ABSTRACT
In Figure 2.2, there are three non-learning responses to a potential learning situation and these were called presumption, non-consideration and rejection. Presumption indicates that people have certain presuppositions about the social situation and provided that they are fulfilled they perform their role without question; non-consideration shows that in some situations people do not think about their experience; rejection demonstrates that there are certain situations in which individuals make a definite decision not to learn. None of these experiences results in the acquisition of any knowledge or skill, although there are some instances where the self-concept of the learners is affected by the experience. This change may be either negative or positive, negative because the actors have not been able to learn from the experience and recognise that this is the case, or positive because the actors recognise that an ability to cope with the experience has been manifest. Thus it may be seen that the self might be affected coincidentally by the non-learning response to a potential learning situation, and it will be shown in the next two chapters that whatever the type of learning response, the self must always be seen as an element in the experience.
