What Do Cognitive Scientists Study When They Study 'Learning'?

Psychologists have many ways of characterizing and studying learning, however the most basic notion is what we call "statistical learning." In statistical learning the student tries to extract a pattern from a set of data. For example, a child learns what "dog" means by hearing the word used in various contexts. Kalish will talk about some of the different ways people study statistical learning, and some of the "big questions" (as well as some of the "littler questions" he works on).

Kalish will also be reflecting on how statistical learning does or does not figure in formal education. It seems that psychologists and educators worry about very different kinds of learning. As time permits, he will talk about a second kind of learning, cultural learning, that might be more congenial to educators. Cultural learning research explores how we learn from (and teach to) other people.