Fundamental Mechanisms of Human Learning

Abstract: Learning underlies nearly all human behavior and is central to education and education reform. Although recent advances in neuroscience have revealed the fundamental structure of learning processes, these insights have yet to be integrated into research and practice. Specifically, neuroscience has found that decision-making is governed by a structured process of perception, action-selection, and execution, supported by multiple neural systems with distinct memory stores and learning mechanisms. These systems extract different types of information (categorical, predictive, structural, and sequential) challenging canonical models of memory used in learning and behavioral science research by providing a mechanistic account of how humans acquire and use knowledge. Because each system learns differently, effective teaching requires alignment with system-specific processes. We propose a unified model that integrates these neuroscientific insights, bridging basic mechanisms with outcomes in education, identity, belonging, and wellbeing. By translating first principles of neural information processing into a generalizable framework, this work advances theories of skill acquisition and transfer while establishing a foundation for interdisciplinary research to refine how learning is understood and supported across domains of human behavior.