Learning: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #481

by Mark Haselgrove

What is learning? How does it take place? What happens when it goes wrong?

The topic of learning has been central to the development of the science of psychology since its inception. Without learning there can be no memory, no language and no intelligence. Indeed it is rather difficult to imagine a part of psychology, or neuroscience, that learning does not touch upon. In this Very Short Introduction, Mark Haselgrove describes learning from the perspective of associative theories of classical and instrumental conditioning, and considers why these are the dominant, and best described analyses of learning in contemporary psychology. Tracing the origins of these theories, he discusses the techniques used to study learning in both animals and humans, and considers the importance of learning for animal behavior and survival.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Education

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2016

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was defending my comp exams, one of my advisors asked me why I studied consciousness instead of cognition, and this book provides so many reasons why I chose the more open-inquiry method for my research. Taking the stimulus-response model of the mind from creepy experiments by Skinner and Thorndike, yet ignoring Vygotsky and Bruner entirely, the potential of human intelligence is limited to systematic conditioning that can only average out what usually happens, but not push us to do more with what we know. And if so many experiments rely on what the majority of rats do, shouldn’t the same tests be run on cats, goldfish, penguins and any other animal before we assume direct relationship between our species and all others? For a book so narrowly focused on what the author feels is the future of psychology, it is too bad that I learned nothing useful.

[Isis Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book should be called "Conditioning and its relation with learning" rather than "Learning”.

[B Conatus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of contemporary learning theory. I think that everyone working in cognitive science should have a sense of the richness of contemporary learning theory. This is a good start down that road, but since it’s a VSI it can only go so far. That said, the writing is incredibly clear, and I couldn’t hope for much more from a short introduction!

[ZeV · Rating 3 out of 5]

This VSI book provides a light introduction to the science of animal learning. The focus is on the history of exploration, i.e., understanding the physiological mechanism of learning. As such, you’d be disappointed if you expect reading the book to provide you with practical strategies for improving your own learning in your self-help context. For me, the fact that we still don’t know much about learning process was interesting. I would have liked to see more on the evolutionary origin of social learning, i.e., more emphasis on why it occurs rather than how it occurs.

[Carl Buckfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book which expertly summarises Learning Theory literature both accurately and in an accessible way. Highly recommend for anyone who wants a quick read to learn the basics of Classical and Operant conditioning.

[Carter Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice refresher for a doctoral student, especially if you're trying to think of how to refine your writing for lay audiences.

[Ali Rasim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written scientific introduction to learning. It is a little book but it contains a lot to digest. I found the design of the experiments described in the book particularly interesting.

[Cal Davie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting overview about how we learn. It was extremely heavy on behaviourism, and I felt like it could have been more detailed on the mechanics of learning.

[A. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insights. Loved the concept of blocking, learned irrelevance and the different ways learning takes place.

[Reem · Rating 2 out of 5]

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