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How learning works and how you can become a better learner.
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Learning and Learning and Memory in Memory in
Everyday LifeEveryday LifeHow Does Learning Work, and What Can You Do To Become a
Better Learner?
How Does Learning Work, and What Can You Do To Become a
Better Learner?
What is What is Learning?Learning?A A relatively permanentrelatively permanent change in your skills and change in your skills and
knowledge as a function of your knowledge as a function of your experiencesexperiences
Being Being relatively permanent relatively permanent implies that it can implies that it can change and that as long as you use the learning change and that as long as you use the learning it will be availableit will be available
Psychologists know that learning has occurred Psychologists know that learning has occurred because of a because of a change change in behaviorin behavior
ChangeChange means that something new has been means that something new has been added to your repertoire of thoughts and actionsadded to your repertoire of thoughts and actions
Being a Being a function of experiencesfunction of experiences means that means that whatever you learn is based on events you whatever you learn is based on events you encounter dailyencounter daily
Factors Affecting the Factors Affecting the Acquisition of InformationAcquisition of Information
The First Factor: Time on TaskThe First Factor: Time on TaskWhenever you want to learn something, the more time Whenever you want to learn something, the more time
you spend at it the more effective will be the learningyou spend at it the more effective will be the learningThe quality of the time is more important than the
actual time spentConcentrate on what’s going on,
participate in discussions, summarize and paraphrase ideas for yourself, and ask questions
Asking questions is importantOvercome the belief that your questions
are silly or dumb or that by asking a question you’re stupid
Time on task is important for learning skills that are needed to do a job well
The Second Factor:The Second Factor:The Role of PracticeThe Role of Practice
Active Practice Enhances LearningActive Practice Enhances LearningLearning is an Learning is an active processBeing actively involved in your learning experience enhances learning and retentionTime on task needs the following characteristics:
Appropriate levels of interest and motivation to learnAttention is focused on the taskA goal for what must be learned is established and
pursuedQuestions are asked when something isn’t understoodFeedback is sought in order to learn from mistakesAttempts are made to integrate and establish connections
among various ideas or components of the skillRote repetition is discouragedCritical thinking processes such as analysis, synthesizing,
and evaluating information are emphasizedWhenever appropriate, ideas about and experiences with
the information are written down and/or discussed with others
More on PracticeMore on PracticeDistribute Your Practice over TimeDistribute Your Practice over Time
Massed Practice (cramming) doesn’t produce retentionConsequently, learning doesn’t occurInefficient and ineffective way to learnMassed Practice taxes your ability to remember
information, lowers your energy levels, produces fatigue, and enhances test anxiety
Distributed Practice, taking small chunks over time produces greater retention
Twice the information is recalled through Distributed Practice
On difficult and verbal learning, Distributed Practice enhances learning
Distributed Practice is most noticeable when information must be recalled rather than recognized
The Third Factor:The Third Factor:The Role of FeedbackThe Role of Feedback
The Purpose of Feedback is to Reduce the The Purpose of Feedback is to Reduce the Number of Errors that can be ProducedNumber of Errors that can be Produced
Knowledge of Results enhances what is to be learnedExternal Sources: Feedback from teachers, super-visors, testsInternal Sources: Perceptions of progress on task,
cues from body movements and thinking processes
Feedback is most effective when it is immediateFeedback must be detailed, specific, and constructive
It is important that detailed information be given about what was wrong as well as specific suggestions for how to improve: Constructive Feedback
The Fourth Factor: The Role The Fourth Factor: The Role of Positive Reinforcementof Positive Reinforcement
Positive Reinforcers are Pleasant Stimuli that Positive Reinforcers are Pleasant Stimuli that Occur after a Response and Increase the Occur after a Response and Increase the Likelihood of that Response RecurringLikelihood of that Response RecurringRewards Increase the Frequency of Desirable BehaviorsRewards Increase the Frequency of Desirable Behaviors
They improve performance in sports, on the job, and in school; lead to better health habits, communications in relationships, and in communications skills themselves
Positive Reinforcers Can Help Reduce the Frequency of Bad Habits
Rewarding the behaviors that you do want will increase those behaviors
Positive Reinforcers Work Best When Given Immediately After a Response
An association is made between the behavior and the rewardDelay in reward may reinforce the wrong behavior
Some of the Most Powerful Reinforces are Secondary Reinforcers
The Fifth Factor:The Fifth Factor:Reinforcement SchedulesReinforcement Schedules
Two Basic Reinforcement SchedulesTwo Basic Reinforcement SchedulesContinuous Reinforcement
Reinforcing every correct response
Partial ReinforcementReinforcing only a certain number of correct responses or
after a given time schedule
Partial Reinforcement Schedules Help Maintain Behaviors Over Time
All reinforcement schedules have “gaps” produced by time or by the number of responses that were not reinforced
These “gaps” provide opportunities for other internal or external rewards to become associated with the actions and can gain control over them
