PSYCHOLOGY: LEARNING

Learning can be defined as the process

leading to relatively permanent behavioral

change or potential behavioral change.

Types of LearningClassical

conditioning: learning to link two stimuli in a way that helps us anticipate an event to which

we have a reaction

Operant conditioning:

changing behavior choices in response

to consequences

Cognitive learning: acquiring new behaviors and

information through observation and information,

rather than by direct experience

How it works: after repeated exposure to two stimuli occurring in sequence, we associate those stimuli with each other. Result: our natural response to one stimulus now can be triggered by the new, predictive stimulus.

Associative Learning: Classical Conditioning

Here, our response to thunder becomes associated with lightning.

Stimulus 1: See lightning

Stimulus 2: Hear thunder

After RepetitionStimulus: See lightningResponse: Cover ears to avoid sound

Child associates his “response” (behavior) with consequences.Child learns to repeat behaviors (saying “please”) which were followed by desirable results (cookie).Child learns to avoid behaviors (yelling “gimme!”) which were followed by undesirable results (scolding or loss of dessert).

Associative Learning: Operant Conditioning

Cognitive LearningCognitive learning refers to acquiring new behaviors and information mentally, rather than by direct experience.Cognitive learning occurs: 1.by observing events and the behavior of others. 2.by using language to acquire information about

events experienced by others.

Classical ConditioningIvan Pavlov’s method of conditioning in which associations are made between a natural stimulus and a learned, neutral

stimulus.

Pavlov's Dogs

Before Conditioning

No response

Neutral stimulus

(NS)

Neutral stimulus: a stimulus which does not trigger a response

Unconditioned response (UR):

dog salivatesUnconditioned stimulus (US):

yummy dog food

Before Conditioning Unconditioned stimulus and response:

a stimulus which triggers a response naturally, before/without any conditioning

Unconditioned response (UR):

dog salivates

Neutral stimulus

(NS)Unconditioned stimulus (US)

During ConditioningThe bell/tone (N.S.) is repeatedly presented with the

food (U.S.).

Conditioned response:

dog salivates

After Conditioning

Conditioned (formerly neutral)stimulus

The dog begins to salivate upon hearing the tone (neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus).

Did you follow the changes?The UR and the CR are the same response, triggered by different events.

The difference is whether conditioning was necessary for the response to happen.

The NS and the CS are the same stimulus.The difference is whether the stimulus triggers the conditioned response.

Key TermsUnconditioned Stimulus (UCS or US)

Biologically relevant stimulus, that without prior learning elicits an….

Unconditioned Response (UR or UCR)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)Neutral stimulus that with many CS – US pairing elicits a

Conditioned Response (CR)

Neutral, Conditioned and Unconditioned Response

Find the US, UR, NS, CS, CR in the following:

Your romantic partner always uses the same shampoo. Soon, the smell of that shampoo makes you feel happy.

The door to your house squeaks loudly when you open it. Soon, your dog begins wagging its tail when the door squeaks.The nurse says, “This won’t hurt a bit,” just before stabbing you with a needle. The next time you hear “This won’t hurt,” you cringe in fear.You have a meal at a fast food restaurant that causes food poisoning. The next time you see a sign for that restaurant, you feel nauseated.

Identify N, UCS, CS, UCR, and CR in the examples below:

College StudentAltoids

Chocolate

If the dog becomes conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, can the dog be conditioned to salivate when a light flashes…by associating it with the BELL instead of with food?

Yes! The conditioned response can be transferred from the US to a CS, then from there to another CS.

This is higher-order conditioning: turning a NS into a CS by associating it with another CS.

A man who was conditioned to associate joy with coffee, could then learn to associate joy with a restaurant if he was served coffee there every time he walked in to the restaurant.

Higher-Order Conditioning

17

AcquisitionWhat gets “acquired”? The association between a neutral stimulus (NS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). How can we tell that acquisition has occurred? The UR now gets triggered by a CS (drooling now gets triggered by a bell). Timing For the association to be acquired, the neutral stimulus (NS) needs to repeatedly appear before the unconditioned stimulus (US)…about a half-second before, in most cases. The bell must come right before the food.

Acquisition refers to the initial stage of learning/conditioning.

Acquisition and Extinction The strength of a CR grows with conditioning. Extinction refers to the diminishing of a conditioned

response. If the US (food) stops appearing with the CS (bell), the CR decreases.

Extinction the gradual loss of an association over time. The conditioned response (CR) will gradually die out

Spontaneous Recovery [Return of the CR]After a CR (salivation) has been conditioned and then extinguished:following a rest period, presenting the tone alone might lead to a spontaneous recovery (a return of the conditioned response despite a lack of further conditioning).if the CS (tone) is again presented repeatedly without the US, the CR becomes extinct again.

Generalization and Discrimination Please notice the narrow, psychological definition .Ivan Pavlov conditioned dogs to drool when rubbed; they then also drooled when scratched.

Ivan Pavlov conditioned dogs to drool at bells of a certain pitch; slightly different pitches did not trigger drooling.

Generalization refers to the tendency to have

conditioned responses triggered by related stimuli.

MORE stuff makes you drool.

Discrimination refers to the learned ability to only

respond to a specific stimuli, preventing generalization.

LESS stuff makes you drool.

