This course will become read-only in the near future. Tell us at community.p2pu.org if that is a problem.

Task 5: Concluding the topic of 'learning theory'


Concluding the topic of learning.

Case study: Sultan the chimpanzee

...Sultan, one of the brightest of the early chimpanzees used for psychological research, was tested by Gestalt psychologist Wolfgang Köhler. Sultan is particularly recognized for his insight in solving numerous problems, including stacking or manipulating boxes to reach a reward and use of two sticks as a unit to rake food to a reachable distance. While other Chimpanzees in Köhler's study were also quite adept at problemsolving—namely, obtaining an out-of-reach fruit suspended above a playground or perched just beyond arm's reach outside the bars of a cage—Sultan proved to be peculiarly advanced. He and his peers were also known to stack crates to reach the fruit, and even scramble up a hastily balanced stick to grab the banana before falling back down. Chimpanzees helped Köhler to prove that animals are capable of learning beyond simple trial and error, and that, given the right conditions, many species—particularly the more "human" species of primates—will demonstrate a deeper understanding of the constituents of a problem...

See the complete article here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_(ape)


...Insight Learning: This is an extension of the term, insight which was identified by Wolfgang Kohler while studying the behavior of chimpanzees. He said that insight learning is a type of learning or problem solving that happens all-of-a-sudden through understanding the relationships various parts of a problem rather than through trial and error. ...

Complete article here:
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Insight%20Learning


Learning to Learn
Harry Harlow proposed a new method for measuring higher learning abilities of animals in 1949. Harlow suggested that humans and other highly intelligent animals not only mastered isolated tasks but also noticed patterns and shortcuts that made them more efficient learners. They not only learned, they learned to learn, becoming faster at solving new problems as they gained experience solving similar classes of problems (Harlow, 1949)....

Complete article here:
http://www.intropsych.com/ch08_animals/learning_to_learn.html


You should supplement your understanding of the topic of 'learning' by watching the following MIT video about learning (when you have some free time)

video here:

Task Discussion