Category Learning in Relation to Cognition and Behaviorism - Research Paper Example

? Category Learning in relation to cognition and behaviorism Psychology CATEGORY LEARNING IN RELATION TO COGNITION AND BEHAVIORISM CATERGORY LEARNING : Learning - a process through which one acquires knowledge, views, skills and values. It is a process based on a philosophical framework encompassing various theories that constitute a branch of psychology – the Category Learning. Category learning or concept learning is a comparison by which a learner compares group or categories that contain concept-relevant features with those that do not contain concept-relevant features. This field in psychology basically defines the learning procedure through which a human or a machine is trained to classify objects or situations based on a set of examples and scenarios. Human beings have such a unique ability to categorize, that is practically sets them apart from other creatures. There effortlessness in categorizing different aspects of their environment, their world and their experiences is truly a marvel. This quality of categorizing is so fundamental, that human beings are now teaching computers how to think, act and make decisions like them. Categorization can be either visually, or motor-system based. Visual categorization, as the name suggests is to recognize, evaluate and categorize objects in the environment visually. For example, a goat and a sheep, though have similar structures and size, can still be discriminated due to their visual features. Motor-system based categorization however is a more ‘hands-on’ concept. The bodies of human beings are designed to interact with the environment in a manner that supports categorization. Interacting with objects causes the brain to create categorized representations of those objects. These are then used to analyses and understand the environment human beings thrive in. Thus, not only seeing or observing an object visually is important, physically interacting with it is as significant as well. Conceptually speaking, learning can be achieved in more than one way. Learning through discovery is the most basic, but yet, the most effective form. This can be observed in babies and young children, who discover elements around their world for the first time. For example, a baby may learn to stay away from a hot cup of tea after touching it once or twice. This type of learning forms a much more concrete concept than just memorizing. Learning can also be achieved through observing examples, where the learner observes various supervised or unsupervised examples to form a new concept. Words or written text is also a valuable source for learning. Here, the learner forms new concepts based on teachings and philosophies that he acquires through education. Category learning theories basically fall into three major divisions; behaviorism, congnitivisim and constructivism. Each of these frameworks tackles category learning in a different manner, but the primary objective of each structure is the same – to enable the learner to achieve knowledge. BIBLOGRAPHY A neuropsychological theory of multiple systems in category learning. Ashby, F. Gregory; Alfonso-Reese, Leola A.; Turken, And U.; Waldron, Elliott M. Psychological Review, Vol 105(3), Jul 1998, 442-481. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.3.442 BHEAVIOURAL LEARNING: Behavioral learning forms an integral part of the Category learning process. As the name suggests, this process of learning is based on the establishing or amending a particular behavior. In simpler terms, behavioral learning can be achieved through altering the perception one has of the environment, or of incoming stimuli. Three basic methods are practiced when practicing behavioral learning. The first practice is changing a particular behavior in order to accomplish learning. In the second method, the environment plays a significant role. Structuring the environment in a particular fashion may also induce learning. The third method is based on contiguity and reinforcement. Learning through this method is attained by forming a close bond between two events that lead to category development and by increasing the chances of reoccurrence of a particular event. In behavioral learning, conditioning is the primary factor through which learning is acquired. A well known example that explains behavioral learning is that where the behavior becomes a response to an applied stimulus. Ivan Pavlov’s experiment with dogs explains behavioral learning to some extent. Pavlov proved that dogs drooled even without applied a suitable stimulus i.e. food. It was found that the experimental dogs started drooling reacting to a lab coat. Each time a dog was served food, his handler would be wearing a lab coat. Thus, the dog started associating a lab coat with its meal times. Pavlov explored this phenomenon further, where each time a dog was fed, a bell would be struck. Later on, the dogs would start drooling on just hearing the bell strike, even when food was not around. This experiment supports the idea that one develops certain responses to certain un-naturally occurring stimuli. For example when one touches a hot stove, he immediately pulls his hand back due to the natural in-built reflex mechanism. But even if the stove is turned off, a person, who already got burnt the first time, shows the same reaction of reflexively pulling his hand back. This proves that one develops an association which causes a generalized response to one stimulus onto neutral stimuli it is paired with. In today’s environment, this phenomenon of pairing stimuli occurs commonly. Consider a certain stimuli like the scent of a perfume, or a particular song, a specific day in a year. These stimuli sometimes result sometimes in intense emotions. The reason for this is that these particular stimuli have been paired with another stimulus in the form of memories, may it be of a loved one, or a past experience. Thus, connecting one stimulus to another, results in classical conditioning. Another possible conditioning in behavioral learning is the operant conditioning. In this method, the ‘operant’ is the subject who operates in a certain manner within a given environment. Thus, learning can be achieved based on the consequence of this ‘operation’. An example to explain this would be using a rat as an operant in side a box. The entrance/exit of the box would have a switch that can be pressed by the rat to exit. The rat initially tires to get out due to the reinforcing freedom. It may accidentally hit the switch that triggers the door. When the rat is put in the second time, it remembers the actions it made the first time and hits the switch again. The more the rat is subjected to the situation, the faster it will get out. Humans learn the same way in their everyday lives. Mistakes made are usually avoided when performing a task. Likewise, if an action results in a positive scenario, the human being remembers to do it again. Operant