July 28, 2025 • 15 mins
You would think we would want a full length for this topic. Maybe we still will do one! But for now, we figured we can at least help clear up some misunderstandings or lack of understanding that some may have.
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Links and References:
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Get ad free and bonus content: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast
Links and References:
- What is Learning?
- Donahoe, J. W., & Palmer, D. C. (2004). Learning and Complex Behavior. Ledgetop Publishing: Richmond, MA.
- Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. The Free Press: New York, NY.
- Kantor, J. R., & Smith, N. W. (1975). The Science of Psychology: An Interbehavioral Survey. Principia Press: Chicago, IL.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to Why we Do what we Do. Welcome
to Why We Do what we Do Mini. I'm your
host Abraham and I'm your host Shane. We are a
psychology podcast. We talk about the things that humans and
(00:24):
non human animals do, and sometimes we talk about all
the things that they do all at once.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
As I said, this is a mini which means it's
a short episode. We release these on Mondays as a
quick dive into a topic and then we get out
of there after, Like fifteen minutes is kind of the goal.
Fifteen or less we can go less, we have gone more.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Good luck on this one, because we're going to unpack
learning in less than fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah. Yeah, let's quickly say if you would like to
support us, one way you can do that as by
joining us on Patreon, Like and subscribe to our podcast,
leave a rating and a review, particularly if you like
the podcast that helps us a lot, and go tell
a friend, maybe just make them subscribe by typing our
stuff into their phone or computer or whatever and clicking subscribe.
That's great too. Yeah, but we are talking about learning,
(01:07):
and learning is something that we all think we understand
and I think in a way we kind of take
for granted, or many of us do at least. So
let's tackle this concept that is the subject of many
professions and lifetimes of scholarly work and distill it into
a fifteen minute discussion. Sure, and we're going to do
our best answer what is and is not learning? Yes?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So are you ready?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yep? Three to one? Go all right. If you look
around for a definition, or if you're just thinking about
how you might try to define learning, you might come
up with or read something that goes something like this
quote learning is the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, or
behaviors end quote. And I actually did find that exact definition,
and that's why I used it. And in addition, I
(01:53):
have also seen added to that. It's said that learning
can happen intentionally or unintentionally, and that, to me is
a very silly way to say that, because that means
it always happens, and it's kind of silly to parse
it by intentionality. If they're like, it could happen this way,
or it could happen this way, I'm like, so it
could it could happen, is what you're saying. Yeah, anyway,
parsonally by intentionality seems silly, But anyway, those that's the
(02:15):
definition they offer, and I think at first blush it
registers as coherent like, oh, I got that learning is
the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Cool, that
makes sense, sure, sure, but I disagree.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, so we have to ask a question what is
meant by acquiring? What is knowledge? What are skills? More importantly,
how are they different from behaviors? And although we know
what we would mean when we say behaviors, what our
behaviors within this definition, we don't really have a good
way of describing any of that stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean, this definition raises a lot of questions
without without providing much in the way of a useful definition.
It's sort of a definition that leaves you with less
information than you had before you heard the definition.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, exactly. So, for example, does acquire a mean expose
to information? If so, does learning count if you don't
remember it because at least you were exposed to it.
Does it mean that you can demonstrate that information? If so,
when then learning only happens once we can demonstrate actions
with respect to what is quote unquote learned. Essentially, using
acquires quote unquote acquires tries to skip the important aspect
(03:19):
of the learning, which is how do we determine that
something was actually learned?
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, so we are instead going to offer a very
technical definition followed by a colloquial definition, a version of
this of the definition that we believe is more objective
and useful. So here here is what learning actually is
in a way that I think is a more useful definition.
