Memory & Learning

LECTURE 5 (CHAP. 6)

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 Overview
Some properties of human memory
Short & long term, construction, decay, recognition vs. recall
Learning
Behaviourism, its application, and criticism
Other theories (cognitive, social learning)
Organizational learning
March & Olson model
Knowledge Management
Types of knowledge, issues in practice
Wrap up
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 Memory
Short term vs. long term
e.g. look up a phone number & dial it vs.
remembering it (888-4567)
Repeating & schemas
e.g. noting the pattern in the phone number
Natural memory
Academic research on non-sense syllables
e.g. BOF, TAZ, TEJ
Natural memory
e.g. memory of a witness
Retroactive vs. proactive interference
e.g. phone numbers (231-7677 & 321-6776), keyless car

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 Memory as construction
Query dependent
We dont know how the information is organized.
e.g. can not retrieve based on date, or alphabetically
Decay function
Forgetting is build into the memory system
- e.g. what you ate 3 months ago
Constancy in the number of items remembered
Remember attention as the bottleneck
Recognition vs. recall
e.g. memory of faces

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 Learning
Introduction
Positive connotation of the word learning
History
Behaviourists influence
Organizational learning
Behaviourists approach
Learning = association between two items
Two types of learning
classical conditioning & operant conditioning

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 Classical conditioning
Association is between unconditioned Response & Stimulus.
e.g. Pavlovs dog, childs fear of dogs
Operant conditioning
Association is between Response & Consequence.
e.g. Seal learning to jump through a hoop, child reading a book
Concept of shaping
Skinners Walden Two
Language of the Behaviourist
Basic situation

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 Language of the Behaviourist cont.
Acquisition (period in which a response is learned)
e.g. learning to press bar to get food
Extinction (period it takes to stop responding)
e.g. no food so no more bar presses
Spontaneous recovery (bar pressing after extinction)
e.g. bar pressing next time
Superstitious behaviour (unnecessary behaviours)
e.g. lifting leg while bar pressing
Positive Reinforcement (desirable consequence of response)
e.g. food for pressing the bar
Negative Reinforcement (avoidance of undesirable
consequence)
e.g. escape learning

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 Language of the Behaviourist cont.
Punishment (actual delivery of aversive
consequence)
e.g. electric shock if not moved
Note: Punishment results in controlling a response by
Negative Reinforcement
Reinforcement schedule
Ratio= # of responses for one reinforcement
e.g. two bar presses for one food pellet
Interval= amount of time to consequence
e.g. 30 seconds before the shock is delivered
Paradox of random reinforcement
Extinction takes longer if the response was reinforced
once in a while as opposed to every time. Why?

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 Application of behaviourism
Popularity due ease of understanding
Analysis of behaviour in terms of Stimulus , Response,
and Reinforcement.
e.g. managing the behaviour of prisoners, programs for
children with learning disabilities, Systematic desensitization
Major difficulties of application
Lack of control on reinforcements
e.g. work situations
The learned response disappear with no Reinforcement
e.g. do prisoners still make their beds after release?

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 Problems with behaviourism
Stimulus
Perception as opposed to a physical reality
Experiment on what is stimulus: dog learns to
discriminate between two shades of grey.

Training condition Test condition

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 Problems with behaviourism cont.
Response
What are the units of behaviour?
e.g. counting problems in random reinforcement paradox.
How many units of behaviour when I take out my keys?
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is supposed to follow the behaviour
Can it work differently in humans?
e.g. little girl reading a book
Reinforcement at work
- e.g. planning for a promotion.

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 Cognitive & Social theories
Tolmans Cognitive Map
Background
Experiment on learning a maze
Rat learns without reinforcement by watching
another rat
Notion of Sign Gestalt
e.g. learning your way in a new city

Lewins theory
We will discuss his theory more fully

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 Lewins theory cont.
Differentiation of the parts
e.g. learning to drive a car
Integration of parts into larger automatic units
e.g. looking at the side mirror before changing lane
Social learning
Banduras observation
Children imitate the whole pattern of behaviour, macro
units of behaviour as opposed to micro
e.g. child imitating a professional basketball player
Concept of self efficacy
- e.g. can play my guitar well
Note similarity to expectation of future (confidence)

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Experiential Learning
Kolb & Fry learning cycle
Similarity to Kellys theory of personal constructs

Concrete
experience

Testing of implications Observation &

of concepts in new reflection
situations

Formation of abstract
concepts & generalizations

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 Organizational learning
Introduction
March & Olson model

Individual Individuals
actions beliefs

Organizational Environmental
actions responses

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 Incomplete learning cycles in the model
Role constrained learning
Break in the link between individuals beliefs & individuals actions
e.g. employee may have ideas for improvement
Audience learning
Break in the link between individuals actions & organizational
actions
e.g. managers suggestions are not accepted
Superstitious learning
Break in the link between organizational actions & environmental
responses
e.g. advertising
Learning under ambiguity
Break in the link between environmental responses & individuals
beliefs
e.g. market demand for small vs. big cars

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 Knowledge management
Introduction
Difference between explicit & tacit
knowledge
e.g. riding a bicycle vs. adding numbers
Organizational practices
Lessons learned, politics of what gets included
e.g. Ford
Knowledge management software
e.g. Bells new product introduction
Two major problems
Variability in product
Variability in description

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 Wrap up
Memory is a process of construction subject to decay and
limitations of remembering.
Behaviourism is based on association, has advantage of
simplicity but it is blind to human perception &
cognition.
Cognitive & social learning models are more realistic
models of human learning
Organizational learning is subject to incomplete learning
cycles. Knowledge Management systems may not work
as intended.

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