4.1 Introduction to Learning
3 min read•december 21, 2022
John Mohl
Haseung Jun
John Mohl
Haseung Jun
Key Researchers
In the field of learning, there are a lot of people who make great processes in discovering new things about how we learn. Here are some of the most prominent names and the field of learning they were associated with - they're the ones that you might encounter on the AP exam. Just remember, you don't need to memorize anything, per se, but definitely have a general idea of who belongs in what learning category.
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- latent learning
- insight learning
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Three Types of Learning
The learning unit is composed of three types of learning: , , and .
Image Courtesy of Verywell Mind.
Though they share some things in common and do impact the occurrence of the other two types, each type of learning has defining features:
Classical Conditioning describes a process in which the environment presents an organism with a stimulus, which causes the organism to react in a certain way. The stimulus causes a response. Responses in are involuntary or reflexive.
Example: When a puff of air is blown into one’s eyes💨 (stimulus), the person blinks (response).
Operant Conditioning begins with the organism performing a voluntary behavior (i.e., non-reflexive), which leads to the environment reacting in a certain way (i.e., providing a consequence, which could be pleasant or unpleasant). This consequence, in turn, influences the likelihood of the organism performing the task again.
Example: When the student completed his homework, he received a dollar from his parents 💵 This led him to do his homework more often 💯
Observational Learning, as the name suggests, is learning by observing. Put another way, when a person sees another person doing that behavior, the one who is watching might try to imitate the behavior. One could model voluntary or involuntary, reflexive behaviors to another.
Example: When the student saw her friends say a certain catchphrase over the course of several weeks, she found herself saying the same phrase.
Learning Phenomena
While learning is going on, a lot of phenomena can happen! By conditioning, either accidental or intentional, these learning phenomena can happen in everyday life.
- feeling of futility resulting from the inability to avoid repeated events ()
- dislike of certain food due to association with painful stimulus form the past ()
- partial reinforcement schedule developing a superstition ()
If a certain behavior doesn't yield a desired consequence, one can feel helpless in being able to control consequences. This, in a sense, is learned through . This is similarly related to . Often unintentional, if a certain behavior yields a certain consequence, one will believe that the behavior caused the consequence (as we always say, correlation does not mean causation).
is more . If someone has a strong aversion to something, it's most likely they have bad memories associated with it, such as a bad stomach ache.
Biological Constraints
We do have some biological constraints to learning. The two prominent ones are and . means that animals are biologically more likely to learn behavior helpful to survival. means that a conditioned behavior may drift back towards the natural and instinctive behavior of the animal.
Key Terms to Review (15)
Albert Bandura
: Albert Bandura is a renowned psychologist known for his social learning theory, which emphasizes the importance of observational learning, imitation, and modeling.B.F. Skinner
: B.F. Skinner was a psychologist who developed the theory of operant conditioning, which posits that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments.Classical Conditioning
: Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.Edward Thorndike
: Edward Thorndike was an American psychologist who proposed the law of effect, stating that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to occur in the future, and those followed by unsatisfying consequences become less likely.Edward Tolman
: Edward Tolman was an American psychologist who developed a cognitive view of learning, which became known as latent learning. He believed that people and animals are active information processors and not just passive learners as suggested by behaviorism.Instinctive Drift
: It refers to the tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response.Ivan Pavlov
: Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist known for his work in classical conditioning, where he trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell by associating it with food.John Watson
: John Watson was an American psychologist who is often referred to as the father of behaviorism, a school of thought in psychology that emphasizes the importance of observable behaviors over internal mental processes.Learned Helplessness
: Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where an individual feels powerless to change their situation due to repeated failures or negative outcomes in the past.Observational Learning
: Observational learning happens when an individual learns by watching others and then imitates their behaviors.Operant Conditioning
: Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences. Positive reinforcements or punishments are used to either increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior happening again.Preparedness
: In psychology, preparedness refers to an organism’s readiness or predisposition to be conditioned in certain ways due to its evolutionary history.Superstitious Behavior
: This refers to a behavior that is linked to a particular outcome based on the belief in cause and effect, despite there being no logical or scientific connection between them.Taste Aversion
: Taste aversion is a learned response where an individual develops a strong dislike or avoidance for certain foods due to previous negative experiences such as illness after eating those foods.Wolfgang Kohler
: Wolfgang Kohler was a psychologist known for his work on the insight learning theory, which suggests that learning can occur through a sudden understanding or realization.4.1 Introduction to Learning
3 min read•december 21, 2022
John Mohl
Haseung Jun
John Mohl
Haseung Jun
Key Researchers
In the field of learning, there are a lot of people who make great processes in discovering new things about how we learn. Here are some of the most prominent names and the field of learning they were associated with - they're the ones that you might encounter on the AP exam. Just remember, you don't need to memorize anything, per se, but definitely have a general idea of who belongs in what learning category.
