Simple break them away from the excitement and

Simple break them away from the excitement and

Simple Stimulus Learning Simple Stimulus Learning Throughout time learning has been described as the gaining of information. When one learns, they are responding to stimuli that have triggered their ability to acknowledge what is going on around them. An operational definition of stimulus can be something or someone that initiated or has been viewed as starting a response. In other words “much of our behavior consists of learned responses to simple signals” (Northern College, 2003). There are various forms of simple stimulus learning that humans and animals can possess.

The following paper will describe what habituation is, what factors that can affect perceptual learning, the effects of stimulus exposure, and stimulus learning related to real life situations. Explaining Habituation Terry (2009) defines habituation as “the decrease in orienting (and other) reactions to a stimulus that is repeatedly repeated (p. 27). This meaning that overtime new stimuli will become less responsive the more the stimuli are shown and familiarize with. In psychology, the term habituation can be used in two similar ways.The first way is to repetitively show a stimulus and the second way will be the response decrease and the effect it has.

This particular learning will show how a subject’s response will gradually dwindle when shown something over and over. For example, when a child is given new toys at Christmas, they are all over the place exploring and playing with the toys. It seems as though nothing can break them away from the excitement and fun that they are having with the new toys. This exploration process is called orienting. It has also been noticed that the old or familiar toys are being overlooked.The ignoring of toys by the child is the method of habituation.

Habituation is common amongst all humans or animals regardless of the realization or not. Epstein, Temple, Roemmich, and Bouton (2009) completed a study to see how habituation relates to the amount of food intake. “This research is in its infancy and may help to understand some aspects of eating and be able to provide insight into factors responsible for obesity and eating disorders” (Epstein et al.

, 2009, p. 404). Studies like the one above are valuable to the researchers and the public when it comes to finding new information and safety for the community.

Analyze Factors that Affect Perceptual Learning Society as a whole learns differently from one another. This meaning that the way that one individual acquires knowledge may be completely different from the way that his or her friend learns. When studying and absorbing information there are various learning styles that can be used in order for it to stick in one’s memory. The perceptual learning styles are: auditory (learning through hearing), visual (learning through seeing), haptic (learning through touch), kinesthetic (learning through body movement), olfactory (learning through smell), and print mode (learning through printed word).Although each specific learning style has its own unique way of acquiring knowledge, an individual can fall under more than one category. For instance, the author finds that visual, auditory, and print mode overall works best for them depending on the situation. In the education setting, learning styles play a major role in instruction.

“Recently, a growing emphasis on differentiated instruction may have furthered increased teachers’ tendency to look at learning styles as an instructionally relevant variable when individualizing instruction in increasingly heterogeneous classrooms” (Landrum & McDuffie, 2010, p. ). As being a teacher the author can thoroughly relate to this. It is important for teachers and instructors to realize and take this information in consideration. Individualization is vital to see how you can improve a student’s learning. If a student is not fully grasping a concept or needs some improvement in a specific area, then understanding how that individual learns will be the best way to incorporate new ideas and carrying out the plan. For example, if a two year old focuses when they can actually see what it is you want them to do then it will be a good idea to always provide some type of visual.

If one says “Johnny let’s go to the carpet so that we can read a book”. It would help if the teacher had the book in hand to show them that’s the next transition or it could also work if he or she points at the bookshelf and ask Johnny to pick out a book for storytime. This shows auditory individualization in the possible domain areas of improvement (cognition, language, and social).

Examine the Effects of Stimulus Exposure “Exposure to a stimulus sometimes leads to an effective, or emotional, change in the preference the stimulus” (Terry, 2006).In other words whatever or whoever that is being studied may have a particular liking to familiar stimuli. A scenario can be children choosing kick ball teams at a summer camp. When the captains are chosen, each of them may begin choosing teammates that they knew prior to camp or individuals that they have met since the camp begun.

This leaving the children that the captains are not familiar with being picked last. This can result into few different outcomes: one team being better than the other (faster, more athletic, too much power), the feeling of favoritism being showed, or self-doubt about one’s team and individual performance.In actuality, none of the above outcomes could happen or it could result into being the complete opposite. The fact of the matter is that familiarity can control a situation. Another stimulus exposure effect is priming.

“Priming occurs when one presentation of a stimulus facilitates the processing of a closely following repetition of the same or a related stimulus” (Terry, 2006). An example of this could be, having a classroom scavenger hunt and the students are shown pictures of various objects to find including one of a blue teddy bear.Although they were briefly shown the pictures, being that it was recent the students are able to recognize the object they were looking for amongst other items laying around in no time. This shows that prior exposure helps the students look and find objects much easier and faster. Simple Stimulus Learning Related to Real Life Situations As stated earlier an individual’s behavior is learned responses to stimuli. A person’s personal experiences can be associated with any of the topics listed above (habituation, perceptual learning, and exposure).

Here is a couple examples of that the author has experienced at some point in time. The author is associated as being a print mode learner. When given the duty to cook chicken tetrazzini for a family gathering the author begins to look up and study various recipes. After studying recipes for a while it becomes clear that everything is basically the same and running together, so the author starts to ignore some things (habituation). However, after choosing a recipe to follow by the author begins to get excited with the hands on process (haptic) and begins to do few trial and errors.Through actually handling the ingredients, other perceptual learning styles begin to play a major key in baking the dish such as olfactory (smell) and visualization.

In the end the dish came out wonderful because the author did not let one particular style of learning hinder the process of using another style. A different real life situation that the author experienced is priming. At a meeting at work, the center manager went over a few safety precautions that had occurred at the building. It was announced that black widow spiders had been spotted on some of the playground areas.The local pest control was called in but for extra security purposes the teachers were notified what to look for by pictures shown of the spiders.

The next morning while at recess the author was able to spot out the spiders because of being prior exposed to pictures. In this case the safety of both the students and teachers were saved from the use of priming methods the administrator showed. Conclusion Simple stimulus learning is developed by elements that are going on in the surrounding environment.

The response is caused by a subject that has initiated a reaction to occur.Both human beings and animals are able to perform various types of stimulus learning consciously and unconsciously. Habituation, perceptual learning, stimulus exposure, and real life situations are common ways that simple stimulus learning can be examined. These forms further explain the importance of the topic and how it plays a role in understanding learning itself. Reference Epstein, L.

H. , Temple, J. L. , Roemmich, J. N. , & Bouton, M. E.

(2009). Habituation as a determinant of human food intake. Psychological Review, 116(2), 384-407. doi:10.

1037/a0015074. Retrieved August 9, 2011 from EBSCOhost Landrum, T.J. , & McDuffie, K. A.

(2010). Learning Styles in the Age of Differentiated Instruction. Exceptionality: 18(1), 6-17. doi: 10. 1080/09362830903462441.

Retrieved August 9, 2011 from EBSCOhost Northern College (2003). Learning Theories. Retrieved August 8, 2011 from http://www. northern.

ac. uk/NCMaterials/psychology/lifespan%20folder/Learningtheories. htm Terry, W.

S. (2006). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and procedures (3th ed.

). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon Terry, W. S.

(2009). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and procedures (4th ed. ). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon