOCUSSING

Conservative focusers are those who start with the maximum number of attributes in the first
and card forming the concept, and they gradually eliminate the attributes one by one as they
come across contradicting evidence. If the evidence received from the second or some
subsequent card is confirming of their first concept, they hold on to their concept.

Conservative focussing is thus a method of continuous checking of the first hypothesis

from subsequent contradicting and confirming evidence, till the concept is pinned down.

Let us illustrate this strategy with the case of a consultant physician, who, failing to trace the
cause of a peculiar disease, forms his hypothesis that disease X is due to malfunctioning of
causes a, b, c, and e. He maintains this hypothesis till he comes across another case of
Disease X, and this time he finds that the malfunctioning factors were a, c, d and f. He alters
his hypothesis by forming a new one which says: Disease X is caused by the malfunctioning
of a, and c. He waits till he gets another case, where he finds symptoms of Disease X where
only factors a, and d, are not functioning properly. He comes to his final hypothesis: Factor
“a” if not functioning normally would cause disease X. This will be his acceptable
standard awaiting further confirmation. The physician in our example is a conservative
focuser.

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2. SCANNING

A scanner differ in his thinking strategy, cannot hold on to his hypothesis for a long time, and
he is likely to alter his hypothesis at the slightest contradiction and this alteration of his
hypothesis does not follow a fixed pattern as manifested in the focuser, as he starts his
thinking once again, forming an entirely new hypothesis. What is not known is if the
‘scanners’ are deficient in their facility for immediate memory. It may be a factor explaining
why some children are good at mental arithmetic and some are not.

3. GAMBLING

This is an entirely different sort of thinking where a haphazard method of approach to

problem solving is adopted. They are seldom consistent in their individual strategies of
thinking and quite likely, they are usually unsuccessful in the achievement including
classroom achievements.

LEARNING STYLES

These are terms used to describe different ways that people process information when
perceiving and various strategies they use when responding to tasks. Notice that they are
called cognitive styles and not abilities. This is because; they refer to how people process
information and solve them, not how well. They do affect the quality of performance
sometimes but one must appreciate the fact that each style is helpful in performing certain
tasks but not others.

TYPES OF LEARNING STYLES

Three types have been listed below:

1. Field-Independence Vs Field Dependence

2. Reflectivity Vs Impulsivity

3. Convergence Vs Divergence

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REFLECTIVITY vs. IMPULSIVITY

This cognitive style dimension is also referred to as conceptual tempo. It refers to the degree
to which people are cognitively impulsive or reflective in deciding upon a response when two
or more alternatives are plausible. The psychologist, Kagan isolated this dimension from
experimental evidence.

A reflective child is usually one who surveys the pros and cons of the problem before he acts,
while the impulsive child acts first. In his experiments, Kagan measured the time of the
responses of the children to his test materials not for the correct solution but for the first
response. He intend to obtain information on how long a time period a child takes before
making up his mind to respond. It was found that the reflective child, who took more time to
respond, was giving more correct answers than the impulsive child who acted quickly.

One of the important tests he used was called matching familiar figures test. In this test, the
stimulus picture of a telephone, or a doll sitting in a chair, was presented, and the child was
asked to select the correct one from an array of pictures apparently resembling the telephone
or the doll but with slight alterations in all but one of them.

Taking a longer time to respond does not necessarily mean that the child is actively engaged
in finding the right answer. He may be perplexed not knowing the right answer, and thus
spends more time than he would normally take. Though the word ‘reflection’ may carry the
connotation akin to intelligence, it must be noted that sufficient evidence is not available to
establish that reflectivity determines intelligence. A nervous child could act quickly in a test
situation as a result of tension.

In summary, cognitively impulsive people respond by inspecting the alternatives briefly and
then quickly selecting the one they believe to be correct. Often they do not take time to
compare carefully.

Cognitively reflective people on the other hand, deliberate before responding, carefully
considering each alternative. They take longer to respond, but they make fewer errors.

It has been discovered that in addition to those who are either fast and inaccurate or slow and
accurate, some people are observed to be both fast and accurate or slow and inaccurate.
Thus folks who respond quickly do so because they are very skilful and efficient at the task,
rather than impulsive in the problem-solving behaviour.

