The learning is the acquisition of new behaviors of a living being from previous experiences, in order to achieve a better adaptation to the physical and social environment in which it operates. Some see it as a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of practice. What is learned is kept by the body more or less permanently and is available to take action when the occasion requires it.
What is learning
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It is a process through which human beings obtain certain abilities by assimilating information. Training can be achieved as a result of studies, experience, observation or reasoning. The term learning comes from the Latin “apprehendivus” which means “Apprentice” and “apprĕhendĕre” which means “Learn”.
Although the external influence is powerful and essential, no less important are the capacities of the individual himself, who is ultimately the learner.
Since ancient times the study of learning has been approached by different disciplines and by people who perform the most diverse functions in society.
Philosophers, physiologists, biochemists, and biophysicists have formulated conceptions of learning and conducted studies within their particular orientations and interests. Parents, teachers, company managers, therapists, facilitators, and other people who work on psychosocial problems, find themselves in the need to understand the nature and fundamental processes of learning. However, its scientific study; In other words, knowing how this phenomenon occurs constitutes a special and important responsibility of those who are systematically engaged in psychological research on learning and in applying the findings of such research to educational and other problems.
According to authors
- Gagné (1965) defines learning as “a change in the disposition or capacity of people that can be retained and is not simply attributable to the growth process”.
- Pérez Gómez (1988) defines it as “the subjective processes of capture, incorporation, retention and use of the information that the individual receives in his continuous exchange with the environment”.
Psychological theories of learning
The Psychology of learning is currently the field of psychology that has as many data and applications in many places and for many purposes. Many psychologists have developed various theories sufficiently supported by experimentation. The empiricist-associationist oriented theories reflect that all learning starts from experience and is carried out through a process of association (sensations, stimulus-response connections, etc.). The types of learning listed are selection-connection learning (Thorndike), classical conditioning learning (Pavlov), and operant or instrumental conditioning learning (Skinner and Thorndike).
Behavioral techniques
These techniques are based on allowing or facilitating learning through stimuli, in this way, the student or person who is acquiring knowledge can give positive responses and acquire a behavior in which their training is easy and has a higher rate of analysis, understanding and acquisition of knowledge. These techniques are based on behavioral theories.
- Classical conditioning: it is an imperative association between the incentives received and the behaviors of people who are in favor of learning (in all its types and styles).
- Operant conditioning: is a form of teaching by which a person is more likely to repeat and assimilate the forms of behavior that, in the end, lead to positive consequences. It is a type of associative learning and has to do with the development of new behaviors that are related to positive consequences, not with the association between stimuli and behaviors as happens in classical conditioning.
- Reinforcement: it is nothing more than a technique in which the application of a stimulus called a reinforcer allows the probability that a behavior will be repeated in the future. Like aversive stimuli, the reinforcer is defined according to its effect on behavior.
- Social learning: explains that learning is a cognitive process that is born within a social plane and occurs only through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of direct actions or reinforcement. It could be said that study environments are needed for this theory to make sense.
Cognitive theories
They are based on explaining why the brain is considered the most incredible network for processing and interpreting information in the body. This is impressive, because it happens to the same extent in which we learn things (general and specific). Many scholars say this is part of key learnings of the human brain (although it also applies to mammals)
- Discovery learning: it is one that encourages people to acquire knowledge on their own, thus, the content learned is not presented in a final way, but is broken down little by little according to the interest of the person until, finally, all knowledge is transformed into an expected training.
- Cognitivism: this is one of the methods that focuses on the structures of knowledge, in this way, it manages to explain the thought processes that intensify the stimulus / response relationship of the person who is acquiring knowledge.
- Constructivism: It is not more than one of the learning strategies that is based on the need to provide the student with the necessary tools that facilitate the construction of their own mechanisms to solve a problem, this means that their ideas are modified from time to time and that their training rises little by little.
Information processing theories
Compare the human mind with a kind of computer, in this way, it manages to create models that can explain the true behavior and functioning of the cognitive processes that a person has, thus determining human behavior.
Learning styles
The strategies can vary according to the objectives of the people, the same happens with the styles that can be used to expand human knowledge. You can have collaborative learning, where you can also create learning communities to have greater motivation when it comes to learning, or simply opt for kinesthetic learning. Either way, the learning methods are just a special source that helps the student stay focused on the information they are getting. In this section, the most used and functional learning styles will be explained.
Self learning
It is a process where the individual acquires knowledge, attitudes and values on their own, it can be given through studies or experience. A person who focuses on self-learning seeks information and practice on his own to the point of being an expert on the subject.
It is important to note that not only human beings have the ability to learn in this way, as mammals also have this incredible ability, so they learn abilities and skills in the same way as humans. The subject who seeks a way to acquire knowledge by being self-taught has 3 characteristic elements. The first has to do with responsibility.
To be a self-taught person, you need:
- Being responsible with the learning methods, you must work on the opportunities that are presented to you to grow educationally, organize your priorities and objectives and have the conviction to learn at all times.
- The second element has to do with lifelong learning, which arises in the day-to-day life of the human being.
- Finally, independent study, which refers, as its name indicates, to the level of importance given to learning, either daily, interday, weekly or monthly.
