Hi everybody .
Welcome to the 4th module of the course Early Childhood Care and Education .
The module is on the
theoretical foundations and implications towards
learning and development ,
with special focus on behaviorism and social learning concepts .
This module comes to you in the form of 3 videos .
The first video will elaborate the concept of learning
and explain how classical conditioning helps towards
learning .
The second video will elaborate the
operant conditionings and how reinforcement
and punishment play an important role towards
learning of a human being .
The third video is how do children learn by means of
imitation and practice in the way of social learning ,
as proposed by Bandura .
So , this is the question .
Now let us on move on to the concept of learning .
What is meant by learning ?
Learning refers to changes in behavior
as a result of experience .
You know babies are born with integrated learning mechanisms and capacities
that allow them to gain from experiences .
Any human being at a younger age learns through
two basic forms of learning ,
namely , Classical and Operant conditioning .
Next they learn by observing and and imitating others .
Let us learn about all these approaches in detail .
At the end of this video , you will be able to
understand the concept of learning ;
describe the behaviorist approaches to learning , namely , classical conditioning ;
and the third is to take up the responsibility of guiding children of 0 to 6 years
to develop desirable behavior
and extinguish undesired behavior .
Before getting into the theories of learning , the concept of learning should be well understood .
Learning is defined as a process
that results in relatively consistent change in behavior ,
or behavior potential , based on experience .
Why is it called relatively consistent change ?
After you have learned swimming and are confident about it ,
you will probably always be able to swim .
However ,
you should realize those consistent changes may not be permanent .
For example , if you give up swimming , the speed with which you swim
might have declined from the original speed ,
but it will surely be easy to learn again .
And what is the change in behavior or behavior potential ?
Most learning is
apparent from the improvement in performance . For example , driving a car .
However , in many instances ,
performance may not show everything you have learned ,
as an improvement in performance can not be measured .
For example , appreciation of modern art .
In such instances , you are said to have achieved a potential for
behavior change .
Now , why do we say it is based on experience ?
Remember it is only through experience
that learning can take place .
Experience includes taking in information , assessment ,
transformation , and manifestation of responses
that affect the environment .
Now let us get into classical conditioning concept .
Babies are born with a built-in set of learning mechanisms
that enables them to learn immediately .
So , kids at a very young age are capable of two basic
forms , as already explained - classical conditioning and operant conditioning .
The first approach
will be explained to you in detail .
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning , for which
he won the Nobel prize in 1904 .
Learning by classical conditioning is associating an environmental
or neutral stimulus
with a naturally occurring stimulus .
Classical conditioning is defined as a form of learning that involves associating
a neutral stimulus with a stimulus
that leads to reflexive response .
Now , on to Pavlov 's experiment .
Reflex response constitutes the crux of classical conditioning .
A reflex is nothing but an automatic response to specific stimuli ,
such as salivation , eye blinking , etc .
Reflexes are biologically important for the survival of any organism .
So , the accidental discovery of the innate salivation or reflex of dogs
at the sight of the food
paved the way for Pavlov 's classical conditioning process .
Now look at the figure
that exhibits Pavlov 's restraining harness .
Pavlov ’ s experiment was conducted by placing a dog in a restraining hardness .
A stimulus - the sound of a bell - was presented at regular intervals .
and then the dog was provided with some food .
At first ,
the dog had no prior meaning of the tone concerning food or salivation .
It was just an orienting response at first .
The dog cocked its ears , and moved its head to trace the source of the sound .
However , with the frequent pairing of the tone and the food
the orienting response is no more manifested ,
and salivation begins .
This phenomenon was found to be similar to another stimulus .
Pavlov demonstrated the generality of this effect by using a variety of other
stimuli such as light etc .
Now , in detail about the process of classical conditioning .
On the whole , classical conditioning involves forming an association
between a neutral stimulus and natural stimulus , resulting in a learned response .
The three basic stages of classical conditioning are : Before conditioning ,
during conditioning , and after conditioning .
In the first stage , that is the before conditioning stage of the learning process ,
Pavlov provided a natural stimulus , the site of food
that will automatically elicit a response , called salivation .
In other words ,
the unconditioned stimulus - called UCS -
produces an unconditioned response called
UCR .
At this point , a neutral stimulus
that produces no effect is introduced .
Here the neutral stimulus is the sound of a bell .
It is found that the neutral stimulus can evoke a response when
paired with UCS several times .
Therefore ,
unconditioned stimulus - UCS -
refers to naturally occurring stimuli that evokes a response .
Whereas , unconditioned response ,
UCR is the automatic response
manifested when subjected to unconditioned stimulus .
Now , stage 2 is during conditioning .
For this stage ,
Pavlov introduced a neutral stimulus - the sound of a bell -
that is repeatedly paired with the UCS , the food .
Hence , an association between the neutral stimulus and the natural stimulus
is facilitated .
If the association triggers the salivation response , then the neutral stimulus is
called conditioned stimulus
or safe .
The once neutral stimulus - after being associated with the natural stimulus - eventually triggers
a conditioned response and this stimulus is called conditioned stimulus .
Now , the third stage is after conditioning .
Once the association has been made between the UCS and the CS ,
Pavlov found that the CS
even when presented without UCS , will trigger a response .
The resulting response of salivation even without food is known as
conditioned response , or CR which refers to the habituated
or learned response
to one 's neutral stimulus .
Hence , UCS , UCR connections are provided by nature .
But the CS-CR connections
are produced by learning through classical conditioning .
Now , after understanding the concept of classical conditioning ,
what are its uses in the real world ?
Few of the real world applications for classical conditioning are now
explained to you . The first one is that
classical conditioning mechanisms are used by
many dog trainers to train their pets .
Phobias or anxiety problems could also be treated by the
principles of classical conditioning .
And very important , you as a prospective teacher ,
could apply classical conditioning in the classroom setting .
For example , an anxious situation of performing on stage
can be paired with a pleasant reward by which the child
could learn to stay relaxed and calm on stage .
Hope the theory on classical conditioning has explained how
a child learns by means of associating
a neutral stimulus and then learn that particular behavior .
Plus , you are
provided with some implications that as a teacher
you could use in the
class room environment .
Hope to meet you for the next concept on operant conditioning .
Thank you .