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Jerome Bruner was an psychologist who made significant contribution with his educational learning theories.

Overview:

Initially considered part of the behaviorist school of thought, Bruner's new ideas about learning processes conributed to the shift from behaviorism to cognitive-based learning theories in the 1950s and 1960s. Bruner felt that children learned and acquired knowledge through distinct, yet interrelated modes. These three modes included:

1. Enactive skills
• These skills include the manipulation of various objects and an increased understanding of spatial awareness. A young child learns by picking up objects on their own, by learning to sit-up and eventually to stand and walk on their own. According to Bruner, these skills are more extensively utilized by very young children, though adults engage in using this skill set as well.
  
2. Iconic skills
• These skills include a child's ability to recognize objects visually, as well as to compare and contrast objects. For example, older children are able to recognize familiar objects by looking at a picture, or seeing a familiar cartoon character on the television.
3. Symbolic skills
   • These skills include the introduction of basic abstract thinking. Typically older children in the adolescent years are able to grasp more abstract ideas and concepts, though again, these skills cross over into adulthood as well.

Although Bruner felt that a child passed through each of these "modes of learning," he also stressed that learners were able to revisit each of these modes throughout their life. Because of this realization, Bruner also recommended that learning experiences were developed that would encourage children to engage in each mode of learning.