The Complexity of the Learning Process - Assignment Example

The Complexity of the Learning Process People have different ways of acquiring information and learning from their environments. While everyone uses most learning techniques during the course of their lives, people have a dominant way by which they best acquire and process information. Scientists have been attempting to determine how people learn and the various underlying factors affecting the learning process. The environment where one lives is a significant factor for personality development because it defines the people one interacts with, the level of education one receives, and the overall perception on how life works. These variables shape the learning and remembering processes, sources of motivation, as well as attitudes and personalities (Morris and Maisto, 2005). It is essential that everyone understands the learning process including both the cognitive learning and knowledge acquired by experience. When acquiring knowledge by experience, some people are motivated by discouraging forces and others by encouraging forces resulting in negative motivation and positive motivation, respectively. In addition, some people are wired to learn better from their own experiences by reading from books while others learn, understand and remember best if they exercise by themselves (Morris and Maisto, 2005). In the end, there are actually no differences in learning procedures as all learning is achieved by conditioning. In this respect, I conducted an interview to help understand better these phenomena. Interviewee profile The person I chose to interview was my high school best friend Ann Smith. Ann is a 25-year-old postgraduate student at the University of Phoenix pursuing a graduate course in law. After completing her diploma in Human Resources last year, she realized that her logical brain qualified her as an excellent lawyer and decided to enroll into law school. Being an environmentalist like me, she plans to further in environmental law to facilitate the conservation of the natural resources and reversal of the ill effects of industrialization mainly resulting into pollution. After completion of her studies, Miss Smith wishes to join a leading firm in the country with superb lawyers like Mayer Brown and John Arum who happen to be her role models. In regards to her family life, she got married three months ago but plans on holding off having children until her graduation, which will be in early 2013. For comparison purposes, Miss Smith’s responses will be compared to my own to make a distinction on the similarity or difference between her and my conditioning patterns. Preferred Learning Medium Miss Smith prefers hands on experience for her to remember a lesson wholly. If she studies from a book, the details usually remain foggy until she can get a practical experience to help anchor the ideas of that particular lesson in her brain. In addition, most of the lessons she acquires theoretically end up getting lost because words do not explain a situation vividly enough for her to create a memorable mental image. In contrast, I prefer reading and, in fact, remember most or my theoretical knowledge than the physical experiences I have had. It is pertinent to note that I believe my ability to acquire knowledge from written media is the limitless nature of the media. People who are limited to hands on experience are limited in the volume of knowledge they can acquire in a specified period compared to the readers, as it takes longer to do something than to actually read about it (Morris and Maisto, 2005). On the other hand, reading has its limitations as not all the lessons learnt in life can be written down and so people who understand best from reading tend to be socially awkward since social aspects of life are best learnt practically. Study Environment of Choice Miss Smith prefers studying at home or in the comfort of her room where the environment is within her control. As an environmentalist, her home is covered with all types of plants that she says help her calm down during her studies. In addition, she can change her reading environment at home depending on her mood as opposed to the library where she has to abide by stiff rules. She has learnt to associate the environment with the content of what she reads to enable her remember better. I, on the other hand, prefer the serene atmosphere offered by libraries, and I will go to the library even to finish the novel I am currently reading. At home, distractions are many that hinder me from applying study techniques like use of mnemonics effectively. As a reader, I have many books making up a mini library while Miss Smith has a room at her house with collectibles and addition to many other materials which she uses in her practical experiments. We both express the things we learn in the environment but in different ways. Miss Smith incorporates her lessons into her world by actually acting them out whereas I record mine in the retrieval method I am most familiar with by writing down my experiences for others like me to study. The Myers Briggs Test and Results Different as we are, Miss Smith and I do not let anyone run our lives and, therefore, we have not taken the Myers Briggs test. On the other hand, though, we both love personal improvement, setting goals and making plans, and afterwards looking back to take stock of all the achievements. Views on the Test Results This question was not even asked due to the negative answer given in the previous question as there would be no agreeing or disagreeing with the results of a test that has not been taken. Experience