ABSTRACT
It is practically a matter of course that learning psychology has chiefly been concerned with what happens when someone learns something. But in many contexts it is just as important to be interested in what happens when somebody does not learn something in situations that could give rise to important learning, or when somebody learns something other than what they or others have intended. However, it is far from always the case that the impulses and influences met by the individual in his/her interaction with the environment are transformed into an internal psychological acquisition process – and especially in education and other contexts that
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One of the few learning theorists to have considered this subject in detail is Peter Jarvis to whom I have already referred several times (especially sections 7.3 and 8.6). Jarvis divides ‘non-learning’ into three categories: presumption implies that one already thinks one has an understanding of something and, therefore, does not register new learning opportunities. Nonconsideration implies that one might register new opportunities, but does not relate to them, perhaps through being too busy or too nervous of what they might lead to. Rejection means that on a more conscious level, one does not want to learn something new in a particular context (Jarvis 1987, s. 133ff., and several other texts).
