LEARNING

LEARNING

Learning: Relatively permanent change in

behavior due to experience

GLOSSARY OF TERMS Response

An identifiable behavior

Antecedents: Events before a response Ex. Eva hears father’s car pull up the drive way and runs to

the door

Consequences: Effects that follow a response Ex. Dad walks in and gives Eva a hug

Reinforcement Any event that increases the probability that the response

will happen again

LEARNING

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

OPERANT CONDITIONING

OBSERVATIONAL

CONDITIONING

Associations between a stimuli AND Person’s response

Two kinds of CONDITIONING Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

IVAN PAVLOV

Russian physiologist

Original goal: study digestion

Dogs salivated before at the sound of footsteps

RESPONSE BEHAVIOR Reflex

Automatic, non-learned response Example: blink, cough, gag

Puff of air hits your eye … you blink!

Sound a horn right before a puff of air

If the horn and the air puff occur together many times … what happens?

Sound of the horn will make you blink!

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

AntecedentBased on what happens before we respond

Bell rings before food is presented

Passive approach Simply happens to the learner

Key Concept: Antecedent stimulus that doesn’t produce a

response is linked with one that does

Example: A horn is linked with a puff of air to the eye

BEFORE AND AFTERCLASSICAL CONDITIOING

EXPECTANCIES

Anticipation

Predicts future events or relationships

Examples:

Get a shot with a hypodermic needle

Pull hand away from a stove

EXTINCTION

Remove the reinforcement

Response STOPS

Ex. Pavlov’s dog stopped salivating Ringing the bell eventually lost its effectiveness

when food was not presented

SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY

Reappearance of a learned response

Example: As soon as food was introduced again, Pavlov’s

dog salivated

GENERALIZATION

John B. Watson Pavlov’s dog > people People can be conditioned

GENERALIZATION – LEARN TO FEAR

All fears are learned

Babies born with one fear … loud noises!

J. Watson : “We learn to be afraid”

Phobia: Intense, unrealistic, irrational fear of a specific

situation or object Ex: claustophobia – fear of tight spaces Elevators > MRI

Watson and Rayner’s(Little Albert)

PLAY VIDEO

Watson & Rayner’s Research with Little Albert

OPERANT CONDITIONING

B.F. Skinner

CONSEQUENCES

Response may be followed by:

Reinforcement Positive Negative

Punishment

REINFORCEMENT

Goal: Makes the behavior more likely to occur again

Kinds of reinforcement:Positive reinforcementNegative reinforcement

REINFORCEMENT: POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE

Positive Reinforcement: Response followed by a pleasant

desirable event Praise and rewards

Negative Reinforcement: Take something negative away to

increase responseEnds discomfort Remove unpleasant event

Car bells stop when seatbelt applied Chirp stops when batteries changed in smoke detector

PUNISHMENT

Consequence that decreases the likelihood of behavior happening again

SPEEDING DOWN THE HIGHWAY

Punishment = Fine

EFFECTIVENESS DEPENDS ON …

Timing

Consistency

Intensity

SIDE EFFECTSEscape and Avoidance Learning

SIDE EFFECTSAggressionincreases

WHAT’S THE REWARD?

Aggression releases frustration and anger and makes us feel good

Reinforced and repeated

CLASS EXERCISE

Should schools be permitted to punish?

WHAT’S MOST EFFECTIVE?

Encourage desirable behaviors

Punishment does NOT teach desired behaviors

PUNISHMENT TIPS Timing Be consistent Avoid severe punishment Expect anger from the punished

person Punish with kindness and respect

SCHEDULESREINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES AFFECT LEARNING

Reinforcement occurs every time Learning is fastest Stop reinforcement – behavior stops

Reinforcement is too infrequent or the wait is too long Learning may or may not appear

SCHEDULESPARTIAL REINFORCEMENT

Reinforcement does NOT follow every response

Never know when the reinforcement will appear

Creates STRONGEST response

Most RESISTANT to extinction! Example: Slot machine – every pull “could be” a

win

LAW OF EFFECT

Pleasurable consequence

Usually repeated

Ex. “Kick the vending machine”

TIMING OF REINFORCEMENT

Most effective

Present soon after the response

Tips for a waiter Pat on the helmet after sacking the quarterback

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

MODELING (ALBERT BANDURA)

Watching and imitating actions of others

Making note of the consequences of others actionsBo-Bo Dolls

Model: Someone who serves as an example

PARENTS CLAIM: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO …

Children model what parents “DO”

NOT what they “SAY”