Moment of Truth

Jan Carlzon menjadi CEO dari Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) pada saat perusahaan ini sudah hampir bangkrut pada dekade 80-an. SAS telah mengalami kerugian sebesar 20 milyar dolar setiap tahunnya. Tidak seperti yang diperkirakan oleh banyak orang, SAS dalam waktu singkat bangkit menjadi salah satu perusahaan yang menguntungkan. Bahkan sampai hari ini, SAS merupakan salah satu maskapai penerbangan yang disegani dalam industri penerbangan dunia.

Nama Carlzon, dalam dunia pemasaran masih sangat tekenal hari ini. Salah satu istilah yang diciptakannya adalah "Moments of Truth". Carlzon yakin bahwa pertemuan antara penyedia service dengan para pelanggan yang menerima service adalah suatu kesempatan bagi perusahaan untuk meningkatkan kepuasan pelanggan terhadap kualitas pelayanan dari perusahaan yang bersangkutan. Inilah yang dimaksud Carlzon dengan Moments of Truth.

Carlzon percaya bahwa perusahaan penerbangan mempunyai ribuan Moments of Truth yang dapat diciptakan setiap harinya. Pada saat pelanggan membeli tiket, pada saat pelanggan memasuki bandara, pada saat menunggu di ruang tunggu sebelum boarding dan pada saat berada dalam pesawat adalah keseluruhan Moments of Truth yang dapat memberikan impresi kepada pelanggan tentang kualitas pelayanan dari suatu airline.

Inilah salah satu sifat jasa lain yang dikenal dengan 'inseparability". Jasa diproduksi dan dikonsumsi pada saat bersamaan. Bagi para praktisi pemasaran, sifat jasa yang seperti ini dapat menjadi suatu kendala dan sekaligus kesempatan.

Menjadi suatu kendala oleh karena kualitas jasa akan sulit konsisten. Kualitas jasa menjadi sangat tergantung kepada faktor manusia yang seringkali sulit memberikan service yang standar. Menjadi suatu kesempatan, oleh karena pelanggan harus terlibat di dalam proses transaksi. Untuk membeli jasa, pelanggan harus melakukan kontak dengan perusahaan yang menyediakan jasa. Di mata Carlzon ini merupakan kesempatan untuk menciptakan Moments of Truth.

Dengan memperbanyak kontak dengan pelanggan, perusahaan jasa akan lebih mempunyai peluang untuk membentuk image yang baik terhadap jasa yang ditawarkan. Ini yang pernah dilakukan oleh British Airways. Perusahaan ini pernah memerintahkan para pramugari yang melayani dalam pesawat untuk lebih memberbanyak kontak. Salah satu caranya adalah dengan memperkecil porsi makanan tetapi menambah jumlah frekwensi makanan yang disediakan. Dengan demikian, kontak-kontak yang terjadi antara penumpang dengan pramugari diperbanyak dan hal ini tak lain bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kepuasan para penumpang.

Sebuah hotel selayaknya perlu mengidentifikasi kontak-kontak yang terjadi antara tamu dengan para staf hotel. Saat tamu memasuki hotel, saat mereka berada di hadapan resepsionis, saat memasuki kamar dan lain-lain adalah contoh kontak-kontak yang terjadi. Hotel yang baik, akan selalu berusaha untuk mengoptimalkan jumlah kontak.

Selain itu, tentunya bukan hanya jumlah kontak tetapi juga kualitas dari kontak tersebut. Ini akhirnya tergantung dari attitude dan kemampuan para staf. Mereka juga perlu diingatkan terus menerus bahwa pada saat kontak dengan pelanggan terjadi, itu merupakan suatu kesempatan yang baik untuk membentuk persepsi terhadap kualitas pelayanan. Tak salah bila Carlzon menamainya sebagai "Moments of Truth".

--

Motivation in School Learning


Motivation

Motivation has been taken from English word motive. The word motive is come from the Latin word motives. In the meaning of motive in directly is be the reason for Sub’s action and dictionary is be the reason for Sub’s action and Stimulated the interest of somebody.

Defination of Motivation

“ The term motive refers to an internal state of the organism which arouses activity and directs the organism’s behaviour certain objects or conditions called goals”.
“ A motive or adrive is a complex state with in an organism that directs behaviour towards a goal.”
“ A motive is internal Activator or Modifier”.
“ The influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behaviour.”

What is Motivation?

Motivation is one of the most important components of learning and one of the most difficult to measure.
Psychologists defines motivation as an internal process that activates, guides, and maintains behavior over time.
Motivation told some some something can come about in many ways. Motivation can be a personality characteristic, individual may have lasting, stable interests in participating in such broad categories of activities as academies, sports, or social activities.

Learning

The learning is the most important thing in human life.
In Holy Quran and Hadees the learning is important for every men and women.

Definations.

“Learning is a process which brings about a change in the individuals way of perceiving or responding as a result of contact with the environment.”
“Learning may be defined as the process be which behavior originates or is altered through training or practice.”
Through Psychology
“The process by which an activity orginates or is change through responding to asituation provided the changes cannot be attributed to growth or to the temporary state of the organism as in fatigue or under drugs.”

What is Learning?

Learning is usually defined as a change in an individual caused by experience changes caused by development (such as growing taller) are not intance of learning.
Learning take place in many ways. Some time it is intertional, as when student acquire informational presented in a classroom or which they look something up in the encyclopedia.

Purpose Of Motivation in School Learning: -

In a school system, they inevitably have to follow the school system of timetabling, planned curriculum, set assignments and so on. For some children this may appropriately fit their learning requirements, but too often this is not the case. Their only motivation is to please the teacher - or perhaps to get good grades for the sake of their parents. Or perhaps to beat the other children for first place in the class. Yet what good does this do long-term? All it teaches children is that learning is not in itself worthwhile unless there is some kind of reward at the end.
Home education can give a totally different environment to learning. Children can be free to follow their own interests, and to find their own motivation. For some parents just starting this can seem rather frightening - aren't there things that children OUGHT to know? Don't they have to be kept on track with a curriculum? How can they be motivated without a reward?

--





Educational Material

Theories OF Learning


Meaning And Defination of Learning: -


Learning means to bring changes in the behaviour of the organism. It is very difficult to give a universally acceptable definition of learning because various theories developed by psychologists attempt to define the term from different angles. Learning in psychology has the status of a construct. Construct means an idea cr image that cannot be directly observed like electrons or genes but which is inferred from the behaviour of the organism. Melvin H.Marx defines learning as “Learning is a relatively enduring change in behaviour which is a function of prior behaviour (usually called practice).”
The definition given above emphasizes four attributes of learning as a process---the first is that learning is a permanent change in behaviour. It does not include change due to illness, fatigues, maturation, and use of intoxicants. The second is that learning is not directly observable but manifests in the activities of the individual. The third attribute of learning is that it results in some change of ending nature. The fourth and the last is that learning depends on practice and experience. Hilgard defined learning as, “a change in a subject’s behaviour to a given situation brought about his repeated experiences in that situation, provided that the behaviour change can not be explained on the basis of native response tendencies, maturation, or temporary states of the subject (e.g. fatigue, drugs, etc.)
Let us illustrate learning process with the help of a concrete example. Suppose these are three children in a class from three different religious, one is from an orthodox Hindu family, second is from Muslim family and the third one is from a Sikh family. They greet the teacher in three different ways one by “folding his hands” other by “salam sahib” and third by “sat sri akal” “You see, why is it so? It is the result of their early training has brought a permanent change in their behaviour. This type of change can be termed as learning.
There are certains terms, which are confused with learning such as instincts, imprinting and maturation. If we examine the behaviour of an organism we find that some behaviour of the organism is reflexive or inborn as for example we breathe, our heart pumps, our cells apparently team with activity, our knee jerks ect. A;; these activities take place without the benefit of learning. As we move to lower animals, reflexes and instincts account more and more for their behaviour. An instinct according to R.Haber 1966 is “A pattern of behaviour, usually complex in nature which is found universally among the members of a species, occurs without the need for prior learning or experience, as relatively invariant in from, and is reliably elicited or released by a particular and usually very simple stimulus.”
Another term, which is confused with learning, is imprinting. At a certain crucial time, some time after emerging from their cells, newborn ducklings can be induced to waddle after any thing from a football to an experimenter that is moving near by. This is accomplished by simply exposing the duckling to a moving object. If the timing is right then they will continue to follow these objects. This behaviour is called imprinting. It is not learned, but rather a kind of instinctive reaction that capitalizes on a tendency, which appears when the time is ripe. It is the following behaviour that is inborn not the choice of what is followed.

