1. Concepts learned, new to understanding and importance
Chapter seven features the Basic Principle of learning under learning and cognition. I learnt that we are who we are basing on the learning environment we are exposed to. The chapter brings into perspective four aspects of principles of learning namely, classical conditioning where one learns from association, operand conditioning through consequences of one’s behaviour, extinction where a trait is foregone and finally the theoretical application of the basic learning principle (Lahey, 2012). For instance, one's character and behaviour heavily rely on the type of culture one finds himself in. Scientists used dogs, rats and a child in this chapter to prove the concept of learning and cognition. Therefore I can say through learning which is a change brought about by a continuous experience in the course of growth; we can gain new knowledge, skills and attitudes and also fear. We also develop ways to counter those fears and ways to even avoid them at times, by that we create our different personalities through time. Also, our psychology determines a lot of factors in relevance to how our bodies unconsciously respond to certain stimuli. Although we may purport to control our psychology, our minds play an enormous role in controlling our bodies.
2. Concepts challenging/contradicting previous understanding
My take on the basic principle of learning was entirely based on intelligence and could only be appreciated by intelligent animals, in my case humans and primates only. The use of rats and dogs to instil training and learning however came as a shocker proving even animals can be intelligent to some extent or learning does not entirely depend on intelligence. Therefore learning through various stimuli can generate responses that are otherwise time not related to the stimuli like in the case of Pavlov’s dog experiment where the dog salivated at the sound of a metronome which is a form of classical conditioning. However, these responses can fade away over time if the successive experiments are halted just as does in humans. Therefore intelligence in these animals could be the determining factor towards their learning and cognition.
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3. Concepts difficult to comprehend
What baffles me is the psychological negative impression created in mind and has an effect on the body even without partaking of the stimulant. It was quite interesting to learn how our biological factors play a big role in regards to our learning pattern. The same experience of taking a certain kind of food for the first time when one is sick, in my case honey, had a negative lasting impression in my mind that honey was very disgusting a meal and could not understand why people like it (Lahey, 2012). I used to have stomach upset just at the scent of honey or just staring at a picture or advertisement of honey. But over time nausea faded and little by little I started enjoying the flavour.
4. Connection of current concepts with those previously covered
The most important concept I can connect with the previously learnt notions is that through learning we can avoid certain things that can pose as a threat to our normal being. Altering our conscious state of mind affects our learning to an enormous extent. Use of psychotropic drugs in many cases happens to be the choices we make from a tender age often the adolescent stage. Therefore as a counter activity, I see the use of learning and cognition as the perfect way to prevent the children from engaging in drug abuse by creating a sense of phobia from their tender age against drug use. Use of negative effects painted on the minds of the children will build a lasting impression on their minds and will not try to use such drugs in their lifetime.
5. Real world application
I learnt in this chapter that we as humans learn from experience and stimulus created by the things around us. In most cases, we apply the use of conditional and unconditional stimuli and response to accomplish most of our wants. Also, superstition is as a result of these responses to natural environments in succession. We also see the use of stimuli to train children instead of corporal punishment. Punishments in various other forms help to generate responses that are favourable by those in authority hence avoidance of mistakes by the subjects.
Reference
Lahey, B. (2012). Psychology: An introduction (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