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Fast responders- even fast/inaccurate responders are not necessarily impulsive in any general
sense. Research by many investigators have shown specifically that, fast responders are not
especially likely to be hyperactive in their behaviour, unable to delay gratification, or
otherwise impulsive in the classroom or in everyday life.

Educational Implications of Reflectivity vs. Impulsivity

1. In teaching young children, it is convenience and fruitful for teachers to have

more reflective children in the classroom than more impulsive ones. Teachers can
through patient handling of the children and careful training with adequate
feedback to them by answering their questions in all possible ways train the child
to exhibit desirable learning style dimension.
2. Many school tasks require careful distinction of similar yet different stimuli (P vs.
Q, if vs. it). Students predisposed to notice such differences in fine detail and to
withhold interpretation until first impressions are verified are likely to read more
accurately than others.
3. In problems with alternative routes to solution, reflection and evaluation of the
validity of solution sequences are critical for eventual success. An unreflective
child who is not prone to reflecting upon the probable validity of alternative-
solution sequences might end up in failure.
4. An impulsive child continually attempt solution and in failure will most likely
experience high level of anxiety. As a result of the increased anxiety his selection
of a second solution is likely to result in failure. A maladaptive behaviour results
where the child might gradually withdraw from problem situation in self pity.
Apathy and hostility towards intellectual situations may result from this.
5. Teaching methods can be modified with due consideration to the nature of the
material to be learnt and the appropriate learning style dimension. It has been
shown in a study (Kagan, Lee and Robson, 1963) that while reflection and
analysis may be required for cognition in Mathematical knowledge and the
physical sciences, maximum productivity can be attained in the aspect of arts,
social sciences and humanities through impulsive behaviour.
6. Finally, the teacher must ensure that both parties are carried along in the
classroom as he is assigned to manage the different cognitive traits. He must not
be seen to attach too much importance or preference to one kind of behaviour to
the point where others loose their sense of worth.

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CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE

A “Convergent thinker” or converger is the type of child who does well in school and
examinations, who gets high scores on Intelligence Test, whose best subjects seems to be
science and mathematics; whose performance in art and humanities is less than inspiring,
who tends to read within the narrow range of his preferred subjects; who seldom poses any
discipline problems in school or home and who tends to conform to the norms of the society.
Furthermore, he is one who scores more on an Intelligence Test than on an open-ended test.

A “divergent thinker” or Diverger, is another type of child who does well in arts subjects,
who loves music and other forms of creative work in arts, who performs best in open-ended
tests than in Intelligence Tests, who is freedom-loving, and who is seldom as popular with the
teachers as their counterparts. For their inquisitive nature is seen as disturbing factor from the
teacher’s point of view.

Let us consider an Intelligent Test in this context as a test where only one answer is possible
for every item of the test where as an open-ended test have many possible answers for every
item of the test. For example, a typical Intelligence Test question may read as follows:-

Fine the missing word of the following expression in the form of relation.

Stallion : Mare Man : ?

The only answer that would be accepted as ‘correct’ in the above intelligence test item is
obviously, woman.

An open-ended test item may on the other hand, asks the testee to write down as many uses
he can think of, for a cutlass. A diverger is most likely to give answers to the above test item
than a converger.

The above explanation has not suggested anything to imply that the convergent will always
be more intelligent, and similarly that a diverger will be less intelligent. The point is that
there are convergers who are less than average in intelligence, and similarly there are
divergers who are more than average in intelligence.

Conclusion and Implications

At this point, it will be sufficient to take a look at the many interesting issues that are likely
to cross one’s mind after reading through the main findings of the learning style dimensions.

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Is there a particular learning style that is most suited for better achievements in a particular
type of curriculum than another? Is it true that convergers are more likely to succeed in life in
a conventional society? What are the true characteristics of divergers and convergers? Are
divergers necessarily creative? Is creativity an established monopoly of divergers alone?
These are pertinent questions that future researchers must explore.

At present, it can only be said that since one particular style of learning is more suitable than
another in bringing out school success, more attention should be given to help those who are
not endowed with that particular learning style, and on this is there hope of its achievement
by training.

