Nonassociative Learning

Focus

Principal Metaphors

• Knowledge is … repertoire of behaviors
• Knowing is … behaving (triggered by stimuli)
• Learner is … an organism-in-context
• Learning is … changes in behavior (linking stimuli to responses)
• Teaching is … training; engineering behavior (through deliberate conditioning)

Originated

Synopsis

• Blocking (Leon Kamin, 1960s) – the failure to learn (respond to) a new stimulus when there is a trained stimulus present – i.e., the earlier-encountered stimulus “blocks” the ability to learn about later-introduced stimulus
• Dishabituation (Dehabituation) – a recovery or restoration of a behavior that had become habituated (e.g., noticing a background noise that one had grown used to)
• Extinction – reduction in a learned behavior
• Habituation – a reduction in innate behavior (e.g., no longer startled by a loud noise)
• Imprinting – a rapid type of learning, typically limited to a very tight window after birth, that involves an initial fixing of attention on an object or agent and a subsequent tendency to follow that object or agent. Imprinting has been observed in many birds, some fishes and insects, and a few mammals. Whether humans imprint is a disputed matter.
• Inhibition/Disinhibition – increase/decrease in the intensity of a learned behavior, owing to processes not associated with the learning (e.g., observing consequences of others’ actions; recalling prohibitions from youth)
• Instinctual Drift (Instinctive Drift) (Keller Breland, Marian Breland, 1960s) – the tendency of learned behaviors to revert to innate, instinctual patterns over time
• Satiation – the reduction or loss of a reinforcer’s effectiveness, due to repeated use
• Sensitization – an increase in responsiveness to a specific stimulus
• Spontaneous Recovery (Ivan Pavlov, 1920s) – the re-appearance of a thought-to-be-extinguished behavior. Although originally formulated to refer to the recovery of “lost” conditioned responses, the notion has since been extended to memories of all sorts.

Authors and/or Prominent Influences

Status as a Theory of Learning

Status as a Theory of Teaching

Status as a Scientific Theory

Subdiscourses:

• Blocking
• Dishabituation (Dehabituation)
• Extinction
• Habituation
• Imprinting
• Inhibition/Disinhibition
• Instinctual Drift (Instinctive Drift)
• Satiation
• Sensitization
• Spontaneous Recovery

Map Location

Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2024). “Nonassociative Learning” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.