Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

184 CHAPTER 5 Learningopen, Erv began to yell and pound on thetrapdoor again.“Hey, Fern! Fern!”Fern froze in her tracks.“Fern, let me out! I’m going to suffocateup here!”“Erv! Is that you? Where are you?” shecalled, looking around.“I’m in the attic! Let me out!”“What are you doing in the attic? Ithought you were at the store!”“What do you think I’m doing? Let meout of here! Hurry!”Once Fern was reassured that Erv had sufferedno ill effects from being trapped in theattic, she burst out laughing. Later that day,still grumbling about Fern’s harebrainedsense of humor, Erv removed the latch fromthe attic door. Ever since, whenever Erv wentup into the attic, he posted a sign on theladder that read MAN IN THE ATTIC! In fact,for years afterward, Erv got nervous wheneverhe had to go up into attic.For her part, Fern began carefully checkingon Erv’s whereabouts before closing theattic door. But she still laughs when she tellsthe story of the “killer attic”—which shedoes frequently, as it never fails to crack upher listeners. Luckily, Erv was a good sportand was used to Fern’s sense of humor.Erv and Fern both learned from theirexperience, as is reflected in the changesin their behavior. Learning new behaviorscan occur in many ways, but it almostalways helps us adapt to changing circumstances,as you’ll see in this chapter.>> Introduction: What Is Learning?Key Theme• Learning refers to a relatively enduring change in behavior or knowledgeas a result of experience.Key Questions• What is conditioning?• What are three basic types of learning?learningA process that produces a relatively enduringchange in behavior or knowledge as aresult of past experience.conditioningThe process of learning associations betweenenvironmental events and behavioralresponses.What do we mean when we say that Fern and Erv have “learned” from their experiencewith the killer attic? In the everyday sense, learning often refers to formalmethods of acquiring new knowledge or skills, such as learning in the classroom orlearning to play the flute.In psychology, however, the topic of learning is much broader. Psychologists formallydefine learning as a process that produces a relatively enduring change inbehavior or knowledge as a result of an individual’s experience. For example, Ervhas learned to feel anxious and uncomfortable whenever he needs to enter the attic.He’s also learned to take simple precautions, such as posting his MAN IN THEATTIC! sign, to avoid getting locked in the attic again. As Erv’s behavior demonstrates,the learning of new behaviors often reflects adapting to your environment.As the result of experience, you acquire new behaviors or modify old behaviors soas to better cope with your surroundings.In this broad sense of the word, learning occurs in every setting, not just in classrooms.And learning takes place at every age. Further, the psychological study of learningis not limited to humans. From alligators to zebras, learning is an importantaspect of the behavior of virtually all animals.Psychologists have often studied learning by observing and recording the learningexperiences of animals in carefully controlled laboratory situations. Using animal subjects,researchers can precisely control the conditions under which a particular behavioris learned. The goal of much of this research has been to identify the general principlesof learning that apply across a wide range of species, including humans.