l earning, thinking and memory drs joan harvey and george erdos newcastle university
TRANSCRIPT
TYPES OF LEARNING
Trial and error- e.g. you can learn a computer package by trying out different functions to see what happens. Also trying new products, which can be facilitated by giving away trial samples.
Classical conditioning. Examples include the use of incentives at work, credits cards as conditioned stimuli and the use of theme tunes in advertising.
Operant conditioning. Examples: share payouts and bonus payments; use of reward vouchers or points; brand loyalty issues.
TYPES OF LEARNING [CONT]
Association. Examples include: associating certain managers with different levels or types of supervisory style, so knowing that you can behave in one way with one manager, a different way with another.
Imitation. Imitation of good or bad management practices, such as absenteeism & presenteeism cultures.
Insight. Has least relevance but workers may suddenly realise why a difficult job is done as it is
EXAMPLES OF REINFORCEMENT
Tokens e.g. Money, shares, profit-sharing
Desired activities e.g. Extended breaks, getting more responsible job
Social e.g. Friendly greetings, compliments
Consumables e.g. Free lunch, company picnic
Objects/ Sensory e.g. Company car, Office with a window; new office equipment
REINFORCEMENTPositive [rewards of some sort] or negative
e.g. being told when done things wrong]. Reinforcement schedules: intermittent
preferable to continuous: praise, recognition at work
Stimulus generalisation. E.g. need to learn that same response may be needed to similar but different stimuli, for example in diagnosing computer errors
Stimulus discrimination. E.g. telling things apart in order to respond appropriately: again an example is diagnosing computer errors … so be careful!
WHO IS THE LEARNER? Many factors are relevant to understanding
the learner at work:age,sex, motivation, incentives, expectations, learning style, prior knowledge, physical characteristics, preferred memory type, SES.
WHAT IS TO BE LEARNED?
Length, difficulty, meaningfulness all relevant.
Verbal vs. visual information: E.g. how to present information in training
manuals e.g. circuit diagrams, screen shots in programmes
METHOD OF LEARNING
Active vs. passive learning. E.g. interactive training such as programmed learning
Transfer of learning: of affect based on evaluative learning and of cognition to provide ‘facts’
Negative transfer
LEARNING STYLES
Many theories of these, and some are influencing UK Government education policy
Pask- serialist vs. holist Kolb and Honey/Mumford- four styles- active,
reflective, theoretical, abstract Hermann- brain dominance model
INFORMATION PROCESSING AND MEMORY
Memory theories all include: Input Sensory registers Short term or working memory Long term memory Response and output
INFORMATION PROCESSING AND MEMORY (CONT.)
There is too much information coming in to process, so we remove it selectively by filtering. We remove up to 90% of what we process
Filters are influenced by set and expectations, motivation, perceptual defence, beliefs, personality etc.
LTM AND STM
STM coding errors largely acoustic rather than visual
LTM early verbal coding may be literal, but later involves meanings
We store propositions based on what we have read, heard or seen but we also make inferred propositions
INFORMATION PROCESSING AND RETRIEVAL
How we encode information affects our recall. E.g. elaboration during encoding can help later recall
Mnemonics eg Richard Of York Gained Battle In Vain Peg words [e.g. remembering lists of tasks] Narrative stories [e.g. about other workers]
ORGANIZATION OF LTM
Episodic memory is autobiographical Semantic memory is conceptual
information Procedural memory e.g. skills acquisition
theories
Explicit and implicit memory. Explicit is more conscious whereas implicit is vicarious.
MEMORY THEORY AS APPLIED TO TRAINING
Elaboration likelihood modelPaying attention involves central processing rather
than peripheral routeSo tasks that are interesting are processed
centrally But there problems with boring tasks that require
concentration - they may be processed peripherally
Heuristic-systematic modelUse mental ‘short cuts’ or cognitive heuristics
versus…systematically scanning all the arguments or approaches
RETRIEVAL AND REMEMBERING
Depends on encoding:Situational issuesMeaningful to the learnerPresent and use cues:
Verbal such as colour, typefaces, logos
Auditory such as word cues or music
Olfactory such as smells of cleaning fluids etc
RETRIEVAL (CONT.)
Recognition vs recallRecognition of cues and promptsRecognition superior as a memory device,
but is less reliableShould a trainer aim to trigger recognition
or recall?E.g. Recall for tasks performed remotelyE.g. Recognition for lawyers
OTHER ENCODING ISSUES
Gender differences in encodingWomen encode more using
relationship and social cues Learning styles
How we choose to learnE.g. reflective, abstract, experimenting, experiential [Kolb, 1980]
Dozens of theories of learning style
MAKING LEARNING MEANINGFUL
Repetition30 seconds long enough to get
information into LTMToo much repetition will yield
diminishing returns and may be counterproductive
MAKING LEARNING MEANINGFUL (CONT.)
Increased transfer by increasing realismE.g. use of simulators where increased
realism linked to increased cost but decreased errors, such as training pilots [30m Euros each]
Mnemonics and chunking E.g. colour codes for electrical cables
SchemasE.g. patterns of learning and remembering
ModellingE.g. use of celebrities to aid training- not
always a successful tactic
LEARNING AND TRAINING
Training an essential part of managerial responsibility
Training failures can be costly or even fatal Training in different types of skills
Social- e.g. interviewing, Management- e.g. delegating, prioritising,
organising Procedural- e.g. assembly jobsPhysical or sensori- motor
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO TRAINING 1 Initial decision to train
Strategic decision: to train, ‘poach’ trained staff or a mix of the two
Establish job description Job analysis, task analysis
Establish personnel specification Using 7 point plan or some other structure:
Relevant physical attributes, attainments, intellect, aptitudes, personality, interests, special circumstances
Then define ‘trainee entry behaviour’
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO TRAINING 2 Combine to define the criteria for successful performance Establish training needs
Knowledge, skills and attitudes Define training objectives
In terms of specific outcomes and standards for the training course
Decide on methods of training E.g. experiential, programmed texts, exercises, case studies,
simulators, lectures, role play, etc etc Train
Who will be the trainers? Train on-site or off-site?
Validate Testing the training programme against its own objectives
Evaluate Does it change the performance of the person when at
work?
TRAINING NEEDS EXERCISE
You are working for a large hospitality company and the task is to conduct a TNA for pub managers. In groups, you are to Decide the criteria that differentiate successful
performance from unsuccessful performance Decide on the qualities of the trainees List the training needs Specify the objectives of the training Decide how the training should be Describe what you will do to measure the effectiveness of
the training