The 9 main learning models, and their application

These are different ways of looking at and studying learning processes.

Learning is one of the main processes that allow most organisms to be able to adapt to changes that may occur in the environment. to adapt to changes that may occur in the environment, as well as to respondWe learn how to react, what to react to, what to do, and what to do with it. We learn how to react, what we like and what we don't like, what each thing is, what it means to us or even how the world works. In the case of human beings, we even spend a large part of our lives training and learning, even creating institutions such as schools for this purpose.

Throughout history, professionals who have studied how we learn have been developing different models of learning in order to understand the mechanisms and processes we follow, using these models to try to improve the educational system. In this article we will look at some of the main learning models that exist or have existed.

Learning: what is it?

Before focusing on the different models that may exist, it is convenient to try to make a brief review of what learning means, in a generic way.

We understand learning as the action through which a being (whether human or not) acquires some kind of information or data from the environment (whether this environment is external or internal to the being itself), through different ways. The fact that there is learning does not only imply that the information arrives but also that the subject is capable of performing some kind of operation with it, restructuring their behavior or their understanding of the environment, themselves or reality.of himself or of reality.

It must be taken into account that there are many types of learning, some of them based on the association between two stimuli and others based on the mere repetition of exposure to a stimulus.

It should also be borne in mind that although we generally identify learning with the educational system, learning and educating are not concepts that overlap completely: although in education the intention is that someone or something should learn, the fact of learning can occur without the existence of such an intention. It is possible to learn, for example, through exposure to parental modelsor vicariously through observation, or even on the basis of Biological or innate aspects, as is the case with imprinting.

Main learning models

The following are some of the main learning models that have existed throughout history and have been very influential at some point in history. Most of them have been have either been applied to the world of formal education or are derived directly from observation of how learning takes place in that environment.

1. Behavioral or behaviorist models

At a scientific level, some of the earliest models of learning are based on the theoretical paradigm of behaviorism (which in turn is largely derived from logical positivism). This type of model proposes that learning is achieved through association between stimuli, although it also contemplates non-associative learning processes, such as habituation to a stimulus, habituation to a stimulus, and the use of a stimulus as a learning process. such as habituation to a stimulus or sensitization to it..

Behaviorism as a paradigm does not contemplate at first the existence of the mind, or rather it does not consider that it can be known because it cannot be observed empirically. Even in some cases, the mind is considered as a product of action and association, or directly as a conceptor directly as a concept referring to something that does not exist. Within the behaviorist models we can find three particularly outstanding models. In fact, the being itself is nothing more than a passive receiver of information.

1.1. Classical conditioning

The first of these is classical conditioning, which proposes that we learn through the association between stimuli that generate a reaction or response and neutral stimuli. Pavlov and Watson are two of the main authors of this theory, in which learning is equivalent to associating the presence of an appetitive or aversive stimulus to a neutral element that ends up generating the same response, conditioning this response on the basis of exposure to the stimulus that does generate a reaction per se.

Instrumental conditioning

A second model is Thorndike's instrumental conditioningwhich proposes that we learn based on the association of different stimuli and responses, weakening or reinforcing the association based on practice and whether or not the consequences are positive. We learn that a certain stimulus requires a certain response and that this response has its consequences.

Operant conditioning

The third major model is Skinner's, the so-called operant conditioning. In his case, our actions and learning are derived from the association between the actions we carry out and their consequences.The concept of reinforcers (consequences that favor the repetition of the action) and punishments (that make it difficult) appears, and these consequences determine if and what we are going to learn. Of all the behaviorist models, this model is the one that has had the most application at the school level.

2. Cognitivist models

The behaviorist models suffered from a great difficulty when trying to explain learning: they did not take into account the mental activity beyond the associative capacity, not explaining a great part of the elements that allow the fact of learning. This difficulty was intended to be solved on the basis of the cognitivist model, which explores human cognition as a fact that can be evidenced by means of different methods through different methods and values the different mental capacities and processes. The human being is an active entity in learning.

Within cognitivism we can also find different major models, among which Bandura's, the information processing models and Gagné's cumulative learning models stand out.

