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Dictionary Entries (10 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
learn    Audio Help   [lurn] Pronunciation Key verb, learned    Audio Help   [lurnd] Pronunciation Key or learnt, learn·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1.to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience: to learn French; to learn to ski.
2.to become informed of or acquainted with; ascertain: to learn the truth.
3.to memorize: He learned the poem so he could recite it at the dinner.
4.to gain (a habit, mannerism, etc.) by experience, exposure to example, or the like; acquire: She learned patience from her father.
5.(of a device or machine, esp. a computer) to perform an analogue of human learning with artificial intelligence.
6.Nonstandard. to instruct in; teach.
–verb (used without object)
7.to acquire knowledge or skill: to learn rapidly.
8.to become informed (usually fol. by of): to learn of an accident.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME lernen, OE leornian to learn, read, ponder (c. G lernen); akin to lesan to glean (c. G lesen to read). See lear]

—Related forms
learn·a·ble, adjective

—Synonyms 1. Learn, ascertain, detect, discover imply adding to one's store of facts. To learn is to add to one's knowledge or information: to learn a language. To ascertain is to verify facts by inquiry or analysis: to ascertain the truth about an event. To detect implies becoming aware of something that had been obscure, secret, or concealed: to detect a flaw in reasoning. To discover is used with objective clauses as a synonym of learn in order to suggest that the new information acquired is surprising to the learner: I discovered that she had been married before.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
learn·ing    Audio Help   [lur-ning] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.knowledge acquired by systematic study in any field of scholarly application.
2.the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill.
3.Psychology. the modification of behavior through practice, training, or experience.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME lerning, OE leornung. See learn, -ing1]

—Synonyms 1. Learning, erudition, lore, scholarship refer to knowledge existing or acquired. Learning is the most general term. It may refer to knowledge obtained by systematic study or by trial and error: a man of learning; learning in the real world. Erudition suggests a thorough, formal, and profound sort of knowledge obtained by extensive research; it is esp. applied to knowledge in fields other than those of mathematics and physical sciences: a man of vast erudition in languages. Lore is accumulated knowledge in a particular field, esp. of a curious, anecdotal, or traditional nature; the word is now somewhat literary: nature lore; local lore. Scholarship is the formalized learning that is taught in schools, esp. as actively employed by a person trying to master some field of knowledge or extend its bounds: high standards of scholarship in history.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries
  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  education
Part of Speech:  noun
Definition:  Known facts, ideas, and skill that have been imparted.
Synonyms:  erudition, instruction, knowledge, scholarship, science
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.


Encyclopedia Articles (893 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia - Cite This Source

learning, in psychology, the process by which a relatively lasting change in potential behavior occurs as a result of practice or experience. Learning is distinguished from behavioral changes arising from such processes as maturation and illness, but does apply to motor skills, such as driving a car, to intellectual skills, such as reading, and to attitudes and values, such as prejudice. There is evidence that neurotic symptoms and patterns of mental illness are also learned behavior. Learning occurs throughout life in animals, and learned behavior accounts for a large proportion of all behavior in the higher animals, especially in humans.

Models of Learning

The scientific investigation of the learning process was begun at the end of the 19th cent. by Ivan Pavlov in Russia and Edward Thorndike in the United States. Three models are currently widely used to explain changes in learned behavior; two emphasize the establishment of relations between stimuli and responses, and the third emphasizes the establishment of cognitive structures. Albert Bandura maintained (1977) that learning occurs through observation of others, or models; it has been suggested that this type of learning occurs when children are exposed to violence in the media.

Classical Conditioning

The first model, classical conditioning, was initially identified by Pavlov in the salivation reflex of dogs. Salivation is an innate reflex, or unconditioned response, to the presentation of food, an unconditioned stimulus. Pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate merely to the sound of a buzzer (a conditioned stimulus), after it was sounded a number of times in conjunction with the presentation of food. Learning is said to occur because salivation has been conditioned to a new stimulus that did not elicit it initially. The pairing of food with the buzzer acts to reinforce the buzzer as the prominent stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A second type of learning, known as operant conditioning, was developed around the same time as Pavlov's theory by Thorndike, and later expanded upon by B. F. Skinner. Here, learning takes place as the individual acts upon the environment. Whereas classical conditioning involves innate reflexes, operant conditioning requires voluntary behavior. Thorndike showed that an intermittent reward is essential to reinforce learning, while discontinuing the use of reinforcement tends to extinguish the learned behavior. The famous Skinner box demonstrated operant conditioning by placing a rat in a box in which the pressing of a small bar produces food. Skinner showed that the rat eventually learns to press the bar regularly to obtain food. Besides reinforcement, punishment produces avoidance behavior, which appears to weaken learning but not curtail it. In both types of conditioning, stimulus generalization occurs; i.e., the conditioned response may be elicited by stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus but not used in the original training. Stimulus generalization has enormous practical importance, because it allows for the application of learned behaviors across different contexts. Behavior modification is a type of treatment resulting from these stimulus/response models of learning. It operates under the assumption that if behavior can be learned, it can also be unlearned (see behavior therapy).

Cognitive Learning

A third approach to learning is known as cognitive learning. Wolfgang Köhler showed that a protracted process of trial-and-error may be replaced by a sudden understanding that grasps the interrelationships of a problem. This process, called insight, is more akin to piecing together a puzzle than responding to a stimulus. Edward Tolman (1930) found that unrewarded rats learned the layout of a maze, yet this was not apparent until they were later rewarded with food. Tolman called this latent learning, and it has been suggested that the rats developed cognitive maps of the maze that they were able to apply immediately when a reward was offered.

Bibliography

See T. Tighe, Modern Learning Theory (1982); B. Schwartz, Psychology of Learning and Behavior (2d ed. 1983).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press


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