Kinds of Learning:

Learning has been classified in various categories as learning of motor skills such as walking, writing, swimming and typing ect. Which require the use of motor skills and verbal learning involving verbal expression. Affective learning and cognitive learning emphasize the role of learning emotional responses and learning of facts, understanding of facts and problem solving. It is very difficult to dichotomies learning into clear-cut categories because one category overlaps the other. Gagne has classified learning into eight types in a hierarchical order as given below: -
1. Signal Learning
2. S-R Learning
3. Chain learning
4. Verbal associate learning
5. Multiple discrimination
6. Learning of concepts
7. Learning of principles
8. Problem-Solving
History of operant conditioning begins with Professor B.F. Skinner (b.1904) of Harvard University. When he was a graduate in the department of Psychology of Harvard University, he wrote his dissertation in 1931 entitled. The Concept of the Reflex in the Description of Behaviour. He made historical survey of previous studies and operational analyses of the concept of the reflex. He emphasized that the basic datum for the student of behaviour is simply an observed correlation between stimulus-response (S-R) connections. He adopted reflex as the basic unit for analyzing behaviour of the organism. He held that it is necessary to study something simpler i.e., the relationship of a part of behaviour (a response) to a part or modification of the part of environment (stimulus).
B.F. Skinner is a practical psychologist who conducted several experiments on different reflexes in rats and pigeons. Finally he selected eating as the subject of his experiments because of its simplicity and ease of collecting huge data in short period of time.
He developed his own apparatus and method of observation to study and analyses behavior in a systematic objective way. After some time his approach to analyses behavior became so increasingly visible and viable force with in Psychology that most of the American Psychologists his method of research in their studies.
Two Types Of Learning
Skinner found that the procedure he was using to conditioning lever pressuring in rat did not conform to the paradigm used by Pavlov to condition the secretion of saliva in dogs. He recognized two types of conditioning that are produced by different experimental procedures. In Pavlov Ian conditioning, the reinforcing stimulus was paired with a neutral stimulus that acquired properties of natural stimulus. Skinner as type ‘S’ conditioning or respondent conditioning referred this procedure. He called his own procedure as type ‘R’ conditioning or operant conditioning in which a response occurs spontaneously in the absence of any stimulation with which it may be specifically correlated. He called his procedure operant conditioning, which can be defined as any learning, which is based on response contingent reinforcement and does not involve choice among experimentally defined alternatives. The term operant emphasizes the fact that behaviour operates upon the environment to generate its own consequences.
An operant is a response, which is emitted by ‘S’ without any particular forcing stimulus rather than elicited by a reinforcing stimulus (U.C.S) as in classical conditioning. An important distinction between two types of learning is that classically conditioned reflex may have zero strength in the beginning but the operant can not have zero strength because it has to occur at least once before it can be reinforced. Operant behaviour is external. It can be observed. Respondent behaviour is internal and personal. A corresponding distinction between two types of conditioning has been given at the end of this chapter in detail.

A System of Behaviour:

Prof. B.F.Skinner is known for his researches of collecting facts and description of purely empirical relations. He is specifically interested in controlling those responses that seem to occur with no direct stimulation, such responses are emitted rather than elicited by obvious environment stimulus.
He was interested in developing a science of behaviour. He had made frequent references to science of behaviour in his writings as the object of his efforts. His published work in the beginning was highly technical and was beyond the understanding of ordinary reader. It was just after the Second World War that he made his findings and theory of behaviour non- technical. During the same period he was making attempts to spell out some of the implications of principles of operant conditioning for the society. He wrote a novel “Walden Two” a fictional description of a utopian society in which education and social regulations were based on positive reinforcement rather than on the technique of aversive control. The same year, he came to Hvrvard University. He taught a course dealing with human behaviour. He wrote a book Science and human behaviour in 1953. The book summarizes the basic principles arising from the laboratory experiments, conducted by him. His finding generated a number of research activities in USA. By the middle of forties, research using operant methods had become more then one man’s enterprise. Skinner at Minnesota and Indiana Universities worked with some talented students on the theory of operant conditioning. So huge amount of research data was produced in short period that in needed some medium of communication to coordinate the findings of research studies conducted at various centers in the Universities. First conference was convened in Indiana in 1946 on the theme of “Experimental Analysis of Behaviour”. Every year annual conference is held to exchange views and to co-ordinate research findings of various carters. Many researches are being conducted on operant conditioning in USA and other countries of the world.
In this chapter we will discuss the basic principles of operant conditioning and other phenomena related to it. In the last part of this chapter we will mention some of the areas of education where we can use the principles of operant conditioning.


The Operant Experiment:

Skinner developed his own method and apparatus to study operant conditioning. He developed a simple apparatus, commonly known as conditioning. He developed a simple apparatus, commonly known as Skinner box. This apparatus was devised to study a lot of behaviour in short time in an objective way. A simple response of pressing a lever/bar was chosen as a unit of behaviour. The movements of the rat were electrically recorded and cumulative records of the behaviour of the rat were obtained. The figure of Skinner box explains the mechanism of operant conditioning.
_________________


OPERATIONS IN OPERANT CONDITIONING:

Several operations are involved in the process of operant conditioning. Some of the important operations are briefly described as follows:
(1) Shaping (generalization, chaining and habit competition).
(2) Extinction.
(3) Spontaneous recovery.
(4) Concept of reinforcement.

(1) Shaping:

Shaping is the most important mechanism used in operant conditioning. It refers to the judicious use of selective reinforcement to bring certain desirable changes in the behavior of the organism. The basic process in shaping is successive approximation to the desired behavior. The experimenter shapes or moulds the behavior of the organism as a potter in a definite form of a pot moulds clay. The most striving and significant contribution of Skinner is the development of a technique to shape the complex behavior by systematically reinforcing closer approximations to the desired behavior. Let us explain it with the help of an example. Suppose we wish to shape behavior of an untrained pigeon in the Skinner box to learn a particular instrumental response, say pecking a particular disk. We may accomplish this shaping of the behaviour of the pigeon through a process of series of successive approximations. Instead of waiting until the pigeon makes a full and correct pecking response, we would reinforce some bit of the pigeon’s behaviour that forms part of the chain, the terminal link is the disk-pecking act. At first we would give the pigeon reinforcement when he merely turns slightly in the direction of the disk. Once a definite tendency to turn toward the disk has been established, we would hold further reinforcement until the pigeon made a definite approach movement toward the disk.
By reinforcing those responses thus mske the pigeon come closer and closer to the disk and then those that bring his beak near it. We would by sure finally to induce the pigeon to peck the dise and we would reinforce this behaviour. It has been reported by Skinner that by using this shaping technique, a hungry pigeon can usually be made to peck at the disk with in a period of about three minutes. Let us understand shaping with the help of an example from human behaviour. Suppose we want to trail a child for toilet training. Simply putting the child on the toilet is not successful because as soon as the child is placed on the stool, he begins to cry. To shape his behaviour , the child is given a chocolate whenever he is placed on the toilet. It has been observed that successful elimination follows. Other techniques may also be used as mother may read or entertain the child when he is placed on toilet. Chocolate as reinforcer may be withheld following failure. Such type of training may be started from the age of 1 ½ years . Psychologists that toilet training behaviour may be shaped with in a period of a fortnight have reported it.

Principles involved in shaping: -

There are three important psychological principles, which are involved in the process of successful shaping of behaviour. They are as follows:
(a) Generalization,
(b) Habit competition,
(c) Each segment in the chain must be linked to the other.

(a) Generalization: Human beings and to some extend animals are capable of generalizing experiences and knowledge acquired in one learning situation to other situations. Had we not been endowed with this unique ability, we would repeat the learning process each time whenever there was slightest alteration in the stimulus. Generalization may be of two types which are mentioned below:


(1) Response generalization:
The first psychological principle involved in shaping is response generalization. It refers to the fact that when responses are repeated, they are liked to very over a range of more or less similar acts. It is important that response generalization does occur, otherwise shaping would be impossible. If the pigeon could only rigidly repeat his previously reinforced response in exactly the same form he would never get closer to the disk (example cited above). Among the responses possible under the principle of response generalization is the one that allow him to get nearer. This closer approach is then reinforced and the ground work laid for response generalization to get the pigeon even closer later on.