If divergers are less popular simply because they tend to be asking too many questions in the
classroom or for not being prepared to accept the views of the teacher or authorities (which
are sometimes debatable). Then it is for the school to change the atmosphere to help those
children rather than asking them to conform to the acceptable norms prevailing in the school
or in that part of the world. Such schools are however, hard to come by. In this connection,
two findings are worth quoting. In one experiment, Haddon and Lytton found that informal
teaching approach in the primary schools aided the divergent thinking abilities of their
children, and in another, Lytton and Cotton found that the divergers flourished in the
secondary schools where some of the departments adopted the informal approach in teaching,
though on the whole the divergers were less popular and less successful than the convergers
in the secondary school. From these studies, we note that informal approach in teaching keeps
the divergers in schools interested in learning, while most schools favour the convergers’
development even if they are unaware of this issue.

The findings show that our inability to alter our approaches in teaching to suit the needs of
every type of children will result in making a considerable proportion of the school
population to become distinguished in the values which schools propagate.

FIELD-INDEPENDENCE VS FIELD DEPENDENCE

Witkin carried out extensive studies on the field-independence vs. field dependence
dimensions of perceptual abilities. It is also known as analytic vs. global perceptual styles
respectively. It is a psychological differentiation that reflects the effect of the surrounding
context or environment or background on the understanding of the object.

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People who are low in psychological differentiation (field-dependent, global) have
difficulty differentiating stimuli from the context in which they are embedded; so that their
perceptions are easily affected by manipulations of the surrounding contexts.

People who are high in psychological differentiation (field-independent, analytic)

perceive move analytically. They separate stimuli from background or context, so that they
are less susceptible to changing their perceptions when changes in the context are introduced.

Witkin used different experiments to study perceptual styles of children. Let us examine the
Rod and Frame test. The apparatus of this test consist of a luminous rod and frame. Those
were the only visible objects to the subject in the completely darkened room. With the frame
titled, the subject is required to adjust the rod to the upright. Some subjects perceive the rod
as straight only when it is fully aligned with the tilted frame around it. For these field-
dependent persons, perception of rod position is dictated by the context provided by the axes
of the surrounding frame. They cannot keep the rod separate from the frame; in this sense
their perception is global.

Other subjects, at the opposite extreme, are able to adjust the rod more or less to the true
upright, independently of frame position. These field-independent persons are able to
perceive a part of the field as discrete from the field; in this sense, their perception is
analytical.

Witkin concluded that to come to correct concept formation in the above situation, it is likely
that the children manifesting field-independence type of learning style will stand a better
chance of achieving more than their counterparts in education. Among his conclusions are:

(a) Some children are more global (field-dependent) while others are more articulated
(field independent).
(b) A global cognitive style of field-dependence needs to rely on the support of the
teachers and some other external sources.
(c) Field-dependent children gain more from incidental learning than the field-
independent ones.
(d) There is some relationship between one’s cognitive style and one’s form of
defence e.g. a field-independent child using isolation as his defence.
(e) Field-dependent children are most likely to forget their dreams on waking than
field-independent ones.

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EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no sufficient research evidence to suggest that field-independent children are more
intelligent that the field-dependent ones. However, it is most likely that field-independent
cognitive style may aid intelligence. Experiment is required to establish the cause and effect
relationship.

Psychological differentiation affects different kinds of learning and teaching situation. It is

likely that field-dependent children will look up to others for support. The teacher should
provide this as well as peers and parent.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT LEARNING STYLES

Let us closely look at the following Factors which have found to have significant effect on
learning style dimensions.

(a) ANTECEDENTS: Kagan suggests that the impulsive child begins his life as a very
active one, and sometimes it may be due to some sort of ‘brain damage’ at birth. Witkin
however thinks that the learning style of a child develops out of an interaction between his
constitutional origins and environment impact. This seems to be a more plausible hypothesis
as it can be shown that the effect of socialisation shapes the modes of acting of the children
including thinking. For example, girls in most cultures are simply told “to get on with the
job” without asking questions. This could possibly be the reason why girls are on the whole
more field-dependent than boys. Further, in working-class homes with multiple children and
siblings growing up together, it is likely that the parents and elders of their homes have
hardly anytime to answer the queries of children, and as a result these children grow up trying
to apply their own judgements on situations, and this surely helps them to be field-dependent
and impulsive.

The picture is quite opposite in the middle-class homes with fewer children where the parents
take special care of their wards and help them to understand every situation including
language structures as well, and the subtle differences that may be existing between two
apparently similar things or stimuli that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. This helps
such children to be more field-independent than others.

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(b) DEVELOPMENT FACTORS: Both Kagan and Witkin found that with age, the
individuals tend to become more field-independent and more reflective. They seem to display
signs of ‘matured thinking’.

