Unconsciously Learned

After reading through chapter six, I began reading chapter seven of our psychology text titled, Learning. Learning is something we do everyday even we don’t realize it. While reading chapter seven, I learned that there are three different types of learning, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and cognitive learning. Classical conditioning stands for two types of stimuli linking providing us the tools to have a reaction; this is the type of learning that involves automatic behaviors. Operant conditioning is the type of learning that causes a change in behavior, in reaction to consequences; this is the behavior that involves choosing of choices. Lastly, cognitive learning is the obtaining of new skills, behaviors, and information through

B.F. Skinners theory of operant conditioning is probably the most commonly used theory in practice in early years settings. Skinner suggested that people draw conclusions based on the consequences of their behaviour when exploring the environment. He divided the consequences into three areas. The first area being positive reinforcers where people are likely to get something they desire if they repeat a certain behaviour. He suggested that this was the most effective way to encourage new learning. This can be seen in early years settings where by children are rewarded for good behaviour this lots of praise, attention, stickers or treats. This will help children to carry on showing good behaviour until such a time when it is learned. Second is negative reinforcers which are used to stop something from happening but the behaviour is also likely to repeated. Just like when a child is going down a slide but doesn’t like going fast so they use their hands on the sides to slow themselves down. The third is punishers, which is a behaviour that you learn to stop doing e.g. if you receive a shock from an electric fence then you learn to stay away from it.

Have you ever had such a yearning for knowledge? If a person is taught from a young age, what is told to be the “truth”, he or she will be less willing to hear out any other form of the truth. Learning the difference between knowledge and truth is a hard task to accomplish. Especially if society restricts whom is allowed to gain any knowledge. As a person gains more knowledge, he or she is able to distinguish knowledge from truth.

To Mr. Aransas I say, what is wrong with this process? Do you have the same views and beliefs as you did when you were a seven-year old? Hell, do you hold to the same convictions as you did when you were a college undergrad? I highly doubt it. While it may not be as radical as waking up one morning and finding you’ve shed all your old assumptions about the world, they have changed over time. What of the successful businessman who one day awakens to find that in a moment of clarity, his heart has softened and his greed has shifted to giving? He no longer works towards making money for the sake of wealth, but rather making money to give to those who need it. There are countless stories of these types of individuals. These are people who have found a universal truth within them and found their beliefs totally flipped. Is it not contradictory? It most certainly is, but this does not make it wrong. Where is you’re argument there Mr. Anastasia?

In the film Coach Carter, Samuel L Jackson coaches a basketball team, not only in the sport, but in life. The movie offers plenty of examples of different types of learning, such as classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning. In real life, those three types of learning are used very often, and examples are everywhere.

Observational learning is simply learning by observing the behavior of other people called models (Bandura 1997,1986,1989 2000,2006). Bandura sees observational learning as one of the most important mechanism through which humans behavior changes. Cady watched how “the plastics”acted and that is why she eventually became one. This type of learning is more cognitive than conditioning because people have to pay attention to how the person acted at a particular time and make mental pictures to use them later on.

Learning is a fascinating concept. Everyone does it and everyone always has, but not everyone explores its eclectic process. That being said, through the course of history, it has been studied vehemently. Ivan Pavlov, a behaviorist, had some groundbreaking research on subclass of learning called classical conditioning. Coming across it incidentally, he discovered that dogs would salivate not only from eating food, but anything associated with them getting fed. Anything unnatural in their feeding process, he termed as the conditioned stimulus, which would result in the conditioned response of them salivating (Daniels). Though classical conditioning seems rather simple and commonsensible, the information psychologists have gathered from it has been revolutionary. It has shown psychologists the very basics of how we learn and adapt as organisms and opened the door for other studies (Myers 268). According to psychologists, learning is the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors (Myers 268).

J.P. Moreland’s book, Kingdom Triangle, asserts the irreplaceable role of knowledge in the Church’s duty of guiding the world out of darkness and into what the author calls “life indeed”. Moreland presents the human race as a lost people in search of truth. In life, truth holds the ultimate authority because it remains the end goal. The world constantly looks for a guide in the search of life’s ultimate meaning. Any individual, any idea can quickly become a source of hope for the lost. Religious movements claim to answer life’s greatest question. Each apparent truth works to prove a different meaning to life, a unique way to live and a grander story to captivate any audience willing to listen. Social trends attempt to fill the soul’s emptiness by providing a safety net within the confines of conformity. Scientific studies and technological advances relentlessly push the limits of the definition of possible in order to be enough, whatever that may mean. All missions point back to one ultimate mission, the quest toward an abundant life. But all fall short. Knowledge provides an individual with the right to power and authority and the lack of knowledge eliminates an individual from the same positions. An individual exudes knowledge in the ability to represent a topic with clarity, purpose, expertise and experience. It is about representing well. When the Christian receives the gift of salvation and eternal life, he or she takes on the responsibility of representing knowledge of

Before one can truly begin to define examples of crime as normal learned behavior, one must be able to delineate what the phrase “crime as normal learned behavior” actually means as well as where it originated from. This phrase can date back to Sutherland’s novel, Criminology, which was first released in 1924 and was reedited through the multiple editions that were created in its succession. Overall, Sutherland solidifies a theory on crime that remains static from his third edition on, which discusses the idea that crime is a learned behavior through 9 main points. The points breakdown as follows:

Just like the prisoners in the cave, people in society are tricked into believing what is and what is not. Therefore, when people are introduced another idea, completely different to what they were taught, it may become outrageous and difficult to believe. Just like the prisoner that was released, “he was unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows” (Plato 451). People are so accustomed to living a certain way, they do not know how to live another way, like someone who has lived their whole life in the city moves to an isolated village, they would not be able to survive or would go back to the city in no time. Emerson shares a similar thought, since he claims that “the power which resides in him is new in nature, and none

world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is

I constantly seek knowledge to improve my worldview. I seek to improve my worldview because I want to know how things will happen, and what things can happen. I want to know these hows and whats

Mal, Jain, & Yaday (1984) were researchers who came up with a study where they hypothesized that prolonged deprivation and gender difference would effect learned helplessness. The experimenters tested 104 students both male and female with unsolvable tasks, followed by negative feedback. Immediately after they were asked to complete 20 anagrams within 100 seconds. Statistics showed that students who were mostly deprived and females had greater risks of exposure to learned helplessness. The authors then concluded with their study that learned helpless was, in fact, greater in women who were deprived. These results were supported by consistent finding regarding cultural upbringings and gender

The same behavior can also be achieved through operant learning. For instance, each time the young boy sees a rat, a slight pain is inflicted on him. Now each time the rat is seen and some pain is inflicted, the young boy will learn to fear to see the rat because he fears the consequence that will follow after seeing it. He might even result in fleeing to avoid the consequences that follow. The behavior of fearing the rat is a consequence of the young boy fearing pain. This is a case of operant learning as the boy feels the urge to flee after seeing the rat and this is a behavior learnt.

A parent raising a child deals with a lot of operant conditioning if they know it or not. A parent is always trying to teach a child right and wrong. From operant conditioning