Many people recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and techniques. Learning styles group common ways that people learn. Everyone has a mix of learning styles. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning, with far less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different circumstances. There is no right mix. Nor are your styles fixed. You can develop ability in less dominant styles, as well as further develop styles that you already use well.

Using multiple learning styles and “multiple intelligences” for learning is a relatively new approach. This approach is one that educators have only recently started to recognize. Traditional schooling used (and continues to use) mainly linguistic and logical teaching methods. It also uses a limited range of learning and teaching techniques. Many schools still rely on classroom and book-based teaching, much repetition, and pressured exams for reinforcement and review. A result is that we often label those who use these learning styles and techniques as “bright.” Those who use less favoured learning styles often find themselves in lower classes, with various not-so-complimentary labels and sometimes lower quality teaching. This can create positive and negative spirals that reinforce the belief that one is “smart” or “dumb.”

By recognizing and understanding your own learning styles, you can use techniques better suited to you. This improves the speed and quality of your learning.

 

 

The learning styles are:

If you use the visual style, you prefer using images, pictures, colours, and maps to organize information and communicate with others. You can easily visualize objects, plans and outcomes in your mind’s eye. You also have a good spatial sense, which gives you a good sense of direction. You can easily find your way around using maps, and you rarely get lost. When you walk out of an elevator, you instinctively know which way to turn.

Aural (auditory-musical).

If you use the aural style, you like to work with sound and music. You have a good sense of pitch and rhythm. You typically can sing, play a musical instrument, or identify the sounds of different instruments. Certain music invokes strong emotions. You notice the music playing in the background of movies, TV shows and other media. You often find yourself humming or tapping a song or jingle, or a theme or jingle pops into your head without prompting.

 

 

The verbal style involves both the written and spoken word. If you use this style, you find it easy to express yourself, both in writing and verbally. You love reading and writing. You like playing on the meaning or sound of words, such as in tongue twisters, rhymes, limericks and the like. You know the meaning of many words, and regularly make an effort to find the meaning of new words. You use these words, as well as phrases you have picked up recently, when talking to others.

 

If the physical style is more like you, it’s likely that you use your body and sense of touch to learn about the world around you. It’s likely you like sports and exercise, and other physical activities such as gardening or woodworking. You like to think out issues, ideas and problems while you exercise. You would rather go for a run or walk if something is bothering you, rather than sitting at home.

You are more sensitive to the physical world around you. You notice and appreciate textures, for example in clothes or furniture. You like “getting your hands dirty,” or making models, or working out jigsaws.

You typically use larger hand gestures and other body language to communicate. You probably don’t mind getting up and dancing either, at least when the time is right. You either love the physical action of theme park rides, or they upset your inner body sense too much and so you avoid them altogether.

When you are learning a new skill or topic, you would prefer to “jump in” and play with the physical parts as soon as possible. You would prefer to pull an engine apart and put it back together, rather than reading or looking at diagrams about how it works.

The thought of sitting in a lecture listening to someone else talk is repulsive. In those circumstances, you fidget or can’t sit still for long. You want to get up and move around.

 

If you use the logical style, you like using your brain for logical and mathematical reasoning. You can recognize patterns easily, as well as connections between seemingly meaningless content. This also leads you to classify and group information to help you learn or understand it.

You work well with numbers and you can perform complex calculations. You remember the basics of trigonometry and algebra, and you can do moderately complex calculations in your head.

You typically work through problems and issues in a systematic way, and you like to create procedures for future use. You are happy setting numerical targets and budgets, and you track your progress towards these. You like creating agendas, itineraries, and to-do lists, and you typically number and rank them before putting them into action.

Your scientific approach to thinking means you often support your points with logical examples or statistics. You pick up logic flaws in other peoples words, writing or actions, and you may point these out to people (not always to everyone’s amusement).

 

 

 

 

 

If you have a strong social style, you communicate well with people, both verbally and non-verbally. People listen to you or come to you for advice, and you are sensitive to their motivations, feelings or moods. You listen well and understand other’s views. You may enjoy mentoring or counselling others.

You typically prefer learning in groups or classes, or you like to spend much one-on-one time with a teacher or an instructor. You heighten your learning by bouncing your thoughts off other people and listening to how they respond. You prefer to work through issues, ideas and problems with a group. You thoroughly enjoy working with a “clicking” or synergistic group of people.

