ASSIGNMENT No.

Course: Human Development and Learning

Course Code (8610)

Name: Chakar Rahim

Roll no : BW620511

Semester: 3rd Spring, 2021

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Q.1 Discuss Erikson's theory of socio-emotional development.

Erik Erikson was a follower of Sigmund Freud who broke with his teacher over the fundamental
point of what motivates or drives human behavior. For Freud it was biology, or more specifically,
the biological instincts of life and aggression. For Erikson, who was not trained in biology and/or
the medical sciences (unlike Freud and many of his contemporaries), the most important force
driving human behavior and the development of personality was social interaction.
Erikson left his native Germany in the 1930's and immigrated to America where he studied Native
American traditions of human development and continued his work as a psychoanalyst. His
developmental theory of the Eight Stages of Man (Erikson, 1950) was unique in that it covered
the entire lifespan rather than childhood and adolescent development.
Erikson's view is that the social environment combined with biological maturation provides each
individual with a set of "crises" that must be resolved. The individual is provided with a "sensitive
period" in which to successfully resolve each crisis before a new crisis is presented. The results of
the resolution, whether successful or not, are carried forward to the next crisis and provide the
foundation for its resolution. This is different from other theories such as Piaget's theory of
cognitive development or Maslow's theory of human needs where the level must be
satisfactorily addressed before one can move on to the next level.
The basis for the foundation of the development of a hardy personality is based on the work of
Suzanne Kobasa Ouellette, a professor at the City University of New York. The three C's of
hardiness--control, commitment, challenge--can be developed through the acquisition of eight
specific skills: 
 Recognize and tolerate anxiety and act anyway.
 Separate fantasy from reality and tackle reality.
 Set goals and establish priorities.
 Project into the future and understand how today's choices affect the future.
 Discriminate and make choices consistent with goals and values.
 Set boundaries and limits.
 Ask assertively for wants and desires.
 Trust self and own perceptions.

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These seem to be very similar to the outcomes of a satisfactory resolution of the first three crises
proposed by Erikson. What may be different is that these are not the normal desired outcomes
of infancy and early childhood for girls. Rather there may be a tendency to socialize girls to be
more acquiescent and dependent, which is to their detriment in terms of further development.
In any case, the two perspectives address very similar issues for infancy, toddlerhood, and early
childhood.
The importance of forming an identity as an achiever during middle childhood is the same in
both the Erikson and Bingham-Styker models. The difference may lie in the importance. As girls
reach puberty, their attention naturally turns to relationships in ways that may be different from
boys. To the extent that girls have not successfully developed a sense of accomplishment during
middle and late childhood, it may be a decade or more before there is an opportunity to again
tackle this issue. However, for boys, there may be more of an opportunity to address the issue of
any deficiencies in a sense of accomplishment within the Eriksonian stage of identity formation.
The importance of self-esteem for girls in the adolescent years cannot be overemphasized. A
study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW, 1991) showed that girls had a
precipitous drop in self-esteem between elementary and high school. While boys also showed a
decline it was not nearly as dramatic.

A major difference between the Erikson and Bingham-Stryker models occurs in the stage of early
adulthood. In Erikson's model the crisis is intimacy versus isolation. In the Bingham-Stryker
model the crisis is emotional and financial self-sufficiency. The difference may lie in gender
expectations. Boys are expected to become self-sufficient; the male crisis is one of establishing
intimacy. Girls are expected to establish relationships; the female crisis is autonomy in terms of
taking care of themselves emotionally and financially. A related observation made by those
studying trends in modern society (Huitt, 2007) is that everyone, both men and women, need to
pay special attention to financial independence. The movement from the agricultural/industrial
economy of 20th century to the information/service economy of the 21st is demanding the
development of a new set of skills. Included in those skills is both a need to manage personal
resources such as finances as well as develop the social and emotional skills that will allow one
towork in groups and adapt to a rapidly changing environment. In this respect both Erikson and
Bingham-Stryker are correct.

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For Erikson, the crises of adulthood revolve around the issues of generativity and ego identity.
For Bingham and Stryker, the crises revolve around the contentment one has with life in terms of
accomplishment in the workplace and relationships. I believe Covey, Merrill and Merrill (1994)
have best expressed the issues of adulthood with their list--to live, to love, to learn, to leave a
legacy. This expresses the issues of intimacy (to love) and generativity (to leave a legacy)
proposed by Erikson as well as the issues of to live (emotional, financial) and to learn
(achievement in the world of work) proposed by Bingham and Stryker.