(03:45):
Learning is the process by which our behaviors are discriminated
by environmental circumstances, arrangements, or cues. That's my technical definition, sure,
said more succinctly. Learning is the process by which our
behavior changes to adapt to the situation. That's learning. And
(04:06):
there's like five reasons I think this definition is a
very good definition.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yes, So let's go ahead and unpack those in what
those important features are. So, first, learning does not always
result in an improvement in behavior, and I think that's
something that's a myth. We think that we learn something
and our behavior gets better. That is not at all
the case, right.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Not always, I mean it sometimes is, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Not always yeah, yeah, you know, and even then whatever
that might mean, right improvement, So learning can mean acquiring
new behaviors that are actually less helpful to the individual
because they adapt to toxic, counterproductive situations.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yes, exactly right, and that is the I think an
understanding that like learning is simply that we change to
it to fit the circumstance, which sometimes means we develop
behaviors that are actually worse for us in the long run. Right,
And that happens a lot more than you would think.
What I like about this definition also is that it
means learning means behavior change, and they sort of parsed
(05:03):
skills and behaviors as things that are different. But skills
and behaviors are not different in any meaningful way. Knowledge
and behavior are not different in any meaningful way. I
suppose you could argue that like behavior is the more
general category, and that inside of behavior you have knowledge
and skills that are specific examples within the category of learning.
(05:25):
But importantly for this discussion, it means that learning is
behavior change. Okay, it is adapting to the situation. That's learning.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah. A third point here is that learning isn't an acquisition,
so to speak, as if we take something into ourselves.
It's a process in which our behaviors are now more
adaptive to our experience with situations. And that would also
suggest that we can learn new ways of doing things
well after we've acquired quote unquote this thing, so like
(05:57):
the acquisition kind of also to me sounds like it's
we're taking something into ourselves that it's static, like we're
almost like we've got an inventory of behaviors and it
doesn't really.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Operate like that.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It's going to adapt based on experience, based on situations,
and so we are our behaviors are changing constantly.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yes. The fourth one is that learning happens across a
variety of presentation modalities and experiences. We learn through observation,
to listening to a lecture or a podcast, reading, practicing, experiencing, experimenting,
and interactions we have with other peoples or events. These
are all categories of situations we could expect to see
(06:36):
learning take place, although to be fair, we are always
adapting to our current circumstances, so you really could list
anything there and it would still more or less make sense.
But it's important to consider that. I think some people
think of learning as taking place in an academic or
didactic situation, when learning really can happen in a wide
(06:56):
variety of ways. It's just the fact that we are
we are adapting to our situation currently and to future
situations in many cases before like acquiring knowledge we then
might use at some later time, Right, I use the
word acquire there, Shoot, we have we have engaged with
knowledge that will allow us to have behaviors changed when
(07:18):
the circumstances relevant for that knowledge arise in the future. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And the fifth point is that learning is not always
directly observable, So often parts of our behavior will change
that no one else can see, such as our thoughts, feelings,
and knowledge. These private events, these private behaviors that are
occurring are not observable to other people. And we may
have thoughts to ourselves and even like kind of like
script to ourselves and have verbal behavior to ourselves where
we're kind of problem solving and thinking about things and like.
(07:44):
And then those new circumstances, like, for instance, when an
AD comes up and you don't know how to deal
with it and process your emotions. Your emotions may change
from elation like you just had while we were talking
about the show to now the disappointment that comes with
the AD. But your behavior is changing and we can't
even see how you're reacting to this ad.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Okay, so we're back from that and we listed the
reasons that we like this definition of learning better. And
so I'm just going to say that definition one more time. Technical,
followed by colloquial learning is the process by which our
behaviors are discriminated by environmental circumstances, arrangements, or cues. More succinctly,
learning is the process by which our behavior changes to
adapt to the situation. And that that definition allows for
(08:30):
a lot of important features we understand to be features
of learning. Okay, And of course, as we learn, we
are influenced by all of the past learning we have
also had and experienced, and all of our new learning
will then become a part of the complex matrix of
our past skills as we learn new things again in
the future. So as we're in a context, the adapting
(08:52):
we do to that context is influenced to the situations
in the past where we've had to learn and adapt.