Partial Reinforcement Schedules Allow Behaviors Leading to Distant Rewards to be Maintained
Long-term pay-offs after short-term losses
The Partial Reinforcement The Partial Reinforcement SchedulesSchedules
Fixed RatioFixed RatioThe reinforcer is given after a certain number of correct responses has occurred
Variable RatioVariable RatioA reinforcer is given after a varied number of correct responses has occurred
Fixed IntervalFixed IntervalA reinforcer is given after a fixed time period has passed after the correct response
Variable RatioVariable RatioA reinforcer is given after a varied time period has passed after the correct response
The Sixth Factor:The Sixth Factor:ExtinctionExtinction
When Responses Are No Longer Followed When Responses Are No Longer Followed by the Rewards That Control Them, by the Rewards That Control Them, Extinction OccursExtinction OccursThe behaviors weaken and cease to occurIt is not the same as forgetting; the incentive to perform is goneThe reappearance of an extincted response is spontaneous recoveryResistance to Extinction occurs due to:
They were initially learned or maintained under partial reinforcement
Your actions also come under the control of internal rewards (e.g., self-praise) or other external reinforcers in the environment
When you give yourself praise for a job well-done, you tend to be more comfortable about doing a good job the next time
The Seventh Factor: The Seventh Factor: Negative Side Effects of Negative Side Effects of
RewardsRewardsPositive Reinforcers May Positive Reinforcers May
Affect People and Events Affect People and Events Beyond the Initial Target Beyond the Initial Target BehaviorBehaviorReinforcing certain actions may produce unintended reprocussions
People May Concentrate on People May Concentrate on Earning a Reward and Earning a Reward and Make Performing Desirable Make Performing Desirable Behaviors SecondaryBehaviors SecondaryLooking for “loopholes” becomes more important than learning
The Effects of Positive The Effects of Positive Reinforcers May Not Reinforcers May Not Generalize to Other Generalize to Other SituationsSituationsWhat is learned in one situation may not provide the motivation to continue the previously learned behavior
External Reinforcers May External Reinforcers May Undermine Intrinsic Undermine Intrinsic RewardsRewardsRewards given for something that is already enjoyable causes a loss of interest
The Wrong Behaviors Can Be The Wrong Behaviors Can Be Inadvertently ReinforcedInadvertently ReinforcedAttention is a powerful secondary reinforcer, and it may come in many forms
Rewards May Lose Their Rewards May Lose Their Attractiveness in the Long Attractiveness in the Long RunRunToo much of a good thing can cause a loss of motivation and interest.
The Eighth Factor: The Role The Eighth Factor: The Role of Negative Reinforcementof Negative Reinforcement
Aversive Stimuli Whose Reduction or Aversive Stimuli Whose Reduction or Termination Increases the Likelihood Termination Increases the Likelihood that an Ongoing Behavior Will Occurthat an Ongoing Behavior Will OccurA Positive Reinforcer increases a response through the administration of something desirable; Negative Reinforcers remove something undesirable in order to get or keep a response going
When unpleasant stimuli occur people try to remove them by escaping or avoiding them
Escaping or avoiding the situation can bring about drug abuse, excessive daydreaming or fantasizing, or anxieties
Many fears and phobias are avoidance responses
The Ninth Factor:The Ninth Factor:The Role of PunishmentThe Role of Punishment
The Use of an Aversive Stimulus to Eliminate or The Use of an Aversive Stimulus to Eliminate or Decrease the Strength of a ResponseDecrease the Strength of a ResponsePunishment vs. Abuse vs. Discipline
Punished behavior tends to occur less frequently, and this can be produced through:
The inappropriate behavior leads to a natural and logical unpleasant consequence
There is an unpleasant stimulus given deliberately after a response
Something pleasant is taken away after an inappropriate behavior
Problems can occur through the use of punishmentFrustration and anger can develop and a focus can be more on
“getting even” than learning anything newA fear response develops producing an avoidance responseMany people can’t distinguish between punishment and abuse
More on PunishmentMore on PunishmentPrinciples for Administering PunishmentPrinciples for Administering Punishment
It must be applied immediatelyA connection needs to be made between the behavior and
the punishment
The punishment should “fit” the infractionFor something minor, the punishment must be minor
It must be consistently appliedPunishment must occur every time a problem behavior
occurs as well as an explanation for the punishment
It should be limited to specific responsesNever use punishment indiscriminately or for anything
general such as making someone a “better person”
It should be humanely and sensitively appliedThe physical and psychological well-being of the person
needs to be preserved
The Tenth Factor: The Role The Tenth Factor: The Role of Organization & Planningof Organization & Planning
Without Organization and Planning, Practice, Feedback, Without Organization and Planning, Practice, Feedback, and Reinforcement will do Little Goodand Reinforcement will do Little GoodEffective time management aids learning
Short-term planning and attitudes toward the use of time are the best predictors of college grades, not academic ability
Flexible monthly planning along with weekly and monthly rewards leads to better performance in schoolTime Management Practices for Success in School:
Short-Range Planning Attitudes Toward Time Make a daily list Don’t let others infringe on your time
Plan each day Work on school work on school daysSchedule things to do Always work on improving yourselfBe clear on next week Use your time constructivelySet and keep priorities Do assignments long before they’re
