Learning through motivation and communication

Learning, communication in a personal context

Stimulus and response concepts

Stimulus: any event that an individual is able to perceive and feel through any of the senses.

Answer: everything that this individual does as a result of having perceived that stimulus. It is the reaction of the individual's body to a stimulus, the behavior produced by it. They may be:

Manifest: they are the observables, the ones that can be detected. Covert: they occur within the body and cannot be observed or detected; it's private.

Meaning of learning

It is the change that occurs in the stable relationships between:

A perceived stimulus. The answer given by the organism.

If an individual transfers the response given to one stimulus to another, it can be said that he has learned. Whether the individual continues to give some of the same responses to different stimuli; or give different responses to the same stimuli.

The source wants the receiver to change so that it learns. We communicate in order to make our receptors respond in different ways to old stimuli or to respond as they used to other stimuli.

Learning process

There must be a stimulus. The stimulus must be perceived by the organism, that is, focus one or more of the senses on some stimuli. The stimulus must be interpreted. The organism must produce some response to the stimulus, in the way it was interpreted: the organism observes the consequences of the response (test response). A test response is preserved if the body perceives that the consequences are rewarding. A test response is discarded if the body does not perceive that the consequences are rewarding. Learning occurs when the response becomes habitual. What determines learning, habit development, is the reward. We repeat the answers that are rewarded.

1. Presentation of the stimulus.

2. Perception of the stimulus by organism.

3. Interpretation of the stimulus.

4. Test response to stimulus.

5. Perception of the consequences of the test response.

6. Reinterpretation of the consequences and the possibility of future responses.

7. Development of a stable stimulus - response (E - R) relationship (habit).

Once the habit has developed we stop interpreting the stimulus. We begin to respond automatically, without thinking, without analyzing.

We need to develop habits in order to reduce the effort required to give the answers.

The notion of habit is related to that of communication. When we want to produce learning in a receiver we have to break some molds of existing habits and install new ones. All communication is related to the recipient's habits, with the ways in which it tends to respond to certain stimuli.

Determinants of habit

Habit is a relationship between a stimulus and the response that the individual gives to that stimulus and for which it has been rewarded.

1. Frequency of repetition rewarded: each time a stimulus is presented, a response is given and it is rewarded, the habit is strengthened. The more repetitions, the stronger the habit becomes, if the response is rewarded.

2. Isolation of the E - R relationship: the particular connecting strength ER is determined by the degree to which the stimulus elicits other responses, or to what extent other stimuli emit the same response. Reducing the available stimuli increases the effectiveness of the rest.

3. Reward Amount: A response to a stimulus must be rewarded if the ER relationship is to be strengthened. The greater the reward, the more the habit tends to strengthen.

4. Time gap between response and reward: The faster the individual perceives that the consequences of a response are rewarding, the more likely they are to retain the response. Some people can expect a reward more than others. Responses whose reward is immediate are more likely to be strengthened than those whose reward is less rapid.

5. Effort required to issue the response: responses that are easy to give are more likely to be retained than responses that are difficult to issue.

When we talk about reward, we must bear in mind that it must be defined according to the receiver. Once you have located the type of consequence that will serve as a reward, you can increase the ER connection strength while increasing the reward level.

When preparing messages, receiving them or analyzing other people's communication, we must take into account:

1. The frequency with which the message is presented (with or without reward)

2. The competition of a certain stimulus or response for other stimuli and responses.

3. The amount of reward received as a result of the response.

4. The space of time that elapses between the time the response is given and the time the reward is received.

5. The amount of effort perceived as necessary by the receiver to give the desired response.

Learning and reward

The reward determines the strength of our habits, the speed and extent of our learning. If we do not have the expectation of a reward until we refuse to choose and interpret a stimulus. Man only behaves in the ways that he perceives of his own interest. He does things that he thinks will help him and he avoids doing those that in his opinion can hurt him.

The ways in which man chooses to structure the world are determined by his own intelligence, his attitudes, his knowledge, the values that are transmitted to him through culture, etc. Man tries to influence by imposing a structure, giving meaning to the environment around him. When there are no structures, he is tense, so he will look for situations that reduce uncertainties, and avoid those that increase them.

Man perceives that a reward is rewarding insofar as it helps him develop a consistent structure in his universe.

The response that we want from a receiver must be compensatory to him or, otherwise, it will not be learned.

The receiver struggles to achieve a reduction in tension, an increase in certainty. And yet, learning requires a temporary increase in tension, so that tension must be creative if it is to be productive. Tension is creative if the recipient is able to perceive that a new relationship may eventually produce greater certainty, allowing it to have an even greater effect, then it will tolerate the temporary reduction of certainty in the hope of obtaining greater certainty in the future.

The effectiveness of communication can be increased in one or two ways: by increasing the reward or by decreasing the energy.