Can
You Indeed Teach an Old Dog New Tricks? : A Short Empirical Study of Adult Learning
By:
Gabriela Clayton
Is it truly impossible
to teach an old dog, new tricks? The simple answer is ‘no’, yet the explanation
deserves more than just a one word answer. Gary Marcus in his 2012 novel, Guitar Zero:
The Musician and the Science of Learning, explores the relationship between
age and the ability to learn. The common
‘mis’-conceptions of learning are; the older one, is the harder it is to learn,
or even that the ability to learn a new skill is dependent upon “critical
[learning] periods” that people usually develop out of with the onset of
puberty (Marcus 2). Marcus at the tender age of thirty-nine decides that it is
finally the proper time in his life to start the journey into the “glamorous” world
of music, thus challenging the ‘old dog’ stereotype and collecting firsthand data
on how true or untrue the conception is, of the adult brain’s ability to learn.
Recent studies from the cognitive psychology and neurology fields indicate that
one can indeed teach an old dog new tricks albeit that process will be delayed
by neural stipulations.
To understand the level
of complexity of the process of learning as an adult, one must first understand
the level of complexity involved in learning as a child; so that one may be
able to fully comprehend the differences that make it harder to learn as an
adult, and the similarities that make learning a process of continuity in the
human brain. As a fetus, the brain is constantly developing at a rate of
250,000 neurons a minute, at birth there are billions of neurons in the still
underdeveloped brain and these neurons account for trillions of neural
connections (Brynie). To put it into a
different light, think of a newborn baby’s brain as a brand new computer. The brand new computer will have what seems like an infinite (although this is
to the contrary in the human brain*) amount of storage capability, as well as having
the most essential programs already installed from the factory.
Like the new computer,
the baby’s brain is capable of holding a large capacity of information,
captured and retained through attention and memory processes, and comes already
installed with the basic and essential programs (involuntary movements such as
breathing, heartbeat, and the like). The
brain is very impressionable at this stage in life; many put it under one of
those “critical learning periods” where virtually any knowledge is equally
likely of being taken in and wired into the brain without the neural obstacles
that adults face. The brains of babies can be thought of as universal learners
in light of this evidence. As babies age
into infants, infants into children, children into adolescents, and adolescents
into adults, that storage capacity of learning information becomes filled and
more specialized (Max et al). As one
ages the specialization of knowledge discriminates more and more until rewiring
and reshaping the brain becomes a more strenuous activity than it once was (Mueller
et al).
However, in a recent
study from Dartmouth College, (White Matter Structure Changes as Adults Learn a Second Language) new evidence of adult
learning has emerged. The study, lead by Alexander Schelgel, points to
increased white matter volume in the brain as a sign of adult learning (Schelgel
et al). The white matter of the brain is basically composed of the myelinated
sheathes of the axons of the billions of neurons computing electrical
transmissions within the brain (Sciencedaily.com).
The increase in volume of these neurons is directly correlated with an increase
in the myelination of the axons of the neurons. According to Schelgel, “An increase in myelination tells us that
axons are being used more, transmitting messages between processing areas. It
means there is an active process under way." Using DTI (diffusion tensor imaging) Shelgel
and his colleagues were able to actively observe the structural changes in myelination
of the axons that coincide with learning, by measuring the diffusion of water
in the axons , “[r]estrictions in this diffusion can indicate that more myelin
has wrapped around an axon” (Schelgel et al).
Marcus’ beliefs in adult learning can be correlated with the findings of
Schelgel et al; it is evident when Marcus claims that “critical periods are not
quite so firm as people once believed” (Marcus 3). Marcus’ endeavor into trying to learn guitar
at age thirty-nine makes it quite clear his opposition to the idea of true
learning being confined to “critical learning periods” of early life. Schelgel
et al’s study is the physical evidence that supports the hope given to Marcus in
the barn owl learning study by Stanford biologist, Eric Knudsen. In the study, Knudsen gives clear evidence of
the ability of adult learning, but the stipulation to this learning ability is
that each step has to be small and deliberate (Marcus 8). The work of Schelgel builds evidence for
Marcus’ theory, which was based partially upon the work of Knudsen; all of
which concludes that adult learning is possible, which is evident in new
developments in brain structure as well as in the successful application of adult
learning.
