Learning:

Learning ranges from simple forms of learning such as habituation and classical conditioning seen in many animal species, to more complex activities such as play, seen only in relatively intelligent animals^[2]^[3] and humans. Therefore, in general, a learning can be conscious and not conscious.

For example, for small children, non-conscious learning processes are as natural as breathing. In fact, there is evidence for 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.^[4]

Learning has also been mathematically modeled using a differential equation related to an arbitrarily defined knowledge indicator with respect to time, and dependent on a number of interacting factors (constants and variables) such as initial knowledge, motivation, intelligence, knowledge anchorage or resistance, etc.^[5]^[6]

Physiology of learning

"Thought," in a general sense, is commonly conceived as something arising from the stimulation of neurons in the brain. Current understanding of neurons and the central nervous system implies that the process of learning corresponds to changes in the relationship between certain neurons in the brain. Research is ongoing in this area.^{[citation needed]}

Repeating thoughts and actions is an essential part of learning. Thinking about a specific memory will make it easy to recall. This is the reason why reviews are such an integral part of education. On first performing a task, it is difficult as according to current theory synaptic modification is necessary for the task to be acquired. After several repetitions it is believed that structural changes occur in relevant synapses, thus rendering the task easier. When the task becomes so easy that you can perform it at any time, these structural changes have likely ceased.^{[citation needed]}

Types of learning

Simple non-associative learning

Habituation

In psychology, habituation is an example of non-associative learning in which there is a progressive diminution of behavioral response probability with repetition of a stimulus. It is another form of integration. An animal first responds to a stimulus, but if it is neither rewarding nor harmful the animal reduces subsequent responses. One example of this 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). Habituation has been shown in essentially every species of animal, including the large protozoan Stentor coeruleus.^[7]

Sensitization

Sensitization is an example of non-associative learning in which the progressive amplification of a response follows repeated administrations of a stimulus (Bell et al., 1995). An everyday example of this mechanism is the repeated tonic stimulation of peripheral nerves that will occur if a person rubs his arm continuously. After a while, this stimulation will create a warm sensation that will eventually turn painful. The pain is the result of the progressively amplified synaptic response of the peripheral nerves warning the person that the stimulation is harmful. Sensitization is thought to underlie both adaptive as well as maladaptive learning processes in the organism.

Associative learning

Operant conditioning

Learning New Behaviors • B.F. Skinner’s “Radical Behaviorism: – The factor controlling an organism’s behavior was the consequence of that behavior. – There was no need to hypothesize internal processes. – The only appropriate object of study is overt, observable behavior – The laws governing “learning” via operant conditioning were the same for all organisms.

– Reinforcement: “Any condition that follows and strengthens a behavior.” (Zimbardo, et al., 2006, pg. 236) • Positive Reinforcement: an event that occurs after a response that increases the

• Negative Reinforcement: removal of an aversive condition that increases the likelihood

Reinforcement Contingencies • Contingencies reflect conditions that must be met in order for reinforcement to be dispensed • The reinforcement must be meaningful to the organism (e.g. food for a dog) • The reinforcement must follow the behavior;

Timing and Schedules of Reinforcement • Continuous reinforcement: the reinforcement is administered following each behavior; – Excellent for initial learning of new behaviors; – Problems: • Habituation to the reinforcer: the reinforcement loses its reinforcing qualities • Satiation: the organism becomes glutted with the reinforcer. • Intermittent Reinforcement: periodic administration of the reinforcement. – Maintains behaviors with fewer reinforcement trials following initial learning; – More resistant to extinction

• Fixed Ratio: reinforcement is contingent on a certain number of responses and that number is constant. As the number of responses approaches the required number, the rate of response increases

• Variable Ratio: the number of responses for which a behavior will be reinforces varies. Typically some average number is maintained over trials. The rate of responding tends to be consistent.

Interval Schedules: Based on the amount of time between reinforcement. The first response following the minimum time is reinforced.

– Fixed Interval: reinforcement is contingent on the first response following a set amount of time. Rate of behavior increases slightly as the interval approaches.

– Variable Interval: the amount of time between reinforcement is typically varied around some average. In uncontrolled settings, the variance is not controlled around an average.

