Page 104 - DMGT518_TRAINING_AND_DEVELOPMENT_SYSTEM

Unit 7: Learning in Training

experience; change due to growth or maturation is not learning. (3) Before it can be called Notes
learning, the change must be relatively permanent; it must last a fairly long time.

7.1 Concept of Learning

Learning is concerned with bringing about relatively permanent changes as a result of experience.
This can be done through direct experience, by doing, or indirectly, through observation.
Regardless of the means by which learning takes place, learning cannot be measured per se. We
can only measure the changes in attitudes and behaviour that occur as a result of learning. Two
major theories have dominated learning research over the years. One position is the cognitive
view. Its proponents argue that an individual’s purposes or intentions direct his actions. The
other position is the environmental perspective, whose proponents believe that the individual is
acted upon and that his behaviour is a function of its external consequences.
A more recent approach blends both of these theories. According to it, learning is a continuous
interaction between the individual and the particular social environment in which he functions.
This is called the social-learning theory. This theory acknowledges that we can learn by observing
what happens to other people just by being told about something, as well as by direct experiences.
Since much of training is observational in nature, this theory would appear to have a considerable
application potential.
The influence of models is central to the social learning viewpoint. Research indicates that much
of what we have learnt comes from watching models such as parents, teachers, peers, motion
picture and television performers, bosses, and so forth. Four processes have been found to
determine the influence that a model will have on an individual:

1. Attentional Processes: People learn from a model only when they recognise and pay
attention to its critical features. We tend to be most influenced by models that are attractive,
repeatedly available, that we think are important, or that we find as similar to us.
2. Retention Processes: A model’s influence will depend on how well the individual
remembers the model’s action, even after the model is no longer readily available.
3. Motor Reproduction Processes: After a person has seen a new behaviour by observing the
model, the watching must be converted to doing the action. This process then demonstrates
that the individual can perform the modelled activities.
4. Reinforcement processes: Individuals will be motivated to exhibit the modelled behaviour
if positive incentives or rewards are provided. Behaviours that are reinforced will be
given more attention, learned better, and performed more often.
Social-learning theory offers insights into what a training exercise should include. Specifically,
it tells us that training should provide a model; it must grab the trainee’s attention; provide
motivational properties; help the trainee retain what he has learned for later use; and if the
training has taken place off the job, allow him some opportunity to transfer what he learned to
his job.

7.1.1 Principles of Learning

There are several types of learning situation, each with its own way of producing learning.
Psychologists have named these kinds of learning as (i) classical conditioning, (ii) operant
conditioning, and (iii) cognitive learning.

The essential operation in classical conditioning is a pairing of two stimuli, conditioned stimulus
and unconditioned stimulus. The first one elicits only a general alerting, and not a specific
response. The second one consistently elicits a specific response. This response from unconditioned

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