CHAPTER 8

LEARNING

What’s In This Chapter?(Objectives for this Unit)

• This chapter on learning is the perspective known as Behavioral

• Essential Questions to be asked:

• What is learning?

• Which part of our behavior is learned?

• What are the types of learning?

"The object of teaching a child is to enable the child to get along without the teacher."  

unknown

What is Learning?

• A relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience.

Association We learn by association

Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence

Aristotle 2000 years ago John Locke and David Hume 200 years ago

Associative Learning learning that two events occur together

two stimuli a response and its consequences Ex. Upward arm motions correlate to positive

position

Conditioning

• Conditioning: – The acquisition of specific patterns of

behavior in the presence of well-defined stimuli.

• Classical Conditioning(C.C.): – a response naturally elicited by one

stimulus comes to be elicited by a different,

formerly neutral stimulusEx. Snails on 310

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning

We learn to associate two stimuli

Classical Conditioning Terms

• Neutral stimulus: – A stimulus that does not elicit a specific

response.

• Conditioned stimulus (CS): – A neutral stimulus that acquires the ability to

elicit a specific response

• Conditioned response (CR): – A response similar to the UR that is elicited by

the CS.

Classical Conditioning Terms

• Unconditioned stimulus (US): – A stimulus that always elicits a specific

response in the absence of any training.

• Unconditioned response (UR): – A response that is always elicited by a

specific stimulus in the absence of any training.

Classical Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov 1849-1936 Russian physician/

neurophysiologist Nobel Prize in 1904 studied digestive

secretions First studies on

associative learning

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• Nearly all automatic, involuntary responses (UR) can become a conditioned response:– heartbeat, sweating, stomach secretion, blood

pressure, brain waves etc.

• For conditioning to be effective, the conditioned stimulus should occur before the unconditioned stimulus, not after.

• the conditioned stimulus becomes a kind of signal for the unconditioned stimulus.

ALL HANDS ON DECKALL HANDS ON DECK

• 1. Sara is watching a storm. A bolt of lightning is followed immediately by a huge crash of thunder and makes her jump. This happens several more times. The storm starts to move away and there is a gap between the lightening bolt and the sound of thunder, yet Sara jumps at the lightening bolt.

• What is the:• UCS • UCR• CS• CR

ALL HANDS ON DECKALL HANDS ON DECK

• Steve's mouth waters whenever he eats anything with lemon in. One day, while seeing an advertisement showing lemons, his mouth begins to water.

• What is the:• UCS • UCR• CS• CR

Can you name the Stimulus?

Classical Conditioning in Real Life

• Learning to like

• Learning to fear

• Accounting for Taste

• Reacting to Medical Treatment

Classical ConditioningUCS(passionate kiss) UCR

(sexualarousal)

CS(onionbreath)

CS(onion breath) CR

(sexualarousal)

UCS(passionate Kiss) UCR

(sexualarousal)

Nausea Conditioning in Cancer Patients

UCS(drug)

UCR(nausea)

CS(waiting room)

CS(waitingroom) CR

(nausea)

UCS(drug)

UCR(nausea)

Acquisition

• Initial stage of classical conditioning with associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditional stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response.– Ex. Flatworms

Principles of Conditioning

• Discrimination

• Generalization

• Extinction

• Spontaneous recovery

Classical Conditioning

Discrimination in classical conditioning, the learned

ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a UCS Ex. Different types of dogs or snakes

Classical Conditioning

Generalization tendency for stimuli similar to CS

to elicit similar responses the extension of the conditioned

response from the original stimulus to similar stimuli. Ex. Children fear cars, truck, and other

moving vehicles

Modification of Original Classical Conditioning

• Response generalization:

• Stimulus discrimination:

Classical Conditioning

Extinction diminishing of a CR in classical conditioning, when a

UCS does not follow a CS

Persistence of Classical Conditioning

• Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of the CR after a pause in extinction trials

Classical Conditioning

Strengthof CR

Pause

Acquisition(CS+UCS)

Extinction(CS alone)

Extinction(CS alone)

Spontaneousrecovery ofCR

ALL HANDS ON DECKALL HANDS ON DECK• Think about the following scenarios and try to

apply some of the aspects of classical conditioning:

• 1. How we acquire likes or dislikes for certain

foods.• 2. How classical conditioning may be used to

treat conditions such as alcoholism.• 3. How advertisers use classical conditioning.• 4. How phobias and fears can be acquired.• 5. How phobias and fears could be treated.

Behaviorism

John B. Watson The case of baby Albert” Subject: 11 month old baby

Classical Conditioning in Humans

• J. B. Watson classically conditions “Little Albert” to fear white rats.

• Case study

• Identify the u.s., u.r., c.s., c.r.

