Learning is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught.” We all learn things during our lives, and perhaps some of us pick up on things at a different pace than our peers. That’s why psychologists have been trying to deconstruct the process of learning over several decades; to understand how people learn and how that can be applied in the classroom, the workplace, or in everyday life. Therefore, this blog will discuss some famous theories that were proposed to try and determine how we learn.
Classical Conditioning
One of the most famous theories and experiments in psychology is the theory of classical conditioning proposed by Ivan Pavlov. You may even recognize that name! Pavlov’s experiment was simple. Everytime he fed his dogs, he would ring a bell and they would salivate when they received their food. Eventually, Pavlov would ring the bell, sometimes even without the food, and the dogs would start salivating; Pavlov had successfully conditioned his dogs into associating the sound of the bell with receiving food. Classical conditioning can be applied to force ourselves into learning or into developing habits. Don’t believe me? What do you think will happen if you hear someone’s phone go off with the same ringtone as yours? Most people will instinctively reach for their phones to see if they’re receiving a call. Whether we know it or not, we’ve experienced conditioning our whole life.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is a form of learning commonly associated with psychologist B.F. Skinner, who proposed that behaviours followed by positive reinforcement is more likely to be repeated. Skinner also proposed the opposite; behaviour followed by a negative response is less likely to be repeated. For example, if you’ve ever trained a pet, one of the most common ways to get them to sit, stay, or do tricks on command is through operant conditioning, where you reward the actions you want to see. Likewise, when you see an action you don’t like, such as from a pet, you might reprimand them, making it less likely for them to repeat that action.
Social Learning
The social learning theory is one commonly associated with the psychologist Albert Bandura, who conducted an experiment where children would mimic the behaviour of adults. For example, the children saw an adult hit a doll, then the children also hit the doll. However, when the adult played with the doll in a non-aggressive manner, the children would also do so. This is the theory of social learning, also known as observational learning, where people will imitate the behaviours of others without external reinforcement. Social learning theory is divided into four elements: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Attention refers to how people need to be focused to learn. Retention means being able to internalize and recall the information you learned. Reproduction is the process of reproducing the behaviour or knowledge previously learned. Lastly, motivation can be associated with operant conditioning, where we are motivated to reproduce our learning by seeing others rewarded or punished for their actions.
Application in Learning and Habit Formation
Though it can be difficult, it’s possible to classically condition yourself! Forcing a habit can be a difficult task, but I’ve seen some methods such as associating a piece of clothing or a room with concentration,meditation or studying. By always having a specific piece of clothing when you perform those tasks, you can condition your brain into associating it with that task, so putting on that piece of clothing can kickstart your brain into studying mode.
Operant conditioning is all about rewards and punishment and is one of the easiest ways to develop new habits in yourself. Actions such as cleaning or organizing are a form of operant conditioning known as negative reinforcement. It’s a little confusing but just look at negative reinforcement as the removal of a negative stimulus.
Social learning may be a bit difficult to apply to your own learning, but one way of doing so is through tutoring. By teaching others, you make sure that you know the material yourself. Since everyone thinks differently, by teaching someone else, you force your brain to think about the subject in different ways and angles. This will help your student but also helps you as the tutor as you look at the concepts you teach in new ways.
Application in Teaching
Classical conditioning tends to work very well with young students. Actions such as clapping to get the class to be quiet, turning the lights off for a specific response, or counting down to get the class to clean up. This form of conditioning is also something educators need to be careful of. A teacher’s tone is very important, as a bright, happy tone with lots of praise will help a student associate that class with positive feelings. Conditioning is also a possible reason for why many people are scared of tests and exams; we’ve associated these types of tests with negative feelings, so teachers need to be able to assign projects, tests, assignments, etc. while limiting the stress and anxiety students feel from them.
With operant conditioning, teachers can reinforce positive behaviour (or punish negative behaviour, though you should be careful with this). This is done most commonly and easily through praise; don’t be shy to get creative and find other ways to motivate your students!
Closing Statements
To close, remember that everyone learns differently! What might work for others may not necessarily work for you. Experiment with these techniques and do your own reading and research on these topics! Psychology is a very interesting field and there are so many other theories on learning that I couldn’t even fit them into this article, so if you’re interested, you can conduct your own research! There are plenty of resources on educational psychology and the psychology of learning.
Edited by Ally Chan.
Devin is a grade 12 student from Milliken Mills High School in Ontario. He loves being able to help others and make them laugh! Devin hopes that this blog was able to help you!
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