Learning refers to concerted activity that increases the capacity and willingness of individuals, groups,

organizations and communities to acquire and productively apply new knowledge and skills, to grow and
mature and to adapt successfully to changes and challenges. Such learning empowers individuals and
organizations to make wise choices, solve problems and break new ground. In particular, it is sustainable,
it is a lifelong, renewable process for people and for the institutions that serves people. Learning certainly
includes academic studies and occupational training through high school and beyond. But it also
encompasses the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of children in the earliest years of
their lives.

It includes the capacity of organizations to anticipate and adapt to evolving values, technologies,
performance standards and constituent expectations. And it includes the capacity of geographic
communities and communities of common interest to respond with understanding and initiative to broad
changes that represent threats or opportunities.

Theories of learning

Classical Conditioning. One important type of learning, Classical Conditioning, was actually discovered
accidentally by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who discovered this
phenomenon while doing research on digestion. His research was aimed at better understanding the
digestive patterns in dogs.

During his experiments, he would put meat powder in the mouths of dogs who had tubes inserted into
various organs to measure bodily responses. What he discovered was that the dogs began to salivate
before the meat powder was presented to them. Then, the dogs began to salivate as soon as the person
feeding them would enter the room. He soon began to gain interest in this phenomenon and abandoned
his digestion research in favor of his now famous Classical Conditioning study.

Pavlov began pairing a bell sound with the meat powder and found that even when the meat powder was
not presented, the dog would eventually begin to salivate after hearing the bell. Since the meat powder
naturally results in salivation, these two variables are called the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the
unconditioned response (UCR), respectively. The bell and salivation are not naturally occurring; the dog
was conditioned to respond to the bell. Therefore, the bell is considered the conditioned stimulus (CS),
and the salivation to the bell, the conditioned response (CR).

Operant Conditioning. Another type of learning, very similar to that discussed above, is called Operant
Conditioning. The term "Operant" refers to how an organism operates on the environment, and hence,
operant conditioning comes from how we respond to what is presented to us in our environment. It can be
thought of as learning due to the natural consequences of our actions.

Reinforcement

The term reinforce means to strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to anything stimulus which
strengthens or increases the probability of a specific response. For example, if you want your dog to sit on
command, you may give him a treat every time he sits for you. The dog will eventually come to
understand that sitting when told to will result in a treat. This treat is reinforcing because he likes it and
will result in him sitting when instructed to do so.

This is a simple description of a reinforcer (Skinner, 1938), the treat, which increases the response,
sitting. We all apply reinforcers everyday, most of the time without even realizing we are doing it. You
may tell your child "good job" after he or she cleans their room; perhaps you tell your partner how good
he or she look when they dress up; or maybe you got a raise at work after doing a great job on a project.
All of these things increase the probability that the same response will be repeated.

There are four types of reinforcement: positive, negative, punishment, and extinction. We’ll discuss
each of these and give examples.

Positive Reinforcement. The examples above describe what is referred to as positive reinforcement.
Think of it as adding something in order to increase a response. For example, adding a treat will increase
the response of sitting; adding praise will increase the chances of your child cleaning his or her room. The
most common types of positive reinforcement or praise and rewards, and most of us have experienced this
as both the giver and receiver.

Negative Reinforcement. Think of negative reinforcement as taking something negative away in order to
increase a response. Imagine a teenager who is nagged by his mother to take out the garbage week after
week. After complaining to his friends about the nagging, he finally one day performs the task and to his
amazement, the nagging stops. The elimination of this negative stimulus is reinforcing and will likely
increase the chances that he will take out the garbage next week.
Punishment. Punishment refers to adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior. The most
common example of this is disciplining (e.g. spanking) a child for misbehaving. The reason we do this is
because the child begins to associate being punished with the negative behavior. The punishment is not
liked and therefore to avoid it, he or she will stop behaving in that manner.

Extinction. When you remove something in order to decrease a behavior, this is called extinction. You
are taking something away so that a response is decreased.

