An Introduction to Learning 5/e

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION

We’ll get to the text soon, but first let’s consider some preliminaries about learning and studying

This course is about learning SO It should teach you something about how to learn it

What you do is what you learn OR What you learn is what you do

Remember that what you do is what you learn Distinguish between getting it and liking it Don’t worry that you might learn about something that you don’t need Mastery can be richly rewarding, but it takes time and effort Remember that what you learn is what you do

How Should You Study ? Read and review each chapter at least twice (preferably 3 or 4 times) before any testing that covers it Make your first reading a quick pass to pick up the overall structure and worry about the details later: Start with the big picture and then get into the fine points Always spend some time going back over earlier material Browse through the whole text now and then, to become familiar with what is to come later If you have questions about terminology, use the chapter outlines, Glossary, index and other text resources Give special attention to material about questions you missed when tested

Highlighting as an example

What is the function of highlighting? When is the best time to do it? Highlighting saves you time when you review, because you don’t read what you didn’t highlight But what if you highlighted the wrong things? Is there any reason to think that you learn something about an item by highlighting it? Highlighting is irreversible, but pencil marks in the margins aren’t

What is this subject really about?

Learning and Behavior

Why should we worry about behavior?

WHERE SHOULD WE LOOK FOR THE CAUSES OF BEHAVIOR? Do we look inside, trying to find our causes in emotions or thoughts or feelings? But we have to beware of circular reasoning: Why did you do that? Because of some feeling. How did you know about the feeling? Because you did that. How about some examples (e.g., emotions)? Maybe we should look outside, at properties of the environment?

ABOUT EXAMPLES WITH PEOPLE AND EXAMPLES WITH ANIMALS In biology and medicine, nonhuman organisms have often served in basic research. The same is the case in the study of behavior. Creatures that don’t talk are really very different from us in their behavior, but they are like us in other basic physiological ways. We will discover that our verbal behavior is built upon processes that we share with other organisms.

How is the book organized?

Part I. INTRODUCTION Part II. BEHAVIOR WITHOUT LEARNING Part III. LEARNING WITHOUT WORDS Part IV. LEARNING WITH WORDS Part V. CONCLUSION LEARNING

Part I. INTRODUCTION CHAPTERS 1. Learning and Behavior (The ABCs) 2. A Behavior Taxonomy

Part II. BEHAVIOR WITHOUT LEARNING CHAPTERS 3. Evolution and Development 4. Elicited and Emitted Behavior

Part III. LEARNING WITHOUT WORDS CHAPTERS 5. Consequences of Responding: Reinforcement 6. Reinforcers as Opportunities for Behavior 7. Consequences of Responding: Punishment 8. Consequences of Responding: Escape and Avoidance

Part III. LEARNING WITHOUT WORDS CHAPTERS 9. Operants: The Selection of Behavior 10. The Structure of Operants 11. Discriminated Operants: Stimulus Control 12. Conditional Discrimination and Stimulus Classes 13. Sources of Novel Behavior 14. Motivating Operations and Reinforcer Classes 15. Reinforcement Schedules 16. Schedule Combinations: Behavior Synthesis 17. Respondent Behavior: Conditioning 18. Operant Respondent Interactions: Emotion 19. Social Learning

Part IV. LEARNING WITH WORDS CHAPTERS 20. Verbal Function: Formal Classes 21. Verbal Function: Intraverbals and Verbal Learning 22. Verbal Behavior Contacts the Environment 23. Verbal Governance 24. Verbal Function: Coordinations among Classes 25. Language Structure 26. The Functions of Remembering 27. The Structure of Remembering 28. Knowing: Cognitive Processes 29. Problem Solving

Part V. CONCLUSION CHAPTER 30. Structure and Function in Learning