Learning: Understanding Acquired Behavior 73
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to
- describe the principal aspects of the learning process;
- identify basic concepts in classical conditioning;
- explain the process of operant conditioning;
- give an example of the important role that consciousness plays in learning;
- specify the most important aspects of the memory process.
Think of ways to use the word learnedin a sentence, using yourself as a subject
of the sentence. Here are some examples collected from psychology students:
“I learned to drive a car.”
“I learned quite a bit of Italian when I was stationed in Italy for two years.”
“Little by little I have learned to hate my business partner.”
“I learned a lot on the streets where I grew up.”
“I learned to be a more loving, understanding person after I got married.”
“I learned good table manners when I was a child.”
“I learned to smoke by hanging out with friends who smoked.”
The above examples of the ways students think about the learning process
reveal that learning takes place under many conditions and in many situations.
Although learning takes place in school, it is clear that much—perhaps most—
learning goes on outside of the classroom. Indeed, the learning process affects
almost everything we do.
Learningis a more or less permanent change in behavior, or a behavioral ten-
dency, as a result of experience. There are several points to be made about this def-
inition. First, learning is “more or less” permanent. This suggests that although
learning tends to resist change once it is acquired, it sometimes does change.
Learning can be forgotten. Learning is sometimes subject to a process known as
extinction(to be explained later). Also, what has been learned can sometimes be
shaped or modified. So learning is far from permanent.
Second, the term behavioral tendencyindicates that learning is sometimes
dormant, that it does not reflect itself in immediate action. This phenomenon is
called latent learningand it too will be discussed later.
Third, note the focus on the word experiencein the definition. In order to
learn it is necessary to receive information. This is done through our sense organs.
Imagine an infant born without vision or hearing. It would be terribly difficult for
