Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

Learning & Cognitive Processes 
Behaviourist approaches to learning cannot account for the bulk of human 
learning because they do not take into account the role of cognitive proc-
esses. Cognitive approaches emphasise the cognitive processes of the indi-
vidual and the social environment in which learning takes place. So, rather 
than learning being a mechanical series of responses to stimuli, it is “medi-
ated” by cognitive processes. With cognitive processes mediating between 
stimuli and the individual’s behaviour, learning is said to be social (Gavin 
1998:119). Furthermore, referring to a study carried out by Tolman (1948), 
Gavin explains that by a process known as latent learning, we unknowingly 
learn and assimilate information. We may never act upon this information 
or knowledge unless we need to or want to. This is where the expectancy 
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such time as a new observation is made. Returning to the vending ma -

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Understanding Users 
of an outcome or consequences of behaviour determines whether we carry 
out a task or respond to learning. According to Gavin (1998:120), this ex-
pectancy is affected by: 
The Locus of Control 
This locus can be internal or external. Where the locus is internal, a person 
believes that he or she can control his or her own destiny or fate. The locus 
can also be external which means that a person believes that his or her own 
fate is controlled by external factors. The ease and speed with which we 
learn depends on whether the locus of control is internal or external. We 
are more likely to assimilate a cause and effect if we are “responsible” for 
that cause. 
Learned Helplessness 
This is the belief that we cannot alter our fate and as a result, we give up. 
Gavin (
ibid.
) defines this as the 
expectancy of non-escape
.