Theories of Human Learning What the Old Woman Said

by Lefrancois, Guy R.

• ISBN13: 9780534641528
• ISBN10: 0534641520
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-29
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

Both a serious academic text and a delightful story, this book offers a clear, readable look at a full range of learning theories-from behavioral to cognitive- and also covers memory, motivation, connectionism (neural net models), and social learning. It concludes with a comprehensive synthesis. Its most apparent strength is its easily accessible style, but its greatest value lies in the clarity of its concepts. THEORIES OF HUMAN LEARNING is told by an old woman. But this old woman isn't just anyone. In fact, professors familiar with previous editions of this book may conclude that she is related to Kongor and Kro, those extraterrestrials who, in earlier editions, so successfully guided students through the maze of historic and current theories that help us understand how humans learn. And, wise as she is, the old woman does the job even more effectively than her predecessors in this fifth edition of THEORIES OF HUMAN LEARNING: WHAT THE OLD WOMAN SAID.

Table of Contents

PART ONE Science and Theory
Human Learning: Science and Theory	1	(28)
What the Old Woman Said: This Book	2	(1)
Objectives	2	(1)
Psychology and Learning	3	(4)
Knowledge and Consciousness	3	(2)
Learning	5	(1)
Performance versus Learning	6	(1)
Theory	7	(5)
Theories, Principles, Laws, and Beliefs	7	(2)
Purposes of Theories	9
Characteristics of Good Theories	8	(4)
Science and the Development of Psychological Theories	12	(9)
What Is Science?	12	(1)
Rules of the Scientific Method	12	(2)
Experiments	14	(1)
Evaluating Psychological Research	15	(4)
Participants in Psychological Investigations	19	(1)
Ethics of Animal Research	20	(1)
Humans as Subjects	20	(1)
Learning Theory: A Brief Overview	21	(3)
Recent Origins of Learning Theory	22	(2)
Preview of the Text	24	(3)
Early Behaviorism: Pavlov, Watson, and Guthrie	24	(1)
The Effects of Behavior: Thorndike and Hull	24	(1)
Operant Conditioning: Skinner's Radical Behaviorism	24	(1)
Evolutionary Psychology: Learning, Biology, and the Brain	25	(1)
A Transition to Modern Cognitivism: Hebb, Tolman, and the Gestaltists	25	(1)
Three Cognitive Theories: Bruner, Piaget, and Vygotsky	25	(1)
Neural Networks: The New Connectionism	26	(1)
Learning and Remembering	26	(1)
Motivation	26	(1)
Social Learning: Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory	26	(1)
Analysis, Synthesis, and Integration	27	(1)
Instructional and Other Applications of Learning Theories	27	(1)
Summary	28	(1)
PART TWO Mostly Behavioristic Theories
Early Behaviorism: Pavlov, Watson, and Guthrie	29	(38)
This Chapter	30	(1)
Objectives	30	(1)
Scientific Psychology's Beginnings	31	(2)
Early Psychophysics	31	(2)
Ivan P. Pavlov (1849--1936)	33	(10)
Classical Conditioning	35	(3)
Explanations for Stimulus-Response Associations	38	(1)
Variations in Contiguity	39	(1)
Phenomena in Classical Conditioning	40	(2)
Educational Implications of Pavlov's Classical Conditioning	42	(1)
Pavlov's Classical Conditioning: An Appraisal	43	(1)
John B. Watson (1878--1958)	43	(11)
Behaviorism	43	(2)
Learning: A Classical Conditioning Explanation	45	(1)
Emotional Learning	45	(3)
Transfer	48	(1)
Watson's Environmentalism	49	(1)
Higher Learning	50	(1)
Educational and Other Applications of Watson's Psychology	51	(2)
Watson's Behaviorism: An Appraisal	53	(1)
Edwin Guthrie (1886--1959)	54	(10)
Guthrie's Law of One-Shot Learning	54	(2)
Practice	56	(1)
Movement Produced Stimuli (MPS)	57	(1)
Habits	57	(1)
Forgetting	58	(1)
Reward and Punishment	58	(1)