(c) TRAINING FACTORS: Again, both Witkin and Kagan seem to be hopeful in their
expectations that training might produce some changes in the shifting of the polarities of the
children’s learning styles. For example, it is possible that an impulsive child with training
may become reflective. Somehow, one polarity of the respective dimensions aids children
achievement more than the other. Training is thus useful in changing the polarities of their
learning style dimensions to the preferred directions.

MOTIVATION AND LEARNING

What drives you to want to learn about psychology? Why did you choose your career? Your
partner? Where you would live? Are your drives different from other people or do we all
share the same goals in life? Ever wonder why some people seem to be very successful,
highly motivated individuals? Where does the energy, the drive, or the direction come from?
Motivation is an area of psychology that has gotten a great deal of attention, especially in the
recent years. The reason is because we all want to be successful, we all want direction and
drive, and we all want to be seen as motivated.

Motivation derives from a Latin word “moveere” which means “to move” to action. Eggen
and Kauchak (1992) defined motivation as a force that energises behaviour. Simply put,
motivation is the force that spurs, arouses and sustains behaviour until the goal is achieved.
That which pushes and pulls an individual to move or act in a specified manner to attain the
desired objectives has been named as MOTIVES by psychologists. There are a number of
motives in our social life that are responsible for energizing and motivating our behaviour.
Two broad categories are- Primary and Secondary Motives.

Primary Motives

These are linked with the basic primary needs associated with biological or physiological
well-being of an individual. That is why these motives are often named as biological or
physiological motives. The motives ensure the preservation of life for an individual and his
race. Examples of such motives are hunger, thirst, sex, avoidance of pain, elimination of body

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wastes, sleep and rest. The primary motives are universal motives; they are found in all living
organisms- human or non-human. They are inborn and innate.

Secondary Motives

Secondary motives are linked with one’s socio-psychological needs and hence are named
psychological or social motives. They are acquired like other forms of learned behaviour in
the course of seeking satisfaction to our socio-psychological needs. Examples include
achievement motive, self-actualization motive, security motive, application motive, affiliation
motive etc.

At any occasion when a primary or secondary motive is attached with one’s action or
behaviour, then his behaviour patterns get dominated by such motive. His behaviour is then
termed as motivated behaviour forcing and compelling the individual to behave in a
particular way at the command of the involved motive.

Components of Motivation

There are three major components to motivation: activation, persistence and intensity.
Activation involves the decision to initiate behaviour, such as enrolling in a psychology class.
Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist, such as
taking more psychology courses in order to earn a degree although it requires a significant
investment of time, energy and resources. Finally, intensity can be seen in the concentration
and vigour that goes into pursuing a goal. For example, one student might coast by without
much effort, while another student will study regularly, participate in discussions and take
advantage of research opportunities outside of class.

Types of Motivation

Different types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsic or intrinsic.

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and often involve
rewards such as trophies, money, social recognition or praise. Extrinsic Motivation refers to
external incentives (such as money, grades, or prizes) for a person to perform a given task.

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As teachers, it can be a slippery slope if we offer only material incentives for our students to
learn or perform basic tasks. If Extrinsic Motivations become the primary incentives that
motivate students to perform their work, the children will develop poor habits and miss out
on the self-satisfaction that comes from hard work.

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than
from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades. Intrinsic motivations are
those that arise from within the individual, such as doing a complicated cross-word puzzle
purely for the personal gratification of solving a problem. The motivation comes from the
pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even
working on a task.

An intrinsically motivated person will work on a math equation, for example, because it is
enjoyable. Or an intrinsically motivated person will work on a solution to a problem because
the challenge of finding a solution is provides a sense of pleasure. In neither case does the
person work on the task because there is some reward involved, such as a prize, a payment, or
in the case of students, a grade.

Intrinsic motivation does not mean, however, that a person will not seek rewards. It just
means that such external rewards are not enough to keep a person motivated. An intrinsically
motivated student, for example, may want to get a good grade on an assignment, but if the
assignment does not interest that student, the possibility of a good grade is not enough to
maintain that student's motivation to put any effort into the project.

Characteristics of Motivation

1. Motivations need to be renewed continuously:

Once a person joins an institution, his initial motivation of being part of the organisation
wears out very soon. Therefore, new means need to be developed to keep the individual's
interest in achieving the organisation's goals.

