ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the mechanisms of learning which aid in man’s adaptation, discussing in particular certain forms of learning, various factors therein, its organization, especially with reference to the more complex mental functions, and finally the importance of the persistent effects which emerge as a result of acquirements. Learning may be conscious and deliberate; it may be and often is involuntary. For the most part, the studies of learning have been concerned necessarily with an examination of the stimuli or the responses, or of both. The theory behind investigations is that learning takes place in piecemeal fashion, termed the part-whole method. There are a large number of factors, intrinsic and extrinsic, which serve to qualify the learning process, such as repetition, physiological conditions of the organism, motivation, emotions, and a large number of social or interactional situations. All sorts of internal and external factors operate to affect the linkages fundamental to learning.
