Adaptive Learning: Change Behaviour, Enhance Performance - Essay Sample

Introduction

Learning refers to the adaptive function through which an organism's nervous system changes as per stimuli within an environment. Consequently, learning alters the behavioral responses and allows the organism to function effectively in the environment. Further, it is the process through which an organism adopts various procedures, techniques, and outcomes after which it becomes behaviorally transformed as a result of what it has understood from the collection. Thus, denotes those experiences that lead to permanent changes in a learner following what they have experienced. Hence, learning is acquired through the sequence of experiences, changes, and permanent adoption of the changes. To this end, the current paper will critically discuss the three main types of learning, namely, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.

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Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning refers to the process through which an organism learns to associate stimuli or events that occurs together frequently, consequently making the organism to anticipate those events (Colvin, 2019). Ivan Pavlov introduced this learning in his famous study that involved the training of dogs (or conditioning) to associate with the sound of a bell when they were served with meat. Accordingly, the conditioning of the dogs was achieved after the sound of the bell alone made the dog salivate in anticipation for the meat. Generally, classical conditioning occurs in events where neutral stimuli are linked with significant psychological events.

Accordingly, conditioned stimuli result in conditioned responses meaning that a conditioned stimulus is a signal that is not significant to the organism until it is associated with something that is important to the organism. For instance, in the Pavlov experiment, the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus only after it is associated with the presence of meat. The justification is that prior to the dog learning to associate the bell with the meat, a bell ring meant nothing to the dog. Nevertheless, after numerous pairings of the bell with the presentation of meat, the dog starts to salivate in anticipation of the meat. Thus, the salivation after the ringing of the bell denotes the conditioned response. It is referred to as a conditioned response because it depends on or is conditional on being paired with a conditioned stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is experienced when a behavior rather than a stimulus is associated with the happening of a major event (Colvin, 2019). For instance, in labs, rats are often trained to press a lever inside its cage to get its meal. Since rats have no natural connection with the procedure of pressing a lever in order to get food, they must learn this combination. At the introductory stage, the rat would simply search for food everywhere inside the cage but eventually it would accidentally press the lever, and food pellets would drop in, and the rat would try pressing the level again and again until the sequence is understood. It is this voluntary behavior that is referred to as operant behavior, for the reason that it 'operates' on the environment. More so, it is the voluntary action of the organism that results in the outcome.

Research studies in operant conditioning are concerned with identifying how a behavior's effects influence the likelihood that it will repeat. For instance, the effects of the behavior of the rat pressing the lever and receiving some pallets influences the probability of the rat repeating the action of pressing the lever. More so, Thorndike's law of effect maintains that if the outcome of a behavior is positive or is satisfactory, the highest possibility is that in the future it will be repeated (Leonard, 2002). Conversely, where the action or behavior produces a negative or a regretful outcome, the most likely probability is that in the future, it will not be repeated. Effects that increase the tendency of a behavior re-occurring are called reinforcers, while those that reduce the repetition are called punishers.

Observational Learning

Not all forms of learning are accounted for entirely by classical and operant conditioning. As such, observational learning equally plays a significant role in the acquisition of permanent behaviors (Colvin, 2019). Observational learning heavily borrows from the Social Learning Theory developed by Albert Bandura (Bandura, 1971). The theory suggests that people are capable of learning new responses by observing the behaviors of others. Reinforcement is not necessary under observational learning; instead, it pivots on the presence of others (social models). Mainly, social models have higher authority or status compared to the observer. An observation of how social models behave helps the learner to learn how to act in certain situations. Under the Bandura theory, the observational learning process is made up of three basic parts (Bandura, 1971). First, there is the attention part that holds that for an observer to learn, they must pay attention to what they are observing. Secondly, the observer should be able to retain the observed behavior in their memory, and finally, the observer must have the motivation to participate in observational learning.

Conclusion/Application

The three types of learning are important since they help a person to acquire knowledge and to adapt to their environments effectively. For instance, an employee in a departmental store largely depends on these types of learning when performing their duties. Conditioned learning can be applied in instances of an alarm. In most departmental stores, there are alarms with different ringtones meaning each tone communicates a specific message such as a theft or a fire. Employees, therefore, must first be trained to differentiate these tones so that they can react as required when the alarm is on.

On the other hand, under operant conditioning, an employee is trained on how to react if they spot certain events or when handling a customer. A good example is a reaction a departmental employee expresses when a customer makes an inquiry- they are expected to talk back while smiling despite their emotional status before or at the moment the inquiry is made. Lastly, for observational learning, employees are not trained on everything that they will encounter during their work time. As such, it is through observing the behavior of other employees that a new employee will learn from the experienced employees- the social models in this case. Hence, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning are learning approaches that practically apply in every environment. Accordingly, they play a significant role in helping a subject to adapt to their environment as well as to operate maximally.

References

Bandura, A. (1971). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.

Colvin, S. (2019). The Learning Process. Sydney, Australia: WENTWORTH Press.

Leonard, D. (2002). Learning theories, A to Z. Westport, Conn.: Oryx Press.