due Quit doing activities that are
unconstructive
Remembering What You Remembering What You Learned Learned
Memory is the ability to bring to conscious awareness the things you’ve experienced, imagined, and learnedMemory is the result of learning
Your ability to learn depends on your ability to remember previous ideasHumanity’s unique ability to survive has depended on memory
memory involves acquiring, encoding, storing, and retrieving informationTwo major theories of learning are the memory system approachmemory system approach and the levels-of-levels-of-processing approachprocessing approach
The Memory System
The Three Stages of Memory The Memory System or Information Processing Approach
Sensory Registry (Sensory Information Storage)Data is stored in full detail in the sense organ
Almost unlimited capacity with very rapid decay
Visual registry (iconic and eidetic imagery), Auditory registry (echoic storage)
The “cocktail party phenomenon”
Short-Term Memory (Working Memory, Present Conscious Memory)Limited to 7 +/- 2 chunks of information at a time
Limited to 1.5 to 2 secondsThe serial position effect: the recall of items depends on the position in a list
Primacy and Recency Effects
Encoding in STM is by sounds or images
Information is maintained in STM through Maintenance rehearsal (Rote)
More on the Stages of More on the Stages of MemoryMemory
Long-Term MemoryAlmost unlimited in capacity
Encoding is by imagery and meaning
Storage is through a Semantic Network or Semantic Tree
Transfer of information from STM to LTM:Elaborative Rehearsal: an associative organization
Organizes the new material with what is already learned
Information is maintained in LTM through Elaborative Rehearsal and Rote
Types of LTM:Episodic Memory: events or life experiences
Semantic Memory: facts, rules, and concepts
Procedural Memory: strategies for performing actions
The Levels-of-Processing The Levels-of-Processing Approach to Understanding Approach to Understanding
MemoryMemoryMemory is an active process where information is analyzed at different levels and later reconstructedWhen given something to learn, you begin by analyzing it at a rather shallow level such as deciding if you need to go on to a deeper analysis of the word or object
The rapid forgetting of material is due to the shallow analysis of it.
The persistence of information in LTM is related to the deeper processing it receives
Information is transformed into a memory code based on meaning
Processing information to a deeper level implies spending time to attach relevant semantic and imagery codes
It can be an automatic or self-initiated process
Explanations for Forgetting
Three Theories of Forgetting The decay of the memory trace is a factor in the loss of
information in sensory memoryWhen rehearsal of information is prevented, decay of the memory trace may account for forgetting in STMRehearsing in STM, or transfer to LTM, and other factors are responsible for forgetting
Failure to retrieve informationLTM has an unlimited capacity. Forgetting is due to problems with people’s ability to retrieve some of the knowledgeYour emotional state at the time of learning and the time of recall affect retentionEmotional cues can help retrieve information up to a pointRecall forces you to reconstruct, reproduce, or recreate the original information from memory codes
Interference among memory tracesProactive Interference: Old memories interfere with new learningRetroactive Interference: New memories interfere with old learning
Memory’s seven Memory’s seven fallaciesfallacies
TransienceForgetting that occurs with the passage of time
Absent-MindednessOften attributed to four things: 1) divided attention; 2) insufficient attention when encoding; 3) operating on “automatic” and 4) change blindness (encoding at an extremely shallow level)
BlockingRetrieval cues are unavailable even though a word or name has been encoded or stored
MisattributionRecalling events that never happened or recalling them incorrectly or at the wrong time or place
SuggestabilityThe tendency to incorporate misleading information from external cues into recollections
BiasMemories are rescripted to fit present views
PersistenceRemembering things you wish to forget
Improving Your Improving Your MemoryMemory
OverlearningOverlearningPractice beyond the point of learning or mastery
Categorize InformationCategorize InformationGrouping or chunking information into groups or assigning information into categoriesCreating a cognitive map using pictures, drawings, designs to represent ideas
Elaborate on the InformationElaborate on the InformationEmbellish the information you’re learning by analyzing it in greater detailGet beyond the facts, and integrate informationReflect any ideas in writing such as in a journal relating past and present experiencesAsk yourself questions about the material
Use Mental ImageryUse Mental ImageryAssigning an imagery code helps you to learn faster and remember longerLook for something interesting, and humorous about it
Improving Your Improving Your MemoryMemory
Use Mnemonic DevicesUse Mnemonic DevicesUse short phrases where the first letter of each word creates a recall itemConnect items in a short rhyming phrase or poemRepeating the information with a cadence and beat with music makes it easier to rememberUse acronyms where words are formed out of the first letter of each item that needs to be rememberedNarratives are short stories containing all the items to be remembered; the sillier the narrative, the easier it is to rememberSubstitutions convert relatively abstract materials into something more concrete and easier to remember: substitute a picture formed from the sounds in a name; substitute consonants in the alphabet, and vowels are used to fill in the gapsKeywords are used to form an image of the sound and a wordMethod of Loci is placing everything to be remembered in specific and recognizable placesPeg systems or peg words are hooks to attach things you want to learn