Research has found positive reinforcement is the most powerful of any of these. Adding a positive to
increase a response not only works better, but allows both parties to focus on the positive aspects of the
situation. Punishment, when applied immediately following the negative behavior can be effective, but
results in extinction when it is not applied consistently. Punishment can also invoke other negative
responses such as anger and resentment.

Types of learning

Learning occurs in four major ways--transmission, acquisition, accretion and emergence.

Transmission is the process by which information, knowledge, ideas and skills are taught to others
through purposeful, conscious telling, demonstration, and guidance. Over the course of a lifetime, this
method accounts for only about 10% of learning. Unfortunately, this is the most traditional and, currently,
the most predominate method of instruction. However, we are finding out it is not very effective and
moving toward acquisition and emergence, and examining the lessons of accretion.

Acquisition is the conscious choice to learn. Material in this category is relevant to the learner. This
method includes exploring, experimenting, self-instruction, inquiry, and general curiosity. Currently,
acquisition accounts for about 20% of what we learn.

Accretion is the gradual, often subconscious or subliminal, process by which we learn things like
language, culture, habits, prejudices, and social rules and behaviors. We are usually unaware that the
processes involved in accretion are taking place, but this method accounts for about 70% of what we
know. Social learning certainly plays into this type of learning, as does the hidden or covert curriculum.
Emergence is the result of patterning, structuring and the construction of new ideas and meanings that
did not exist before, but which emerge from the brain through thoughtful reflection, insight and creative
expression or group interactions. This form of learning accounts for the internal capacities of synthesis,
creativity, intuition, wisdom, and problem-solving. This method is greatly dependent on the allocation of
time, and opportunities to reflect and construct new knowledge. This method plays an important role in
inspiration and originality. In the context of current educational practices, we learn only 1-2% by this
method.

Principles of learning

Principles of learning, also referred to as laws of learning, which seem generally applicable to the
learning process. These principles have been discovered, tested, and used in practical situations. They
provide additional insight into what makes people learn most effectively.

Readiness

Readiness implies a degree of single-mindedness and eagerness. Individuals learn best when they are
physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to learn, and they do not learn well if they see no reason for
learning. Getting students ready to learn, creating interest by showing the value of the subject matter, and
providing continuous mental or physical challenge, is usually the instructor’s responsibility. If students
have a strong purpose, a clear objective, and a definite reason for learning something, they make more
progress than if they lack motivation.

Exercise

The principle of effect is based on the emotional reaction of the student. It has a direct relationship to
motivation. The principle of effect is that learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or
satisfying feeling, and that learning is weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling. The student
will strive to continue doing what provides a pleasant effect to continue learning. Positive reinforcement
is more apt to lead to success and motivate the learner, so the instructor should recognize and commend
improvement.

Primacy

Primacy, the state of being first, often creates a strong, almost unshakable, impression. Things learned
first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase. For the instructor, this means that
what is taught must be right the first time. For the student, it means that learning must be right.
“Unteaching” wrong first impressions is harder than teaching them right the first time. If, for example, a
student learns a faulty technique, the instructor will have a difficult task correcting bad habits and
“reteaching” correct ones.

Recency

The principle of recency states that things most recently learned are best remembered. Conversely, the
further a student is removed time-wise from a new fact or understanding, the more difficult it is to
remember. For example, it is fairly easy to recall a telephone number dialed a few minutes ago, but it is
usually impossible to recall a new number dialed last week. The closer the training or learning time is to
the time of actual need to apply the training, the more apt the learner will be to perform successfully.

Intensity

The more intense the material taught, the more likely it will be retained. A sharp, clear, vivid, dramatic, or
exciting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring experience. The principle of intensity
implies that a student will learn more from the real thing than from a substitute. For example, a student
can get more understanding and appreciation of a movie by watching it than by reading the script.
Likewise, a student is likely to gain greater understanding of tasks by performing them rather than merely
reading about them.