That will then change, that will affect the direction our
adaptation takes and our new situation. Here, like, maybe we
just strengthen an existing skill set or repertoire we already had.
Maybe we start to deconstruct a skill set that we
had and change it so that it looks a little
(09:13):
bit different because it's no longer as effective as we
thought it was or as it used to be, and
so like there are a variety of ways that can
take place, but we always approach every new learning opportunity
with bringing with us our history of learning at the
same time.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Absolutely, And a term we used earlier, we use the
term discriminated. It's one of my favorite terms in behavior
analysis in general and like learning, because we're talking about
how behavior changes depending on certain circumstances. Right, we discriminate
when to engage in certain responses. And all this means
is that we just kind of sort one thing from another.
We discriminate that this happens here and not here. And
(09:50):
we say that the environment discriminates behavior because it is
our prevailing and historical circumstances that incentivize or discourage our
actions as they adapt to the present situation. So this
is technically more accurate than saying the individual discriminates, because
it is the situation at hand that presents opportunities and
directions for our actions that they'll take. Right, So, our
(10:10):
behavior shapes and flows and changes under unique circumstances, and
the environment discriminates how we respond.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Right, Now, as we talk about learning, you think of
an educational setting, and so these are just some examples
to talk through this. Right, learning happens in an educational
setting when the students can behave with respect to the
information that was provided. Pedagogically speaking, teaching didn't happen if
learning didn't happen, Like if someone quote unquote taught something
(10:38):
and the student didn't learn it, then did they teach
that thing? I would say no, because the evidence of
their teaching would be in the outcome of it having
been learned, and the behavior change has been demonstrated, yeah,
as an outcome. So anyway, I think that's what we're
talking about. What learning looks like in an education environment
is that students can now behave with respect to that information.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Now, in a deliberate practice situation such as learning an instrument,
language exercise, or skills such as cooking something like that
behavior is usually shaped to follow a very precise pattern
and usually at a minimal threshold of speed. So simply put,
like you know, these behaviors have to happen in a
certain sequence a certain way. They have to happen in
a certain amount of time, like you know, specifically cooking, right,
(11:20):
cooking has to happen like it's it's precise, Like it's
not as precise as people think it is, but it
is more precise than like let's say, like maybe writing
a passage or typing something right. There's more time limits,
there's more structure compared to that, and so learning occurs
in these spaces where like, oh, if I move past
the threshold, then I lose an opportunity for learning, I
lose an opportunity for reinforcement. So these situations are pretty unique.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Well, I think an instrument is a really good case
where the pacing is extremely important. We're playing an instrument. Yeah,
notes follow from one another at a very deliberate speed,
and that creates the composition of music that comes from
that instrument. And so speed is actually a really important
face in any of these sort of very precise behavior
patterns that we develop as we're learning things. For sure,
(12:05):
there's also like opportunistic learning, which is when they said
like intentionally unintentionally kind of learning that just sort of
happens on the fly. Again, a useless way to try
and parse out how those things show up. But nevertheless,
this is simply that our behaviors adapt to the situation,
which of course is happening in all of the situations
we have also listed. And these are not hard and
fast categories like this is just ways that we figured
(12:26):
out people that we figured people might consider and think
about when they're when if we were to ask about,
like when does learning happen, they might think of like
opportunistic learning, like a thing just happened and you gained
experience from that, or deliberate practice where you're trying to
get a particular skill up to speed, or in a
classroom environment where they're doing education type things. But that
is not to say that those are the only categories.
(12:47):
Those are the ones that I figured people would be
thinking about when if asked and when thinking about and
asked about with respect to learning.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, So basically, like simply put, learning is a process
by which our behavior changes and adapts to our environments.
That's that's what learned nice and easy, and everybody learns
in every context, which is at least most context, and
it's kind of fun, you know, I think I would
still say every context. I feel like that's a pretty
good absolute.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's fair. So we all learned something that's kind nice.