• Discrimination and generalization

The Case of Baby Albert

Classical Conditioning in Humans

• Mary Cover Jones reconditions “Peter” to not fear rabbits.

• This procedure evolved into desensitization therapy.

• The Case of Baby Peter

• Ucs, cs, ucr, cr

Common Examples of Classical Conditioning

• Phobias: – Irrational fears

• Conditioned food (taste) aversion: – Classically conditioning a novel flavor to

illness– Biological predispositions for serve as

protective measures

Classical Conditioning Is Selective

• Martin Seligman has used the concept of preparedness to account for the fact that certain conditioned responses are acquired very easily.

• The ease with which we develop conditioned taste aversions illustrates preparedness.

Classical Conditioning Is Selective

• Animals are biologically prepared to learn conditioned taste aversions

• Taste aversions can occur with only one pairing of the taste of a tainted food and later illness.

Reasons Taste Aversion Is Unique

• Taste aversion only requires one pairing of the NS with the US.

• Several hours can occur between the presentation of the NS and the US and the association between the two stimuli will occur.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Learning By Consequences

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

• Behavior consistently rewarded will become learned behavior.

• Contemporary psychologists refer to this as the principle of reinforcement

Operant Conditioning• We learn to

associate a response and its consequence

• Key to learning trained behavior that doesn’t begin naturally within an organism– Ex. Pigeon flapping

its wings or pecking for food

• Operant (O.C.): – behaviors are emitted (in the presence of specific

stimuli) to earn rewards or avoid punishments• The behavior is more likely or less likely to occur

based on its consequences.• B. F. Skinner modified Pavlov’s concept and

Thorndike’s law of effect.• Skinner used reinforcement and punishment to enhance learning.

Operant Conditioning

Operant/Instrumental Conditioning

• Operant or instrumental conditioning is learning to make or withhold a certain response because of its consequences.

• Operant behaviors are different from the responses involved in classical conditioning– They are voluntarily emitted – Those involved in classical conditioning are

elicited by stimuli.

Operant Conditioning: Shaping

• Shaping: procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer approximations of a desired goal– The organism is learning associations between its

behavior and resulting events– Ex.

Operant Conditioning Terms

• Reinforcer: – An event or stimulus that makes the behavior

it follows more likely to occur again. – Best when not delayed but immediately

following the behavior

Types of Reinforcement

• Primary reinforcers

• Secondary reinforcers

• Positive reinforcers

• Negative reinforcers

A Closer Look At Reinforcement

• Primary reinforcer: – A reinforcer that is rewarding in itself, such as

food, water, and sex.

• Secondary reinforcer: – A reinforcer that acquires its reinforcing power

through association with a primary reinforcer.– Money: #1 secondary reinforcer

A Closer Look At Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcer: – A pleasant event that follows an operant

response and increases the likelihood that the response will recur.

• Negative reinforcer: strengthens a given response by removing an aversive stimuli.

Operant Conditioning Terms

• Punishment: Any event that decreases the likelihood that the behavior preceding it will occur again.

Skinner’s BoxChamber containing a bar or a key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a reward

Secondary reinforcer

Secondary reinforcer

Primary reinforcer

Primary reinforcer

punishment

SKINNER BOX

What Is Punishment?

• The aim of punishment is to decrease the likelihood that an ongoing behavior will recur.

• Punishment must be swift, sufficient, and certain for it to be effective.

A Closer Look at Punishment

• Punishment is generally not as effective as the skillful application of reinforcement.

• Avoidance training is an alternative strategy to using punishment.

• Avoidance training: – Learning a desirable behavior to prevent the

occurrence of something unpleasant.

Negative side effects of punishment

• Slows down learning; punishing for errors

• May suppress good behavior too; why should I try at all

• Cat’s away syndrome

• I’m a bad person

• Only training method used only training method learned; cyclical effect

• Unfortunate effect on the punisher

Reinforcement vs. Punishment

• Reinforcement increases the rate of responding.

• Punishment decreases the rate of responding.

Two Major Types of Reinforcement

• Interval: time/clock: 7am-12pm-6pm • Ratio: amount: 1:1, 2:1, 3:1• Schedules can be:• Continuous:

– each response is reinforced and thus learned more quickly but not as long lasting

• Intermittent/partial: – reinforcement does not follow every response

but the behavior lasts longer

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Intermittent reinforcement: stronger schedule

– Reinforcement which rewards are given for some correct responses but not for every one;

– This generates behavior that persists longer than behavior learned by continuous reinforcement and thus is more resistant to extinction (behavior no longer occurs).

• Partial reinforcement encourages learners to keep "testing" for a reward.

• The type of partial reinforcement schedule also matters.

