Your brain is like a magnet which works without reward—but you may not realise it.

 Your brain is like a magnet which works without reward—but you may not realise it.

- In a previous post, I explained that actions which bring us rewards are learned quickly.
- However, one psychologist, Edward Tolman, introduced an idea that might blow your mind.

𝗛𝗶, 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗩𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝟲𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁, 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹.

𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 Vivek Sunny 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆.

- Tolman argued that it’s not just the reward that makes humans or animals learn a behavior pattern.
- He believed that the ability to learn and create mental maps of our environment is inherent. In fact, we can learn without a reward at all.

To demonstrate this, let’s take an example:

Suppose I'm driving to my friend’s home using Google Maps and successfully reach the destination. After arriving, my friend asks me if I know where an Apple service center is, since he’s having trouble finding one in his area. I quickly remember that, on my way to his house, I saw an Apple service center. My friend is delighted.

- This happened because, without realizing it, my brain created a cognitive map of the route and the surroundings while I was driving. When needed, I was able to recall that map. This is what psychologists call "latent learning".

- The moral of the story is that it’s not always the reward that helps us learn a behavior. Humans have a "God-gifted" latent learning ability that works in the background, and we can tap into it when required.

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 Vivek Sunny 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀.


.hashtag#behavioral_psychology