General Psychology 1

Classical Conditioning – Module 20Operant Conditioning – Module 21Cognitive (Latent) Learning – Module 21

March 29, 2005Class #17

A conditioned phobia…

Watson and Raynor (1920) Behavioral psychologists John Watson and grad assistant

Rosalie Raynor taught an 11-month old infant to become afraid of a gentle white laboratory rat

At the beginning of the study, “Little Albert” was unafraid of the white rat and played freely with the animal

While he was playing with the rat, the experimenters frightened the child by making a loud noise behind him

The baby was startled and began to cry They repeated this several times Thereafter, he avoided the rat and would cry whenever

it was brought close to him

“Little Albert” In Pavlovian terms, a bond had been

established between the sight of the rat (CS) and the arousal of Albert's autonomic nervous system (CR)

Once this S-R bond was fixed, fear could also be elicited by showing Albert any furry object… Little Albert became fearful of other

furry animals, Watson's hair, a sealskin coat, even a bearded Santa Claus mask

Little Albert experiments…

Classical Conditioning Explanation for PTSD…

This behavioral viewpoint helps to explain why people posttraumatic stress… This mental disorder involves a variety of

anxiety-related symptoms that start after a particularly traumatic event and then continue for a long time

Behavioral ExplanationClassically conditioned fear response is taking place (see below):

UCS UCR(traumatic event) (fear, terror, etc)

NS + UCS UCR(setting) + (trauma) (fear, terror, etc)

* Only takes one pairing

CS CR(setting) (fear, terror, etc)

* Since it only takes one pairing it doesn’t fit classical conditioning perfectly

Conditioned Taste Aversion

Also, doesn't fit exactly within all the rules of classical conditioning… Occurs reliably after only a single trial

(one pairing) Timing doesn't seem to be much of a

factor – strong learning is taking place despite delays of minutes or hours or more

Garcia and Koelling (1966)

Rats drink flavored water from tubes that flashed light and made noise when the tubes were licked…

Group 1: Rats were given electric shocks to their feet two

seconds after beginning to drink Group 2:

Rats were exposed to X rays (which made them sick) while they drank

Later, both groups were tested with a tube of flavored water producing lights and noise and a tube of unflavored water that was not producing lights and noise… so rats are basically given a choice between these two tubes to drink from

Garcia and Koelling (1966)

Group 1 (rats that had been shocked) avoided the tube producing the lights and noise while Group 2 (rats that had been made sick) avoided only the flavored water

Conclusion: Evidently, rats (and other species) have a built-in

predisposition to associate illness mostly with what they have eaten or drunk (Group 2 rats) and to associate skin pain mostly with what they have seen or heard (Group 1 rats)

This is an example of biopreparedness – organisms are "biologically prepared" or "genetically tuned" to develop certain conditioned associations

 

Timing Is Everything

The precise timing of the NS/UCS pairings has a great influence on whether the NS can be reliably conditioned into a CS and thus reliably produce the CR… Classical Conditioning works best when the NS

precedes the UCS… Forward-conditioning

Example: Tone/Food

Timing Is Everything

If done opposite (backward conditioning) then learning is very slow… Example: Food/Tone

If done at the same time (simultaneous conditioning) learning is even less likely to occur. Example: Tone and Food are presented at the

exact same time

Predictability

The higher the likelihood, the higher the amount of conditioning

Signal Strength

A conditioned response will be stronger is the UCS is strong Example: MilkBone works better with my dog

than a pickle

Attention

The role of awareness often comes into play concerning learning

In the natural environment sometimes more than one NS precedes the UCS

Here, the role of attention can influence which CS becomes associated with the UCS

Example: Before being struck by lightning a child was taking a sip of a soft drink, was watching a dog, and was listening to a song…what then becomes the CS

Attention

Insofar as conditioning is concerned is their thinking going on? Is there a cognitive component or is more reactions? Instincts?

Classically conditioned taste aversions to things that can cause an illness especially seem to have an awareness component involved

Systematic Desensitization

Wolpe (1958) Attempted to counter-condition people

suffering from phobias In counter-conditioning the stimulus is paired

with a new response which is incompatible with the old one

Wolpe basically utilizes an anxiety hierarchy to gradually but systematically desensitize the patient over several therapy sessions

Systematic Desensitization of a Spider Phobia Show a picture of a spider to the patient

HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay

Toy spider that looks fake HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay

Toy spider that looks real HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay

A real dead spider HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay

A live spider HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay

Systematic Desensitization

The hypothesis here is that a relaxed state cannot co-exist with a state of fear. Its one or the other…cannot be simultaneously anxious and relaxed