A clear example to use self-learning is to read the topic that most attracts the person's attention daily and question the most important aspects of it. In addition, talking about the topic with other people who have some knowledge of it will increase learning.
Strategic learning
Strategic learning includes each and every one of the steps that the student projects to learn in a meaningful way according to their cognitive style. Within the learning strategies, the student chooses the ideal method to achieve the desired objective, so that he / she can become skilled in its management and acquiring freedom to address the different topics that it is intended to know. An example of this type of learning lies in the deep description of the topic, breaking down all its aspects as if it were a puzzle and then putting each piece together.
Machine learning
It is nothing more than what is learned repeatedly to the point of being memorized by the individual, these are learnings that are not rooted in the cognitive structure of the person, so it is possible to quickly forget them when they stop doing the activity.
A simple way to apply this method is to make a mental or conceptual map with the information that was previously had on the subject in question and that which is being obtained recently. It is also practical, with mental maps you can associate a word with a drawing and thus the memory capacity increases.
Significant learning
It is a type of learning by means of which a person associates the information that is being acquired with the one that they already have. In this way, it readjusts and reconstructs both information. Here you can do exactly the same as in the previous item, a mind or concept map to further accentuate the information.
Critical learning
Critical learning is seen as a series of optional pedagogical practices, which propose a teaching that gives students the possibility to question and challenge “domination” and the practices that promote it. This is why the characters of power that act in societies are valued by the judgments that arise from this form of teaching.
Critical learning seeks to educate the student, showing them the positive aspects, leaving aside the harmful things they receive through the information provided by the media, not to be seduced by ideologies full of falsehood and not to be victims of Unscrupulous cheaters. That is why the teacher must promote in his class the formulation of questions by his students, value their opinions, promote debate, draw conclusions, respect the opinion of minorities, etc.
This method tends to be more complex, it requires historical, philosophical and even scientific comparisons. Reading is not enough, it takes concentration and focus. An example of this are theses or degree projects at universities.
To learn
The word Learn comes from the Latin “apprehendere”, this word was related to the action of chasing and catching something; and indeed the fact of learning is to acquire diverse knowledge. This action is given through the learning process, said knowledge is obtained through the study or experience of different lived situations. The behavior of the human being is acquired through learning as well as their values, skills and abilities since these are habits obtained through the education and evolution of each person.
Being able to always learn new things is one of the most important functions of our brain, since new information can be fixed in it constantly, which will remain in memory and thus we can always remember what we have learned. While they teach us about any topic, we adopt the attitude of imitating or repeating in order to learn.
The action of learning is accompanied by three different situations in order to achieve its goal, which are:
- Observe, all the actions and events that we can perceive through observation are material for learning.
- Study, either by your own means or through teaching.
- Practice, it could be said that it is the most important aspect of this process since executing the observed and studied actions lead us to obtain greater dexterity of what we want to learn and thus apply it in daily life).
Individually, each subject has their way or way of learning each thing, for some it is easier or more difficult than for others, it all depends on the disposition and experience of each person, the truth is that all those knowledge acquired in our past and present will be the foundation of our future actions.
Learning difficulties
Although there are different learning environments to promote the increase of knowledge in people, there are also some provisions or situations that make it difficult to acquire or retain information. This is defined as learning difficulties. These can vary between a set of alterations in the capacities of reasoning, calculation, reading and writing, in itself, it is a whole cognitive level. These disorders are caused by a dysfunction of the nervous system and can extend throughout the life process.
Learning difficulties tend to manifest simultaneously in behavioral problems of self-regulation and social interaction and through sensory deficits, mild or severe emotional disorders, mental retardation, external influences, for example, poor instructions or cultural changes that generate a rejection of learning. Perhaps that is why the discrepancy between the real performance when learning and the expected result according to the age of the person can be understood, this means that special attention is required to compensate for the difficulties presented by the subject.
Among the learning problems or difficulties are:
1. Dyslexia, which makes reading difficult and is caused by a brain dysfunction that causes the organ to confuse, reverse or modify letters or numbers. Dyslexic people tend to be slow and do not fully understand spoken language.
2. Dysgraphia, a problem that makes writing difficult in a certain group of people and originates from dyslexia or a disorder that prevents motor actions.
3. Dyscalculia, a disorder that makes it difficult to understand mathematical equations or operations, including even theory. The brain does not retain and does not understand anything that has to do with numbers and that makes people with this disorder know absolutely nothing about mathematics.
4. Loss of memory and hearing difficulties, which may be caused by natural diseases such as Alzheimer's and deafness, or that have been caused by accidents.
5. Autism, a disorder whose symptoms can range from a common attention deficit or hypersensitivity to suffering from Asperger's and being very withdrawn subjects. In the case of Asperger's, children are usually verbally precocious, but inexperienced in other aspects, for example, in learning a subject.
6. The disorder or attention deficit and hyperactivity, better known as ADHD, is a neurobiological disorder that originates in childhood and involves a pattern of attention deficit, hyperactivity and / or impulsivity. In addition, it tends to be associated with other disorders such as those mentioned above.