Furthermore, now that
it is established that adults do contain the ability to learn new knowledge adequately,
the incidence of “slower” adult learning can be examined. In another recent
study’s findings, by the Michigan State University, a reason for delayed
learning in adults can be deduced to confusion due to already wired neural connections. The study, When the
rules are reversed: Action-monitoring consequences of reversing
stimulus–response mappings,
was primarily about the acquisition of a set of “secondary rules” in adults but
the results can be taken as universal in terms of adult learning. In the study,
participants were showed a sequence of letters and told to press one button or
another according to what the center letter of the sequence was (MMNMM or
NNMNN). After a few trials of the same set of rules, the experimenter reversed
the rules so that button A was pressed instead of button B when N was in the middle
of the sequence and vice versa. The
results implicate that “When
participants did respond correctly after the rules changed, their brain
activity showed they had to work harder than when they were given the first set
of rules” (Schroder et al). What was even more interesting was that when the
participants made a mistake under the second set of rules they were less likely
to notice than under the first set of rules.
This neural confusion is due to the already specialization of the
connections in the brain, and the hardships that the brain undergoes to rewire
the already made connections (Sciencedaily.com). To put it into a better light, think of the
situation as new language acquisition at an adult age. As a child, one is taught that a red, round, and
tart fruit is an apple; and for that child’s entire life into adulthood red,
round, and tart fruits are apples. Yet
once that adult tries to acquire a second language, that red, round, and tart
fruit is now a manzana (Spanish), pomme (French), apfel (German), omena
(Finnish), and the list goes on. However, these new words require rehearsal and
maintenance in order to ensure that they are encoded into the brain’s long term
memory store, but if they are not then the word that comes to mind when one sees
a red, round, and tart fruit would always be apple by mental reflex (Ashcraft
et al).
The evidence of this mental degradation of new information in the adult
mind is seen in Marcus’ inability to quickly grasp the new material involved in
learning to play an instrument. Marcus
talks of his hardships with learning the positions notes on the guitar as well
as reading the sheet music. The hardships
with learning the positions of the fingers with the corresponding note could be
seen as the input of new verbal language.
Where Marcus places his fingers to create sound with meaning, known as
music, is now analogous to where he places his lips and tongue to create the human
sound with meaning, known as language.
Furthermore, in reading the sheet music, Marcus must now rewire his
brain to see dots and lines as representative of a higher meaning (notes), as
dots and lines are representative of a higher meaning in reading a language
(letters). In both instances, the two
situations that are being compared are so similar in their general composition,
movement to create noise and lines and dots representing a higher complex
meaning, that it is not surprising if the brain were to confuse the processes
before both could be specialized to the point where the brain is actively aware
of their differences despite their vast similarities.
Though Marcus’ journey from novice to
intermediate guitarist is evidence in itself that adult learning is possible,
that finding could be criticized as a phenomenon of individual differences and
that the results could not be realistically replicated in other adults. However, Marcus’ endeavors combined with the results
from Schroder et al and Schelgel et al’s experiments on adult learning and
obstacles in adult learning can be pieced together to form a understanding
that adult learning is indeed possible, yet it has to overcome obstacles that
are not necessarily present in child learning.
Works
Cited
Alexander A. Schlegel,
Justin J. Rudelson, Peter U. Tse.White Matter Structure Changes as Adults Learn
a Second Language. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2012; 24 (8): 1664
DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00240
Ashcraft, M. A. &
Radvansky, G. A. (2009). Cognition (5th ed.). NJ: Pearson.
Brynie, Faith.
"The Baby's Brain." The Secret Life of the Brain. PBS. WPBS,
Chicago, Illinois, n.d. Www.pbs.org. Web. 01 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/episode1/index.html>.
Dartmouth College
(2012, September 24). White matter study shows brain capable of learning
complex tasks well into adulthood.ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 11, 2012,
from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120924152544.htm
Hans S. Schroder, Tim
P. Moran, Jason S. Moser, Erik M. Altmann. When the rules are reversed:
Action-monitoring consequences of reversing stimulus–response mappings. Cognitive,
Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2012; DOI: 10.3758/s13415-012-0105-y
Jutta L. Mueller,
Angela D. Friederici, and Claudia Männel.Auditory perception at the root of
language learning.PNAS, September 10, 2012 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1204319109
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
(2012, September 10). Babies' ability to detect complex rules in language
outshines that of adults, research suggests. ScienceDaily. Retrieved
October 11, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120910151613.htm
Michigan
State University (2012, July 30). When rules change, brain falters. ScienceDaily.
Retrieved October 11, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120730124239.htm
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