Basic Learning
Processes
Robert C. Kennedy
Learning to change
Behavior: Anything an organism does that
can be measured. This definition does not
exclude thinking and feeling, but in
practice the term usually refers to publicly
observable behavior.
General behavior trait: Any general
behavioral tendency that is strongly
influenced by genes. Examples include
introversion and general anxiety. GBTs are
more variable than FAPs and are not
dependent on a releasing stimulus.
Habituation: A decrease in the intensity
or probability of a reflex response
resulting from repeated exposure to a
stimulus that elicits that response.
Hybridization: The cross-breeding of
closely related species. This is a way in
which species can adapt to changes in
their environments.
Learning: A change in behavior due to
experience.
• Some suggest it is a “relatively enduring
change” in behavior, though there is
continued debate on this issue
• Others suggest learning is due to “certain
kinds of experience.”
• Still others suggest it is change in the
potential for behavior
Modal action pattern: Any largely
inherited series of interrelated acts,
usually elicited by a particular stimulus
(the releaser); formerly called instinct.
Mutation: Any change in a gene. When
the mutation occurs in a reproductive
cell, the mutation may be passed on to
offspring. The term mutation may seem to
have a negative connotation (film
monsters are sometimes mutants), but
from the standpoint of science mutation
is a neutral term.
Natural selection: The tendency for
characteristics that contribute to the survival
of a species to persist, and for those that do
not to disappear.
Reflex: A relationship between a specific
event and a simple response to that event. It
may be worth emphasizing that the term
reflex refers to the relationship, not to the
response, per se. The patellar reflex is not the
knee jerk itself, but the relation between the
blow to the patellar tendon and the
movement of the foot.
Releaser: Any event that reliably elicits a
fixed action pattern. The light from
which the cockroach runs is a releaser.
Stimulus: Any environmental event that
affects, or is capable of affecting,
behavior. One could argue that an
event is not truly a stimulus until it affects
behavior.
Constancy of Change
LEARNING STYLES
What are learning styles?
• Information enters your brain
through three methods: sight,
hearing, and touch. The one
which you use the most is
called your learning style.
• Visual Learners learn by sight
• Auditory Learners learn by
hearing
• Tactile Learners (kinesthetic)
learn by touch
Visual Learners
• Prefer to see information such as pictures,
diagrams, cartoons, or demonstrations
• Picture words and concepts that they hear
as images
• Might get easily distracted during a lecture
with no visual aids
• Could become overwhelmed with intense
visuals accompanied by lecture
• Benefit from using charts, maps, notes, and
flash cards when studying
Auditory
Learners
• Prefer to hear information spoken
• Can absorb a lecture with little effort
• May not need detailed notes to learn
• Often avoid eye contact in order to
concentrate
• May read aloud to themselves
• Like background music when they study
Tactile or Kinesthetic Learners
• Prefer touch as their primary mode for taking
in information
• In traditional lecture situations, they should
write out important facts
• Create study sheets connected to vivid
examples
• Role-playing might help them learn and
remember important ideas