2. took when he was earning his
bachelor’s degree in psychology. He knows that the training
must communicate the crucial
components of the new platform, but he also knows that how he
communicates these compo-
nents, that is, the design of the training, may be even more
important. It is essential that the
training be effective and engaging. He knows that there are
many variables that can affect
effective knowledge acquisition and that individuals have
complex and diverse learning pref-
erences. He also recalls the different theories that suggest best
practices for helping one’s self,
as well as others, to learn more effectively. Based on this, he
designs what he hopes will be an
engaging training that will appeal to many different types of
learners and result in long-term
knowledge acquisition.
James’s situation reminds us that learning is a part of our
everyday lives, whether personal
or professional, and also reminds us of the importance of
knowing how to effectively support
learning opportunities for ourselves and for others. Consider the
following questions that
might guide James in developing a more successful training
event:
ሁ What theories of learning can support the development of
training materials?
ሁ What strategies could be utilized to encourage successful
learning?
ሁ How can James learn more about his case managers to better
design the training?
ሁ How might the diversity of his team create stumbling blocks
during the training? How
3. might it enhance the training process?
3.1 Introduction to Learning Psychology
The questions posed in the introductory scenario are typical of
the variety addressed by
those who are applying strategies in the domain of learning.
Learning psychology is devoted
to understanding how people learn as well as how people learn
most effectively (Rosser-
Majors, 2017). People can apply the theories and models of
learning psychology to support
increased learning opportunities for themselves and others,
whether they are in the learning
psychology field or in another career (e.g., sales, teaching, or
caregiving). The development of
personal goals can also be supported by an understanding of
how people learn (e.g., through
self-improvement, playing games, or life experience).
Throughout the history of psychology, people have studied
different aspects of learning, and
the research clearly substantiates one fact: understanding how
people learn is a complex task.
As scholars began to better understand learning behaviors in the
early-mid 1900s, it became
apparent that behaviorism, a theory that suggested all learning
was a nonconscious response
to a stimulus, did not fully explain the complexities of this
domain. In response, the cognitive
revolution, beginning in the 1950s, suggested that people’s
minds were active participants
in learning and that how the mind processes knowledge is
important (Baars, 1986; Bruner,
1990; Gardner, 1985; Watrin & Darwich, 2012; Sperry, 1993).
Research into this perspective
5. In addition, as you have also learned, cul-
tural myopia encourages the tendency
to judge learning experiences based on
only one’s own experiences, without full
acknowledgment of their complexities.
For example, have you ever been presented with a new concept,
whether in a course at school
or in conversation with friends, and totally rejected it as false or
impossible without doing
any further research? This may be because the new concept does
not support what you think
you already know based on past experience. Unconsciously, you
do not accept the new knowl-
edge, and research suggests you do not effectively move it to
long-term memory (LTM)—the
storage area for information that has been processed through
working memory. In addition,
myths or misguided representations about one’s ability to learn
based on demographic or
other attributes (e.g., the falsehood that specific races are less
intelligent than others) may
also effect one’s ability to process information effectively.
Simply put, if you believe you are
not good at math, you are less likely to succeed in that subject.
If you believe someone else
will not be good at math, you may be less likely to support their
learning opportunities ade-
quately. Our cumulative experiences create our culture and can
affect our approach to learn-
ing. Therefore, misguided notions, as mentioned in these
examples, alluding to what intel-
ligence and learning are and are not perpetuate conscious and
unconscious perceptions that
may lead to bias, bigotry, and intolerance of others, as well as
ineffective learning.
7. acquisition affect scholars as
human beings with hopes to improve themselves and their
personal circumstances? How
does it affect future professionals?
As we will discuss, learning psychology is applicable in our
everyday lives, both profession-
ally and personally. It can support us in our ability to work with
others, in advancing our
careers, in becoming increasingly self-actualized (Aanstoos,
2016, 2017), and in helping oth-
ers achieve their goals. In addition, understanding how humans
learn is directly associated
with performance, self-regulation, and self-efficacy.
Understanding this area of psychology
allows people to have more autonomy to pursue their goals,
both professional and personal.