Stage 1: Infancy: Trust vs. Mistrust

Infants depend on caregivers, usually parents, for basic needs such as food. Infants learn to
trust others based upon how well caregivers meet their needs.
 Trust: When caregivers respond promptly to an infant’s cries, the baby can learn to rely on
others. As caregivers fill an infant’s needs, the baby can develop a sense of  trust and
security.
 Mistrust: If caregivers neglect an infants’ needs, or if care is sporadic, an infant may grow
insecure. They may learn they cannot rely on others and thus feel unsafe.
Stage 2: Toddlerhood: Autonomy vs. Shame and Self-Doubt
During this phase, young children begin exploring the world around them. They learn more
about their environment and their place within it. They also develop basic skills such as
toilet training.
 Autonomy: In this stage, caregivers often serve as a safe base from which to explore the
world. When caregivers encourage independence, children will feel secure enough to take
risks.
 Shame: Children whose caregivers discourage them may develop feelings of  shame. If
caregivers foster excessive dependence, the child may learn to doubt their own abilities.
Stage 3: Preschool Years: Initiative vs. Guilt
Preschoolers are increasingly focused on doing things themselves and establishing their own
goals.
 Initiative: When caregivers nurture these tendencies, children learn how to make decisions
and plan for the future. They can grow into adults who are able to follow their ambitions.
 Guilt: If children are criticized for being assertive, they may feel guilt for pursuing their
desires. Controlling caregivers may teach children to follow another’s lead rather than
starting their own plans.

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Stage 4: Early School Years: Industry vs. Inferiority
As children grow in independence, they become increasingly aware of themselves as
individuals. They begin to compare themselves with others.
 Industry: Children who are accomplished compared to their peers can develop self-
confidence and pride. Praise for their achievements can boost their self-esteem.
 Inferiority: Children who do not achieve certain milestones may doubt their abilities or
self-worth. When children are constantly criticized, they may develop feelings of inferiority.
Stage 5: Adolescence: Identity vs. Role Confusion
The famed term “identity crisis” comes from this period of development. During this stage,
adolescents’ main goal is to answer the question “Who am I?” They may try different
personas to determine which roles fit them best.
 Identity: To succeed in this stage, adolescents need to establish a coherent sense of self.
They will need to determine their priorities in life (family, academic success, etc.). Then they
will need to set goals for their adult selves based on those values.
 Role confusion: Some adolescents may have a weak sense of self. They may struggle to
break away from the person their parents or peers expect them to be. Without a
consistent identity, they may grow confused about what they truly want for the future.
Stage 6: Young Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation
According to Erikson, young adulthood is the period during which many people get married
or develop significant relationships. It has been defined as anywhere from 20-24 years to 20-
40 years.
 Intimacy: Relationships can be a key source of affection and intimacy in adulthood. Many
find emotional benefits from having a committed, lifelong bond.
 Isolation: According to Erikson, people who do not develop relationships may become
socially isolated. They may develop long-term feelings of loneliness.
Stage 7: Middle Adulthood: Generativity vs. Stagnation
The focus of this stage is to contribute to society and the next generation. Adults in this
stage are often at the height of their careers. Many people are raising children.
 Generativity: People may offer guidance to the next generation through parenting or
mentorship. They may also offer lead the way by leaving a legacy. Contributing to society’s
future can give people a sense of community and purpose.

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 Stagnation: Some people may feel as if they have no impact on society. If people do not
find their work meaningful, they may feel restless or isolated. Some may feel they have
“peaked” and that their lives will only get worse in the future.
Stage 8: Late Adulthood: Ego Integrity vs. Despair
During this phase, older adults reflect on the life they have lived.
 Ego Integrity: Those who feel fulfilled by their lives can face death and aging proudly.
 Despair: People who have disappointments or regrets may fall into despair.

