Learning is one of the main processes that allow most organisms to be able to adapt to changes that may occur in the environment, as well as respond favorably to the different types of stimuli that we can encounter. We learn how to react, what we like and what we don’t, what each thing is, what it means to us or even how the world works. In the case of human beings, even, we spend a large part of our lives training and learning, going so far as to create institutions such as schools for this purpose.
Throughout history, professionals who have studied how we learn have been developing different learning models with the purpose of understanding the mechanisms and processes that we follow, using these models to try to improve the educational system. In this articles we are going to observe some of the main learning models that exist or have existed.
Before focusing on the different models that may exist, it is advisable to try to make a brief review of what it means, in a generic way, to learn.
We understand how to learn the action through which a being (whether human or not) acquires some type of information or data from the environment (whether said environment is external or internal to the being itself), through different means. The fact that there is learning does not only imply that the information arrives but also that the subject is capable of carrying out some type of operation with it, restructuring your behavior or your understanding of the environment of himself or of reality.
It must be taken into account that there are many types of learning, some of them based on the association between two stimuli and others based on the mere repetition of exposure to a stimulus.
It is also necessary to take into account that although we generally identify learning with the educational system, learning and educating are not concepts that completely overlap: although education is intended for someone or something to learn, the fact of learning can occur without the existence of said intention. It can be learned, for example, through exposure to parental models vicariously through observation or even based on biological or innate aspects as occurs with imprinting.
Main learning models
Below are some of the main learning models that have existed throughout history and that have had great influence at some point in history. Most of them have been applied to the world of formal education or they are derived directly from the observation of how learning is done in said environment.
1. Behavioral or behaviorist models
At a scientific level, some of the first models of learning that existed are based on the theoretical paradigm of behaviorism (which in turn is largely derived from logical positivism). This type of model proposes that learning is achieved through the association between stimuli, although it also contemplates non-associative learning processes. such as habituation to a stimulus or sensitization to it
Behaviorism as a paradigm does not initially contemplate the existence of the mind, or rather it does not consider that it can be known since it cannot be observed empirically. Even In some cases the mind is considered a product of action and association, or directly as a concept referring to something that does not exist. Within the behavioral models we can find three especially notable models. In fact, the self itself is nothing more than a passive recipient of information.
1.1. Classical conditioning
The first of them is classical conditioning, which proposes that we learn through the association between stimuli that generate a reaction or response and neutral stimuli. Pavlov and Watson are two of the main authors of this theory, in which learning is equivalent to associating the presence of an appetitive or aversive stimulus with a neutral element that ends up generating the same response. This is conditioned based on exposure to the stimulus that does generate a reaction per se.
1.2. Instrumental conditioning
A second model is Thorndike’s instrumental conditioning, which proposes that we learn based on the association of different stimuli and responses, the association weakening or strengthening based on practice and whether the consequences are positive or not. We learn that a certain stimulus requires a certain response and that this has its consequences.
1.3. Operant conditioning
The third major model is Skinner’s, the so-called operant conditioning. In his case, our actions and learning are derived from the association between the actions we carry out and their consequences, appearing the concept of reinforcers (consequences that favor the repetition of the action) and punishments (that make it difficult) and these consequences being what determines if and what we are going to learn. This model is the one among all behaviorists that has had the most application at the school level.
2. Cognitivist models
The behaviorist models suffered from a great difficulty when trying to explain learning: they did not take into account mental activity beyond the associative capacity, not explaining a large part of the elements that allow the fact of learning. This difficulty would try to be solved based on the cognitivist model, which explores human cognition as an evidentiary fact through different methods and assesses different capacities and mental processes. The human being is an active entity in learning.
Within cognitivism we can also find different major models, among which those of Bandura, the models of information processing and those of Gagné of cumulative learning stand out.