(2) Stimulus generalization:
The famous study of Albert is an example of stimulus generalization. Stimulus generalization occurs when a particular response elicited by a particular stimulus becomes also elicited by other similar stimuli. There are number of examples of stimulus generalization as a boy who fears the presence of a tyrant teacher may generalize fear to other teachers.


(b) Habit competition:
The second principle in shaping is successful habit competition. At each point of the chain, The correct habit must attain dominance over competing habits. This is accomplished by reinforcing the correct habit alone.


(c)Chaining:
The last and the third principle involved is that each segment in the chain must be linked with the succeeding segment. Cues produced by one response must be linked with the next response. Let us illustrate this point with the help of a concrete example. Suppose, we want to train a pigeon to turn around in a circle. This training is started by reinforcing the pigeon for making even a slight movement in the right direction. After this habit is, thus, strengthened, other responses that are part of the chain of responses required in turning around are successively reinforced. By this shaping technique, the response chain of turning around, one that a pigeon normally rarely makes, can be made to occur over and over again at a high rate of frequency.
It has been experimentally proved that secondary reinforces are more effective in shaping behaviour than primary reinforcers because primary reinforcers interfere with the smooth flowing sequence of responses. As food, the eating movements will confuse the association response. Whenever we want to take the advantage of psychological technique of shaping in training animals and children, we should first developa strong secondary reinforcing agent.
Needless to mention that by using technique of shaping we can change the behaviour of the organism. We can bring those changes in the behaviour which we want to install in the repertoire of the organism. Effective shaping requires thorough understanding and control of the reinforcing mechanism and effective arrangement of several or many behaviour segments that comprise the learning task.


(2)Extinction:
It consists simply of withholding the reinforcer when the appropriate response occurs. Withholding of reinforcer means extinction of previously established relationship. Suppose in the Skinner box the rat presses the bar but does not get pellet of food. If this is repeatedly done, the bar pressing behaviour of the rat will be extinguished.


(3)Spontaneous Recovery:
The phenomenon of spontaneous recovery has almost similar characteristics in Pavlovian and operant conditioning (Skinnerian). It refers to the fact that if an organism is removed from the situation for a while after extinction and then returned and again presented with his performances will be better than would be predicted from his performance at the end of preceding extinction. Spontaneous recovery occurs in operant conditioning situation and is affected by all those variables which operate Pavlovian conditioning. Grahm and Gagne in their study showed that amount of spontaneous recovery of an operant habit is directly related to the length of period since the termination of extinction. Other factors that influence the amount of spontaneous recovery are the spacing of reinforced occurrences of trail training, the spacing of non-reinforced occurrences (extinction trial) and the combination of these two factors. The number of reinforced occurrence of training trials prior to extinction also affects the degree of spontaneous recovery, more reinforcements are associated with greater recovery.


(4)The Concept of Reinforcement:
The concept of reinforcement is central in operant conditioning theory of Skinner. It is a fundamental problem for every learner of theory of operant conditioning to study it thoroughly. A reinforcer ( a reinforcing stimulus) is any event which changes subsequent behaviour when it follow behaviour in time. Empirically we can define a rein forcer “ Any environmental event that is programmed as a consequence of a response that can increase the rate of responding, is called a reinforcer.” B.F. Skinner used reinforcement as a procedure for controlling behaviour, not a hypothetical device, that produces stimulus response (S_R) Reinforcers are events that raise the rate of responding.
_________________

Types of Reinforcers:

Reinforcers have been divided in the following categories:
(1) Positive reinforcer.
(2) Negative reinforcer.
(3) Punisher.

Positive reinforcer:

Positive reinforcer is any stimulus, which an individual will work to obtain as food, money, ect. A positive reinforcer serves to strengthen or maintain the response. Food is positive reinforcer for a hungry man. In case of human beings consumable stimuli as food, water as well as culturally derived stimuli such as praise, money and social approval work as reinforcers. It has been commonly observed that in positive reinforcement we do something to get some thing done by the organism. The positive primary reinforcers are based on drives as warmth, food and water which are of prime importance for the survival of the organism and positive secondary reinforcers are based on socially derives motives as money, prestige and praise ect, which are not necessary for the physical survival of the organism, but with repeated close association with primary reinforcers become reinforcing stimuli.

Negative reinforcer:

Negative reinforcers are those unpleasant stimuli which the learner will readily terminate if given the opportunity to do so, for example social disapproval or condemnation by peer group. When negative reinforcement is used, the response to be learned serves to terminate or eliminate the aversive stimulation. Suppose engaging in home work is the only means by which a student can terminate the displeasure of his parents, the student may, over a period of time, learn to terminate the annoying stimulation quickly by engaging in the required task. Negative reinforcement is then a means of forcing behaviour to occur. Negative reinforcers strengthen avoidance response. In negative reinforcement an organism does some thing to avoid some thing.

Punishment:

A punisher is an aversive stimulus which follows a response and frequently serves to suppress it . Negative reinforcer and punishers are some times confused with each other. To avoid the confusion let us differentiate between them . A negative reinforcer precedes the response and forces its occurrence to terminate the unpleasant condition, whereas the punisher follows the response and decreases the likelihood of the recurrence of the response. If disapproval or other annoying stimulation follows immediately after behaviour, punishment has taken place, on the other hand , when disapproval or scolding is directed at an individual in an effort to force behaviour to occur and his behaviour can terminate this condition (scolding or disapproval) negative reinforcement is used. Negative reinforcers and punishers are grouped together as aversive stimuli.

Effects of Reinforcers:

(1) Strengthening of behaviour.
(2) Intensification of certain aspects of ensuing behaviour.
(3) Alternation in behaviour occurs immediately, persists in time becomes weaker and gradually declines in the absence of further reinforcement.

Schedules of Reinforcement:

The procedure of giving reinforcement is called conditioning which may be given on regular or intermittent schedule. If we minutely observe our day-to-day activities we find that most of our behaviour is reinforced by some intermittent schedule of reinforcement operates in our dairy life for example our requests for money from the parents are not always granted; phone calls by friends are always answered; we do not always get good grades in the examination.
Needless to mention that by skillfully manipulating various schedules of reinforcement, it is quite possible to shape the behaviour according to the desired goal. We can get a good deal more out of the person by using reinforcement. Many experimental studies have been conducted on the intermittent schedule of reinforcement using human and animal subjects which have reported great success in shaping the behaviour.
In the following pages we shall study the important schedules of reinforcement and see how they apply and operate in developing and shaping individual’s behaviour.

Continuous schedule:

It is an arrangement of providing reinforcement after every correct response. Linear model of programming provides continuous reinforcement to the learner.

Partial or intermittent schedule:

It is an arrangement when sometimes we provide reinforcement and sometimes we withhold the reinforcement. This schedule of reinforcement has been further classified into the various categories described in the following pages:-
(a) Interval Schedule.
It is an arrangement of giving reinforcement after an interval. Passage of time is more important in this arrangement as for example after every 2 minutes the rat in the Skinner box gets food. Students appear in the examination after 3 months. Laborer gets his wages after 8 hours of work.
(b) Ratio schedule.
In this schedule, the performance of the learner is important as for example the learner responds correctly 2 questions and he receives a chocolate. When the rat, after pressing the bar 10 times in the Skinner box, gets a pellet of food, is another example of ratio schedule.

Fixed interval schedule:
This schedule has been experimentally studies in most of the studies. B.F. Skinner(1938) and Ferester in their book Schedules of Reinforcement, have thoroughly conducted research on this schedules of reinforcement.In a fixed interval of time. For example, we would reinforce the rat for the first response he makes after a minute and will continue this arrangement for future Intervals can very from one minute, hours, days, weeks, and to months depending on the conditions and subjects used. A teacher gets his salary on the first of every month. It means that his behaviour is operating on fixed interval schedule using animal subjects.
Two of them are as follows: -
(1) In the beginning of conditioning on F1 schedule, the organism exhibits a series of small extinction curves between reinforcement and followed by a slow down prior to the next reinforcement.
(2) In studies conducts on fixed interval schedule the organism develops time discrimination. When the time discrimination is developed. The behaviour is characterized by a period of little or no response after reinforcement.
Applications of fixed interval schedule in human behaviour are many as:
(1) Students attend classes at certain fixed hours of the day.
(2) We eat at regular periods in the day.
(3) We go to work at specified time.
(4) Behaviour that operates on habitual level and on accurate time discrimination comes under F1 Schedule.
(5) Payment of salary on 1st of every month.
(6) Administration of quiz test on every Monday to the class.
If the interval between reinforcement is too long, it is difficult to maintain behaviour under some conditions. As for example in our schools, students do not work for the examination consistently because they know that they will be tested after a year.