Q. 2 discuss the characteristics of learners at kindergarten level relating to morality. Also

suggest the activities to develop morality at this level.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNERS AT KINDERGARTEN LEVEL RELATING TO MORALITY:

Morality is a system of beliefs about what is right and good compared to what is wrong or
bad. Moral development refers to changes in moral beliefs as a person grows older and gains
maturity. Moral beliefs are related to, but not identical with, moral behavior: it is possible to
know the right thing to do, but not actually do it. It is also not the same as knowledge of social
conventions, which are arbitrary customs needed for the smooth operation of society. Social
conventions may have a moral element, but they have a primarily practical purpose.
Conventionally, for example, motor vehicles all keep to the same side of the street (to the right in
the United States, to the left in Great Britain). The convention allows for smooth, accident-free
flow of traffic. But following the convention also has a moral element, because an individual who
chooses to drive on the wrong side of the street can cause injuries or even death. In this sense,
choosing the wrong side of the street is wrong morally, though the choice is also unconventional.
When it comes to schooling and teaching, moral choices are not restricted to occasional dramatic
incidents, but are woven into almost every aspect of classroom life. Imagine this simple example.
Suppose that you are teaching, reading to a small group of second-graders, and the students are
taking turns reading a story out loud. Should you give every student the same amount of time to
read, even though some might benefit from having additional time? Or should you give more
time to the students who need extra help, even if doing so bores classmates and deprives others
of equal shares of “floor time”? Which option is more fair, and which is more considerate?

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Simple dilemmas like this happen every day at all grade levels simply because students are
diverse, and because class time and a teacher’s energy are finite.
Embedded in this rather ordinary example are moral themes about fairness or justice, on the one
hand, and about consideration or care on the other. It is important to keep both themes in mind
when thinking about how students develop beliefs about right or wrong. A morality of justice is
about human rights—or more specifically, about respect for fairness, impartiality, equality, and
individuals’ independence. A morality of care, on the other hand, is about human responsibilities
—more specifically, about caring for others, showing consideration for individuals’ needs, and
interdependence among individuals. Students and teachers need both forms of morality. In the
next sections therefore we explain a major example of each type of developmental theory,
beginning with the morality of justice.

The chart below provides a closer look at how preschoolers develop social-emotional skills at
different ages. Remember that individual differences exist when it comes to the precise age at
which children meet these milestones. Milestones should not be seen as rigid checklists to judge
children’s development, but rather as guides for when to expect certain skills or behaviors to
emerge in young children so you are prepared to meet their changing needs. Think of these
milestones as guidelines to help you understand and identify typical patterns of growth and
development in children. You can use these milestones to meet the needs of the young children
in your classroom. Although the skills highlighted in the chart develop in a predictable sequence
over the preschool years, each child is unique. Your goal is to help all children grow and learn to
their potential.
Preschoolers and Social-Emotional Development
As you study the chart, you may notice that the milestones are associated with different aspects
of social-emotional development: Some are associated with children’s ability to engage in
relationships with others, whereas others are associated with positive self-awareness. Some
milestones relate to children’s ability to regulate or control emotions and others correspond with
children’s ability to perform various tasks independently. Let’s take a closer look at these aspects
of social-emotional development:
Relationships with others:
Preschool-age and Elementary age children engage in pretend play with friends and use words
and sentences to express their feelings and thoughts. Even though they may still need adult
support to share toys and materials with friends, they improve on their own as time passes.

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Preschoolers also improve in their ability to understand and appropriately respond to their
friends’ feelings. Children with healthy social-emotional development have a balance of all of
these components.
Self-awareness: 
Preschool-age and Elementary age children improve their ability to control their bodies during
different activities throughout the day (e.g., sitting at circle time or playing in the gym), take
turns and have conversations with peers, acknowledge and use their own names and the names
of others, and self-evaluate and know when they made appropriate or inappropriate choices.
Preschool-age and Elementary age children display a variety of emotions in different ways. For
example, they may say, “I’m upset,” they may match facial expressions to happy, mad or sad, or
they may laugh when excited. At the same time, they also improve their ability to manage their
emotions to match the situation and environment and to control their emotions (e.g., separate
easily from family members). Although preschoolers are better than toddlers at regulating
emotions, they still need a great deal of help and practice with developing these appropriate
behaviors. Preschoolers with healthy independence will follow predictable daily routines and
activities at school and at home, start identifying a favorite friend and ask that friend to play,
independently play with toys and materials at home, school, or an outdoor playground, and
complete many self-care tasks, such as getting dressed, going to the bathroom, eating snacks,
feeding themselves, or getting ready for bed. Independent preschoolers will also tell caregivers
about their day and learn and use new vocabulary daily.
Moral development focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from
infancy through adulthood. Morality develops across a lifetime and is influenced by an
individual's experiences and their behavior when faced with moral issues through different
periods' physical and cognitive development. In short, morality concerns an individual's growing
sense of what is right and wrong; it is for this reason that young children have different moral
judgments and character than that of a grown adult. Morality in itself is often a synonym for
"rightness" or "goodness". It refers to a certain code of conduct that is derived from one's
culture, religion or personal philosophy that guides one's actions, behaviors and thoughts. This
term is related to psychology. There are other types of development such as social development,
physical development and cognitive development.
Notions of morality development have been developed over centuries, the earliest came from
philosophers like Confucius, Aristotle, and Rousseau, who all took a more humanist perspective
and focused on the development of the conscience and sense of virtue. In the modern day,

