The Psychology and Neuroscience of Learning
In the last decade, there has been a renewed emphasis on the learner and their experience when it comes to learning. This increased focus is driven by several factors, including an increasing number of non-workplace learners (e.g., adult learners), and more digital content that makes the learner more visible. Learning is a complex activity with multiple interacting factors at play. The psychology and neuroscience of learning can help us understand how learning works in the brain. Let’s look at what we know about this topic so far.
The psychology of learning studies human cognition and behaviour and how our experiences and the environment shape these. Learning is an ongoing process that happens throughout life. It proceeds in different ways in different contexts, but many principles apply across different settings and different types of learners. When we learn, we acquire new knowledge, change our behaviour and develop skills. These changes in knowledge, behaviour and skill development occur due to experience and how we process this experience. Learning is a complex process that occurs in multiple stages. These include attention, perception, information processing, retention and retrieval. Each of these stages has multiple factors that can influence how, when and how well we learn.
Research into how our brain works when we learn has given us a clearer picture of how learning operates. We know that the brain has certain areas that are responsible for different aspects of the learning process. These include attention, perception, information processing, retention and retrieval.
Attention is selecting relevant information in the environment based on our goals and interests. When we learn, we're paying attention to certain aspects of what we encounter in order to process and retain that information. Perception is the process of selecting, organising and creating meaning from what we are paying attention to. When we learn, we have a certain goal in mind, and perception helps us select and organise information to use it best. Information processing is using our prior knowledge and experience to make sense of new information and experiences. When we learn, we use information processing to make sense of new information and experiences to draw meaning from it. Retention and retrieval are two stages of memory. Retention is how we temporarily store new information in our short-term memory. Retrieval is the process by which we access our short-term memory. When we learn, information is initially stored in short-term memory. We then use short-term memory to process and make meaning of the information. As a result of this processing, the information is then transferred to long-term memory.
Neuroscience is the study of the brain and how it works. Regarding learning, neuroscience can tell us how the brain responds when we learn and how it changes as a result of learning. Neurons are the basic units of the brain. When we learn, neurons form new connections and create new pathways to store and process information. This is known as neuroplasticity. When we learn, neurons are activated, and new connections are formed. Neurons communicate with one another through synapses. For learning to occur, neurons need to be activated. When we learn, neurons become activated through use. However, we need to challenge ourselves to activate neurons and create new connections. This means that lessening the learning environment or task challenge can reduce the learning potential.
When we learn, we use motivation as a driving force. This motivation can be cognitive, affective or behavioural. Let’s look at each of these in more detail. Cognitive motivation is the desire to learn something because it has perceived value. It is driven by a desire to increase our knowledge, skills, and abilities. Affective motivation is the desire to learn something because it generates positive feelings. It is driven by a desire to experience certain emotions and feelings and to feel good. Behavioural motivation is the desire to learn something because it will help us achieve certain goals. It is driven by a desire to do something and produce a specific outcome resulting from that action. When we learn, we also use our emotions. This is because emotion and learning are closely linked.
Learning involves encoding the new information we have encountered and storing it in long-term memory. When we learn, we encode the information and then store it in long-term memory. When we encode information, we transform it into a form that is meaningful for us. This is known as encoding. Information that is meaningful for us is much easier to store in long-term memory. This is why it is important to engage with the learning material and make it meaningful.
When we learn, we also consolidate what we already know. This means we build on these existing skills and knowledge to develop our skills and knowledge. When we learn, we also build on what we already know. This is known as consolidation. We learn new skills and information, but those skills and information are processed through our existing neural pathways.
Summary
Learning is a complex process that occurs in multiple stages. When we learn, we use our attention, perception, information processing, and long-term memory to encode, store and consolidate the new information. Learning also involves our emotions and motivation. These are important factors that can influence how, when, and how well we learn.
