ABSTRACT
W hy are you reading this chapter? I assume that at one level or another you hope to learn something, although
perhaps only enough to get through your next test! If you are a student, then you have probably spent a large part of your life learning. Such a lengthy period of learning is not evolution’s usual solution to survival in a complex world. Many very successful species, such as ants, crocodiles, viruses and butterflies, come into the world preprogrammed with the equipment to survive. Humans, however, are a species that can only survive by learning. Without it, we would have no language, no complex tools, no transport systems, and little in the way of society. So what do we know about learning?