Therefore, if you can repeatedly relax someone (see spider example) when they are faced with anxiety-producing stimuli – you will gradually eliminate their anxiety The trick is to proceed gradually

Criticism of Systematic Desensitization

Wolpe’s critics say there is no attempt to achieve insight into the underlying cause of the fear

Wolpe says “so what” He’s not really concerned about what caused it

as long as its alleviated Only concern is that the maladaptive behavior

is cured and that patients feel better about themselves and begin acting in ways that will bring them greater life satisfaction

Implications for AdvertisingLearning Theory in Action

Advertisers utilizes classical conditioning for its persuasive abilities… Gorn (1982)

Just like Pavlov's dogs learned to connect the sound of a bell…food consumers associate stimuli such as advertising messages of status and quality, with various products and brands

For some reason, these connections do not occur as quickly in consumers

Implications for AdvertisingLearning Theory in Action

Rescorla (1988) The stimuli must be paired with the

product several times This may be why there is a great deal of

importance regarding frequency levels in media planning

Sissors and Bumba (1996) A consumer must be exposed to an

advertising message several times before it is effective

Conditioning Consumers(Stimulus Generalization)

Remember, Pavlov's dogs would also salivate when exposed to other noises similar to bells…same idea with advertising

Consumers often respond to products resembling another brand

Generalization

Kanner (1989) Advertisers evidently understand the benefits of

association as "roughly 80% of new products are actually extensions of existing brands or product lines“

Solomon (1994) For example, a store brand mouthwash may be

packaged to resemble a leading brand name in hopes that the consumer will evoke a response similar to the leading brand and believe that it shares similar qualities

Conditioning Consumers (Stimulus Discrimination)

Solomon (1994) In a similar manner, brand names will often use

discrimination in which certain stimuli are weakened, such as store brands, so that they are not associated with the response

Manufacturers of well established brands will urge consumers not to buy “cheap imitations”, because the result will not be what they expect

A problem with conditioning consumers…

McSweeney and Bierley (1984) Reported that sometimes stimuli are

weakened because consumers are exposed to them while the product is not present

Popular songs are often heard in advertisements, but they are also often heard in other situations

Instrumental Conditioning

E. L. Thorndike (1905) Described the learning that

was governed by his "law of effect" as instrumental conditioning because responses are strengthened when they are instrumental in producing rewards

Law of Effect Responses that are

rewarded are more likely to be repeated and responses that are produce discomfort are less likely to be repeated

Thorndike's Puzzle Box

In his classic experiment, a cat was locked in the box and enticed to escape by using food that was placed out of the reach from the box The box included ropes, levers, and

latches that the cat could use to escape Trial and error behavior would lead to

ultimate success (usually within three minutes)

Thorndike felt we learned things through trial and error – awareness

Gestalt Viewpoint

Wolfgang Kohler A Gestalt psychologist had an opposing

view is that we learn things implicitly – unawareness – natural insight

Example: gorilla in a cage – food out of reach – but stick is not…

Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning A type of learning in which voluntary

(controllable and non-reflexive) behavior is strengthened if it is reinforced and weakened if it is punished (or not reinforced)

Skinner (1938)

The organism learns a response by operating on the environment…

Note: The terms instrumental conditioning and

operant conditioning describe essentially the same learning process and are often used interchangeably

Basically, Skinner extended and formalized many of Thorndike's ideas

Operant Conditioning

Response comes first and is voluntary unlike classical where stimulus comes first and response is involuntary Classical: S R Operant: S R S

that becomes

R S

The Skinner Box

Soundproof chamber with a bar or key that could be manipulated to release a food or water reward

Specifically, the conditioning chamber was a stable plexi-glass box with a response lever, reinforcement delivery tube, and various means for stimulus presentation

In Skinner's early experiments, a rat was placed in the conditioning chamber and when it pressed the response lever, it received a pellet of food

Shaping:Reinforcing successive approximations

Responses that come successively closer to the desired response were reinforced… Skinner referred to this as his “Behavioral

Technology” Taught pigeons “unpigeon-like” behaviors Walking in Figure 8, playing ping-pong, and

keeping a “guided missile” on course by pecking at a moving target displayed on a screen…but most proud of getting them to hoist an American flag and then to salute it

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

In the Lab…

Operant Conditioning

Important terms Primary Reinforcers Secondary Reinforcers Positive Reinforcement Punishment Negative Reinforcement

Reinforcers

Primary Reinforcers Innately rewarding; no learning necessary Stimulus that naturally strengthens any

response that precedes it without the need for any learning on the part of the organism

Food, water, etc. Secondary Reinforcers

A consequence that is learned by pairing with a primary reinforcer

For people, money, good grades, and words of praise, etc. are often linked to basic rewards

We need money to buy food, etc.

