MYERS CH. 6

LEARNING

LEARNING

• The acquisition of new knowledge, skills, or responses from experience that result in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner.

• Three types:• 1) Classical

Conditioning• 2) Operant

Conditioning• 3) Observational

Learning

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• Pavlov: “Forty Studies” • Behaviorist• Def: when a

neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING TERMINOLOGY

• Unconditioned Stimulus: something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism

• Unconditioned Response: a reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus

• Conditioned Stimulus: a stimulus that is initially neutral that produces no reliable response in an organism

• Condition Response: a reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is by a conditioned stimulus

Figure 6.3 Pavlov’s classic experiment Pavlov presented a neutral stimulus (a tone) just before an unconditioned stimulus (food in mouth). The neutral stimulus then became a conditioned stimulus, producing a conditioned response.

© 2010 by Worth Publishers

WATER BOTTLE EXPERIMENT

• Unconditioned Stimulus: • Squirt of water• Unconditioned Response: • Flinch• Conditioned Stimulus: • “CAN”• Conditioned Response: • Flinch

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

MORE CLASSICAL CONDITIONING TERMS

• Acquisition: the stage when the CS and US are paired together.• Generalization: when the CR occurs even if the

CS is slightly different• Discrimination: the capacity to distinguish

between similar but distinct stimuli. • Extinction: the gradual elimination of a learned

response that occurs when the US is no longer presented • Spontaneous Recovery: the tendency of a

learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: DWIGHT GETS CLASSICALLY CONDITIONED

• As you watch the clip, identify the following:• UCS• Tasting an altoid

• UCR• Minty fresh breath

• CS• Hearing the computer booting up

• CR• Strange, gross feeling in mouth

SHELDON TRAINS PENNY

OPERANT CONDITIONING

OPERANT CONDITIONING

• A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

OPERANT CONDITIONING SKIING SQUIRREL

• Shaping: operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior • HeroRATS• Discriminative Stimulus—signals that the

response will be inforced (i.e., landmine or TB for HeroRATS)

TYPES OF REINFORCERS

• Positive reinforcement—strengthens behavior via reward• Negative

reinforcement—strengthens behavior via removing something negative

PUNISHMENT

• Positive punishment: reducing likelihood of behavior by adding something bad• Negative

punishment: reducing likelihood of behavior by taking away something good

Positive Reinforcement

“Reward”+ good

behavior

Negative Reinforcement

--bad behavior

Positive Punishment

+ bad behavior

Negative Punishment

--good behavior

I NEED THREE VOLUNTEERS! (I PROMISE YOU WILL NOT GET SPRAYED IN THE FACE WITH

WATER)

• When you enter the room the class will try to shape your behavior using a method of operant conditioning.

YOUR OPERANT CONDITIONING CHALLENGE

• I challenge you to train me using operant conditioning methods• You have one month and you have to agree as a

class what you will try to accomplish. • You can debrief me at the end of class on

November 28th...the Wednesday after Thanksgiving Break. This will be a great opportunity to measure extinction and spontaneous recovery!

SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

• Continuous reinforcement—reinforcing a desired response every time it occurs• Good: learning

happens quickly• Bad: extinction

occurs quickly

• Intermittent reinforcement—responses are sometimes reinforced and sometimes not• Good: greater

resistance to extinction• Bad—learning occurs

more slowly

TYPES OF INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT

• Fixed ratio schedule: reinforcement is given after a set number of responses• Examples?

TYPES OF INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT

• Variable-ratio schedule: reinforcement is given after an unpredictable number of responses• Examples?

TYPES OF INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT

• Fixed-interval schedules: reinforce the first response after a fixed time period.• Examples?

TYPES OF INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT

• Variable-interval schedule: reinforce the first response after a varying time interval• Examples?

THIS MIGHT HELP KEEP THEM STRAIGHT…

• 1. Do you see something that's set or seems to have a distinct pattern, or do you see something that seems to change? Pick either fixed or variable.

• 2. Do you see a number or do you see a unit of time? Pick either ratio or interval.

MYERS' DEMONSTRATION OF REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT

• Teachers use operant conditioning methods in various ways while grading assignments.

• How do you feel when a teacher doesn’t give reinforcement for every assignment?

REWARDS AND MOTIVATION

• Would greater rewards motivate you more? • "Drive"

AKA SOCIAL LEARNING

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

• Trenton and the iPhone...I didn’t reinforce any behavior...he simply watched me and figured out how to use it.

MIRROR NEURONS

• Yawning• Empathy

BANDURA & THE BOBO DOLL

• Forty studies