Always learning. I value learning. I value very deliberate learning.
I value having my behavior be able to change and
adapt personally. Yeah, but agreed. I think that is what
we have to say about learning. Look at that, all
of the scholarly work that's ever been done on this,
and we did it in less than fifteen minutes. Good job,
Good job us.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah take that Catania.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Ooh inside nerd joke. If you like to tell us
your thoughts on learning, what we got wrong or what
we got right, we would like to hear from you.
You can email us directly at info at WWDWWD podcast
dot com, or reach us on the social media platforms,
and we very much enjoy hearing from all of you.
If you would like to support us, one way that
you can do that is joining us on Patreon. You'll
get these episodes without ads. We still do the ad segue,
(13:54):
but then an ad doesn't play, so there's like that
thing happens, and that can be a beneficial. Our benefit
of listening to it is not having to listen through ads.
You also get early episodes, another behind the scenes content,
and on our full length episodes, I will list the
names of all of the people who support us, and
we really appreciate that if you do not want to
support us financially, or you can't or just whatever, that
is just not the path you're on, that's okay. You
(14:14):
can also support us by leaving us a nice five
star rating, and if you are feeling really ambitious, you
can also leave us a review, and we do appreciate
those things. Some people just write like one sentence reviews,
and that's great too, particularly the positive ones. So feel
free to do that.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yeah, we like those.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
We like those and it helps us get the show
out there. You can also like subscribe, tell a friend
and tell them to like and subscribe and leave us
a rating and review. You can just spread the word
for us. That's great. I think that is. And thank
you so much to my team of people without whom
I could not make this podcast, And thank you all
for listening. Is there anything that I'm missing or that
you like to add before we wrap this one up?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
No, I think it covers it all.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Right, perfect catch us next time. We'll have our full
length comes out on Wednesday. Another mini will come out
the following Monday, and we'll just keep that up for
as long as we can stand to keep it up.
But this is Abraham and it's a Shane Why We
Do What We Do?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Mini is out, Ziya or bye or whatever I say.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
You've been listening to Why We Do What We Do.
You can learn more about this and other episodes by
going to WWDWWD podcast dot com.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Thanks for listening, and we hope you have an awesome day.
You're listening to Why we Do what we Do. Welcome
to Why We Do what we Do Mini. I'm your
host Abraham and I'm your host Shane. We are a
psychology podcast. We talk about the things that humans and
(00:24):
non human animals do, and sometimes we talk about all
the things that they do all at once.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
As I said, this is a mini which means it's
a short episode. We release these on Mondays as a
quick dive into a topic and then we get out
of there after, Like fifteen minutes is kind of the goal.
Fifteen or less we can go less, we have gone more.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Good luck on this one, because we're going to unpack
learning in less than fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah. Yeah, let's quickly say if you would like to
support us, one way you can do that as by
joining us on Patreon, Like and subscribe to our podcast,
leave a rating and a review, particularly if you like
the podcast that helps us a lot, and go tell
a friend, maybe just make them subscribe by typing our
stuff into their phone or computer or whatever and clicking subscribe.
That's great too. Yeah, but we are talking about learning,
(01:07):
and learning is something that we all think we understand
and I think in a way we kind of take
for granted, or many of us do at least. So
let's tackle this concept that is the subject of many
professions and lifetimes of scholarly work and distill it into
a fifteen minute discussion. Sure, and we're going to do
our best answer what is and is not learning? Yes?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So are you ready?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yep? Three to one? Go all right. If you look
around for a definition, or if you're just thinking about
how you might try to define learning, you might come
up with or read something that goes something like this
quote learning is the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, or
behaviors end quote. And I actually did find that exact definition,
and that's why I used it. And in addition, I
(01:53):
have also seen added to that. It's said that learning
can happen intentionally or unintentionally, and that, to me is
a very silly way to say that, because that means
it always happens, and it's kind of silly to parse
it by intentionality. If they're like, it could happen this way,
or it could happen this way, I'm like, so it
could it could happen, is what you're saying. Yeah, anyway,
parsonally by intentionality seems silly, But anyway, those that's the
(02:15):
definition they offer, and I think at first blush it
registers as coherent like, oh, I got that learning is
the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Cool, that
makes sense, sure, sure, but I disagree.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, so we have to ask a question what is
meant by acquiring? What is knowledge? What are skills? More importantly,
how are they different from behaviors? And although we know
what we would mean when we say behaviors, what our
behaviors within this definition, we don't really have a good
way of describing any of that stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean, this definition raises a lot of questions
without without providing much in the way of a useful definition.