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empirical research has explored morality through a moral psychology lens by theorists
like Sigmund Freud and its relation to cognitive development by theorists like Jean
Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, B. F. Skinner, Carol Gilligan and Judith Smetana.
The interest in morality spans many disciplines (e.g., philosophy, economics, biology, and political
science) and specializations within psychology (e.g., social, cognitive, and cultural). In order to
investigate how individuals understand morality, it is essential to consider their beliefs,
emotions, attitudes, and behaviors that contribute to their moral understanding. Additionally,
researchers in the field of moral development consider the role of peers and parents in
facilitating moral development, the role of conscience and values, socialization and cultural
influences, empathy and altruism, and positive development, in order to understand what
factors impact morality of an individual more completely.
obedience and mutual advantage
The preconventional level of moral development coincides approximately with the preschool
period of life and with Piaget’s preoperational period of thinking. At this age the child is still
relatively self-centered and insensitive to the moral effects of actions on others. The result is a
somewhat short-sighted orientation to morality. Initially (Kohlberg’s Stage 1), the child adopts
an ethics of obedience and punishment—a sort of “morality of keeping out of trouble.” The
rightness and wrongness of actions is determined by whether actions are rewarded or punished
by authorities such as parents or teachers. If helping yourself to a cookie brings affectionate
smiles from adults, then taking the cookie is considered morally “good.” If it brings scolding
instead, then it is morally “bad.” The child does not think about why an action might be praised
or scolded; in fact, says Kohlberg, he would be incapable at Stage 1 of considering the reasons
even if adults offered them.

SUGGEST THE ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP MORALITY AT THIS LEVEL:

Group Games
One way to encourage moral development is to teach children to play fairly. They should
understand that rules are important because of ethical reasons. They should play by the rules
because it is the right thing to do and not to avoid being punished. A few examples of games they
can play are races, hiding games, and aiming games. Kids can play in a three-legged race and
learn the lessons of shared responsibility from the game. Although this is an athletic game, it can

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also be about moral development--you have to introduce kids to the idea that the game teaches
them broader concepts, including cooperation and fairness.
Individual Games
Children can also learn about individual's rights by participating apart from other children. For
instance, each child can have a brown paper bag full of crafts, with different types of material
including cloth, glue, crayons, markers, buttons, and yarn. Instruct the children to make an
inspirational work of art. They should spend five minutes thinking about what inspiration means
before beginning to make the piece of art. Encourage them to create art that expresses their
values. They should not believe that their work is part of any type of competition. Avoid
rewarding the best art with a prize--you want the children to understand the significance of
working hard for the sake of bettering themselves.
Educational Games
You can also teach children moral development skills by introducing them to educational games.
Have them play a board game such as tic tac toe, or start a game of hangman on the chalkboard.
You can participate in the game to show them that you are not the supreme authority They
should begin to understand that they have to answer to their conscience. When the students get
confused about what to do next during the game, ask them what they think. This shows them
that they have some control over their actions, and that everything they do is not dictated by
authority.

Q. 3 What is language? Briefly discuss the components of a language.

WHAT IS LANGUAGE:
Language—more specifically human language—refers to the grammar and other rules and norms
that allow humans to make utterances and sounds in a way that others can understand
If language is mankind's greatest invention, it is supremely ironic that it was
actually never invented. Indeed, both Deutscher and McWhorter, two of the world's most
renowned linguists, say the origin of language remains as much as mystery today as it was in
biblical times.

 Grammar is a set of rules for generating logical communication.

