Many people often why an individual displays a certain type of
behavior whether it be positive or negative, the question always arises is to
where did they get that from. The
process is known as learning and it is something that is done every single
moment consciously or unconsciously and is very important during early
childhood developmental stages. In this
essay learning will be defined as well as the role behavior play in
learning. This essay will also discuss
two different types of learning and the relationship between learning and
cognition.
Learning is defined as “a process that results in a change in
behavior, an improvement in performance, in the acquisition of knowledge, in
disposition to act in particular ways” ("Learning," 2008). Once an individual learns something a change
in behavior may occur because they will have the ability to do something that
they have never done prior to the learning experience. The change in behavior can sometimes be
obvious meaning that other people will notice it right away like when a child
first learns to walk or it can be concealed and the individual retains the
information internally without other people noticing the change. Sometimes when an individual learns something
the change in behavior might not happen right away, it may take time but it is
most likely that a permanent change in behavior will take place to a certain
degree once the learning experience is retained in memory and the information
is rehearsed.
There are two types of behavior, observable and unobservable. Observable behavior is any type of behavior
that can be evaluated by another person, like eating, walking and running and
reading out loud. “Examples of
unobservable behaviors are thinking, imagining, learning, reading silently, and
analyzing” (Harrison & Harrison, 2005).
Behavior plays an important role in learning because it is through
behavior that it can be determined if and what a person has actually
learned. Behavior can also be the
determining factor to whether or not a person fully understands what they
learned based on their performance.
Classical conditioning was first presented by Ivan Pavlov, where
he conducted an experiment with a dog using a bell as the stimulus; he would
ring the bell before giving the dog some food.
After repeatedly doing this the dog began to associate eating with the
ringing of the bell (Anderman & Anderman, 2009). Classical conditioning consists of learning a
new behavior through association. Potty
training is an example of learning through classical conditioning, once the
potty is presented to a young child and the caregiver brings the child to the
potty soon after each meal and have them sit on the potty until they use the
bathroom, the young child will soon began to develop an association between the
potty and going to the bathroom and eventually start going to the potty on
their own. B.F. Skinner developed the term operant conditioning through an
experiment with rats and pigeons where learning something was learned as a
“result of behavioral consequences” (Davis & Buskist, 2008). When a child misbehaves and the caregiver
punishes them by taking away their privileges is an example of operant
conditioning, however when doing this the caregiver needs to explain to the
child what they did that resulted in this punishment so it can be understood
that the behavior is unacceptable.
Observational learning is when an individual’s behavior change
after they have witnessed someone else doing something that may have resulted
in them receiving some type of reward or consequence. Observational learning “occurs through the
cognitive processing of information displayed by models. The information can be conveyed verbally,
textually, auditorially, and through actions either by live or symbolic models
such as television, movies, and the internet” (Bussey, 2002). In order for an individual to learn from
observation they have to fully understand the behavior they witnessed whether
good or bad. Observational learning is
sort of like people watching and that is something that is done all the time
and it is up do the individual doing the observing to decide whether or not
they will mimic the behavior witnessed. Cooking is an good example of
observational learning because I learned how to cook by paying close attention
to my mother and grandmother while they were preparing the food and now my
daughter is doing the same thing so she is learning how to cook by watching
everyone.
Cognition involves the processes in the mental functions, such as
the ability to see, pay attention, remember and solve problems. Learning is the process that involves
retaining information while cognition represents the necessary steps that is
taken to retain that information. You
cannot have learning without cognitive abilities or vice versa. Learning begins in early childhood
developmental stages once a child experiences a number of cognitive processes
and continues throughout life. A child
learning to read is an example of the relationship between learning and
cognition. Cognitive abilities such as
language and memory are the processes in which a child develops the skills for
reading. Language has four levels of
structure and processing and once a child has stored them in their memory it
becomes a part of their learning experience.
In conclusion, learning results in a change in behavior which can
be identified through performance. Classical conditioning, operant condition
and observational learning are types of learning that determine the cognitive
processes that support the ability to learn.
The relationship between learning and cognition is such that you cannot
have learning without cognitive abilities, and cognition is a part of the
learning process.
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