Learning

1. Learning • Classical Conditioning • Classical Conditioning in Real Life • Operant Conditioning • Operant Conditioning in Real Life • Social-Cognitive Learning Theories

2. Learning • Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral potential) due to experience. • Behaviorism: An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior.

3. Classical Conditioning • New Reflexes from Old • Principles of Classical Conditioning • What is Actually Learned in Classical Conditioning

4. Pavlov’s Apparatus • Ivan Pavlov(1849-1936) researched digestion • Harness and fistula (mouth tube) help keep dog in a consistent position and gather uncontaminated saliva samples • They do not cause the dog discomfort • Dogs drooled before the food was presented after having been in laboratory after only a few times • He called the phenomenon a conditional reflex

5. New Reflexes From Old • Classical Conditioning: The process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response. • Learning occurs when a neutral stimulus is regularly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

6. Conditioning Terms • Unconditioned Stimulus: • A stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in the absence of learning. • Conditioned Stimulus: • An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus. • Unconditioned Response: • A reflexive response elicited by a stimulus in the absence of learning. • Conditioned Response: • A response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus; it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

7. Principles of Classical Conditioning • Acquisition • Extinction • Higher-Order Conditioning • Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination

8. Acquisition • A neutral stimulus that is consistently followed by an unconditioned stimulus will become a conditioned stimulus. • To be most effective the stimulus to be conditioned should precede the unconditioned stimulus rather than follow it. • The conditioned stimulus becomes a signal/predictor for the unconditioned stimulus.

9. Extinction • The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

10. Higher Order Conditioning • A procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with an already established conditioned stimulus.

11. Generalization and Discrimination • Stimulus Generalization: • After conditioning, the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning. • Stimulus Discrimination: • The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli.

12. Classical Conditioning in Real Life • Learning to Like • Advertising • Sales • Learning to Fear • See next Slide • Accounting for Taste • Reacting to Medical Treatments

13. Learning to Fear • An 11-month old boy – named “Albert” – was conditioned to fear a white laboratory rat • Each time he reached for the rat, Watson made a loud clanging noise right behind Albert • Albert’s fear generalized to anything white and furry • Including rabbits and Santa Claus

14. Counterconditioning • In classical conditioning, the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response.

15. Operant Conditioning • The process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on its consequences. • Behavior becomes more likely or less likely, depending on its consequences • Also referred to as instrumental conditioning

16. The Consequences of Behavior • Reinforcement: • The process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows. • Punishment: • The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows.

17. Reinforcement • Positive Reinforcement: • The response is followed by presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a reinforcing stimulus. • Negative Reinforcement: • The response is followed by removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of, an unpleasant stimulus.

18. Punishment • Positive Punishment: • The response is followed by presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a punishing stimulus. • Negative Punishment: • The response is followed by removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of, an pleasant stimulus.

19. Principles of Operant Conditioning • Extinction • Stimulus generalization and discrimination • Learning on schedule • Shaping • Biological limits on learning

20. The “Skinner Box” • When a rat in a Skinner box presses a bar, a food pellet or drop of water is automatically released. • Similar boxes exist for pigeons and many other species.

21. Learning on Schedule • Continuous Reinforcement: • A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is always reinforced. • Intermittent (Partial) Schedule of Reinforcement: • A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is sometimes but not always reinforced.

22. Skinner: The Man and the Myth • Burrhus Frederick Skinner, 1904-1990 • Better known as B.F. Skinner • Much misinformation is circulated about his life and work • e.g., his daughters grew up normal, despite rumors that they were institutionalized

23. Operant Conditioningin Real Life • The Pros and Cons of Punishment • The Problems with Reward

24. When Punishment Fails • People often administer punishment inappropriately or mindlessly. • The recipient often responds with anxiety, fear, or rage. • The effectiveness can be temporary, and depend on the presence of the person who administers it.

25. When Punishment Fails • Most misbehavior is hard to punish immediately. • Punishment conveys little information. • An action intended to punish may instead by reinforcing because it brings attention.

26. Why Rewards Can Backfire • Rewards must be tied to the behavior you are trying to increase • Extrinsic Reinforcers: • Reinforcers that are not inherently related to the action being reinforced, such as money, prizes, and praise. • Intrinsic Reinforcers: • Reinforcers that are inherently related to the action being reinforced, such as enjoyment of the task and satisfaction of accomplishment.

27. Turning Play Into Work • When preschoolers were promised a prize for drawing with felt-tip pens, the behavior increased. • After they got the prizes, they spent less time with pens than before the study began.

28. Social-Cognitive Learning Theories • Learning by Observing • Behavior and the Mind

29. Learning by Observing • Observational Learning: • A process in which an individual learns new responses by observing the behavior or another (a model) rather than through direct experience; sometimes called vicarious conditioning.

30. Latent Learning • Rats: one maze trial/day • One group found food every time (red line) • Second group never found food (blue line) • Third group found food on Day 11 (green line) • Sudden change, day 12 • Learning isn’t the same as performance