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 All languages have a grammar, and native speakers of a language have internalized the
rules of that language’s grammar.
 Every language has a lexicon, or the sum total of all the words in that language.
 Phonetics and phonemics are the study of individual units of sound in languages.
 Morphology is the study of words and other meaningful units of language.
 Syntax is the study of sentences and phrases, and the rules of grammar that sentences
obey.
 Semantics is the study of sentence meaning; pragmatics is the study of sentence
meaning in context.

Language is the ability to produce and comprehend both spoken and written (and in the case of
sign language, signed) words. Understanding how language works means reaching across many
branches of psychology—everything from basic neurological functioning to high-level cognitive
processing. Language shapes our social interactions and brings order to our lives. Complex
language is one of the defining factors that makes us human. Two of the concepts that make
language unique are grammar and lexicon.
Grammar
Because all language obeys a set of combinatory rules, we can communicate an infinite number
of concepts. While every language has a different set of rules, all languages do obey rules. These
rules are known as grammar. Speakers of a language have internalized the rules and exceptions
for that language’s grammar. There are rules for every level of language—word formation (for
example, native speakers of English have internalized the general rule that -ed is the ending for
past-tense verbs, so even when they encounter a brand-new verb, they automatically know how
to put it into past tense); phrase formation (for example, knowing that when you use the verb
“buy,” it needs a subject and an object; “She buys” is wrong, but “She buys a gift” is okay); and
sentence formation.
Lexicon
Every language has its rules, which act as a framework for meaningful communication. But what
do people fill that framework up with? The answer is, of course, words. Every human language
has a lexicon—the sum total of all of the words in that language. By using grammatical rules to
combine words into logical sentences, humans can convey an infinite number of concepts.

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Introduction to Linguistics
Language is such a special topic that there is an entire field, linguistics, devoted to its study.
Linguistics views language in an objective way, using the scientific method and rigorous research
to form theories about how humans acquire, use, and sometimes abuse language. There are a
few major branches of linguistics, which it is useful to understand in order to learn about
language from a psychological perspective.

COMPONENTS OF A LANGUAGE:
There are three major components of language. These components are form, content, and use.
Form involves three sub-components of syntax, morphology, and phonology. pragmatics. In this
post, we will look at the sub-components of form which are…

1. Syntax
2. Morphology
3. Phonology

Syntax
Syntax is the rules for the structure of a sentence. Syntax deals with such details such as
sentence organization, the order of clauses, relationships between words, elements of a
sentence, etc. Syntax also determines which word combinations are acceptable. For example, if I
say “He went to town.” it is acceptable, however, if I say, “town to went he” it does not work
because of the syntax of English.
There are certain common rules of syntax. A sentence must contain a noun phrase and a verb
phrase. Using our previous example “He went to town” contains a noun phrase “He” and a verb
phrase “went to town.” Another example would be the “The big dog ran to the house.” The noun
phrase for this example is “The big dog” and the verb phrase is “ran to the house.”
Morphology
Morphology is focused on the organization of words. Morphemes are the smallest grammatical
units possible. Examples of morphemes would be any letter or vowel of the English alphabet.
There are two types of morphemes free and bound. Free morphemes can stand only. Examples
include many words such as boy, small, and sad. These morphemes do not need any help to
make sense. Bound morphemes must be connected to a larger word to make sense. Examples

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include prefixes and suffixes such as un-, non-, -ly, -s.
Phonology
Phonology looks at the sound of speech and the shaping of syllables. The sound for /p/ is
different depending on its placement in a word and the vowels near it. For example, /p/ can vary
in sound in such words as pea, poor, and soup. Each word contains /p/ but the sound is slightly
different.

Sequencing also changes the of words the -ed sound is different in “jogged” than it is in “walked”
the first has a /d/ sound while the second has a /t/ sound.
Conclusion
There is much more to be said about language form. The understanding of syntax, morphology,
and phonology helps in better understanding language acquisition. Therefore, ESL teachers need
an exposure to the basics of this in order to be able to provide better support for their students.

