Learning What to Learn Across the Life Span: From Objects to Real-World Skills

Abstract

One of the most difficult and important problems that all learners face across the life span is learning what to learn. Understanding what to learn is difficult when both relevant and irrelevant information compete for attention. In these situations, the learner can rely on cues in the environment, as well as prior knowledge. However, these sources of information sometimes conflict, and the learner has to prioritize some sources over others. Determining what to learn is important because learning relevant information helps the learner achieve goals, whereas learning irrelevant information can waste time and energy. A new theoretical approach posits that adaptation is relevant for all age groups because the environment is dynamic, suggesting that learning what to learn is a problem relevant across the life span instead of only during infancy and childhood. In this article, I review new research demonstrating the importance and ways of learning what to learn across the life span, from objects to real-world skills, before highlighting some unresolved issues for future research.