2. Motivation is an act of inner needs and external force:

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Some of the functions of an organisation are such that an individual is driven towards them
without any external force, that is, he is driven by his own desire to achieve the goals of the
organisation basically because they are to his liking and gives him some kinds of satisfaction
per excellence.

Since work satisfies him, he satisfies work. No kind of monetary inducements are involved in
it. Where the work is monotonus, routine, individuals show apathy towards their work and,
therefore, work suffers. To motivate people of this category to give better performance,
inducements, rewards, incentives are generally given.

3. It brings about satisfaction:

Motivation helps individuals achieve satisfaction in their work. Human beings have various
needs, which cannot be satisfied in the- ordinary routine of things because human beings are
by nature lazy, and they have to be inspired to get the best out of them. Motivators do this.

Various theories of motivation have been pro-founded emphasising some aspect of human
nature. But needs are endless and, therefore, they need to be satisfied but at the same time
human beings need either inner motivation which would give them satisfaction in their work
or some external motivators may be employed to make them aware of the needs of
satisfaction in their work.

4. Motivation can be in the form of monetary rewards or nonmonetary rewards:

In monetary rewards, motivation is provided in the form of more money. With better
performance, an individual is provided with more income. Generally, this kind of motivation
can be provided in the form of more freedom of work, participation indecision-making
process, better amenities and so on.

This kind of motivation is provided where output is not related to the number of hours put in
work but on the overall performance of individual's work.

5. Motivation produces goal-directed behaviour:

Motivation has got a profound influence of human behaviour; it harnesses human energy to
organisational requirements. There is the notion of goal orientation on the part of individuals;

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their behaviour is directed towards something. Note that goal-directed behaviour does not
always lead to need satisfaction.

7. Motivation and satisfaction are related but not synonymous concepts:

Motivation is the drive to satisfy a want or goal. It is concerned with goal-directed behaviour.
Satisfaction refers to the contentment experiences when a want is satisfied. The term
'satisfaction' is used to analyse outcomes already experienced by an employee. Satisfaction is
a consequence of rewards and punishment associates with past experience.

8. Motivation can be either positive or negative:

Positive motivation or the carrot approach, offers something precious to the person in the
form of additional pay, incentives, praise etc., for satisfactory performance. Negative
motivation or stick approach emphasizes penalties while controlling performance
(reprimands, threat of demotion).

Theories of Motivation

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be highly motivated and successful
individuals? Where does their energy and drive originate? Is it nature or nurture? Motivation
is an area of psychology that has received a great deal of attention in recent years, because
many of us crave success and drive and the rewards it brings.

As stated earlier, motivation is the force that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented
behaviours. It is what causes us to take action, whether to grab a snack to reduce hunger or
enroll in the University to earn a degree. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be
biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature.

Psychologists have proposed a number of different theories of motivation, including drive

theory, instinct theory and humanistic theory. Each individual theory tends to be rather
limited in scope. However, by looking at the key ideas behind each theory, you can gain a
better understanding of motivation as a whole.

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Instinct Theory of Motivation

According to instinct theories, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they
are evolutionarily programmed to do so. An example of this in the animal world is seasonal
migration. These animals do not learn to do this; it is instead an inborn pattern of behaviour.

William James created a list of human instincts that included such things as attachment, play,
shame, anger, fear, shyness, modesty and love. The main problem with this theory is that it
did not really explain behaviour, it just described it. By the 1920s, instinct theories were
pushed aside in favor of other motivational theories, but contemporary evolutionary
psychologists still study the influence of genetics and heredity on human behaviour.

Instinct theory is derived from our biological make-up. We've all seen spider's webs and
perhaps even witnessed a spider in the tedious job of creating its home and trap. We've all
seen birds in their nests, feeding their young or painstakingly placing the twigs in place to
form their new home. How do spiders know how to spin webs? How do birds now how to
build nests?

The answer is biology. All creatures are born with specific innate knowledge about how to
survive. Animals are born with the capacity and often times knowledge of how to survive by
spinning webs, building nests, avoiding danger, and reproducing. These innate tendencies are
preprogrammed at birth, they are in our genes, and even if the spider never saw a web before,
never witnessed its creation, it would still know how to create one.

