Learning Theories

From a behaviorist standpoint, learning is generally conceptualized in terms of the response that the sentient being has to the cues that it receives from its environment and in due course processes. The behavioral approach to learning theory owes much to B.F. Skinner's ideas about conditioning subjects to affect particular behavior patterns. The idea is to reinforce acceptable and effective choices with positive response, so as to encourage the development and range of such choices. Skinner himself uses the term "manipulable variables" to describe the resources that the author of the stimuli would use in order to effect meaningful change in the cognitive experience of the learner (1950, p. 194). Mastery, in other words, represents the desired response. It is important to note that, despite the authoritative position that an instructor might hold in the instructional context, Skinner is at pains to stress that the experience of learning devolves upon the learner, not the teacher: "The dimensions of the change must spring from the behavior itself; they must not be imposed by an external judgment of success or failure or an external criterion of complete

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ioner notes that training "is about creating expertise, not simply pouring knowledge into people. That difference is why learning and performance theories are so important" (Zemke, 2002, p. 87). Implicit in the importance that learning theory has assumed in the adult workplace is the need to prepare the work force of the future adequately to supply the needs of the employment marketplace. Not only high achievers but also persons who are employed among the rank and file will require that preparation, for the quality of their early education is bound to affect their career experience. Thus learning theory is just as important to grasp for early-childhood educators as it is for adult managers who rely on an educated work force to maintain their competitive status in the marketplace. The purpose of this research, then, is to examine the relevance application of learning theories to the special-education environment and ways in which learning theory informs, refines, and/or improves instructional practice and the notion of student learning. The plan of the research will be to recapitulate the theoretical contexts for classroom practices an then to discuss how these perspectives resonate in the actual educational environment for specia
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Approximate Word count = 5052
Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page)

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