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Chapter6:Learning

BasicTerminology

•  Learning-changeinanorganism’sbehaviororthoughtasaresultofexperience

•  Habitua-on-processbywhichwerespondlessstronglyoverDmetorepeatedsDmuli

•  Sensi-za-on-processbywhichwerespondmorestronglyoverDme(especiallyfordangerous,irritaDngsDmuli)

IvanPetrovichPavlov

•  Russianphysiologistand1904NobelPrizewinner

•  DecidedtobeascienDstaQerreadingtheworksofCharlesDarwin

•  MostfamousforhisworkonthedigesDonofthedog,whichincludedthefirstworkonclassicalcondiDoning

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ClassicalCondiDoning•  Pavlovdescribedclassicalcondi-oning,involving:–  UCSuncondiDonedsDmulus-biologicallysignificantsDmulusthatproducesautomaDcresponse

–  UCRuncondiDonedresponse-automaDcresponsetoaUCSthatoccurswithoutlearning

–  CScondiDonedsDmulus-iniDallyneutralsDmulus,becomesassociatedwiththeUCSthroughcondiDoning

–  CRcondiDonedresponse-learnedresponse

•  ByvirtueofCS-UCSpairing,theCScomestoelicittheCR,aresponsecloselyrelated,butnotidenDcal,totheUR

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Pavlov’sClassicalCondiDoningModel

ClassicalCondiDoning

•  Aversivecondi-oning-classicalcondiDoningtoanunpleasantUCS– Avoidanceresponse

•  ClassicalcondiDoningisadap-veinpreparingtheorganismfortheimpendingUS– PsychopathicpersonaliDes-indifferenttosignalsofthreat

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ClassicalCondiDoning

•  Acquisi-on-learningphaseduringwhichaCRisestablished

•  Ex-nc-on-gradualdecreaseandeliminaDonoftheCRwhentheCSispresentedrepeatedlywithouttheUCS

AcquisiDonandExDncDon

ClassicalCondiDoning

•  Spontaneousrecovery-suddenreemergenceofanexDnguishedCRaQeradelay

•  Phobias-intenseandirraDonalfears– SomeacquiredviaclassicalcondiDoning– Subjecttospontaneousrecoveryandrenewal

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ClassicalCondiDoning

•  S-mulusgeneraliza-on-elicitaDonofaCRtosDmulithatarehighlysimilarto,butnotidenDcalto,theCS– GeneralizaDongradient-themoresimilartotheoriginalCSthenewCSis,thestrongerwillbetheCR

•  S-mulusdiscrimina-on-oppositeofsDmulusgeneralizaDon;occurswhenweexhibitaCRtocertainCSs,butnotothers

GeneralizaDonGradient

ConceptCheck:

Apuffofairisblownintoarabbit’seyejustaQeramusicaltoneisplayed.AQerseveralrepeDDonsofthisprocedure,therabbitclosesitseyewhenthemusicaltoneisplayed.Whatarethe:• US• UR• NeutralSDmulus/CS• CR

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CCinDailyLife

Acquisi-onoffears:LiEleAlbert•  Watson&Reyner(1920)soughttodisprovethe

Freudianviewofphobia,reflecDngdeep-seatedunconsciousconflict

•  Theyrecruitedaninfant,Albert,andpairedawhiterat(CS)withaloudclangingmetalnoise(UCS)

•  Fivedayslater,Albertexhibitedfearoftherat,andsimilarsDmuli,includingarabbit,dog,furrycoat,andSantaClausmask(generalizaDonofphobia)

CCinDailyLife

•  LedtothecondiDoningmodelofphobias

•  ClassicalcondiDoningalsooffersawaytogetridofphobia– MaryCloverJones(1924)successfullytreatedthree-year-oldPeter,whohadaphobiaofrabbits,byslowlyintroducingarabbitpairedwithcandies

–  SimilarexposuretherapyissDllthemainbehavioraltreatmentforirraDonalfears

CCinDailyLife

Disgustreac-ons-inmostcases,aproductofclassicalcondiDoningbecauseCSsassociatedwithdisgusDngUCSscometoelicitdisgustthemselves–  Rozin’s(1986)subjectsshowagreatreluctancetoeatapieceoffudgeshapedlikedogfeces

–  SubjectsshowagreatreluctancetodrinkasucrosesoluDonlabeledpoison,evenwhentheyputthemeaninglesslabelonthere(“behersafethansorry”heurisDc)

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OperantCondiDoning

•  Orinstrumentalcondi/oning-acquiringbehaviorsasaresultoftheoutcomeorconsequenceofthosebehaviors– Theorganismgetssomethingoutoftheresponseor“operates”onitsenvironment(e.g.,usingbiscuitsasatreat,atrainerteachesadogtosit)

OperantvsClassicalCondiDoning

Elicited by UCS or CSOrganism emits

response in a seemingly

voluntary fashionIndependent of what

the animal doesOrganism must make

response

Often involves autonomic nervous

system

Often involves the skeletal muscles

Classical Operant

Response

Reward

BodySystem

LawofEffect•  E.L.Thorndike(1898)studiedcatsinpuzzleboxes,which

ledtothelawofeffect:Ifaresponse,inthepresenceofasDmulus,isfollowedbyasaDsfyingstateofaffairs,thebondbetweensDmulusandresponsewillbestrengthened