Primary and Secondary Reinforcers • If the reinforcer is based on a natural biological need or drive it is a primary reinforcer – Food, Water, Sex, Oxygen • If the reinforcer is a related to but in reality not based on a natural biological need, it is a secondary or conditioned reinforcer – Money, Praise, Grades • Punishment: any condition that follows and reduces the likelihood of a behavior

– Positive Punishment: a condition that occurs following a behavior and reduces the likelihood of that behavior

– Negative Punishment: removal of a desirable condition following a behavior that reduces the likelihood of that behavior. – Punishment vs. Reinforcement • Punishment does not usually result in long term behavioral change; • Punishment does not provide a vehicle for building a more desirable behavior; • Reinforcement gives the reinforcing individual more control over others’ behavior; • Punishment typically leads to escape behavior;

Classical conditioning

The typical paradigm for classical conditioning involves repeatedly pairing an unconditioned stimulus (which unfailingly evokes a particular response) with another previously neutral stimulus (which does not normally evoke the response). Following conditioning, the response occurs both to the unconditioned stimulus and to the other, unrelated stimulus (now referred to as the "conditioned stimulus"). The response to the conditioned stimulus is termed a conditioned response.

Classical Conditioning is when a stimulus acquires the ability to cause a response that was previously caused by another stimulus. This learning process essentially allows us to predict what is going to happen. Ivan Pavlov is credited with discovering classical conditioning processes with his famous dogs. He repeatedly rang a bell, a "neutral" stimulus that did not cause a response, and then presented the dogs with meat powder, which caused the response of salivation without any learning. Eventually the dogs began to respond (salivate) at the sound of the bell. In other words, the dogs had learned to predict that the sound of the bell would be followed by presentation of the meat powder. Classical Conditioning Concepts It's helpful to think about classical conditioning concepts (stimuli and responses) before, during, and after learning. Before learning: Neutral Stimulus (NS): a stimulus that, before learning, does not cause the response (e.g., the bell in Pavlov's work). Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that DOES cause the response without any learning (e.g., the meat powder automatically caused the dogs to salivate). Unconditioned Response (UCR): a response to the unconditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation with meat powder in the mouth). During Learning: The NS and UCS are repeatedly paired. E.g., Pavlov repeatedly rings the bell then presents meat powder. After Learning: Conditioned Stimulus (CS): a previously neutral stimulus that NOW causes the response (e.g., the bell, which after learning caused Pavlov's dogs to salivate). Conditioned Response (CR): a response to the conditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation at the sound of the bell).

• Identify a stimulus à response relationship that occurs naturally (e.g. eye blink in response to a puff of air) • Identify a stimulus that does not elicit the response naturally (e.g. a tone) • Present the tone immediately prior to the puff of several times • When the tone elicits the blink without the puff, then Classical Conditioning has occurred • The puff of airà eye blink reflex did not have to be taught or conditioned • The puff of air then, is the Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) • The eye blink is the Unconditioned Reflex (UCR) • The UCSàUCR reflex requires NO LEARNING • The tone did not initially elicit an eye blink. – The tone àeye blink connection was neutral at the onset of the conditioning • Following the conditioning trials, the tone was conditioned to elicit the eye blink • The tone became the Conditioned Stimulus (CS) and the eye blink the Conditioned Response (CR). • CS (tone) à CR (eye blink). • Terminating the behavior—Extinction • When the Conditioned Stimulus is presented repeatedly without the Unconditioned Stimulus, the Conditioned Response ceases to occur. • Spontaneous Recovery: Spontaneous recovery is further evidence that extinction is not erasure or simply forgetting. Extinction is typically incomplete after one bout of CS presentation without the UCS following, even if after the first bout of extinction training the CR was apparently completely eliminated. It is common that if the CS is presented again during another training session, the organism will perform the CR although with less vigor and effort and it will soon extinguish again. Sometimes several bouts of extinction, CS-alone, training are required before spontaneous recovery completely ceases and extinction is complete. The reason is that each time the two associations, acquisition and extinction, compete and it may take several bouts of extinction training before the extinction learning can completely overwhelm the initial acquisition learning. Using our Pavlov's dog example, after the first day of extinction training, each successive day when the bell was presented alone there'd be some small amount salivation to the bell at the beginning of the session. It may take several days of presenting the bell alone before all salivating to the bell completely ceases. • Stimulus Generalization: the elicitation of the Conditioned Response by similar but different stimuli. In stimulus generalization, stimuli with similar sensory qualities to the CS may elicit the CR, essentially by mistake. In our Pavlovian example, let's say that a dog has learned that a bell predicts the presentation of food. But one day somebody walks by the dog and their keys are jingling and the metallic sound causes the dog to salivate. That would be an incidence of generalization. But let's say that that person with the jingling keys starts to walk by often. Eventually, the dog will learn to salivate only to the bell and not to the keys jingling. That would be stimulus discrimination. We can make the discrimination more difficult. Let's say the experimenter now introduces a second bell with a slightly different sound, maybe a little bit higher or lower in pitch than the original bell. The dog may have a more difficult time learning to tell the difference compared to keys jingling. But with further training over time, the generalization to the second bell (as