It's sort of a definition that leaves you with less
information than you had before you heard the definition.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, exactly. So, for example, does acquire a mean expose
to information? If so, does learning count if you don't
remember it because at least you were exposed to it.
Does it mean that you can demonstrate that information? If so,
when then learning only happens once we can demonstrate actions
with respect to what is quote unquote learned. Essentially, using
acquires quote unquote acquires tries to skip the important aspect
(03:19):
of the learning, which is how do we determine that
something was actually learned?
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, so we are instead going to offer a very
technical definition followed by a colloquial definition, a version of
this of the definition that we believe is more objective
and useful. So here here is what learning actually is
in a way that I think is a more useful definition.
(03:45):
Learning is the process by which our behaviors are discriminated
by environmental circumstances, arrangements, or cues. That's my technical definition, sure,
said more succinctly. Learning is the process by which our
behavior changes to adapt to the situation. That's learning. And
(04:06):
there's like five reasons I think this definition is a
very good definition.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yes, So let's go ahead and unpack those in what
those important features are. So, first, learning does not always
result in an improvement in behavior, and I think that's
something that's a myth. We think that we learn something
and our behavior gets better. That is not at all
the case, right.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Not always, I mean it sometimes is, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Not always yeah, yeah, you know, and even then whatever
that might mean, right improvement, So learning can mean acquiring
new behaviors that are actually less helpful to the individual
because they adapt to toxic, counterproductive situations.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yes, exactly right, and that is the I think an
understanding that like learning is simply that we change to
it to fit the circumstance, which sometimes means we develop
behaviors that are actually worse for us in the long run. Right,
And that happens a lot more than you would think.
What I like about this definition also is that it
means learning means behavior change, and they sort of parsed
(05:03):
skills and behaviors as things that are different. But skills
and behaviors are not different in any meaningful way. Knowledge
and behavior are not different in any meaningful way. I
suppose you could argue that like behavior is the more
general category, and that inside of behavior you have knowledge
and skills that are specific examples within the category of learning.
(05:25):
But importantly for this discussion, it means that learning is
behavior change. Okay, it is adapting to the situation. That's learning.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah. A third point here is that learning isn't an acquisition,
so to speak, as if we take something into ourselves.
It's a process in which our behaviors are now more
adaptive to our experience with situations. And that would also
suggest that we can learn new ways of doing things
well after we've acquired quote unquote this thing, so like
(05:57):
the acquisition kind of also to me sounds like it's
we're taking something into ourselves that it's static, like we're
almost like we've got an inventory of behaviors and it
doesn't really.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Operate like that.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It's going to adapt based on experience, based on situations,
and so we are our behaviors are changing constantly.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yes. The fourth one is that learning happens across a
variety of presentation modalities and experiences. We learn through observation,
to listening to a lecture or a podcast, reading, practicing, experiencing, experimenting,
and interactions we have with other peoples or events. These
are all categories of situations we could expect to see
(06:36):
learning take place, although to be fair, we are always
adapting to our current circumstances, so you really could list
anything there and it would still more or less make sense.
