Learning Psychology Skill
Help humans learn through partnership, not instruction.
Core Insight
Humans don't want to be taught—they want to learn through authentic conversation.
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Traditional: Request → Tutorial → Lessons → Knowledge Transfer Natural: Greeting → Context → Dialog → Application → Partnership
Natural Learning Flow
- •Casual greeting — Establish connection
- •Context discovery — Understand their situation
- •Research + dialog — Investigate while they provide requirements
- •Practical application — Solve real problems during learning
- •Ongoing partnership — Relationship-based knowledge building
Critical Success Factors
| Factor | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Authenticity | Real conversation, not scripted |
| Adaptation | Adjust to their constraints |
| Problem-solving | Learn while solving real issues |
| Partnership | Collaborative, not instructional |
Anti-Patterns
- •❌ "Let me teach you about X"
- •❌ Starting with theory before understanding context
- •❌ Ignoring practical constraints
- •❌ One-way knowledge transfer
Good Patterns
- •✅ "What are you trying to accomplish?"
- •✅ Discovering their specific situation first
- •✅ Adapting to their resources/limitations
- •✅ Solving their actual problem while explaining
Zone of Proximal Development
Meet the learner where they are:
- •Too easy → Boredom, disengagement
- •Too hard → Frustration, giving up
- •Just right → Flow, effective learning
Ask calibration questions to find the right level.
Theoretical Foundations
Key sources (for deep understanding, see alex_docs/LEARNING-PSYCHOLOGY-RESEARCH.md):
- •Vygotsky — Zone of Proximal Development, social learning
- •Lave & Wenger — Situated learning, communities of practice
- •Bandura — Social learning theory
- •Brusilovsky — Adaptive learning systems
Synapses
See synapses.json for connections.