Career Spotlight: Makayla B.
Name: Makayla B.
Primary job title: Behavior Interventionist
Current employer: Love 2 Learn Consulting LLC
How long have you been employed in your present position?
I’ve been with Love 2
Learn for 1 1/2 years.
What year did you graduate with your bachelor’s degree in
psychology? I graduated
in 2015.
Describe your major job duties and responsibilities. I implement
behavior programs
8. designed by a board-certified behavior analyst to assist students
in improving their learn-
ing performance. Basically, I work with parents and educators
to support the develop-
ment of children in the area of learning. My current work takes
place in the local schools,
although I have also worked with clients in their homes. This is
a field position, which
means that I work on-site with many clients throughout my day.
What elements of your undergraduate training in psychology do
you use in your
work? On a daily basis, I am applying numerous areas of
behavior modification recom-
mendations, so, yes, a substantial number of my psychology
courses have supported me
in being able to do this. Having knowledge about learning
psychology has supported me
in better understanding the variables that may affect poor school
performance, which is
often what initiates our company’s work with the child. In
addition, I have to keep accurate
records for each client; thus, an understanding of behavior-
oriented situations is needed so
that I can more effectively communicate with my team, the
clients, and other stakeholders.
In particular, the courses in abnormal, developmental, and
personality psychology have
been extremely helpful to me. Truth be told, even my statistics
course has come in handy
as I work to advance my knowledge for future professional
licenses.
What do you like most about your job? I love being able to help
children to be the best
them they can be. I also love the autonomy my company offers
10. Beyond your bachelor’s degree, what additional education or
specialized training
have you received? I have no other degrees besides my
bachelor’s in psychology. I am cur-
rently working on my board certified assistant behavior analyst
(BCaBA) certificate. I am
also hoping to go back to school at some point to become a
board-certified behavior ana-
lyst. I’ll need my master’s degree for that.
What is the compensation package for an entry-level position in
your occupation?
Right now my salary is around $35,000, but once I am certified
I’ll get a big raise, so I
should be making closer to $50,000. I also receive ongoing paid
training. That’s how I am
getting my BCaBA certification. I have excellent medical,
dental, and vision plans. We also
have f lexible spending accounts, paid time off, paid drive time,
mileage reimbursement,
and a 401k plan.
What are the key skills necessary for you to succeed in your
career? Being able to feel
competent with the other many professionals I deal with has
been a great benefit. Knowing
domain-specific words in both educational and behavioral
psychology has helped me to
feel more competent and respected.
Thinking back to your undergraduate career, can you think of
extracurricular (e.g.,
psychology club, Tau Upsilon Alpha, etc.) that were key to
success in your type of
career? I really enjoyed being in the Ashford online psychology
club. It was actually one
12. Section 3.2Foundations of Learning
by observable change and is simply a response to a stimulus.
Both of these theories provide
foundations for developing an understanding of learning and
enhancing the effectiveness of
one’s own learning and that of others. Both foundational
theories have components that can
be applied to the same scenarios, which can increase our
purposeful inquiry into our own
understanding of learning.
For example, if a child takes a bite of hot pizza and it burns the
top of his mouth, it could be
argued that the child has just learned, by way of a response to a
stimulus, that pizza right out
of the oven is too hot to eat. This follows the principles of
behaviorism. However, does this
new knowledge apply to only pizza or could it be extended to
anything that is taken out of an
oven? Cognitivism would argue that this memory was absorbed
into sensory memory, pro-
cessed in WM, and stored in LTM, to be later retrieved when a
similar situation arises. Thus,
the child has learned that anything that has just come out of an
oven is too hot to eat. Both
behaviorism and cognitivism present valid explanations of how
learning takes place and can
be associated with different contexts.
What if someone cannot recall a piece of
information? Was that information
learned? Cognitivism offers numerous
13. explanations that may explain why the
knowledge is not effectively retrieved, yet
may still exist in a person’s mind. And if
one does not change their behavior based
on new information, does that mean the
new information wasn’t learned? Accord-
ing to behaviorism, if there is no change in
behavior, the knowledge was not learned;
but does this theory fully explain situa-
tions when someone knows something
but does not accommodate it into their
behavior? It is questions such as these
that require psychologists to dig deeper.
