LEARNING AND TRAINING

 INTRODUCTION

Learning is a key and most used tool for individual growth and organisational development. Learning strategies are encapsulated in all training efforts of organisations. Training is a bonafide activity of the human resource department conducted by industrial/organisational or personnel psychologists with the aim of improving employees’ competencies for improved productivity and organisational development.

Forgetting. This means either temporary or total loss of material previously learnt.

IQ. Higher IQs are able to learn and recall better than low IQs

Distraction. It is believed that distractions arising from the environment of learning e.g. background noise, heat etc have a negative effect on learning.

Individual differences. There are factors in learning that are inherent in the learner. For instance, while some learn quickly, others may take a longer time in learning similar material. Also, motivations to learn and interest are personality variables that will ultimately affect learning.

LEARNING THEORIES

Psychologists have been interested in the intriguing processes involved in human learning. As a result of such efforts; a body of knowledge has built up which describes the principles and processes involved in learning. Important learning theories are behavioural, social-cognitive and information processing theories. Theories provide explanatory frameworks for understanding crucial variables in an experience or phenomena.

Behavioural theories.

Two notable approaches are presented which are classicaland operant conditioning principles.

a.    ClassicalConditioning. The classical conditioning approach was promoted by the work of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) who earned the Nobel Prize experiments on the activities of the dog’s salivary gland relative to different types of food accidentally discovered that dogs began to salivate – at the presence (sight) of food, food dish, smell or even the person delivering the food -long before food was placed in their mouths. The initial puzzle was; why do salivation, though a reflex response which is largely involuntary and automatic response to an external stimulus, occur at mere sight or smell of food? He interpreted the salivation as neither inborn nor biological but acquiredthrough experience and a form of learning. 

A major revolutionary discovery about the principle of human learning has been made. This type of learning was described by Pavlov as classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes paired (associated) with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to elicit a conditioned response (CR). The learning scheme can be presented in three stages:

In the first stage meat is seen bringing about salivation which is the natural, inborn and biological response. In the second stage, pairing of meat and bell which is a neutral stimulus (because it is not capable of igniting salivation on its own) brings about salivation. In stage three, mere sounding of bell (now a conditioned stimulus because of association with meat), leads to salvation, meaning that the dog had learned to expect food at the ringing of the bell. A student whose performance improves as a result of being given gifts who continue to show good performance without gifts typifies this kind of situation.

You may wonder how dogs salivating at the sound of a bell apply to you? Classical conditioning turns out to be the basic and fundamental way that all animals, including humans -you and I – learn most new responses, emotions and attitudes. Your love for your parent (or other significant others), hatred and prejudice or drooling at the sight of sweet smelling jolof rice are largely a result of classical conditioning with is pairing between neutral responses and positive or negative stimulus (PNS or NNS) to bring about attraction or withdrawal from the stimulus experience.

Classical conditioning was later further developed by J. B. Watson by emphasizing that behaviour can be studied by only focusing on what is observable. According to him emphasis on unobservable mental processes can only lead to subjective conclusions. His new approach was christened behaviourism which summed up behaviour as result of observable stimuli (in the environment) and observable response (behavioural actions).

b.     Operant Conditioning. Classical conditioning has the power to affect emotions, attitudes, physiology and health, but could neither explain how a behaviour is learnt nor elicited. It only works on behaviours that are automatically triggered. In classical conditioning, the consequences of behavioural responses are not the focus. This is the major point of departure. 

Operant conditioning was pioneered by Edward L. Thorndike, an American who was studying how animals learn to solve puzzles. He constructed puzzle boxes in which cats learn to either press a lever or pull a string in other to get to a food (reward) in another compartment. The cat pushes, tried to climb or dig the floor and over time learned to press the lever that gives access to the food. Because performance, which was by trial-and-error, improved slowly over time, by gradually eliminating responses that failed to open the door, Thorndike concluded that animals did not learn by ‘insight’ but through a process called instrumental learning.

