Learning and Cognition

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In psychology today learning is a very well-known subject. Almost every day people learn something new; whether by watching other people or through his or her own experiences. Most individuals "know" things and naturally perform many actions, meaning that he or she exhibits numerous behaviors. Learning is an essential part of every individual's lives and some are born with certain behaviors. For example, an individual may have been genetically predisposed at birth or conception and may have certain reflexes or some specific behaviors. Others, however, are gained only through learning. Over the years there have been many definitions of what learning is. Many of these definitions are disputed and replaced with newer up-to-date definitions. The definition that most psychologists like to use is Kimble's; "a relatively permanent change in behavioral potentiality that occurs as a result of reinforced practice" (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 1). A complete comprehension of learning and its relation to psychology is wholly dependent on the understanding of the roles behavior plays in learning, the two different types of learning, conditioning and instrumental, and last, the connection between cognition and learning. People learn by observing the behavior of others and also the outcomes of those behaviors (Ormrod, 1999).

Behavior plays a large part in the learning experience because as of yet there has been no real way to observe one's learning on its own. B.F. Skinner was able to create a box within which he could observe the behavior of the animals within it, thus finding a way to watch 'learning' as it was taking place.

Conditioning is a term that can be used as a descriptive measure for learning; there are two types of conditioning: instrumental and classical (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009). Instrumental learning is a type learning that happens when someone or something acts a certain way before the behavior becomes reinforced. If the behavior is not acted upon there is no reinforcement.

In instrumental conditioning, the animal's behavior is "instrumental" in getting something it wants, that is, a reinforcer (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009). B.F. Skinner created a special box made of glass and used it to demonstrate a form of instrumental conditioning known as operant conditioning. An animal, such as a bird or a rat, would be placed within the box without a bowl of food. There would be a lever on the floor that would produce a food pellet once it had been touched. The bird or rat would learn to get the food pellet, by continuously pressing the lever.

Classical conditioning is a type of learning that was introduced by Ivan

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