Understanding Learning by Practice

Learning is a continuous process that involves acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviours, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. One of the most effective ways to learn is through practice. Practice involves repeating an action or skill multiple times to improve proficiency. When we learn something by practicing it, it brings about a change in us.

Learning by Practice Modifies Behaviour

The question asks what is modified by learning through practice. Let's consider the options:

• Motivation: Motivation is the drive or desire to do something. While learning can influence motivation (e.g., successfully practicing a skill might increase motivation), practice itself primarily leads to changes in what you *do*, not necessarily your intrinsic drive or desire.
• Behaviour: Behaviour refers to the actions or reactions of an organism, usually in relation to the environment. Learning by practice directly involves performing actions repeatedly. This repetition refines the actions, makes them more efficient, or changes the response to a situation. For example, practicing playing a musical instrument changes how your fingers move (behaviour). Practicing a sport changes how you execute moves (behaviour). Practicing solving math problems changes how you approach and solve them (behaviour). Therefore, practice fundamentally modifies behaviour.
• Basic instinct: Basic instincts are innate, unlearned patterns of behaviour that are biologically determined. They are generally fixed and not modified through learning or practice in the typical sense.
• Drive: Drive is a state of arousal or tension that motivates behaviour to fulfill a need. Like motivation, drive is related to the internal state that prompts action, rather than the action itself or its modification through practice.

Learning, especially when achieved through practice, results in a relatively permanent change in an organism's behaviour or behavioural potential. Practice allows for the refinement, strengthening, or alteration of responses to stimuli or situations. This is why practice is crucial for acquiring skills, forming habits, and improving performance in various tasks.

Thus, learning by practice is primarily a modification of behaviour.