MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



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


    De Houwer, Jan and 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

    [img]
    Preview
    Download (131kB) | Preview


    Share your research

    Twitter Facebook LinkedIn GooglePlus Email more...



    Add this article to your Mendeley library


    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
    URI:
    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

    Repository Staff Only(login required)

    View Item Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads