Types of learning are categories that allow us to classify the different ways in which we adapt to the new from what we know about the past.
This basic psychological process, which has different variants (as we shall see), takes place far beyond school and university: it takes place constantly, in any situation, even if we are not aware of it.
But… ¿what these types of learning are and what do they tell us about our ability to modify our behavior to meet the challenges of everyday life? Let’s see it.
The most important types of learning
If there’s one concept that has defined human nature, that’s learning.. All our ideas, feelings and abilities to adapt to the challenges of life exist because we have the ability to learn from the most varied experiences, consciously or unconsciously.
Sometimes we learn for the better, allowing ourselves to live well and develop useful technologies, and sometimes we learn for the worse, producing psychological disorders and harmful ways of relating to others.
In the following lines we will see which are the most important types of learning, and what characterizes them. However, we must bear in mind that some of these categories overlap in some aspects, because they obey different criteria when it comes to differentiating the ways in which we learn.
1. Observational learning
This type of learning is given when the person learns from observing what another person does or experiences, called a model. This way of internalizing knowledge is especially relevant during the first years of life, although it also takes place at any other stage of psychological development, from birth to old age.
In addition, it is a very relevant form of learning in technical and artistic knowledge, in which the coordination between ideas and movements is basic to achieve something with precision, although in the same way it can occur in other areas of life, such as the management of social relations, making purchasing decisions, etc…
2. Learning by discovery
Unlike what happens in the previous type of learning, in this the learner is an active subject of the learning processand participates in the action that generates new knowledge, rather than merely observing.
The clearest example of the context in which this psychological phenomenon occurs is found in the laboratory classes taught in many institutes, in which young people learn by creating chemical reactions themselves. However, as with all other types of learning, it occurs in many situations outside formal schooling: for example, by using the home computer and understanding how it works.
3. Implicit learning
What characterizes implicit learning is that it occurs without the subject realizing it.and many times without even having set out to learn. It is, in fact, the most common way of learning, and it makes our memory gather verbal and non-verbal information in a spontaneous way. On the other hand, it is also one of the most common processes through which psychological disorders arise.
For example, the fact of learning to orient oneself in a city in which we had not been is usually given through implicit learning, since we do not make an effort to memorize each and every one of the spatial references we use to know where we are at any given moment. At the same time, psychological traumas are the result of implicit learning, because they cause us to associate certain stimuli with a series of painful thoughts and memories.
4. Explicit learning
As its name suggests, this type of learning is the opposite of the previous one, because is produced voluntarily and consciouslyat times when we invest effort in memorizing something.
When we research for a school or university project, we are using this psychological skill. Now, in practice, whenever we use explicit learning, implicit learning is also taking place, even if it is to memorize the details that we consider less important and that we have “in mind”.
5. Cooperative learning
When we learn cooperatively, we do so within the framework of a teamwork process in which there is usually a distribution of roles, so that we can learn from observation as well as from participation and discussion about how to interpret the data we found.
6. Memoristic learning
This type of learning is based on the repetition of situations and stimuli.. Exposure to the same information over and over again makes us able to memorize relatively long data strings.
An example of memoristic learning can be found in the memorization of multiplication tables, as well as in what we do many times when learning chronologies in which dates have to be studied. In both cases, it is necessary to revise many times so that everything is consolidated in the memory.
However, it should be borne in mind that almost all learning situations are based on repetition to a greater or lesser degree; in memoristic learning, however, the minimum number of repetitions to learn is greater. This is a more quantitative than qualitative difference with most types of learning.
7. Meaningful learning
While memory learning is useful and necessary in many contexts, it has the disadvantage that it does not guarantee that we give meaning to memorized information beyond the data itself. In other words, we often memorize information that remains in our memory isolated from the rest, without being connected to external references that are significant for us.
For example, we can memorize that Greek philosophy began in the 6th century B.C. without understanding exactly what that implies, or how that changed history.
Meaningful learning, on the other hand, is based on the integration of new memorized information into a network of ideas and concepts that shapes our knowledge about the world, so that no part is completely disconnected. In this way, through this formula for learning, it is less frequent to forget things, because the new knowledge is “fixed” to our memory through different points of connection with what we already knew and which endow us with a useful and “meaningful” meaning for our mind.
8. Relevant learning
This is a significant learning subtype in which the new informationIn addition to being considered important enough to be incorporated into the network of concepts of what is known, it can be applied to everyday life, so that it is put into practice regularly and is reinforced and enriched.
9. Receptive learning
Responsive learning normally occurs in formal education contexts in which teachers broadcast information and learners are expected to memorize it passively and one-way.
For example, it is what happens when students orally dictate lessons from the History subject that they must copy into their notebook. Therefore, it is often very different from meaningful learning, among other things because in cases of doubt it is not encouraged to ask in order to clarify concepts and thus allow a fit between new and old information.
10. Maintenance Learning
In this kind of knowledge, rules and theoretical criteria are generated that allow known tasks to be performed and which must be faced regularly. For example, perfecting study methods is, in itself, a way of learning.
11. Auditory learning
As its name makes evident, auditory learning uses auditory stimuli as a raw material. It is fundamental in the development of the arts linked to music, but it also allows us to learn patterns of prosody and the use of the voice to express ideas and sensations.
12. Visual learning
Visual learning recognizes visual patternswhatever its form. It can be applied in a wide range of situations, from the use of colour schemes in the making of audiovisual pieces, to the creation of schemes to study better or to design documents or web pages, through acting and dance.
13. Kinestetic learning
In this form of learning the tactile and proprioceptive stimuli are the information from which one learns.. It applies, for example, to exercise and sport, and also to arts such as theatre and dance.
Bibliographic references
- Arias Gómez, D.H. (2005) Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de las Ciencias Sociales: Una propuesta didáctica. Bogotá. Magisterio Publishing Cooperative.
- Lachman, S.J. (1997). Learning is a process: Toward an im-proved definition of learning. Journal of Psychology. 131: 447 – 480.
- Pear, J. (2014). The Science of Learning. London: Psychology Press.
- Shanks, D.R., Green, R.E.A., Kolodny, J.A. (1994). A critical examination of the evidence for unconscious (implicit) learning, in Attention and Performance (Vol. 15) (Umiltà, C. and Moscovitch, M., eds). Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 837 – 860.
- Smolen, P.; Zhang, Y.; Byrne, J.H. (2016). The right time to learn: mechanisms and optimization of spaced learning. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 17 (2): 77 – 88.