• Extinction: After acquisition, should the CS be presented repeatedly alone, without the UCS following, eventually the CR will cease to be elicited. This process is extinction. As an example, if the bell continued to ring for Pavlov's dog without food following, eventually the dog would stop salivating to the bell. This does not affect the UCS or the UCR. If food is presented by itself, the dog will still salivate to the food, just not to the bell. However, extinction is not the same as forgetting or erasing the prior CS-UCS association. What happens during Pavlovian extinction is that a new, yet opposite, predictive relationship is learned; that the CS now predicts the absence of the UCS. This new association now competes with the prior association. As evidence that the prior association is not forgotten or erased consider this: If the same extinguished CS once again is paired with the UCS, the association is re-learned even faster than it was initially, indicating that the prior learning provides an advantage on the second attempt at learning. So, continuing with our Pavlov's dog example, if the bell was again paired with the food, the bell would elicit salivation after fewer CS-UCS pairings than it did the first time.

Imprinting

Imprinting is the term used in psychology and ethology to describe any kind of phase-sensitive learning (learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage) that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behavior. It was first used to describe situations in which an animal or person learns the characteristics of some stimulus, which is therefore said to be "imprinted" onto the subject.

Observational learning

The most basic learning process is imitation; one's personal repetition of an observed process, such as a smile. Thus an imitation will take one's time (attention to the details), space (a location for learning), skills (or practice), and other resources (for example, a protected area). Through copying, most infants learn how to hunt (i.e., direct one's attention), feed and perform most basic tasks necessary for survival.

Play

Play generally describes behavior which has no particular end in itself, but improves performance in similar situations in the future. This is seen in a wide variety of vertebrates besides humans, but is mostly limited to mammals and birds. Cats are known to play with a ball of string when young, which gives them experience with catching prey. Besides inanimate objects, animals may play with other members of their own species or other animals, such as orcas playing with seals they have caught. Play involves a significant cost to animals, such as increased vulnerability to predators and the risk or injury and possibly infection. It also consumes energy, so there must be significant benefits associated with play for it to have evolved. Play is generally seen in younger animals, suggesting a link with learning. However, it may also have other benefits not associated directly with learning, for example improving physical fitness.

Multimedia learning

e-Learning and m-Learning

Electronic learning or e-learning is a general term used to refer to Internet-based networked computer-enhanced learning. A specific and always more diffused e-learning is mobile learning (m-Learning), it uses different mobile telecommunication equipments, such as cellular phones.

machine learning

Although learning is often thought of as a property associated with living things, computers are also able to modify their own behaviors as a result of experiences. Known as machine learning, this is a broad subfield of artificial intelligence concerned with the design and development of algorithms and techniques that allow computers to "learn". At a general level, there are two types of learning: inductive, and deductive. Inductive machine learning methods extract rules and patterns out of massive data sets.

The major focus of machine learning research is to extract information from data automatically, by computational and statistical methods. Hence, machine learning is closely related to data mining and statistics but also theoretical computer science.

Approaches to learning

Rote learning

Rote learning is a technique which avoids understanding the inner complexities and inferences of the subject that is being learned and instead focuses on memorizing the material so that it can be recalled by the learner exactly the way it was read or heard. The major practice involved in rote learning techniques is learning by repetition, based on the idea that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more it is repeated. Rote learning is used in diverse areas, from mathematics to music to religion. Although it has been criticized by some schools of thought, rote learning is a necessity in many situations.

Informal learning

Informal learning occurs through the experience of day-to-day situations (for example, one would learn to look ahead while walking because of the danger inherent in not paying attention to where one is going). It is learning from life, during a meal at table with parents, Play, exploring.

Formal learning

Formal learning is learning that takes place within a teacher-student relationship, such as in a school system.

Non-formal learning is organized learning outside the formal learning system. For example: learning by coming together with people with similar interests and exchanging viewpoints, in clubs or in (international) youth organizations, workshops.

Non-formal learning and combined approaches

The educational system may use a combination of formal, informal, and non-formal learning methods. The UN and EU recognize these different forms of learning (cf. links below). In some schools students can get points that count in the formal-learning systems if they get work done in informal-learning circuits. They may be given time to assist international youth workshops and training courses, on the condition they prepare, contribute, share and can proof this offered valuable new insights, helped to acquire new skills, a place to get experience in organizing, teaching, etc.

In order to learn a skill, such as solving a Rubik's cube quickly, several factors come into play at once:

Learning

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