LEARNING THEORY PSYCHOLOGY
LEARNING THEORY by Bob Boakes
Psychology and You, pp.59-63, Hawker Brownlow Education, Melbourne Australia Learning is the process by which we gain knowledge about the world. It is not just something we try to switch on occasionally when, for example, we have an exam to study for or want to try a new game. It is a process that starts before we are born and continues to the moment we die. The kind of concentrated, deliberate process that we usually refer to as ‘learning’ in a school context is only one of the ways we acquire knowledge. Most of what most people learn about their worlds is absorbed in other ways, usually without conscious intention. Learning theory is the study of the basic principles by which any kind of learning occurs.
From the viewpoint of evolution, species survive only if they are adapted to their environment. Early in the development of his theory, Charles Darwin concluded that the behaviour of animals is one of the most important factors for survival. At one extreme behaviour can be entirely innate, selected to be highly effective in a particular ecological niche, but totally inflexible in the face of change. At the other extreme are species like our own where all of what we do, how we react emotionally as well as in our actions is learning and can change if conditions change.
From its beginnings over a hundred years ago, learning theory has developed within an evolutionary context. It seeks fundamental principles underlying the way that species, in general, adapt to their particular environments as the first step towards a proper understanding of human learning. It is for this reason that rats and pigeons in particular have loomed so large in learning research. Physiologists have for centuries studied the functions of organs such as the heart or lungs in various mammals to the enormous benefit of human medicine. More recently, genetic research, starting with fruit flies, has made possible the current massive international project on the
Psychology and You, pp.59-63, Hawker Brownlow Education, Melbourne Australia Learning is the process by which we gain knowledge about the world. It is not just something we try to switch on occasionally when, for example, we have an exam to study for or want to try a new game. It is a process that starts before we are born and continues to the moment we die. The kind of concentrated, deliberate process that we usually refer to as ‘learning’ in a school context is only one of the ways we acquire knowledge. Most of what most people learn about their worlds is absorbed in other ways, usually without conscious intention. Learning theory is the study of the basic principles by which any kind of learning occurs.
From the viewpoint of evolution, species survive only if they are adapted to their environment. Early in the development of his theory, Charles Darwin concluded that the behaviour of animals is one of the most important factors for survival. At one extreme behaviour can be entirely innate, selected to be highly effective in a particular ecological niche, but totally inflexible in the face of change. At the other extreme are species like our own where all of what we do, how we react emotionally as well as in our actions is learning and can change if conditions change.
From its beginnings over a hundred years ago, learning theory has developed within an evolutionary context. It seeks fundamental principles underlying the way that species, in general, adapt to their particular environments as the first step towards a proper understanding of human learning. It is for this reason that rats and pigeons in particular have loomed so large in learning research. Physiologists have for centuries studied the functions of organs such as the heart or lungs in various mammals to the enormous benefit of human medicine. More recently, genetic research, starting with fruit flies, has made possible the current massive international project on the
References: - Boakes, R A (1984) From Darwin to Behaviourism: Psychology and the minds of animals, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press - Hilgard, E.R. & Bower, G.H., (1966). Theories of learning (pp 15-47) New York: Appleton Century Crofts - Hulse, S H Egeth, H & Deese J (1980) The psychology of learning (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. - Logue, A W (1986) The psychology of eating and drinking New York: W H Freeman - Mackintosh, N. J., (1974) The psychology of animal learning. London: Academic Press. - Mazur, J E (1990) Learning and behaviour (2nd ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. - Schwartz, B (1989) Psychology of learning and behaviour (3rd ed.) New York: Norton - Skinner, B.J. (1953) Science and human behaviour. New York: Macmillan.