This means that the cat acts in such a way as to attain an outcome – reach the food. He proposed the law of effect which states that ‘in a given situation, a response followed by a ‘satisfying’ consequence will become more likely to occur, and a response followed by an unsatisfying outcome will become less likely to occur’. This simply means that the probability of occurrence of behaviour is strengthened if it is followed by pleasant or satisfying consequences. B. F. Skinner also an American, further popularized behaviourism and coined the term operant behaviour, meaning that organisms operateson their environment in some ways to elicit responses that produce certain consequences. Operant conditioning according to him is the means by which organisms achieve personal adaption to the environment.

Operant conditioning works on the principles of strengthening or weakeningof responses by use of reinforcement which can be either positive or negative. If you tickle a baby and he/she smiles, the probability that you will further tickle the child increases. That is his/her smiles increases (strengthens) the likely that you will tickle the child. The smile is the positive reinforcer.On the other hand, if a little boy is upset and crying and you hug him and he stops crying. The removal of crying is a negative reinforcer and the process is called negative reinforcement because taking away of crying by hugging increases also the likelihood that you will hug him if he cries in future.

In this vein, negative reinforcement is not necessarily punishment. Whereas reinforcement (positive or negative) strengthens behaviour, punishment weakens behaviour. Reinforcement is important as a way of increasing (desired behaviour) or decreasing or stopping (undesired behaviour). Various schedules of reinforcement are available and of varied efficacy.

Schedules of reinforcement

a. Continuous schedule.This means the behaviour is rewarded each time it occurs. It is only useful to establish behaviour in a conditioned operant conditioning process, after which it may produce negative outcome. The individual exposed to continuous reinforcement may become suffused and reduce or stop responding favourably. The incentive is either insufficient or altogether ignored with regards to the expected behaviour. Just as one can get tired of one’s favourite meal if repeatedly served, continuous reinforcement can produce satiation and reduced responses.

b.    Interval schedule: Reward is given at specified interval. A parent who sucks her young one, at every four hours is using an interval schedule. The interval could be fixed or variable.

i.     Fixed-interval: Regular interval is maintained between successive reinforcements.

ii.    Variable-interval. Reward is given at varied intervals. For instance, a variable schedule is being implemented if the mother sucks at an interval such as four hours followed by five hours, by three hours and so forth. That is, each successive interval varies from the next.

c.     Ratio schedules. In this schedule, desired behaviour is reinforced after specified number of responses. The ratio schedule can be fixed-ratios or variable ratios:

i.   Fixed-ratio. If a boy is being trained for correct use of potty he may be rewarded every order time he correctly uses the potty.

ii.    Variable-ratio. The same boy may be given reinforcement at the 1^st, 3^rd, 7^th and 8^thcorrect usage of potty. The variable ratio is said to be the most effective schedule in situation requiring higher persistence response rates. All gambling situation involves variables ratio schedule of reinforcement. No wonder gambling behaviour is difficult to break! This is also true of addictive behaviours such as cigarette smoking and drug use. Continuous reinforcement on the other hand, produces more rapid acquisition of a response but with scalloping– a situation in which response is higher just before reinforcement. The fixed interval approach produces low frequency of response, especially immediately after reinforcement.

Five important principles of both operant and classical conditioning are: stimulus generalization, stimulus discrimination, extinction, spontaneous recoveryand higher-order conditioning.

i.     Stimulus generalization. Though the conditioning may be originally with specific conditioned stimulus (such as low-pitched sound), dogs will equally salivate, that is extend response to other sound pitches, high, medium etc. This is called stimulus generalization. The more the stimulus closely resembles the initial conditioned stimulus, e.g. one dog barking in a neighbourhood, the stronger the conditioned response. Fear of police car may extend to all cars with flashlights on their roofs. After learning the word Daddy (through operant conditioning), the child tend to refer to all adult men as Daddy.

ii.  Stimulus discrimination. Organisms will soon learn to distinguish (discriminate) between original CS and similar stimuli if they have enough exposure to both, just little children learn to distinguish the voice of the mother, father and siblings from other people and as you learn to distinguish between your cell phone ring tone and others.

