Cognitive Learning Theories

Every time we read something new, memorize a new phone number, or even meet someone new we are learning something. Every day of our lives we learn something new whether it be casual information or even something about ourselves. However, psychologists have had the daunting task of trying to explain just how somebody learns something. For example, does someone learn something by simply repeating the same action multiple times or is it more complicated than that? Therefore, since we are constantly learning new things, psychologists have spent countless hours creating and adding to existing theories about learning. There are two different categories that these psychologists have been positioned into, the cognitive learning theories and the …show more content…
That is because after the brain goes through its initial information processing it will either be committed to the sensory register, the working memory or our long-term memory. (Ormrod, 2012) The sensory register holds information long enough for it to do like a kind of preliminary cognitive scan and takes in information from the five senses. The working memory holds information for a short period of time before the brain decides if it is important enough to be committed into the long-term memory or if the information should just be discarded. The long-term memory holds important information that an individual would need or want to remember such as someone’s birthday or who the current president is. The fact of the matter is that once information is committed into someone’s long-term memory it is now available when that person needs to retrieve that information and that is how psychologists believe learning is achieved with cognitive learning theories. (Ormrod, …show more content…
In an article by Mark Butler, Kierea Meloy and Matthew Call, they explain how using a behavioral learning model can help people recover from the powerlessness that addicts face. They explain that the behavior that is linked to addiction can be changed through a behavioral learning model in three ways. The first step is to detach the person from their addictive behaviors, in order to replace them with new behaviors that are non-addictive. This is also a way for the addict to form new associations for a behavior. The second step is to develop a substitute recovery behavioral system and then make said behaviors habitual. The third and final step is to make the person aware of the rewards of recovery and the consequences of addiction. (Butler, Meloy,