Practical Applications of Guthrie's Theory: Forming and Breaking Habits	59	(4)
Guthrie's One-Shot Learning: An Appraisal	63	(1)
Early Behavioristic Theories: Evaluation	64	(1)
Summary	65	(2)
The Effects of Behavior: Thorndike and Hull	67	(30)
This Chapter	68	(1)
Objectives	69	(1)
Edward L. Thorndike (1874--1949): Connectionism	69	(12)
Puzzle Boxes and Animal Intelligence	70	(2)
Contiguity or Reinforcement	72	(1)
Thorndike's Pre-1930s Theory: Emphasis on Practice	72	(4)
Subsidiary Laws	76	(1)
Thorndike's Post-1930 Theory: Emphasis on Reinforcement	77	(3)
An Appraisal of Thorndike's Connectionism	80	(1)
Clark L. Hull (1884--1952): A Hypothetico-Deductive System	81	(14)
Overview of Hull's System	82	(1)
Main Components of Hull's System	82	(2)
Graphic Summary of Hull's System	84	(1)
Input Variables: Predictors	84	(1)
Intervening Variables	85	(5)
Output Variables: The Predicted	90	(1)
Fractional Antedating Goal Reactions	91	(1)
Habit-Family Hierarchies	92	(1)
Appraisal of Hull's Formal Behaviorism	92	(3)
Educational Implications of Thorndike and Hull	95	(1)
Summary	95	(2)
Operant Conditioning: Skinner's Radical Behaviorism	97	(41)
This Chapter	98	(1)
Objectives	99	(1)
Is Skinner's Radical Behaviorism Antitheoretical?	99	(7)
Skinner's Radical Behaviorism: An Overview	100	(6)
Reinforcement	106	(4)
Positive and Negative Reinforcement	107	(1)
Punishment	107	(1)
Illustrations of Reinforcement and Punishment	108	(2)
Primary and Secondary Reinforcers	110	(1)
Reinforcement Schedules	110	(12)
Continuous or Intermittent Reinforcement	111	(2)
Effects of Different Reinforcement Schedules	113	(4)
Schedules of Reinforcement in Everyday Life	117	(1)
Shaping	118	(2)
Chaining	120	(1)
Shaping in Human Learning	121	(1)
Fading, Generalization, and Discrimination	122	(2)
Illustration 1: Teaching Pigeons to Read	122	(1)
Illustration 2: Deceiving Amorous Quail	122	(1)
Relevance to Human Learning	123	(1)
Applications of Operant Conditioning	124	(9)
Instructional Applications of Positive Contingencies	125	(2)
Applications of Aversive Consequences	127	(4)
Other Applications: Behavior Management	131	(2)
Skinner's Position: An Appraisal	133	(2)
Contributions	133	(1)
Evaluation as a Theory	134	(1)
Some Philosophical Objections	134	(1)
Summary	135	(3)
Evolutionary Psychology: Learning, Biology, and the Brain	138	(35)
This Chapter	140	(1)
Objectives	140	(1)
Taste Aversion Learning	141	(8)
Conditioning Explanations for Taste Aversions	141	(3)
The Phenomenon of Blocking	144	(1)
Explanations of Blocking	145	(3)
Darwinian Natural Selection and Psychology	148	(1)
Evolutionary Psychology	149	(4)
Autoshaping	150	(1)
Instinctive Drift	151	(2)
Biological Constraints	153	(1)
Sociobiology: A Precursor of Evolutionary Psychology	154	(3)
Inclusive Fitness and Altruism	155	(1)
Some Reactions to Sociobiology	156	(1)
Evolutionary Psychology: An Appraisal	157	(1)
Some Practical Applications: Biofeedback and Neurofeedback	158	(2)
Conditioning of Autonomic Responses	158	(1)
How Biofeedback Works	159	(1)
The Beginning of a Transition	160	(2)
Learning and the Brain	162	(8)
Studying Brain Functions	162	(3)
Hindbrain	165	(1)
Midbrain	166	(1)
Forebrain	166	(3)
The Brain and Experience	169	(1)
A Brain-Based Approach to Learning	170	(1)
Summary	170	(3)
PART THREE The Beginnings of Modern Cognitivism
A Transition to Modern Cognitivism: Hebb, Tolman, and the Gestaltists	173	(41)
This Chapter	174	(1)
Objectives	175	(1)
Hebb's Theory: Higher Mental Processes	175	(15)
Higher Mental Processes: Between Stimulus and Response	176	(1)
The Physiology of Learning	177	(1)
Functioning of the Central Nervous System	177	(3)
Hebb's Neurophysiological Assumptions	180	(1)
Neurological Changes Underlying Learning	181	(1)
