Nostalgia Part 2: How We Learn

Ever sat down in class and wondered WHY THE HELL AM I HERE!??! or maybe you fly off into you own world as soon as the lecturer starts talking (I Do THESE ALL THE TIME)... Maybe its because of the way YOU Learn.
We all work in different ways and we all learn in different ways... There are 4 different ways that the Brain learns
Visually -  Through what we see
Aurally -  Through what we hear (the way we learn in school)
Reading & Writing - The old Look, Cover, Repeat Technique
Kinaesthetically - By doing things


We learn by mixing all these styles together...
If you want to know how you learn take this test here http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire and your results will show you how you learn best.
Last time I did that test I found that I'm HEAVILY KINAESTHETIC, I learn best by doing things and NOT BY LISTENING to others (Very bad for a University Student eh?)

Theories of Learning

(Pavlov [Passive Learning] vs Skinner [Active Learning)

Round 1- Pavlov and his theory of Classical Conditioning

Pavlov's theory takes the viewpoint that we learn about things in our surroundings passively, through our subconscious.

"Classical conditioning is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus." ~(http://www.learning-theories.com/classical-conditioning-pavlov.html)

.... What does that mean for NON-Nerds?.... Classical conditioning is like learning by routine... like putting your hand out a the the bus stop in order to stop the bus.

Pavlov used dogs and meat and bells to come the conclusion that " WE LEARN BY PAIRING A STIMULUS TO A RESPONSE" - In Pavlov's case this was the dogs who associated the ringing of a bell with food which made them salivate in readiness for the meat  they were about to eat

Pavlov therefore demonstrated how stimulus-response bonds (which some consider as the basic building blocks of learning) are formed."

Some more meat for you to chew on: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Pavlov/ 

Round 2- Skinner and his theory of Operant Conditioning

Skinner's theory is much simpler than Pavlov's, it's basically "Monkey See, Monkey Do" ... We learn by imitating & repeating what we hear and not via automatic changes in our subconscious. (Which I'm more inclined to believe)

tip.psychology.org says "The theory of B.F. Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual's response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word, hitting a ball, or solving a math problem. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond. ".... 

Now in SeanSpeak ... "We learn by making changes in our active behaviour... the adjustments we make either bring success or failure... if we made the right adjustment/response then we learn to repeat this response every time we have to perform that same task." #GetIt?

Q.E.D

Mr LaissezFaire AWAY!!!!!!!!