But it's important to consider that. I think some people
think of learning as taking place in an academic or
didactic situation, when learning really can happen in a wide
(06:56):
variety of ways. It's just the fact that we are
we are adapting to our situation currently and to future
situations in many cases before like acquiring knowledge we then
might use at some later time, Right, I use the
word acquire there, Shoot, we have we have engaged with
knowledge that will allow us to have behaviors changed when
(07:18):
the circumstances relevant for that knowledge arise in the future. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And the fifth point is that learning is not always
directly observable, So often parts of our behavior will change
that no one else can see, such as our thoughts, feelings,
and knowledge. These private events, these private behaviors that are
occurring are not observable to other people. And we may
have thoughts to ourselves and even like kind of like
script to ourselves and have verbal behavior to ourselves where
we're kind of problem solving and thinking about things and like.
(07:44):
And then those new circumstances, like, for instance, when an
AD comes up and you don't know how to deal
with it and process your emotions. Your emotions may change
from elation like you just had while we were talking
about the show to now the disappointment that comes with
the AD. But your behavior is changing and we can't
even see how you're reacting to this ad.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Okay, so we're back from that and we listed the
reasons that we like this definition of learning better. And
so I'm just going to say that definition one more time. Technical,
followed by colloquial learning is the process by which our
behaviors are discriminated by environmental circumstances, arrangements, or cues. More succinctly,
learning is the process by which our behavior changes to
adapt to the situation. And that that definition allows for
(08:30):
a lot of important features we understand to be features
of learning. Okay, And of course, as we learn, we
are influenced by all of the past learning we have
also had and experienced, and all of our new learning
will then become a part of the complex matrix of
our past skills as we learn new things again in
the future. So as we're in a context, the adapting
(08:52):
we do to that context is influenced to the situations
in the past where we've had to learn and adapt.
That will then change, that will affect the direction our
adaptation takes and our new situation. Here, like, maybe we
just strengthen an existing skill set or repertoire we already had.
Maybe we start to deconstruct a skill set that we
had and change it so that it looks a little
(09:13):
bit different because it's no longer as effective as we
thought it was or as it used to be, and
so like there are a variety of ways that can
take place, but we always approach every new learning opportunity
with bringing with us our history of learning at the
same time.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Absolutely, And a term we used earlier, we use the
term discriminated. It's one of my favorite terms in behavior
analysis in general and like learning, because we're talking about
how behavior changes depending on certain circumstances. Right, we discriminate
when to engage in certain responses. And all this means
is that we just kind of sort one thing from another.
We discriminate that this happens here and not here. And
(09:50):
we say that the environment discriminates behavior because it is
our prevailing and historical circumstances that incentivize or discourage our
actions as they adapt to the present situation. So this
is technically more accurate than saying the individual discriminates, because
it is the situation at hand that presents opportunities and
directions for our actions that they'll take. Right, So, our
(10:10):
behavior shapes and flows and changes under unique circumstances, and
the environment discriminates how we respond.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Right, Now, as we talk about learning, you think of
an educational setting, and so these are just some examples
to talk through this. Right, learning happens in an educational
setting when the students can behave with respect to the
information that was provided. Pedagogically speaking, teaching didn't happen if
learning didn't happen, Like if someone quote unquote taught something
(10:38):
and the student didn't learn it, then did they teach
that thing? I would say no, because the evidence of
their teaching would be in the outcome of it having
been learned, and the behavior change has been demonstrated, yeah,
as an outcome. So anyway, I think that's what we're
talking about. What learning looks like in an education environment
is that students can now behave with respect to that information.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Now, in a deliberate practice situation such as learning an instrument,
language exercise, or skills such as cooking something like that
behavior is usually shaped to follow a very precise pattern
and usually at a minimal threshold of speed. So simply put,
like you know, these behaviors have to happen in a
certain sequence a certain way. They have to happen in
a certain amount of time, like you know, specifically cooking, right,
(11:20):
cooking has to happen like it's it's precise, Like it's
not as precise as people think it is, but it
