Chapter 6: Learning

Section 1: Classical Conditioning

• Learning – any relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience

• Conditioning – learning (pairing different stimuli)

• Classical conditioning – one stimulus calls forth the response that is usually called forth by another stimulus

Ivan Pavlov

• Studied salivation in dogs• Dogs salivated when received meat• Salivated at sight of assistants entering

laboratory• Pavlov rang a bell – meat given to dogs• After a while, dogs salivated when they heard

bell even if there was no meat

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US) – stimulus that causes a response that is automatic, not learned – The Meat

• Unconditioned Response (UR) - the automatic response – Salivating

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – Learned stimulus - The Bell

• Conditioned Response (CR) – learned response to a stimulus that was previously meaningless – Salivating

Higher-Order Conditioning

• A previously learned neutral stimulus comes to serve as a learned, or conditioned , stimulus after being paired repeatedly with a stimulus that has already become a learned stimulus

Taste Aversion

• Learned avoidance of a certain food

• May only take one pairing of food and illness to create aversion (most C.C. takes many associations)

Extinction

• When a conditioned stimulus is no longer followed by an unconditioned stimulus, it will eventually lose it’s ability to bring about a conditioned response

• CS is disconnected from the US – the result – CS no longer causes CR

Spontaneous Recovery

• Organisms can display responses that were extinguished earlier

• Sometimes response is weaker than original response

Generalization and Discrimination

• Generalization – act of responding in the same ways to stimuli that seem to be similar, even if the stimuli are not identical

• Discrimination – act of responding differently to stimuli that are not similar to each other

• Help people adapt to their environments

Applications of Classical Conditioning

• Can help people overcome fears of various objects and situations, or help children stop wetting their beds

Flooding

• A person is exposed to the harmless stimulus until fear responses to that stimulus are extinguished

• Effective, but unpleasant

Systematic Desensitization

• People are taught relaxation techniques

• Exposed gradually to whatever stimulus they fear while they remain relaxed

• Takes longer to work, but not unpleasant

Counterconditioning

• A pleasant stimulus is paired repeatedly with a fearful one, counteracting the fear

Section 2: Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

• People and animals learn to do certain things & not do others because of consequences

• In classical conditioning – conditioned responses are often involuntary biological behaviors

• In operant conditioning – voluntary responses (we control) are conditioned

Reinforcement

• Process by which a stimulus increases the chances that the preceding behavior will occur again

• Skinner boxes held rats that were deprived of food

• Pressed lever – received food pellets• Pellets reinforced lever-pressing behavior

Positive Reinforcement

• Increase the frequency of behavior they follow when they are applied

• Food, fun activities, social approval• Different reinforcers work with different

people• What serves as a reinforcer at one time may

not work later on

Negative Reinforcers

• Encourage a behavior by removing something unpleasant

• Discomfort, fear, social disapproval

Immediate vs. Delayed Reinforcement

• Immediate much more effective• Short-term consequences provide more of an

incentive than the long-term consequences• Examples:– Most students do better with frequent tests– Difficult to quit smoking – reinforcement of nicotn

Primary Reinforcers

• Function due to biological makeup of the organism

• Food, water, warmth, sex

• (Don’t have to be taught to value these)

Secondary Reinforcers

• Initially acquire their value through being paired with established reinforcers

• Money, attention, social approval

Reward

• Increase frequency of behavior

• Some say it’s the same as positive reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement doesn’t make you get inside organism’s head to determine what they find rewarding

Reward vs. PunishmentPositive reinforcement:

• Telling a kid, "Great job! You said this perfectly!" or giving a High 5.

• This is good because, it makes the student want to learn more independently...he'll be satisfied with learning for learning's sake. This helps build self-motivation.

Reward: • Giving a kid candy for doing a great job or telling the winning team that they can

eat lunch early.

• This is bad because, it'll teach kids to only work hard enough for a reward. Brattiness could arise with constant rewards.

Punishment

• Discourage a behavior by being applied• Strong punishment can quickly end bad

behavior• Not the ideal way to deal with a problem

Schedules of Reinforcement

• When and how often reinforcement occurs• Partial & Continuous

Continuous Reinforcement

• Reinforcement of a behavior every time the behavior occurs

• New behaviors learned quickest using this method

• Only maintain behavior as long as you’re being reinforced

Partial Reinforcement

• Behavior not reinforced every time it occurs

• Tends to last longer after no reinforcement than continuous reinforcement

Fixed – Interval Schedule

• Fixed amount of time must elapse between reinforcements

Variable – interval schedule

• Varying amounts of time go between reinforcements– Timing of the next reinforcement is unpredictable

Fixed – Ratio Schedule

• Reinforcement provided after a fixed number of correct responses have been made

• People tend to want to get fixed number of responses “out of the way”

• If ratio is high, not very effective

Variable – Ratio Schedule

• Reinforcement provided after a variable number of correct responses have been made

• unpredictable

Extinction

• Repeated performance of the response without reinforcement

• Can spontaneously recover

Shaping

• A way of teaching complex behaviors in which one first reinforces small steps in the right direction

Applications of Operant Conditioning

• Induce children to acquire gender-appropriate behavior patterns

• Play with friends who are generous & non-aggressive

• Adults reward kids when they express attitudes similar to own and punish / ignore contradictory attitudes

BFT & Behavior Modification

• Biofeedback Training – people receive reinforcement in the form of information

• Parents often reinforce bad behavior by pay8ing attention / punishing kids & ignoring when they behave well

The Bell-and-Pad Method for Bed-Wetting

• Teaches kids to wake up in response to bladder tension

• Sleep on a special pad placed on bed

• When kid starts to urinate, water content triggers a bell, ringing wakes up kid

• After a few weeks, kids usually cured

Section 3: Cognitive Factors in Learning

Learning

• Latent Learning– Learning that remains hidden until it’s needed

• Observational Learning– Learn by watching or being told how others do

things – Learn to predict likely outcomes of actions by

watching others

Albert Bandura & Observational Learning

• Acquire knowledge by observing and imitating others (Observational Learning )– Learn to speak, eat, play– Used in modern advertising

Effects of Media Violence

• TV is a main source of informal observational learning

• Link between media violence and aggression– Supplies models of aggressive skills– See violence as an acceptable way to behave– Leads to emotional desensitization to violence

in real life– More likely to behave aggressively and violently