conditioning can also be seen as Radical Behaviorism. In this case, a behavior is reinforced through a reward to punishment. This concept of conditioning was developed by B.F. Skinner and is also known as Radical Behaviorism. Basically, a behavior can either be reinforced or discouraged using this method. Using the dogs as a simple example once again, reinforcement of a behavior can be seen when a dog is rewarded for retrieving a ball. Likewise a dog may be discouraged from a particular behavior by using punishment as well. For example, scolding the dog when it is barks in public. The concept of reinforcement-punishment is a radical concept that brings about behavior change. Behaviorism, though it forms a vital part in category learning, is still a crude painstaking process where the behavior of a particular subject is formed, or changed over a period of time. The result achieved thorough behaviorism is not always satisfactory or permanent in any manner. BIBLOGRAPHY Comparative cognition: Beginning the second century of the study of animal intelligence. Wasserman, E. A. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 113(2), Mar 1993, 211-228. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.113.2.211ul 1998, 442-481. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.3.442 COGNITIVE LEARNING: The cognitive learning method takes an entirely different approach than behavioral learning. This method dominated psychology in the late 20th century, replacing behaviorism. However, cognitive psychology is not a downright rejection of behaviorism. Rather, it is an expansion and improvement which keeps mental processing as its core. This is a brain-based approach which focuses more on learning from prior knowledge. Cognitive learning primarily has two key base assumptions. The first one being that the human brain or a computer is an active organized processor of information and the second one that states that prior knowledge plays an important role in learning. Cognition looks beyond just behavior change in explaining learning. It puts more emphasis on inducing a learning process through knowledge already present. Through this method, category learning contains aspects of both elementary associative learning as well as higher-order cognition. Cognitive learning can be classified as a combination of both, knowledge and skill. On one hand, category learning can be viewed as a ‘‘cognitive skill’’ that shares behavioral properties, and possibly some neural substrates, with motor-skill learning and conditioning. On the other hand, categorization underlies many higher-order cognitive abilities. The Cognition theory emphasis more on the human memory where both, short term and long term memory plays a vital part. A doctor looking for symptoms in a patient for a particular disease, or a weather forecaster predicting weather using a barometer are all examples of how a subject uses shot term and long term memory in conjunction. The major difference between cognition and behaviorism is the locus of control over the learning activity. Through cognition, an individual is more capable of understanding and learning effectively through knowledge and skill, as compared to behaviorism which just stimulates a learning process in an individual. Learning through the cognitive method can generally be classified into two. Latent or incidental learning is achieved without any reinforcement and is sometimes not immediately apparent. For example, a person may wish to go to a restaurant, but is not sure where to go. Suddenly he remembers that a new restaurant has opened up nearby. This is a simple demonstration of latent learning. A well known investigator of cognitive learning, E.C. Tolman, suggested that organism form cognitive maps of their environment that they can later use when needed. The second classification in cognitive learning is Insight. An insight is a new way to organize stimuli or a new approach to solving a problem. An insight is a naturally occurring phenomenon that requires no prior education or training. For example, a student may be struggling with a particular math problem until suddenly insight strikes and the student see how to solve the problem. Likewise, in a more scientific setting, Wolfgang Kohler, a famous cognitive psychologist experimented using chimpanzees to prove the theory of insight. The chimps had to reach bananas beyond their reach in a cage. It was observed that they learnt to pile up boxes or attach sticks to one another in order to get to their food. Thus, it was proved that once insight occurs, no further training or education is required to accomplish a give task. BIBLOGRAPHY Behavioral and Brain Sciences Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1998), 21 : pp 803-831 1998 Cambridge University Press DOI: (About DOI) Published online: 08 September 2000 CONCLUSION Category learning itself is a constantly evolving process. If we take a look at the 60s and 70s, learning would be defined as a change in behavior. Simply speaking, back then, learning was a process that resulting in a change, either in perception, skill, or knowledge level. However, not all behavior changes can be classified as learning. One expects that if an experience has taken place, learning must be a result. Conditioning may result in a change in behavior, but the change may not involved drawing upon experience to generate new knowledge. Various theorists were more concerned with changes in the ways which people perceive, understand or categorize the world around them. However, the change in behavior from this particular method was not always positive. Though results were seen in a controlled environment, the overall result was still in the grey area. There was a belief among some psychologists that there was too much of a focus on single events, stimuli and overt behavior. Thus, a much more concrete method of learning was required which led to the eventual evolvement of cognitive learning. For cognitive psychologists, perceptions or images should be approached as a pattern or a whole rather than as a sum of the component parts. Cognitive psychologists focused more on the individual’s mental process as opposed to behaviorists who mainly looked to the environment. Psychologists explored how mental processes could be linked to learning, especially through discovery. While behaviorism just identified a fraction of human capabilities, cognition provided an in-depth analysis of the human psychology, especially in relation to knowledge, discovery and learning. James Hartley (1998) has usefully drawn out some of the key principles of learning associated with cognitive psychology. As he puts it: 'Learning results from inferences, expectations and making connections. Instead of acquiring habits, learners acquire plans and strategies, and prior knowledge is important'. BIBLOGRAPHY Smith, M. K. (1999) 'Learning theory', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/b-learn.htm, Last update: September 22, 2011  Read More