NATURE OF LEARNING

 

Learning occupies a very important place in our life. Most of what we do or do not is influenced by what we learn and how we learn. Learning, therefore, provides a key to the structure of our personality and behavior. An individual starts learning immediately after his birth or in a strict sense even earlier in the womb of the mother.

 

Experience direct or indirect is found to play a dominant role in moulding and shaping the behavior of the individual from the very beginning. When he touches a burning matchstick the child gets burnt, and next time, when he comes across the burning matchstick, he loses no time in withdrawing from it. He learns to avoid not only the burning matchstick but also all burning things. When this happens we say that the child has learned that if one touches a flame, one gets burnt. 

However, this term has not always been interpreted in the Same way by the numerous thinkers and psychologists as may be seen from the following definitions:

Gardner Murphy (1986) :

    The term learning covers every modification in behavior to meet environmental requirements.

Henry P. Smith (1962):

       Learning is the aquisition of new behavior or the strengthening or weakening of old behavior as the result of experience.

Woodworth (1945):

       Any activity can be called learning so far as it develops the individual (in any respect, good or bad) and makes him alter behay and experiences different from what they would otherwise have been.

     Kingsley and T. Garry (1967):

       Learning is the process by which behavior (in broader sense) is originated or changes through practice or training.

Pressey, Robinson and Horrocks (1967):

     Learning is an episode in which a motivated individual attempts to adapt his behavior so as to succeed in a situation which he perceives as requiring action to attain a goal.

Crow and Crow (1973):

      Learning is the acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitudes. Involves new ways of doing things, and it operates in an individual's attempt to overcome obstacles or to adjust to new situations. It represents progressive changes in behavior... It enable him to satisfy interest to attain goals. 

Hillgard (1958):

    Learning is the process by which an activity originates or is changed through reaching to an encountered situation, provided that the character of the changes in activity cannot be explained on the basis of native response, tendencies, maturation, or temporary states of the organism ( e.g fatigue or drugs, etc).

Kimble (1958):

      Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavioral potentiality that occurs as a result of reinforced practice.

The above definitions reveal the following facts:

1. Learning is a process and not a product.

2. Learning involves all those experiences and training of an individual (right from birth) which help him to produce changes in his behavior. 

3. Learning leads to changes in behavior but this does not necessarily mean that these changes always bring about improvement or positive development. One has an equal chance to drift to the negative side of human personality. 

4. Instead of change in existing behavior or acquisition of new behavior, learning may also result in discontinuance or abandonment of existing behavior. Though it is referred to as unlearning, actually unlearning is also a learning process.

5. Learning prepares an individual for any adjustments and adaptation that may be necessary.