Psychology of Communication: learning

Learning

Before continuing, please click here to display Berlo's model of habit formation. Note that the theory of learning which Berlo presents is heavily influenced by behaviourism, which fell into disfavour some time ago. Nevertheless, many of the general principles of behaviourism remain quite valid, as long as we bear in mind that it's not the whole story. For further comment, see the section on behaviourism.

There are all kinds of reasons why we engage in communication. A very significant reason is that we want somebody else to learn something, in a very broad sense of that term. We might, for example, want them to learn:

• that 'Beanz Meanz Heinz
• that voting Tory is more sensible than voting Labour (actually about as daft either way, but never mind)
• that you are trustworthy and there's no real need for your parents to wait up for you
• how to learn more
• examination technique
• how to relax
• that smoking is pretty daft and that there are better things to do with your money
• that this behaviour is socially acceptable and that one isn't
• that they really ought to etc.....

Stimulus, response, reinforcement

You will very probably be quite familiar with these terms stimulus and response which are pretty fundamental to much study of learning. If we get some pepper up our nose, we sneeze: the pepper is the stimulus; the sneezing is the response. A doctor whacks us on the knee; our leg shoots in the air: the whack is the stimulus, the knee-jerk is the response. A friend jokingly pretends to poke us in the eye and we involuntarily blink even though we know it's only a joke. Again, a stimulus and a response to that stimulus.

These are all examples of reflexes. These are automatic, unlearned responses to stimuli, over which we have no conscious control. There is another class of reflexes which we have learnt. These are known as conditioned reflexes. You will very probably have come across Pavlov's research into conditioned reflexes, as his theories of particular aspects of learning have been fundamental to much research during this century. (If you're unfamiliar with the idea of a conditioned reflex, you ought to quickly check it out now )

Two other very influential researchers into learning were Watson and Skinner, the foremost exponents of behaviourism, which (though now quite out of vogue) has also had a huge influence on our understanding of how human learning works.

In what follows, we shall be using the outline of learning presented by the communication researcher, David Berlo (1960), a very simple notion of how we learn, but quite useful in the light it sheds on communication.

See graphic:

(if the graphic is not currently displayed in the pop-up window, please click here: The 'flash' which short-circuits between decoder and encoder is habit. If the learning process is successful, then a habit is developed. Berlo lists the various factors which determine how strong the habit will be. If you are not familiar with this S-R-R notion of learning, then it would be a good idea to take a look at those factors now. by clicking on the corresponding parts of the graphic.

A useful and practical model which emerges from the stimulus-response-reward model of human learning is Schramm's Fraction of Selection, which you might like to take a look at now.

Related articles:

Behaviourism

Behaviour modification

Conditioned Reflex

Schramm's Fraction of Selection

For an interesting examination of the practical applications of some of these ideas, see Polly Woolley's dissertation, Strategies for developing uses of the Internet within education