Lesson 9 - Types of Learning

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Presentation of Theoretical Construct

Reading: Chapter 9
  
 

Lecture Information: Types of Learning

  1. Enactive Learning

    1. Learn by doing.  People do learn by direct experience with their environment.  In this type of learning the student experiences the consequences of their actions directly.  If the stove is hot, this student is going to have burnt fingers.  What Bandura conceives of when he talks about consequences is more than just the rewards or punishments of Skinner's behaviorism.  It is much more along the lines of Cognitivism in that consequences are seen as feedback, results to be learned from. 

    2. For some people, they have to learn by direct experience.  I am sure that we all know someone who sees the "wet paint" sign on a wall and is just compelled to touch it.

  2. Vicarious Learning

    1. This is the area that Bandura really made his name.  Students can also learn by observing others performing a task.  This flies right in the face of the behaviorist's approach to learning in that behaviorists believe that you don't make any assumptions about the internal state of a person.  Clearly the truth is that by watching someone else use an unfamiliar paint brush, you can learn techniques to a certain degree.  Many of our social groups establish norms for our behavior that we are even dimly aware. 

    2. For other people, they prefer to learn through observing others.  They may even incite another into checking to see if the paint on the wall is dry...


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