SENSES and LEARNING

Sensations define not only where we are in the world, but who we are in the world. Our senses help us to assess our environment and to determine the appropriate response to it, both in terms of physiological reactions and in how we react emotionally to situations. As our senses inform us about the objects and people around us, there is always a corresponding reaction within us.

Our body’s senses provide a continuous stream of data to the brain, which we use to make decisions about the environment around us. The thoughts we produce will be expressed back through the very same senses we used to collect information from in the first place: speaking, creating music, or typing on a computer to record your thoughts.

All learning starts with the information we receive through our senses. How well the senses can gather information from the outside world has a great influence on how we learn and how well we function. When sensations through one of our senses are experienced too intensely the sense is classified as being hyper or over-sensitive and when sensations are experienced less intensely, this is called hypo or under-sensitive. Over or under-sensitivity will vary over time. For instance, when we are stressed and under pressure, many of us will not be able to cope so well with too many sounds or too much visual information. On the other hand, when we are relaxed and it’s a warm sunny day, many of us can take on the whole world.

Learning is defined as the acquiring knowledge or developing the ability to perform new behaviors. Learning is closely related to memory, which is the storage of information in the brain. Psychologists who study memory are interested in how the brain stores knowledge, where this storage takes place, and how the brain later retrieves knowledge when we need it. In contrast, psychologists who study learning are more interested in behavior and how behavior changes as a result of a person’s experiences.

What are some of the factors that affect learning? Well, here are a few:     

• The brain needs movement to keep it focused on the task of learning. When your hands are active, your brain is more engaged. Therefore, “hands-on” learning —drawing, playing games, acting out an experience —activates the brain.
• People are more likely to continue what they are doing if they receive positive feedback.  When learning a new task people need constant positive reinforcement to overcome the failures introduced along the path of learning.
• Conversely, too much negative feedback will cause people to stop learning.
• Emotions are just as critical to learning. They influence our attention, meaning and memory.
• Stress caused by some type of physical or emotional trauma produces a hormone called cortisol that disrupts the connections between brain cells in the learning and memory part of the brain. Too much stress can literally shut down the brain.

Now let’s review. Learning takes place throughout your entire body. All of your senses are deeply involved in the process of learning. The entire body learns through movement and repetition but can be altered by stress and emotions. Stress and emotions alter learning both positively or negatively depending on the level of stress or emotion encountered.