2.1. Bandura’s social cognitive model
Albert Bandura considered that mental processes and the environment interact in such a way that learning occurs from said link. For this author, learning is, at least in human beings, eminently social: thanks to the interaction with others we observe and acquire different behaviors and information that we end up integrating into our schemes It introduces the concept of observational learning, as well as the idea of modeling or even vicarious learning as a way of learning.
This set of models states that our mind captures, operates and produces information from the environment, working with it through different levels of processing or even depending on different memory processes.
23. Gagné Cumulative Learning
Considered the general theory of instruction, this theory proposes that we learn through a sequencing of associations typical of classical conditioning.
Robert Gagné proposes that we carry out different types of learning, which are arranged hierarchically in such a way that to be able to carry out one, the previous ones must have been carried out. First we learn signals, and then we do it with stimuli and responses, chains of the previous ones, verbal associations, ways of differentiating between the different chains and, based on all this, we manage to make associations and acquire concepts and principles that we finally learn to use to solve problems.
3. Constructivist models
Even though cognitivist models value the presence of different skills and mental processes within learning, in this type of model other types of processes are often left aside, such as the ability to link what is new with what was previously learned, the role of motivation and the subject’s own will to learn That is why constructivism emerged, focused on what is the attitude of the learner and the ability to make what is being learned meaningful for this fundamental elements.
In constructivism, it is the learner himself who constructs the knowledge he learns, based on external information, his own abilities and the help provided by the environment.
It is the type of learning model that has had the most prevalence in recent times, still being the predominant one today. Within the constructivist models we can highlight these models, again, we also find the contributions of various authors such as Piaget, Vygotsky or Ausubel.
3.1. Piaget’s learning theory
Piaget is a highly known name in the world of education. Specifically, His studies on human development stand out in which he theorized about different stages of mental maturation, and research on the acquisition of different cognitive skills. He also generated a theory about how we learn.
Within his theory, learning something means that the human being carries out some type of operation in which the set of cognitive schemes that the subject previously had is altered in some way. Our mental schemes form a basic structure of thought that we have acquired throughout our lives and learning implies the arrival of new information to our system. Given the arrival of new developments, our schemes will have to adapt either expanding to incorporate the new information into the previous scheme (a process known as assimilation) or being modified in the event that said information contradicts the past schemes (allowing the accommodation of the new data).
Another of the most cited and renowned theories on learning and education is that of Vygostky. In this case, sociocultural theory is characterized by assess the importance of providing adjusted and adapted support to the minor so that they can learn.
In this theory we can see how there is a series of learning that a subject can achieve on his or her own, another that he or she will not be able to achieve in any way, and a third that, although he or she cannot achieve it at the moment, it is possible to achieve it. Do it if you have enough help. It would be the difference between what the subject can do and what he could do with enough help, the so-called Zone of Proximal Development the point on which formal education should focus.
This model considers the idea of scaffolding to be fundamental, in which the temporary support of teachers, family members or colleagues will allow us to build our knowledge in a way that we would not achieve on our own despite having the potential to achieve them.
3.3. The assimilation of meaningful learning by Ausubel
Another of the main theories and models of learning and the last one that we are going to discuss in this article is Ausubel’s theory of assimilation of meaningful learning. This theory assesses the existence of learning by reception, in which the learner acquires information because it is given to him, and learning by discovery, in which the subject himself investigates and learns based on his interests In relation to this, he also distinguishes between mechanical and repetitive learning and meaningful learning.
It is the latter that is of most interest in order to obtain quality learning, in which the new is linked to what already exists and a meaning is given to both what has been learned and the fact of learning. Thanks to this we can learn and give meaning to representational, conceptual and propositional elements, there being a certain hierarchy as it is necessary to learn the first ones to advance in learning the following ones.
Many other models
In addition to the above, there are many other models regarding learning that exist. For example, the models of Bruner, Carroll and Bloom, or Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment Program, are other of the many examples of authors and proposals about the functioning of one or several different types of learning that must be taken into account, although they are not as recognized as those mentioned.