To fully understand the foundations of
learning, one must have an understand-
ing of the diverse variables that may affect
learning, such as intelligence. But what is
intelligence? There are multiple defini-
tions. Current research suggests that the
knowledge one processes and does not
process may have little to do with whether that person is
intelligent or not. Additionally, intel-
ligence does not necessarily require a strong memory, but it is
supported by an ability to pro-
cess and organize information effectively so that retrieval is
increasingly fluent (Briggs, 2014).
The concept of an intelligence quotient (IQ) was originally
created to determine whether a
child had a learning disability and is now used to compare the
level of intellect among those in
the same age bracket (Nisbett et al., 2012, as cited in Rosser-
Majors, 2017, p. 228). Although
being smart is often associated with a high IQ, the numerous
concepts associated with intel-
ligence (e.g., crystalized [gC], fluid [Gf ], general [g],
15. variables can affect the learning process, and it is crucial for an
expert in this domain to keep
this in mind when evaluating others.
Information Processing and Working Memory
As previously stated, early in the study of learning, scholars
(notably behaviorists) believed
that all learning was an automated response to external sources
(stimuli) and was not associ-
ated with internal mechanisms (Pierce & Cheney, 2004; Watrin
& Darwich, 2012). During the
latter half of the 20th century, amid the cognitive revolution,
people were less able to explore
whether or not learning had taken place, since the mind could
not be seen and thus could not
be studied. Since then, with advancing technologies, scientists
have a greater ability to more
thoroughly study the brain.
Researchers now know that knowledge can be produced through
introspection or examina-
tion of prior knowledge (Butts, 2017). Information processing
theory claims that informa-
tion enters the mind, is organized, and is then stored and
retrieved by the learner; it suggests
that attention is a key variable in successfully moving and
organizing information into LTM
(Brosch, Scherer, Grandjean, & Sander, 2013). As knowledge
develops, many of the same ques-
tions remain: What is learning? Why is learning not always
effective? What determines suc-
cessful knowledge development? As suggested by cognitivism,
information processing—or
the process by which information enters through sensory
memory, flows through WM, and
is then organized and stored in LTM—is foundational in
17. status at the time of taking in information (Samsonovich &
Ascoli, 2006) can affect their suc-
cess in acquiring knowledge accurately and effectively.
Although LTM can house unlimited
information, the brain cannot process and send unlimited
information from WM to LTM.
Thus, whether or not people can develop or manipulate their
working memory capacity is an
important consideration for those seeking a deeper
understanding of how people learn. Can
a person train their brain to process more information at one
time? Research says yes. Schol-
ars once thought WM was strictly defined by genetics, but
research now suggests that WM is
a developmental process and can be manipulated by how people
organize and attend to the
information they are trying to learn (Sweller et al., 1998).
Research has also found that WM
develops over time as a person ages (Klingberg, Forssberg, &
Westerberg, 2002) and can also
be cultivated through the use of strategies or cognitive training
(Gathercole & Alloway, 2007).
In 2001, researchers McNamara and Scott studied how the use
of strategies, such as chaining
(breaking a task down into sequential parts), could affect WM
performance, including proce-
dural tasks (e.g., reading, riding a bike, baking a cake). Their
findings suggested that purpose-
fully applied strategies do in fact positively influence effective
acquisition and retrieval of
knowledge.
Variables Affecting Knowledge Acquisition
Whether they affect the level of attention
19. then will be applied to differing contexts, such as the schema
that crying leads to getting food.
The following summarizes some of the potential factors (but
should not be considered the
only affecting factors):
• Personal experiences: Socioeconomics, culture, and other
factors can affect the
learner’s ability to process information. This may affect
motivation and cognitive
load, among other aspects of learning. Without information
gained from previous
experience to link new information to, it is difficult to
successfully process the new
knowledge to LTM. For example, if a person has lived in a
culture where education
was not an important factor, they may have difficulty
understanding the importance
of schools in American culture.