The Neurology of Reactivity and Plasticity	182	(1)
Mediating Processes: Hypotheses and Assumptions	183	(2)
Learning and Thinking in Hebb's Theory	185	(1)
Set and Attention	186	(1)
Educational Applications of Hebb's Theory	187	(1)
Hebb's Theory: An Appraisal	188	(2)
From Behaviorism to Cognitivism	190	(1)
Mechanistic Behaviorism	191	(1)
Tolman's Purposive Behaviorism	192	(6)
Do Rats Have Purpose?	193	(3)
Educational Implications and Summary Principles of Tolman's System	196	(1)
Tolman's Purposive Behaviorism: An Appraisal	197	(1)
Gestalt Psychology: Basic Beliefs	198	(11)
Insight versus Trial and Error in Ape Learning	199	(2)
Gestalt Means ``Whole''	201	(1)
Gestalt Theory: The Laws of Perception	202	(2)
Gestalt Views of Learning and Memory	204	(1)
Beyond Perception: The Behavioral Field	205	(2)
Gestalt Psychology and Contemporary Cognitivism	207	(1)
Educational Implications of Gestalt Psychology	207	(1)
Gestalt Psychology: An Appraisal	208	(1)
Metaphors in Psychology	209	(2)
Metaphors in Behaviorism	210	(1)
Metaphors in Cognitivism	211	(1)
Summary	211	(3)
PART FOUR Mostly Cognitive Theories
Three Cognitive Theories: Bruner, Piaget, and Vygotsky	214	(53)
This Chapter	215	(1)
Objectives	216	(1)
Cognitive Psychology	216	(1)
A Comparison of Cognitivism and Behaviorism	217	(2)
The Main Metaphor of Cognitive Psychology	218	(1)
Bruner's Learning Theory: Going Beyond the Information Given	219	(7)
Evolution of the Brain	219	(2)
Evolution of Mental Representation	221	(1)
Representation and Cognitive Theory	222	(1)
Bruner's Theory of Representation: Categorization	223	(1)
Categories as Rules	224	(1)
Decision Making	225	(1)
Coding Systems	225	(1)
Concept Attainment	226	(5)
Strategies for Concept Attainment	227	(3)
Concept Attainment Strategies in Real Life	230	(1)
More Recent Research on Concepts	231	(2)
Developmental Trends in Concept Learning	231	(1)
Category Boundaries	231	(1)
The Neurobiology of Categories	232	(1)
Abstraction	232	(1)
Bruner's Position: An Appraisal	233	(2)
Educational Implications of Bruner's Theory	235	(1)
Jean Piaget: A Developmental-Cognitive Position	236	(19)
The Methode Clinique	236	(1)
Theoretical Orientation	237	(2)
Assimilation and Accommodation: The Processes of Adaptation	239	(1)
Play	240	(1)
Imitation	241	(1)
Intelligence	242	(1)
A Stage Theory	243	(1)
Sensorimotor Development: Birth to 2 Years	244	(1)
Preoperational Thinking: 2 to 7 Years	245	(3)
Operations	248	(1)
Concrete Operations: 7 to 11 or 12 Years	248	(4)
Formal Operations: After 11 or 12 Years	252	(2)
Piaget's Theory as a Theory of Learning	254	(1)
Educational Implications of Piaget's Theory	255	(2)
Piaget's Position: An Appraisal	257	(2)
Related Research	257	(2)
Lev Vygotsky: A Cultural/Cognitive Theory	259	(4)
Main Ideas in Vygotsky's Theory	259	(3)
Vygotsky's Theory: Educational Implications	262	(1)
Scaffolding	263	(1)
Vygotsky's Theory: An Appraisal	263	(1)
Summary	264	(3)
Neural Networks: The New Connectionism	267	(25)
This Chapter	268	(2)
Objectives	269	(1)
Computer Simulation and Artificial Intelligence	270	(4)
Making Computers Smarter	271	(1)
Can Machines Think? The Turing Test	272	(2)
The Computer and the Brain	274	(3)
People and Machines: Computer Metaphors	274	(3)
Parallel Distributed Processing	277	(1)
Symbolic and Connectionist Models	277	(6)
Symbolic Models	278	(3)
Connectionist Models	281	(2)
Neural Networks	283	(3)
Neural Network Models	283	(3)
Connectionist Models: An Appraisal	286	(2)
Some Cautions and Criticisms	287	(1)
Educational Implications	288	(2)
A Field in Progress	290	(1)
Summary	290	(2)
Learning and Remembering	292	(35)
This Chapter	293	(1)
Objectives	294	(1)
Metaphors in the Study of Memory	294	(5)