Q. 4 Explain the laws of learning and their application in our local settings.

Learning is a complex process. All the same, it can be understood by making abroad application
of some laws. Generally speaking, some laws have been discovered and explained by Thorndike.
His laws, namely Law of Exercise, Law of Readiness and Law of Effect, have been accepted by all.
We may discuss here some of common major laws propounded by Thorndike and other
psychologists.
Law of Exercise, Primary Laws of Learning:
This law is also called ‘Law of Use and Disuse’.
(i) Law of Use: 
When a modifiable connection is made between a situation and a response, that connection’s
strength is other things being equal, increased’.
(ii) Law of Disuse: 
When a modifiable connection is not made between a situation and a response over a length of
time, that connection’s strength, other things being equal, decrease.
In brief, we may say that repetition and drill helps learning, and its absence causes forgetfulness.
We also believe in the common proverb, practice makes a man perfect’. Drill is based on the

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principle that repetition fixes the facts to be learnt. That is the reason why the pupils have to
repeat arithmetical tables, formulae, spelling lists and definitions in order to establish these.
In all skill lessons, say handwriting, dance, music, craft and drawing repetition is necessary. Lack
of practice or exercise causes the memory of the learned material to weaken. Lack of practice
causes forgetfulness. We forget because subsequent experiences tend to rule out what has been
learnt.
Educational Implication of Law of Exercise:
(i) We should devote much of our learning time to acquiring all these facts, abilities, arts and
skills, which we shall find useful.
(ii) We should have constant practice in what has once been learnt.
(iii) Much time should not elapse between one practice and the subsequent one. Delayed use or
long disuse may cause forgetfulness.
(iv) Law of exercise cannot be applied quantitatively, because other factors also come in. So
learning is not directly proportional to the amount of exercise. Interest and purpose coupled with
repetition make repetition more effective. Thorndike himself revised his views on ‘Law of Disuse’.
He finds that disuse may play an important part as dissatisfaction with a particular job. It is
interest and satisfaction that comes in the success and repetition of successful response which
help in the selection of desired response.
Law of Effect:

“When a modifiable connection between a situation and response is made and is accompanied
or followed by a satisfying state of affairs that connection’s strength is increased, but when made
and accompanied by an annoying state of affairs its strength is decreased”. 

In simpler words, it means that a response which gives achievement of the goal and thus
provides satisfaction, will be stamped in, while those which are accompanied by dissatisfaction
will be stamped out. In short, the feeling or the emotional state affects learning.
For instance, when the child solve, questions correctly he feels encouraged to do more. But if he
fails repeatedly, he does not make subsequent attempt. Some students fail one or two times in
the Matriculation Examination.
The stagnate and do not succeed at all. It is commonly said, ‘nothing succeeds like success’. The
boy who stands for school council election and succeeds, gets motivated to stand again and

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again. Another pupil failing in the elections twice may not stand again. This success and failure
condition the learner to a large degree.
Educational Implication:
(i) As a failure is accompanied by a discouraging emotional state, it should be avoided. The
evaluation system should be so modified that nobody is called ‘a failure’. A student may pass in 4
subjects out of 7. He should be given a certificate to that effect, and encouraged to appear again
in the other three subjects.
(ii) Reward and recognition play a great role in encouraging the pupil. Due recognition should be
given to good achievement, so that the pupil is cheered up to march forward.
(iii) Educational guidance should be provided to all the pupils, so that no pupil become a misfit in
any subject or educational course. It is desirable to enable everyone to experience success by
guiding him to pursue the course suits him. It should be possible to adjust the pupils and their
work so that they will experience an optimum of amount of success.
(iv) Punishments should be avoided as far as possible. Punishment produces a negative effect,
and it causes discouragement and it eliminates the response in due course. The most effective
and healthful way of establishing desirable behaviour is to reinforce it with a feeling of
satisfaction and encouragement.
(v) Interest is directly connected, with law of effect. Pupils get satisfaction in things which
interest them. Interest causes satisfaction, satisfaction promotes learning, better learning gives
higher satisfaction and thus the cycle goes on. Pupils prefer that which is pleasant and interesting
to them, while selecting books, subjects, activities, mates, games, food and clothing. Thus the
behaviour is controlled by interest and satisfaction.
(vi) Memory is also directly related to this law. Pleasant things are remembered better than
unpleasant things. What interests most, which is vital for us, what gives us great satisfaction, is
remembered the most. The pupil forgets the home-task because it is unpleasant job for him.
Limitations of the Law:
In certain cases the law fails. We sometimes remember the most unpleasant incidents of our life
most vividly. We are not able to avoid the remembrance, because of the unpleasant nature.
Sometimes the punishment given causes better learning. We can stimulate a child to learn the
good spellings, but how to curb his bad spellings? If we say that rebuke or punishment will
discourage him to learn, then he might not learn the right spellings at all.
Law of Readiness: 