Humans have the same types of innate tendencies. Babies are born with a unique ability that
allows them to survive; they are born with the ability to cry. Without this, how would others
know when to feed the baby, know when he needed changing, or when she wanted attention
and affection? Crying allows a human infant to survive. We are also born with particular
reflexes which promote survival. The most important of these include sucking, swallowing,
coughing, blinking. Newborns can perform physical movements to avoid pain; they will turn
their head if touched on their cheek and search for a nipple (rooting reflex); and they will
grasp an object that touches the palm of their hands.

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Psychoanalytic Theory

Remember Sigmund Freud and his five part theory of personality. As part of this theory, he
believed that humans have only two basic drives: Eros and Thanatos, or the Life and Death
drives. According to Psychoanalytic theory, everything we do, every thought we have, and
every emotion we experience has one of two goals: to help us survive or to prevent our
destruction. This is similar to instinct theory, however, Freud believed that the vast majority
of our knowledge about these drives is buried in the unconscious part of the mind.

Psychoanalytic theory therefore argues that we go to school because it will help assure our
survival in terms of improved finances, more money for healthcare, or even an improved
ability to find a spouse. We move to better school districts to improve our children's ability
to survive and continue our family tree. We demand safety in our cars, toys, and in our
homes. We want criminal locked away, and we want to be protected against poisons,
terrorists, and anything else that could lead to our destruction. According to this theory,
everything we do, everything we are can be traced back to the two basic drives

Incentive Theory of Motivation

The incentive theory suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external
rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary
reward of being paid. Behavioural learning concepts such as association and reinforcement
play an important role in this theory of motivation.

Drive Theory of Motivation

According to the drive theory of motivation, people are motivated to take certain actions in
order to reduce the internal tension that is caused by unmet needs. For example, you might be
motivated to drink a glass of water in order to reduce the internal state of thirst. This theory is
useful in explaining behaviours that have a strong biological component, such as hunger or
thirst. The problem with the drive theory of motivation is that these behaviours are not always
motivated purely by physiological needs. For example, people often eat even when they are
not really hungry.

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According to Clark Hull (1943, 1952), humans have internal internal biological needs which
motivate us to perform a certain way. These needs, or drives, are defined by Hull as internal
states of arousal or tension which must be reduced. A prime example would be the internal
feelings of hunger or thirst, which motivates us to eat. According to this theory, we are
driven to reduce these drives so that we may maintain a sense of internal calmness.

Arousal Theory
Similar to Hull's Drive Reduction Theory, Arousal theory states that we are driven to
maintain a certain level of arousal in order to feel comfortable. Arousal refers to a state of
emotional, intellectual, and physical activity. It is different from the above theory, however,
because it doesn't rely on only a reduction of tension, but a balanced amount. It also does
better to explain why people climb mountains, go to school, or watch sad movies.

Humanistic Theory
Although discussed last, humanistic theory is perhaps the most well know theory of
motivation. According to this theory, humans are driven to achieve their maximum potential
and will always do so unless obstacles are placed in their way. These obstacles include
hunger, thirst, financial problems, safety issues, or anything else that takes our focus away
from maximum psychological growth.

The best way to describe this theory is to utilize the famous pyramid developed by Abraham
Maslow (1970) called the Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow believed that humans have specific
needs that must be met and that if lower level needs go unmet, we cannot possible strive for
higher level needs. The Hierarchy of Needs shows that at the lower level, we must focus on
basic issues such as food, sleep, and safety. Without food, without sleep, how could we
possible focus on the higher level needs such as respect, education, and recognition?

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Throughout our lives, we work toward achieving the top of the pyramid, self actualization, or
the realization of all of our potential. As we move up the pyramid, however, things get in the
way which slow us down and often knock us backward. Imagine working toward the respect
and recognition of your colleagues and suddenly finding yourself out of work and homeless.
Suddenly, you are forced backward and can no longer focus your attention on your work due
to the need for finding food and shelter for you and your family.

According to Maslow, nobody has ever reached the peak of his pyramid. We all may strive
for it and some may even get close, but no one has achieved full self-actualization. Self-
actualization means a complete understanding of who you are, a sense of completeness, of
being the best person you could possibly be. To have achieved this goal is to stop living, for
what is there to strive for if you have learned everything about yourself, if you have
experienced all that you can, and if there is no way left for you to grow emotionally,
intellectually, or spiritually.

Techniques for Motivating in Classroom Teaching-Learning Situations

Finally, it is important for all prospective teachers to know some techniques for motivating
students in the class. You will find some below.