-
-
-
-
- latent learning
- insight learning
-
Three Types of Learning
The learning unit is composed of three types of learning: , , and .
Image Courtesy of Verywell Mind.
Though they share some things in common and do impact the occurrence of the other two types, each type of learning has defining features:
Classical Conditioning describes a process in which the environment presents an organism with a stimulus, which causes the organism to react in a certain way. The stimulus causes a response. Responses in are involuntary or reflexive.
Example: When a puff of air is blown into one’s eyes💨 (stimulus), the person blinks (response).
Operant Conditioning begins with the organism performing a voluntary behavior (i.e., non-reflexive), which leads to the environment reacting in a certain way (i.e., providing a consequence, which could be pleasant or unpleasant). This consequence, in turn, influences the likelihood of the organism performing the task again.
Example: When the student completed his homework, he received a dollar from his parents 💵 This led him to do his homework more often 💯
Observational Learning, as the name suggests, is learning by observing. Put another way, when a person sees another person doing that behavior, the one who is watching might try to imitate the behavior. One could model voluntary or involuntary, reflexive behaviors to another.
Example: When the student saw her friends say a certain catchphrase over the course of several weeks, she found herself saying the same phrase.
Learning Phenomena
While learning is going on, a lot of phenomena can happen! By conditioning, either accidental or intentional, these learning phenomena can happen in everyday life.
- feeling of futility resulting from the inability to avoid repeated events ()
- dislike of certain food due to association with painful stimulus form the past ()
- partial reinforcement schedule developing a superstition ()
If a certain behavior doesn't yield a desired consequence, one can feel helpless in being able to control consequences. This, in a sense, is learned through . This is similarly related to . Often unintentional, if a certain behavior yields a certain consequence, one will believe that the behavior caused the consequence (as we always say, correlation does not mean causation).
is more . If someone has a strong aversion to something, it's most likely they have bad memories associated with it, such as a bad stomach ache.
Biological Constraints
We do have some biological constraints to learning. The two prominent ones are and . means that animals are biologically more likely to learn behavior helpful to survival. means that a conditioned behavior may drift back towards the natural and instinctive behavior of the animal.
Key Terms to Review (15)
Albert Bandura
: Albert Bandura is a renowned psychologist known for his social learning theory, which emphasizes the importance of observational learning, imitation, and modeling.B.F. Skinner
: B.F. Skinner was a psychologist who developed the theory of operant conditioning, which posits that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments.Classical Conditioning
: Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.Edward Thorndike
: Edward Thorndike was an American psychologist who proposed the law of effect, stating that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to occur in the future, and those followed by unsatisfying consequences become less likely.Edward Tolman
: Edward Tolman was an American psychologist who developed a cognitive view of learning, which became known as latent learning. He believed that people and animals are active information processors and not just passive learners as suggested by behaviorism.Instinctive Drift
: It refers to the tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response.Ivan Pavlov
: Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist known for his work in classical conditioning, where he trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell by associating it with food.John Watson
: John Watson was an American psychologist who is often referred to as the father of behaviorism, a school of thought in psychology that emphasizes the importance of observable behaviors over internal mental processes.Learned Helplessness
: Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where an individual feels powerless to change their situation due to repeated failures or negative outcomes in the past.Observational Learning
: Observational learning happens when an individual learns by watching others and then imitates their behaviors.Operant Conditioning
: Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences. Positive reinforcements or punishments are used to either increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior happening again.Preparedness
: In psychology, preparedness refers to an organism’s readiness or predisposition to be conditioned in certain ways due to its evolutionary history.Superstitious Behavior
: This refers to a behavior that is linked to a particular outcome based on the belief in cause and effect, despite there being no logical or scientific connection between them.Taste Aversion
: Taste aversion is a learned response where an individual develops a strong dislike or avoidance for certain foods due to previous negative experiences such as illness after eating those foods.Wolfgang Kohler
: Wolfgang Kohler was a psychologist known for his work on the insight learning theory, which suggests that learning can occur through a sudden understanding or realization.
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