Variable interval schedule:
In variable interval schedule (6) the interval is randomly varied about some given time value.
Experimental evidences show that after a prolonged training on this schedule the organism develops a steady rate of intervals employed. The characteristic time discrimination found in the fixed interval is lacking because of the variability with which the reinforcement is applied. The rate will be high or low depending on the size of interval employed. A steadiness of rate is most characteristic of this schedule.
Actually, large amount of our personal and social behaviour operates on this schedule. The learner does not definitely know when the reinforcement will come. In case he knows then it becomes fixed interval schedule.
The dating behaviour of the college girl (USA) often operates on this kind of schedule. If she does not know when the invitations from male friends are coming. If she operates as a strong reinforcer for the behaviour of the man in her life, the variable interval may by a low one and she may be called popular. On the other hand if her ^ schedule is a long one, she waits a long time between invitations. We may say she is not a popular girl.
_________________

Extinction of variable interval schedule:
It has been reported that extinction between 6 and F1 schedules is similar. In the early stage the behaviour will be maintained at about the same rate as during conditioning. The rate will continue for a long time before showing signs of decreasing. In general, extinction is slow to take place. Behaviour established under some kind of variable schedule shows considerable resistance to extinction.
Jenkins and Stanley (1950) while summarizing the use and effectively of this schedule observed:
“Administer the reinforcing stimulus in conditioning according to a partial schedule, and behaviour will be maintained for long period in the absence of external support from primary reward.”
This principle seems to explain why most of us “ Keep going” in the face of failure.

Fixed ratio schedule:

Infixed ratio schedule a rat is reinforced only after it has emitted a certain number of responses. The ratio refers to the number of unreinforced and reinforced responses. It means that the rat makes 5 responses and he is reinforced only once. The child solves five sums and he gets a chocolate.

Principles of FR schedule:

(1) Higher rate of response has been recorded in this schedule than under fixed interval or regular reinforcement.
(2) As in F1 conditioning, discrimination is built. There is a break after the reinforcement, followed by rapid rate until the next reinforcement. This is based on the fact that the organism is never reinforced for a response immediately following the last reinforcement.
(3) The length of the break or pause is a function of the size of the ratio. Once the response begins, following the break, it assumes a rapid rate until the next reinforcement comes.

The Examples of FR Schedule:


(1) A man is paid after completing certain amount of work.
(2) Commission agents receive commission after selling a certain amount of commodity.
(3) Student learns 25 lines and gets a toffee.
This schedule is very effective when the ratio is reasonable. The amount of work should not be too much. The reinforcement should not be too weak. A man is not expected to work too hard if the reinforcement is too low.

Variable ratio schedule:
In this arrangement, the number of responses required for a reinforcement varies around some average ratio.
The behaviour of an organism under VR schedule is characterized by the following:
(1) A steady rate of responding without breaks, since there is no basis for the information of a dis crimination like that under regular schedule.
(2) Extremely high rates, which may be built up very quickly if the beginning ratio is small.
One very crucial difference between variable interval and variable ratio is that variable ratio schedule. The reason for this lies in the fact that a response following a brek in interval schedule has a greater likelihood of being reinforcement.
The most striking illustration of the operation of (VR) in human affairs is to be found in the multitude of gambling devices and games of chance that man engages in. Even in card games, where skill is involved, the VR schedule operates,for if one does not have the right cards ,victory is impossible. In these gambling games, the pap off is unpredictable and therefore a steady rate is maintained. This schedule differs from interval schedule because winning is contingent upon playing and the more one plays, the greater the probability of winning.The extremely high rate that can be generated by this schedule is illustrated in the compulsive behaviour, even though the rate of returns is very slim, families are ruined and fortunes lost, still the rate of behaaviour is maintained. Witness the “All right” crop games in which a single person will remain until all his funds are gone. His behaviour is terminated only by his inability to perform operations necessary to stay in the game. And even on these occasions if he can muster more funds by borrowing or stealing, he will return to the game.
Like Skinner’s pigeons, the compulsive gambler is a victim of an unpredictable contingency of reinforcement.
Gambling is not the only area of conduct that operates on variable ratio schedule. In any activity where a rate is necessary to secure reinforcement, reinforcement is variable and such a schedule is operating.
“If at first you do not succeed try, try again”. The trying is not always rewarded but the more one tries, other things bring equal, the more often he will succeed, although one can not be always certain of his success.
In classroom teaching-learning VR schedule operates when a student is not always reinforced each time he raises his hand to answer a question, but the more often he raises his hand, the more likely he is to be called upon by the teacher. Good marks and promotions may come at unpredictable time.
Some times in practical situations it becomes difficult to determine whether a behaviour is operating under a schedule or VR schedule. For example, fishing, if one is simply “still” fishing, the schedule is a variable interval at a given day. The time which the fish will bite is the determining factor. The fisherman may drop his line in and take it out of the water innumerable times, but if the fish is not biting, no reinforcement will be forthcoming. On the other hand , if he is casting, one could argue that the schedule is a variable ratio for the more casts he makes the more likely he will get a catch. Here the reinforcement is partly a function of the number of responses the makes.
Parents who are not familier with the fundamental rules of human behaviour often generate high rates of behaviour which turn out to be in appropriate. For example, a simple request which is turned down the first time it is made, because the child has been reinforced in the past, the behaviour persists until the parents break down and give in the child’s demand. Thus a schedule is established. On the next occasion of a request, a resistance to extinction is developing. The child persists again until the requests become annoying to the parents. The behaviour we often call teaching is established on variable ratio depending on the circumstances.
_________________

Application of Operant Conditioning:

B.F. Skinner originally conducted series of experiments on animals in controlled laboratory conditions. He formulated certain laws of behaviour on the basis of his extensive experimental studies. He prepared grounds for the application of those laws in human behaviour. He was fully convinced that principles of operant conditioning promise equal success in school learning. He developed a system of learning knows as Programmed Learning or Programmed Instruction which has greatly influenced teaching-learning process in recent years all over the world. Programmed Instruction is being used in various areas of education at different levels with success. A detailed treatment to Programmed Instruction has been given in the subsequent chapter on Programmed Learning.
B.F Skinner noted certain weaknesses in the educational system of America and developed new system of learning. If we examine our own system of education we find that our also suffers from the same weaknesses. The most characteristic weaknesses of our Teaching-Learning system are:
(1) Behaviour is dominated by aversive stimulation. The whole atmosphere of our schools is dominated by fear and unpleasant experiences. Though leagally corporal punishment is prohibited but still teachers use punishment of various varieties. Students work to avoid punishment from the teachers and the parents. They work out of fear. The schools can use the principles of operant conditioning to eliminate the element of fear from school atmosphere by using positive reinforcement.
(2) Wide gap between behaviour and reinforcement. The desirable behaviour of learner is not immediately reinforced. The delay of reinforcement destroys the effect of reinforcing stimuli. Suppose a child scores high marks in the test and his behaviour is not immediately reinforced by the teacher but reinforcement comes after a day or two. This reinforcement will have no effect on the behaviour of the child. Generally, in our schools, the desirable behaviour of the learners is not immediately reinforced to raise the probability of the recurrence of the same behaviour in future. Reinforcing stimuli should follow the response immediately for an effect on the behaviour. Though in present teaching-learning system where a teacher haudles 30 to 50 students at a time it is not possible for the teaching to reinforce the behaviour of each student in the class, but the use of programmed material in the form of a book or machine makes provision for immediate reinforcement.
(3) Absence of a programme of serial reinforcement. Our programme of teaching-learning does not proceed forward step by step by reinforcing a series of progressive approximations to the final or terminal a series of progressive approximations to the final or terminal behaviour. We reinforce behaviour in classroom teaching in a haphazard way. The Programmed Instruction proceeds in a serial order from initial behaviour to terminal behaviour by reinforcing behaviour at each step.
(4) Objectives are vague. The greatest weakness of present system of education is that objectives of the courses have not been defined in operational terms. In programmed instruction objectives are defined in observable and measurable way.
(5) The behaviour is specifically defined. The initial and the terminal behaviour which the teacher wants to instill in the final repertoire of the learners are defined in operational terms. The teacher can use of the principles of operant conditioning in his classroom teaching for efficient and effective learning. In our country, every innovative idea is resisted by traditional teachers and educationists, the same attitude is resisted by traditional teachers and educationists, the same attitude is applicable to programmed instructional methods. They criticize it that it is costly and time-consuming affair to develop programmes on Programmed Instructional model. Leaving aside the business of developing programmes, we can at least use the basic principles of operant learning in our teaching. The teacher can plan his work in advance, specify the terminal behaviour and survey all the conditions of School environment which can provide reinforcement to the students. The teacher may plan contingencies of reinforcement and provide reinforcement at the most appropriate time to the learners. He may involve the students in teaching learning process so that students interest may be maintained in learning activities.