is more precise than like let's say, like maybe writing
a passage or typing something right. There's more time limits,
there's more structure compared to that, and so learning occurs
in these spaces where like, oh, if I move past
the threshold, then I lose an opportunity for learning, I
lose an opportunity for reinforcement. So these situations are pretty unique.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Well, I think an instrument is a really good case
where the pacing is extremely important. We're playing an instrument. Yeah,
notes follow from one another at a very deliberate speed,
and that creates the composition of music that comes from
that instrument. And so speed is actually a really important
face in any of these sort of very precise behavior
patterns that we develop as we're learning things. For sure,
(12:05):
there's also like opportunistic learning, which is when they said
like intentionally unintentionally kind of learning that just sort of
happens on the fly. Again, a useless way to try
and parse out how those things show up. But nevertheless,
this is simply that our behaviors adapt to the situation,
which of course is happening in all of the situations
we have also listed. And these are not hard and
fast categories like this is just ways that we figured
(12:26):
out people that we figured people might consider and think
about when they're when if we were to ask about,
like when does learning happen, they might think of like
opportunistic learning, like a thing just happened and you gained
experience from that, or deliberate practice where you're trying to
get a particular skill up to speed, or in a
classroom environment where they're doing education type things. But that
is not to say that those are the only categories.
(12:47):
Those are the ones that I figured people would be
thinking about when if asked and when thinking about and
asked about with respect to learning.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, So basically, like simply put, learning is a process
by which our behavior changes and adapts to our environments.
That's that's what learned nice and easy, and everybody learns
in every context, which is at least most context, and
it's kind of fun, you know, I think I would
still say every context. I feel like that's a pretty
good absolute.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's fair. So we all learned something that's kind nice.
Always learning. I value learning. I value very deliberate learning.
I value having my behavior be able to change and
adapt personally. Yeah, but agreed. I think that is what
we have to say about learning. Look at that, all
of the scholarly work that's ever been done on this,
and we did it in less than fifteen minutes. Good job,
Good job us.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah take that Catania.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Ooh inside nerd joke. If you like to tell us
your thoughts on learning, what we got wrong or what
we got right, we would like to hear from you.
You can email us directly at info at WWDWWD podcast
dot com, or reach us on the social media platforms,
and we very much enjoy hearing from all of you.
If you would like to support us, one way that
you can do that is joining us on Patreon. You'll
get these episodes without ads. We still do the ad segue,
(13:54):
but then an ad doesn't play, so there's like that
thing happens, and that can be a beneficial. Our benefit
of listening to it is not having to listen through ads.
You also get early episodes, another behind the scenes content,
and on our full length episodes, I will list the
names of all of the people who support us, and
we really appreciate that if you do not want to
support us financially, or you can't or just whatever, that
is just not the path you're on, that's okay. You
(14:14):
can also support us by leaving us a nice five
star rating, and if you are feeling really ambitious, you
can also leave us a review, and we do appreciate
those things. Some people just write like one sentence reviews,
and that's great too, particularly the positive ones. So feel
free to do that.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yeah, we like those.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
We like those and it helps us get the show
out there. You can also like subscribe, tell a friend
and tell them to like and subscribe and leave us
a rating and review. You can just spread the word
for us. That's great. I think that is. And thank
you so much to my team of people without whom
I could not make this podcast, And thank you all
for listening. Is there anything that I'm missing or that
you like to add before we wrap this one up?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
No, I think it covers it all.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Right, perfect catch us next time. We'll have our full
length comes out on Wednesday. Another mini will come out
the following Monday, and we'll just keep that up for
as long as we can stand to keep it up.
But this is Abraham and it's a Shane Why We
Do What We Do?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Mini is out, Ziya or bye or whatever I say.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
You've been listening to Why We Do What We Do.
You can learn more about this and other episodes by
going to WWDWWD podcast dot com.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Thanks for listening, and we hope you have an awesome day.
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