• False memory development: When inaccurate information is
believed to be truth,
this may affect the acceptance of new knowledge associated
with it. For example,
in the 1700s Europeans believed tomatoes to be poisonous. In
this context, any-
one teaching that tomatoes were a healthy addition to one’s diet
would have been
ignored or considered a liar.
• Emotions: When one experiences emotion, the brain responds
as if it is processing
knowledge. Emotions can assist a person in better understanding
their own needs as
well as the needs of others; however, when emotions become
20. extreme, the brain can
become overwhelmed and distract the learner from the
knowledge he or she may be
trying to accommodate.
• Physical health: The brain processes every feeling, both
emotional and physical.
Thus, when one is in pain, tired, or hungry, WM may be
negatively affected. For
example, when a person has the flu, it is unlikely they will be
able to successfully
attend to outside tasks, including new knowledge development.
As previously stated, numerous factors affect successful
knowledge development, so how
does intelligence fit into the equation? This is an additional area
of learning psychology that
can be complicated, but it is an important facet to consider
when forming a comprehensive
understanding of learning.
Types of Intelligence
Although scholars have suggested that there are different types
of intelligence, such as gen-
eral (g), crystallized (Gc), fluid (Gf ), multiple (MI), and
emotional (EI) intelligences, each area
is associated differently with how people learn. IQ is a well-
known standard for measuring
intelligence, yet general intelligence ( g), which is a measure of
an individual’s ability to pro-
cess information with cognitive complexity, is suggested to
predict variables such as academic
achievement, life outcomes, and group differences more clearly
than IQ due to its correlations
with biological measures. In fact, numerous researchers in the
field of intelligence are adher-
22. can also be developed. EI is the ability to understand and
manage one’s own emotions and the
emotions of others.
The growing acceptance of alternative intelligence constructs,
such as MI and EI, too often
takes away from the importance and validity of IQ and g. That
is, a person who has accepted
MI or EI as valid might state that humans all learn differently.
However, research suggests that
human brains process information similarly (Butts, 2017) and
that it is preferences, emo-
tions, and potentially learning strategies that may determine the
effectiveness of cognitive
processing.
3.3 Developing Theories in the Field
of Learning Psychology
Learning psychology offers additional theoretical frameworks
that support the development
of knowledge. As you discover ways to apply your knowledge
in your personal and profes-
sional lives, it is important to consider the vast scope of
evolving perspectives that can be
applied to help explain and support more effective learning for
yourself and others.
Individualized Construction of Knowledge
As puzzling as understanding the mind and how it influences
learning is, the research associ-
ated with effective knowledge acquisition has also encouraged
some researchers to look at
variables other than information processing. Construction of
individualized knowledge and
its influence on effective learning is one of the areas explored
23. by constructivism.
According to constructivism, learning involves meaning, but
meaning itself cannot be fully
explained by what one knows or what one believes they have
learned. For example, believ-
ing something to be true does not guarantee its validity.
Constructivists seek to explain the
association of meaning with learning by considering whether
knowledge is truly knowledge
if it has no meaning within one’s constructed reality (i.e., one’s
culture). And if it is not knowl-
edge, then how can one say it was learned? For example, if an
American learns that Saka
Dawa lasts for a month, is this even knowledge if the person
does not know what Saka Dawa
is or have any way to apply the fact that it lasts for a month?
This piece of information has
no meaning in the American’s cultural context. Does it become
knowledge and gain meaning
when that person learns that Saka Dawa is a period of time
celebrated by Tibetan Buddhists?
The research lens for constructivism also asserts that learning
includes numerous constructs,
and these constructs affect everything from the simplest of tasks
to the most complex of algo-
rithms. It is important to understand that constructivist-based
theories do not disprove cog-
nitive or behaviorist theories. Instead, previous theories are
used in conjunction with the
foundational concept that learners should be the center of the
process, organizing knowledge
that is based on their own reality. Earlier in this chapter we
considered how a child learning
25. schema development. The schema development process cannot
be easily defined. Given this,
the meaning of knowledge within each individual’s LTM
becomes a crucial consideration. For
example, the schema of communication can differ across
cultures, genders, and generations.