Evaluation and Critique: -

Operant conditioning has generated a great amount of research studies all over the world. Though originally, the principles of operant conditioning were successfully used in human learning. Using the fundamental principles of operant conditioning to modify the behaviour of human beings has evolved a number of devices and techniques. Specific mention may be made of programmed instruction, computer-assisted instruction, mathetics and behaviour therapy ect. Mostly psychologists and educationists agree that operant conditioning is a practical approach to human behaviour and can be used in classroom teaching learning. There is another group of psychologists who have frequently raised objections to the use of terms like stimulus, response and reinforcement as conceptual tools for the analysis of behaviour outside the psychology laboratory. Chomsky has critically examined the theory of operant conditioning and has pointed out a number of weaknesses of the theory. Some of the weaknesses are described below:
(1) Chomsky criticized the generality of application of the concepts and principles derived from controlled experimental studies on animals to the social learning situations. What bothered Chomsky was that in natural settings the relationship between behaviour and its controlling stimuli is extremely complex. He argued, therefore, that concepts derived from situations in which these relationships have been clearified do not apply to the natural conditions of learning. Problem lies in the difficulty of metrical, not in the limitations of the concepts of operant conditioning.
(2) Skinner has completely ignored the structural and hereditary factors, which are very important in the development of psychological process of language. He failed to take into account the knows factors about the development of language in recent years. Chomsky maintained that Skinner’s interpretations of verbal behaviour were
“ Formulated in terms of metaphoric extension of the technical laboratory…in fact the terms used in the descriptions of the real life and of laboratory behaviour may be homonyms, with at most a vague.
(3) The operant reinforcement system fails to account for spontaneity, curiosity and creativity in human beings.
(4) Sometimes Skinner in his description of behaviour lapses into subjective explanation such as self-reinforcement, and thinking ect.
(5) Skinner neglects innate endowment. According to him, all behaviour is acquired during the life time of the individual. It denies the importance of genetic inheritance.
(6) It mechanizes the mental process and treats the organism like a machine. It dehumanizes learning process.
(7) It is superficial and does not deal with the depths of the mind.
(Cool It is said that it is antidemocratic because the relation between experimenter and subject is manipulative and its results can be misused by dictators.
_________________


SIMULTANEOUS SCANNING



In this type of strategy, the subject uses each positive instance (each correctly identified card), to deduce which combinations of attribute values are no longer valid. The subject must keep in mind simultaneously all the rejected combinations in order to narrow down the range of subsequent alternatives. This technique is not very efficient since it places a great deal of strain on the subject’s memory.

SUCCESSIVE SCANNING



In this technique the subject makes an overall estimate of each correct characteristic of the concept and test, each one by one. This is called successive scanning since the subject tests individual hypothesis about the correct characteristic one at a time in succession. This technique too is inefficient as the subject may choose redundant cards, which give no new information.

CONSERVATIVE FOCUSING:



In this technique, each attribute is tested by selecting a card that is different from a focus card in only one attribute. If the new card is still a positive instance, then the subject knows that the varied attribute is not part of the concept. If, however, the changed attribute yields a negative instance, then the attribute is a part of the concept. For example, the concept to be attained is “red circles”. Assume that the subject encounters a positive card with three red circles and two borders. This card becomes the focus card and each variable is examined by selecting. This technique is more efficient since the subject users a correct instance as a point of reference and selects additional cards to test each attribute value individually.


FOCUS GAMBLING


In this strategy the subject focuses on a correct card, but varies more than one attribute at a time. This technique can give early result if cards chosen yield a positive instance. If, however, the subject encounters a negative instance, he cannot tell which attribute was essential. In that case he has to revert to simultaneous-scanning technique to test hypotheses. This strategy is called gambling since the subject takes a chance varying two attributes at a time.
“Students should learn structure of a field of study”.
Usually schools ensure that children nave many opportunities to interact with their environment and are given plenty of concrete materials to develop their mathematical understanding. In using computers in education, Seymor Papert, who worked with Jean Piaget in Geneva, was particularly influenced by Piaget’s ideas and argued that educational software should be designed to develop children’s thinking. He applied these arguments to the use of the programming language LOGO, which he claims can benefit children in their mathematical thinking. He claims that LOGO provides a culture, which helps to make abstract mathematical concepts simple and concrete so that the child can relate them to his or her existing knowledge and fit them into his or her knowledge structure.
J.S. Bruner (1960) has suggested a model on concept, attainment and structure in teaching. He proposes that economy in thinking and responding requires that we categories phenomena according to their common attributes. An attribute is a property or characteristic of an object, which differentiates it from others. Colour, texture, form, size, number of parts, position and sound are examples of attributes. We categories objects having common characteristics into one group. For example, we categories certain animals having four legs, a tail and a barking voice as dog. Similarly we can also categories more abstract concepts such as enemy or friend, artisan or professional, etc. For teaching about a concept the teacher must identify such attributes of that concept, which differentiate it from others. For example, dog and cat have four legs and a tail, but cat has a different voice than the dog. “Students should learn structure of field of study.” Bruner (1960) studied the strategies people use in acquiring concepts. For this he used a set of cards, some cards having borders, others without. All the cards have center figures varying in shape, in color (red, green or black) and in number (single, double, or triple). Each card thus combines four attributes; figure shape, figure number, figure color and presence or absence of borders. Each attribute has three values as listed above. The subject is told that the experimenter has a concept in mind, say red circles, and the subject was to identify that concept. The subject is asked to select a card and is then told by the experimenter whether or not the card was an instance of the concept. With these data in mind, the subject would select another card to determine further the attributes of the concepts and would continue doing so till he finds the answer i.e. the card with red circles.
_________________

CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORIES



In the view of constructivist, learning is a constructive process in which the learner is building an internal illustration of knowledge, a personal interpretation of experience. This representation is continually open to modification, its structure and linkages forming the ground to which other knowledge structures are attached. Learning is an active process in which meaning is accomplished on the basis of experience. This view of knowledge does not necessarily reject the existence of the real world, and agrees that reality places constrains on the concepts that are, but contends that all we know of the world are human interpretations of our experience of the world. Conceptual growth comes from the sharing of various perspectives and the simultaneous changing of our internal representations in response to those perspectives as well as through cumulative experience

EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS:



The study of human cognition has many specific applications for educational practice and technology use.
The following are five general educational applications of constructive theory that should be considered when designing instruction.


If learning depends on how information is mentally processed, then student’s cognitive processes should be major concern to educators. Students learning difficulties can often be attributed to ineffective or inappropriate cognitive process. For example, learning disabled children process information less effectively than non-disabled children (Swanson, 1987). Teachers must become aware of not only of what students learn, but also of how they attempt to learn it.


Educators must consider students levels of cognitive development when planning topics and methods of instruction. For example explanations based on concrete operational logic are unlikely to be effective ways of presenting ideas to preoperational kindergarteners. Concrete operational elementary school children have difficulties in understanding abstract ideas that do not tie in with their own experiences. These students will learn more effectively if the same information is presented through concrete, hands-on examples. Even high school and college students, who have not completed the formal operational stage, will need concrete experiences prior to presenting abstract material.

Students organize the information they learn. Teachers can help students learn by presenting organized information and by helping students see how one thing relates to another.


New information is most likely acquired when people can associate it with things they have already learned. Therefore, teachers should help students learn by showing them how new ideas relate to old ones. When students are unable to relate new information to anything with which they are familiar, learning is likely to be slow and ineffective.