Positive Reinforcement

Behavior is strengthened when something pleasant or desirable occurs following the behavior With the use of positive reinforcement chances

that the behavior will occur in the future is increased

Punishment

Any stimulus presented immediately after a behavior in order to decrease the future probability of that behavior For example:

If your kid runs into the middle of the street and you flip out and “express to him how bad he is” this (at least in psychological terms) is only considered to be punishment if it does in fact lead to a decrease in that child’s behavior of running into the street

Negative Reinforcement

One of the most misunderstood terms in psychology…

Definitely a problem with semantics here The word reinforcement means that a response is

strengthened The word negative seems to imply that the

response is somehow weakened This is not the case here! So how literally can a response be negatively

reinforced??? Often, this term is misapplied to term punishment

So lets try to proceed slowly in our attempts to figure this out…

Negative Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement is a reward That’s easy enough

Punishment is something that weakens a response Again, this is pretty basic

In an attempt to increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring in the future, an operant response is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus. This is negative reinforcement… Example: When a child says "please" and

"thank you" to his/her mother, the child may not have to engage in his/her dreaded chore of setting the table

Negative Reinforcement

So we are learning to do something to turn off a bad stimulus Example: We put on boots to prevent

sitting in class with wet socks on Increasing a behavior to stop a bad thing

from occurring Doing something to remove the reinforcer

Types of Negative Reinforcement

Escape Conditioning This occurs when the behavior has led to a reduction of the

aversiveness of the environment Example: Rats moving away from the shock area after

feeling the pain This does involve an observable change in the

environment Avoidance Conditioning

When a behavior has prevented the onset of an impending increase in the aversiveness of the environment

Example: Rats moving away from the shock area after hearing a signal that the shock is about to be administered

A child apologizes upon seeing their parent frowning thus avoiding being yelled at

Involves no observable change in the environment

Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcement delivered every time a particular response occurs

Intermittent Reinforcement Reinforcement is administered only some of

the time

Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement Fixed-Ratio

Reinforcement provided after a fixed number of responses

Food every tenth bar press Variable-Ratio

Reinforcement after a a variable number of responses (works on a average)

Unpredictable number of responses are required (slot machines)

Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement Fixed-Interval Schedules

Provides reinforcement for the first response that occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward

Number of responses doesn’t matter only time Example: Food is given to rats every 20 min.

Variable-Interval Schedule Reinforce the first responses after a certain amount of

time has past Again number of responses doesn’t matter But this time the amount of time changes

Might be the first response after ten minutes then the next time it is the first response after 20 minutes, and then the next time it is the first response after 30 min…

Applications of Operant Conditioning: In the Classroom Skinner thought that our education system was

ineffective He suggested that one teacher in a classroom

could not teach many students adequately when each child learns at a different rate

He proposed using teaching machines (what we now call computers) that would allow each student to move at their own pace

The teaching machine would provide self-paced learning that gave immediate feedback, immediate reinforcement, identification of problem areas, etc., that a teacher could not possibly provide

Applications of Operant Conditioning: In the Workplace

Pedalino & Gamboa (1974) To help reduce the frequency of employee

tardiness, these researchers implemented a game-like system for all employees that arrived on time

When an employee arrived on time, they were allowed to draw a card

Over the course of a 5-day workweek, the employee would have a full hand for poker

At the end of the week, the best hand won $20 This simple method reduced employee

tardiness significantly and demonstrated the effectiveness of operant conditioning on humans

Criticisms Of The Use Of Reinforcement

Criticism #1: Behavior should not have to rely on

persuasion… It is manipulative and controlling Appropriate behavior should be the norm Skinner says we are always controlled by

rewards but often are unaware of these… Parents, peers, schools, employers, etc. all

use rewards to control our behavior Skinner:

If its manipulative then everyone is to blame?

Criticisms Of The Use Of Reinforcement

Criticism #2: Reinforcement undermines Intrinsic

Motivation…Messes up our inner desire to do

somethingNow we need to do it for a tangible

rewardExample: Child cleaning his/her room…

Why do they do it? Be careful of overjustification…

Cognitive Learning

Focus on the role of thinking processes in learning

Theory based on unseen internal factors rather than on external factors Skinner was very much against these theories

but lets look at one…latent learning…

Latent Learning

Tolman and Honzik (1930) Took three groups of rats and had them run a

maze Group 1

Reinforced every time they found their way out of the maze (food box) for ten days

Group 2 Never reinforced (no food at the end)

Group 3 Reinforced only after day 10 of the experiment (no

food for 10 days then food on day 11)

Latent Learning On day 12, they timed the three groups to

see which group would make it through the maze the quickest… Which group do you think was the

fastest?