1. Use the Principle of Pleasure and Pain: The oldest theory of behaviour holds
that pleasant experiences which give satisfaction are sought and painful

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 experiences are avoided by the organisms. Teachers must provide pleasant and
satisfying experiences to the students. This can also be used in a restricted to
describe the use of rewards and punishment as well as praise or blame
2. Aspiration: It means the level of performance to which one aspires for the future.
Teachers must see that the class activity is tailored in accordance with the
aspiration level of the students. Classroom goals should be attainable to encourage
student participation which is essential to arouse their interest in learning.
3. Use Competition and Cooperation: Teacher should stress friendly relation rather
than rivalry that breeds interpersonal rift among students. Competition could be
interpersonal among peers, group competition or competition with oneself.
Cooperation in terms of group work can be used in the classroom learning for
gaining high scores.

4. Knowledge of the Result (Feedback): Learning is faster and effective when the
learners are provided with the knowledge of their progress. From experiments, it
has been shown by psychologists that knowledge of the result facilities motivation
and improves content mastery of the learners. The teacher should provide
feedback to the students to motivate them in learning.
5. Novelty: Every novel thing creates interest in the individual. Teacher must
introduce novelty in his teaching. It works better, if the teacher points out the
relation between the new and the already known.
6. Provide Real Life and Symbolic Models: Most of the learning in human beings
is acquired through the process of observation and imitation. The teacher can
influence the behaviour of his students by his attitude and ideal living, written or
verbal presentation and by the use of audio-visual techniques.

ATTITUDES

The main aim of education is to modify the behaviour of a child according to the needs and
expectancy of the society. Behaviour is composed of many attributes. One of these important
attributes is ATTITUDE. One’s behaviour, to a great extent, depends upon one’s attitude
towards the things- idea, person, or object in his environment. Learning of a subject and
acquisition of habits, interests and other psychological dispositions are all affected by ones

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attitudes. Therefore it is important for teachers to understand the meaning and nature of
attitudes and the factors responsible for their formation and development.

An attitude is a psychological tendency we express when we evaluate something or someone

(Eagly and Chaiken, 1993). Attitude may also be seen as a predisposition or readiness to
respond in a predetermined manner to relevant stimuli. Your attitude towards something
could be positive, neutral or negative. Attitudes are acquired through experiences that have a
pronounced affective (feelings) component. It is a form of learning that is transmitted through
the process of imitation, and many have origins early in life. The parents’ revulsion, bodily
posture, and facial expressions toward an object such as a kind of food, or an animal may be
transmitted directly to the child. Other attitudes spring from modelling behaviour and
identification within the peer group in later childhood and adolescence.

Attitude refers to one’s feelings, thoughts, and predispositions to behave in some particular
manner towards some aspects of one’s environment. Attitudes are best expressed when
individuals make statements about their feelings or opinions about certain objects, issues or
things. For example, a statement like, “I enjoy Mathematics lesson”, “I hate to go to school”.

Attitudes are formed as a result of knowledge or cognition obtained directly or indirectly

about the thing or object about which the feelings are centred. Without cognition or learning,
there cannot be any feeling or opinion of any individual. If asked for instance about your
attitudes towards Chinese people, you will have to know something about them to be able to
answer that question.

During the growth period of every child, his home, his neighbourhood, his culture and the
mass media confront him with things that inculcate in him certain values, beliefs and
opinions. Some of these values, he accepts, and some he rejects.

It is also found that people behave in ways that contradict their true attitudes. It is difficult to
explain for sure why people show certain feelings. For example, a soldier in a battle field may
kill enemies though he may abhor the idea of killing. It would be wrong then, to say that the
soldier had positive attitude towards killing other persons. Hence, we can say that there is no
strong correlation between attitude and behaviour.