Stimulus generalization occurs when a response spreads from one specific stimulus to other stimuli that resemble the original (responding to any bell sound, no matter what pitch)

Discrimination is the ability to respond differently to distinct stimuli. (only responding to one type of bell)

Extinction, Spontaneous Recovery, and Generalization

Little Albert experiment conducted by John Watson proved that conditioning of emotions

to neutral objects is possible

Little Albert Experiment

Before Conditioning

NS: rat

No fear

UCS: steel bar hit with hammer

Natural reflex:fear

Little Albert Experiment

During Conditioning

NS: ratUCS: steel bar hit

with hammer

Natural reflex:fear

Little Albert Experiment

After Conditioning

NS: rat

Conditioned reflex:fear

Little Albert Experiment

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND ADVERTISING

Before we have heard of a product, it is Neutral. If we associate the product (N) with pleasant images (UCS), which produce pleasant feelings (UCR), the product (CS) will later create pleasant feelings (CR).

Ways in which classical conditioning helps sell…• Pairing popular music together with products in

ads to generate positive feelings• Consistently advertising a product on an exciting

game show may result in the product itself generating excitement

• Christmas music played in a story may trigger happy memories in a consumer’s mind persuading them to enter the store.

Let’s say you have a beverage commercial that includes barely clothed models drinking the product. Conditioning is taking place.

Neutral: beverage product

UCS: barely clothed models

UCR: pleasant feelings

CS: the product

CR: pleasant feelings

Food and Classical ConditioningTaste-aversion - associating a (smell, taste, sound, or sight) with getting sick and thereafter avoiding that particular (smell, taste, sound, or sight) in the future.

• Helps rats learn not to eat poison.

Food and Classical Conditioning

John Garcia’s Points of Taste-aversion• Can develop after a single experience• Results may last months or even years• It is usually associated with a particular sensory

cue – such as smell or taste

Systematic Desensitization

• Developed by Joseph Wolpe

• Based on classical conditioning

• Helps treat people with phobias

• Replaces fear and anxiety with relaxation

• A person imagines fearful or anxiety-evoking stimuli and then immediately uses deep relaxation

OPERANT CONDITIONIN

GLearning in which a

certain action is reinforced or punished, resulting in behavioral

change

B.F. Skinner is best known for his work with the operant conditioning theory.

Believed that how we turn out is a direct result of what we learn from all of the operations (operant) that we make over the years

SkinnerBox

Reinforcement is something that follows a response and strengthens the tendency to repeat that response

PRIMARY & SECONDARY REINFORCERSPrimary reinforcement is something that is

necessary for survival. Ex: food or water

Secondary reinforcement is a stimulus that we have learned to value (linked to a primary reinforcer)

Schedules of Reinforcement Reinforcement is more successful when it DOES

NOT follow every desired behavior

INTERVAL SCHEDULES deal with the amount of TIME that elapses

RATIO SCHEDULES deal with BEHAVIORS or a certain # OF CORRECT RESPONSES

Variable ratios schedule is when an unpredictable number of responses are required before reinforcement can be obtained. Ex. slot machines.

Fixed ratio schedule a specific number of correct responses is required before reinforcement can be obtained. Ex. Buy 10 haircuts get 1 free.

Variable interval schedule is when the reinforcement occurs after varying amounts of time. Ex. Fishing and catching a fish after varying amounts of time

Fixed interval schedule is when the reinforcement is received after a fixed amount of time has passed. Ex. You get allowance every other Friday.

Shaping is the process of gradually refining a response by successively reinforcing closer versions of it. (teach animals tricks)(learn a new skill)

Negative reinforcement is when something that is unpleasant is stopped or taken away when something is done

Reinforcement always strengthens a response, rather than

weakening it.

Headache stops when you take Tylenol so you

strengthened the behavior of taking

Tylenol

Punishment involves decreasing the frequency of a behavior.

Punishment always weakens a response, rather than strengthening it.

POSITIVE (ADDED)

NEGATIVE(SUBTRACTED)

REINFORCEMENT(STRENGTHENS)

• Clean the house and earn $5• a coach pats you on the back after a good play• a paycheck for working• $10 for getting an “A” on your report card• Senior privilege for maintaining good grades

• You buy your child ice cream so they stop nagging• You leave early for school to avoid traffic• You take Tylenol to remove back pain

PUNISHMENT (WEAKENS)

• You get your mouth washed out with soap when you curse• Touch and hot stove and get burned• Getting a ticket for speeding

• You lose your driving privileges for breaking curfew• Time out, or the loss of freedom to combat bad behavior• You pay money for a speeding ticket

Social Learning

The process of altering behavior by observing and imitating others. Includes cognitive

learning & ModelingCognitive Learning – involves mental process and may involve observation and imitation• Cognitive Map – mental picture of a place

Modeling – learning by imitating/copying

Bobo-Doll Experiment

Bandura demonstrated that children learn aggressive behaviors by watching an adult’s aggressive behaviors.

Bobo-Doll

Bandura’s Four ProcessesOf Cognitive Learning

• Attention: Observer must pay attention to model

• Memory: Observer stores information about what the model did

• Imitation: Observer uses remembered info to guide own actions

• Motivation: Observer must have incentive to imitate model’s behavior

TOKEN ECONOMYDesirable behavior is reinforced with

valueless objects, which can be accumulated and exchanged for valued rewards

INSIGHT• “AH-HA” Phenomenon• Sudden & expected solution to a problem• Wolfgang Kohler – Chimp & Banana experiment

SOLVE THIS: A man walks into a bar and asks for a glass of water. The bartender points a gun at the man. The man says, “Thank you,” and walks out. What’s missing from the story that helps make it make sense?

ANSWER: The man had hiccups