B.F. Skinner has argued from an operant conditioning perspective that students must actively respond if they are to learn. Cognitivists share that with Skinner; however, they emphasize mental activity rather than physical one. If students control their own cognitive process, it is ultimately the students themselves who decide what information will be learned, and how.
The constructivist learning strategies and the use of Instructional Technology. The ideas of Piaget concerning the active construction, structuring knowledge and stages of development, have been drawn on for long in education and specially in using computers in education. For example Davis remarks how:
The stress on the stage-like nature of cognition has given support to the notion of readiness-children will only learn effectively if their educational experience are suitably matched to their current level of understanding.
_________________

THEORIES OF LEARNING


What is Theory?



Since we are referring the theories of learning the next rustics is what is theories here you may be pleased to see that there is more definitive answer the term theory comes from the Greek word theories which refers to the act of viewing cont emulating or thinking about something a theory is a set of abstract concepts about a group of fact or events to explain them.
There are many theories of Learning
1. E.L Thorndike theory of learning
2. Clark. L. Hull theory of learning
3. Skinner theory of Learning
4. Edward Chase Tolman learning theory
5. Gestalt learning theory.
6. Gagne’s cumulative Model of Learning
7. Bruner’s model of Learning
8. Jean ingests Model of learning
9. Levin’s field theory


THORN DIKE (S-R. REINFORCEMENT THEORY)


For nearly half a century one learning theory do minate all other in the USA and rise of its many rivals it was the theory of Thorn Dike 1974 this theory was given by him in 1978. In his book animal intelligence the earliest writing was also situation between sense inpression and impulses to action. Such an assoriation come to know as bond or connection. Some time has been called bond psychology connection. As such it is original S-R psychology of learning theory of learning is based on the following three stimulus element which involves enviorment event .
The response element which indicate a behavior ect. The formation of connection or bond which implies that every stimulus is linked . While some kind of response connection has two phases the first phase was before 1930. Second phase was after 1939, because Thorn dike made importance changes later on the basis of experiment Thorn dike introduced the concept of reward . For learning he connected the a series of experiments on learning with animate response which are followed by satisfaction or pleasure are reinforced and become more probable in future.

THE PUZZLE BOX EXPERIMENT


Thorn Dike classical experiment on cat in the puzzle box are widely none and after quoted in psychology in learning. The experiment set up was very simple. A hungry cat was confined in the puzzle box and out side of the box a dish of food was kept. The cat had two pull a string to come out of the box the cat in the box made several random movement of jumping dashing and sunning to get out of the box. The cat at least successes in pulling the string the door of puzzle box opened. The cat came out and eat food he promptly put the cat in the box for next trial the cat again gave a lat of frantic behavior but it soon successes in pulling this string over a series of successive trials. The cat became increasingly efficient in getting out of box.. The number of errors reduced slowly on subsequent trials the cat show improvement in performance he concluded that two important factor for learning occur. One is the cat should be hungry meaning there is motivation in cat for learning. Second factor is that food is also necessary for to satisfy. The hunger of cat there are four characteristic feature of trial and error of learning;
1. There is some sort of motive that droves the activity . This motive may appear in the form of need a problem or a goal. Essentially the equilibrium of organism is disturbed and this impact the organism to react to the situation in an effect that comes to terms with it.
2. There is progressive dimination of superflour uncessful or wrong form of activity
3. Several different kinds of responses are made.
4. Finally there is a progressive integration and establishment of reactions by which the goal is achieved .




BASIC LAW OF LEARNING


THE LAW OF EFFECT: -


The law of effect states the pleasure pain principal a response is strengthened if it is followed by pleasure and weakened if followed by displeasure. But later on in 1932 he modified his earlier law of effect as that satisfaction strengthens boned but annoyance does not weakens it.

THE LAW OF READINESS:-


This law is indication of the learner in the learning process. According to thorn like 1963 readiness is preparation for action. It is not readiness which come naturally with maturation readiness was ratted in terms of hypothetical neural units this law stated satisfaction or annoyance spend upon state of behaving organism.

THE LAW OF EXERCISE:-




This law represents a concession to a contiguity interpretation of learning. A stimulus induced response is reputed the longer it will be sentinel the law stated that there thing being equal exercise strengthens the bond between situation and response. Thus the law has two sub parts.

1). Law of Use:-

The use principle primarily explains repetitive habits such as motor skills and memory of poems.



2). Law of Disuse:-



The disuse principle explains forgetting in general while admitting that contiguity factor could influence SR bonds Thorndike criticize using this principle without including the law of effect.
Thorn dike also proposed fine minor law of fallows.

1.Multiple response

This law state that when learner faces a problem and the first response does not produce a satisfying state of affairs the learner will try other response . Confronted with a new situation the organism responds in a verity of ways before arriving at correct response.

2.Attitude

The learner proformed the task well if he has his attitude set on task.

3.Prepotency of elements

The learner relate to the learning g situation in a selective manner. He uses his insight select the proponent elements in a situation and bases his response upon those elements.

4.Analogy

The organism responds to a new situation on the basic of the response made by him in similar situation in the past he makes a responses by comparison or analogy .
6.Associative shifting
According to it we can get any response from the learning of which he is capable assoiated with any situation to which he is sensitive.

Cuci Gudang La Beneamata

Saat Juventus dan AC Milan sedang sibuk mengincar pemain guna menambah kekuatan, Inter malah melakukan hal sebaliknya. Sekarang juara Italia empat musim terakhir ini sedang repot melepas sejumlah pemainnya.

Sejak musim lalu Jose Mourinho memang sudah mengeluhkan skuad Inter, yang terlalu gemuk. Menurutnya jumlah pemain ideal dalam sebuah tim hanya 22-25 orang.

Bukan cuma bisa menghemat pengeluaran klub dari sektor gaji, tapi Mourinho mengaku tidak bisa menyenangkan semua pemainnya apalagi mereka yang jarang diturunkan.

Maklum, pria kelahiran Setubal, Portugal, 46 tahun lalu itu dikenal sebagai pelatih yang jarang mengutak-atik pemain inti. Lihat saja rekam jejaknya selama melatih FC Porto atau Chelsea.

Dengan menghitung masuknya Diego Milito, Thiago Motta, dan Kerlon, serta hilangnya Hernan Crespo, Luis Jimenez, Julio Cruz, dan Luis Figo, maka total pemain utama La Beneamata saat ini mencapai 30 orang. Agar mencapai jumlah ideal, setidaknya Mourinho harus melego lima pemain.

Patrick Vieira dan Alessandro Mancini menjadi pemain yang paling mudah dilepas. Meski belakangan penampilan mereka menurun, nama besar duo ini masih bisa dijadikan bahan promosi. Terbukti sejumlah klub telah antre untuk menggunakan jasa keduanya.

Setelah PSG menolak, Vieira disebut semakin dekat ke Olympique Lyon atau Birmingham City. Mengingat kontraknya habis di akhir 2010, Inter tidak bisa mengharapkan harga tinggi. Tapi, setidaknya La Beneamata bisa menghemat 5 juta euro atau sekitar 71 miliar rupiah atas gaji per musimnya.

Bagi Mancini, peminat serius hanya West Ham United. Maklum, cuma tim Inggris ini yang menyanggupi upah tahunan sang winger sebesar 3,5 juta.

Alternatif lain, Inter bisa menjadikannya sebagai paket berter untuk membeli Marek Hamsik dari Napoli.

Giocatori lain yang paling mungkin dilepas adalah Victor Obinna, Nelson Rivas, dan Nicolas Burdisso. Musim lalu ketiganya jarang mendapat kesempatan bermain.

Lalu bagaimana dengan Zlatan Ibrahimovic dan Douglas Maicon, yang sempat gencar diberitakan bakal hengkang?

“Situasi kini semakin jelas karena mereka bahagia tetap bersama Inter. Ibra akan bergabung dalam persiapan pra-musim 10 Juli ini, sedangkan Maicon, yang mendapat libur tambahan karena terlibat di Piala Konfederasi, baru bergabung di Amerika Serikat,” ujar manajer tim, Gabrielle Oriali, kepada Sky Italia. (gun)
--
Calciomercato Serie A 2009/10
Geliat Dua Pesaing Inter

Inter melakukan start yang sangat baik di calciomercato musim panas 2009. Perekrutan Diego Milito dan Thiago Motta membuat I Nerazzurri berada beberapa langkah di depan para pesaingnya. Sempat muncul perkiraan La Beneamata akan kembali mendominasi Serie A seperti musim sebelumnya.

Tapi, memasuki pekan kedua bulan Juli, dua rival terkuat I Nerazzurri mulai menggeliat mengatasi ketertinggalan mereka dari Tim Biru-Hitam. Juventus dan Milan menambah kuat pasukannya.

