Learning

The Questions of Learning

Where do we learn?What are we ready to learn with

ease?Is there anything we know

instinctively?What do we need to actively try

to learn?How do we learn?

Where do we learn?

FamilySchoolFriendsMediaWorkAny other places?

What are we ready to learn with ease?

From a young age we learn to walk, talk and eat with ease.

Are we hardwired to learn and react to the world around us from a young age?

What are we ready to learn?

Did those babies learn to react that way?

Or do they instinctively react that way?

What do we need to actively try to learn?

Learning Math, Science and other languages requires a conscious effort to learn

“Natural” abilities only go so far, but there are exceptions to the rule.

LearningLearning - any change in

knowledge or behaviour as a result of experience.

Humans rely on learning over instinct

We can change our thinking and behaviour to meet new situations and challenges

Types of LearningConditioning: acquiring

patterns of behaviour in the presence of an environmental stimulus

Most human behaviour is the result of conditioned learning

Classical Conditioning - Pavlov’s dog

Learning where a stimulus that does not elicit a given response is repeatedly linked with one that does until the neutral stimulus elicits the response by itself

Terms you NEED to know!

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): agent that leads to a response without training

For example: the meat/food

Terms you NEED to know!

Unconditioned Response (UCR): automatic response to an unconditioned stiumulus

For example: drooling

Terms you NEED to know!

Neutral Stimulus (NS): stimulus that initially has no effect

For example: the metronome

Terms you NEED to know

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): a former neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a given response after pairing it with an unconditioned stimulus

For example: the metronome

Terms you NEED to know!

Conditioned Response (CR): The dog drools as a result of hearing the metronome

Hints!

The neutral stimulus is always the same as the conditioned stimulus

Figure out the unconditioned response first (the natural or automatic response that requires no learning, teaching or prompting to occur)

Assignment!Read each example and fill in the

charts with the unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned response and conditioned response

Then create two examples of your own!

Work ALONE!!! I am here to help and answer questions!

ExampleYou eat a new food and then get

sick because of the flu. However, you develop a dislike for the food and feel nauseated whenever you smell it.

Operant Conditioning - B. F. Skinner

Learning complex behaviours through the use of positive or negative reinforcements

Skinner wanted to teach a rat to push a lever in a cage to get a piece of food

When the rat touched the lever (behaviour), it got a food pellet (reward)

Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement: Reward for desired behaviours

For example: getting praise from your parents for getting good grades

ReinforcementNegative Reinforcement:

behaviour that occurs to avoid negative consequences

For example: slowing down to avoid getting a speeding ticket, not talking to avoid detention

Where do we learn?Of the five places discussed

(family, school, peers, media, work), which is the most important?

Rank them most important (top) to least important (bottom).

Justify each ranking!