Cognition and Learning: EQ: How does our ability to access and interpret information allow us to learn from our environment?

I. What is Cognition? Cognition is thinking We think based on the stimuli that surrounds us To access this information, we use our senses To interpret this stimuli, we use our highly developed brain This thought process is also part of cognition In essence, we are what we think

II. How does cognition influence learning? In classical conditioning and operant conditioning, we are really not concerned with the thought process involved Everything is either a natural response or a conditioned response to stimulus The problem is, however, that we may not always have an immediate reward or punishment based on our behavior, but we still manage to learn for the sake of learning In other words, our learning cannot always be connected to conditioned or unconditioned responses Sometimes we just learn because we choose to learn

III. Examples of Cognitive Learning There are many examples of cognitive learning Many times, especially when we are young, we are learning, and we don’t even know we are learning When a child asks “Why?” they are demonstrating a deeper level of cognitive thought than what may be on the surface. “Why?” may be the purest statement of cognitive learning there is. Children innately want to know more because they know so little that we know

A. Learned Helplessness People, especially today, are the masters of their environment Technology has allowed us to escape from the confines of humanness that our forefathers were bound to If we don’t like the temperature, we adjust the thermostat If we don’t like our entertainment, we change the channel or change to another source of entertainment The problem is, though, that we become “helpless” very easily

A. Learned Helplessness The concept of learned helplessness is that when we feel that we cannot effectively manipulate our environment, we give up This is a cognitive behavior because we are choosing to give up In many cases, we could easily fix the problem or we could do something different Instead, we give up 

B. Latent Learning Have you ever been in a situation where you did something that you were not aware you could do? How did you do it? Probably trough latent learning Latent learning occurs when we learn something and we are not even consciously aware we are learning Mr. Creech, for example, can cook all kinds of wonderful foods, not because he was ever taught to cook, but because he used to watch the Food Channel all the time and photographically memorized hundreds of recipes

C. Tolman and Latent Learning The first psychologist to study the phenomenon of Latent Learning was Edward Tolman In his classic experiment he used three groups of rats Group A: Group B: Group C:

D. Cognitive Mapping A cognitive map is when we organize data in a method that is easy for us to remember at a later time Tolman described the experience of the rats in his experiment as a lesson in cognitive mapping Over time, the rats learned the correct turns to take in the maze so that they could get out In theory, if Tolman had wanted to test this theory, he probably would have discovered that over time the pace at which the rats could go through the maze would increase

D. Cognitive Mapping Example: Your House at Night!!!

E. Insight and Learning: An insight is something that we suddenly realize that allows us to understand a solution to a problem Wolfgang Kohler studied problem solving in Chimps In his experiments, Kohler created complex problem solving tasks for the chimps to retrieve food What he witnessed was that, like us, these chimps became quite useful at manipulating their surroundings to get the food He also noticed that the chimps would often think before they tried to get the food Kohler believed that this showed that we learn form our previous experiences and through trial and error

E. Insight and Learning Example:

F. Observational Learning: We, especially when we are little, learn many things through observing others In many cases, we learn these things even if we are not aware we are learning them As parents, brothers, sisters, and just plain people, we must be aware that others, especially young others are constantly watching us and mimicking our behaviors “ I Learned it by watching you!!!”

F. Observational Learning Example: Example A: Example B: