Which of the following is not a characteristic of learning?

Concept: Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour, or in behavioural potential, brought about by experience or practice. It is an internal construct that resides within the learner and is never seen as such; what an observer records is performance — the overt activity through which learning is expressed. The learning–performance distinction is therefore basic: learning is always inferred, never directly perceived.

Application: The stem asks for the statement that fails to describe learning. Saying that learning is directly observed collapses the learning–performance distinction, because it treats the inferred internal change as if it were the observable behaviour used to infer it. That statement is the exception, so the answer is “Learning is directly observed”.

Cross-check: the remaining three statements restate items from the classical list of the characteristics of learning given by Yoakam and Simpson.

• “Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour” is the working definition itself: change produced by experience persists, unlike the temporary shifts produced by fatigue, illness or drugs, and unlike maturation, which alters behaviour with age alone rather than through practice.

• “Learning is a growth of organism” restates the characteristic “learning is growth”: the learner's experience is enlarged cumulatively through participation in activity.

• “Learning is a goal-directed process” restates the characteristic “learning is purposive”: activity is organised around an aim or motive, which is why motivation is treated as a driver of learning.

Result: the statement that is not a characteristic of learning is “Learning is directly observed”.