Bandura's social cognitive model

Albert Bandura considered that mental processes and the environment interact in such a way that learning occurs as a result of this linkage. For this author, learning is, at least in human beings, eminently social: thanks to interaction with others, we observe and acquire the different behaviors and information that we end up integrating in our minds. information that we end up integrating into our schemas.. He introduces the concept of observational learning, as well as the idea of modeling or even vicarious learning as a way of learning.

2.2. Information processing

This set of models proposes that our mind captures, operates and produces the information coming from the environment, working with it through different levels of processing or even according to different memory processes. or even according to different memory processes.

2.3. Gagné's cumulative learning

Considered the general theory of training, this theory proposes that we learn through a sequencing of associations characteristic of classical conditioning.

Robert Gagné proposes that we carry out different types of learning, which are ordered hierarchically in such a way that in order to perform one, the previous ones must have been performed. First we learn signals, then we learn with stimuli and responses, chains of the above, verbal associations, ways of differentiating between the different chains and, on the basis of all this, we manage to make associations and acquire concepts and principles that we finally learn to use to solve problems.

Constructivist models

Although cognitivist models value the presence of different skills and mental processes in learning, this type of model often neglects other types of processes such as the ability to link what is new with what has been previously learned, the role of motivation and the subject's own will to learn.. This is why constructivism emerged, focusing on the attitude of the learner and the ability to make what is to be learned meaningful to him/her as fundamental elements.

In constructivism, it is the learner himself who constructs the knowledge he learns, based on external information, his own abilities and the help provided by the environment.

It is the type of learning model that has been most prevalent in recent times, and is still the predominant one today.being still today the predominant one. Within the constructivist models we can highlight these models, again, we also find the contributions of various authors such as Piaget, Vygotsky or Ausubel.

3.1. Piaget's learning theory

Piaget is a well-known name in the world of education. Specifically, his studies on human development stand out, his studies on human development, in which he theorized in which he theorized about different stages of mental maturation, and research on the acquisition of different cognitive skills. He also generated a theory on how we learn.

According to his theory, learning something implies that the human being carries out some kind of operation that alters in some way the set of cognitive schemas that the subject had previously. Our mental schemas form a basic structure of thought that we have acquired throughout life and learning implies the arrival of new information to our system. Faced with the arrival of novelties, our schemas will have to adapt to the new information.either by expanding to incorporate the new information into the previous schema (a process known as assimilation) or by modifying it in the event that such information contradicts past schemas (allowing for the accommodation of new data).

3.2. Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Another of the most cited and renowned theories on learning and education is that of Vygotsky. In this case, the sociocultural theory is characterized by the importance of providing support that is tailored and adapted to the child so that they can learn. in order for them to be able to learn.

In this theory we can see how there is a series of learning that a subject can achieve on his own, another that he will not be able to achieve in any way, and a third that although he cannot achieve at the moment, it is possible that he can do it if he has enough help. It would be the difference between what the subject can do and what he could do with enough help, the so-called Zone of Proximal Developmentthe point on which formal education should focus.

This model considers fundamental the idea of scaffolding, in which the temporary support of teachers, family members or peers will allow us to build our knowledge in a way that we would not achieve by ourselves despite having the potential to do so.

3.3. Ausubel's assimilation of meaningful learning

Another of the main theories and models of learning and the last one we are going to deal with in this article is Ausubel's assimilation theory of meaningful learning. This theory values the existence of learning by reception, in which the learner acquires information because it is given to him, and learning by discovery, in which the subject himself investigates and learns according to his interests. the subject himself investigates and learns according to his own interests.. In this regard, he also distinguishes between mechanical and repetitive learning and meaningful learning.

It is the latter that is of most interest in order to obtain quality learning, in which the new is linked to what already exists and meaning is given both to what is learned and to the fact of learning. Thanks to this we can learn and make sense of representational, conceptual and propositional elements, there being a certain hierarchy in that it is necessary to learn the first ones in order to progress in the learning of the following ones.

Many other models

In addition to the above, there are many other models of learning that exist. For example, the models of Bruner, Carroll and Bloom, or Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment Program, are other of the many examples of authors and proposals on the functioning of one or several different on the functioning of one or several different types of learning that must be taken into account, although they are not as recognized as those mentioned above.

Bibliographical references:

• Sanz, L.J. (2012). Developmental Psychology and Education. Manual CEDE de Preparación PIR, 10. CEDE: Madrid.