Remarkable scientific discoveries have been made about how new neural pathways are formed in the brain. It was previously believed that our brains are “hard-wired” from birth, and that skills simply unfold over time as we physically develop.
We now know that our brains are constantly growing and changing in relation to how we behave in our environments.
Practice is one of the most important factors in the establishment of new neural pathways. As we repeatedly practice a skill, and receive reinforcing feedback from the environment, our neurons also respond – working diligently to ensure the skill becomes a permanent part of our repertoire.
This symbiotic relationship between the behaving learner, responding environment, and responding neurology defines the learning process.
The amount of practice required to produce a permanent neural pathway varies across skills and individuals. The “10,000 hours” notion that Malcolm Gladwell made famous is actually a myth. There is no “magic number” of hours that predicts a permanent learning outcome.
In behavior science, we use measurement to determine when a permanent neural pathway has been produced. By measuring rate of response (i.e., count per minute) over time with each individual learner, we have a behavioral measure of learning occurring at the neurological level, as the figure above reflects.
As learners engage in effective practice, their rate of responding increases to high levels, which we call “fluency”. We then conduct various tests to ensure that level of performance reflects permanent learning, such as:
- Holding practice for a period of time to ensure the learner retains fluent levels in the absence of ongoing practice
- Testing the skill for longer timing periods or in the presence of distractions
- Testing to ensure that the learner can fluently apply that skill to perform a more difficult skill.
It is the ongoing measurement of a learner’s performance over time that informs us of when a permanent neural pathway has been produced, which is why behavior science leads to optimal outcomes produced for every learner.