Introduction

Learning is the process through which most human behaviour develops beyond the small set of reflexes present at birth. As a child grows, everyday encounters with people, objects, and events gradually add complex behaviours to this small starting repertoire — recognising family members, using a spoon, forming letters and words, following a routine, driving a vehicle, and getting along with others. Because virtually every complex human ability is built through learning, understanding how learning happens is central to understanding behaviour itself. This chapter takes up the study of learning in four broad steps. It begins by defining what learning is and distinguishing it from behavioural changes that look similar but are not learning. It then surveys the major methods, or "paradigms", through which learning of different levels of complexity takes place — from the acquisition of simple reflex-based responses to elaborate skills and disability patterns. Along the way, it examines processes such as reinforcement, extinction, generalisation, and discrimination that occur across many forms of learning, and it closes by considering the factors — such as motivation, biological preparedness, and learning disabilities — that determine how quickly and how well a person learns.