Learning Week 7

What stood out to me about the Chapter on Learning, was that there were so many different types of learning, and so many different ways in which our environment can effect our behavior. One example that really stood out to me was the portion on why we watch sports, because I watch a lot of sports and it was interesting to understand the mental approach of why we watch them. While I knew that we watch sports for it unpredictability, I did not realize it was the major part of why we watch them. If sports were regimented and we could tell what would happen, we probably would not have near as much interest in them. For example the text example of this would be the "home run theory" -  The theory is that if Mike Trout hits a home run, he will not hit another one for 17 more bats, the theory is that if we know this we would not be as inclined to watch, but since we do not know when his homerun will come it adds to the unpredictability and this is why we continue to watch.

The Science Behind "Learning":

• One of the best examples of the Science behind learning, is the dog experiment. Pavlov's Study was a experiment in which scientist placed dogs in an controlled environment with food. The first time they offered food to the dogs their mouths began to water. Doctor Pavlov then decided to include a sound with the offering of food. As the experiment drew on, he found that the dog's mouth began to water when they simply heard the sound. The food did not even have to be in the area for their mouths to start watering. The reason for this, is because they began to associate the sound with the food over time.

Real-World Application:

In conclusion I have found that most behaviors that we do are learned. While some are not easily unlearned, that does not mean that it is impossible. For instance, someone who is struggling with an addiction, can learn to not need the object or substance that they are addicted to with help and support. It does help to find ways to prevent themselves from indulging in it. An example of this would be like a certain smell that they learn to associate with the substance, if it is a bad smell they can be taught that whenever they are around the substance or object that the smell will come with it, in turn making them not want to have the substance or object anymore.

Sources: https://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html