Robert Gagné's Theory of Learning

Learning is the basic process by which we acquire information from the outer or inner world to later work with it. The result of this process is knowledge, which allows a wide variety of behaviors, predictions and even to acquire new knowledge and cognitive schemes.

Learning is therefore a fundamental phenomenon that allows us to survive and adapt to the environment, being studied by very diverse disciplines and theoretical currents. One of the many theories that have emerged regarding the learning process is Robert Gagné's learning theory. And is that Jean piaget he was not the only one to talk about learning in a psychological key.

Learning for Robert Gagné

As we have said, there are very different ways of understanding what learning is.

In the case of Robert Gagné's learning theory, the result of the interrelation between person and environment, being a change of a behavioral, behavioral and even disposition or attitude towards a part or all of reality.

This change is maintained over time as a consequence of the interaction between person and environment, not only due to maturational changes but to the living of experiences and repetition of these.

For Gagné, information reaches the nervous system through sensory receptors, for later be processed and stored in memory until retrieval is required. If this information corresponds to any previous information, it can easily be stored, but otherwise it will be necessary to practice and repeat the learning.

Strong emotions and motivations make it easy (or difficult. depending on the case) said storage and subsequent retrieval.

The role of motivation in learning

At the time of retrieving the information, some situation or stimulus must occur that requires the use of the stored learning, which in the face of said stimulus passes to a hypothetical response generator internal. After passing through this generator, the behavior, taking into account when choosing which one to apply the level of control and the own and other's expectations regarding the behavior and the goal or objective to be fulfilled.

Thus, motivation acts as a motor for learning and, at the same time, creates more situations to put into practice what learned, as it creates more opportunities in which a situation is detected in which the newly acquired skills can be tools.

To learn it is essential that there is motivation, whatever the type, in order for the information to be attended to and processed. Otherwise, the information would not be recorded or knowledge would be generated. But what exactly do we learn?

What do we learn?

We don't always learn the same kinds of things. In fact, there is a wide variety of stimuli, situations, skills and procedures of different types that we can acquire throughout life.

For Gagné, the wide variety of possible learning can be grouped into eight different types of learning: learning of reaction to signals or reflexes, stimulus-response conditioned learning, chaining of sequences of motor action, verbal association, discrimination, learning and understanding of concepts, the principles with which structure the assessments made by the subject and the problem solver.

The products of said learning are also classified into five main categories.

1. Motor skills

Motor skills are essential when it comes to being able to act.

Training is required to get the movement automated and it can be carried out with precision, especially in the case of behaviors that require a sequence of actions to be followed.

2. Verbal information

This type of ability or learning is what refers to information transmission process and retention of specific data as names or memories.

3. Intellectual skills

It is about the capabilities that allow capture, interpret and use cognitive elements in order to interpret reality, including the ability to symbolize. These types of skills are very useful to discriminate stimuli and associate symbols and reality.

4. Cognitive skills and strategies

These types of skills refer to the cognitive processes that we use to capture, analyze, work and retrieve information. In addition is linked to the choice of adaptive behaviors to the environment and its specific demands. Attention, response style or planning are several examples of this type of skills, and according to Gagné's theory they work at the same time.

5. Attitudes

Attitudes are considered to the internal states that influence when it comes to choose behaviors and behaviors towards specific situations, people or objects. They are, in short, predispositions that incline us more towards one option or another and that shape our way of behaving.

Learn can cause personal attitudes to change, but this change is gradual and progressive, the learning being complex and needing to be reinforced for there to be a real and permanent change.

Stages of learning

Regardless of the type of knowledge, skill or disposition that is acquired, Gagné's learning theory considers learning as a process which can be divided into different stages before acquiring knowledge. Said stages or phases are as follows.

First phase: Motivation

The first phase in the learning process is the motivation phase. In this phase basically a goal is set, directing attention to it. In this way we know towards what we should direct our actions.

Second phase: Apprehension

In this second phase selective attention and perception processes are used when a change in some stimulus attracts attention and makes us focus physically and cognitively on it.

Third phase: Acquisition

Although the previous phases are based mainly on the fixation of attention and the intention to attend, during the third phase the acquisition and codification of information takes place. collecting stimuli and working with them. This third phase is the main one in the learning process since it is the moment in which knowledge is acquired.

Fourth phase: Retention

After acquiring the information it is stored in memory, having to watch out for possible interference with other knowledge, said retention being favored by them.

Fifth phase: Recovery

Once the information is retained, learning remains in memory until some kind of stimulus triggers the need to get it back. In this situation, the memory of the information stored is born after a processing of the needs that arise from the stimulus or demand.

Sixth phase: Generalization

A very important part of learning is ability to generalize informationn. In this phase of the learning process, an association is built between the knowledge acquired and recovered and the different situations in which such knowledge could be demanded.

This generalization allows us to establish adaptive behaviors in the face of novel stimuli about which we have no information. It can be understood as one of the main goals of the learning process, since it is here that the usefulness of what has been learned is noticed when taking it beyond the initial context.

Phase Seven: Performance

The seventh phase of the learning process is performance. In this phase the individual transforms learned knowledge into action, performing a behavior in response to external or internal stimulation.

Eighth phase: Feedback

The comparison between the results of the action derived from the use of learning and the expectations that were had regarding these results they are the last phase of the process. If the results are as expected or better, learning will be strengthened, while otherwise an attempt will be made to modify or discard in that situation in favor of other alternatives.

Bibliographic references:

• Gagné, R. (1970). The conditions of learning. Aguilar. Madrid.

• Meza, A. (1979). Cognitive learning psychology. Empirical findings in the approaches of Piaget and Gagné. Lima: NUCICC.