Schedules of ReinforcementInterval Schedules

• A fixed-interval schedule:– Reinforcement given for the first correct

response after a fixed time period, tends to result in a flurry of responding right before a reward is due.

• A variable-interval schedule:– Reinforces the first correct response after an

unpredictable period of time, tends to result in a slow but steady pattern of responding as the learner keeps testing for the next payoff.

Schedules of ReinforcementRatio Schedules

• A fixed-ratio schedule:– behavior is rewarded after a fixed number of

correct responses, – so the result is usually a high rate of

responding because faster responses yield quicker payoffs.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• A variable-ratio schedule:– Provides reinforcement after a varying

number of correct responses. – Encourages a high rate of response that is

especially persistent because the person keeps harboring the hope that the next response will bring a reward.

Examples of Schedules

• Continuous reinforcement: – Putting money in a parking meter to avoid a

parking ticket

• Fixed-ratio schedule: – Being paid for producing a specific number of

items (as in a factory setting)

Examples of Schedules

• Variable-ratio schedule: – Playing a slot machine

• Fixed-interval schedule: – Receiving a salary paycheck every two weeks

• Variable-interval schedule: – Surprise quizzes

Other Types of Learning

• Cognitive learning

• Learned Helplessness

• Latent learning

• Cognitive maps

• Insight

• Learning sets

• Social learning theory

Learned Helplessness

• Failure to take steps to avoid or escape from an unpleasant or aversive stimulus that occurs as a result of previous exposure to unavoidable painful stimuli.

Cognitive Learning

• Cognitive learning: – Learning that depends on mental processes

that are not directly observable

• Latent learning: – Learning that is not immediately reflected in a

behavioral change– Occurs once there is incentive to demonstrate

the behavior

Cognitive Learning

• Extrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishment

• Intrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior for its own sake and to be effective– Bribing people to do this they already enjoy doing will

reduce their level of intrinsic motivation

Cognitive Learning• Cognitive map:

– A learned mental image of a spatial environment that may be called on to solve problems when stimuli in the environment change.

Insight Learning

• Insight: – Learning that occurs rapidly as a result of

understanding all the elements of a problem.

Learning Sets

• The ability to become increasingly more effective in solving problems as more problems are solved.– i.e., “learning how to learn”

Social Learning Theory

• A view of learning that emphasizes the ability to learn by observing or witnessing/imitating a model or receiving instructions, without firsthand experience by the observer.

• Observational learning: Albert Bandura

Social Learning Theory

• Modeling: the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior– Ex. Little brother wearing his hat like older brother– Ex. Bandura’s research on aggression– Ex. Prosocial behavior: positive, constructive, an

helpful behavior

• Mirror neurons: frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. – Has to do with learning language as well

Practice Test 1. In __________ reinforcement, the reinforcer follows every correct

response.

a. intermittent

b. partial

c. negative

d. continuous

 

 2. In Pavlov's experiments with dogs, salivation was the

a. conditioned response.

b. unconditioned stimulus.

c. conditioned stimulus.

d. unconditioned response.

 

 

 

 3. The presentation of an aversive stimulus or the removal of a positive stimulus are both examples of

a. negative reinforcement.

b. punishment.

c. positive reinforcement.

d. secondary reinforcement.

 

 4. In classical conditioning, learning is evident when a

a. stimulus automatically produces a response without a prior history of experience.

b. stimulus which did not initially produce a response now elicits that response.

c. spontaneously emitted response increases in frequency as a result of its consequences.

d. subject repeats an action he or she has observed in another and is praised for it.

 

5. In Thorndike's law of effect, events critical for conditioning

a. occur after the response.

b. occur before the response.

c. occur simultaneously with the response.

d. are unrelated to the response except during extinction.

 

 6. If you have a snake phobia because you once heard a loud noise while looking at a snake, for you a snake is a(n)

a. US.

b. CS.

c. UR.

d. CR.

 

 7. A series of responses that gradually approach a desired pattern of behavior are called

a. adaptations.

b. gradients.

c. successive approximations.

d. conditioning trials.

 

 8. If the conditioned stimulus is presented many times without reinforcement, we can expect

a. an increase in stimulus generalization.

b. the strength of the UR to increase.

c. an increase in response generalization.

d. extinction to occur.

 

9. A child has learned to avoid a furry, black cat. However, she still plays with her grandmother's short-haired tabby. Her response demonstrates

a. negative transfer.

b. extinction.

c. discrimination.

d. successive approximation.

 

 10. Punishment is most effective in suppressing behavior when it is

a. immediate, consistent, and intense.

b. delayed, consistent, and mild.

c. immediate, consistent, and mild.

d. delayed, inconsistent, and intense.