THE CONCEPT OF LEARNING

Kaplan University

SS124-29
Professor Missy Madden-Schlegel
September 26, 2010

Learning is defined as an experience that produces lasting change in the mind of the person receiving the knowledge. Learning can be conscious as in memorizing scriptures from the bible and unconscious as in something happening without any deliberate efforts (Schacter et. al., 2009). From an education standpoint, learning can also involve helping people by giving information that they can use in life. For the purposes of psychology, learning is considered a change in behavior. In the case of Adam and Teri as described in the text, their learning occurred on the day their daughter turned one; September 11, 2001. They …show more content…

This is the reason the individual may not imitate the behavior right away and wait until a later date. They may need to develop their motor skills before doing so. • Motivation: The imitator will have to be motivated or have reasons in order to imitate the behavior. The driver for this could depend on the reinforcement or punishment that comes from doing so. If there is no reason or motivation, the observer will not imitate that behavior right away. It may manifest later on in life or whenever the individual feels comfortable or motivated enough to display it. Mirror neuron plays a big part in observational learning. Mirror Neurons are defined as “a type of cell found in the brains of primates (including humans).” Mirror neuron fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. This means the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself performing the behavior (Schacter et al, 2009). Since observational learning involves watching the behavior of another, mirror neuron basically mirrors the behavior of another, making the learning process easier to test. My dad was my hero as a child. He was the family’s icon and we all loved him despite the restrictions he placed on all of us. I always felt by being the oldest I was most disciplined than the rest of my siblings. At a time when most young girls wanted to be like their mothers, I wanted to be like my father.