Way We Learn

The Way We Learn John M. Meadors Jr

Colorado Technical University May 28, 2010

In this document we will discover the process of the human brain, to learn and what makes it all come together. First lets define, what learning is it’s a, “a relatively permanent change in behavior, that occurs through experience, “according to Santrock, 2005, pg195. There has been lots of study on the subject, of learning, as we the
human being; we have a complex mind and we learn, by various experiences.
Like the human the smaller animal or lower animals such as rabbits and rats, must learn to survive in their own environment, like we as humans, must also learn to survive in ours, Santrock, 2005. Because of the extensive amount of study and research in the study of lower animals and of human beings, for a century has sugguested,that the principles, produced by the research of small animals, initially also applied to human beings as well, Santrock,2005. There are two learning styles, they are observational learning and associative learning; observational learning, takes place where; an organism learn by watching, what another organism does. Associative learning takes place when there is a connection or association is made between two events, Santrock, 2005. Here is an example, of how people learn best. Using an observational learning style. There once was a television, program, that aired on
public television, soon that was called the Electric Company, that aired 5 times a week around
10:00 a.m. each day. It was an educational program, that taught the alphabet and sound each letter represented to kids that watch the, comedy laced educational program. This program was used by teachers in grammar school, as a teaching aide; to teach children to read. The interaction of the characters on, that program and the children observational learning, took place, Santrock, 2005. Now associative learning, in which a connection, or association is made between two events Santrock, 2005. This learning style the person or animal is rewarded by associating a behavior with reward. For example, if a monkey held in captivity saw and pushed a red button, then suddenly a door opens and a banana fell out, the monkey associate pushing the red button with getting the banana to eat. The associative learning learning style, doesn’t work for me, because I must first observe someone else, doing it first, then I will have basis ,from which I can try doing it own my own. I remember when I was young, I learned how to fly my remote airplane, by first watching my father do it first, then I was able to fly the remote airplane, and that was using the observational learning style then. The associative learning style was apart of my learning as a young boy, but not as much, as the observational learning style had been. I hope that you found this information, as interesting has I did; the human mind is an amazing organ in the body, and I look forward to learning more about the brain.

References
Psychology Essentials Updated 2nd Edition, Santrock, J.W. published by McGraw Hill A business unit of the McGraw Hill companies, Inc. 1221 Ave of the Americas New York, NY10020 Copyright ©2005 by the McGraw Hill companies , Inc.