A young American girl’s schema for effective communication
with a friend might be a text
message. However, her Italian grandfather’s schema for
effective communication is a one-to-
one, face-to-face conversation. Thus, when the grandfather asks
his granddaughter to “stay in
touch,” and she agrees, they might have very different ideas of
what that entails. The key to
constructivism is the understanding that while two people might
assume they both have the
same understanding of a concept, what one person associates
with that concept may differ
greatly from what a person from a different background
associates with that same concept.
To elaborate, sociocultural theory (SCT), a subset of
constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978) that is
focused on dialect development, provides a good example of the
ideologies of this proposed
framework. SCT poses that learning depends greatly on the
culture in which it takes place. As
individuals learn to speak, to write, and to communicate, they
assign meaning and association
to words. For example, the word biscuit refers to a flaky bread
product in the United States,
but refers to a cookie in the United Kingdom. Each culture has
associations that may differ
from one to the next, therefore, how knowledge is constructed
may also differ based on one’s
schema.
27. are less well-known or less widely accepted, when developing
an understanding of learning
psychology.
Humanism
Another learning theory that has had less mainstream
acceptance is humanism, posing that
effective learning should be based on development of the self—
including one’s skills, values,
and beliefs. Humanism in learning is founded on the ideology
that development of the whole
person through the discovery of self and self-actualization is
crucial to successful perfor-
mance in learning contexts. Humanism, an old ideology, was
reignited by Carl Rogers (1902–
1987) in the 20th century due to his focus on person-centered
therapy. Humanist ideologies
promote even further that effective learning is conditional upon
numerous variables, and that
personal motivation is a necessary part of the learning process.
Some academics and scholars
suggest that any focus on the development of the whole
person—emphasizing the impor-
tance of the learner, including his or her thoughts, feelings, and
emotions—is to be classi-
fied as a humanistic approach (Gage & Berliner, 1991; Lei,
2007; Maples, 1979). Hence, many
different theories, both motivational and strategy based (e.g.,
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,
self-determination theory, experiential learning, and
transformational learning), embody the
humanist philosophy.
According to humanism in learning, it is crucial for learners to
become more aware of why they
are or are not having success and to purposefully develop the
28. needed components to increase
their opportunity for success. Two motivational theories that
align with this approach are
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943) and self-
determination theory (Deci & Ryan,
1985). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs supports the idea that
humans have certain needs that
must be met before they can fully attend to other things.
Without this increase in the meet-
ing of needs, one’s motivation to learn may be negatively
affected. Self-determination the-
ory (SDT) posits that motivation is affected by intrinsic and
extrinsic sources, including the
intrinsic factor of self-regulation. Therefore, a person’s level of
self-regulation may also affect
his or her willingness to attend to the learning experience.
These motivational theories can be
directly applied to support a person’s success in the learning
process.
For example, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can support
cognitivism, as attention to stimuli is
a major factor in successful learning. Consider a student who
has not had breakfast sitting in
her morning class. Her working memory may be filled with
thoughts of survival—of suste-
nance. Thus, cognitive load limitations might suggest that she is
too distracted by thoughts of
hunger to attend to the new knowledge that must move
successfully from WM to LTM.
Self-determination theory suggests that the negating of three
key variables, autonomy, com-
petence, and belonging, can affect the level of self-regulation
individuals apply to their behav-
iors, including learning (Deci & Ryan, 1985). If a person does
30. she has learned or the grade she receives? According to
humanism, if a person neglects the
importance of learning for mastery and instead focuses on
performance, the idea of learning
gets left behind and personal motivation is reduced. Hence, with
a holistic understanding of
the importance of the human spirit, the mind, and the potential
factors that can affect learn-
ing success, there is an opportunity to improve effective
learning and to develop the tools to
help others improve as well.
