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    What is learning? On the nature and merits of a functional definition of learning


    De Houwer, Jan, Barnes-Holmes, Dermot and Moors, Agnes (2013) What is learning? On the nature and merits of a functional definition of learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. ISSN 1069-9384

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    Abstract

    Learning has been defined functionally as changes in behavior that result from experience or mechanistically as changes in the organism that result from experience. Both types of definitions are problematic. We define learning as ontogenetic adaptation, that is, as changes in the behavior of an organism that result from regularities in the environment of the organism. This functional definition not only solves the problems of other definitions but also has important advantages for cognitive learning research.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: learning; conditioning; definition;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
    Item ID: 14820
    Depositing User: Prof. Dermot Barnes-Holmes
    Date Deposited: 14 Sep 2021 15:08
    Journal or Publication Title: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
    Publisher: Springer
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/14820
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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