Learning There Is No Simple

Learning

There is no simple definition of learning. One of the main criteria which must be met in order for learning to take place is that it must result in a behavior change that is fairly permanent. This change in behavior can result from experience or practice and need not occur immediately after the learning experience. In some cases the information or behavioral response learned is stored in the memory and can be available for later retrieval. This makes it fairly difficult sometimes to assess that learning has in fact taken place. Learning is not only of facts and information. An individual can learn feelings and attitudes and skills. Not all changes in behavior are a result of learning, since for example temporary random changes caused by drug intake or fatigue are not considered learning process. There are different types of learning such as intentional learning when a person sets out to learn certain things. This is different from incidental learning that takes place without intention such as when someone learns medical terms from watching medical shows on television. Rote memorization of facts is different from meaningful learning in which the person relates new information to what is already known. Reception learning is gained from text in a book whereas in discovery learning the person is discovering theories and hypotheses from being exposed to experiences.

Understanding learning goes beyond the simple definition. To illustrate this Alexander et al. (2009) present nine principals of learning before arriving at a definition. These principals describe several characteristics of learning such as that it is "inevitable, essential and ubiquitous, framed by our humanness, different at different points in time, refers to both a process and a product, and interactional" (p. 178). They also suggest that learning can be resisted and may be dangerous. These they describe as "salient attributes of this complex but elusive construct" (p. 180).

Behaviorism was the first major approach to the study of learning to become well established. Behaviorists view learning as a result of the forming of connections between stimuli and observable responses. B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov developed their theories of operant and classical conditioning as a form of learning. Pavlov showed in his experiments with dogs that any neutral stimulus could become a conditioned stimulus if routinely presented immediately before the unconditioned stimulus. (He sounded a bell -- the conditioned stimulus right before presenting food- the unconditioned stimulus and this caused the conditioned response of salivation in the dogs. After repeated trials the bell (conditioned stimulus) stimulated salivation even without the unconditioned stimulus -- the food. The subject develops associations between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus and 'learns' to produce the behavioral response

Skinner described operant conditioning which helps to shape behavior through the use of reinforcement. Basically operant conditioning is a simple feedback system. One could increase the frequency of any operant behavior by rewarding the organism for performing the behavior. The reinforcement is positive if it results in strengthening the response, or negative when its removal strengthens the response. The reinforcer must immediately and directly follow the response and be appropriate. Varying the schedule of reinforcement makes it more effective; either changing the time interval between reinforcements or the number of correct responses needed for reinforcement to be offered. Punishment on the other hand is an undesirable or painful consequence of a response and will usually lead to suppression of the behavior. According to Bouton and Moody (2004) conditioning is not necessarily such a simple process of learning and that the quality and length of duration of the conditioned stimulus can influence the type of behavioral response that results. They also emphasize the importance of distinguishing between "learning the hypothetical psychological and physical changes in the brain, from performance, the manifestation of that change in behavior" (p. 663).