Teacher-Related Factors Responsible For Formation and Development of Attitudes

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Attitudes once formed may be highly resistant to change because they are wrapped up with a
person’s feelings, needs, and self-concept. To let them go requires a change in self. Since
attitudes have been shown to have considerable influence in what an individual will do in a
given situation, ways and means to change attitudes of individuals have become matters of
important concern to psychologists. Evidence from psychological experiments has shown that
attitude changes depend on the following four factors, viz:

1. Credibility of the Communicator: There is evidence from many experiments

that when the same content of message was communicated to groups of
individuals initially matched on their mean attitudes towards a particular thing or
object, by two different individuals, one relatively unknown, and the other being a
person of some status, the latter person’s communication had positive effects on
the change of attitudes of his audience. Such credibility depends on the following
2 factors (a) His expertise in the field and (2) His trustworthiness.
2. Nature of Appeals: The nature of the appeal contained in the communication or
message may be ‘emotional’ or ‘rational’. Emotional speeches given by an orator
or public speakers in political meetings seem to carry his respondents with him.
There may be very little rationality involved in the message. However, if the
situation does not concern the respondent very much, he will seek for the
rationality of the message.
Another type of communication may have some fear-arousal nature in it. For
example, that smoking is bad for health and it may cause lung cancer may be
transmitted in a communication of the nature of fear-appeal.

3. Organisation of the Communication: Organisation and presentation of a

communication is vital to the way it is received. There is some evidence that when
a communication contains two elements in its message, one which arouses the
need of the respondents, and the other which supplies the necessary information
how to satisfy the need, then the most effective sequence of presentation of the
entire communication is to present the need-arousing element first, and then the
information satisfying the need of the respondents.
4. Relative Commitment of the Individual in His Attitude: Every individual
maintains his relative position along a dimension of his attitude towards a
particular object or thing, e.g. he may have a positive or a negative attitude
towards the thing or object. Around this position, the individual manifests his

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 attitude whenever the situation calls for it. He is also prepared to slightly alter his
position on either side of his maintained position, and the range within which he
oscillates exhibits his ‘latitude of acceptance’. This shows the individuals
proneness to changing his attitude.

TRANSFER OF LEARNING

We learn many things and perform many tasks in our lives. Sometimes when we learn or
perform a new task, we find that it has been influenced by some of our previous learning or
training. The learning of addition and subtraction helps the child learn multiplication and
division. Learning of mathematics helps him in solving numerical problems in Physics.

The ultimate goal of teaching or educational experiences both in and out of school is to
enable the individual to meet new situations of various degrees of relatedness and similarities.
Learning is not effective if the learning at school does not transfer to other areas of life. An
excessive amount of a person’s life would have been spent in efforts that yield no apparent
return. Besides, our reactions to later situations in life are influenced by our previous
experiences. For example, the response that young children make when entering a new school
or class may be influenced by their previous experiences in the home.

What is Transfer of Learning?

According to Crow and Crow (1973), the carry-over of habits of thinking, feelings or
working, of knowledge or of skills, from one learning area to another is usually referred to as
the transfer of training. Transfer of learning or training is the effect of prior learning on
present learning or the effect of prior learning on the subsequent performance of different
tasks. All application of knowledge in the understanding and solution of new problems and
the use of old habits in dealing with new situations are cases of transfer of learning.

Types of Transfer of Learning

Transfer effects in human learning may be described under three main categories:-

1. Positive transfer occurs if the learning of a new task is facilitated by an old experience
or when a single response is appropriate for two stimuli.

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2. Negative transfer occurs if previous experience retards/inhibits/interferences in
performance of a task in a new situation or when one stimulus requires two different
responses.
3. Zero transfer occurs when training on one activity seems in no way to influence
training on another. That is, there is no noticeable effect of performance on one task
over the performance of another task. The evidence of zero transfer is very small
possibly because, in the study of transfer effects, experiments are designed to reveal
either positive or negative transfers.

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How to Achieve Maximum Positive Transfer

The following suggestions can help:

1. What is being learned at present should be linked with what has already been learnt in the
past. What one already knows should form the base for one’s present learning.

2. While engaging in learning, the learner should try to integrate theoretical studies with the
practical experiences.

3. The learner should always keep in mind the principle of correlated learning. What he is
trying to learn should be properly correlated with his life experiences, environmental
surroundings and other areas of knowledge.

4. The learner should avoid rote learning. The habit of learning through proper understanding
and insight should be developed.

5. Learners should try to make use of multimedia devices and sensory aids for the proper
understanding of concepts.

6. The learner should try to learn through his own efforts. He must make use of logical
thinking for knowing and discovering things by himself.

7. Instead of learning discrete and isolated facts, the learner should concentrate on the
learning of the principles, generalization and rules. He should try to discover formulae, rules
and principles on the basis of his experiences and then give sufficient time for their utilization
and practice.

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