Foundations Of Human Learning

Chapter One

CONCEPT OF HUMAN LEARNING

The process of human leaning is continuous which starts right from the time of birth of an individual and continues till the death. We all are engaged in the learning endeavours` in order to develop our adaptive capabilities as per the requirements of the changing environment. Learning is an adaptive function by which our nervous system changes in relation to stimuli in the environment, thus changing our behavioral responses and permitting us to function in our environment. The process occurs initially in our nervous system in response to environmental stimuli. Neural pathways can be strengthened, pruned, activated, or rerouted, all of which cause changes in our behavioral responses. Instincts and reflexes are innate behaviors they occur naturally and do not involve learning. In contrast, learning is a change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience. The field of behavioral psychology focuses largely on measurable behaviors that are learned, rather than trying to understand internal states such as emotions and attitudes. For a learning to occur, two things are important: the presence of a stimulus in the environment and the innate dispositions like emotional and instinctual dispositions. A person keeps on learning across all the stages of life, by constructing or reconstructing experiences under the influence of emotional and instinctual dispositions. Psychologists in general define Learning as relatively permanent behavioural modifications which take place as a result of experience (Juneja, 2015; Lumen, 2021). Overall, learning refers to understanding any content, technique, or behaviour by an organism. Learning has most frequently been studied in the context of human beings (and sometimes animals) both in the past and in the present. Humans achieve excellence through learning and without it they retain their animalistic nature. From the beginning until now, humans have learned to survive according to different conditions whether on purpose or accidentally. This is because humans continue to learn for all issues in their lives. Learning requires both intrinsic and extrinsic factors including a teacher to learn from. Learning is the result of being educated by others. Therefore, reward and punishment must be used appropriately to have the best outcome. It should be noted that any positive factor can have adverse consequences if it is overused or underused. This will result in undesirable outcomes. In this section, we aim to focus on the application of reward and punishment. These techniques have always been tied with learning. The correct application of these two critical behaviors is very important in achieving the best possible results.

This definition of learning stresses on three important elements of learning:

Learning involves a behavioural change which can be better or worse.

This behavioural change should take place as a result of practice and experience. Changes resulting from maturity or growth cannot be considered as learning

This behavioural change must be relatively permanent and last for a relatively long time enough.

John B Watson is one amongst the first thinkers who has proven that behavioural changes occur as a result of learning. Watson is believed to be the founder of Behavioural school of thought, which gained its prominence or acceptability around the first half of the 20th century. Gales defined Learning as the behavioural modification which occurs as a result of experience as well as training. Crow and Crow defined learning as the process of acquisition of knowledge, habits and attitudes. According to E.A, Peel, Learning can be described as a change in the individual which takes place as a result of the environmental change. H.J. Klausmeir described Learning as a process which leads to some behavioural change as a result of some experience, training, observation, activity, etc.

The key characteristics of the learning process are:

When described in the simplest possible manner, learning is described as an experience acquisition process.

In the complex form, learning can be described as process of acquisition, retention and modification of experience.

It re-establishes the relationship between a stimulus and response.

It is a method of problem solving and is concerned about making adjustments with the environment.

It involves all those gamut of activities which may have a relatively permanent effect on the individual.

The process of learning is concerned about experience acquisition, retention of experiences, and experience development in a step by step manner, synthesis of both old and new experiences for creating a new pattern.

Learning is concerned about cognitive, conative and affective aspects. Knowledge acquisition process is cognitive, any change in the emotions is affective and conative is acquisition of new habits or skills.

Types of Learning

Motor Learning : Our day to day activities like walking, running, driving, etc., must be learnt for ensuring a good life. These activities to a great extent involve muscular coordination.

Verbal Learning: It is related with the language which we use to communicate and various other forms of verbal communication such as symbols, words, languages, sounds, figures and signs.

Concept Learning: This form of learning is associated with higher order cognitive processes like intelligence, thinking, reasoning, etc., which we learn right from our childhood. Concept learning involves the processes of abstraction and generalization, which is very useful for identifying or recognizing things.

Discrimination Learning: Learning which distinguishes between various stimuli with its appropriate and different responses is regarded as discrimination stimuli.

Learning of Principles: Learning which is based on principles helps in managing the work most effectively. Principles based learning explains the relationship between various concepts.

Attitude Learning: Attitude shapes our behaviour to a very great extent, as our positive or negative behaviour is based on our attitudinal predisposition.

Types of Behavioural Learning

The Behavioural School of Thought which was founded by John B Watson which was highlighted in his seminal work,  " Psychology as the Behaviorist View It " , stressed on the fact that Psychology is an objective science, hence mere emphasis on the mental processes should not be considered as such processes cannot be objectively measured or observed. Watson tried to prove his theory with the help of his famous Little Albert Experiment, by way of which he conditioned a small kid to be scared of a white rat. The behavioural psychology described three major types of learning: Classical Conditioning, Observational Learning and Operant Conditioning.

Classical Conditioning: Classical conditioning is a process by which we learn to associate events, or stimuli, that frequently happen together; as a result of this, we learn to anticipate events. Ivan Pavlov conducted a famous study involving dogs in which he trained (or conditioned) the dogs to associate the sound of a bell with the presence of a piece of meat. The conditioning is achieved when the sound