Learning is acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing existing, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve

synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves. Learning is not compulsory; it is contextual. It does not happen all at once, but builds upon and is shaped by what we already know. To that end, learning may be viewed as a process, rather than a collection of factual and procedural knowledge. Learning produces changes in the organism and the changes produced are relatively permanent.[1] Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development, schooling, or training. It may be goal-oriented and may be aided by motivation. The study of how learning occurs is part of neuropsychology, educational psychology, learning theory, and pedagogy. Learning may occur as a result ofhabituation or classical conditioning, seen in many animal species, or as a result of more complex activities such as play, seen only in relatively intelligent animals.[2][3] Learning may occur consciously or without conscious awareness. Learning that an aversive event can't be avoided nor escaped is called learned helplessness. [4] There is evidence for human behavioral learning prenatally, in which habituation has been observed as early as 32 weeks into gestation, indicating that the central nervous system is sufficiently developed and primed for learning and memory to occur very early on indevelopment.[5]

Learning vs. Performance Learning can be defined as the ability to obtain new information. Many students are fascinated with new concepts and appreciate learning. They value the opportunities to absorb new information and use it in their lives. Unfortunately, the school system places much emphasis on performance, which often results in immediate grades or test scores, instead of the value gained by students when learning. Test scores dont evaluate learning, but they provide information that is necessary to have some tangible score of. Many students do not completely learn topics and lessons based on these particular tests, but study them for the process of test-taking, then flush the information to make room for new information that will be tested. Not many students really enjoy taking tests, especially when it gets in the way of learning something fun and new. "The issue of teaching to these tests has become a major concern to parents and educators. A real danger exists in that the test will become the curriculum and that instruction will be narrow and focused on facts." (Amrein and Berliner, 2010). The difference between learning and performance narrows down to school expectation. How does the school expect a student to perform? Really, there isnt much debate about what schools want students to learn. "Whether or not what it is that assessment is trying to assess, is clearly specified in documentation, students work out for themselves what counts or at least what they think counts, and orient their effort accordingly. They are strategic in their use of time and selecti vely negligent in avoiding content that they believe is not likely to be assessed. It has been claimed that students have become more strategic with their use of time and energies since the 1970s and more, rather than less, influenced by the perceived demands of the assessment system in the way they negotiate their way through their studies." (MacFarlane, 1992) Classical conditioning The typical paradigm for classical conditioning involves repeatedly pairing an unconditioned stimulus (which unfailingly evokes a reflexive response) with another previously neutral stimulus (which does not normally evoke the response). Following conditioning, the response occurs both to the unconditioned stimulus and to the other, unrelated stimulus (now referred to as the "conditioned stimulus"). The response to the conditioned stimulus is termed a conditioned response. The classic example is Pavlov and his dogs. Meat powder naturally will make a dog salivate when it is put into a dog's mouth; salivating is a reflexive response to the meat powder. Meat powder is the unconditioned stimulus (US) and the salivation is the unconditioned response (UR). Then Pavlov rang a bell before presenting the meat powder. The first time Pavlov rang the bell, the neutral stimulus, the dogs did not salivate, but once he put the meat powder in their mouths they began to salivate. After numerous pairings of the bell and the food the dogs learned that the bell was a signal that the food was about to come and began to salivate when the bell was rung. Once this occurred, the bell became the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the salivation to the bell became the conditioned response (CR). Another influential person in the world of Classical Conditioning is John B. Watson. Watson's work was very influential and paved the way for B. F. Skinner's radical behaviorism. Watson's behaviorism (and philosophy of science) stood in direct contrast to Freud. Watson's view was that Freud's introspective method was too subjective, and that we should limit the study of human development to directly observable behaviors. In 1913, Watson published the article "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views," in which he argued that laboratory studies should serve psychology best as a science. Watson's most famous, and controversial, experiment, "Little Albert", where he demonstrated how psychologists can account for the learning of emotion through classical conditioning principles.

Operant conditioning (or instrumental conditioning) is a type of learning in which an individual's behavior is modified by its consequences; the behaviour may change in form, frequency, or strength. Operant conditioning is a term that was coined by B. F. Skinner in 1937.[1] The word operant can be described as, "an item of behavior that is initially spontaneous, rather than a response to a prior stimulus, but whose consequences may reinforce or inhibit recurrence of that behavior".[2] Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning (or respondent conditioning) in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of "voluntary behaviour" or operant behaviour. Operant behavior operates on the environment and is maintained by its consequences, while classical conditioning deals with the conditioning of reflexive (reflex) behaviours which are elicited by antecedent conditions. Behaviours conditioned via a classical conditioning procedure are not maintained by consequences. [3] Cognitive Learning Theory Conquering Challenges - Cognitive Learning Theory Learning is complex but not mysterious Learning truly is a complex process -- perhaps more complicated than you may have realized. But it is not necessarily a mystery. The good news is, with the right information and training, anyone can learn better, faster, and easier. With the correct approach to strengthening cognitive skills, learning challenges can be conquered. So which learning skill is the most important? To your child, it is the weak skill --that is the skill most likely causing him or her to struggle. Cognitive Learning Theory A Summary 3: Summary

Cognitive skills are underlying mental abilities and are not the same as the academic knowledge acquired in the classroom. Cognitive skills can change and improve. Malfunctioning cognitive skills make learning difficult and frustrating. Specific cognitive skills testing is the best way to identify which cognitive skills are the cause of a learning problem and need strengthening. With the right information and training, every child can experience learning that is easy, fast, and fun.