learning, vbl. n.
(ˈlɜːnɪŋ)
Forms: 1 leornung, 4 leorning, 4–6 lerning, -yng(h)(e, 7 Sc. leirning, 9 vulg. larnin, 6– learning.
[OE. leornung, -ing, f. leornian: see learn v. and -ing1. Cf. OHG. lirnunga.]
1. The action of the vb. learn. a. The action of receiving instruction or acquiring knowledge; spec. in Psychol., a process which leads to the modification of behaviour or the acquisition of new abilities or responses, and which is additional to natural development by growth or maturation; (freq. opp. insight).
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. Pref. (Sweet) 3 Hu ᵹiorne hie wæron æᵹðer ᵹe ymb lare ᵹe ymb liornunga. c 1340 Cursor M. 14811 (Trin.) To him was þe lawe bitauȝt Þat he him self bi lernyng lauȝt. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 67 Gladnesse whiche encresses daily in me in lernynghe. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1165/2 He..for the pouertie of his father..not able to be mainteined here at learning. 1644 Milton Educ. Wks. (1847) 98/2 The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents. 1740 J. Clarke Educ. Youth (ed. 3) 18 It..renders the Learning of the English Rules more tedious abundantly, than they would be. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. iii. 220 Vigilance..required of us, besides learning of many practical lessons. 1862 R. Owen in 19th Cent. Dec. (1897) 992 There's nothing so good for learning, as teaching. 1897 Bryan & Harter in Psychol. Rev. IV. 29 While there are many exceptional cases of quickness and slowness in learning, it requires from two to two and a half years to become an expert operator. 1901 E. L. Thorndike in Ibid. VIII. 442 With the monkeys, however, the association is both more rapid and more permanent, and the approach to suddenness and definiteness in their learning simulates that of human beings. 1901 ― Human Nature Club iii. 38 This method of learning may be called the method of trial and error..or..the animal method of learning. 1922 R. S. Woodworth Psychol. xiii. 311 To compare human and animal learning..cannot but throw light on the whole problem of the process of learning. 1924 R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind ii. 41 Certain stages of development are attained only after learning has been added to growth and maturation. 1940 W. Köhler Dynamics in Psychol. (1942) iii. 114 If this is the case, retroactive inhibition..must also be a disturbance of the product of learning. 1948 E. R. Hilgard Theories of Learning xii. 353 It can be stated with reasonable confidence that there are changes in the nervous system accompanying learning. 1968 Gelernter & Rochester in Evans & Robertson Cybernetics 70 This is the learning involved when the machine uses results on one problem to improve its guesses about similar problems. 1970 M. H. Marx Learning: Theories p. v, It is no longer possible for one psychologist to be fully expert in all the areas of so broad and diversified a field as learning. |
† b. Teaching; schooling.
Obs.| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 393 Þe gospels of Crist written in Englische to moost lernyng of oure nacioun. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. iv. x. 255 It is gode for to speke therof to the lernynge of thoos that shall most iuge therof. 1727 Philip Quarll (1816) 34 The old man determined to give him his learning, if his relations would find him in board, and other necessaries. 1802 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 44 O, cud I afford it, mair larnin thou'd get! |
† 2. What is learnt or taught:
a. a lesson, instruction;
b. information or direction;
c. the ‘teaching’ of a person; a doctrine; also, a doctrine or maxim in law;
d. a branch of learning; a science;
e. an acquirement.