–  AccordingtoThorndikeandothers,learninginvolvesanassociaDonbetweenasDmulusandresponse(S-R),withtherewardstampinginthisconnecDon

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Thorndike’sPuzzleBox

B.F.Skinner

•  FolloweduponWatsonandThorndike’sworkonbehavior

•  NexttoFreud,probablythemostinfluenDalpsychologist

B.F.SkinnerandReinforcement

•  SkinnerdevelopedahighlyefficientcondiDoningchamber(Skinnerbox)thatallowsforcondiDoningandautomatedbehaviormeasurement– Typicallycontainsbarthatdeliversfoodwhenpressed,fooddispenser,andlightthatsignalswhenrewardisforthcoming

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RatinSkinnerBoxandElectronicDeviceforRecordingtheRat’sBehavior

TerminologyinOC•  Posi-vereinforcement-pleasantsDmulusisgiventoincreasetheprobabilityofaresponse–  E.g.,Getacellphoneforgoodgrades

•  Nega-vereinforcement-unpleasantsDmulusisremovedtoincreasetheprobabilityofaresponse–  E.g.,Aidan’smother’snaggingstopswhenhepicksuphisroom

•  Punishment-unpleasantsDmulusisgiven,orpleasantsDmulusistakenaway,todecreasetheprobabilityofaresponse–  E.g.,cellphonetakenawayforbreakingcurfew

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PunishmenttendstobeineffecDve

•  Ittellstheorganismwhatnottodo,ratherthanwhattodo

•  Createsanxietythatcaninterferewithfuturelearning

•  Encouragessubversivebehavior(sneakiness)

•  Providesamodelforaggressivebehavior–  Physicalpunishmentisassociatedwithaggressioninadulthood

PrinciplesofReinforcement•  Par-alreinforcement-behaviorsthatwereinforceonlyoccasionallyareslowertoexDnguishthanthosewereinforceconDnuously

•  Schedulesofreinforcement-pahernofreinforcingabehavior–  FixedRaDo-aQerregularnumberofresponses–  VariableRaDo-aQerspecificnumberofresponses,onaverage

–  FixedInterval-aQerspecificamountofDme–  VariableInterval-aQeranaverageDmeinterval

FourMajorReinforcementSchedulesandTypicalResponsePaherns

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CondiDoningTerminology

•  Discriminants-mulus(Sd)-sDmulusassociatedwiththepresenceofreinforcement–  (e.g.,whistlefordog,getstreatwhenapproaches)

•  Acquisi-on,ex-nc-on,spontaneousrecovery,s-mulusgeneraliza-on,ands-mulusdiscrimina-onareconceptscommontobothclassicalandoperantcondiDoning

ApplicaDonsofOC

•  Shapingbysuccessivereinforcement-reinforcingbehaviorsthataren’tquitethetargetbehaviorbutthatareprogressivelycloserversionsofit

•  Chaining-linkinganumberofinterrelatedbehaviorstoformalongerseries

•  Premackprinciple-alessfrequentlyperformedbehaviorcanbeincreasedbyreinforcingitwithamorefrequentbehavior– Grandma’srule-vegetablesbeforedessert

ApplicaDonsofOC•  Supers--ousbehavior-behaviorlinkedtoreinforcementbysheercoincidence(e.g.,luckycharmeffect)–  Pigeons,athletes,etc.

•  Tokeneconomies-mentalhospitalstaffcanreinforcepaDentswhobehaveinadesiredfashionusingtokens,chips,points,orothersecondaryreinforcers–  Secondaryreinforcers-neutralobjectsthatpaDentscanlatertradeinfor…

–  Primaryreinforcers-itemsoroutcomesthatarenaturallypleasurable,suchasafavoritefoodordrink

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RadicalBehaviorism&CogniDvePsychology

•  Skinnerwasaradicalbehaviorist:thinking,emoDon,andobservablebehaviorarealldictatedbyoperantandclassicalcondiDoning;viewedcogniDvepsychologyasapseudoscience

•  CogniDvelearningtheoristsfocusonhowtheorganisminterpretsthesDmulusbeforegeneraDngaresponse–  TheycontendthatbehaviorisnotautomaDcorinflexible,rather,classicalandoperantcondiDonedresponsesusuallydependonthinking

OtherFormsofLearning

•  Latentlearning-learningthatisn’tdirectlyobservable;welearnmanythingswithoutshowingthem– Emphasizesthedifferencebetweencompetence(whatweknow)andperformance(showingwhatweknow)– Challengetoradicalbehaviorism,impliesreinforcementisn’tnecessary

Tolman&HonzikMazeTrials:LearningAllAlong…

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SocialCogniDveLearning

•  Observa-onallearning-learningbywatchingothers(models),withoutinstrucDonorreinforcement–  Brainbasis?Perhapsmirrorneurons– Aggressivebehavior:Bandura(1963)hadchildrenwatchanadultignoringorpunchingaBobodollandshouDngthingslike“Kickhim”

–  ChildrenwhowatchedtheaggressiveadultmodelwereaggressivetotheBobodolllater