Chapter 5:Learning and Behavior

Presented by:

Heather Hays

Learning & Behavior

Learning: adaptive process in which the tendency to perform a certain behavior is changed through experience

Learning & Behavior

3 kinds of learning

1) Habituation

2) Classical Conditioning

3) Operant Conditioning

All involve cause & effect relations between behavior and environment.

Habituation

Learning not to respond to an unimportant event that occurs repeatedly

Simplest form of learning

Forms of Habituation

Short-termLong-term

Habituation permits us to remain relatively free from distraction by petty events, so we are able to concentrate on more important events

Classical Conditioning

A response normally elicited by one stimulus (the UCS) comes to be controlled by another stimulus (the CS) as well

Sequence and timing important

Classical Conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that naturally elicits a reflexive response

ex: food Unconditioned Response (UR): the

response given to the UCS ex: salivating

Classical Conditioning

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): stimulus which because of its repeated association with the UCS also eventually will elicit a conditioned response (CR)

ex: bellConditioned Response (CR): the response

given once the CS is given ex: salivation

Classical Conditioning

Accomplishes 2 functions:

1) Ability to learn to recognize stimuli that predict the occurrence of an important event allows the learner to make the appropriate response faster & more effectively

2) stimuli which were previously unimportant acquire some of the qualities of the important stimuli with which they become associated with, thus become able to modify behavior

Classical Conditioning

Basic Principles: (5)1) Acquisition: time during which a CR first

appears and increases in frequency2) Extinction: elimination of a response that

occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without being followed by the UCS

3) Spontaneous recovery: after an interval of time, the reappearance of a response that had previously been extinguished

Classical Conditioning

4) Generalization: CRs elicited by stimuli that resemble the CS used in training

5) Discrimination: appearance of a CR when one stimulus is presented but not another

Summary of Classical Conditioning

For classical conditioning to occur, the CS must not only occur immediately before the UCS, but it must also reliably predict the occurrence of the UCS

Operant Conditioning

Behavior is affected by its consequences whether the consequence is good or bad

Good consequences: actions get repeated

Bad consequences: actions do not get repeated

Operant Conditioning

Thorndike:

Law of Effect: idea that the consequences of a behavior determine whether that behavior is likely to be repeated

Operant Conditioning

Skinner:

Three-Term Contingency: relation among discriminative stimulus, behavior, & the consequences of that behavior

Operant Conditioning

Three-Term Contingency1) Discriminative stimulus: stimulus that sets the

occasion for responding because in the past a behavior ahs produced certain consequences in the presence of that stimulus

2) Operant behavior: response we make to the stimulus

3) Following event is the consequence of the operant behavior

Operant Conditioning

2 types of reinforcement: 1) Positive: increase in frequency of a

response that is regularly and reliably followed by an appetitive stimulus

2) Negative: increase in frequency of a response that is regularly and reliably followed by the termination of an aversive stimulus

Operant Conditioning

Both positive and negative reinforcement INCREASE the likelihood that a given response will occur again!

Operant Conditioning

Punishment: a decrease in the frequency of a response followed by an aversive stimulus

Punishment does NOT equal negative reinforcement!

Operant Conditioning

Extinction: a decrease in frequency of a previously reinforced response because it is no longer followed by a reinforcer

Operant Procedures & Phenomena

ShapingIntermittent reinforcement

4 kinds of schedules:

1) fixed-ratio

2) variable-ratio

3) fixed-interval

4) variable-interval

Operant Procedures & Phenomena

GeneralizationDiscrimination

Major Difference Between Classical & Operant

The Nature of their Contingencies!

Conditioning of Complex Behaviors

Aversive Control of Behavior

How it works:

A stimulus is present when the punishment occurs & then through the process of classical conditioning the stimulus becomes linked to the response

Types of Aversive Control

Escape Response: Negative reinforcement teaches organisms to make responses that terminate aversive stimuli thus making the stimulus cease

Conditioned Flavor-Aversion learning: a substance is avoided because its flavor has been associated with illness

Observation & Imitation

How it Works: organisms learn by watching and listening to other organisms in their environment and then they mimic what they see and hear and then their behavior is reinforced

Classically conditioned and operantly conditioned behaviors can be learned through observation and imitation

Learning & Behavior

THE END