Although some evolving frameworks can be controversial,
failing to consider the complex-
ity of learning can limit the understanding of and the ability to
support successful learning
opportunities. Thus, as we apply learning psychology to the
contexts of our personal and pro-
fessional lives, it is important to keep in mind the numerous
theoretical frameworks offered
about learning and that it is a complex domain that is still
growing. Technological advances
and the evolution of human society may make possible
important discoveries that further
elaborate on the current understanding of how people learn, so
it is important for psycholo-
gists to stay informed of new and evolving findings.
3.4 Ethics in Learning Psychology
As an undergraduate of psychology, hav-
ing a strong code of ethics can support
your career and personal development.
Whatever field you choose, if it involves
learning psychology, there are certain eth-
ical considerations to keep in mind. It is
essential that you apply current learning
32. treat everyone with respect
and kindness.
Another ethical guideline to consider is the importance of
evidence-based practice. No matter
what your career path is, make sure to validate your work with
evidence and not simply rely
on what you believe to be true. A personal dedication to
continual intellectual self-develop-
ment will be crucial, since knowledge about how people learn is
constantly advancing.
Those who choose to specialize in learning psychology must
adhere to all of the ethical prin-
ciples applied to general psychology. Section seven in the
American Psychological Associa-
tion’s “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of
Conduct” (2016) specifically addresses
educating and training others:
7.01 Design of Education and Training Programs
Psychologists responsible for education and training programs
take reason-
able steps to ensure that the programs are designed to provide
the appropri-
ate knowledge…
7.03 Accuracy in Teaching
(a) Psychologists take reasonable steps to ensure that course
syllabi are accu-
rate regarding the subject matter to be covered, bases for
evaluating progress,
and the nature of course experiences…
33. (b) When engaged in teaching or training, psychologists present
psychologi-
cal information accurately.
These guidelines set standards for conduct among psychologists
who are involved in teach-
ing others. Notice the emphasis on providing accurate and
evidence-based information. The
full description of these ethical practices can be accessed at
https://apa.org/ethics/code/
index.aspx.
An additional ethical consideration, as you get closer to
graduating, is your future employer.
When seeking employment, knowing the ethics of the
organization you choose is important.
Many companies have a code of ethics or values listed on their
website and in employee hand-
books; you can also ask about this in your interview. Do your
ethical goals and beliefs match
those of the organization you are applying to? Whether
volunteering for your community or
working full-time for an organization, as a person with a degree
in psychology, consider how
you will share with those around you the importance of ethical
decision making.
3.5 Career Applications in the Field
of Learning Psychology
As a graduate, it will be important to be able to communicate to
your professional contacts
the skills that a major in psychology has given you, such as a
better understanding of behavior,
performance, and motivation. There are many professions that
list a degree in psychology as
35. more successfully encourage
his or her children, support personal learning opportunities,
engage with educators, and get
more deeply involved in volunteering opportunities (e.g., boys
and girls clubs and summer
learning programs).
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology
The field of psychology offers numerous opportunities for
career advancement, commu-
nity service, and personal development. Here are a few ideas to
get you started on a career
search when you graduate with a bachelor’s in psychology
supported by the field of learning
psychology.
Human Resources Specialist
There are often numerous areas of expertise within the human
resources (HR) department.
Some HR specialists train individuals within their organization,
manage communications
to employees, disseminate benefits information, and assist in
the recruiting process for an
organization. Having a background in learning psychology
prepares people to create success-
ful employee trainings based on learning theory. According to
the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook (2018b), the job
predicted growth from 2016–26
is 7%.
Instructional Designer
Using content from experts, some instructional designers create
training that supports
diverse employee groups. Others work with teachers to create
classes that will be engaging
37. behaviors. An understanding
of learning psychology enhances skills in this career due to the
discipline’s focus on the vari-
ables that affect people’s behavior and motivation. It also
supports one’s ability to encourage
and guide the client through appropriate reinforcements.
According to the BLS Occupational
Outlook Handbook (2018h), the job predicted growth from
2016–26 is 23%.
