5.2.1. Features of Learning

The process of learning has certain distinctive characteristics. The first feature is that learning always involves some kinds of experience. We experience an event occurring in a certain sequence on a number of occasions.

Learning is fundamentally linked to experience. This means that for any learning to occur, there must be some form of experience involved. For instance, if a student repeatedly practices math problems, they begin to understand patterns and problem-solving strategies over time. The more someone experiences something, the more they learn about it. This can happen through either repetitive practice or even a single impactful experience, such as a child learning to be careful after accidentally burning their fingers on a matchstick.

Think of learning to ride a bicycle. At first, you may have wobbled and fallen a few times—which is your experience. But through those experiences, you learn how to balance and steer, leading to successful riding. Each attempt, whether it results in a fall or a successful ride, is a learning experience.

Behavioural changes that occur due to learning are relatively permanent. They must be distinguished from the behavioural changes that are neither permanent nor learned.

Learning leads to changes in behavior that are generally enduring. For example, if someone learns to drive, the skills they learn stay with them. In contrast, if someone stops studying due to tiredness, this is a temporary change and not considered a permanent learning experience. Learning represents a lasting transformation compared to temporary behavioral shifts.

Imagine you learn how to bake a cake. Once you figure it out, you can bake cakes without needing to re-learn the process each time. This is different from a moment when you might forget something due to fatigue, like forgetting where you placed your keys. The baking skill remains with you, demonstrating a permanent change, while the lost keys scenario is just a fleeting moment.

Learning involves a sequence of psychological events. This will become clear if we were to describe a typical learning experiment.

When learning happens, it typically follows a sequence of psychological events. For instance, in a learning experiment where a person is tested on their memory of a list of words, the process involves several stages: knowing what they knew before, being presented with the information, processing it, and then recalling it later. Each step is part of how learning unfolds in a structured way.

Consider preparing for an exam. First, you assess what you already know (pre-test). Then, you study the material (presentation), process and understand it (processing), and finally, when you take the exam, you recall what you've learned. Each of these stages illustrates how learning works dynamically.

Thus, learning is an inferred process and is different from performance. Performance is a person’s observed behaviour or response or action.

Learning is not just about what we can see someone doing; it is an inferred process. This means that we often need to make judgments about what someone has learned based on how they perform. When a student memorizes a poem, their ability to recite it indicates learning, but merely reading it multiple times does not automatically mean they have learned it. Performance reflects learning, but the two concepts are distinct.

Imagine a sports player who practices diligently. Just because they can perform well in practice doesn't always mean they will perform well in a game. Their practice shows potential learning, which may only fully reveal itself during a competitive performance. It’s the actions in the game that demonstrate their inferred learning.

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