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Learning

What is learning?
Learning is acquiring knowledge or skills trough experience or by being taught. Often learning is an active process. As a result we learn by connecting what we do to what happens to us. Psychologists call this Operant Conditioning; a form of learning in which the consequences of a voluntary behavior affect the likelihood that the behavior will reoccur.

OPERANT CONDITIONING
-Skinner is regarded as the father of operant conditioning
-His work was based on Thorndike's (1995) Law of Effect
-Skinner introduced the term reinforcement
         behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated
         behavior which is not reinforced tends to die our or be extinguished
-He conducted his experiment in the skinner box 
          a box in which rats or other mammals could be placed for observation and testing
          recorded the animals lever pressing abilities automatically
          had a light that indicated a reward was earned if the animal performed a certain task correctly
-Skinner identified three types of responses
          1. Neutral Operants: responses from the environment that neither decrease nor increase the probability of the behavior being repeated
          2. Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated (can be either positive or negative)
          3. Punishers: responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated (can be either positive or negative) 


In this chapter, I learned the different ways that the brain is able to learn different things through different aspects. So many psychologists have studied the ways that people learn. Although there will never be one definite answer, since everyone's brains work differently, it is interesting to see the varying viewpoints.

REAL WORLD EXAMPLE:
Class lectures are one of the mandatory class activities held in most schools. Consider a scenario where a student gives a presentation.
-if the student is applauded or complimented he is more likely to be encouraged to do similar projects in the future
-if the student is laughed at he/she will not want to get back up in front of the class
-being cheered is a positive reinforcement while being booed is a negative reinforcement


SOURCES:

 “Operant Conditioning Examples.” Psychestudy, 17 Nov. 2017, www.psychestudy.com/behavioral/learning-memory/operant-conditioning/examples.

Comments

  1. Hey Kourtney! This post was awesome! It was very informative! I like how you went more into depth in your talking about learning. I never really knew all this about learning. You could use some pictures in your blog. It would make it more eye-catching. Good job! I am excited to see what you write about in the future.

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