An Ergonomist/Human Factors Specialist (or Occupational
Health and Safety
Specialists and Technicians)
An ergonomist uses design to influence
the performance of people in a specific
space, most often the workplace. Ergono-
mists do this by designing layouts that
people will interact with in certain desired
ways (think about the way the grocery
store entices you to buy certain foods and
makes it difficult to find others). This job
also refers to people who work with man-
ufacturers to design anything that is asso-
ciated with improving the wellness of peo-
ple. This career field applies the principles
of psychology to design products, equip-
ment, and contexts (e.g., office chairs/
tables, environmental layouts, and com-
puter-adaptive software). Cognitive
ergonomists (more specifically aligned to
learning psychology) focus on the
improvement of technology to improve
performance, such as by making software
more user friendly or redesigning tasks to
even out the cognitive workload. Accord-
ing to the BLS Occupational Outlook Hand-
39. ate degree in learning or educational psychology, students can
consider the following types
of positions. The BLS does not always break down the differing
fields of psychologists. For
general psychology career growth, see
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social
-science/psychologists.htm.
Educational Psychologist
Educational psychologists perform educational research that
may focus on learning context,
types of instruction, teaching methods, assessment techniques,
or educational resources.
They may also develop instruction or instructional strategies to
be applied within educa-
tional settings. In addition, they may focus on creating
educational resources such as text-
books, worksheets, lesson plans, tests, or instructional videos.
Many educational psychologists will specialize in specific age
groups, such as children ages
4–6 or learners over 65. Some educational psychologists choose
a particular learning prob-
lem or disability to focus on, such as dyslexia.
Educational Researcher
Educational researchers often work in postsecondary
institutions, at research organizations,
or for government agencies, researching educational issues and
publishing in books or peer-
reviewed journals. An educational researcher may specialize in
studying and reporting about
areas such as motivation, information processing, performance,
or curriculum effectiveness,
to name a few.
41. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-
science/psychologists.htm
Summary
out what career path is right for them. An understanding of
learning and cognition can help a
career counselor better understand what careers may be more
suitable for a client, based on
her learning styles/preferences and motivating interests. The
BLS estimates that job growth
for school and career counselors will be 13% between 2016 and
2026 (2018g).
Summary
Learning psychology is an ever-advancing field of study, and
there are numerous psychologi-
cal theories which propose explanations for the process by
which humans learn and methods
by which humans can learn more effectively. These theories are
applicable in a wide range
of personal and professional contexts. From the stimulus-
response theory of behaviorism to
the internal-state focus of cognitivism, theories advance the
understanding of how to sup-
port one’s self as well as others in the process of knowledge
advancement. Other theoreti-
cal models such as constructivism and humanism look at
learning from a person-centered,
variable-associated perspective and seek to enlighten us to why
we do and do not attend
to information successfully. Theories, models, and frameworks
based in constructivist and
humanist ideologies offer plausible explanations for how the
information people process
42. may, due to both external and internal variables, be
manipulated, misrepresented, and inac-
curately stored into LTM.
Understanding how people learn and how we they learn more
effectively is an area of psy-
chology that is a part of daily life; it is all-encompassing. As
you begin making decisions
about your career and future, consider the skills that learning
about learning has taught you.
Whether it is how to consider the diversity of learning
preferences when addressing a crowd,
how to engage in working memory development as you age, or
how to effectively employ
aspects of instructional theory, the foundations of this area of
psychology will be vital as you
market yourself and your skills to the world.
Concept Check
1. The cognitive revolution introduced the notion that
a. behaviorism is outdated and doesn’t apply to modern times.
b. how the mind processes knowledge is important.
c. cognition cannot occur without a stimulus.
d. cognition cannot be measured.
2. Which form of intelligence indicates the ability to solve
problems without using
stored knowledge?
a. general intelligence
b. emotional intelligence
c. crystallized intelligence
d. fluid intelligence
3. What is one of the primary distinctions between
constructivism and logical
44. head of this initia-
tive is looking to contract a professional who can weigh in on
the design of the new
office space. Which professional with a background in learning
psychology would be
best for the job?
a. Toya, the ergonomist
b. Lydia, the behavioral interventionist
c. Dylan, the market research analyst
d. Shareef, the human resources specialist
Answers
1. b. The answer can be found in Section 3.1.
