Habit and skill learning
The psychologist Clark Hull considered habits to be the most elementary unit of learning. He saw complex behaviors as hierarchies of habits. Generally speaking, a habit is an act that is routinely performed without thinking. The characteristics of a habit are that it is learned and it has a purpose. There are theoretical attempts to explain the acquisition, maintenance, and alteration of habits. These theories may have application as there are habits that people try to encourage or discourage. Habits that involve the abuse of drugs or alcohol belong, instead, to the category of addictions and need another kind of treatment.
Habits occur always within a context, and are influenced by rewards and punishments. Some habits may be acquired involuntarily, while others may require reminders, external pressure, or a conscious effort. A habit's strength depends on the consequences it produces. If a behavior is frequently rewarded, it may quickly become a habit. There may be stimuli or cues associated with a habit, which are important in its establishment.
Other factors, besides rewards and cues, may be significant in the maintenance of a habit, once it is established. A reward may not be needed; the performance of the habit may be its own reward. The inverse conditions are apt to diminish the strength of a habit. For example, changing the environment, suppressing cues and rewards, may lead to the disappearance of the habit.
Another kind of learning is the normal learning of all sorts of skills during the individual's development. These can be motor skills like walking, writing, or speaking; intellectual skills like performing arithmetical operations; or social skills like conversing. An important characteristic of all skills is versatility: the knowledge related to a skill is easily transferred to similar skills. For example, once a child has learned to write with a pencil it is much easier for him to learn to write with a pen.
Skill learning proceeds by incremental steps; it is a gradual process of improving performance by means of practice. Each step takes the person nearer to the objective of achieving efficiency and precision. Skill learning has a purpose and permits a person to achieve a goal by comparing actual with desired performance, and making adjustments if necessary. The capacity of an individual to adapt to his environment is largely the result of being competent in a number of skills.
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