Obs.| a. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 174 That nis no treuthe of trinite but..a leornyng for lewed men, the latere forte dele. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour cxxxvii. M vij, The thre enseygnementes or lernynges whiche Cathon gaf to his sone. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. i. 43 The king..Puts to him all the Learnings that his time Could make him the receiuer of. |
| b. c 1386 Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 184 Right as hym was taught by his lernynge He foond this hooly olde Vrban. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 47, I did inquire it: And haue my Learning from some true reports. |
| c. 1526 Tindale Rev. ii. 24 As many as have nott this lernynge. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Rom. 34 To expounde unknowen learnynges. 1560 Pilkington Aggeus C ij (Matt. xv. 9), Teaching learninges which are the commaundementes of men. a 1625 Boys Wks. (1629–30) 128 Christ the way, the truth and the life..The truth in his learning, the way for his liuing. a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law Pref. (1636) 2 Particular and positive learnings of lawes doe easily decline from a good temper of justice. |
| d. 1570 Billingsley Euclid xi. xi. 315 It is no rare thing in all learninges..to haue one thing more generall then an other. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vi. §13 (1873) 49 He did send his divine truth into the world, waited on with other learnings. 1613 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 6 The rules of Reason are of two sorts; some taken from forreigne learnings, both diuine and humane. |
| e. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 35, I once did hold it..a basenesse to write faire, and laboured much How to forget that learning. |
3. a. Knowledge,
esp. of language or literary or historical science, acquired by systematic study; also, the possession of such knowledge, learnedness.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 16108 (Trin.) Men han seide þat þou art wis of lernyng ȝore. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2016 But for marchaunt men hauyng litell lernyng. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 175 Oxenford..a norishe of learning, and a famous universitie. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 314–15 Learning is but an adiunct to our selfe, And where we are, our Learning likewise is. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 2 The rare learning that he hath attained vnto. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 60 The servil condition into which lerning..was brought. 1676 Lister in Ray's Corr. (1848) 125 [Plagiaries] being the bane and pest of learning. 1709–11 Pope Ess. Crit. 215 A little learning is a dang'rous thing. a 1732 Gay Fables ii. xi. (1738) 100 Learning by study must be won. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 60 That Politianus was a man of learning must be confessed. 1771 Junius Lett. lxi. 319 It..is not much to the credit either of their learning or integrity. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 136 He had betrayed the ancient seat of freedom and learning to the Gothic invader. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. I. viii. 167 Learning is the knowledge of that which none but the learned know. 1838 Hallam Hist. Lit. (1847) I. i. iii. §47. 168 Ancient learning is to be divided into two great departments. 1887 Lowell Democr. 122 What we want is not learning, but knowledge. |
b. the new learning: the studies,
esp. that of the Greek language, introduced into England in the 16th century; also applied to the doctrines of the Reformation.
| c 1530 Latimer in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. ii. 119 Ye sayed that it was plaine, that this New lernyng (as ye call it) was not the trowth... Ye call the Scripture the new Lerninge; which I am sure is eldre than any lerninge, that ye wote to be the old. c 1550 Bale K. Johan (Manly) 1156, I trust ye beleve as Holy Church doth teache ye, And from the new lernyng ye are wyllyng for to fle. 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 12 Such as impute this thing to the new learning, and preaching of the Gospell are shamefully deceiued. 1732 Neal Hist. Purit. I. 28 The King's displeasure against the..Bishops of the new Learning. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. §4. 305 On the Universities the influence of the New Learning was like a passing from death to life. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
learning-place,
learning process,
learning programme,
learning score,
learning-seat,
learning situation;
learning curve, a graph showing progress in learning;
learning machine, a machine of the electronic computer type that can ‘learn’ by recording the results of attempts to solve a problem and giving preference to those which are successful;
learning resources (also
attrib.), collective materials for learning,
e.g. microfilms, audio-visual aids, made accessible in a library, school, etc.; also
learning-resource attrib. phr.;
learning theory, theory attempting to account for the process of learning.
