Learning

"Learning is the process by which experience brings about a relatively permanent change in behaviour."

Nature and characteristics

• A process; relatively permanent; based on experience.
• Brings about change in behaviour; can be adaptive or maladaptive.
• Involves practice and repetition; continuous; varies among individuals.
• Involves cognitive, emotional and behavioural aspects.

The phrase "relatively permanent" distinguishes genuine learning from temporary states such as fatigue, injury or drug effects, which alter behaviour without being learned.

Types of learning

1. Trial-and-error learning
2. Classical conditioning
3. Operant conditioning
4. Insight learning
5. Observational learning

These five types can be grouped as a single taxonomy:

Trial-and-error learning (Edward Thorndike)

Learning occurs through repeated trials and errors. Correct responses are strengthened and wrong responses eliminated. Thorndike demonstrated this with cats in a puzzle box: the animal at first made random movements, but by chance escaped, and over many trials the successful movements became faster and more deliberate. He summarised the result as the Law of Effect — responses followed by satisfying consequences are strengthened, while those followed by discomfort are weakened.

Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)

Learning occurs through association between two stimuli. A neutral stimulus, repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus, produces a conditioned response. In Pavlov's famous experiments, the taste of food is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that naturally produces salivation, the unconditioned response (UCR). When a bell is repeatedly sounded just before the food, the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and produces salivation as the conditioned response (CR), even when presented alone.

Key associated processes include:

• Acquisition — the gradual strengthening of the CR through pairing.
• Extinction — the CR weakens when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS.
• Spontaneous recovery — the CR reappears after a rest period following extinction.
• Generalisation — responding to stimuli similar to the CS.
• Discrimination — responding only to the specific CS and not to similar stimuli.

The pairing sequence can be shown as a chain of associations:

Operant conditioning (B.F. Skinner)

Learning occurs through consequences. Behaviour followed by reward (reinforcement) is strengthened; behaviour followed by punishment is weakened. Skinner's Skinner box allowed precise study of this principle, and his framework distinguishes several contingencies:

Reinforcement may be delivered on schedules — continuous (every response) or partial, including fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval and variable-interval. Variable-ratio schedules, as in gambling, produce the most persistent responding. Shaping builds complex behaviour by reinforcing successive approximations toward a target.

Insight learning (Wolfgang Köhler)

Learning occurs through sudden understanding of a problem. No trial and error is required; it is based on rearrangement of existing knowledge (e.g. a chimpanzee using boxes to reach a banana). Köhler's Gestalt work showed that after a period of apparent hesitation, the animal would suddenly "see" the solution, suggesting a cognitive restructuring rather than a gradual strengthening of associations.

Observational learning (Albert Bandura)

Learning occurs by watching and imitating others. No direct reinforcement is required; it is important in social learning. Bandura's Bobo doll studies (1961) demonstrated that children who watched an adult behave aggressively toward a doll were more likely to imitate the aggression themselves. He proposed four processes for observational learning:

• Attention to the model, retention of what is observed, reproduction of the behaviour, and motivation to perform it.

The four processes form a sequence:

This is central to how behaviour and norms spread through social [blocked] and cultural settings.

Laws of learning (Thorndike)

1. Readiness — learning is more effective when the learner is ready.
2. Exercise — practice and repetition strengthen learning.
3. Effect — responses followed by satisfying consequences are strengthened.
4. Primacy — first impressions are remembered better.
5. Recency — recently learned information is remembered better.
6. Intensity — strong, vivid experiences are learned more quickly.

Factors affecting learning

• Internal (learner-related): interest, motivation, intelligence, attention, past experience, age, physical and mental health, emotions, personality, readiness, learning style.
• External (environment-related): nature of material, teaching method, learning environment, rewards and punishment, home and family support, social and cultural factors, peer group, teacher's behaviour, audio-visual aids, classroom conditions.

Transfer of learning

Transfer of learning is the effect of previously learned knowledge or skills on learning new ones: positive transfer (previous learning helps, as when knowing one language eases learning another) and negative transfer (previous learning hinders, as when an old habit interferes with a new skill). Zero transfer describes cases where prior learning has no measurable effect.

Learning curve

A learning curve is a graphical representation of the rate and progress of learning — it shows improvement in performance with practice over time. Typical curves rise steeply at first and then plateau, reflecting that gains become smaller as mastery increases; some curves show a plateau where apparent progress stalls before rising again.

Role of reinforcement

Reinforcement is the presentation of a reward or satisfying consequence after a desired behaviour, which increases the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again. It is the engine of operant conditioning and, alongside association and observation, one of the three great mechanisms of learning.

Key takeaways

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour due to experience, spanning cognitive, emotional and behavioural change.
• Classical conditioning (Pavlov) pairs a neutral CS with a UCS so the CS alone elicits a CR; the process includes acquisition, extinction, recovery, generalisation and discrimination.
• Operant conditioning (Skinner) governs behaviour through reinforcement and punishment, delivered on continuous or partial schedules; shaping builds new skills.
• Thorndike contributed trial-and-error learning and the Law of Effect; Köhler demonstrated insight; Bandura showed observational learning in the Bobo doll studies.
• Thorndike's six laws of learning — readiness, exercise, effect, primacy, recency and intensity — summarise the conditions that promote learning.
• Transfer may be positive or negative, and the learning curve charts progress over practice; reinforcement remains the core mechanism of behaviour change.

Sources & further reading

• Classical Conditioning — Simply Psychology
• Operant Conditioning — Simply Psychology
• Observational Learning — Simply Psychology
• Classical Conditioning — OpenStax Psychology 2e
• Operant Conditioning — OpenStax Psychology 2e
• Schedules of Reinforcement — Simply Psychology