iii.    Extinction.Learning in general brings about only relatively permanent change in behaviour. Behaviours learnt through classical conditioning can become weakened or suppressed through extinction. This occurs when the UCS is repeatedly withheld whenever the CS is presented. The association is weakened and responses (behaviour) stops.

iv.    Spontaneous recovery. This means reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response. This means that previously learnt experiences, that is, association between UCS and NS, are not completely erased. When the stimulus condition is reintroduced, learning becomes faster. This fact perhaps explain why you suddenly feel excited coming in contact with your old school sweetheart after a long period of separation. Also separated couples often experience sudden ‘flareup’ of feelings and may be tempted to return to a doomed relationship.

v.       Higher-order conditioning. Higher-order conditioning explains what occurs when a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) through repeated pairings with previously conditioned stimulus. For example, on first time encounter of a Yoruba child with an Ibo man (NS), there was no negative reaction. But after repeated pejorative comments by say his father about Ibo people, the Yoruba child will likely begin to respond negatively toward Ibo men.

Social-cognitive Theory

Also called cognitive-social learning or cognitive-behavioural theory, these set of behavioural psychologists belief that behaviour is more than simple S-R (stimulus and response) paradigm, rather thinking and interpretation of stimuli – S-O-R (stimulus-Organism- Response) are bonafide part of the learning process. According to this view, human learning is influenced by multiplicity of factors such as beliefs, attitudes, motivations, expectations and emotions. This is because animals, like man, are social creatures learning new behaviour through observation, imitation and insight.

Information processing theories

The human memory is highly functional and biologically adapted for everyday life by receiving and automatically filtering a barrage of information and selecting, retaining and recovering essential information for our survival. Basically, this is what learning is about in the consideration of information processing theorists. This theory uses the computer metaphor to explain the basic functions of the human memory system by conceiving human learning as composing of two fundamentally important mechanisms; information storage and processing.

a.    Information storage involves three main stages which are; sensory inputs, storage and retrieval of information. Learning is viewed as a system involving the input of information, processing (storage, association with old materials in the brain and comprehension/interpretation), and retrieval for several uses like creativity, problem solving and other functional adaptation of the human species. Figure two exemplifies this approach to learning:

As depicted in figure 3.2, and in the traditional three-stage memory model, each box represents separate memory systems which differ in purpose, duration of information and capacity to store information. The sensory memory (SM) only holds information momentarily before the item of focus and attention is transmitted, so to say, to the short term memory (STM) is active and has been described as working memory because it can receive, hold and process spatial, visual and auditory information and has capacity to for 5-9 items meaningfully received, analysed and made ready for storage in the long term memory (LTM). The capacity of the LTM is infinite and items in this store are deemed to be permanently stored, all things been equal. Information that make it to the LTM are tagged (labelled) and filed in appropriate section of the brain.

b.    Information processing on the other hand, focused on how information transmutes from the point of reception by sensory organs to usage by encoding (translating information into understandable neural codes like languages), storage (retaining neutrally coded information over time) and retrieval (recovering information from memory storage). For information to last long in the human memory, it must get into the long term memory. This is through rehearsal or practice.

HUMAN MEMORY

Memory is an internal record or representation of some prior event or experience. Without memory, learning is lost and we have no past but only the present. Memory is one of the most important and valuable mental process. The long term memory interlinked with the short term memory; whenever a thing is recalled, it is brought to the conscious mind (STM) and later returned to the memory store for keeps (LTM). There are at least two basic types or systems of memory; the declarative (explicit) and the nondeclarative (implicit or procedural) memory.

Declarative memory.Declarative memory are of two types; the semantic memory hosting factual and general information; rules, events, objective facts, and specific information and episodic memory which are mental diary of events and episodes of life that were personally experienced, like high school graduation, wedding ceremonies and the birth of first born. Some of the episodes memories, like what you eat for breakfast or names of casual acquaintances in a ball, are short lived in the memory while others, such as ones first kiss can last a lifetime.