| 1922 R. S. Woodworth Psychol. xiii. 307 Learning curve for the rat in the maze. 1924 R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind iv. 168 All these facts..would naturally operate to shorten the learning-curve. 1967 M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour x. 183 In fact some manual operatives also learn by doing, and learning curves can be plotted which show their rate of progress. 1968 Johannsen & Robertson Managem. Gloss. 74 Learning curves indicate how the rate of learning changes with increased practice and are used to predict labour productivity. |
| 1950 A. M. Turing in Mind LIX. 458 The idea of a learning machine may appear paradoxical to some readers. Ibid. 459 It is probably wise to include a random element in a learning machine. 1954 Oxf. Univ. Gaz. 15 June 1035/2 Work..on the insightful learning machine was also continued. 1963 A. M. Andrew Brains & Computers 61 Future machines of this kind will certainly also be learning machines. 1967 R. Whitehead in Wills & Yearsley Handbk. Management Technol. 57 Brains, self-organizing systems, economic systems, learning machines, computers, and automated factories are among the many subjects examined by the cybernetician. |
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. iv. (Percy Soc.) 20, I went to Doctryne, prayenge her good grace, For to assygne me my fyrst lernynge place. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 191 The Court's a learning-place. |
| 1922 R. S. Woodworth Psychol. xiii. 302 It makes the learning process easier to follow. 1947 A. W. Melton in Harvard Educ. Rev. XXIX. 96 Educators..must know how to manage the learning process. 1949 Shurr & Yocom Mod. Dance i. 13 Nothing can substitute for the physical activity which is necessary to the learning process. 1962 R. M. Gagné in Psychol. Rev. LXIX. 355/1 Autoinstructional devices and their component learning programs. 1969 Library Jrnl. 1 Apr. 1536/3 (Advt.), Student body of 5000 on two campuses; 300 teachers; new learning resources center. 1970 Ibid. 15 Feb. 800/3 (Advt.), Curriculum adviser to work..in planning..for new learning resource facility incorporating uses of all learning materials. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 39/1 (Advt.), The successful applicant..will be responsible for assisting the principal in organizing, equipping and stocking a 3-level Learning Resource Centre in an innovational secondary school. 1970 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXIII. 46 The analysis of variance on learning scores. |
| 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 33 That is a storehouse riche, a learning seat. |
| 1948 E. R. Hilgard Theories of Learning xii. 335 Many learning situations require the selection of one or another possible mode of action. |
| 1947 Harvard Educ. Rev. XXIX. 84 (heading) The relation of learning theory to the technology of education. 1962 Listener 15 Nov. 793/2 The psycho-analysts..believe that learning theory..is doomed to give only an incomplete and sometimes misleading account of personality development. 1967 M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour viii. 148 Various training techniques derived from learning theory have been developed for the removal of symptoms [of mental disorders]. 1968 E. Lovejoy Attention in Discrimination Learning iii. 44 This selectivity is likely to be an important part of a learning theory. |
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Add:
[4.] learning set Psychol., an ability to solve problems of a particular type which is acquired through experience of solving such problems.
| 1949 H. F. Harlow in Psychol. Rev. LVI. 51/2 The learning of primary importance to the primates, at least, is the formation of *learning sets; it is the learning how to learn efficiently. Ibid. 53/1 It is this learning how to learn a kind of problem that we designated by the term learning set. 1975 Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xxvi. 523 Before starting on a reading scheme children should have had a wide range of preparatory reading experiences and acquired certain ‘learning sets’. 1986 F. J. Bruno Dict. Key Words in Psychol. 126 Experience with groups of similar problems results in the gradual formation of a learning set. |
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learning difficulty n. orig. Educ. (chiefly
Brit.) a difficulty in acquiring knowledge and skills,
esp. (in later use) in comparison with the norm for one's peer group, typically because of mental disability or cognitive disorder;
usu. in
pl.| 1921 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 16 Mar. 4/2 The above recommendations are..also for the purpose of emphasizing the organization of the instruction on the order of *learning difficulties. 1957K. S. Wood in L. E. Travis Handbk. Speech Pathol. ii. 54 Dyslexia, partial inability to read characterized by associative learning difficulty; a form of dysphasia. 2001 Independent 31 Jan. (Review section) 6/6 Nurses caring for those no longer described as mentally handicapped but as having learning difficulties, were caught up in a maelstrom of change. |
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learning disability n. orig. Educ. (chiefly
U.S.) a condition giving rise to learning difficulties; (also)
= learning difficulty n. at Additions.
| 1936 E. A. Betts Prevention & Correction Reading Diffic. I. 2 Children who have difficulty in learning to read can..be divided into two classes... (2) those who present specific *learning disability in reading... The second group, characterized by a specific learning disability, presents quite a different problem. 2001 Community Care 13 Dec. 82/5 (advt.) Pembrokeshire Resource Centre placement available in specialist unit for adults with learning disabilities particularly Autism, Aspergers and associated syndromes. High tolerance of challenging behaviour. |
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learning disabled adj. orig. U.S. Educ. relating to or designating people with learning disabilities.
| 1965 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 15 Sept. 24/7 Dr. Di Carlo demonstrated his diagnostic and instructional procedures in the examination of *learning disabled children. 2003 Disability Now July 8/4 He called for people to complain to the CPS if prosecutors fail learning disabled people in court. |