Dengan perekrutan terbarunya, Juventus bahkan dianggap tinggal membutuhkan satu transfer top lagi. Kalau mereka bisa mendapatkan tambahan seorang bek papan atas, I Bianconeri pantas kembali disebut sebagai salah satu calon peraih scudetto.

Sementara itu, Milan langsung menjawab kritik yang dilontarkan tifosi mereka pada pembukaan ritiro di Milanello, Senin (6/7). Sehari kemudian I Rossoneri melakukan perekrutan pertamanya. Pemain baru itu belum menuntaskan rasa kehilangan Kaka, tapi paling tidak menjadi indikasi Milan tidak akan berdiam diri.

Masih banyak waktu sampai pintu calciomercato ditutup pada akhir Agustus nanti. Sampai saat itu, Wakil Presiden Milan, Adriano Galliani, masih mungkin memerintahkan stafnya bergerak menambah anggota armada Il Diavolo Rosso. (wid)



Milan
Onyewu yang Pertama

Milan akhirnya merekrut pemain baru pertamanya. Selasa (7/7), I Rossoneri menggaet bek Amerika Serikat yang bersinar di Piala Konfederasi 2009, Oguchi Onyewu, dari Standard Liege.

Il Diavolo tidak perlu mengeluarkan uang. Onyewu berstatus free transfer setelah kontraknya di Standard habis akhir musim lalu. Onyewu sebetulnya diincar banyak klub lain, tapi Milan diuntungkan hubungan baik mereka dengan Standard dan Wakil Presiden Les Rauches, Luciano D’Onofrio.

“Saya pikir Milan telah melakukan perekrutan yang bernilai sangat bagus. Onyewu akan menjadi alternatif yang baik di dalam skuad Leonardo,” kata D’Onofrio di Goal Italia.

Dalam situs resminya, I Rossoneri menyebutkan mengontrak Onyewu hingga 30 Juni 2012. Pemain berusia 27 tahun ini memiliki paspor Belgia sehingga tidak mengambil jatah satu pemain non-Uni Eropa Milan yang tersisa.

Kedatangan Onyewu cocok dengan misi Milan meremajakan lini belakangnya. Bulan lalu I Rossoneri sempat merekrut bek Aly Cissokho dari FC Porto. Tapi, transfer itu gagal karena Cissokho gagal dalam tes medis.

Kini Milan memiliki komposisi bek tengah yang lumayan segar. Dengan Alessandro Nesta, Kakha Kaladze, Daniele Bonera, Thiago Silva, dan Onyewu, Il Diavolo tidak perlu lagi memainkan pasangan bek berusia total 77 tahun, seperti kombinasi Paolo Maldini-Giuseppe Favalli musim lalu.

Onyewu dan Thiago Silva diperkirakan akan memperebutkan satu tempat menjadi pendamping Nesta. Itu dengan catatan Nesta bisa membuktikan dirinya benar-benar sudah bebas dari cedera parah yang hampir memaksanya pensiun. (wid)


--

Felipe Melo ke Juventus
Aroma Brasil Bertambah Kuat

Belum ada kata resmi dari Juventus maupun Fiorentina sampai hari Rabu (8/7) malam waktu Indonesia. Namun, isu bakal bergabungnya Felipe Melo dengan Si Nyonya Tua sudah memunculkan kegairahan. I Bianconeri 2009/10 akan memiliki trio Brasil dalam skuadnya!

Menurut Sky Italia dan La Gazzetta, sudah tercapai kesepakatan antara Juve dan Fiorentina. La Vecchia Signora akan memberikan uang tunai 20 juta euro plus Marco Marchionni untuk membayar buyout clause Melo, yang sebesar 25 juta euro.

Presiden Juventus, Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, belum mau mengonfirmasi transfer ini. "Dia belum resmi menjadi pemain Juventus. Kami masih terus berusaha menyelesaikan negosiasi, mudah-mudahan secepatnya," katanya di Sky Sport 24.

Kendati begitu, kegairahan sudah melanda Juventus. Seiring dengan bergabungnya Melo dan Diego Ribas, kedalaman materi mereka di lini depan dan tengah tidak perlu diragukan lagi. Juve bahkan dianggap hanya membutuhkan tambahan satu bek top untuk membuat skuad mereka setanding dengan Inter.

Bergabungnya Melo dan Diego Ribas juga membuat Juventus 2009/10 memiliki aroma pemain Brasil yang sangat kuat. Ada trio Brasilero di sana karena Tim Hitam-Putih sudah mempunyai striker Carvalho Amauri.

Yang menarik, tradisi Juventus sebetulnya tidak terlalu akrab dengan pemain Brasil. Brasilero yang tercatat pernah memberikan scudetto kepada Juve paling hanya Sidney Cinesinho (musim 1956/57) dan Jose Altafini (1972/73 dan 1974/75).

Keyakinan Amauri

Bisakah trio Brasil terbaru Juventus, tentu dengan catatan negosiasi transfer Melo berjalan mulus, memberikan scudetto pertama bagi I Bianconeri sejak mereka didegradasi paksa ke Serie B karena terlibat kasus calciopoli pada tahun 2006?

Menurut Amauri, Diego dan Melo bisa membuat Juventus lebih kuat. Artinya kalau musim lalu Tim Zebra bisa finis di peringkat kedua sejajar dengan Milan, boleh jadi kini mereka berpeluang bagus meraih scudetto.

"Saya sangat bahagia dengan kedatangan Diego, bukan hanya karena kewarganegaraannya. Dia akan membuat kualitas kami meningkat. Serie A kehilangan Kaka, tapi Diego menggantikannya. Keberadaannya akan menguntungkan kami para striker," kata Amauri di Tuttosport.

Bicara soal Melo, Amauri juga memujinya sebagai pemain yang akan meningkatkan level kualitas Juventus. Melo adalah gelandang jangkar yang memang akan sangat berguna untuk I Bianconeri apabila pelatih Ciro Ferrara ingin menggunakan formasi dengan tiga orang centrocampisti.

"Dia memiliki kelas yang akan cocok untuk Juventus," tutur Amauri lagi. Di masa lalu, Inter pernah berjaya dengan trio Jerman dan Milan dengan trio Belanda. Mengapa Juventus tidak bisa melakukan hal yang sama dengan trio Brasil? (Dwi Widijatmiko)

Perburuan Viola

Tifosi Fiorentina tidak bisa menerima kabar bakal dijualnya Felipe Melo ke Juventus. Mereka melakukan protes seperti yang pernah terjadi ketika Roberto Baggio dijual La Viola ke I Bianconeri 19 tahun yang lalu.

Para pemain I Gigliati sendiri mengakui Fiorentina akan mengalami kehilangan besar dengan kepergian Melo. "Itu akan menjadi pukulan buat kami. Fiorentina bakal kehilangan banyak dari sisi fisik. Dengan memakai formasi 4-3-3, kami membutuhkan gelandang bertahan berfisik kuat seperti Melo," kata Marco Donadel di Sky Sport 24.

Untuk meredakan kemarahan tifosi sekaligus menjaga kualitas tim, Fiorentina harus segera melakukan perburuan mencari pengganti Melo. Beberapa nama muncul ke permukaan.

Sebut saja gelandang Lazio, Cristian Ledesma. Direktur Olah Raga Fiorentina, Pantaleo Corvino, sudah menjadwalkan bertemu dengan Presiden Lazio, Claudio Lotito, untuk mencoba merekrut pemain asal Argentina yang kabarnya dihargai 14 juta euro ini.

Nama lain adalah Blerim Dzemaili. Pemain Torino asal Swiss ini juga memiliki karakter seperti Melo dan Ledesma. Dia mampu bertahan dengan baik, tapi juga mempunyai kemampuan untuk menghubungkan lini tengah dan lini depan. Dzemaili berharga lebih murah daripada Ledesma. (wid)





--



Milan Memulai Ritiro 2009/10
Masalah Jembatan Tengah-Depan

Milan 2009/10 sudah membuka ritiro alias pemusatan latihan, Senin (6/7). Perjalanan sebuah tim elite yang sedang menjalani revolusi besar dimulai di sini.

Ditinggal Carlo Ancelotti dan Kaka, the new Milan harus dilahirkan walaupun sebagian besar pemain lama masih bertahan. Allenatore baru Il Diavolo, Leonardo, memimpin langsung awal perjalanan Milan.