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“When a person feels ready to act or to learn, he acts or learns more effectively and with greater
satisfaction than when not ready’. Before actual learning, one must be mentally prepared; one’s
mind, must be mentally-set.
Educational Implications:
(i) Readiness means desire to do a job. In the absence of desire learning cannot be effective.
Hence the teacher must arouse the interest or readiness of the pupils. In teaching any topic, he
must tap their previous knowledge, arouse interest for the new topic through suitable questions
and then announce the aim of the new lesson. So ‘motivation’ is one of the important step in
lesson-planning.
(ii) Curiosity is essential for learning. Hence the teacher should arouse curiosity for learning, so
that the pupils feel ready to imbibe the new experiences. Some teachers do not prepare their
pupils psychologically for their lessons. They dole out the knowledge they possess in a
mechanical way. The teacher should, before taking up the new lesson arouse interest and
curiosity by making the problems real and concrete. Abstract elements not connected with real-
life situations should be avoided.
Secondary or Subordinate Laws of Learning: 
Thorndike gave the following Secondary laws also: 
1. Law of Primacy.
2. Law of Recency.
3. Law of Intensity of Stimulus.
4. Law of Multiple Response.
5. Law of Set Attitude.
6. Law of Analogy and Assimilation.
7. Law of Associative Shifting.
8. Law of Partial Activity.
1. Law of Primacy:
‘Learning that takes place in the beginning is the best and lasting’. Usually we say, first
impression is the best. Hence the pupils should make the right start, and be most serious even
from the first day. The learning on the first day is most vivid and strong. The teacher also should
be most serious on the first day of teaching. He must impress his students on the very first day.
2. Law of Recency:

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‘Recent acts are lasting’. We remember those things better which are recent. Hence a pupil
should revise his entire course just before the examination. Without revision, he is apt to forget
even the best assimilated matter. The revision just before the examination helps him.
3. Law of Intensity of stimulus: 
‘If a stimulus is strong, the response will be strong, and vice-versa.’ The student who has the dash
or the enthusiasm makes a greater progress and achievement. The weak-willed student achieves
less. The more serious a student, the greater his achievement. From this point of view,
examinations bear a positive effect on learning, in so far as they present an intense stimulus to
study. The justification of internal assessment throughout the session is the same. Hence, the
pupils must have a stimulus to learn throughout the academic session.
4. Law of Multiple Response: 
Confronted with a new situation the organism responds in a variety of ways arriving at the
correct response.
5. Law of Set Attitude: 
The learner performs the task well if he has his attitude set in the task.
6. Law of Analogy and assimilation: 
The organism makes responses by comparison or analogy and assimilation. When learner finds
the similarities and dissimilarities in the lesson with daily experiences he earns better. Hence
teaching must be correlated with life experiences.
7. Law of Associative Shifting:
According to this law we can get any response, from the learner of which he is capable,
associated with any situation to which he is sensitive.
8. Law of Partial activity: 
This law states that teaching should be done in parts. It is more true in the case of children’s
education.

Q. 5 Discuss provision of education for slow learners and handicapped children.

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Provisions of Specialized schools or Classes: Learning  Disabled children cannot be taught along
with other students as they suffer from severe learning deficiencies. Hence, there should be
special schools or at least separate classes for them where they can be taught by through special
methods on the same curriculum with greater care and attention.
Provision of Special Remedial and Educational Program: Here, first the learning difficulty is
identified i.e. the type and amount of it. Accordingly, a special remedial and educational program
may be then adapted to rectify it. E.g. if the deficiency of the child is related to the neural
disorder. We can follow remedial programs. Getman’s Visuo-Motor program etc. or if their
deficiency is related to psycho-linguistic ability, we can follow a program like Witmer’s Psycho-
Educational etc
Improving the Existing Environmental Set-Up: Many of the learning difficulties of children are
caused by the improper negative factors present in their physical, social and educational
environment. The measures expected from the parents, members of the family, teachers, school
authorities and society to improve the existing environmental set-up can be summarized as
follows:
Great care should be taken by the parents and teachers to pick-up proper methods of learning
and Communication
Efforts should be made to provide proper facilities in the school according to the needs, interest
and abilities of these children. Stress should be made both on theory as well as on the practical
field
In case of severe learning disability, the child should be placed in a fulltime special learning
setting under the guidance of specially trained teachers.
The teachers should not lose patience as these children are essentially slow-learners and under-
achievers. They should be accepted with all their weaknesses and deficiencies.
With the help of men and material resources available, the learning disabled should be helped in
overcoming their deficits in skills like memory, spelling, handwriting, verbal expressions and
mathematical abilities etc

