Learning through Experience: Behavioralism and Classical Conditioning

1. Learning A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs through experience.

2. Behavioralism Psychological perspective that emphasizing the role of learning and experience in determining behavior. A strict behavioralist believes that babies are tabula rasa and the study of psychology should focus purely on observable behaviors and not unobservable thoughts.

3. How do we learn? Most learning is associative learning • Learning that certain events occur together.

4. LearningThe process by which experience or practice results in a relatively permanent change in behavior or potential behavior We are here Classical Conditioning The type of learning in which a response naturally elicited by one stimulus becomes to be elicited by a different formally neutral stimulus • Operant • Conditioning • The type of learning in which behaviors are emitted to earn rewards or avoid punishments • Social Cognitive Learning Theory • The type of learning in which behaviors are learned by observing a model Pavlov and Watson B.F. Skinner Albert Bandura Reinforcement and Punishment UCS, UCR, CS, CR Modeling and Vicarious Learning

5. Which is which? 1. A child is attacked by a dog. The child now fears all dogs. 2. You do your homework every night to get good grades and avoid punishment. Classical – involuntary, stimulus precedes behavior Operant – voluntary, stimulus follows behavior

6. Classical Conditioning An INVOLUNTARY behavior is determined by what PRECEDES it. Ivan Pavlov

7. Dogs must have LEARNED to salivate. This is passive learning (automatic…learner does NOT have to think).-It does exist! 

8. Unconditioned Stimulus (US): a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response. Unconditional Response (UR): the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the UCS.

9. Classical Conditioning • Next you find a neutral stimulus (something that by itself elicits no response). • You present the stimulus with the UCS a whole bunch of times.

10. Classical Conditioning • After a while, the body begins to link together the neutral stimulus with the UCS. • Acquisition

11. Classical Conditioning • We know learning takes places when the previously neutral stimulus elicits a response. • At this point the neutral stimulus is called the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditional response becomes the conditioned response (CR).

12. Conditioned Stimulus (CS): an originally neutral stimulus (NS) that, after association with the UCS, comes to trigger a response. Conditioned Response (CR): the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

13. Identifying Parts Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) Meat powder Unconditioned Response (UCR) Salivation Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Bell Conditioned Response (CR) Salivation * Hint: replace “conditioned” with “learned” to make it more intuitive.

15. Things to Remember: • The responses (UR & CR) are always the same. • The NS and the CS are always the same. The NS becomes the CS through learning.

16. A friend has learned to associate the sound of a dentist’s drill to a fearful reaction because of a painful experience she had getting a root canal. In this example, what is the: • UCS? Pain from the drill • UCR? Fear • CS? Sound of the drill • CR? Fear

17. A BMW commercial has lots of pretty people in it. People who watch the commercial find the people pleasing to look at. With repeated viewing, they begin to associate the car with the pleasant feeling. • UCS? Pretty people • UCR? Feeling good • CS? Sight of BMW • CR? Feeling good