You prefer to stay around after class and talk with others. You prefer social activities, rather than doing your own thing. You typically like games that involve other people, such as card games and board games. The same applies to team sports such as football or soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, baseball and hockey.

 

If you have a solitary style, you are more private, introspective and independent. You can concentrate well, focusing your thoughts and feelings on your current topic. You are aware of your own thinking, and you may analyze the different ways you think and feel.

You spend time on self-analysis, and often reflect on past events and the way you approached them. You take time to ponder and assess your own accomplishments or challenges. You may keep a journal, diary or personal log to record your personal thoughts and events.

You like to spend time alone. You may have a personal hobby. You prefer traveling or holidaying in remote or places, away from crowds.

You prefer to work on problems by retreating to somewhere quiet and working through possible solutions. You may sometimes spend too much time trying to solve a problem that you could more easily solve by talking to someone.

You like to make plans and set goals. You know your direction in life and work. You prefer to work for yourself, or have thought a lot about it. If you don’t know your current direction in life, you feel a deep sense of dissatisfaction.

 

A variety of factors determine an individual’s ability to learn and the speed of learning. Four important factors are the individual’s age, motivation, prior experience, and intelligence. In addition, certain developmental and learning disorders can impair a person’s ability to learn.

People of all ages are capable of the most common types of learning—habituation, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning. As children grow, they become capable of learning more and more sophisticated types of information. Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget theorized that children go through four different stages of cognitive development. In the sensorimotor stage (from birth to about 2 years of age), infants use their senses to learn about their bodies and about objects in their immediate environments. In the preoperational stage (about 2 to 7 years of age), children can think about objects and events that are not present, but their thinking is primitive and self-centred, and they have difficulty seeing the world from another person’s point of view. In the concrete operational stage (about 7 to 11 years of age), children learn general rules about the physical world, such as the fact that the amount of water remains the same if it is poured between containers of different shapes. Finally, in the formal operational stage (ages 11 and up), children become capable of logical and abstract thinking.

Adults continue to learn new knowledge and skills throughout their lives. For example, most adults can successfully learn a foreign language, although children usually can achieve fluency more easily. If older adults remain healthy, their learning ability generally does not decline with age. Age-related illnesses that involve a deterioration of mental functioning, such as Alzheimer’s disease, can severely reduce a person’s ability to learn.

Learning is usually most efficient and rapid when the learner is motivated and attentive. Behavioural studies with both animals and people have shown that one effective way to maintain the learner’s motivation is to deliver strong and immediate reinforces for correct responses. However, other research has indicated that very high levels of motivation are not ideal. Psychologists believe an intermediate level of motivation is best for many learning tasks. If a person’s level of motivation is too low, he or she may give up quickly. At the other extreme, a very high level of motivation may cause such stress and distraction that the learner cannot focus on the task.

How well a person learns a new task may depend heavily on the person’s previous experience with similar tasks. Just as a response can transfer from one stimulus to another through the process of generalization, people can learn new behaviours more quickly if the behaviours are similar to those they can already perform. This phenomenon is called positive transfer. Someone who has learned to drive one car, for example, will be able to drive other cars, even though the feel and handling of the cars will differ. In cases of negative transfer, however, a person’s prior experience can interfere with learning something new. For instance, after memorizing one shopping list, it may be more difficult to memorize a different shopping list.

Psychologists have long known that people differ individually in their level of intelligence, and thus in their ability to learn and understand. Scientists have engaged in heated debates about the definition and nature of intelligence. In the 1980s American psychologist Howard Gardner proposed that there are many different forms of intelligence, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, and interpersonal intelligence. A person may easily learn skills in some categories but have difficulty learning in others.

A variety of disorders can interfere with a person’s ability to learn new skills and behaviours. Learning and developmental disorders usually first appear in childhood and often persist into adulthood. Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may not be able to sit still long enough to focus on specific tasks. Children with autism typically have difficulty speaking, understanding language, and interacting with people. People with mental retardation, characterized primarily by very low intelligence, may have trouble mastering basic living tasks and academic skills. Children with learning or developmental disorders often receive special education tailored to their individual needs and abilities.

 

Home, School, Family, Friends. Peer Pressure.

Characteristics of Players

Excitability, Enthusiasm, selfishness, talkativeness, concentration span, understanding of game, sensitivity, decision making, attentiveness, competitiveness, physical ability and appearance, mental strength,