 Behavioural Approach: In this approach, attempts are made to modify the behaviour of the
Learning Disabled by reorganizing the environmental conditions, providing opportunities for
modifications In behaviour and properly re-imposing their change behaviour.

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 Psychoanalytical Approach: In this approach, attempts are made to find out the root cause of
this learning deficiency. Accordingly, a remedial program is planned.
 Individualized Instructional Approach: This approach advocates the use of small groups or
even individuals for helping them rectify their learning deficiencies.
 Self-instructional Approach: In this approach, Learning, Disable children are required to adopt
self-learning and self-improvement measures for treating their learning deficiencies. For this
purpose, remedial programs like computer-assisted Instruction, Teaching Machines, Instructional
CDs, Tape recorder etc can be used.
 Multisensory Approach: In this approach, Learning Disabled children are taught by appealing
to their multiple senses, visual, auditory, touch, smell and taste etc.
 Technological Approach: Advanced technology is used for providing remedial programs for the
Learning Disabled. Some example is video- disc instructions, computer-assisted instruction,
Audiotape and tape recorder-etc.
 with schoolwork
 reading, writing, number work or understanding information
 expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying
 making friends or interacting with adults
 behaving properly in school
 organising themselves
They might have sensory or physical needs that affect them in school. Children progress at
different rates and have different ways in which they learn best. When planning lessons, your
child's teacher will take account of this by looking carefully at how they organise their lessons,
classroom, books and materials.
The teacher will choose suitable ways to help your child learn. If your child is making slower
progress or having particular problems in one area, they may be given extra help or different
lessons to help.
Just because your child is making slower progress than you expected or the teachers are
providing different support, help or activities in class, this doesn't necessarily mean that your
child has special educational needs.
Your child's early years are a very important time for their physical, emotional, intellectual and
social development. When the health visitor or doctor makes a routine check, they might suggest
that there could be a problem. If you have any worries of your own, you should ask for advice
right away.

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You should ask your child's class teacher, the person in the school responsible for helping
children with special educational needs or the headteacher.
You could ask them if:
 the school thinks your child is having problems
 your child is able to work at the same level as others of the same age
 your child is already getting extra help
 you can help your child
If the school agrees your child has special needs in some areas, they'll use a step-by-step
approach to meeting these.
 Special educational needs: a step-by-step approach  
 Identifying special educational needs in under fives  
 Getting help for children under five with special educational needs

1. Praise and reward: Motivation works wonders for slow learners. To help them continue
learning, it is important to acknowledge even the smallest victory and offer rewards for each
milestone.
2. Set realistic expectations and smaller targets: As a parent and an educator, it is essential to
understand what is achievable for the child and set targets accordingly.
3. Be supportive: Slow learners should be taught to learn from their failures. They should be
encouraged to explore and learn at their own pace until they succeed.
Parents and educators should be vocally supportive and teach them via oral assignments that are
in tune with their competency.
4. Encourage peer tutoring: This is one of the most effective strategies for slow learners. Parents
and teachers should encourage slow learners to study in groups. The more a child interacts with
others of his/her age, the more confident he/she will feel.
5. Encourage multiple intelligence: If the child shows interest in any co-curricular activity, it is
essential to support them. This boosts their confidence and they start feeling socially accepted.
6. Encourage interaction and oral communication: Slow learners should be encouraged to voice
their thoughts. Parents should ask their children about their day at school, have discussions on
TV shows, sports and music.
The evaluation must use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant
functional, developmental, and academic information about the child, including information

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provided by the parent. When conducting an initial evaluation, it’s important to examine all
areas of a child’s functioning to determine not only if the child is a child with a disability, but also
determine the child’s educational needs. This full and individual evaluation includes evaluating
the child’s:
 health,
 vision and hearing,
 social and emotional status,
 general intelligence,
 academic performance,
 communicative status, and
 motor abilities

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