Conditioning and Learning: Term Paper

Conditioning and Learning
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Conditioning and Learning
The psychology of learning is among the most contestable areas in understanding humans bearing the multiple theories that have emerged to explain the concept. Scholars have assessed the psychology of learning through the lenses of behaviors while others focus on inputs and reinforcements. With all such developments in theories, more knowledge is created to elevate the understanding of prospects in the psychology of learning. Improvements in learning theories can help improve or explain student investment, motivation, and improvement in their learning. Still, extensive studies have been conducted to explore how different factors, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors, combine to influence the ability of learners to grasp knowledge. In this research, emphasis is put on the psychology of learning with insightful inputs on conditioning as a corrective mechanism to learning disorders and disabilities. Exploring different theoretical frameworks in the psychology of learning opens avenues of improving learners' responses to different approaches and limiting the inputs of techniques such as punishments to the required thresholds to achieve the best learning outcomes.
Understanding Learning
The concept of learning has attracted different definitions depending on the context and the time. However, learning is majorly referred to as a relatively permanent change in behavior arising from experience (Soots, 2015). Learning, in that sense, excludes temporary changes and some other permanent changes that can be introduced through drugs, injury, maturation, or disease. On the grounds of such a definition, learning is characterized by change. That is, learning must involve the acquisition of information and knowledge and appropriation of what is learned in a single unity process. Individuals learn by experiencing changes through the reconstruction of their skills and combined thinking. Learning also constitutes activities. Such activities can be mental or physical. Also, depending on the individuals involved, learning can as well involve simple or complex activities.
The concept of learning must bear more characteristics and inputs to be considered complete. An effective learning process constitutes problem-solving. Individuals in a learning setting must develop an understanding of the relationships among different contents by which they are surrounded (Soots, 2015). Throughout life, learning occurs randomly. People gain experiences through a variety of interactions, including communicating with friends or reading newspapers. However, learning can also be structured to be systematic and focus on specific areas of changes that are needed. Systematic and structured learning is what people explore in schools. The other notable characteristics of learning include the understanding that learning requires interactions with other objects or people, and learning is a lifelong process. Even in the confines of its simplicity, learning is one of the prospects that demands insightful inputs if the teachers and the learners are to achieve their targets.
Learning Disorders and Disabilities
Learning disabilities or learning disorders is an umbrella phrase used about a wide array of learning problems that individuals face, especially in their early developmental stages. Learning disorders or disabilities have been associated with laziness, dumbness, or lack of intelligence wrongly (Soots, 2015). Children with learning disorders can be just as smart as any other child. Their problem is that they are wired differently and cannot consume knowledge at the same pace as their normal counterparts. Put simply, individuals with learning disabilities hear, see, perceive, and understand things differently from others. Bearing the disabilities, individuals can showcase gaps in the expected abilities and skills among them and their actual achievements. At some age, people are expected to perform differently and manifest various skills. For instance, a 12-year-old child should be capable of reading. The lack of such abilities and skills constitutes the disorders.
There are different types of learning disorders that individuals can face about different prospects in learning. The first common disorder is dyslexia or a disability in reading. Dyslexia can occur in two ways. The first way is when the learner finds it difficult to develop relationships between elements of reading, including words, letters, and sounds. The second type of dyslexia occurs with comprehension, where the learner fails to grasp understanding from what he/she reads. The signs of dyslexia include problems with general vocabulary skills, reading speed and fluency, understanding words and ideas, and letter and word recognition. Disabilities in reading can inhibit a learner's comprehension of other skills such as math.
Learners can also face disabilities such as dysgraphia and dyscalculia. Dysgraphia is a learning disorder or disability in writing. Dysgraphia can constitute the mental activity of comprehending information or the physical act of writing. The basic forms of dysgraphia involve physical challenges in forming words and letters. Learners can also experience expressive writing disability where he/she struggles to organize thoughts through writing. Some of the symptoms of dysgraphia include a lack of writing organization and coherence, spelling inconsistency, inability to copy letters and words accurately, and consistency and neatness of writing. Conversely, dyscalculia is a learning disability in math. Normally, math abilities depend on the learner's strengths and weaknesses in other aspects of learning, including reading and writing. Further, a learner's ability to comprehend math can be influenced by his/her organization, memory, difficulty in sequencing, a visual disorder, or other learning disabilities. Children with dyscalculia can have problems in telling time, counting, and mastering number facts. The other notable challenges associated with dyscalculia include poor operation of signs, poor memorization, and the inability to organize numbers. Dyscalculia is normally ignored as a normal weakness even when the learners could be facing serious challenges.
There are other learning disabilities that professionals need to understand to deliver the best interventions to the patients. There are learning disabilities in motor skills, also referred to as dyspraxia. People require their motor skills to perform in sports and even to write. With dyspraxia, individuals perform dismally in activities that involve hand-eye coordination, such as writing. Every aspect of learning requires active coordination between the brain and the involved organs for better outcomes. Learners can also face dysphasia, which is a learning disability in language. Learners can prosper in aspects such as reading and math if they are capable of producing spoken language. The fact that language requires the organization of thoughts to deliver implies that it is an output activity. Problems with the meaning of directions and words, the inability to tell stories, and the lack of speech fluency can all imply learning language disabilities. Learners can also face auditory disorders to limit their ability to learn.
Risk Factors to Learning Disabilities
There are various risk factors associated with the inability to learn normally. Primarily, other disorders can limit an individual's ability to learn normally. Attention deficit disorder (ADHD) is among the impediments to learning (Mercer & Ryan, 2016). ADHD is not considered a learning disability. However, it can impede learning among diagnosed individuals. Children diagnosed with ADHD have problems with completing their homework, staying organized, following instructions, and staying focused that are all needed in the learning process. The other condition that can impede learning is autism. Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder may showcase challenges in mastering elements of learning that include making eye contact, making friends, developing basic skills, communicating, and using their body language. Poor management of conditions such as ADHD and autism elevates the possibilities of developing learning disorders.
More factors can steer learning disorders among individuals. Family history and genetics are primary among such factors where a child's chances of developing the disorders depend on the family history. There are also prenatal and neonatal risks that can cause learning disorders (Bar-Hillel, Noah, & Shane, 2018). Very low birth weights have been linked with learning disorders. Other aspects of prenatal and neonatal risks in...