Basic Concepts and Definitions in Memory	295	(1)
Defining Memory	296	(2)
Early Memory Research	298	(1)
A Three-Component Model of Memory	299	(11)
Sensory Memory	300	(2)
Short-Term (or Working) Memory	302	(4)
Long-Term Memory	306	(3)
Short-Term and Long-Term Memory Compared	309	(1)
Types of Long-Term Memory	310	(4)
Explicit (Declarative) and Implicit (Nondeclarative) Memory	310	(1)
Two Kinds of Declarative Memory	311	(1)
Models of Declarative Long-Term Memory	312	(2)
Physiology of Memory	314	(4)
The Engram	315	(1)
Rat Brain and Planaria Studies	316	(1)
Brain Imaging, ERPs, and ERFs	317	(1)
A Connectionist View	318	(1)
Forgetting	318	(4)
Brain Injury	318	(1)
Fading Theory	319	(1)
Distortion Theory	319	(1)
Repression Theory	320	(1)
Interference Theory	320	(1)
Retrieval-Cue Failure	321	(1)
Educational Implications: Aids to Learning and Remembering	322	(3)
Rehearsal	322	(1)
Elaboration	323	(1)
Organization	323	(1)
Systems for Remembering	323	(2)
Summary	325	(2)
Motivation	327	(32)
This Chapter	328	(1)
Objectives	328	(1)
Motivation and Emotions	329	(1)
Reflexes, Instincts, and Imprinting	330	(4)
Reflexes	330	(1)
The Orienting Reflex	330	(1)
Instincts	331	(1)
Imprinting	332	(2)
Psychological Hedonism	334	(1)
Drive Reduction and Incentives	334	(5)
Needs and Drives	335	(1)
Psychological Needs	335	(1)
Maslow's Hierarchy	336	(1)
Need/Drive Positions: An Appraisal	337	(1)
Incentives	338	(1)
Arousal Theory	339	(4)
Arousal: Measuring Motivation	339	(1)
The Yerkes-Dodson Law	340	(1)
Hebb's Arousal Theory	341	(1)
Sensory Deprivation	342	(1)
Sources of Arousal	343	(1)
Cognitive Theories of Motivation	343	(4)
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance	344	(3)
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motives	347	(7)
Can External Rewards Decrease Intrinsic Motivation	348	(1)
Self-Determination Theory	348	(1)
Attribution Theory	349	(2)
Self-Efficacy	351	(3)
Educational and Other Applications of Motivation Theory	354	(3)
Predicting Behavior	354	(1)
Controlling and Changing Behavior	355	(1)
Motivation in the Classroom	355	(2)
Summary	357	(2)
Social Learning: Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory	359	(21)
This Chapter	360	(1)
Objectives	360	(1)
Social Learning	361	(2)
The Product of Social Learning	361	(1)
The Processes of Social Learning	362	(1)
Main Ideas Behind Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory	363	(3)
Models	364	(1)
The Processes of Observational Learning	364	(2)
Imitation and Operant Conditioning	366	(4)
Sources of Reinforcement in Imitation	367	(1)
Three Effects of Models	368	(2)
Cognitive Influences	370	(5)
Behavior Control Systems	371	(2)
Behavior Control Systems in Action	373	(1)
Bandura's Agentic Perspective	373	(1)
Self-Efficacy	374	(1)
Educational and Other Applications of Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory	375	(3)
Observational Learning	375	(1)
Behavior Control Systems	376	(1)
Personal Agency and Self-Efficacy	377	(1)
Bandura's Position: An Appraisal	378	(1)
Summary	378	(2)
PART FIVE Summary
Analysis, Synthesis, and Integration	380	(29)
This Chapter	381	(2)
Objectives	382	(1)
Two Major Approaches to Learning Theory	383	(1)
Summaries of Key Theories	384	(10)
Mostly Behavioristic Positions	384	(4)
Transitions to Modern Cognitivism	388	(2)
Modern Cognitivism	390	(2)
Factors Affecting Learning	392	(2)
Synthesis and Appraisal	394	(5)
Strengths and Weaknesses	397	(2)
Two Eclectric Integrations	399	(7)
Robert Gagne: An Instructional Design Theory	399	(4)
Jerome Bruner: Models of the Learner	403	(3)
The Last Word	406	(1)
Summary	407	(2)
Epilogue	409	(2)
Glossary	411	(17)
References	428	(21)
Name Index	449	(6)
Subject Index	455	(14)
Photo Credits	469