Nondeclarative Memory.Also called memories without awareness, this refers to unintentional learning and is classified into:

i.     Procedural learning (motor skills) or unconscious knowledge that has become habitual likes tying your shoes, brushing your teeth and driving a car.

ii.    Classically conditioned responses such as fears or taste aversions. For instance if you open a can of drink, pour it into a cup and found crawling maggots inside, your next encounter will automatically remind you of the first experience.

iii.    Priming. This is a situation where first exposure to a stimulus (or prime) facilitates or inhibits the processing of new information. Examples are when romantic feelings are heightened after watching or reading a romantic movie or novel. In a way, dating is a priming experience for courtship as courtship is a priming experience for marriage!

REMEMBERING VERSUS FORGETTING

Because of the frailties of human memory, many people are plagued by the problem of inability to retain and recall what has been learnt. Information stored in the long term memory can be recalled/retrieved on demand. When such information is easily recalled, it is said that we remembered. Recall, as a term is not the same as remembering. It means being able to retain what is learned, and brings it back from memory. A German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885-1964) pioneered memory research way back 1885. He used himself as a subject studying what he described as nonsense (meaningless) syllables (e.g. SIB, RAL) and came up with a memory curve showing how materials are rapidly lost after they have been perfectly (recalling 100%) learnt. According to him 44% is recalled after 1
hour, 35% a day after and only 21% a week after. With this outcome he arrived at what he called forgetting curve.

Retention and ultimately learning and recall are facilitated by a number of factors. Some of these are:

1.      Nature of material learnt. Some materials are simple while others range in level of complexity. In general, simple materials are better recalled.

2.      Attention. Attention is determined by the span of time given into sorting and selection of information to be learned. The depth and span of attention vary directly with ability to retain and recall.

3.      Practice. It is a fact that practice makes for perfection; practice also called rehearsal is achieved by repeatedly learning a material, or repeatedly exposed to an experience till recall is automatic.

4.      Memory. It is believed that individual differences affect the ability to store and retrieve information from memory. People with high intelligence, for instance, have retentive memory and better ability to recall learned material.

5.      Interest. Lack of interest in learned material will negatively affect its retention and recall.

6.       Organization of learned material. It is believed that learning is not a haphazard task. The brain has its perceptual processes, which are based on certain rules of organization of information in the memory bank.

RATIONALE FOR TRAINING

Organizations provide training for their employees for these and many other reasons:

To remove performance deficiencies.

To increase employees competencies.

To improve quality and quantity of work.

To prevent skill obsolesces.

To increase productivity and efficiency.

To match employees’ abilities with the job requirement and organizational needs.

To bring about team spirit and high morale.

To induce certain behavioural changes in employees.

To cope with new technological advancement.

To prevent accident or improve health and safety.

TRAINING NEEDS DETERMINATION

Training need determination is addressed to three key issues; initiation of new or improvement on existing knowledge, injection of new skills and change of attitude. Whereas it takes knowledge and skill to excel on a job; attitude is what keeps one on the job to achieve job satisfaction and other appurtenances of quality work life. The determination of training needs is highly essential because it enables the organization to draw up a good plan for training programmes, choose the appropriate training methods as well as the course content. The five components of the needs assessment process are:

i.      Organizational analysis

ii.      Task/Job analysis

iii.      Persons analysis

iv.       Demographic Analysis

iv.      Operational Analysis

i.      Organisational analysis.

It focuses on identifying where training is needed within the organisation. This begins with the assessment of the organization’s short and long term objectives, goals, resources and environment of the organisation. It focuses on the analysis of human resources needs, organizational strengths and weakness, organization efficiency index, the
rate of absenteeism, labour turnover, grievances, accident, e.t.c. An organizational needs analysis may also include an assessment of the organisation’s current climate for training. s objectives.

ii.     Task/Job analysis

While organisational analysis is a macro perspective, task analysis is a micro perspective involving a review of job description in which the task, duties, responsibilities and condition under which the job is done is highlighted. This identifies the specific skills, knowledge and behaviour needed to perform the tasks required by present and future jobs. It also reveals the technical nature of the job, the minimum acceptable standards of performance.

