The direct learning theory: a naturalistic approach to learning for the post-cognitivist era
Entity
UAM. Departamento de Psicología BásicaPublisher
Sage JournalsDate
2019-05-15Citation
10.1177/1059712319847136
Adaptive Behavior 27.6 (2019): 389-403
ISSN
1059-7123 (print); 1741-2633 (online)DOI
10.1177/1059712319847136Funded by
This research was supported in part by funds from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant number PSI2013 43742). Jorge Ibáñez Gijón was supported by funds from the Autonomous Region of Madrid (2016 T2/SOC1976)Project
Gobierno de España. PSI2013 43742; Comunidad de Madrid. 2016 T2/SOC1976Editor's Version
https://doi.org/10.1177/1059712319847136Subjects
4E; learning theories; ecological psychology; enactivism; direct learning; PsicologíaRights
© The Author(s) 2019Abstract
Di Paolo, Buhrmann, and Barandiarán (2017) proposed a list of criteria that post cognitivist theories of learning should fulfill. In this article we describe the direct learning theory, developed under the ecological approach, and review research performed in this theoretical framework. We argue that the theory of direct learning fulfills most of the criteria put forward by Di Paolo et al. In this sense, the tools and concepts of the direct learning theory can be useful to other post cognitivist theories of learning. Direct learning holds that improvements with practice in perception and perceptually guided action are driven by information for learning. Such information can be found in the dynamic interaction of the organism that performs the action and the environment in which the action is performed. The theory formally describes information for learning as a vector field that spans a space that includes all perception action couplings that may be used to perform the action. Being located at a point of such a space means using a specific perception action coupling. Changes in perception action couplings due to learning can be represented as paths across the space, and can be explained with the vector field of information for learning. Previous research in the direct learning framework considered actions that were best understood with single perception action couplings. To conclude the article, and inspired by the criteria of Di Paolo et al., we discuss an extension of the theory to actions that are best understood with multiple perception action couplings
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Google Scholar:Higueras-Herbada, Alfredo
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Paz Ríos, Juan Carlos de
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Jacobs, David
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Travieso García, David
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Ibañez Gijón, Jorge
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