Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behavior, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences.Richard Gross, Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 6E, Hachette UK, . The ability to learn is possessed by humans, other animals, and some machines. There is also evidence for some kind of learning in certain plants.Karban, R. (2015). Plant Learning and Memory. In: Plant Sensing and Communication. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 31–44, . Some learning is immediate, induced by a single event (e.g. being burned by a hot stove), but much skill and knowledge accumulate from repeated experiences.Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2008). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago press. The changes induced by learning often last a lifetime, and it is hard to distinguish learned material that seems to be "lost" from that which cannot be retrieved.
Human learning begins at birth and may even start before birth and continues until death as a consequence of ongoing interactions between people and their environment. The nature and processes involved in learning are studied in many established fields (including educational psychology, neuropsychology, experimental psychology, Cognitive science, and pedagogy), as well as emerging fields of knowledge (e.g. with a shared interest in the topic of learning from safety events such as incidents or accidents,Sujan, M. A., Huang, H., & Braithwaite, J. (2017). Learning from incidents in health care: critique from a Safety-II perspective. Safety Science, 99, 115–121. or in collaborative learning health systems). Research in such fields has led to the significant identification of various sorts of learning. For example, learning may occur as a result of habituation, or classical conditioning, operant conditioning or as a result of more complex activities such as play, seen only in more cognitively complex animals. Learning may occur consciously or without conscious awareness. Learning that an aversive event cannot be avoided or escaped may result in a condition called learned helplessness. There is evidence for human behavioral learning prenatally, in which habituation has been observed as early as 32 weeks into gestation, indicating that the central nervous system is sufficiently developed and primed for learning and memory to occur very early on in development.
Play has been approached by several theorists as a form of learning. Children experiment with the world, learn the rules, and learn to interact through play. Lev Vygotsky agrees that play is pivotal for children's development, since they make meaning of their environment through playing educational games. For Vygotsky, however, play is the first form of learning language and communication, and the stage where a child begins to understand rules and symbols. This has led to a view that learning in organisms is always related to semiosis,Campbell, Cary; Olteanu, Alin; Kull, Kalevi 2019. Learning and knowing as semiosis: Extending the conceptual apparatus of semiotics . Sign Systems Studies 47(3/4): 352–381. and is often associated with representational systems/activity.Hutchins, E., 2014. The cultural ecosystem of human cognition. Philosophical Psychology 27(1), 34–49.
Types There are various functional categorizations of memory which have developed. Some memory researchers distinguish memory based on the relationship between the stimuli involved (associative vs non-associative) or based to whether the content can be communicated through language (declarative/explicit vs procedural/implicit). Some of these categories can, in turn, be parsed into sub-types. For instance, declarative memory comprises both episodic and semantic memory.
Evolution of learning Research in evolutionary biology has examined the conditions under which learning is favored over innate behavior. The predictability and timescale of environmental change are considered key determinants of when learning should evolve, with learning favored in environments that are neither completely stable nor entirely unpredictable. Recent syntheses have also noted that models of learning evolution often use inconsistent definitions of ecological change, and that standardizing these measures may improve links between theory and empirical systems.
Non-associative learning Non-associative learning refers to "a relatively permanent change in the strength of response to a single stimulus due to repeated exposure to that stimulus." This definition exempts the changes caused by sensory adaptation, fatigue, or injury.
Non-associative learning can be divided into habituation and sensitization.
Habituation
Habituation is an example of non-associative learning in which one or more components of an innate response (e.g., response probability, response duration) to a stimulus diminishes when the stimulus is repeated. Thus, habituation must be distinguished from extinction, which is an associative process. In operant extinction, for example, a response declines because it is no longer followed by a reward. An example of habituation can be seen in small song birds—if a stuffed owl (or similar predator) is put into the cage, the birds initially react to it as though it were a real predator. Soon the birds react less, showing habituation. If another stuffed owl is introduced (or the same one removed and re-introduced), the birds react to it again as though it were a predator, demonstrating that it is only a very specific stimulus that is habituated to (namely, one particular unmoving owl in one place). The habituation process is faster for stimuli that occur at a high rate rather than for stimuli that occur at a low rate as well as for the weak and strong stimuli, respectively. Habituation has been shown in essentially every species of animal, as well as the sensitive plant Mimosa pudica and the large protozoan Stentor coeruleus. Habituation is conceptually opposite to sensitization.