2. d. The answers can be found in Section 3.2.
3. c. The answer can be found in Section 3.3.
4. d. The answer can be found in Section 3.5.
5. a. The answer can be found in Section 3.5.
Questions for Critical Thinking
1. A recent psychology graduate named Kaylynn is currently
seeking a career posi-
tion with the local community college as a marketing director.
How can her un-
derstanding of learning support this position, and how can she
express these
acquired skills most clearly in her interview?
2. The retail department store that Nikky, a psychology
graduate, works for is chang-
ing how they address customer service, and over the next
several weeks the store
will be requiring all sales personnel to attend training sessions.
As a sales manager,
Nikky has heard her employees make comments reflecting their
46. cognitive load The amount of knowl-
edge that a person can process in working
memory.
cognitivism A theoretical framework
that emphasizes the internal processes of
thinking, including the retrieval of informa-
tion from long-term memory, in explaining
behaviors and learning.
cognitive revolution Cognitivist efforts to
restore the mind as a consideration in learn-
ing that occurred in the mid-1900s.
constructivism A theory that focuses
on the way individual context influences
learning.
crystallized intelligence (Gc) A person’s
stored and retrievable knowledge (long-
term memory) about the world, including
experiences and learned operations.
cultural myopia The tendency to judge
learning experiences based on only one’s
own experiences, without full acknowledg-
ment of experiences outside one’s own.
emotional intelligence (EI) The ability to
understand and manage one’s own emo-
tions and the emotions of others.
false memories Memories that are built
around an event that never happened, or
recollections of real events that include
47. details that are inaccurate.
fluid intelligence (Gf ) The ability to evalu-
ate and solve problems using spontaneous
learning, reasoning, and analysis rather than
stored knowledge.
general intelligence (g) The measure of
an individual’s ability to process informa-
tion with cognitive complexity.
logical positivism The perspective that
answers to questions about the process of
learning should only be based upon empiri-
cal research
information processing The process by
which information enters through sensory
memory, flows through working memory,
and is then organized and stored in long-
term memory to be retrieved by the learner
at a later time.
information processing theory This
theory claims that information enters the
mind, is organized, and then is stored and
retrieved by the learner.
intelligence quotient (IQ) A concept that
was originally created to determine whether
a child had a learning disability and is now
used to compare the level of intellect among
those in the same age bracket.
long-term memory (LTM) The storage
area for information that has been pro-
49. working memory (WM) A limited capac-
ity, short-term cognitive system for process-
ing and storing information.
Professional Resources
The psychology of learning has many dimensions. The
following links should help you remem-
ber all that you have learned about this field of psychology as
you prepare to market yourself
to the professional community.
American Psychological Association
The educational psychology division of APA:
http://www.apa.org/about/division/div15.aspx
Journals
Peer-reviewed journals focused on behaviorism and behavioral
analysis:
• Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1938-3703
• Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1938-3711
• Journal of Organizational Behavior:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/
(ISSN)1099-1379
Peer-reviewed cognition-focused journals:
• International Journal of School and Cognitive Psychology:
http://www.omicsonline
.com/open-access/school-cognitive-psychology.php
55. Development: Raising Gen-
der-Aschematic Children in a Gender-Schematic Society”:
https://www.jstor.org/
stable/3173685?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Fun Facts
Did you know that . . .
• Forgotten memories are not “gone” (Loftus, 1993). They are
just more difficult to
retrieve.
• Just because we think someone has lied to us that may not be
the case. False mem-
ory development is a normal occurrence in times of stress.
Emotion and suggestion
play large parts in a human’s recollection of an event.
• Research suggests that playing frightening and violent video
games may actually
help children have more control over their fears in real life
(Olson, 2010).
• Chess increases learning performance habits, including
increased attention and con-
centration, the use of precise thinking, the use of inductive and
deductive reasoning,
problem solving practice, and the recognition of complex
patterns. (Tudela, 1984). It
is also a part of the educational curricula in nearly 30 countries
(Linder, 1990).
• Research suggests that those who are the most innovative
adult thinkers, were
children who were given the opportunity to play and manipulate
their environments