Learning Process Flashcards
What are the definitions of learning?
- A change in the behavior of a learner as a result of experience.
- Gaining knowledge or skills, or developing a behavior, through study, instruction or experience.
- A relatively permanent change in cognition, resulting from experience and directly influencing behavior.
What is the learning theory?
A body of principles advocated by psychologists to explain how people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes.
What are two theories of learning?
- Behaviorism
2. Cognitive Theory
What is behaviorism?
Explains human behavior entirely in terms of observable and measurable responses to stimuli. Human behavior is conditioned more or less by events in the environment. Stresses the importance of having a particular form of behavior positively reinforced by someone other than the learner, who shapes or controls what is learned rather than no reinforcement or punishment.
What is the cognitive theory?
Focuses on what is going on inside the mind. More concerned with cognition than with stimulus and response. Learning is not just a change in behavior; it is a change in the way a learner thinks, understands, or feels.
What are two sub theories of the cognitive theory?
- Information Processing Model
2. Constructivism
What is the information processing model?
Uses a computer system as a model for human learning. The human brain processes incoming information, stores and retrieves it, and generates responses to the information. There are limitations. The amount of sensory input the brain receives per second ranges from thousands of millions of bits of information. One way the brain deals with all this info is to let many of the habitual and routine things go unnoticed.
What is constructivism?
This theory holds that learners do not acquire knowledge and skills passively but actively build or construct them based on their experiences. Humans construct a unique mental image by combining preexisting information with the information received from the sense organs. Learning is the result of the learner matching new information against this preexisting information and integrating it into meaningful connections.
What are perceptions?
You receive input by one or more of the five senses, then you give meaning to those inputs, which result in a perception. All learning comes from perceptions.
Name of the factors that affect perceptions.
- Goals & Values
- Self-Confidence
- Time & Opportunity
- Element of Threat
- Physical Organism
How do goals & values affect perceptions?
Every experience and sensation are given meaning based on the individual’s beliefs and value structure. An example is when you are at a game and there is a foul, you may perceive the foul differently than others based on which team you support.
How does self-confidence affect perceptions?
If a student’s experience is supported by a positive self-image, the student tends to remain receptive to the experience. A negative self-concept inhibits the perceptual process by introducing psychological barriers which tend to keep the student from perceiving.
How does time & opportunity affect perceptions?
It takes time and opportunity to perceive. Learning new things depends on other perceptions, which have preceding these learnings, and on the availability of time to sense and relate these new things to the earlier perceptions. An example is a student learning stalls. In order to learn the stalls, the student first needs to understand how to fly the aircraft in straight & level flight and know the basics. This requires time and opportunity. A properly planned training syllabus can help with both training time and effectiveness.
How does an element of threat affect perceptions made?
If the student feels threatened, effective learning will not take place. Fear narrows the perceptual field. Student limits their attention to the threatening object or condition. A good instructor makes sure that the student does not feel threatened.
How does physical organism affect perceptions?
For perceptions to be created, one needs to be able to take in information through the senses. If one of the senses is blocked (ex. blind), the perception changes greatly.
What are insights?
Insights involves the grouping of perceptions into meaningful wholes. To promote insights, the instructor must make sure the student is receptive to new experiences and help the student understand how each piece relates to other pieces.
What is knowledge?
Knowledge refers to information that humans are aware of and can articulate.
Name off the three steps to acquiring knowledge.
- Memorization
- Understanding
- Concept Learning
Explain memorization when acquiring knowledge.
Memorizing facts.
Explain understanding when acquiring knowledge.
The ability to notice similarities and make associations between facts and procedural steps learned. The learner begins to organize known facts and steps into groups that come together to form an understanding of how a thing or a process works.