Sensitization
Sensitization is an example of non-associative learning in which the progressive amplification of a response follows repeated administrations of a stimulus.Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford. This is based on the notion that a defensive reflex to a stimulus such as withdrawal or escape becomes stronger after the exposure to a different harmful or threatening stimulus. An everyday example of this mechanism is the repeated tonic stimulation of peripheral nerves that occurs if a person rubs their arm continuously. After a while, this stimulation creates a warm sensation that can eventually turn painful. This pain results from a progressively amplified synaptic response of the peripheral nerves. This sends a warning that the stimulation is harmful. Sensitization is thought to underlie both adaptive as well as maladaptive learning processes in the organism.
Active learning
Active learning occurs when a person takes control of their own learning experience. Since understanding information is a key aspect of learning, it is important for learners to recognize what they understand and what they do not. By doing so, they can monitor their mastery of different subjects. Active learning encourages learners to engage in an internal dialogue in which they verbalize their understanding. This and other meta-cognitive strategies can be taught to a child over time. Studies in metacognition have demonstrated the value of active learning, showing that learning is often stronger as a result.Bransford, 2000, pp. 15–20 In addition, learners have more incentive to learn when they have control over not only how they learn but also what they learn. Active learning is a key characteristic of student-centered learning. Conversely, passive learning and direct instruction are characteristics of teacher-centered learning (or traditional education).
Associative learning
Associative learning is the process by which a person or animal learns an association between two stimuli or events. In classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a reflex-eliciting stimulus until eventually the neutral stimulus elicits a response on its own. In operant conditioning, a behavior that is reinforced or punished in the presence of a stimulus becomes more or less likely to occur in the presence of that stimulus.
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a way in which behavior can be shaped or modified according to the desires of the trainer or instructor. Operant conditioning uses the thought that living things seek pleasure and avoid pain, and that an animal or human can learn through receiving either reward or punishment at a specific time called trace conditioning. Trace conditioning is the small and ideal period of time between the subject performing the desired behavior, and receiving the positive reinforcement as a result of their performance. The reward needs to be given immediately after the completion of the wanted behavior.
Operant conditioning is different from classical conditioning in that it shapes behavior not solely on bodily reflexes that occur naturally to a specific stimulus, but rather focuses on the shaping of wanted behavior that requires conscious thought, and ultimately requires learning.
Punishment and reinforcement are the two principal ways in which operant conditioning occurs. Punishment is used to reduce unwanted behavior, and ultimately (from the learner's perspective) leads to avoidance of the punishment, not necessarily avoidance of the unwanted behavior. Punishment is not an appropriate way to increase wanted behavior for animals or humans. Punishment can be divided into two subcategories, positive punishment and negative punishment. Positive punishment is when an aversive aspect of life or thing is added to the subject, for this reason it is called positive punishment. For example, the parent spanking their child would be considered a positive punishment, because a spanking was added to the child. Negative punishment is considered the removal of something loved or desirable from the subject. For example, when a parent puts his child in time out, in reality, the child is losing the opportunity to be with friends, or to enjoy the freedom to do as he pleases. In this example, negative punishment is the removal of the child's desired rights to play with his friends etc.
Reinforcement on the other hand is used to increase a wanted behavior either through negative reinforcement or positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is defined by removing an undesirable aspect of life, or thing. For example, a dog might learn to sit as the trainer scratches his ears, which ultimately is removing his itches (undesirable aspect). Positive reinforcement is defined by adding a desirable aspect of life or thing. For example, a dog might learn to sit if he receives a treat. In this example the treat was added to the dog's life.
Classical conditioning