That Contributed Most Personality Development Miss Smith lived with her grandmother since she was 5 as her parents were always out working. This old but strong woman acted as the only mentor she had while growing up, so much that Miss Smith claims to derive most of her perception, character traits, and belief systems from her long dead granny. She particularly remembers the times her grandmother made her sleep on an empty stomach if she did not complete her chores in time. The lessons acquired from this incident were that time is a valuable resource and that in the course of one’s life everyone must be ready to face the consequences of their actions no matter how trivial they may seem to be (Morris and Maisto, 2005). I lived with my parents, and that is why my experience was a different from that of Miss Smith though the lessons learnt were similar. My father was so firm in dealing with procrastination such that no one in his homestead could take on another task if an ongoing task was not completed. For instance, there would be no going to sleep if the school homework is not complete. This basic rule taught me the power of undivided attention whereby I learnt that a task gets completes most effectively if given undivided attention. Attitudes Self-monitoring Miss Smith feels totally in control as regards her attitudes as she does not let anyone or anything affect her positive perception of life under any circumstances. For instance, in the lowest moment of her life i.e. when her grandmother died, she was able to remain energized and even acted as a source of strength to other people. People even accused her of being a sadist but no one could change her perception that little can be done to change what happens to us, and the only option we have is to accept things as they are and look for the positive side of every circumstance. Interestingly, though for different reasons, I also believe that all my attitudes are under my control. I never let unhappy thoughts crowd my conscious or unconscious being because negative attitude is a habit like any other and can be hard to shake off after it has taken root in one’s being. Strongest Influence on Attitudes The strongest influence of Miss Smith’s attitudes is growing up with a strict grandmother from whom she learnt that for life to be lived effectively and successfully, everything must be held on a tight leash. This means that, without the proper amount of control of one’s own thoughts and actions, life becomes a task as one struggles to adapt to whatever presents itself. If one has control of him/herself, Miss Smith believes that all goes on smoothly with a few difficulties to overcome. These difficulties serve as motivation to Miss Smith due to the good tidings to be reaped on overcoming challenges. A dominating person in it also influenced my life such that I ended up having similar attitudes with my best friend. My father was the dominant figure who always insisted on being in control of how things were run around him. Miss Smith and I grew up believing that no event or persons can or should change our attitudes unless we let them, something we refuse to do. Role of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity Miss Smith believes that a person’s race, gender, and ethnicity do not play a crucial role in the formation of personalities and attitudes. However, these factors cannot be fully ignored as they predispose a person to other factors that have a direct impact on personality and attitude. For instance, one’s gender determines the kind of treatment one gets from those around them. Owing to the law of reciprocity, one has no option that to respond in a way that conforms to the kind of treatment one gets. A consistent repeat in this cycle of events eventually result in a definite way of thinking and acting that would have been totally different if the person in question was of the opposite sex. Well, though not in those exact terms, I also believe that these factors have a minor role to play in molding a character. The environment, Miss Smith and I agree, is the ultimate defining factor for character formation as everyone responds to stimuli in certain and predictable patterns regardless of their race, sex, or ethnicity. Source of Motivation Miss Smith prefers self-motivation to motivation coming from other people. She feels that motivation from other people cannot be controlled, and it comes even when one does not need it. Therefore, Miss Smith does not take kindly if someone attempts to advise her on how and when to act. Instead, she feels that such incidences discourage her from achieving her fullest potential. Though I do not expect anyone to tell me what to do, I usually listen to other peoples’ ideas since I believe that everyone has something to offer, no matter how small. Conclusion From the interview, it can be concluded that the learning process is complex and that it has not been fully understood scientifically. Interesting is the fact that knowledge acquired by different methods has the same effect on a person. For instance, people raised in different environments may eventually end up having similar character traits though acquired through different means. In addition, knowledge is acquired in such a way that though its source can be traced, one does not need to remember the source for knowledge to be applied effectively. In conclusion, it is advantageous to know one’s best way of acquiring knowledge so that specific method can be cultivated upon to improve on it. Reference Morris, C. G., & Maisto, A. A. (2005). Psychology: An introduction. 12th Edn. Prentice Hall, Pearson Education, Inc. Read More