Abstract:
This paper aims to find out how learning affect on influence fashion. Learning has been descriptively
defined in psychology. Green F. Psychologist says that learning is only one in influence in behavior.
The selected study setting of the research is the Kandyan era of Sri Lanka (15th Century AD to 1815).
Kandyan Kings as the first civil category of the society exerted considerable Western influences was
selected for the research. The influencing process was over the Kandyan setting and ample visual,
written evidences reveal their fashion attitude. Therefore, Kandyan period is remarkably noteworthy
with very significant signs of foreign influenced fashions. Historical analysis explored how new royal
costume of the Kandyan Kingdom was invented by learning. Many historical records, temple murals
testify that foreign costumes had been considered by the Kings of the Kandyan Kingdom as a symbol
of displaying their high social status to the society. The dress became the vehicle to reach the high
society. Exquisite dresses were coupled psychologically with good social status. The royalties
predicted that foreign cloth had coupled with foreigners and their good social status then they tended to
wear foreign cloths to achieve good social status. Finally, reinforced philosophies were compared with
formally established theories. Methodology of the research was based on ‘Grounded Theory Method’.
The methodology uses set of procedure of data analysis, begins with observational study then proceeds
by memoing, coding, concept mapping to discover patterns of concepts. The analysis is explored
through actual descriptions made by observational - participants, historical records, murals of the
period and finally comparing with the elements of theories of former philosophers. Scrutinized theory
is assessed according to the learning process ‘Classical Conditioning’ by Russian psychologist Ivan
Pavlov in order to validate the found theory.