Tidak ada waktu yang terbuang. Para pemain langsung digenjot latihan fisik yang intensif. Leonardo ingin agar skuadnya secepat mungkin berlatih dengan bola sehingga sebagian besar waktu bisa dihabiskan untuk melatih sistem permainan baru tanpa Kaka.

Leo mengungkapkan bahwa Milan ala dirinya akan tetap bermain dengan empat bek dan tiga gelandang. Sistem ini mirip peninggalan Ancelotti, tapi tetap bakal ada perubahan besar.

Eks pemain tim nasional Brasil itu menyatakan hal paling sulit yang dihadapinya adalah menemukan mekanisme tepat yang menjembatani lini tengah dan depan. "Masalahnya kami akan mengubah sistem dengan tidak adanya Kaka," katanya kepada acmilan.com.

"Para penyerang juga harus melatih fungsi mereka jika kami tidak sedang menguasai bola," tutur Leonardo. Boleh jadi Leo mempersiapkan 4-3-3. Ronaldinho dan Alexandre Pato akan menjadi pendukung striker utama yang juga harus rajin membantu lini tengah.

Kapten Baru dan Protes

Pembukaan ritiro Milan juga ditandai penunjukan kapten baru penerus Paolo Maldini. "Aksi pertama saya sebagai pelatih Milan adalah menunjuk Massimo Ambrosini sebagai kapten pertama saya. Dia pemain yang memiliki DNA Milan," kata Leonardo.

Sayang, kegairahan di pembukaan ritiro Milan 2009/10 dirusak oleh protes tifosi, yang mengecam manajemen klub karena belum juga merekrut pengganti Kaka untuk menjaga ketajaman Milan di lini depan. Apalagi I Rossoneri juga belum mengeluarkan uang demi mendatangkan pemain baru.

Selasa (7/7), Il Diavolo resmi merekrut bek Amerika Serikat yang bersinar di Piala Konfederasi 2009, Oguchi Onyewu. Tapi, Milan tidak mengeluarkan uang untuk mendapatkannya karena Onyewu berstatus free transfer setelah kontraknya di Standard Liege (Belgia) habis. (Dwi Widijatmiko)



Uji Coba Milan
Paling Sibuk di Serie A

Walaupun sudah kehilangan Kaka dan belum melakukan perekrutan top di calciomercato musim panas ini, Milan tetap laku dipinang menjadi lawan uji coba. Lihat saja daftar tes yang dihadapi oleh I Rossoneri.

Milan menjadi klub tersibuk di Serie A dengan 10 laga uji coba dalam satu bulan. Inter dan Juventus masing-masing hanya menjadwalkan enam dan tujuh pertandingan uji coba.

Il Diavolo akan menjalani pemusatan latihan tahap kedua di Amerika Serikat mulai 16 Juli. Sampai 26 Juli, Milan menjalani empat uji coba, termasuk tiga partai World Football Challenge, di negeri Barack Obama itu.

Setelah itu Filippo Inzaghi dkk. pindah ke Jerman untuk tampil di dua partai Audi Cup. Dari Jerman, Milan "menyerbu" Portugal untuk bermain di edisi kedua Eusebio Cup menghadapi tuan rumah Benfica.

I Rossoneri kemudian pulang ke Italia untuk menghadapi dua uji coba tradisional mereka, yaitu Trofeo TIM dan Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi. Milan bahkan masih akan menjalani satu uji coba setelah Serie A musim 2009/10 dimulai pada 23 Agustus.

Uji coba terakhir tersebut bisa dibilang sebagai yang paling menarik. Tim Merah Hitam akan bertamu ke Spanyol guna menghadapi Real Madrid di edisi ke-31 Santiago Bernabeu Trophy.

Madrid? Ya, artinya Milan akan berkesempatan bertemu dengan bekas anak emasnya yang kini memperkuat Madrid, Kaka. Walaupun kelasnya hanya sebuah pertandingan eksibisi, tetap saja laga ini memiliki arti emosional yang dalam mengingat Kaka pernah berkata dia akan terus mencintai Milan. (wid)


---

AS Roma
Cedera Kembali Menghantui

Nasib Roma memang sedang tidak bagus. Maksud hati memulai ritiro lebih dulu agar terhindar dari masalah cedera, I lupi malah berhadapan dengan penyakit ini lebih cepat.

Di pekan kedua masa persiapan yang sudah dimulai sejak 29 Juni lalu, pelatih Luciano Spalletti harus kehilangan dua pemainnya. Simone Perrotta dan Jeremy Menez terpaksa berhenti dari sesi latihan, Senin (5/7).

Hasil tes yang diterima pun sungguh tidak mengenakkan. Perrotta divonis harus absen selama dua bulan untuk menjalani terapi setelah Luca Francheschi, koordinator dokter tim Roma, menemukan robekan di otot femoral biceps paha kirinya. Ini adalah cedera yang pernah ia dapat akhir musim lalu.

Beruntung untuk Menez, Franchesci cs. hanya menyarankan untuk beristirahat selama beberapa hari karena ototnya kelelahan.

Kondisi ini tentu membuat program persiapan tim yang dirancang Spalletti menjadi tidak maksimal. Apalagi eks allenatore Empoli dan Udinese ini telah kehilangan Alexander Doni, Cicinho, Juan, dan Alberto Aquilani.

Pada 2008/09, Pasukan Serigala tidak tampil maksimal karena sering kehilangan pemain akibat cedera. (gun)



Kelas Dua Roma

Roma barangkali adalah anggota I Big yang kondisinya di calciomercato kini paling memprihatinkan. Karena faktor biaya, pemain yang sudah bergabung maupun masih diincar oleh I Lupi hanya masuk kategori kelas dua.

Satu-satunya perekrutan yang sudah terealisasi, Stefano Guberti, hanya diberi bintang dua dari kemungkinan maksimal lima oleh La Gazzetta. Pemain-pemain incaran I Giallorossi juga tidak terlalu mengesankan.

Roma mencari seorang prima punta alias striker utama. Target prioritas mereka hanya Julio Cruz, pemain buangan Inter. Di posisi lain, Roma mengincar Stefano Sorrentino (Chievo), Andrea Esposito (Lecce), Michele Canini (Cagliari), Ahmed Fathy (Al Ahly), Gennaro Iezzo (Napoli), Stefano Lucchini (Sampdoria), dan Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce). Tidak ada yang ngetop, bukan?

Terakhir Roma dikabarkan menginginkan Jonas Gutierrez dari Newcastle. Tapi, lagi-lagi, I Lupi hanya sanggup menawarkan kontrak peminjaman, bukan pembelian permanen. (wid)




--





Calcio Catania
Maksimalkan Tiket Terusan

Menjelang dimulainya ritiro, Jumat (10/7), Catania mendapat kabar gembira. Tim asal Pulau Sisilia ini telah menjual tiket terusan sebanyak 15.258 lembar.

Angka itu termasuk tinggi karena telah melebihi separuh tingkat okupasi Stadion Angelo Massimino, yang mencapai 23.420 tempat duduk.

“Target pertama saya musim ini adalah terus meningkatkan jumlah pembeli tiket langganan. Saya tidak tahu tahun ini bisa terwujud atau tidak, tapi seperti target standar di awal musim, semoga total pembeli musim ini lebih besar dari 2008/09,” ucap Pietro Lo Monaco pada Datasport.

Sang CEO tidak menyebut secara pasti berapa jumlah tiket terusan yang terjual musim lalu. Tapi, jika melihat rata-rata 18.669 penonton yang datang per pertandingannya sepanjang 08/09, maka total tiket terusan yang terjual tidak akan jauh dari angka itu. Figur tersebut hanya berselisih 3.411 pembeli lagi.

Mengingat musim kompetisi 2009/10 akan dimulai pertengahan Agustus mendatang ditambah keaktifan Catania di bursa transfer yang telah mendatangkan beberapa nama tenar di Serie A seperti Ciro Capuano, Andrea Campagnolo atau Gennaro Delvecchio, Lo Monaco bisa optimistis target itu terlampaui

“Tifosi harus memiliki kepercayaan pada tim ini dan segera mendaftarkan namanya untuk membeli tiket terusan tanpa terlalu banyak kekhawatiran,” ujar Lo Monaco.

Skuad Gli Elefanti sendiri baru akan berkumpul di markas tim akhir pekan ini. Lalu pada 14 Juli, Takayuki Morimoto cs. bertolak ke kawasan pegunungan di Assisi yang terletak di Provinsi Perugia hingga 13 Agustus. (gun)