Learning can be well-defined as the process of attaining knowledge or ability by working, experiencing something,, or gaining new information. In psychology, learning is defined as a rather lifelong alteration in conduct as a consequence of experience. Learning is a significant concept in many ranges of psychology e.g. cognitive, educational, societal, and developmental psychology.
Role of Behavior in Learning
Behavior governs the learning that best suits a person. For example, visual learners learn by seeing, tactile learners, on the other hand, must do the activity to comprehend while some may only learn through aural participation. Learning is a somewhat perpetual change in behavior or knowledge. It is important to note that maturing and changes in behavior due to short-term physiological correlations cannot be described as learning. Learning affects behavior but vice versa is not necessarily true. Human beings are born dynamic and receptive to the surroundings they regularly move around while reacting to stimuli. They are likely to learn something but not behave in accordance with the new knowledge until much later. It is called latent learning (Glaser, 1991). The behavior of the learner offers the only sign of learning. Changes in learning and behavior are deeply linked to experiences which are the outcomes of environment stimulus. Varieties of renowned environmental stimulations are very few. They mostly tell us about the skills that people have that establish the platform for learning.
Human behavior is gained through learning, therefore, all behaviors can be untaught, and freshly acquired behaviors may replace the old ones. Behavior is concerned mainly with the visible and quantifiable features of people. For that reason when behaviors become intolerable, they can be untrained. Behavior observes expansion as a constant progression where kids participate in a moderately passive way. Behaviorists contemplate that the only real things are those that can be seen and observed. From deeds, we may be able to make interpretations about brain functioning, but it is not the chief center of the examination. The objective of the study is what people do, not what they think or feel. Behaviorists resolve that the behavior signifies certain learned practices, and they try to define how they are learned.
The Two Types of Learning
Classical conditioning is revealed when an impartial stimulus obtains the provoking properties of the unconditioned stimulus. It happens through combining the unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus. Behavior is controlled by the association. It is based on what transpires before we respond. For example, if you sing a lullaby to a baby just before you put him/her to sleep, after some time, just singing the lullaby will make the baby sleepy. Previous experiences are overextended to the present as a learning process and conditional learning indirectly occurs. In other words, all attitudes are learned since no one is born prejudiced. In this conditioning, the learning is reliant on what occurs before the act and the act is linked to the experiences (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009).
Operant conditioning comes by when the strengthening consequences, which are directly subsequent to the response, increase their prospect possibility. Consequently, aversive responses that immediately succeed the reaction reduce their future chances. Learning in this conditioning is instituted on the consequences of answering back. The repetition of a particular action depends on whether we get support, penalty, or nothing as the consequences. Operant conditioning can be used to alter behavior because it operates on the surrounding. An example is if a person draws a piece of art and gets many compliments or reinforced on the same, chances are that he will be motivated to draw more pieces. Consequently, if a person discourages his work, it may be possible that that will be the last piece of art he draws in his entire life (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009).
Relationship between Learning and Cognition
Cognition comprises the stages of attaining information. It includes remembering and problem-solving. Whereas learning can be enhanced, cognition is established and practiced only while one is young. Cognition is connected to thinking, knowing, and insights. (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009) Learning concepts are founded on cognitive relations between stimuli and reactions. These relations are established on the idea that cognitive processes create anticipation of specific results, and the practice changes or causes behavior.
For example, a kind does not have the cognitive experience to pinpoint something after seeing it for the first time. Once somebody pinpoints the flower, he/she has the cognitive familiarity of a flower. With time, when the child sees other flowers, the cognitive experience is trained and strengthened. He/she now gains the capability of recognizing many types of flowers. A child will distinguish a dandelion, for example, from chamomile until he or she has adequate knowledge of other animals. Learning through associations and consequences shows ways in which cognitive associations help learning. (Relationship between Learning and Cognition, n.d.).
References
Glaser, R. (1991). He maturing of the relationship between the science of learning and cognition and educational practice. Learning and Instruction, 1(2), 129-144. doi: 10.1016/0959- 4752(91)90023-2.
Olson, M., & Hergenhahn, B. (2009). An introduction to theories of learning (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Relationship between Learning and Cognition. (n.d.). Web.