iii.    Person analysis

This focuses on the job holder. It is aimed at identifying the ‘training gaps’ or skill deficiencies in the job incumbent. After information about the job has been collected, the analysis shifts to the person. Person needs analysis identifies gaps between a person’s current competencies and those identified as necessary or desirable. Person analysis also reflects currency or obsolescence of skills and a need to match skills of employees with evolving technologies and new structures and process of work.

iv.     Demographic analysis

The objective of this is to determine the training needs of specific populations of workers. It is to assess whether all employees are given equal access to growth experiences and developmental changes, which are known to be useful on-the-job methods for promoting skill development. For instance, in comparing the development career experiences of men and women, men are likely to be assigned to jobs that present difficult task-related challenges while women are more likely to be assigned to jobs that present challenges caused by obstacles to performance (e.g. difficult boss or lack of support from management).

v.       Operational Analysis

This attempts to identify the content of training i.e. what an employee must do in order to perform competently. Operational analysis is an attempt at evolving criteria for training that reflects daily and recurrent issues in different areas of operation. Critical incidences may be catalogued across operational units and synthesize into knowledge, skill and attitude components. These form the content of the training programme envisaged.

TRAINING METHODS

Training methods can be classified under the following headings:

On-the-job methods. This approach involves introduction of the worker to new set of information and work related skills that are immediately transferable to the work situation. It is often done right on the job and though it may cause some disruption of normal flow of work and take a bit of chunk time from the trainer who is likely to be the boss or supervisor, the advantage is in the instantaneous transfer of learning.

Off-the-job methods. Off the job training makes up for the disruption of flow of work hinted at using on-the-job methods. It is done in preselected venues away from the actual work. Several methods as listed are used. The major advantage is that it comes as an interlude to actual work, but with much interval between learning and practice, spontaneity is lost resulting in reduced transfer of learning. Also the methods may cost the organisation more in terms of logistics, payment to consultants and resource persons and so forth.

Simulation methods. Simulation methods hope to find a bridge between the disadvantages of off and on-the job methods. Simulation methods provide realistic, though contrived, training situations and is useful mainly in training and development programme for managers. The use of case studies, role playing, sensitivity training and so forth are included in simulation.

These three methods of training are generally being used by organizations. Organizations often use a combination of the three methods because no one of them is perfectly sufficient for all the training needs. The choice of training method may be constrained by the type of learning that is to occur (cognitive, skill based or affective) as well as by cost and time considerations. Therefore, the type of training method chosen reflects;

The objectives of training to be accomplished,

The resources available to the organization,

The peculiar nature and characteristics of the individuals to be trained and

The available time.

Table : Training Methods

EVALUATION OF TRAINING

Training serves certain basic objectives, which are to improve the knowledge, skill (know-how), attitude of workers and to bring about change in relevant job behaviours. The end’s insight is improved productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness at work. Training activities are therefore evaluated on the basis of how well these objectives are attained.

In reality, training can be evaluated in terms of:

1.     Process. This address;

a.         Effectiveness of trainer

b.Trainees newly acquired skills as translated to relevant job behaviour. Also, attendance, effort and involvement of trainee.

c.Course or training materials with respect of coverage, depth, language, timeliness and mode of presenting these materials.

d.     Method, whether fitful to the trainee needs of trainee.

2.     Outcome. That is, how performance of trainees compare to pre-training level. Outcome reflects changes in performance level, relevant behaviour and work attitude depending on focus of training.]

3.      Cost-effect benefit. Are process and outcome justified in terms of cost to the organisation vis-a-vis adequacy or otherwise of budgetary provision, current and future benefits to individual trainees and the organisation? Training is only successful when benefits out weights the costs.

4.     Performance on the job. This is an example of distal criteria measure that is commonly used in organisations to determine workers input within the context of job criteria like productivity, efficiency, quality of work, and so forth.

CONCLUSION

Learning principles and theories are crucial and form the basic principles upon which training and development activities are built. Learning brings about relatively permanent change in behaviour as a result of acquisition of new set of knowledge, skills and attitudes. For training to be successful training needs has to be diagnosed and a system put in place to implement the training agenda using appropriate methodologies. The effectiveness of training can only be ascertained using systematized measure of the process, costs and outcome.